Before dawn, the herb-gathering apprentices in the small courtyard were roused by several young men in fine clothes and summoned to a large courtyard for the initiation ceremony to join the Herb Gathering Hall.
There were over forty outer hall herb-gathering apprentices dressed in coarse blue robes, along with five inner hall medicine-making apprentices in coarse white robes. The children lined up in several rows on the open ground, all of them extremely nervous.
Ye Qin was no exception. He felt a little uneasy.
He noticed two important figures from the Herb Gathering Hall standing in the courtyard.
One was short and very fat, looking every bit like a prosperous merchant. With his hands clasped behind his back, he gazed at the children with a cheerful smile. The other was a lean man in his forties or fifties, dressed in a blue robe. He stood with his hands behind his back, his expression cold and his eyes sharp as lightning. No one present dared meet his gaze.
Grand Steward Zhang, along with dozens of herb-gathering masters and medicine makers from both halls, including Herbalist Wang, was very deferential before the two important figures and did not dare say much.
Grand Steward Zhang introduced the children to the two men. The prosperous-looking merchant was Vice Hall Master Ma of the inner hall, the second-in-command of the Herb Gathering Hall. The lean man was Vice Hall Master Ji of the outer hall, the third-in-command.
The legendary Hall Master of the Herb Gathering Hall, Philanthropist Li, was nowhere to be seen at the ceremony.
Grand Steward Zhang was also a senior steward, but he only handled miscellaneous affairs within the hall. He managed many of the hall's day-to-day tasks.
The remaining dozens of herb-gathering masters and medicine makers were responsible for taking on apprentices and training herb gatherers and medicine makers.
After introducing the important figures present, Grand Steward Zhang began the initiation ceremony.
All the herb-gathering apprentices stepped forward one by one, dripping blood into a basin at the front. Kneeling on one knee beneath a banner of the Medicine King Gang, they swore the most common blood oath of the jianghu: they would never betray the Medicine King Gang or the Herb Gathering Hall. They also signed a lifelong contract, vowing to devote their lives to the Medicine King Gang.
The blood oath thrilled the children. For the first time, they felt they had become part of the jianghu.
Vice Hall Masters Ma and Ji did not stay long. After the ceremony, they gave the masters a few instructions and promptly left. Grand Steward Zhang scurried after the two vice hall masters, while some of the other masters left as well.
In the courtyard, only ten herb-gathering masters and five medicine makers remained to officially teach the children the skills of the Herb Gathering Hall.
Each herb-gathering master would take four or five herb-gathering apprentices.
The five medicine makers, meanwhile, would each take just one apprentice dressed in coarse white robes.
Ye Qin, Yang Yicheng, Feng Xiao, Qian Ruoxiu, and Sun Ying naturally followed Herbalist Wang. Ye Qin and the others were puzzled. They kept glancing at the children in white robes. Those apprentices seemed different from them, but they couldn't say how.
Herbalist Wang clasped his hands behind his back and said coldly,
"Don't bother looking. They're medicine-making apprentices from the inner hall. They'll either become medicine makers or spend their lives working in a shop. They won't have to risk their lives gathering herbs outside. They're here to enjoy the good life. You're herb-gathering apprentices from the outer hall. You'll have to risk your lives gathering herbs outside. You're here to gamble with your lives. It's as simple as that. You're now my disciples, Wang Hong's. When you see those inner hall disciples in the future, don't cause trouble for me. If you stir up problems, you'll find out it's no laughing matter."
The five children promptly lowered their heads and listened.
Herbalist Wang then explained what a qualified herb-gathering apprentice needed to learn, along with a number of things they had to keep in mind.
The apprentices of the Herb Gathering Hall had to learn an astonishing number of skills: reading, arithmetic, identifying herbs, gathering herbs, wilderness survival, emergency wilderness treatment, warding off insects and fighting beasts, trap-setting, wilderness camouflage, blades, swords, bows, and flying ropes, basic external martial arts, basic internal martial arts... more than a dozen categories in all.
The sheer variety was enough to astonish anyone.
An ordinary country herb gatherer only needed to identify and gather herbs in fairly safe wilderness areas. That was more than enough.
But the Herb Gathering Hall was different. It was a branch of the Medicine King Gang.
The Medicine King Gang was the fifth-largest jianghu gang in Ping Province, with considerable strength. Its main hall was in the provincial capital, and every county had a branch. Disciples of such a major gang often got dragged into vicious jianghu conflicts. It was unthinkable for members of the gang to be unable to fight. So even the lowest-level initiates, the herb-gathering apprentices, had to learn external and internal martial arts.
They also had to venture into dangerous mountain ravines and along sheer cliffs to collect herbs that had grown for decades or even centuries. Naturally, they needed to learn many skills.
Reading and arithmetic—the records of medicinal herbs were written down, and without being able to read or calculate, it was impossible to memorize thousands of herbs.
Identifying herbs—they needed to recognize thousands of poisonous herbs, medicinal herbs, and rare herbs. They had to gather poisonous and nonpoisonous plants alike, including herbs, medicinal wood, medicinal insects, snakes, stones, and even the pelts and bones of wild beasts such as tigers and wolves. They had to identify known herbs by name, type, and medicinal properties. They even had to judge the grade and medicinal properties of unfamiliar herbs to determine whether they were worth gathering. If it could be sold for money, they gathered it. Experienced herb gatherers had to be able to spot valuable herbs from a great distance.
Gathering herbs—to keep the herbs from losing their potency, herb gatherers had to master specialized techniques. The wrong method could ruin the harvest. Inexperienced junior apprentices often made mistakes when gathering high-grade herbs, damaging their potency.
Wilderness survival, emergency wilderness treatment, warding off insects and fighting beasts—those needed little explanation. Gathering herbs in the mountains usually meant being away for a month or even a year. They had to know how to survive in the wilderness for long periods, ward off insects and ants, and treat injuries. These skills were essential.
Trap-setting, wilderness camouflage, blades, swords, bows, flying ropes, basic external martial arts, and basic internal cultivation—these were martial combat skills, with little to do with gathering herbs. Their main purpose was to protect the apprentices, helping them deal with fierce wild beasts and even people from the jianghu. Besides, rare herbs were often guarded by vicious beasts. Without killing the beasts, they couldn't gather the herbs. Traps and camouflage were extremely useful. And if they gathered a rare herb, they might be robbed by bandits along the way. There were many bandits in Ping Province, so they would inevitably have to fight petty thieves, too. If the disciples of the Medicine King Gang, a major jianghu sect, couldn't even beat common thieves, they'd become a laughingstock.
Fortunately, Ye Qin and the others knew nothing about all this yet, so they didn't think they had too much to learn.
The apprentices' training period lasted six months.
During this time, the Herb Gathering Hall gave them no money, only meals: coarse rice and vegetables, with a little meat if they performed well. If a registered apprentice performed poorly, they might be dismissed.
After the six-month "training period," they would begin a three-year "tempering period." The herb-gathering apprentices would follow herb-gathering artisans into the mountains. The artisans would teach them how to use the skills they had learned in the wilderness. Only if they performed well would they receive a small monetary reward.
After completing the three-year tempering period of accompanying herb-gathering artisans on expeditions, the apprentices could be promoted to herb-gathering trainees. They would no longer need to follow artisans into the mountains and could gather herbs independently for money. The more valuable the herbs they collected, the greater their reward.
After seven or eight years, outstanding herb-gathering trainees could be promoted to herb-gathering artisans and take new apprentices into the mountains.
After several decades, an artisan who had earned enough merit for the Herb Gathering Hall might be promoted to herb-gathering master, becoming an important figure in the hall like Herbalist Wang. It wasn't impossible. A herb-gathering master held a very high position in the Herb Gathering Hall. They had wealth, power, and status, and aside from the hall master, the vice hall masters, and a few others, they didn't have to worry about what anyone thought. They were also well-known figures in Zhuqi County.
When Herbalist Wang finished, Ye Qin, Yang Yicheng, Feng Xiao, and the others all wore feverish expressions and clenched their fists. Such a bright future was enough to make them fight for their lives.
Seeing the children's faces alight with excitement, Herbalist Wang gave a quiet, cold laugh. A master's status was indeed high, but first they had to live long enough to reach that day. A herb gatherer's life was nine parts peril; that wasn't just an expression. The Herb Gathering Hall had over a thousand disciples, but only a few dozen masters.
He would never say those things aloud.
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