Parting Ways

After the three-year training period, the twenty or thirty Herb Gathering Apprentices who had survived were evaluated by Vice Hall Master Ji of the Herb Gathering Hall. Under the supervision of the herbalists, they slaughtered chickens as a sacrifice to the gods and performed a blade-handing ceremony, officially promoting them to Herb Gathering Apprentices of the Herb Gathering Hall.

Ye Qin received a symbolic herb-gathering knife from Herbalist Wang and carefully tucked it away against his body. Possessing this knife meant he had completed his apprenticeship and was qualified to go out and gather herbs either alone or in a group.

Subsequently, Vice Hall Master Ji announced the rules that all Herb Gathering Apprentices must follow: after becoming an apprentice, all gathered herbs must be turned over to the Herb Gathering Hall. An appraiser would then determine the value of the herbs, and the apprentice would be rewarded with five percent of that value.

There was a monthly minimum quota for herb gathering—herbs worth five silver leaves.

(This refers to the money the apprentice receives as a reward after gathering, not the actual value of the herbs themselves. The value of the herbs far exceeds this amount. In subsequent calculations, unless otherwise specified, it generally refers to the reward money. In the Wu Kingdom, one hundred copper coins can be exchanged for one silver leaf, and one hundred silver leaves can be exchanged for one gold leaf.)

Failing to meet the minimum quota for two consecutive months would result in punishment, ranging from a reduction in rewards to being dealt with by the Punishment Hall.

If a large amount of herbs were collected during a single trip, the Herb Gathering Hall would gradually increase the reward rate to six or ten percent, and might even reward them with extremely precious medicines refined by the Hall, which could save their lives in critical moments. If the reward rate exceeded ten percent, one could be promoted to an Herb Gatherer, at which point the rewards would be even higher, ranging from ten to twenty percent. Upon reaching twenty percent, one would be qualified to be promoted to an Herbalist.

The Herb Gathering Apprentices were overjoyed.

Previously, when following Herb Gatherers out to collect herbs, they only received a meager reward of one or two hundred copper coins per month for their hard work. But from now on, when they went out on their own, the price would be determined by the value of the herbs collected, and their income would certainly far exceed what it was before—at least five hundred copper coins (five silver leaves).

Stimulated by this, the youths who had just been promoted to Herb Gathering Apprentices were all anxious to go out and gather herbs.

Five fellow disciples—Yang Yicheng, Ye Qin, Feng Xiao, Qian Ruoxiu, and Sun Ying—agreed to form a group to gather herbs so they could look after each other on the road.

Before leaving, Ye Qin went to the Yang Family Smithy to bid farewell to Cheng Daniu. Having spent three years forging iron with Old Man Yang, Cheng Daniu's muscles had become quite sturdy; he no longer looked like the frail child he once was. He was able to earn a little money every month from blacksmithing, enough at least to support himself.

Ye Qin felt relieved. Even if he were not around, Daniu could live well, which allowed him to head into the mountains to gather herbs with peace of mind.

Afterward, the five of them left the county town and headed toward the deep mountains and old forests hundreds of miles away.

They followed their previous team formation: Ye Qin carried the herb basket alone, bearing the weight for everyone, and walked in the middle. Yang Yicheng cleared the path in front, Sun Ying provided support from the side, and Qian Ruoxiu walked with Ye Qin to drive away insects and ants. Meanwhile, Feng Xiao drifted around within a few hundred paces, picking up some low-value herbs.

Without the Herb Gatherer Xie Ze, they no longer had to worry about being sent to risk their lives as substitutes. Their journey was very relaxed and pleasant, filled with laughter and conversation, and they did not go out of their way to take risks on dangerous peaks or in deep canyons.

For Ye Qin, carrying the load was already an easy task. The three years of practicing the Sitting-in-Forgetfulness Sutra's introductory chapter, Gathering Qi and Focusing Spirit, had allowed the trace of energy within his body to grow significantly, and the stamina he recovered each time had doubled. These three years of internal cultivation had led to great progress in his physical strength, and his spirit was also quite abundant.

Over the course of more than ten days, they were somewhat lax, as if they were merely out sightseeing.

Ye Qin felt a bit worried.

Every night, he would calculate the value of the herbs in the basket. Calculating the value of herbs was one of the most basic skills for an herb gatherer.

Because the group was not gathering herbs seriously, they had not collected many by now. He carefully calculated that, divided equally among the five of them, each person had only a little over one silver leaf's worth of herbs, far from the minimum quota of five silver leaves. Yet, one-third of the month had already passed.

When Ye Qin shared this situation with the others, Yang Yicheng, Feng Xiao, and the others were startled, and Qian Ruoxiu and Sun Ying also showed expressions of alarm.

This was no small matter.

If they failed to complete the task in the first month, the next month would be dangerous. The punishments of the Herb Gathering Hall were not to be trifled with. They had seen with their own eyes the bloody human skins in the punishment room and the flayed, blood-soaked men who had been punished for violating certain hall rules. Some had failed to complete their tasks, some had privately sold gathered herbs to others, and some were traitors who had been captured and brought back.

The relaxed atmosphere vanished in an instant. Over the next few days, they were forced to rush to dangerous places like canyons and cliffs—places that were perilous but might hold precious herbs—to collect as many as possible.

In these dangerous locations, Feng Xiao was the first to be sent out. Because his light-body technique was the best and his movements were the most agile, he was the most certain to successfully pick herbs from the cliffs.

Feng Xiao complained with dissatisfaction, but the other four insisted he go, and he had no choice.

As a result, the herbs in the herb basket Ye Qin carried began to gradually increase. When the month was nearly over, they had to leave the deep mountains and rush back toward Zhuqi County. Along the way, they gathered some low-value herbs in the wilderness to make up the numbers.

Despite this, when they were close to the county town, the five of them dumped all the herbs from the basket, divided them into five piles, and carefully tallied them one last time. There were only a little over twenty-one silver leaves' worth of herbs in the basket. Even if they estimated the price generously, it was at most twenty-two silver leaves, still short by at least three silver leaves.

The five of them stared at each other in dismay.

This meant that only one or two people could complete the herb-gathering task, while the remaining three would definitely fail this month's quota.

Who would take the five silver leaves' worth of herbs, and who would take the four?

"I want the five silver leaves' worth. At least half of the valuable herbs in there were collected by me risking my life!"

Feng Xiao held his breath for a moment before speaking up to claim the five silver leaves' worth of herbs.

The others were silent.

Feng Xiao had taken the greatest risks, so they had no objections to him taking the five silver leaves.

But for the rest, who would take more?

Yang Yicheng, Qian Ruoxiu, and Sun Ying all had their own opinions. Yang Yicheng said that he had driven away wolves, tigers, and leopards and cleared the path through the mountains, so he should get more. Qian Ruoxiu said she had caught many insect and snake herbs along the way, and many of the herbs were found by her, so she should get more. Sun Ying said she had killed many wild beasts, so why should she get less?

Because it concerned whether they could complete this month's herb-gathering task, no one was willing to make concessions easily.

Ye Qin just stood to the side, watching silently. Because he had hardly gathered any herbs himself, carrying the basket could hardly be called a "contribution." He did not want to join this dispute over a few herbs.

Watching the three of them argue back and forth, a trace of sadness suddenly arose in his heart. Even though they were fellow disciples who had worked together to survive for three years, they were now arguing in the face of cruel, cold interests.

Forming a group to gather herbs was convenient, but it was easy to hurt their feelings over whether the distribution was fair.

Perhaps, it was time to consider going out to gather herbs alone.

He was not the only one with this thought.

After returning to the Herb Gathering Hall in the county town, all the herbs were sent to the appraisal department in the inner hall to count their value. Ye Qin, Yang Yicheng, Qian Ruoxiu, and Sun Ying had only gathered enough herbs for four silver leaves. Because it was the first month, they were treated leniently, each receiving ten lashes as punishment and having one silver leaf deducted, leaving them with only three silver leaves.

Feng Xiao alone avoided punishment because he had gathered enough, receiving the reward of five silver leaves.

The five returned to the stone house where they lived.

Feng Xiao was the first to propose breaking up the group. He felt that if he went to gather herbs alone, he could definitely collect more without being dragged down by the others.

Yang Yicheng looked at Feng Xiao with cold eyes and snorted, "You only learned light-body technique; if you run into wolves, let's see how you protect yourself!"

Feng Xiao didn't care at all: "Do you think I'm stupid? If I can't beat them, can't I run? With my light-body technique, what wolf could catch me?"

Yang Yicheng said nothing more; he had decided to go herb-gathering alone. With his external martial arts capable of tearing apart wolves and tigers, there was nowhere he could not go.

Two days later, when it was time to go herb-gathering again, the five of them each shouldered their packs and went their separate ways.

Qian Ruoxiu and Sun Ying decided to go together, and before leaving, they asked Ye Qin if he would like to join them, suggesting that there would be safety in numbers. Judging by the expressions they revealed, they were pitying Ye Qin. Because Ye Qin was the weakest of the five—lacking both martial prowess and light-foot skills, possessing only stamina and the ability to walk for long periods—their offer to bring him along was largely out of sympathy.

Ye Qin gave a bitter smile and shook his head faintly. If the three of them went together, he would still end up at the bottom of the pile when it came to splitting the herbs. He decided to go alone and try his luck.

Furthermore, there was a sense of pride in Ye Qin's heart; he did not believe he was much worse than the other four.

In reality, having followed the herb-gatherer Xie Ze for three years while staying five paces behind him, he had silently memorized every move Xie Ze made while observing and harvesting herbs, learning the most practical techniques. By comparison, because Yang, Feng, Qian, and Sun had scattered, they had actually learned far less.