Gray Egg

Ye Qin secretly estimated its value; that small herb with a single dewdrop on its leaf was likely worth about one silver leaf. This value was enough to make him risk a try, as it would make his next few days much easier.

Ye Qin quickly turned his head to scan the surrounding sky, discovering a few eagles circling in the distant blue expanse, none of which had noticed his presence. He couldn't help but feel a secret joy; he only needed to descend another two or three zhang to stand on that protruding rock.

He loosened the thin rope around his waist. Grabbing the thick rope tightly with both hands, he slowly moved downward.

After a short while, Ye Qin stood with one foot on the rock. He first plucked the common herbs nearby, placing them into the small herb basket hanging at his waist. Then, he inched toward the edge of the rock, preparing to harvest the dew-dropped herb.

Standing within arm's reach, he gazed at the small plant.

A strange feeling arose in Ye Qin's heart; the herb seemed to contain some kind of mysterious spiritual energy, causing him to feel an uncontrollable sense of awe.

He laughed at himself inwardly, quickly shaking off the wild thoughts to focus on digging up the herb.

Harvesting such a rare plant required extreme caution. Because he didn't know its medicinal properties, he couldn't tell if its most valuable part was in the leaves, the stem, or the roots. Thus, he prepared to dig the whole thing up, roots, soil, and all.

Ye Qin skillfully drew a small herb-picking knife from the strap on his right leg. With great care, he dug the soil away bit by bit along the base of the herb, avoiding any damage to its fragile root system.

To his surprise, although the stem and leaves of the herb were only the size of his pinky finger, the roots were nearly half a foot long. It took a full quarter of an hour to extract it, roots and soil intact.

Chirp—!

A sharp eagle cry rang out from the sky behind him.

Ye Qin was startled by the sound, a sense of foreboding suddenly rising in his heart. He had been too focused on digging the herb and had spent too long, forgetting that this was an eagle's nest. He had only just turned his head when he caught a glimpse of a gray shadow swooping down from mid-air, accompanied by a fierce gust of wind.

Without a second thought, Ye Qin flipped his wrist, stabbing his herb-picking knife backward at the gray shadow with lightning speed. Puchi! The gray shadow failed to dodge; it was unclear where it had been struck, but it let out a shrill, miserable cry and plummeted off the cliff, taking Ye Qin's knife with it into the invisible depths of the mountain canyon.

Ye Qin gasped in pain, his mouth nearly tearing open. Before the gray shadow died, it had flapped its wings violently, nearly breaking his entire right forearm and leaving several deep, bloody claw marks.

Enduring the pain in his right hand, he dared not delay. He grabbed the green herb with his left hand and stuffed it into the basket at his waist. He then prepared to climb upward immediately. There were several eagle nests here, and there was more than one eagle. He had to leave as soon as possible.

The dying cry of the gray eagle had already alerted the surrounding eagles.

The sky was filled with loud eagle cries, and several gray shadows swooped toward his position.

At this moment, Ye Qin no longer harbored any illusions, nor did he have time for regrets. He knew it was impossible to climb to the mountaintop while under siege by a flock of eagles. He was in a death trap; he had to turn and fight—either he died, or the flock would.

He hardened his heart, backing against the rock wall on the protruding ledge. He tied himself securely with the thick rope and drew his final weapon—a slightly dull, notched wood-chopping knife from his back waist.

He faced the gray eagles head-on.

Ye Qin silently circulated Gathering Qi and Focusing Spirit within his body. The strand of energy born from his dantian flowed through his right forearm, neutralizing most of the piercing pain. This internal cultivation method not only gave him strong physical recovery abilities but also sharpened his vision and agility, making him many times stronger than he had been before.

Although he had never learned powerful offensive martial arts, he was exceptionally proficient in the most basic chopping, stabbing, and hacking motions. Otherwise, he would have died in some nameless mountain gully long ago.

Four or five gray eagles dove toward him.

In an instant, Ye Qin saw their gliding trajectories in mid-air. Two were flying the fastest and were already less than thirty paces away, while the three behind were slightly slower.

Pick them off one by one!

This thought jumped into his mind without a moment's hesitation.

The moment the two eagles reached him, Ye Qin took aim and swung his wood-chopping knife horizontally with all his might. Puchi, crunch! The two eagles were cleaved in half by his blade and fell off the cliff.

However, he was also slammed hard against the rock wall by the violent, head-on impact of the two eagles. His entire body felt as if it had been struck by two giant iron hammers—an impact even harder than his senior brother's fist. A mouthful of blood surged up his throat and sprayed out, and he fell to one knee on the rock with a thud, his head spinning. If not for the rope tied to his body, he would have tumbled off the cliff.

The remaining three gray eagles were stunned to see their companions killed in the blink of an eye. They let out a series of mournful, angry cries, circling in mid-air. Their eyes were blood-red, filled with rage and impatience as they glared at the culprit who had invaded their nest and slaughtered their kin.

After a few breaths, Ye Qin caught his breath. His eyes were bloodshot, revealing a bone-chilling killing intent as he gripped his knife with one hand, standing his ground against the three eagles.

Before the age of ten, Ye Qin had followed his father on dozens of hunting trips deep into the mountains, learning a simple truth: only the fiercest beasts survive in the forest; those who turn and run only find death. Three years ago, when he was wandering the wilderness with Da Niu, he had dared to fight a greedy wild dog in the middle of the night without regard for his life. Now that he was fourteen, his physique was many times stronger than before; how could he fear these three eagles?

However, Ye Qin had been severely jolted by the impact, and his body was nearly rigid. If these three eagles had attacked him right then, he would have been torn into countless pieces by their powerful iron claws.

But the three gray eagles were intimidated by the ferocity he displayed and failed to seize the opportunity to attack. They dared not strike, merely circling outside the nest.

Ye Qin dared not climb either, as he couldn't expose his back to them.

He seized the time, kneeling on the protruding rock, silently circulating his internal energy to soothe his stiff muscles and bones, recovering his strength to fight.

They stood in a standoff for several hours. The sun gradually set, and a bone-chilling wind began to blow across the cliff. The three gray eagles finally lost their patience. Letting out one last mournful cry—seemingly realizing they could not defeat the enemy who had occupied their nest—they flapped their gray wings and turned to fly toward a distant mountain peak.

Ye Qin finally let out a sigh of relief. He loosened his grip on the wood-chopping knife, hung it back at his waist, and wiped the dried blood from the corner of his mouth. He examined his body; there were at least seven or eight bloody claw marks, already crusted over in the wind.

He gave a bitter smile.

Damn beasts. I nearly died here today. To harvest that rare herb, I almost threw my life away. I really don't know if it was worth it.

Ye Qin had taken over this section of the eagle nests and scared away all the gray eagles, so he was safe for the time being. He sat cross-legged on the rock to rest for a while, recovering enough strength to climb to the top before dark.

Once he relaxed, he couldn't help but smell the stench of the eagle nests.

Thinking of how those eagles had nearly cost him his life, a wave of hatred rose in Ye Qin. He reached out to dig out the nests, intending to destroy them. To his surprise, one of the nests contained a gray egg.

"Huh? This egg is a bit strange, all gray and dull. Oh well, I was worried about not having anything good to eat tonight; it'll be perfect for an appetizer."

He casually stuffed the egg into the small herb basket at his waist.