Because Su Qianyun was in a low mood and didn't talk much, Xu Zifan felt the journey was much quieter than expected, and his mood was actually quite good. He kept asking Zheng Chuan about precautions, where there were traps in the mountains, and what areas were restricted zones. Shao Hua wrote all of this down and also activated a virtual laser to constantly scan the surroundings to prevent snakes or wild animals from approaching.
So Xu Zifan did have a cheat code, which he only realized after entering the mountains. He hadn't been bound to the system long, and many of its functions were still undiscovered. But after Shao Hua's scan, he discovered he was like someone with built-in radar and a treasure-hunting mouse! With Shao Hua around, he could avoid ferocious beasts from afar, and even if he spotted them, he could escape immediately. He could also discover all the mountain delicacies and medicinal herbs, no matter where they were hidden; Shao Hua could scan them, making it far more useful than his naked eyes.
After walking for about 15 minutes into the mountains, Shaohua pointed out: "[There's a wild rabbit behind a tree at the 11 o'clock position to the left.]"
Xu Zifan glanced over instinctively and realized the tree was still over 300 meters away. He thought for a moment and said, "[We're not hunting this time; it doesn't fit my persona. Keep an eye out for bird eggs or wild chicken eggs; we can take those back to eat—they're nutritious.]"
[Okay, there's a nest of bird eggs in the tree at the two o'clock position to the right.]
Xu Zifan looked over, his lips twitching slightly. [That tree is so tall, I can't reach it. I shouldn't know how to climb trees.]
Shao Hua fell silent, probably filtering out the things he couldn't reach, preparing to remind him when she found something he could. They walked a few steps when Zheng Chuan suddenly stopped, bent slightly, and raised his hand to signal them to stop. He stared intently at a large tree to his left, slowly took the bow from his back, pulled out an arrow, aimed at the tree, and with a "whoosh," released the arrow!
Zheng Chuan shot the hare.
[I guessed so, he really is amazing.] Xu Zifan followed Zheng Chuan over and watched him pick up the rabbit. The arrow had hit the rabbit's hind leg, and there was some tall grass next to the tree blocking the shot. It was really impressive that Zheng Chuan could do that.
He watched closely as Zheng Chuan tied up the rabbit, and said with a smile, "Seeing you show off this skill, I feel much more at ease following you into the mountains. I've become much stronger lately, maybe one day I can learn a few tricks from you."
Zheng Chuan pulled a handful of grass to wipe the blood off the arrowhead, and said with his head down, "It was taught by my master and is not passed on to outsiders."
Xu Zifan suddenly realized, "Right, right, I forgot, sorry." He then remembered that in ancient times, people did not pass on any skills to outsiders. Hunting, medicine, carpentry, blacksmithing, etc., all required apprentices to run errands for others. It would take several years to learn something, and sometimes it would take even several years to learn anything. They were simply being used as free laborers.
If he wanted to demonstrate his medical skills, he would need to plan carefully. Judging from Zheng Chuan's attitude, directly consulting with doctors was clearly impossible, and he had no intention of becoming an apprentice. The doctors in this small town were generally not as skilled as him; if he were to become an apprentice, he would at least need to be a top doctor in the world, otherwise, it wouldn't be worthwhile to have a father figure to serve him. Anyway, there would always be a way, no rush.
Seeing how easily Zheng Chuan shot the rabbit, Xu Erlang couldn't help but feel envious. He asked, "Actually, we can make a bow to practice our aim. We can come in here and try our luck. If we can catch some wild game, it would be nice to have some meat."
Zheng Chuan didn't reply, packed his things, and continued walking. Xu Zifan took a few more steps and spotted a small patch of motherwort growing among the weeds. At the same time, he heard Shao Hua's reminder: "[Found a patch of motherwort.]"
"[I saw it.]" Xu Zifan replied, then called out, "Zheng Chuan, wait for me. I saw a medicinal herb. I'll pick it and take it back. You guys sit down and rest, have some water."
Zheng Chuan glanced in the direction he was standing, then found a shady spot, sat down, and leaned against a tree, pretending to doze. Su Qianyun pulled Xu Erlang closer to Xu Zifan and asked him curiously, "Third brother, what medicine did you find? What's it for?"
Su Qianyun examined the herbs carefully for a long time but couldn't recognize them at all. She searched here and there with a stick for ages, her eyes aching, and only managed to gather some wild vegetables and mushrooms. She hadn't found anything of value, and her legs were aching terribly. Seeing that Xu Zifan had finally found the herbs, she was filled with hope that they were something valuable.
Xu Zifan squatted on the ground digging for motherwort, casually replying, "It's motherwort, very common. It can promote urination and reduce swelling, and treat some women's ailments..."
"Can you watch your words when you talk to your sister-in-law?" Xu Zifan was interrupted by Xu Erlang before he could finish speaking.
He glanced up at Xu Erlang, who was frowning, and said casually, "If I want to be a doctor, I won't discriminate between men and women, young and old, and I'll say whatever comes to mind. My sister-in-law just asked me what this medicine treats. Am I supposed to say that it's inconvenient to talk about men and women?"
"You! You're just making excuses! You haven't even studied medicine, what kind of doctor are you?" Xu Erlang's face darkened. He had long been unhappy with his younger brother, and with their parents gone, he naturally didn't give him a good look.
Su Qianyun quickly tugged at him and whispered, "Stop arguing, let's go take a look over there."
Common medicinal herbs are worthless, so Su Qianyun lost interest and pulled Xu Erlang a little further, continuing to rummage through the nearby bushes, hoping to find something. Xu Zifan dug up two motherwort plants, and once he got the hang of it, he worked quickly, finishing the small patch of motherwort in no time.
He had only taken a few steps forward when he heard Shaohua remind him: "[There are many *Polyporus umbellatus* plants behind the tree on the right.]"
Xu Zifan quickly went over, parted the grass, and looked behind the tree. Xu Erlang frowned and said, "We've looked over there, there's nothing there, just a pile of dung. Don't step on it, it's filthy!"
Xu Zifan squatted down, reached out and touched the poria cocos, and said, "This is a medicinal herb, you..."
"Wait for me a little longer."
Xu Erlang and Su Qianyun exchanged a glance, then quickly walked behind him. They watched him pick up the "feces," their faces showing disgust. Su Qianyun took a step back and couldn't help but ask, "Third brother, is this medicinal material? You're not mistaken, are you?" Such disgusting stuff is Chinese medicine?
Xu Zifan carefully picked the mature *Polyporus umbellatus*, gently plucking them and placing them in his basket, leaving the tender ones to continue growing. Without looking up, he said, "There are countless kinds of medicinal herbs, with all sorts of strange appearances. Even real feces can be used as medicine, let alone this one that only looks like feces. It's actually a type of fungus. As for what it treats, Second Brother, with Second Sister-in-law here, I won't say, to avoid suspicion."
Su Qianyun asked, "What's this called? Is it valuable?"
Xu Zifan casually replied, "I haven't inquired about Poria cocos, so I don't know if it's valuable. But it's definitely much better than Motherwort, right?"
Su Qianyun tugged at Xu Erlang, who said, "We found it first. Although we didn't recognize it, everyone who finds it has a share. Third brother, why don't you dig it all up? Leave half for second brother and sister-in-law. Tell me how you dug it up, and I'll take some back to supplement my income."
Xu Zifan chuckled, stopped what he was doing, and looked him up and down several times. He laughed and said, "Second Brother, how come I never noticed how shameless you are before? You didn't recognize it and just walked past it thinking it was dung. Now you're telling me you found it first? What did you find? Dung? You said you don't know how to pick it or process it. Do you expect me to do everything for you so you can sell it for money? Are you stupid or do you think I'm stupid? This is just an ordinary medicinal herb. If it were ginseng or lingzhi, wouldn't you have killed someone to steal it?"
Xu Erlang and Su Qianyun's expressions changed. Xu Erlang hurriedly said, "What murder and robbery? That's too harsh of you. What will people think of me if they hear this? If you don't want to give it to me, then don't. Is it really necessary for brothers to do this?"
Su Qianyun glanced at Zheng Chuan, who was pretending to be asleep, and her face immediately turned red. She felt so embarrassed! She had heard Xu Zifan say that it was just an ordinary medicinal herb, and she thought that she had never heard of such a herb before, so it couldn't be that expensive. It wasn't worth getting humiliated by arguing like this. She quickly pulled Xu Erlang away and whispered, "Third brother, your second brother didn't mean that. He just felt that it wasn't very interesting to only pick some mushrooms and wild vegetables on a trip into the mountains, so he wanted to learn from you and dig up some medicinal herbs. Hurry up and dig, no one will steal yours."
Xu Zifan looked unhappy and said while picking poria cocos, "It turns out that I'm incompatible with you two. We're bound to argue whenever we're together. We shouldn't go into the mountains together anymore. We can't handle it."