Into the Mountains

Ye Qin took Da Niu into the county town and found the smithy belonging to Yang Yicheng's family.

He had to find a way to settle Da Niu somewhere.

There was no way he could leave Da Niu begging in the county town and suffering abuse from others. It had taken so much effort to find him; Ye Qin couldn't let him go through that misery again. But given Ye Qin's current standing, he had no way to get Da Niu into the Herb Gathering Hall as a Herb Gathering Apprentice, either.

He didn't know many people in the county town. He was close only to his master and the other four senior and junior brothers. Feng Xiao's family were tenant farmers outside the county town, while Qian Ruoxiu and Sun Ying were a tailor and a weaver, so neither seemed suitable.

After thinking it over, the only place that seemed right was the smithy belonging to Yang Yicheng's family. It was in the county town, and Da Niu could learn the blacksmith's trade there, giving him a way to earn his own living with his two hands.

Before Yang Yicheng had left, he'd told Ye Qin where his family's smithy was, so it wasn't hard to find.

Ye Qin soon found the Yang Family Smithy in the poor district southeast of the county town. It was a tiny, rundown shop, with a tattered flag stuck outside. Inside stood a forge and a few hammers; the smiths made and repaired hoes, sickles, and other farm tools.

Yang Yicheng was helping his father forge iron.

When Yang Yicheng saw Ye Qin come by, he was delighted. He hurriedly introduced him to his father as a fellow disciple and an exceptionally capable one. Old Man Yang was a dark-skinned, honest, middle-aged blacksmith. When he saw Ye Qin, he just gave him a simple, bashful smile and nodded. He couldn't manage a single word for ages.

Ye Qin couldn't help wondering how such an honest, unassuming man had ended up with a son like Yang Yicheng, who could talk for hours and never seemed able to sit still. But he kept that thought to himself. Otherwise, Yang Yicheng would flare up again.

Ye Qin pulled Da Niu over from behind him and introduced him to Yang Yicheng, explaining that Cheng Daniu was a fellow townsman and brother of his. He hoped Da Niu could find work at the smithy.

"Piece of cake!"

Yang Yicheng agreed without hesitation, thumping his chest, then told his father to take Da Niu in.

But Old Man Yang looked troubled and only shook his head.

"Dad, what's one more person? Another pair of hands at the Yang Family Smithy would be a good thing, wouldn't it? My brother came to me for help for the first time, and if I can't help him, how am I supposed to face anyone after this?"

Yang Yicheng was getting anxious. Ye Qin had looked out for him plenty of times at the sect. If he lost face and hurt their friendship over such a small matter, how could he go on being their senior brother?

Old Man Yang's face reddened. After a long while, he finally forced out a few unclear words.

But Ye Qin understood the gist: the smithy was too small, business was slow, and it couldn't afford to feed another person.

Ye Qin had left home because his own family couldn't afford to support him, so he understood the difficulties of a small shop. It wasn't easy to feed another person; you couldn't just hire someone because you wanted to. With no work to do, another person could become a burden instead.

He immediately pulled a hundred copper coins from his pocket and pressed them into Old Man Yang's hand.

"Old Man Yang, it isn't much, but you can spend three copper coins a day to buy Da Niu a few steamed buns. That should keep him fed for a month. I'll send over the money I earn at the Herb Gathering Hall to cover his meals."

Yang Yicheng blushed, then pulled a hundred copper coins from his own pocket and pressed them into his father's hand.

"Dad, I forgot to tell you. Master gave us some money. I don't need it for now, so we might as well make it enough for two months' meals. We should be able to go into the mountains and come back once every month or two. By then, we'll definitely have more money, so let Da Niu stay at our smithy."

Old Man Yang held the two hundred copper coins in his hands. Clearly, he hadn't expected the two of them to pay for two months' meals. He stared at the coins, stunned, then finally nodded.

Yang Yicheng was overjoyed. He slapped Ye Qin on the shoulder and said loudly, "See? I told you it was a piece of cake. Second Junior Brother, your fellow townsman can stay at my family's smithy from now on!"

Ye Qin was quietly moved. His senior brother was usually careless and sometimes liked to pick on people, but when it mattered, he was a loyal friend.

After settling Da Niu at the Yang Family Smithy, Ye Qin finally left with peace of mind.

The next day.

The thirty or forty Herb Gathering Apprentices of the Herb Gathering Hall officially began their training. They were split into ten groups and, led by ten Herb Gathering Artisans, left the county town for the deep forests and mountains in every direction, ranging hundreds or even thousands of li, in search of medicinal herbs.

Ye Qin and the other four followed a young Herb Gathering Artisan named Xie Ze.

Xie Ze was a disciple trained by Vice Hall Master Ji. He was about twenty-seven or twenty-eight, dressed in plain coarse cloth, tall and lean, and sparing with words, but cold. He looked like an ordinary herb gatherer, but a closer look at his long, lean hands, sharp as eagle talons, revealed more than ten years of skill in the Eagle Claw Technique. In the martial world, he would have been a formidable figure.

For some reason, Ye Qin always felt that people from the Herb Gathering Hall—especially many of them—carried an air of cold indifference, as if they looked down on everyone else. It wasn't because of their techniques; most of them simply seemed that way.

Ye Qin carried a heavy herb basket on his back, stuffed with rope, hooks, oil, salt, spices, an iron pot, a waterskin, and all kinds of cloth and leather pouches. He trudged along, one step sinking deep and the next shallow, silently following within five paces of Xie Ze.

He carried the entire load for all six of them.

After learning what techniques they practiced, Xie Ze assigned each of the five a role.

The six of them made a well-coordinated herb-gathering team, with Xie Ze at the center and the others spread out in every direction. Ye Qin followed close behind him, the nearest of them all and thus the safest.

Yang Yicheng had powerful external palm techniques, so he took the lead and cleared the way, killing or driving off any beasts they encountered. Sun Ying carried a sword and watched their left flank, backing Yang Yicheng up. Qian Ruoxiu had learned the nimble Plum Blossom Folding Hand, so she took the right flank, catching insects, snakes, and other creatures. Some of them were valuable ingredients for medicine.

Feng Xiao's lightness skill wasn't much use yet. He was always flitting around the group within a few hundred paces, claiming he was "scouting." But he was mostly showing off. Every so often, he did happen upon a few low-value herbs, which was an unexpected bonus that left him beaming with delight.

Ye Qin lacked offensive and defensive skills, but his stamina was extraordinary. He carried everything the six of them needed for gathering herbs, lightening the burden on the other five. With nothing weighing them down, they had more strength and could naturally travel faster and farther.

Ye Qin didn't complain about it at all. He knew his own abilities. The preliminary chapter of the Sitting-in-Forgetfulness Sutra, Gathering Qi and Focusing Spirit, had an unusual effect: it made him exceptionally vigorous, and in just six months, his stamina had far surpassed that of his four fellow disciples. But when it came to fighting, he was probably no match for any of them, and he couldn't bring out the offensive or defensive effects that ordinary internal cultivation should have. Just as the book said, this manual could only strengthen the body and prolong life.

As he trudged along with the load on his back, Ye Qin kept cultivating as he walked. Each time that faint wisp of energy circulated through the meridians in a Lesser and Greater Celestial Circuit, it dispelled the weariness from his limbs and restored the strength he had spent.

Unfortunately, that wisp of energy seemed difficult to build up. It was always just as faint and elusive as before.

Each cycle could restore only so much stamina. If he used up his strength too quickly, he couldn't recover it all.

Fortunately, Xie Ze didn't walk very fast. They headed southwest, deeper into the mountains. Once they entered the forests several hundred li away, they slowed down even more. They walked and stopped, inspecting the valleys and cliffs for herbs worth picking. Every so often, they plucked a plant from beside a cliff or riverbank, collecting its roots, stems, or leaves.

By the time they'd covered those several hundred li, they'd gathered all kinds of roots, stems, tubers, leaves, flowers, seeds, and fruits without even realizing it. Dozens of small cloth and leather pouches were now full.

Ye Qin stayed within five paces of Xie Ze the whole time, so he could see everything clearly. He couldn't help admiring his senior brother's keen eye. Herbs that none of the five of them had noticed were spotted by Xie Ze from far away with just a glance.