Medicinal properties

Once the Lightning Mouse had eaten its fill, it vanished as silently as it had arrived.

After waiting on the little one, Dongfang Minghui still had to wait on the big one.

Fortunately, a joyous occasion was coming up, so The Female Lead did not give her any dirty looks.

Dongfang Minghui dutifully roasted another meal of rabbit meat as an extra dish for the wedding feast.

"You're about to get married, so you ought to wear bright red wedding clothes. Things may be rough here, but a bride still needs her red dress. As luck would have it, my Seventh Sister has one." Dongfang Minghui tossed the bundle to The Female Lead, motioning for her to look through it.

The original owner of her body had loved bright red clothes, so before leaving the estate, she had packed a set of women's clothes along with several sets of men's clothing.

Mu Qing blushed with embarrassment. "Miss, you saved my fifth brother's life. How could I possibly take your clothes as well?"

Dongfang Wanyu rummaged through the bundle and pulled out a bright red gauze dress. It certainly looked festive.

"It's no trouble. I haven't brought any gifts for your wedding. If you don't mind, consider this red dress my wedding gift to you both."

Dongfang Minghui rolled her eyes. The Female Lead was using her clothes to play the generous benefactor, yet she made it sound so noble.

Dongfang Wanyu caught her gesture out of the corner of her eye and smiled. "No more refusing. Hurry and put it on so we can see how beautiful the bride is."

Mu Qing nodded and followed Dongfang Wanyu into the inner cave to change.

Meanwhile, dressed in men's clothes, Dongfang Minghui naturally went to help with Wang Fei. His life had been saved, but he was still very weak. Even changing his clothes had required Zhao Sanqi's help.

There was not much in the cave. They moved a few large rocks over to serve as stools, and naturally, there were no parents present to preside over the ceremony.

Once Mu Qing and Wang Fei were ready, Dongfang Minghui took on the role of officiant. Smiling beside them, she called out, "First, bow to heaven and earth!"

"Second, bow to your elders!"

Both were orphans with no parents, and Zhao Sanqi was the person closest to them, so naturally, they bowed to him as their elder.

"Husband and wife, bow to each other!"

Mu Qing's eyes shone with a smile, and Wang Fei's face was smiling too. They gazed deeply at each other. At that moment, they saw only each other, with no room for anyone else.

Once the ceremony was complete, the final step was naturally to enter the bridal chamber.

Dongfang Minghui and the other two left the Cave to the young couple and sat in a circle around the campfire outside. "This rabbit meat is delicious. Here, have a piece."

Today was a joyous day. They ought to enjoy themselves.

"Seventh Sister, this big rabbit leg is for you. I roasted it especially for you." Dongfang Minghui did not forget to fawn over The Female Lead.

Watching her bustle about, Zhao Sanqi could not help praising her. "Seventh Miss, your ninth brother really does care about you."

Dongfang Wanyu took a bite of rabbit meat and said nothing. She had already experienced just how "good" her ninth brother was to her.

Dongfang Minghui gave a dry laugh. "Brother Zhao, we're leaving tomorrow. What are your plans?"

Every gathering had to end eventually. Once the subject of parting came up, the festive mood vanished completely.

Zhao Sanqi gazed at the campfire and suddenly asked, "Where are you and the ninth young master planning to go, Seventh Miss?"

Dongfang Minghui glanced at The Female Lead.

"I plan to take my ninth brother farther into the Purple Demon Mountains to train for a while longer," Dongfang Wanyu said, finishing the rabbit meat in her hand.

"Training, huh." Zhao Sanqi sighed deeply. "Once my fifth brother's wounds have healed, I'll take them back to the Moonwhite Empire."

Dongfang Minghui looked at him sympathetically.

Perhaps the mood was too sorrowful. In the end, everyone fell silent and went about their own business.

Early the next morning, Dongfang Minghui and Dongfang Wanyu left.

"Let's go."

Before leaving, Dongfang Minghui glanced at Zhao Sanqi, who was still leaning against a large tree, pretending to doze.

"Seventh Sister, where are we heading this time?"

"Farther in. We might encounter magical beasts above level four."

Dongfang Minghui's face immediately fell. She could not even handle a level-one beast, let alone magical beasts so many levels above her.

"Seventh Sister, you're amazing."

Flattery could get one anywhere, so Dongfang Minghui decided to praise her first.

Dongfang Wanyu gave her a meaningful glance, already forming a plan.

They found a towering peak and searched out a cave nearby. A particularly strong, foul stench hung inside, and it was so dark they could not see a thing.

"Seventh Sister, be careful."

Dongfang Minghui followed close behind, afraid something might suddenly leap out.

Dongfang Wanyu lit a torch, illuminating everything inside. There were scraps of rotting meat, the source of the foul stench, and a pile of white bones on the ground that looked like animal remains.

"No one's using this Cave for now. Let's clean it up." Dongfang Wanyu wedged the torch into the middle of a rock, put down the bundle, and got to work.

With no other choice, Dongfang Minghui fought back her nausea and threw all the rotten meat, bones, and other debris out of the Cave.

Only after a simple cleaning did they truly make the Cave their temporary home.

"I'll handle the hunting, and you'll prepare the food." With one sentence, Dongfang Wanyu clearly divided their duties.

Dongfang Minghui let out a wail. Now she had been reduced to a full-time cook.

From that day on, Dongfang Wanyu went out during the day and always returned at night with an enormous, thoroughly dead magical beast. The Female Lead also came back with different wounds each time.

Dongfang Minghui guessed these were magical beasts The Female Lead had killed. The first time she saw one, she had certainly gotten a fright.

Sometimes, The Female Lead ignored her own wounds and immediately sat down to cultivate. That desperate drive kept Dongfang Minghui from daring to step any closer.

Every day, Dongfang Minghui found ways to butcher the magical beasts, using their bones to make soup with wild vegetables and boiling their meat until it was tender enough to eat. Over time, she developed her cooking skills and gained some understanding of magical beasts' anatomy.

That day, after The Female Lead went out, Dongfang Minghui slipped out as well. She wanted to see whether any nearby trees bore fruit.

Eating magical beast meat every day could give her indigestion.

After searching all around, she found no fruit, but she did spot a few medicinal herbs. Worried she might have mistaken them, she even went over to ask.

"I'm going to help you move, all right?"

Dongfang Minghui used her faint Spiritual Power to chat with the herbs for a while, then transplanted them outside the cave entrance.

"Don't worry. I'll water and fertilize you every day so you can grow big and strong."

Hearing her promise, the herbs swayed in agreement and settled comfortably outside the cave.

She kept her promise, watering the herbs regularly and loosening their soil. Sometimes, she chatted with them too. Her days passed easily and contentedly.

Every time she went out, however, she transplanted a few more herbs back. Over time, medicinal herbs gradually took over the space outside the Cave.

One day, Dongfang Wanyu returned covered in wounds to find Dongfang Minghui watering the herbs in the sunset, occasionally promising them, "All right, I know. If it rains tomorrow, I'll cover you with something."

"Who are you talking to?"

Dongfang Minghui turned and discovered The Female Lead behind her, giving her a fright. "Seventh Sister, you're back."

"What are you doing?"

Dongfang Minghui pointed to the large patch of herbs outside the cave. "I'm watering them. It might rain tomorrow, so I'm going to make a tent in a bit."

The tent was simple. She used ropes woven from dried grass to tie pieces of beast hide together, then set up two fairly straight tree trunks outside.

Dongfang Wanyu looked at the night sky. The stars sparkled, and the moon shone bright and clear. One glance told her tomorrow would be a fine, sunny day, so she could not be bothered with Dongfang Minghui's nonsense.

"Seventh Sister, take your clothes off in a bit. I'll apply some medicine for you."

After finishing the beast-hide tent, Dongfang Minghui set it aside. Then she picked up a stone pestle and pounded the leaves she had plucked from the herbs until their juice flowed out. She collected some in a porcelain bottle meant for medicinal pills.

"What is that?" Dongfang Wanyu frowned.

Using scraps of cloth as swabs, Dongfang Minghui dipped them into the juice and gently dabbed it onto the wounds on Dongfang Wanyu's arm. "This is life star grass. It can stop bleeding and clear bruises. You have so many wounds. It won't look nice if they leave scars."

No young woman liked having scars all over her body.

As for The Female Lead's training in the Purple Demon Mountains, it probably had something to do with the Awakening of the elemental Spiritual Power within her. Dongfang Minghui did not dare ask too much, afraid of arousing her suspicions.

Dongfang Wanyu looked at Dongfang Minghui mockingly. "Didn't you always wish I were dead? Now you're actually worried about whether I'll have scars?"

Bringing up the past again—was this her way of settling old scores?

Dongfang Minghui's expression did not change. She continued carefully cleaning the wounds, saying with great patience, "Seventh Sister, please don't stay angry with me. Before, Fourth Sister used me, and I often did stupid things. Now I sincerely understand that I was wrong. If you're still angry, why don't you do everything I did to you back to me?"

If that would wipe the slate clean, Dongfang Minghui would gladly have The Female Lead do it right away.

Dongfang Wanyu merely smiled without answering.

"Seventh Sister, do your wounds feel cool and hurt less now?" Dongfang Minghui asked tentatively.

Now that she mentioned it, Dongfang Wanyu really did feel that her wounds were much better. She did not know whether she was imagining it, but some areas even seemed to itch.

"They do hurt less, but this spot feels a little itchy." Dongfang Wanyu pointed to the place on her back where a magical beast's sharp claws had torn her skin.

Dongfang Minghui looked and found that the wound seemed to have reddened. She immediately applied another layer of the medicinal juice. "This spot might be healing faster. Don't scratch it yet. Give it a night, and I'll check it again tomorrow."

After finishing, Dongfang Minghui crouched off to one side and recorded all the medicinal properties of life star grass. Without paper or a pen, she simply used a stone to carve them onto the wall.

She had studied medicine before, but after coming here, she discovered that many medicinal herbs looked different.

They recognized her, but she did not recognize them.

Fortunately, her half-useless Spiritual Power actually allowed her to interact with plants. Bit by bit, she could communicate with some lower-level plants. This was practically a heaven-sent cheat! She would be doing herself a terrible disservice if she did not put it to good use.