Testing the Medicine with One's Own Body

Over the next ten days or so, twenty children were dragged into the small wooden hut each day to test medicines, totaling several hundred by now.

Only a handful of children managed to pass; if one or two out of ten succeeded, it was considered a good day. Those who failed either died, were poisoned, or were expelled from the estate. Only those who passed were allowed to remain in the Herb Gathering Hall.

Only thirty or forty children who had yet to undergo the test remained in the small courtyard.

Every evening, these children were given a bowl of thin porridge and a few steamed buns. Ye Qin was among them; he had successfully dodged the test for over ten days, dragging it out until now. By this point, he could no longer even taste the porridge and buns, spending every day racking his brain for ways to delay further or find a way to pass the test.

The remaining children were almost all extremely sharp, their ability to evade capture no less than Ye Qin's.

On this day, Ye Qin was sabotaged by a commoner child from the county town who pushed him to the ground. As a result, he was grabbed by the scruff of his neck by a youth in silk robes, hauled onto a high platform, forced to press his thumbprint onto a life-or-death contract before Grand Steward Zhang, and then tossed into a small wooden hut.

The hut was small, containing only a table, two stools, and a middle-aged man dressed in green robes. On the table sat a wooden tray holding exactly one hundred different herbs. A large incense burner stood on the table as well, filled with the ash of many burnt-out sticks.

The middle-aged man sat on a stool, watching him with an icy gaze.

"Kid, you should know the rules of the medicine test, so I won't repeat them. Pick one and eat it. After eating one, wait for the time of one incense stick to pass before eating the next. You must eat at least nine. If you are poisoned before reaching nine, don't expect this Herbalist to save you; you will be thrown out of the estate immediately. If you eat nine or more without being poisoned, you are a member of the Herb Gathering Hall."

Ye Qin recognized this man in green robes instantly; it was Herbalist Wang, whom he had seen at the entrance of the Herb Gathering Hall. He was shocked, feeling both resentment and fear. He gingerly perched on the edge of the stool, staring intently at the herbs on the table.

His mind was a tangled mess.

Of the one hundred herbs here, fifty were poisonous—a full half. Thirty were common non-poisonous herbs, and twenty were medicinal herbs used to treat toxins.

Picking any one at random meant a fifty-fifty chance of grabbing a poisonous plant.

Unless he could identify which were poisonous and which were not.

But how could he possibly recognize these strange, exotic herbs?

If he accidentally ate a poisonous one, the worst outcome was immediate death, his body discarded in the wilderness. Even if he only suffered minor poisoning and was expelled, he had no money to seek treatment at the clinics or pharmacies in the county town.

A sense of desolation and sorrow inevitably welled up in Ye Qin's heart.

Da Niu hadn't even made it into the Herb Gathering Hall before Herbalist Wang kicked him out due to a leg injury, leaving him to wander the county town, his fate unknown.

Now that he had finally entered the Hall, he was facing a life-or-death trial, standing on the precipice of his own demise.

Driven by grief and indignation, Ye Qin gradually forgot his fear and grew calm, staring fixedly at the herbs in the wooden tray.

Ye Qin was not entirely ignorant when it came to herbs.

Born to a common hunter in the countryside, he had begun following his father into the mountains to help with the hunt at the age of eight or nine. Over three years, he had ventured deep into the mountains and forests at least twenty times, often staying for ten days, or even a month or two, at a time. In the woods, when hungry, he would dig for wild vegetables. If he accidentally suffered a scrape or cut, he would find herbs to stop the bleeding and apply them.

His father had hoped he would become a hunter and learn a trade to make a living, so he had taught him to identify some herbs. Had it not been for the severe drought this year, which left the forests with little game, he would likely still be in the countryside, acting as a little hunter.

Ye Qin widened his eyes, scrutinizing the hundred herbs in the tray. Some were the same as those his father had taught him, though time had passed, and he had forgotten a portion of them.

Ye Qin racked his brain, recalling the herbs he had tasted in the past, and discovered that three of them were medicinal herbs he had used to treat toxins. He picked those three out and placed them on his side of the table.

Herbalist Wang took an incense stick, inserted it into the burner, and lit it. He watched Ye Qin's actions with cold eyes, offering no urging.

After picking out the ones he knew, Ye Qin was left with a pile he barely recognized. Hesitating, he began to categorize the rest. He didn't know most of them, but he did possess a bit of common sense.

In the old forests, herbs that were colorful, vibrant, or had a fishy, pungent, or foul odor were highly likely to be poisonous. Furthermore, the most toxic things in the deep woods were mushrooms; they killed the fastest, so he would never eat one he didn't recognize.

Ye Qin carefully pushed the twenty or thirty herbs that were brightly colored, foul-smelling, or fishy—including several mushrooms—to the far side of the tray, regardless of whether they were actually poisonous, just to be safe.

He couldn't guarantee that the remaining sixty or seventy were safe either, as some herbs in the deep forest were odorless and colorless yet highly toxic. He desperately searched his memory, picking out the common, non-poisonous herbs he had some impression of.

Herbalist Wang was somewhat surprised.

He had overseen the testing of over thirty or forty children in the past ten days. Most would close their eyes, grab a plant, and shove it into their mouths, leaving their fate to the heavens. The few who recognized some herbs would only pick the ones they knew and avoid the rest.

It was rare to see a kid like this one, picking so carefully and meticulously, sorting them into categories of poisonous, medicinal, and common. Although he had misidentified a large portion, the error likely stemmed from his lack of knowledge rather than a flaw in his logic. This showed that his intellect was above average, far surpassing that of a typical child.

Herbalist Wang was secretly satisfied.

The "medicine test" of the Herb Gathering Hall appeared to test one's knowledge of herbs, but it truly tested courage, intellect, and composure. It tested whether one was foolish or clever when facing death, and whether one could remain calm and clear-headed in the desperate, life-threatening situation of having accidentally ingested poison.

As herbalists, they often had to venture alone into extremely dangerous, desolate places to collect precious herbs. In those lonely, life-or-death environments, there was no one to help them. Identifying herbs was important, but intellect and composure were even more so. If one lacked composure, even if they could identify herbs, panic in a desperate situation would lead to certain death.

As long as the children participating in the test possessed any one of these traits—courage, intellect, or composure—they would be accepted as an exception, even if they didn't manage to eat ten herbs.

As for those who shoved herbs into their mouths indiscriminately, who didn't value their own lives, or who relied on luck and collapsed mentally the moment they ingested a poisonous plant—they were all eliminated. Even if those children entered the Herb Gathering Hall, they would be dead sooner or later.

A quarter of an hour passed. From the hundred herbs, Ye Qin had selected three medicinal herbs and four common ones. He was quite confident that these seven would not poison him.

However, he was still two short of the required nine.

Sweat began to bead on Ye Qin's forehead.

If even one of those two remaining herbs was highly toxic, it would be enough to cost him his life.

"The time for one incense stick is almost up. Eat one immediately!"

Herbalist Wang's icy voice suddenly rang out, and he pointed at the incense burner.

Ye Qin looked up in astonishment. It turned out the incense was used for timing; before he knew it, the stick in the burner had almost burned down and was about to extinguish.

He had no choice but to pick up one of the common herbs he had identified and shove it into his mouth. A trace of fear gripped his heart as he prayed he hadn't made a mistake.

Seeing Ye Qin eat the herb, Herbalist Wang immediately took a second stick, lit it, and placed it in the burner.

Smoke curled in the air. With every stick of incense, Ye Qin was forced to eat another herb.

Time ticked away, bit by bit.

In the blink of an eye, five sticks of incense had burned away. Ye Qin had consumed four common herbs and one medicinal herb, with two medicinal herbs left in his hand. Yet, his anxiety grew, for he had yet to identify any other non-poisonous herbs from the remaining pile that he felt confident enough to eat.

Ye Qin felt panicked.

What should he do?

At this moment, Ye Qin suddenly froze, staring at the two detoxifying herbs in his hands!

He recalled something; he remembered Grand Steward Zhang once saying that if one consumed between fifty and seventy herbs, they could directly become a disciple under the Vice Hall Master.

However, Grand Steward Zhang had clearly stated that there were fifty poisonous herbs here and that eating them would cause poisoning. So how could it be possible to consume seventy herbs?

A thought suddenly struck Ye Qin. Could it be that the poisonous herbs were actually edible too? The twenty detoxifying herbs here could treat the poison from twenty poisonous herbs, adding up to seventy in total!? Yes, that must be it. Otherwise, it would be impossible for anyone to consume seventy herbs without dying.

He shifted his gaze toward the poisonous herbs he had pushed far away.

Ye Qin recognized the two detoxifying herbs in his hand, so naturally, he recognized their corresponding poisonous herbs. The poisonous herb and the detoxifying herb were a pair; one had to recognize the poisonous herb first to know which detoxifying herb to take as the cure.

Otherwise, what was the point of only knowing the detoxifying herb?

Ye Qin immediately reached out and grabbed those two poisonous herbs. These two poisonous herbs were actually common weeds found in the countryside, and their toxicity was not severe. Occasionally, livestock would eat them while grazing and fall ill. Humans would be poisoned just the same.

Herbalist Wang was slightly moved, looking at Ye Qin with a meaningful expression.

Neither more nor less, exactly nine herbs.

Using detoxifying herbs to neutralize the poison from poisonous herbs was permitted.

Consuming one more to reach ten would meet the minimum threshold to enter the Herb Gathering Hall and become a Herb Gathering Apprentice.

Whether this last herb was poisonous or not no longer mattered; the Herb Gathering Hall would provide treatment.

Afterward, for every additional herb consumed, one's status within the Herb Gathering Hall would improve by a notch.

In this herb testing, Ye Qin had consumed a total of eleven herbs. He had been poisoned on the eleventh, but because he could not find the corresponding antidote among the pile of detoxifying herbs, Herbalist Wang had stopped the test and cured him.

Herbalist Wang's cold voice stated, "Well done. From now on, you are a registered Herb Gathering Apprentice of the Herb Gathering Hall, and also a disciple of this Herbalist. Tomorrow, after all the apprentices finish their testing, you and the other successful candidates will follow me for training."

"Yes!"

Ye Qin carefully hid the resentment he felt toward Herbalist Wang in his heart, nodding obediently before backing out of the small wooden hut.

When all was said and done, he was just a child from a hunter's background, barely over ten years old, having just survived a brush with death to enter the Herb Gathering Hall as a Herb Gathering Apprentice. Herbalist Wang, however, held a lofty position; one only had to look at the respectful attitude of the gate-guarding swordsmen and the silk-clad youths toward him to know that Ye Qin could not pose even the slightest threat to him.

If he were to show even a hint of resentment, it would be tantamount to seeking death, and he would never be able to secure any justice for Da Niu.

As he walked out of the small wooden hut, Ye Qin felt as though he had been drenched in water, his entire body soaked, his legs feeling weak and unsteady. He felt no joy now; he only wanted to find a place to sleep immediately and recover the physical and mental energy he had exhausted over these past few hours.

An arrogant girl in silk robes led him to a courtyard to rest.

Meanwhile, the next child waiting for the test was seized by the silk-clad youths and, amidst terrified screams, was dragged into the small wooden hut where Herbalist Wang resided to undergo the test.