Chapter 271 - A walking Compendium of Medical Herbs 1596

Translator: Thyaeria

The next morning, a prominent official in Baitan Town, Xuan Wangjun came over with his secretary to Miao Yugen’s villa. When he saw Miao Yugen smoking in a corner, he walked over and asked for a cigarette. “Where’s the foreigner?”

“He’s still asleep.” Miao Yugen replied with a complicated smile.

With a faint smile, Xuan Wangjun sighed, “It was rough on Liu Ye.”

Flicking his cigarette on the ground, Miao Yugen said, “Mr. Xuan, you’ve promised me that if my wife was willing to sleep with him, you would help me obtain the developing rights for a Stone Factory in Miao Village.”

Patting Miao Yugen’s shoulder, Mr. Xuan replied, “Don’t worry. Since Hans invested ¥100,000,000 for a medicine factory in Baitan Town, getting one or two mountains for you isn’t a problem!”

Mr. Xuan knew Miao Yugen well, and this was a person greedy down to his bones. If you provided him with sufficient benefits, you could even get him to kill someone, not to mention having his wife sleep with other men.

As the two of them chatted, Hans’ bodyguard came out and waved his hand towards Miao Yugen. Mr. Xuan immediately wore a smile as he went up. At this moment, Hans had already donned his clothes and ate breakfast. Since Miao Yugen was concerned about his wife, he went up to the third story and saw Liu Ye.

Liu Ye had also worn her clothes and was wiping her tears upon seeing her husband and squeezed out a smile, “Gen’zi, I’m fine!”

Walking over to his wife, Miao Yugen slapped himself as he embraced Liu Ye and sighed, “Darling, I’m sorry. I’m worse than an animal.”

Pushing Miao Yugen away, Liu Ye replied, “I was the one who made the promise, so it’s not your fault. Let me have some peace for now.”

For their own desires, they would even betray their own conscience. But even an evil person would have their bottom line.

In Miao Yugen’s eyes, his wife was a tool that he could use to curry favor with others. However, that didn’t mean that he wouldn’t feel sorry for his wife.

Selfish, guilt, greed, and regret. But if he was given another chance, he would probably make the same choice again. Miao Yugen knew that he’s not a good man, but he had to sell out his most precious thing if he wanted to earn money and accumulate more wealth, and the only thing that he could take out was his wife.

Letting out a sigh, Miao Yugen left the room.

On the other hand, Liu Ye burrowed her head into her arms and sobbed. Last night was a nightmare that would haunt her endlessly, but it was her own choice. Thus, she had to endure it. There was a stack of cash left on the bedside, and all of it was foreign currency. Hans told Liu Ye that they were euros, and they’re worth about ¥10,000. In the eyes of that foreigner, she did this out of money, which made her heart somewhat sour.

After Hans finished his breakfast, he waved his hand towards his bodyguard, which the latter retrieved a hunting shotgun from the trunk of an off-road vehicle. It was produced in Birmingham, England, with exquisite engravings on the stock and wooden handle. This was a double-barrelled shotgun that could fire two shots in a row. The first trigger fired the right barrel, while the second trigger fired the left barrel, and it used 12 gauge shells. Since China had a strict prohibition against firearms, a high lethality hunting shotgun like this was also within the list. However, it was naturally useless against Hans, who had a unique identity.

Hunting in the wild had always been one of Hans’ hobbies, and he had already changed into camouflage outfield clothes with a hunter hat. His waist was strapped with ammo, like a soldier ready for war.

“Let’s go!” Hans gave an order, and Miao Yugen’s second-hand off-road vehicle led the way with a few cars following behind as they moved towards the back mountains of Miao Village.

“Mr. Xuan, is that foreigner really here to do research and invest in a medicine factory? Why do I feel that he’s here to tour?” Miao Yugen asked unhappily.

Letting out a sigh, Xuan Wangjun replied, “It’s not easy to guess the thoughts of foreigners. We just have to adapt to Hans’ taste and not offend him.”

“If he played us, I won’t let him off!” Miao Yugen gritted his teeth.

Xuan Wangjun knew that Miao Yugen’s wife slept with the foreigner, so the latter was feeling unbalanced in his heart and lowered his voice, “Yugen, you can’t afford to offend this type of person. His bodyguards are all mercenaries, and they would kill without blinking their eyes. Don’t act foolishly!”

With a ferocious gaze, Miao Yugen responded, “Don’t worry! I won’t do anything silly as long as I get what I want.”

Upon hearing his words, Xuan Wangjun was briefly stunned and he regretted it a little in his heart. He could see the indignance in Miao Yugen’s heart, and if he loses control, would he cause any problems?

The back mountain of Miao Village was part of the Fushan’s mountain range. The entire mountain range in Fushan stretched out a few hundred miles. Looking at it from the sky, it was like an endless stretch of greenery that gave others a spectacular and impacting view.

There wasn’t just one road up the mountain, and there was also another group that went up the mountain through a small path, which was Su Tao, Liu Jianwei, Fan Lihua, and the Village Chief, Miao Zhongtian.

With Liu Jianwei leading the way, he would occasionally brandish the sickle in his hand. There weren’t many people who used this path, and they were mostly villagers. However, they wouldn’t often come up the mountain, since an undeveloped mountain forest was dangerous. If they were bitten by venomous snakes, that would mean death, since the nearest hospital was ten miles away.

However, that was because the mountain forest wasn’t developed, Su Tao soon received a shocking surprise. He found a wild fleece flower that seemed to be four hundred years old.

Just when Xiao Jingjing was about to harvest it, she was stopped by Su Tao’s gaze and he made a marking nearby. “Don’t ruin this environment!”

As Xiao Jingjing sighed, Miao Zhongtian came over and asked, “What is that?”

Shaking her head, Xiao Jingjing did not say anything to Miao Zhongtian. If he knew that this 400-year-old wild fleece flower was worth ¥50,000 on the market, the mountain forest would be trampled by the villagers.

After all, precious wild herbs were scarce. Although Su Tao had found some other wild herbs along the way, their price somewhat paled compared to the fleece flower.

On the other hand, Xiao Jingjing was excited, since they managed to find herbs so easily under Su Tao’s sight — his eyes were akin to radar. She only recognised herbs that were processed, which was drastically different from unprocessed herbs. Perhaps an old physician could tell herbs amongst processed herbs, but it’s scarce for them to find growing herbs in the wild.

However, Xiao Jingjing knew that those weren’t innate abilities. Not only did it require theoretical knowledge, but practical experience was also required.

As they continued their journey, Miao Zhongtian was already at his limit and was surprised. Although he was getting on his age, his physique should have been well-maintained from the daily chores, and those from the city shouldn’t have a better physique than him. However, aside from Fan Lihua, who looked a little exhausted, everyone else, including Xiao Jingjing, was still filled with energy.

“Second Uncle, why don’t you go back? We still have a long journey, and we will only return before nightfall.” Su Tao smiled as he looked at Miao Zhongtian.

Although Miao Zhongtian still wanted to persist, he felt that he would only drag everyone down. “Alright, then. The mountain forest is filled with dangers, so you guys have to be careful.”

Since Su Tao understood everyone’s condition, he also turned to look at Fan Lihua. “Big Sister Fan, why don’t you return as well?”

Miao Zhongtian also tried to persuade, “Lihua, the roads here are tough. Why don’t you follow me down the mountain as well? It’s better than becoming their burden.”

Letting out a sigh, Fan Lihua followed Miao Zhongtian down the mountain.

However, Xiao Jingjing knew that Su Tao was trying to send Miao Zhongtian and Fan Lihua away. There were too many precious herbs here, and he couldn’t reveal too much to them, or it would attract the attention of Miao Village. Their focus would also mean the destruction of these precious herbs.

Estimating that Miao Zhongtian and Fan Lihua have left, Su Tao smiled towards Xiao Jingjing and Liu Jianwei. “Let’s go back!”

“Why?” Liu Jianwei asked as he looked at Su Tao with a perplexed gaze.

Showing a smile, Su Tao looked at Xiao Jingjing. “Why don’t you explain to him?”

Xiao Jingjing’s face instantly turned red as she explained, “We found a 400-year-old fleece flower earlier, and it’s worth at least ¥50,000 in the market. The reason why Master did not harvest it earlier was due to worrying that Miao Zhongtian would get a bunch of villagers to search for herbs in the mountain. At that time, these precious herbs would be destroyed.”

Scraping his nose, Liu Jianwei smiled. “Holy cow! Does the mountain actually have so many treasures? No wonder you want to send the two of them off! You’re cunning, and I like it!”

Su Tao wasn’t bothered with Liu Jianwei’s ridicule. He smiled and traced their path back. Following his own marking, he found the 400-year-old fleece flower, which Xiao Jingjing carefully dug it out under Su Tao’s guidance.

As Xiao Jingjing chuckled, she felt that Su Tao was pretty bad. But wasn’t that a sign that she was also turning bad since she could guess his thoughts?

“It looks like our trip to Sichuan was well worth it!” Liu Jianwei was initially feeling depressed that Su Tao would want to come to such a remote place.

Su Tao smiled. He knew that this fleece flower was only the first precious herb. Although it would become more dangerous as they moved deeper into the mountain, they would also be able to gain more harvests.

Naturally, not everyone could farm gold in the mountain forest, and the reason why Su Tao could achieve it was because he was a walking Compendium of Medical Herbs 1596.

When it was noon, Xiao Jingjing took out the rations that they had prepared to deal with their meal. Since they intended to return to Miao Village before sunset, they could only walk for two more hours before returning.

However, they obtained more harvest than they had imagined. Aside from the fleece flower, Su Tao even found a few precious herbs. But it was a pity that they only had three people, so there was a limit to how much they could harvest.

But Su Tao was disappointed that he didn’t find any cloud grass. He had also asked Fan Lihua about it, but that bag was something that every household put their harvests in. Thus, they did not manage to find the production ground. If they couldn’t find the cloud grass, then it was pitiful despite their ample harvest of precious herbs.

Suddenly, a gunshot rang out that instantly attracted the three’s attention.