Solving Middle Age Crisis by Intelligence System-Chapter 484 - 299: It’s Really Gone! (Third Update)
For someone like Old Zhao, a professional mountaineer, they are somewhat superstitious about legends like mountain gods. So, even though Qi Yun visited him personally, his heart was still uneasy, unwilling to dig up that thousand-year-old ginseng.
"How about this, why don’t you find Big Zhuzi? I’ll tell him the location, and you can have him do the digging."
"As for money... I know you’re generous, just give me a little something and that’ll suffice."
Qi Yun shook his head after listening and didn’t say a word.
The method Old Zhao suggested wasn’t impossible, but from a cautious standpoint, he still didn’t want the matter of the thousand-year-old ginseng to be known by anyone else.
It’s not that he doesn’t trust Big Zhuzi, it’s simply for confidentiality. After all, the more people who know, the greater the risk of information being leaked.
One can’t blame Qi Yun for being cautious—rumors about this thousand-year-old ginseng in the folklore are too bizarre, tales of immortality and resurrecting the dead abound. If some big shot hears about it, the items in his hands might catch their attention.
Currently, the only ones who know about the thousand-year-old ginseng are himself, Chen Wei, and Liu Meng, all of whom he trusts greatly. Even Huzi, who escorted Liu Meng into the mountains, doesn’t know.
Seeing Old Zhao disagree, Qi Yun didn’t persuade him further, just signaled Liu Meng with a look.
The latter nodded and picked up the backpack by his feet, opened it, and started pulling out things.
"Dong dong dong dong~"
Four crisp sounds, several bottles of Maotai were placed by Liu Meng on the nearby small wooden table.
This was specially prepared by Qi Yun before coming, fearing the old man wouldn’t relent, planning to use these good bottles of liquor to lure him.
Sure enough, Old Zhao’s eyes went straight, staring at the Maotai bottles on the table, his Adam’s apple uncontrollably bobbing.
The people who frequently run in the mountains generally like a drink or two, because of the cold temperatures, drinking some alcohol can ward off the chill.
Especially in winter, when snow blankets the land, sometimes half a pot of liquor can save a life.
"You... what are you doing?" Old Zhao’s voice wavered, his hand reaching halfway and shrinking back, as if afraid of getting burned, "I’m not doing it for this..."
He certainly recognized Maotai, but the times he drank it could be counted on one hand, only having a few sips earlier when leading the county leaders on a tour, the taste memorable till now.
Later, conditions improved a bit, and it wasn’t that he couldn’t afford a bottle of liquor, but he was reluctant.
His son needed a house, his grandson needed education and a wife, so even though he earned some money from mountain herb collection, he was reluctant to spend it on such luxury.
Qi Yun smilingly shoved a bottle into his hand, "This is a gift from me."
"You see, it’s not like I must dig up that ginseng, I just want to see what kind of treasure it is with my own eyes. How about you take us on another stroll in the mountains tomorrow?"
The wine bottle felt heavy in his hand, as if the aroma of the liquor could seep out through the bottle’s opening, making Old Zhao swallow eagerly.
"Dear me..." Old Zhao fondled the bottle, suddenly placing it on the table, "Fine, fine! Just because of this bottle of liquor, I’ll take you there!"
Qi Yun secretly chuckled inside, looks like the old man’s resolve wasn’t that solid either...
When they find that ginseng tomorrow and open another bottle, won’t the old man obediently start work?
Old Zhao spat on his hand, rubbed his hands together, grabbed the bottle and twisted off the cap, taking a hefty swig.
The fiery liquor went down his throat, making him grit his teeth, yet his face flushed red.
"Darn it, this liquor is smoother than mountain spring water!" Setting the bottle down, he smacked his lips, glancing at Qi Yun, "We agreed to just take a look, you better not have me dig!"
"Also, that ginseng is smart, if you have intentions to dig it, it can smell you from three miles away..."
Qi Yun nodded while laughing, continuing to peel pine nuts, wondering if the old man was starting to get drunk from such ramblings...
That night, Qi Yun and the others didn’t go to Big Zhuzi’s house; they just made do spending the night at Old Zhao’s place on the floor.
The next morning, at dawn, after breakfast, they set out towards the mountains.
The route was the same as last time, heading towards Wild Wolf Gully, but they turned midway, drilling into the denser forest on the higher eastern side.
The morning dew in the woods hadn’t dried, water droplets on the grass clung to their pant legs, chillingly.
Old Zhao led the way, holding a polished wooden staff, occasionally tapping it on the ground.
A small black dog followed at his feet, nose to the ground sniffing around, occasionally stopping to bark fiercely at some tree.
"Grandpa, what does that thousand-year ginseng look like?" Qi Yun asked from behind.
"Not much different from ordinary mountain ginseng, just..." Old Zhao paused as if searching for the right words, "just looks more lively, whiskers white like snow, roots are yellow, sprouts turn with the sun like a little kid."
"Anyway, you’ll see yourself when we get there."
Qi Yun nodded with a smile, stepping on thick rotting leaves, making a soft rustling sound.
They walked for over five hours until just before noon when Old Zhao finally came to a halt.
He struck the ground heavily with his wooden staff, panting and pointing ahead, "Just... just behind that mountain, let’s catch our breath before we go over."
Qi Yun and Liu Meng were also exhausted. They found a flat rock to sit on, while Chen Wei cautiously moved to higher ground, observing the surroundings.
The mountain breeze passed through the forest, carrying the fresh scent of pine needles, dispersing some of the heat from their bodies.
Qi Yun unscrewed his water bottle and drank a couple of sips, then asked Old Zhao, "Uncle, if we go over there and find the ginseng, does that mean it wasn’t running away at all?"
"Could it be you remembered the wrong place last time, or was it caused by the heavy rain the day before yesterday?"
Upon hearing this, Old Zhao was a bit unhappy and tapped his tobacco pipe loudly against the stone.
"You kid, don’t you trust these old bones of mine?" He spat on the ground, continuing, "I’ve roamed the mountains for fifty or sixty years, I could tell you blindfolded which grass grows in which patch of forest, and which stone covers a spring! How could I remember the wrong place?"
The little black dog seemed to understand too, barking twice at Qi Yun, as if agreeing with Old Zhao.
Qi Yun wasn’t offended, smiled, and said no more.
After resting for about ten minutes, the group ate some rations and continued on their way.
After another half hour, they finally crossed over that mountain to reach a hollow.
This hollow was like a treasure basin embraced by mountains, with a patch of strange plants growing in the center, their leaves dark red and stems shimmering with a silver light, resembling a scene from a game brought to life.
"It’s right in the dirt pit among those red grasses," Old Zhao lowered his voice as if afraid of scaring the ginseng, "Don’t step on those red grasses, the sap is hard to wash off and attracts bugs."
Qi Yun and the others followed him, stepping through the gaps among the red grasses.
The closer they got to the center, the more the air was filled with a faintly sweet fragrance, like wild honey mixed with the freshness of plants. Qi Yun took a few deep breaths, feeling refreshed.
Upon reaching the spot, Old Zhao stopped, a puzzled expression on his face.
Liu Meng, behind him, was equally perplexed.
They saw several pieces of red rope scattered beside the dirt pit, and what had been tied with the rope was long gone.
Old Zhao’s wooden staff fell from his hand as he stumbled to the edge of the pit, his fingers trembling as he picked up a piece of the red rope, the knot he had tied by himself now loosening.
"It... it ran away again!?" Liu Meng murmured in disbelief.
Old Zhao turned and handed the piece of red rope to Qi Yun, his tone somewhat excited: "Look! Didn’t I say this mountain ginseng became spirited? It must have smelled us and knows we are looking for it."
Qi Yun frowned, didn’t say a word, but gave Chen Wei a look.
Even at this point, he still found it hard to believe a plant could just move by itself.
Understanding, Chen Wei stepped forward and began to carefully examine the marks at the edge of the pit.
He squatted down, dipped his hand in some dark red soil, rubbed it with his fingers, and brought it to his nose to sniff, his brow gradually furrowing.
After about four or five minutes, when Chen Wei finished examining the surrounding area for dozens of meters, he shook his head at Qi Yun: "I didn’t find any obvious traces. It can only be concluded that it wasn’t caused by humans, and no large wild animals have been around."
Qi Yun was stunned, this was strange as hell, could it really run on its own?
"It’s only been a day, it shouldn’t have gone far, right? Uncle, could you help look for it?"
Old Zhao glanced at Qi Yun, hesitatingly said: "Maybe we shouldn’t look for it, this ginseng must have become spirited, if we really dig it up, the mountain god will be angry!"
Qi Yun looked around and clapped his hands in response: "Just help us find it first. Whether we dig it or not, I’ve come all this way, I should at least take a look to broaden my horizons."
Seeing Qi Yun insist, Old Zhao didn’t argue further, immediately bending down to search nearby: "Ginseng likes to grow where the spiritual energy is abundant; where the spiritual energy is abundant, there is more moisture, so observe the distribution of these leaves..."
Qi Yun listened while glancing around occasionally. Just as he was engrossed in the search, something suddenly fell from the sky, landing right at his feet.
He pushed aside the grass to see it was a pine cone, so he looked up to find a gray-black squirrel perched on the pine branch above, its round eyes staring at him, with half a pine cone in its mouth, as though demonstrating its dominance.
Apparently, the fallen pine cone was its doing.
"This little thing, quite bold." Qi Yun laughed, shook his head, and was about to step aside when he noticed with the corner of his eye a few tender green leaves growing on the small slope ahead.
Excited, he quickly walked over, brushed aside the covering weeds.
These leaves did indeed resemble ginseng leaves, almost identical to those he had seen before, except they were extraordinarily large! Each leaf was as big as a grown man’s palm, several sizes larger than those of ginsengs aged tens or hundreds of years.
"Old Zhao!" Qi Yun immediately turned his head and shouted, "Come see if this is it!"
Hearing the call, Old Zhao rushed over in three steps at once, and upon seeing those leaves, he fell to his knees excitedly, bowing his head several times to them.
"Oh my..."
"It’s it! It’s it! It’s definitely it!"
(Got too absorbed in eating melons tonight...)
