Gathering Herbs

Chapter 6: Gathering Medicine

Yu Ci had to thank his birth parents. They had given him a talent beyond ordinary people: the extraordinary sense of smell he had relied on before. He had been born with an acute nose, capable of distinguishing every complex scent mixed together and noticing faint traces of odor that others overlooked. He had often depended on this gift in daily life, but in the Sky Rift, it was entirely thanks to this talent that he could move up and down through the boundless sea of clouds and accurately locate Shrimp Whisker Grass.

With his target close at hand, Yu Ci grew increasingly calm. He did not hurry forward to pick it. Instead, he took out the Zhaoshen Bronze Mirror from his sleeve, activated its azure spiritual lure, and used it to draw a talisman in the air.

Talismans were patterns formed from the condensed essence of the five colors. They blended and transformed the myriad truths, commanded the gods and spirits, and drew upon the force of clouds, things, and stars. There were cloud-script thunder patterns, dragon seals and phoenix patterns, Demon Diagram Ghost Markings. All of them imitated forms and borrowed forces, for the purpose of communicating with the divine.

For more than ten years, Yu Ci had studied the art of talismans every day. The Shangqing Juxuan Xing Shu Mi Shou Fu Jing he had taken from the Twin Immortals Sect was his sole source of systematic knowledge. Although the talisman manual contained nearly a thousand types of talismans, he was currently proficient in only a little over ten. Still, he knew every account and record in the book by heart.

The Shangqing Juxuan Xing Shu Mi Shou Fu Jing recorded three systems of talismans: cloud-script thunder patterns, dragon seals and phoenix patterns, and Demon Diagram Ghost Markings. Cloud-script thunder patterns copied the natural yin and yang of heaven and earth. Dragon seals and phoenix patterns absorbed the lively spirit of birds and beasts. Demon Diagram Ghost Markings, meanwhile, borrowed the savage might of shamanic arts and ghostly paths.

Each of these three talisman systems could form its own framework, but truly exquisite talisman arts invariably fused the three together and took the essence of each.

Unfortunately, Yu Ci's cultivation was insufficient and his attainments shallow. Even with such an excellent source of spiritual lure as the Zhaoshen Bronze Mirror, even if he could draw those ghost-scribbled talismans without the slightest error, he still could not invoke the power of those advanced talismans. For now, he could only learn relatively simple and pure talisman patterns centered on a single system, like the one he was using at this moment.

His finger guided the azure spiritual lure, tracing an exceedingly abstract design through the air. Above was a bird pattern, below a tiger pattern. Constellations spread around the edges, while the center was bound together by bent and twisting seal-script strokes. When every talisman pattern had been drawn, the azure lines hanging in the air flashed in unison, then swiftly condensed and shrank. Only when they had become an exquisite talisman half the size of a palm did they settle and remain still.

Yu Ci pointed, and the talisman immediately shot away. Its flight path was quite peculiar. Taking Yu Ci's finger as its axis, it spiraled outward in circles. The circles grew wider and wider, and the talisman flew farther and farther, until it vanished completely into the dense mist. Only then did Yu Ci withdraw his hand.

This was the Five Directions Spirit Communication Talisman, one of the most complicated talismans Yu Ci had learned so far from the Shangqing Juxuan Xing Shu Mi Shou Fu Jing. Though centered on dragon seals and phoenix patterns, it also touched slightly upon the systems of cloud thunder and demons and ghosts. He had practiced this single talisman for a full five years before he had barely become able to use it.

The talisman had no offensive power, but with its caster as the reference point, it could detect all intense activity by living creatures within a radius of five li and feed that information back into the caster's soul. Its sensitivity was unimaginably sharp, and Yu Ci used it as a warning measure.

Once all preparations were complete, Yu Ci finally stepped forward. Like someone crossing a one-plank bridge, he slowly made his way to the upper edge of the giant pine.

The Shrimp Whisker Grass was already within reach. Yet Yu Ci was in no hurry. He took the prepared stone box from his sleeve and carefully placed it in a hollow formed by several interwoven pine branches beside him. It was a naturally stable platform, but Yu Ci was still uneasy. He used another talisman to secure it before considering the matter finished.

Only then did he bend down and carefully gather the Shrimp Whisker Grass.

The blades of grass were no thicker than strands of hair. As they wound around the trunk, they tangled with the uneven bark. One careless movement would snap them. Moreover, due to the requirements of their medicinal properties, the roots had to be taken along when harvesting them. Thus, Yu Ci had to sort out and untangle each intertwined blade one by one. Only after finding the roots could he pull them free.

This kind of work was entirely a slow grind, testing one's patience to the utmost and fearing accidents most of all.

Fortunately, Yu Ci's luck was fairly good today. For more than three hours, no outside force disturbed him. He successfully harvested this patch of Shrimp Whisker Grass, preserving it mostly intact—roughly a hundred or so stalks. As he picked them, he placed them one by one into the stone box beside him.

Just as he had told Xuanqing that day, Shrimp Whisker Grass could absorb the spiritual energy of yi-wood and clashed with metal energy, so it could not be stored in metal or wooden containers. It could only be kept in the stone box issued by the steward of Bai Ri Mansion. A shallow layer of Shrimp Whisker Grass already lay spread within the stone box, numbering three to five hundred stalks. This was everything he had harvested over the past four months.

When these medicinal herbs were brought before the steward of Bai Ri Mansion, they still had to be carefully graded according to appearance and condition. Their value would always be discounted by twenty or thirty percent, and Bai Ri Mansion naturally accepted the deducted portion with a smile. That was the custom. Loose cultivators like him had no choice but to endure it.

By the time he finished all this, the sky had already darkened. The half-set sun weakly cast its remaining rays into the clouds and mist. Yu Ci put away the stone box and dismissed his various arts. Using protruding branches and crevices in the rock, he climbed the several-hundred-foot cliff like an ape. Only when he reached the top and a fierce wind blew over him did he realize that his inner clothes were soaked through with sweat. The chill seeped in, leaving him thoroughly uncomfortable.

That would be enough work for today. Yu Ci was tired as well. He found a sheltered spot and adjusted his breathing for a while. Once his inner clothes had dried in the shade, he set off. After several leaps and bounds, he vanished into the vast mountains behind him.

Over more than five months around the Sky Rift, Yu Ci had constantly traveled back and forth, changing his temporary lodgings whenever necessary. The place he had arranged in advance yesterday was over a hundred li away. The round trip alone would take nearly an hour.

Yet the extra distance was worth it. Over the past few months, Yu Ci had seen more than once how people who came here to gather medicine would draw blades against one another over a few stalks of Shrimp Whisker Grass and fight until death before stopping. The viciousness and brutality were beyond imagining unless one had personally taken part. In plain words, people died for wealth, birds died for food. That was exactly how it was.

Yu Ci was not someone afraid of trouble, but after laboring hard all day, he naturally wanted to find a safe place to rest and recuperate. Where would he find so much spare time to deal with those people whose greed knew no bounds?

After entering the vast mountain forest, night descended quickly and his vision grew dimmer and dimmer. Yet Yu Ci's speed as he leapt through the woods did not lessen in the slightest. The unique scents of the forest blew past his nose. From the odors of countless things kneaded together, he could distinguish hidden and approaching dangers, change course in time, and avoid who knew how much trouble.

Just as his destination came into sight, Yu Ci froze for a moment, then slowed his steps.

The trees where he stood had grown sparse, replaced by jagged mountain rocks—gray-black, gaunt, hard, and especially desolate in the night. Precisely because of this, a cluster of firelight several li away could flicker and sway through gaps in the trees before his eyes. Clearer than the firelight was the "human smell" borne over by the mountain wind. Beyond that, though it was exceedingly faint, Yu Ci could still catch the distinctive fragrance of Shrimp Whisker Grass.

If it had remained inside a stone box, then even with heaven-defying ability, Yu Ci could not have smelled that wisp of scent from this distance. There was only one possibility: someone had opened the stone box and was examining or counting the Shrimp Whisker Grass stored inside.

Yu Ci could be certain that there were more than fifteen people over there. Since the owner of the stone box could do this without reservation, that group was likely together, companions who had come to gather medicinal herbs. In the Sky Rift, they counted as a fairly sizable party.

Thinking this, he could not help scratching his head. He could go around them, but the troublesome part was that the hiding place he had spent great effort arranging yesterday was not far from that group. If he detoured now, he would probably have to sleep out in the wilderness tonight.

As he was thinking, his expression changed slightly. The wind had been against him just now, so he had not noticed that another seven or eight people were approaching from the side. They were now less than half a li from his position. His left hand slipped back into his sleeve and gripped the Zhaoshen Bronze Mirror.

What rotten luck. Two days ago, he had encountered people blocking the road to rob him. The fine sharp sword he had bought in Juebi City for five metals had broken during the battle. Having lost a weapon that fit his hand, he would likely suffer a disadvantage if he ran into another sudden fight.

But very quickly, his sensitive nose distinguished some information. They seemed to be acquaintances!