ATPnovel Chapter 8 Pests in the Medicinal Herb Field: Opportunity Ahead
Chapter 8 Pests in the Medicinal Herb Field: Opportunity Ahead
It wasn't until half an hour before dawn that my blood returned to normal.
I chose the cleanest gray cloth robe to change into; it's always good to be presentable on the first day.
In fact, there were many shops on Liuyun Peak where Qingfeng Cave was located, which formed a market called Liuyun Market.
Like the shops in Sifang Town, these shops all have members of the sect as shareholders.
Most of the menial laborers would still walk a few more steps to Sifang Town, for no other reason than poverty!
But no matter where they go, the money is ultimately earned by the same group of people.
Li Ya ordered several kinds of spiritual food from Liushanju and will pick them up after work.
On the way to the medicinal herb fields in the back mountains, you can occasionally encounter laborers who are on night duty in other places.
One by one, their faces were deathly pale, like walking corpses whose souls had been ripped out, driven by the secret technique of corpse driving towards the mountain.
Seeing this scene, Li Ya couldn't help but shudder.
Once outside the herb field, Xie Lingji called out names one by one, and someone stamped the document of each person whose name was called.
No one is allowed to bring any magical implements while working in the medicinal herb field. Anyone who violates this rule will be expelled from the field and handed over to the criminal court for punishment.
"Li Ya..."
Li Ya, who was at the back of the line, was surprised to suddenly hear his own name called.
Despite his surprise, he quickly went to the front, opened the document, and stamped it.
Upon entering the medicinal herb field, a rich spiritual energy rushed towards us, making us feel as if we were immersed in the spiritual energy of the plants.
It was obscured by fog from the outside, so it was hard to see clearly. But once inside, it became clear that the entire back mountain of Yunfu was covered with medicinal herb fields.
Various medicinal herbs are categorized according to their flowering period and properties, and nearly a hundred herb gardeners tend to them.
Further away, laborers and strongmen were also clearing new fields.
"My aunt said it's fine as long as I've seen it. I informed Steward Liu first thing this morning, and the General Affairs Office has already assigned your document to the medicinal herb field."
At some point, Xie Lingji's voice rang out from behind, and Li Ya quickly bowed.
"The task you've been assigned is currently the simplest: catching insects for these medicinal herbs."
Li Ya noticed that an elderly man with gray hair and a wrinkled face was following behind him.
"This is Senior Brother Zhao Zhenping. He has worked in the medicinal herb field for more than ten years. His skill in tending spiritual herbs is unmatched in the field. You should follow Senior Brother Zhao."
After saying that, Xie Lingji turned to Zhao Zhenping and said in a gentle tone, "Senior Brother Zhao, I'll have to trouble you to take care of Junior Brother Li."
Zhao Zhenping looked Li Ya up and down with his cloudy eyes, and did not respond immediately, but only nodded slightly.
He then said calmly, "Understood, Junior Brother Xie. I'll keep an eye on him."
Clearly, in Zhao Zhenping's eyes, Li Ya was just a nuisance. If it weren't for Xie Lingji's sake, he probably wouldn't even bother to talk to him.
Xie Lingji was so astute in understanding human relationships that he would not make such an arrangement. After Zhao Zhenping left, he took out a very exquisite bamboo cage from his sleeve.
Inside the bamboo cage were five longhorn beetles with speckled gold spots.
"This is a Xuanjia Long Niu. Senior Brother Zhao raised a Golden Thread Stone Skink. That little guy likes to eat this. These things are rare and hard to catch. I've taken care of it for you this time. From now on, you'll have to prepare them yourself."
Li Ya was now truly starting to admire Xie Lingji. Not only was he fair in his dealings, but his after-sales service was also quite excellent.
"Thank you so much, senior brother!"
"No need to thank me, Senior Brother Zhao has already gone far away."
Li Ya cupped his hands and quickly caught up with Zhao Zhenping.
"Senior Brother Zhao..."
Zhao Zhenping turned around and saw the bamboo cage being handed to him. A skink, as thick as a baby's arm, darted out from the herb bushes, perched on Zhao Zhenping's hand, and stared at the bamboo cage.
"Let's go eat."
The little guy wasn't shy at all and climbed right onto Li Ya.
These scale insects are usually cold-bodied, but the one in my hand was unusually warm.
One bite at a time, and my stomach was round in no time.
"If you feed it all, who will catch the bugs?"
Despite saying that, there was no reproach; instead, he took out a thin, long silver needle.
"Take note, I'll only explain it once."
As he spoke, Zhao Zhenping slowly bent down and parted the weeds, and Li Ya tactfully moved closer.
"This is Cloud Mist Grass, the main ingredient for refining Qi Gathering Pills."
"This herb is prone to aphids. The aphids are tiny and mostly hide on the back of the leaves, feeding on the herb's sap."
The leaves of the cloud grass are thin-skinned, and if they are damaged, they will quickly wither and turn yellow.
He channeled his inner energy into the silver needles, and with lightning speed, like a dragonfly skimming the water, he pierced through more than a dozen aphids into the needles.
"Don't even think about raising a few ladybugs to control this pest. It's good for the Cloud Mist Grass, but it's a major enemy for the spirit fruits over there."
"Place the needles firmly, and be careful not to damage this spiritual herb. If you see any leaves withered or yellow, remove them and apply a layer of mud to the wound."
Before we knew it, the sun had risen directly overhead.
The medicinal herb field was hot and humid, with heat swirling and twisting, causing many laborers to stop what they were doing.
Li Ya found a piece of white paper, put a lot of aphids on it, and followed the method he had just been taught, pricking it one by one. Either he pierced through the white paper, or he couldn't control his true energy and blasted a small hole in the white paper.
Li Ya wasn't annoyed and patiently continued practicing.
"Please help me, Spiritual Pivot, to quickly eliminate pests from the Cloud Mist Grass without harming its essence or affecting other medicinal herbs."
[The Spiritual Pivot will assist you in deduce a method to eliminate pests, as requested by you, fellow Daoist.]
[Spiritual Energy Consumption: 200 strands of True Qi]
[Time required: Two hours]
Li Ya didn't intend to follow the established path; to move faster than others, he had to take shortcuts.
The Yunfu Sect has tens of thousands of servants, and there is no shortage of talented individuals among them.
I don't have much natural talent, so I can only stand out by highlighting my strengths.
What is useful? Being able to help others in their difficulties is what makes someone useful.
In the struggle for immortality, one cannot wait for the opportunity to come; one must take the initiative to compete.
Just now, Senior Brother Zhao inadvertently mentioned that the alchemy room needs to refine 30% more Qi Gathering Pills this month, but the Cloud Mist Grass is currently causing serious insect infestation. If it cannot be cleared in time, the raw materials will not be delivered in full.
Herb Garden Cottage.
Xie Lingji stood below the hall, while Xie Daoyun propped her head up and half-reclined on the couch.
His blue, white and gold-patterned Taoist robe was well-tailored, and even the wide sleeves could not hide his astonishing curves from top to bottom.
Her long, black hair was smooth and tied up simply with a white jade hairpin, with a few stray strands hanging down her neck.
His gaze was languid, but his tone was aloof: "Lingji, the alchemy room needs ten thousand Cloud Mist Grasses. Is that enough to procure?"
Xie Lingji felt a headache coming on. He didn't know what was wrong with the situation this year. The medicinal fields were infested with pests. If it were a sect's top-grade medicinal fields, they could set up an array to isolate them and control the pests one by one.
But this ordinary medicinal field is interconnected; even if you pay more for processing and hire a lot of laborers, it won't make a difference.
After all, not every servant has the skill to tend to medicinal herbs, and if they ruin the herbs, it would be a greater loss than gain.
"Auntie, Lingji is still thinking of a way."
Xie Daoyun frowned: "How many times have I told you, call me Martial Uncle?"
"I realize my mistake, Uncle-Master, please calm down!"
After a long silence, Xie Lingji looked up and saw that Xie Daoyun had already closed her eyes, so he had no choice but to leave the small building.
……
The matter requested by the fellow Daoist has been deduced.
【On Qianji Peak grows the Honey Heart Vine. Take its core, along with Cloud Mist Grass, simmer over low heat, filter out the residue, and add ground centipede powder to obtain an insect-attracting liquid.】
"It's that simple?"
On his way home from work, Li Ya had no doubts about the method Ling Shu had given him, but the method seemed too simple.
When passing by Qianji Peak, I cut a bundle of Honey Heart Vine before going to Liushanju to pick up the spiritual meal I had ordered.
When they arrived at the bamboo house by the lake, Wei Que had just returned.
Upon seeing Li Ya, he immediately put down his weapon: "Brother Ya, did that Lin guy use some underhanded tricks? I..."
Seeing Wei Que's gritted teeth, Li Ya felt a warmth in his heart and pulled him into the house.
"Second brother, that's not true, it was my own choice..."
Li Ya explained the whole matter to Wei Que, omitting some details.
Wei Que's tense expression gradually relaxed: "That's good. It's good that Brother Xiaoya has thought it through. Going to the herb field isn't bad. He can learn a skill and have a way out in the future."
Seeing the smile gradually appear on Wei Que's face, Li Ya smiled knowingly as well: "Come on, I bought some spiritual food from Liu Shan Ju."
"Has Brother Xiaoya struck it rich?!"
He opened the food box, moved closer, and wafted the aroma toward himself.
"Let's not talk about that. Let's try this spiritual food and see what it tastes like."
He picked up a piece of fish and put it in his mouth, a look of pure bliss on his face.
"This is what cultivators should eat!"
Li Ya nodded in agreement. After the spiritual food was consumed, the spiritual energy inside slowly dissipated, and a warm current spread outwards.
Wei Que picked up the bowl, took a sip of tiger bone wine, and his expression changed: "This is not right."
Li Ya, who was pouring himself a drink, froze: "This is a gift from my second brother. How is it wrong?"
He suddenly slapped his forehead: "No wonder the can I had in my room didn't taste strong at all; I must have grabbed the wrong one."
"Brother Xiaoya, I'm sorry!" Wei Que's face immediately showed a troubled expression.
"I got two jars of tiger bone wine. One is for Brother Xiaoya, and the other I added a few good ingredients to!"
"Good stuff?"
"Just common herbs like Cynomorium songaricum and Epimedium..."
Hearing the long list of herbal names, Li Ya found it amusing. No wonder he almost exploded last night and couldn't keep his virginity.
"Could it be that Second Brother has reached the age where he can no longer live?"
"Nonsense, nonsense! I'm always in great shape, I don't even get a break all night..."
"I understand, I understand..."
"You know nothing, you're just a virgin who's never had sex..."
The two big-bellied men finished their meal in no time.
Before leaving, Wei Que didn't mention the welcome-away money, but only gave a few instructions.
"Brother Xiaoya, we can't take on that loan sharking anymore. Now that we've settled down in the herb field, we still need to find a way to pay back that money."
"I know, I will definitely not let my second brother worry again!"
After seeing Wei Que off, Li Ya began to consider the two loans from Wang Wu. It wasn't that he wasn't in a hurry; he had seen these bloodthirsty bastards before in his previous life.
If I go to repay the money now, I might get ripped off for some reason. If the pest infestation in the medicinal herb field can be resolved, thanks to Brother Xie's intervention, things will be much safer.
With that in mind, I began to try to brew the insect-attracting liquid.
The flames licked the earthenware pot until the spring water bubbled and sputtered, and the vine cores were all broken and thrown into the pot.
The juice inside the vine slowly dissolves into the spring water, and soon a faint, sweet, and soft fragrance spreads.
After filtering out the juice, add ground centipede powder and stir well; the aroma becomes even more intense.
After the medicinal liquid cools, the soup turns a honey-yellow color.
Li Ya dipped some of the medicine in the liquid and smeared it on the table. As the aroma dissipated, all the aphids in the bottle crawled out and devoured the liquid.
A hint of joy appeared on his face.
"It's done."