The Death Herbalist

A month later.

Herb Gathering Hall, small stone house in the courtyard.

"It wasn't as dangerous as I imagined! We went into the mountains once this month, barely did anything, and easily walked away with a reward of over two hundred copper coins. The three-year training period for Herb Gathering Apprentices will pass in a flash, and we'll be able to save up quite a bit of coin. Once we become official Herb Gathering Artisans, we'll definitely earn even more—getting a pretty little wife will be no problem at all!"

Feng Xiao tossed a bulging little money pouch triumphantly, speaking gleefully in front of Ye Qin.

Because Feng Xiao "wandered" around and occasionally gathered some low-grade herbs, he received the highest reward among the four. Yang Yicheng, Qian Ruoxiu, and Sun Ying received a bit less, around one hundred forty or fifty coins. Ye Qin, carrying his herb basket, hadn't gathered a single herb and only received about one hundred coins for his hard labor.

After returning to the county town, Xie Ze distributed the rewards based on their contributions.

Ye Qin smiled, feeling a bit bitter.

Who told him to practice the Endurance Skill? During the training period for Herb Gathering Apprentices, he was the one with the lowest income among them all. He feared the result would be the same after three years when he became an official Herb Gathering Artisan. The reason was simple: the internal energy he practiced wasn't very suitable for gathering herbs. Feng Xiao practiced light-foot skills, which were the most suitable of all.

With a "bang," Yang Yicheng pushed open the wooden door and entered from outside, his face looking grim and his gaze unfocused. Without a word, he climbed onto his bed, lay down with his back to them, and remained silent.

"Eh, Senior Brother, what's going on? Why such a big temper?"

Feng Xiao called out in confusion.

Ye Qin glanced over, feeling secretly puzzled as well. He had known Yang Yicheng for so long and had never seen him lose his temper like this. They had only been back in town for two days and had even earned one hundred copper coins; how could his mood have turned so sour for no reason after going out for a walk this evening?

Qian Ruoxiu and Sun Ying walked in from outside at that moment.

Ye Qin and Feng Xiao couldn't help but look at them.

Qian Ruoxiu's lips were somewhat pale.

"They're dead, two of them are dead!"

Feng Xiao was shocked, "Dead~, what do you mean two are dead?"

"The other teams that went out to gather herbs have returned, but two Herb Gathering Apprentices died. One of them was even someone Senior Brother knew; they were childhood friends who grew up together."

Tears welled up in Qian Ruoxiu's eyes.

Zhuqi County was only so big, and many of the children in the town knew each other. Even if they weren't close, they had at least seen one another.

Feng Xiao was stunned, unable to process the news for a long time.

Ye Qin was also taken aback. Only a month had passed, and two were already dead. After the three-year training period ended, how many of their group of over forty apprentices would survive?

Ye Qin couldn't help but feel a chill on his body; the air in the stone house seemed to turn a few degrees colder.

That Herb Gathering Apprentices faced a life-of-nine-deaths situation was no rumor.

Ye Qin was not paralyzed by this grim news and asked calmly.

"How did those two Herb Gathering Apprentices die?"

Qian Ruoxiu shook her head.

"I don't know. After the apprentices from those teams returned, their expressions were even more dejected than Senior Brother's, and they refused to say anything. But judging by their tone, it seems they fell to their deaths while trying to gather some precious herbs."

Ye Qin shook his head; even a fool would know they died from falling while gathering herbs. Otherwise, with Herb Gathering Apprentices who had been practicing martial arts for over half a year, and with stronger Herb Gathering Artisans leading them, it wouldn't be so easy to die.

He said, "We must know exactly how they died so we can find a way to avoid further danger. Fourth Junior Sister, Fifth Junior Sister, you are from the county town and are familiar with the situation here; go and ask the apprentices you know about the specific process."

Yang Yicheng suddenly rolled over, his eyes bloodshot. "No need to ask, I know how they died!"

Ye Qin looked at him in surprise.

Yang Yicheng said bitterly, "I know the apprentices from both teams. One team said they found a century-old precious Crow Grass on a cliff in a deep valley. But the spot was almost sheer, and the mountain rocks were extremely sharp; the wind was like a blade, making it very easy to cut the ropes. The Herb Gathering Artisan didn't want to risk his own life, so he sent an apprentice who knew light-foot skills. The result was a slip, and he was blown into the deep valley, losing his life. The other team found a rare herb in a river valley; again, because the Herb Gathering Artisan didn't want to take the risk, he sent my brother who knew light-foot skills up there. He slipped and was swept away by the water in the blink of an eye. These Herb Gathering Artisans are none of them good people; they use our lives to trade for their own safety!"

Ye Qin, Qian Ruoxiu, and Sun Ying, upon hearing this, couldn't help but turn their heads in shock to look at Feng Xiao inside the stone house.

Among them, only Feng Xiao knew light-foot skills. If such a day came where that Herb Gathering Artisan Xie Ze needed someone to take the risk to gather herbs... the first one to go would likely be Feng Xiao.

Feng Xiao's face was already deathly pale, frightened out of his wits, clutching his head and refusing to listen further. "How could it be like this? Everything was fine, why would people have to die?" His previous joy at having earned two hundred copper coins had completely vanished. If he lost his life, what use was this bit of money?

Ye Qin was silent.

He thought of a more distant problem. If Feng Xiao died, who would be next? It would likely be one of Qian Ruoxiu or Sun Ying, as they were agile and nimble. Then it would be Yang Yicheng and himself, who only had physical strength. Every time one more person died, he became one step closer to danger.

Therefore, no matter what, they had to protect Feng Xiao. Only if Feng Xiao lived would everyone be safe.

Ye Qin shared this thought with Qian Ruoxiu, Sun Ying, and Yang Yicheng, and they all agreed, willing to do their best to protect Feng Xiao.

They rested in the county town for two or three days.

Xie Ze wanted to enter the mountains to gather herbs, and the five of them naturally had to follow him again, heading deep into the mountains. However, this time they no longer had any leisure or interest; their hearts were heavy, and they would occasionally steal strange, wary glances at Xie Ze, as if he were a man-eating demon.

Feng Xiao, in particular, was in extremely low spirits and had no heart to use his light-foot skills to pick any herbs. He wished he didn't know light-foot skills at all, so he wouldn't die so quickly.

Yang Yicheng, Qian Ruoxiu, and Sun Ying also had no interest in catching insects, snakes, or wild beasts.

Although they were only eleven or twelve years old, coming from poor backgrounds, most had grown up enduring hardship and were quite mature in certain aspects. They were very vigilant against those who harbored malice.

Xie Ze had already noticed their strange expressions and knew the reason, but he ignored it completely. He walked at a steady pace, only occasionally sneering in secret, thinking to himself: So what if you are wary of me? When the time comes that I need to use you, I will naturally use you. Can you even resist?

Only Ye Qin, carrying his herb basket five steps behind Xie Ze, remained low-key throughout.

Spring departed and winter arrived, year after year.

The three-year training period for Herb Gathering Apprentices passed quickly.

During these three years, sometimes several apprentices would die in a single month, and sometimes not a single one would die for several months. It entirely depended on whether they encountered precious herbs, whether the location where the herbs grew was extremely dangerous, and whether the apprentice sent to the task slipped. If none of those three conditions were met, under normal circumstances, no one would die.

During the first year, the Herb Gathering Apprentices lacked experience and suffered the highest casualties, with seven of them dying. In the two years that followed, the number of deaths began to decrease significantly, yet every year still claimed a few lives.

Ye Qin's team was slightly more fortunate.

Over these three years, Xie Ze only made Feng Xiao take their place five times.

Feng Xiao was timid, but after being goaded by Yang Yicheng and realizing he could not escape the fate of being a substitute, he practiced his movement techniques with desperate intensity out of grief and indignation, managing to push his Cloud Ladder Leap to the third level. Given his playful and mischievous nature, reaching the third level was no easy feat.

Coupled with the full support of Ye Qin, Yang Yicheng, Qian Ruoxiu, Sun Ying, and the others, they managed to survive the three-year training period for apprentices.