A Huge Haul (Continued)

Jian Mo was going out with Zhou Fu and the others to gather herbs today, and they would gather tubers along the way.

Before leaving, he made a point of checking on the Flying-Winged Beast tied up outside.

The Flying-Winged Beast was eating. When it saw someone approaching, it shrank back nervously, pressing the round ears on top of its head backward. Fear showed in its big eyes. "Yip."

The big creature's cry was surprisingly sweet, and its eyes were very clear. It didn't look like a ferocious beast.

But-

Jian Mo glanced at the poisonous bone spur at the end of its tail and felt that it wasn't quite so harmless after all.

Jian Mo carefully examined the Flying-Winged Beast.

After a night of rest, most of the beast's festering wounds had dried out again, and several had already scabbed over.

It seemed the creature's ability to recover was quite good.

Perhaps all its wounds would heal in less than a month.

While he was checking it, the sub-beastmen from the tribe who had arranged to go out with him that day came over to wait for him.

Quite a few of them petted the tightly bound Flying-Winged Beast.

The Flying-Winged Beast curled its claws beneath its fluffy belly and remained silent. It looked rather nervous, which made it seem especially docile.

Jian Mo couldn't resist patting its plump backside. Then he turned to the others and said, "All right, let's go."

One of the sub-beastmen suggested kindly, "It's fine if you want to look a little longer. There's no rush."

Jian Mo smiled. "I'm really done."

Only then did everyone shoulder their baskets and get ready to leave.

They were taking Jian Mo out to gather herbs along the way, so they were headed to a mountain where herbs were more plentiful. It was a long way off.

There were more herbs here than Jian Mo had imagined.

Along the way, the sub-beastmen told Jian Mo about quite a few herbs-for reducing swelling, drawing out pus, stopping bleeding, clearing hairballs, neutralizing poisons, and so on. His eyes lit up as he listened.

Jian Mo couldn't help asking, "Who discovered all these herbs?"

Everyone shook their heads.

"No idea."

"Anyway, everyone knows how to use them."

"It's not just us beastmen. Even wild beasts sometimes gather these herbs. They're born knowing how."

"Right, right. Especially the ones for neutralizing poisons and clearing hairballs. Quite a few wild beasts eat those. We even learned how to use some herbs from them."

Jian Mo said, "That's amazing. Are these herbs still useful after they're dried? Does anyone gather and store them?"

Zhou Fu looked puzzled. "Why store them? You can just go out and gather them when you need them."

Jian Mo said, "What if there aren't any when you need them? Like in winter, when there's heavy snow and all the herbs outside have withered and died."

"That won't happen," another sub-beastman said earnestly. "Snow doesn't matter. Just dig through it and you can find herbs underneath."

"Exactly," Zhou Fu said. "If one kind isn't available, use another. You can always find something."

Jian Mo understood. Everyone was used to digging up herbs as they needed them.

Still, as far as he knew, most herbs were just as effective after being dried.

He put the herbs he had gathered into his basket, planning to take them home and try drying them.

While digging for herbs, they came across plenty of wild fruit and edible roots and tubers along the way.

Everyone dug as they went, and their baskets soon grew heavy.

Jian Mo was also working with his head down when someone suddenly called from up ahead, "Come quickly! There's a patch of Wood-Stabilizing Roots over here."

"Where?"

"Wood-Stabilizing Roots?!"

The voices calling out were full of delighted surprise.

Jian Mo followed the crowd toward the voices.

A sub-beastman pushed aside a patch of weeds and turned to say, "Look, there are Wood-Stabilizing Roots underneath."

"There really are." Zhou Fu put down the basket. "Let's dig here, then. I reckon we can get quite a few."

Everyone took out their stone hoes and stone digging spikes and quickly got to work.

Jian Mo picked a plant and started digging with the others.

Wood-Stabilizing Root tubers were long, a little like Chinese yams, but sweeter. They had a very smooth, soft, starchy texture and were easy to digest, without causing acid reflux. They were among the tastiest tubers available this season.

Wu Jiong didn't have many stored at home either. Over the past few days, Jian Mo had carefully portioned them out when cooking, serving other tubers for several meals before having Wood-Stabilizing Roots again.

With so many Wood-Stabilizing Roots today, they would have enough to eat for quite a while.

Digging Wood-Stabilizing Roots was hard work.

The soil here had never been tilled and was tightly packed, with lots of grass stems and a few stones underneath. Digging it with a stone hoe took a great deal of effort.

Jian Mo had only dug for a short while before he was panting. He had to lean on his stone hoe, put a hand on his hip, and catch his breath.

Xi Lu, who was working with him, quickly took the hoe and called to him, "Jian Mo, take a break. I'll dig."

Jian Mo wearily stepped aside. "Call me when you get tired."

Xi Lu dug swiftly. "I'm not tired."

Seeing how energetic Xi Lu was, Jian Mo went to the side to rest.

Soon, Jian Mo spotted some round fruit on the ground.

He pinched one open. Inside were green flesh and a black pit. He held it under his nose and smelled a distinctive bitter scent.

In the middle of all the work, Xi Lu looked up and said to him, "That's Wood-Stabilizing Root fruit. It's bitter and astringent, and it makes your throat go numb and gives you diarrhea. You can't eat it."

Jian Mo rubbed the fruit between his fingers. "If I put it in the soil, will it sprout and grow a new Wood-Stabilizing Root?"

Xi Lu was baffled. "Of course. It's the plant's fruit."

Jian Mo picked up the fruit and put it in his basket, which was lined with leaves. "Then I'll see if I can grow it."

Xi Lu said, "Why grow it? If you want some, can't you just go up the mountain and dig for it? There's lots up there. If you want to eat it, you can ask me, and I'll take you up the mountain to dig."

Zhou Fu, who was digging Wood-Stabilizing Roots nearby, chimed in, "They grow on several mountains around here. When you want some, just come up and look. They're easy to find."

Jian Mo shook his head. "That's different. Just think of it as me liking Wood-Stabilizing Roots."