Gathering Herbs in the Mountains

Outside, the night was black as ink, with only the chorus of insects ringing out. It was already deep into the night.

His younger sister, Lin Ruoruo, had long since fallen asleep. Lin Fan got up and tucked in the corner of her blanket.

In her dreams, a faint smile still lingered on the little girl's lips. The sorrow, terror, and tension from their escape were gone.

Lin Fan smiled knowingly and clenched his fists.

As long as he kept cultivating like this for a few more months, he would then count as a first-rate martial expert in the jianghu.

Over these past days, Lin Fan had built another wooden bed in the room. He covered himself with a quilt and slept in his clothes.

Rest was necessary as well. Though the sensation of growing stronger through cultivation was addictive, going without rest for a day would still leave his mind exhausted. Poor rest would also affect the speed of martial cultivation the next day.

In the town

The hunters from Small Mountain Village pushed more than ten wild goats along. After selling them, their journey back became much quicker.

Only seven or eight days had passed since they last bought millet. Many villagers still had millet left from the previous purchase, so they needed far less this time.

The group pushed their wheelbarrows, carrying the silver they had earned. After resting for a night in the cave where they stopped along the way,

Since they had entered the cave to rest fairly early the previous day, they were all awake before dawn. Everyone tidied up the wheelbarrows and immediately began hurrying back toward the village.

If they moved quickly enough, they could still avoid delaying today's hunt.

Just as the morning dawn shrouded the village and cooking smoke began to rise over it, the group pushing their wheelbarrows caught sight of the village's outline.

That morning, Lin Fan was cooking the mutton from the previous hunt. As he added firewood, he took out some cooked meat to feed the Golden Rat. Over these past days, Lin Fan had also given the Golden Rat a name.

Mao Mao.

At that moment, Uncle Wang and Big Ox of the hunting team, who had just returned to the village after selling their prey, brought over several bundles.

Uncle Wang beamed. Though his clothes were somewhat dirty from the selling trip, he was in excellent spirits.

During this period, not only could every household in the village eat meat frequently, but the silver they received from selling prey was also far greater than before.

"Lin Fan, the sales went well this time. The price of mutton has risen a little too. Winter is approaching, so some wealthy households in the city are stockpiling goods for the season. We earned some extra silver. Look, here are fifty taels."

Uncle Wang handed over a bundle. This time, Lin Fan had not only caught more than ten wild goats, but also a wild boar. The earnings in silver were even a little higher than Lin Fan had estimated.

This meant his cultivation speed could become even faster.

After depositing all fifty taels into the system panel, if he sold prey once every ten days, he could spend five taels each day.

Each day, apart from going into the mountains to hunt, gather herbs, and sleep, he could cultivate for eight hours. The twenty-four-hour doubled cultivation effect would only be consumed once every three days.

He could now activate one hundred and fifty times acceleration.

The Muscle Refinement Realm was not far away.

After seeing Uncle Wang off, Lin Fan held the well-fed Golden Rat and prepared to head into the mountains with the hunting team today to hunt and gather herbs.

The Golden Rat had an excellent sense of smell. It could detect the scent of many medicinal herbs buried beneath dead leaves.

After leaving home, Lin Fan tucked the medicinal herb illustrated guide he had asked Uncle Wang to buy last time into his clothes. He had bought it together with the Beast Taming Art.

Holding Mao Mao, the Golden Rat, in both hands, he walked toward the hunting team's gathering point at the village entrance. The villagers of Small Mountain Village smiled and greeted Lin Fan while curiously examining his Golden Rat.

Although the Golden Rat could now follow Lin Fan by running along the ground,

Lin Fan still chose to carry it in his arms to conserve its strength. There was still quite a distance and a climb from Small Mountain Village at the foot of the mountain to the dense forest above.

After greeting everyone, they hurried up the mountain.

"Uncle Wang, this is a Spirit Rat that can search for medicinal herbs. Once we get up the mountain, could you send a few people to follow behind me and look for herbs together?"

Lin Fan asked Uncle Wang to send people along mainly because he worried that, after leaving the villagers' fixed hunting route, he would lose his way in the mountain forest.

Although his martial cultivation had reached the Late Skin Tempering Realm and he was only one step away from the Muscle Refinement Realm, he was clearly nowhere near as familiar with the forest as those hunter villagers who had grown up in Small Mountain Village.

If a few people followed behind him, it would undoubtedly be much safer.

Uncle Wang studied the Golden Rat in Lin Fan's hands, its eyes lively as they rolled around.

"I've heard people talk about this kind of rat. It can smell the scent of certain medicinal herbs. But it's difficult to catch and tame, which is why the village has never raised one."

"Lin Fan, you're truly impressive. Not only is your martial cultivation high, you can even tame a Spirit Rat."

Many medicinal herbs grew deep in dangerous mountain forests where few people ventured. Because they were difficult to find and obtain, their prices were also quite high.

For example, an old mountain ginseng of decent quality could sell for over a hundred taels.

Other medicinal herbs were worth no small sum as well. The village occasionally found some herbs beside their hunting routes, so everyone was not unfamiliar with them.

But they found very few. The village's main source of silver still came from traps and hunting.

Upon hearing that they could follow Lin Fan into the dense forest to search for medicinal herbs, everyone eagerly volunteered.

"Lin Fan, pick me! My eyesight is the best. In these mountains, I can spot medicinal herbs from far away."

"Pick me, pick me! My family used to gather herbs in the mountain forests."

"My sense of direction is the best. I've never gotten lost in these forests. Last time, I went into the mountains alone to chop firewood until nightfall and still didn't lose my way."

Everyone talked over one another.

In the end, Lin Fan chose two or three people to follow him. If there were too many people, he would not be able to look after them all should they encounter dangerous beasts in the forest.

Besides, they only needed people mainly to keep their bearings. More people would be of no use.

When they reached the forest halfway up the mountain, Lin Fan led three people after Mao Mao, the Golden Rat, to search for medicinal herbs. The others went to inspect the traps along the hunting route.

After Mao Mao was set down, it ran forward a short distance, moving away from the group. Then its nose twitched, and it slowly turned in a circle on the spot, seeming to search the air for scents.

Then it raced swiftly in one direction.

Lin Fan's eyes lit up at the sight, and he quickly led everyone after it.

After running for more than ten minutes, they discovered a medicinal herb beside a large boulder.

Though it was not ginseng, according to the illustrated guide, it was worth around a dozen taels.

Once everyone had finished digging it up, Mao Mao led Lin Fan charging off in another direction.

The morning quickly passed.

The baskets that had originally held wild rabbits and pheasants were now filled with straw and all kinds of medicinal herbs.

Lin Fan wrapped the medicinal herbs in the middle of the straw. This was also a method often used by herb gatherers to protect the herbs, preventing bumps from damaging their appearance and affecting their price.

By rough calculation, they had gathered medicinal herbs worth nearly a hundred taels in one morning. That was also because no other herb gatherers had visited this stretch of forest recently, allowing more herbs to accumulate.

The herbs Lin Fan found in the future might not be as plentiful as they were today.

The sun gradually crossed the midday sky, and the group had already moved far away from their previous hunting route.

After feeding Mao Mao some dried meat as a reward, Lin Fan decided to lead everyone back to the mountain village and return tomorrow to continue searching.

After returning to Small Mountain Village at the foot of the mountain, Lin Fan left the medicinal herbs with several village households who knew how to preserve their medicinal properties, then returned home and began cultivating.