Chapter 128 (continued)

The sun had just risen, drying the dew on the plants, and it wasn't too hot yet, making it a comfortable time to go into the mountains.

Shi Wen and Yan Kexing sprayed the little ones with a colorless and odorless insect repellent spray, and then sprayed some on themselves as well. The preparations were then complete.

Shi Wen took out the Ganoderma lucidum he had collected last time from his bag and let each of the little ones smell it. "You guys will look for this scent later, and whoever finds the Ganoderma lucidum first will get a reward!"

The little ones let out a howl; I wonder if they understood what I meant.

Shi Wen could only assume they understood, and waved them off, letting them roam freely. "Let's go!"

The dogs turned and ran, with the two horses following behind.

The little snow leopard squirmed in Shi Wen's arms, looking longingly at the dogs' backs; it seemed it wanted to get down too.

Shi Wen grabbed it by the scruff of its neck and put it on the ground. "Go on, go on, don't get lost."

Their little ones all have GPS trackers, so theoretically they shouldn't get lost.

Besides, with so many little ones around, if they get separated, they should be able to find each other.

Yan Kexing also released the little fox.

The snow leopard cub and the fox cub ran on all fours, trying to catch up with the dogs.

Before long, their figures disappeared from Shi Wen's sight.

Shi Wen rubbed her ears and said, "That's the downside of having so many little ones at home; they're so noisy they hurt my ears."

Yan Kexing chuckled and wrapped his arms around his ears from behind, gently rubbing them. "Let's go, let's go look for it too."

They started walking uphill from the foot of the mountain today.

This area is a mixed forest, with all sorts of trees, but they don't grow very lushly, and the trees are all quite far apart.

However, the ground was covered with a lot of reeds and other small shrubs, making it difficult to climb the mountain.

Of course, this was no challenge for Shi Wen and Yan Kexing.

They were both in good physical condition and had a lot of experience in outdoor activities, so they found a suitable path after walking a few steps.

Shi Wen, breathing in the exceptionally fresh air of the mountain forest, said, "Every time I go into the mountains to look for something, it feels like searching for a needle in a haystack. I hope I'll have better luck today and successfully find the Ganoderma lucidum."

Yan Kexing: "After we finish searching this area, let's go back to the picking spot from last time. There must be new Ganoderma lucidum growing there; we won't be disappointed."

The two walked slowly, discovering many mushrooms along the way.

Most of these mushrooms are inedible, but a small portion tastes quite good.

The two picked the edible mushrooms and put them in the bag they were carrying, so they could set up a stove and cook a pot of mushroom soup during their picnic later.

"What's that up ahead?" Shi Wen asked Yan Kexing as they walked, pointing to a flowering shrub. "Its shape looks familiar, like a medicinal herb?"

Yan Kexing glanced at it and said, "It's Scutellaria baicalensis. It's a medicinal herb used to treat various febrile diseases, and to treat edema and cysts."

Shi Wen became interested. "Which part can be used as medicine?"

Yan Kexing: "Let's dig up some roots."

There's a rule when collecting medicinal herbs locally: no matter what part you're picking—roots, stems, leaves, flowers, or fruits—you can't collect everything. You must leave a little bit of life for the medicinal plant, and also leave some for later herb gatherers; otherwise, the herbs will become ineffective.

Shi Wen that they follow this principle when they go out to collect herbs. It's not that they're afraid the herbs will become ineffective, but rather that they leave a way out so they can collect more next time they come.

The same thing happened when they dug up the roots of Scutellaria baicalensis. They gestured and decided to dig up a small portion of it.

Given the plant's strong reproductive ability, it can grow new roots after a period of time without affecting its own growth.

In this way, if they want to come back to collect more next year, they will be able to collect new Scutellaria baicalensis roots.

The soil here is relatively loose, but it's still not so easy to dig up the roots of Scutellaria baicalensis.

The roots of Scutellaria baicalensis were too hard, and there were many tiny rootlets underneath. The two of them used hoes and machetes and dug for quite a while before they finally dug up a small piece of root.

Shi Wen weighed it in his hand. "About half a pound, which should be a little over an ounce after drying."

Yan Kexing the hoe and machete back into his backpack. "This is a good result for the first medicinal herb we've found. Let's go, let's keep looking up."

Shi Wen, "Where did the dogs go? I haven't seen them anywhere!"

It's hard to believe, but Shi Wen could even finish saying that, the dogs started barking from ahead.

In addition to the barking of dogs, the neighing of horses was also mixed in.

Shi Wen could immediately hear the excitement in their voices.

Shi Wen, holding Yan Kexing's hand, said, "The dogs must have discovered something to be so excited. Come on, let's go take a look."

Yan Kexing being pulled along by him, and he pulled back, asking, "Don't you feel tired now?"

Shi Wen, using his strength to run forward, said, "We're opening a lottery, what's there to be tired about?"

The two ran towards the little ones.

As their calls grew louder, they drew closer and closer to the little ones.

After running through a grove of trees, a hillside covered with shrubs came into view.

They ran from the dense forest into the sunlight. The change in their view was so drastic that Shi Wen couldn't help but raise his hand to shield his forehead and squint as he looked ahead.

For some reason, this hillside didn't have many trees, but it was covered with reeds.

The little ones were shouting loudly around a reed plant, and upon closer inspection, there was something inside.

The Langwa was young and impatient. Seeing that Shi Wen and Yan Kexing hadn't come over immediately, it couldn't help but run back a few steps, grabbing Shi Wen's trouser leg and trying to drag him forward to see. "Woof woof!"

Shi Wen, "What did you find? Bird eggs?"

Yan Kexing followed behind Shi Wen, watching Shi Wen gently parted the reeds.

There was nothing in the grass. Shi Wen, somewhat puzzled, "Isn't there something in there that isn't a bird's egg? I didn't see any."

Yan Kexing: "Look to the side."

Shi Wen looked to the side; the ground was covered with plants, nothing particularly special. He then tried to find stones—this was a jade-producing area, and the dogs might have found some nice stones.