Herb Gathering Skill

Before dawn had even broken, the herb-gathering boys in the small courtyard were roused by several youths in fine silk robes. They were gathered in a large courtyard to undergo the initiation ceremony for joining the Herb Gathering Hall.

There were over forty outer-hall herb-gathering boys dressed in coarse green cloth, and five inner-hall medicine-making boys in white cloth. The children stood in several rows on the flat ground, looking extremely nervous.

Ye Qin was no exception, feeling a slight sense of unease in his heart.

He noticed two important figures from the Herb Gathering Hall standing in the courtyard.

One was short and very plump, looking exactly like a wealthy merchant; he stood with his hands behind his back, smiling as he gazed at the children. The other was a lean, middle-aged man in his forties or fifties wearing a green robe. He also stood with his hands behind his back, his expression cold and his gaze sharp as lightning; no one in the courtyard dared to meet his eyes.

Grand Steward Zhang, along with dozens of herb-gatherers and medicine-makers from both the inner and outer halls—including Herbalist Wang—all appeared very restrained in front of these two big shots, not daring to speak much.

Grand Steward Zhang introduced them to the boys: the man who looked like a wealthy merchant was Vice Hall Master Ma of the inner hall, who held the second-highest position in the Herb Gathering Hall. The lean man was Vice Hall Master Ji of the outer hall, who held the third-highest position.

As for the legendary head of the Herb Gathering Hall, Philanthropist Li, he did not appear at the ceremony.

Grand Steward Zhang was also a high-level manager, but he was only responsible for the miscellaneous affairs within the hall. Many of the hall's chores were managed by him.

The remaining dozens of herb-gatherers and medicine-makers were specifically responsible for taking on apprentices and training herb-gatherers and medicine-makers.

After Grand Steward Zhang finished introducing the big shots, the initiation ceremony began.

All the herb-gathering boys stepped forward one by one to drip their blood into a basin at the front. They knelt on one knee beneath a banner of the Medicine King Gang to take the blood oath, the most common practice in martial arts sects. They swore never to betray the Medicine King Gang or the Herb Gathering Hall, and signed lifelong contracts to serve the Medicine King Gang with their lives.

This blood-letting ritual left the boys feeling incredibly excited, and for the first time, they felt as though they had become members of the martial arts world.

Vice Hall Master Ma and Vice Hall Master Ji did not stay long. After the ceremony concluded, they gave the herbalists a few instructions and left immediately. Grand Steward Zhang followed closely behind the two Vice Hall Masters as they departed. A portion of the herbalists also left shortly after.

In the end, only ten herb-gatherers and five medicine-makers remained in the courtyard to formally begin teaching the boys the skills of the Herb Gathering Hall.

Each herb-gatherer would take on four to five herb-gathering boys.

As for the five medicine-makers, each took on only one medicine-making boy dressed in coarse white cloth.

Ye Qin, Yang Yicheng, Feng Xiao, Qian Ruoxiu, and Sun Ying naturally followed Herbalist Wang. Ye Qin, Yang Yicheng, and the others felt a bit strange, occasionally glancing at the boys in white cloth. They looked somewhat different from them, though they couldn't quite put their finger on why.

Herbalist Wang stood with his hands behind his back and said coldly.

"Stop looking. They are inner-hall medicine-making boys. In the future, they will either become medicine-makers or stay in the shop to work; they don't need to risk their lives going out to gather herbs. They are here to enjoy a comfortable life. You are outer-hall herb-gathering boys; you need to risk your lives going out to gather herbs. You are here to gamble with your lives—it's that simple. You are now my, Wang Hong's, disciples. Don't go looking for trouble with these inner-hall disciples in the future. If you cause trouble, it won't be a laughing matter."

The five of them quickly lowered their heads to listen to the lecture.

Afterward, Herbalist Wang began to explain the content that a qualified herb-gathering boy needed to train in, as well as some things they needed to be aware of.

The skills a Herb Gathering Hall boy had to learn were surprisingly numerous: literacy, arithmetic, herb identification, herb-gathering techniques, wilderness survival, emergency wilderness treatment, pest and beast repulsion, trap-setting, wilderness camouflage, sword and bow skills, rope-throwing, basic external martial arts, basic internal martial arts... adding up to no fewer than a dozen categories.

The sheer variety was enough to be astonishing.

One must know that ordinary country herb-gatherers at most only knew how to identify and gather herbs, which was sufficient for gathering in non-dangerous wilderness areas.

But the Herb Gathering Hall was different; it was a branch under the Medicine King Gang.

The Medicine King Gang was the fifth-largest martial arts sect in Ping Province, possessing formidable strength. Its main hall was in the capital of Ping Province, and it had branch halls in every county. It was impossible for disciples of such a large sect to not know martial arts, as they were often dragged into martial arts conflicts. Therefore, even the lowest-level entry-level herb-gathering boy had to learn external and internal martial arts.

Furthermore, because they needed to enter dangerous deep mountains, canyons, and sheer cliffs to gather herbs with decades or even centuries of medicinal potency, the skills they needed to learn were naturally extensive.

Literacy and arithmetic—herb manuals were recorded in writing; without literacy and arithmetic, one could never memorize thousands of types of medicinal materials.

Herb identification—one needed to identify up to thousands of different toxic, medicinal, and rare herbs. Whether they were toxic or non-toxic, all had to be gathered. Herbs included plants, wood, insects, snakes, stones, and even the fur, bones, and other parts of wild beasts like tigers and wolves. One had to identify the name, category, and medicinal properties of known herbs. They even had to identify the grade and properties of unknown herbs to see if they were worth gathering. As long as it could be sold for money, any herb would be gathered. An experienced herb-gatherer had to be able to spot valuable herbs from a great distance at a single glance.

Herb-gathering techniques—to ensure the maximum medicinal potency of the herbs was not lost, gatherers had to master specialized techniques. Improper gathering methods would lead to failure. Often, low-level apprentices, due to lack of experience, would make mistakes when gathering high-grade herbs, damaging their potency.

Wilderness survival, emergency wilderness treatment, and pest and beast repulsion—these need not be mentioned; going into the mountains to gather herbs usually took months or years, so learning to survive in the wild, prevent insect bites, and treat injuries was absolutely essential.

Trap-setting, wilderness camouflage, sword and bow skills, rope-throwing, basic external martial arts, and basic internal martial arts—these combat skills were not strictly related to gathering herbs; they were primarily for self-protection against fierce wild beasts or even people from the martial arts world. Additionally, some precious herbs were often guarded by fierce beasts; without killing them, one could never gather the herbs. Traps and camouflage were very practical. And if one gathered precious herbs, there was a high chance of being robbed by bandits on the road. There were many bandits in Ping Province, and fighting with thieves was inevitable. If a disciple of a major sect like the Medicine King Gang couldn't even defeat common thieves, it would be a laughingstock.

Fortunately, Ye Qin and the others knew nothing of this yet, so they didn't feel that there was too much to learn.

The entire training period for the boys lasted six months.

During this period, the Herb Gathering Hall would not provide the boys with any money, only food. There was brown rice, vegetables, and a small amount of meat for those who performed well. If a registered boy performed poorly, they were likely to be dismissed.

When the six-month "training period" ended, the three-year "exercise period" would begin, during which the herb-gathering boys would follow herb-gathering masters into the mountains. The masters would teach them how to use the skills they had learned in the wild. Only then, if they performed well, could they receive small monetary rewards.

Only after the three-year exercise period of following the masters was completed could a boy be promoted to an herb-gathering apprentice. At that point, they would no longer need to follow a master and could go out independently to earn money. The more valuable the herbs they gathered, the higher the rewards.

Seven or eight years later, an outstanding apprentice could be promoted to an herb-gathering master, capable of taking new boys into the mountains.

Decades later, if an herb-gathering master accumulated enough contributions to the Herb Gathering Hall, it was not impossible for them to be promoted to an herbalist, becoming an important figure in the hall like Herbalist Wang. One had to know that the status of an herbalist in the Herb Gathering Hall was extremely high; they had money, power, and status, and apart from the Hall Master, Vice Hall Masters, and a few others, they didn't have to answer to anyone. In Zhuqi County, they were also very prestigious figures.

After Herbalist Wang finished speaking, Ye Qin, Yang Yicheng, Feng Xiao, and the others all wore fanatical expressions, their fists clenched. Such a bright future was enough to make them risk their lives.

Seeing the excitement on their young faces, Herbalist Wang sneered inwardly: The status of an herbalist is indeed high, but that is on the condition that you have the life to live until that day. The life of an herb-gatherer is one of nine deaths and one life; that is no mere saying. Among the thousands of disciples in the entire Herb Gathering Hall, there were only a few dozen herbalists.

These were words he would never say out loud.