Chapter 25: The Sea Capture Document

  Finally, Li Wenjun climbed to the place where Wangyueyan grass grew, and what surprised him was that it wasn't just one plant of Wangyueyan grass growing here, but a cluster of Wangyueyan grass, with as many as four or five plants. They were scattered on the cliff, each shrunk into a ball, like a ball made of grass.

  Next to the clump of Wang Yue grass, a small tree grew out from the cliff. The pine tree was about as thick as an infant's arm, and Li Wenjun carefully grasped its trunk, testing its sturdiness first. Satisfied that it could hold his weight, he tightly held onto the trunk with one hand and stretched the other towards the Wang Yue grass.

  Before Li Wenjun's hand reached the Wàng Yuè Yá Cǎo, a snake suddenly darted out of a hole on the cliff and bit towards his hand.

  Li Wenjun was startled, San Shan County is in the north, and most of the snakes here are non-venomous. However, even if it's a non-venomous snake, Li Wenjun didn't want to be bitten by a snake. At this moment, he was crawling on the cliff, and any injury could make it impossible for him to climb back up to the top of the cliff.

  Besides, the snakes in the north are not absolutely non-toxic, and a very small number of snakes are toxic. Perhaps the toxin is not very strong, but it may cause him great trouble in the current situation.

  Li Wenjun quickly withdrew his hand, the snake's hind body shrunk into the hole, its forebody stood up straight, its head facing Li Wenjun, and the light emitted from its eyes was an endless coldness.

  Li Wenjun crawled to one side, first putting away the dagger, then returned to his original position. This time, he drew out the mountain-opening knife. The snake pounced at Li Wenjun again.

  Li Wenjun swung his mountain knife and cut the snake into two segments. The warm snake blood splashed all over him.

  Li Wenjun was probably too hasty, this knife cut off the snake, but he used too much force, the mountain-opening knife chopped into the cliff, and the counter-shock shook his hand in pain, his hand relaxed, and the mountain-opening knife fell down. It took a long time before the sound of the mountain-opening knife hitting the ground was heard again.

  Li Wenjun's body swayed violently, and he hastily grabbed the pine tree with both hands, barely stabilizing himself to avoid falling off the cliff.

  Li Wenjun let out a sigh of relief, he turned his hand and pulled out the medicine spade, poked at the snake hole, confirmed that there were no more snakes inside, only then did he start picking those few stalks of Wang Yue Cui grass.

  Five stalks of Wang Yue grass, Li Wenjun dug them all up and put them in the medicine basket. Then, he followed the road he had climbed down earlier, back to the rope, grabbed the rope, panting, and climbed to the top of the cliff.

  Arriving at the top of the cliff, Li Wenjun was like a puddle of mud, limp on the ground. He stretched out his limbs and lay down, thinking of the medicinal herbs in his medicine bag, he burst out laughing, as he laughed, he thought of the hardships of collecting these herbs deep in the Five Peaks Mountain for over a month, and hot tears streamed down from the corners of his eyes again.

  With tears in laughter, with a smile in crying, whether it's crying or laughing, whether it's sour or sweet, the five flavors are mixed together, and maybe even Li Wenjun himself can't tell clearly.

  After resting on the cliff for half a time, Li Wenjun packed up his things and started down the mountain. The medicine that scattered the gathered energy could only be put aside temporarily, in a few more days it would be the beginning of winter, and it might snow at any time, before the beginning of winter, he had to leave Wufeng Mountain.

  The process of going down the mountain was very smooth, Li Wenjun did not encounter any danger, nor did he meet fierce beasts such as wolves and wild boars.

  More than two days later, before the beginning of winter, Li Wenjun walked out of Wufeng Mountain and met Wang Liehu again.

  Wang Liehu saw Li Wenjun's beaming face and knew he had a good harvest. He invited Li Wenjun to have another meal at his home, then simply packed up and followed Li Wenjun down the mountain. In winter, Wang Liehu wouldn't stay on the mountain either; he also had a home in the county town of Sanshan County, where he would spend the winter, waiting for the spring of the following year before returning to resume his hunting life.

  Wang Liehu was also a kind and honest man, just like Sun Baicao. He walked with Li Wenjun towards the county town, chatting along the way. Li Wenjun figured he would have to venture into the mountains again in the future, so he took this opportunity to ask Wang Liehu for more advice on how to deal with wild beasts.

  Wang Liehu poured out his heart and taught him without reservation. He also had a very good impression of Li Wenjun, this young man.

  Two men walked to the gate of Sanshan County, and suddenly saw a group of people gathered at the gate, pointing at a notice that had just been posted on the gate, discussing it in an uproar.

  This is an official notice posted by the government, a man named Wang Yonggui is a notorious thief, cruel and ruthless, killing people like flies, arson and robbery, doing all sorts of evil, more than 100 people have died at his hands, the government has offered a reward of 1,000 taels of silver for his capture. The notice also includes a portrait of Wang Yonggui.

  Wang Liehu was illiterate, so he first asked Li Wenjun to read the contents of the warrant for him. When he heard that the government was offering a reward of 1,000 taels, he smacked his lips and said, "Whoever can kill Wang Yonggui will never have to worry about making a living again."

  After entering the county town, Wang Liehu pointed out his home in the county town to Li Wenjun and asked him to visit his home when he had time.

  After parting with Wang Liehu, Li Wenjun returned to his own home. He first hid the stored packages and bundles of herbs, including Wangyueyancao, together. The herbs were placed in the storage package, which could maintain their medicinal properties for a certain period of time, but it was still not feasible if the time was too long.

  The best way is to use a special jade box, add a spiritual symbol, and collect it, which can keep the medicinal properties from dispersing for a long time. As for what kind of jade box and what kind of spiritual symbol, neither "Changchun Gong" nor "Xiuxian Zatan" mentions it. Li Wenjun could only temporarily put the herbs in his storage pouch.

  Afterwards, Li Wenjun went back to Sun's house and brought his own big dog back.

  The Sun family was delighted to see Li Wenjun return safely, and they were all happy for him. In the evening, they invited Li Wenjun to their home for dinner again.

  At the dinner table, Li Wenjun remembered the matter of the medicine guide and asked Sun Baicao if he knew who had the hundred-year-old medicinal herbs in his hands.

  Sun Baicao shook his head and told Li Wenjun that the medicinal herbs from over a hundred years ago were extremely precious treasures, and it was very difficult for herb collectors to pick them. Once they got their hands on some, they would either carefully treasure them or sell them to wealthy families in exchange for money.

  The Sun family originally had a hundred-year-old wild ginseng, but when Sun Baicao's father was young, he got into trouble with the law. To save his son's life, Sun Baicao's grandfather took out this treasured wild ginseng and bribed the county magistrate, only then was his son's life spared. After that, the Sun family never again had the chance to encounter a hundred-year-old medicinal herb.

  Li Wenjun was not without regret, but he had no way out, so he could only ask Sun Bicao and his family to help him pay attention and see if they could gather any news about the hundred-year-old medicinal herbs.

  When leaving the Sun family, Sun Jianing gave Li Wenjun a copy of the records that recorded their generations of medicinal herb-picking experience. This gift was really timely for Li Wenjun.

  Li Wenjun did not refuse, but instead took out ten taels of silver to buy him off. However, Sun Baicao and his son Sun Jianing refused to accept it no matter what. With no other choice, Li Wenjun put the silver away again. He secretly made up his mind that he would repay the Sun family for their help one day, and if possible, bring them wealth and prosperity.

  Back home, Li Wenjun flipped through the booklet he had just received and read some content that interested him. Before he knew it, the night had deepened. Li Wenjun closed the book and began to cultivate again.

  Like before, without cultivating for a long time, the heavenly and earthly spiritual energy around him made Li Wenjun absorb it all again, and he could no longer continue to cultivate.

  Li Wenjun stopped practicing and lay down on the bed, soon falling asleep. For more than a month since he went up the mountain, he hadn't had a good sleep. Now that he was back home, he didn't have to worry about being attacked by wild beasts or thinking about finding Wangyue Cliff grass, so he could finally sleep soundly without any distractions.

  Time passed day by day, and before he knew it, the end of the year had arrived. At this point, more than three months had passed since Li Wenjun started practicing "Miscellaneous Discussions on Cultivation", almost four months. In these over 100 days of practice, his progress was no different from a turtle's crawl. Perhaps even turtles crawled faster than he practiced.

  The spiritual energy of the heavens and earth in San Shan County is indeed scarce, it's simply a desert for spiritual energy. Although Li Wenjun persisted in his cultivation every day, up until now, he still lingered outside the threshold, unable to take that extremely crucial first step.

  Li Wenjun knew that being anxious was useless, so every day he spent half a time unit practicing his cultivation and two time units learning to recognize more characters. With the rest of his time, he would go to a martial arts hall in the county town to learn fist and foot techniques. Before mastering the immortal family's skills, it was also very necessary to learn some kung fu.

  In addition, Li Wenjun would also go to the tea house in the county town every day. He didn't want to listen to books or drink tea, but the tea house was where news spread quickly, and he hoped to hear rumors about the hundred-year-old medicinal herbs.

  That day, Li Wenjun came out of the martial arts hall and was about to go to the tea house when Sun Jianing ran over from a distance. He shouted: "Brother Wenjun, hurry up and follow me."

  "What's wrong?" Li Wenjun asked.

  Sun Jianing pulled Li Wenjun's arm and said, "Wenjun brother, come with me quickly, or it will be too late."

  Li Wenjun had no choice but to follow Sun Jianing as she ran, and before they had taken two steps, he heard something from Sun Jianing that made him feel both surprised and worried.

  In the county seat of Sanshan, apart from Sun Baicao being a medicine collector, there were several other medicine collectors. One of them was named Zhang Qi, a widower whose wife had left him with a son when she passed away. This son had been spoiled by Zhang Qi since he was young, and when he grew up, he was led astray by others and developed a gambling habit.