Chapter 314: Herb Valley

The thing Xia Qing found most annoying about the Sufeng Squad was that they would stop at nothing to achieve their goals.

Whatever grievances existed between Sufeng and Green Dragon, their feuding was their own business and shouldn't drag in the lords who had worked so hard to farm out here.

Xia Qing suppressed her temper and asked, "Where's Qian Lin?"

"Already silenced." Chen Zheng explained, "Since Sufeng used this kind of drug, they must have already figured out a way to avoid blame. Keeping Qian Lin around wouldn't help. Captain Xie will seize this chance to team up with the military and take out the Jiang Xiong Squad first."

"This operation will be led by the military, who are responsible for territory protection, and won't go through the Base Management Department. It'll happen this afternoon or tonight." Chen Zheng said quietly, "If the arrest goes smoothly, the case of Zhang Xi trespassing on Territory Three will also be transferred to the military for trial."

This case being transferred to the military for trial was advantageous for Xia Qing. Because the Territory Management Department took orders from Deputy Base Leader Tang Zhengrong, and the Jiang Xiong Squad was Sufeng's lackey, Tang Zhengrong would surely instruct the Territory Management Department to minimize the matter and only punish the two Zhang Xis for trespassing.

Taking out the Jiang Xiong Squad would cost Sufeng an accomplice and reduce the threat to Xia Qing's important trading partner—the Wolf Pack—but that didn't mean she should let the Sufeng Squad off so easy.

Xia Qing asked, "Qian Lin sprinkled the drug in the valley between Mountains Forty-Nine and Fifty, right?"

Chen Zheng nodded.

"The exit of this valley is beside Territories Seven and Fifteen. After the Jiang Xiong Squad is caught, get Captain Hu to mention this matter on the Lord Channel—make sure Third Brother hears it." Given Zhang San's petty nature, after Sufeng pulled such a rotten stunt, they could forget about him healing Kou Fanming, who was struck by lightning.

Kou Fanming had been following Tang Zhengsu around even before the disaster, and was now a core member of the Sufeng Squad. His inability to recover his combat strength was a tremendous loss for Tang Zhengsu.

Chen Zheng smiled, "Our boss said the same thing."

Xia Qing was surprised, "Captain Yang is back?"

"Last night Captain Xie finally got in touch with our boss. They can rush back today, and Brother Luo can use the medicine tonight." Just mentioning Yang Jin's return brought a smile to Chen Zheng's face.

Xia Qing was happy too, and even began planning to find Wei Chengdong and input his photo into the surveillance system, to prevent him from triggering the camera's alarm when he came to fetch the spring water at night.

But today, Xia Qing still had something important to do. Before the autumn harvest began, she was going to make a trip to Valley Two in Section Three of Mountain Forty-Nine.

Unlike Valley One, which extended toward the northeast as if it had torn Mountain Forty-Nine apart, Valley Two was carved by water flowing down from the peak. So the further it extended northwest and upward, the shallower the valley became.

Moreover, Valley Two was narrower than Valley One, with a smaller stream and less dense vegetation. Standing on the slope and looking down, Xia Qing couldn't see any large fruit trees, which was why she had explored Valley One first.

The absence of large fruit trees didn't mean there were no fruit-bearing shrubs or herbs in the valley, so it still needed to be explored.

For this exploration, Xia Qing decided to team up with her companion—Sick Wolf. If they found harvestable plants, Sick Wolf could stand guard while Xia Qing gathered them with peace of mind.

One person and one wolf entered Valley Two from the Boar Valley and headed northeast. Xia Qing kept an eye on their surroundings and noticed the red squirrel hadn't followed, guessing there were no nuts it liked in this valley.

After advancing more than fifty meters, Xia Qing's eyes lit up. "Lao Er, look—is that tribute chrysanthemum?"

In a crevice five meters ahead, two clusters of snow-white, multi-petaled little flowers were blooming. They grew in a very hidden spot, completely invisible from the slope.

Sick Wolf naturally couldn't answer, because it didn't recognize chrysanthemums.

After confirming the air here contained no toxins, Xia Qing stepped forward three meters over the clean gravel washed by the stream and observed carefully.

These two clusters of chrysanthemums were blooming beautifully, their color true and proper. Even through her protective mask, Xia Qing seemed to smell their faint fragrance.

However, Xia Qing didn't rush forward to pick them.

Although both she and Sick Wolf had been sprayed with insect repellent and had no fear of the bees buzzing around the flowers, experience told her that such dense, clustered plants were a favorite hiding spot for venomous snakes.

Unable to spot any snakes with her eyes, Xia Qing pointed at the chrysanthemums and asked her companion, "Lao Er, are there any snakes near these chrysanthemums?"

Snakes all carried a musky smell that Xia Qing couldn't detect, but a wolf's sense of smell was extremely sharp and just might pick it up.

Hearing Xia Qing's question, Sick Wolf pulled in its tongue and closed its mouth, staring solemnly at the chrysanthemums.

Judging by Sick Wolf's demeanor, there were probably venomous snakes.

"Lao Er, fall back, let me handle this!" Xia Qing stepped forward, smacked the grass and rocks around the chrysanthemums a few times with her long saber, and three large snakes leapt from the grass, lunging at Xia Qing's eyes!

After getting a clear look at the three snakes, Xia Qing flipped her saber, turned the edge away, and slapped them away with the flat of the blade rather than killing them outright.

Based on the two symmetrical dark triangular markings on the snake's body, Xia Qing identified them as pit vipers—the main ingredient in the prescription Zhang San had written for Shi Zhong.

Shi Du had wanted to catch pit vipers with low harmful-element content to raise, but he'd entered the Evolution Forest several times without success. Today, though, Xia Qing had run into them.

After being slapped away, one snake leapt up to attack again while the other two slithered off into the distance. Xia Qing stomped on one of the fleeing snakes, grabbed the attacking one with her hand, stuffed them both into a cloth bag, then quickly caught up with the third and stuffed it in too.

There was no time to test them now—she'd do it after getting out.

Venomous snakes also had territories. After collecting the venomous snakes hiding near the chrysanthemums, this patch of land was safe, and the exciting moment had arrived.

Xia Qing took out her harmful-element detector. The result was a yellow light, but the harmful-element content was only seven parts per thousand—already quite excellent.

To save some for seed, Xia Qing didn't pick all the chrysanthemums. After the remaining ones finished blooming and produced seeds, she'd come back to harvest the seeds and plant chrysanthemums next year.

Continuing forward, Xia Qing found a few more clusters of white tribute chrysanthemums, but unfortunately they all registered red. Further on, she made new discoveries: sixteen yellow-light hog fennel, twenty green-light white atractylodes, and thirteen yellow-light white atractylodes.

Hog fennel and tribute chrysanthemum weren't worth much, but green-light white atractylodes—especially roots over three years old—could fetch two hundred credits per jin.

She guessed that before the disaster, Valley Two had been used by locals to grow medicinal herbs.

In the tenth year of the disaster, there were still medicinal herbs with such low harmful-element content, which meant Valley Two was well-suited to growing these three types. The white atractylodes fruit was already ready to harvest; the hog fennel had just finished flowering and its fruit wasn't ripe yet, so it could be harvested together with the chrysanthemum seeds.

After the autumn harvest, Xia Qing planned to find time to clear out the weeds, shrubs, and wild paulownia in the valley to give the medicinal herbs more growing room. Next year she'd sow herb seeds and turn Valley Two back into a herb valley.

After returning to her territory, testing revealed that the harmful-element content of all the pit vipers she'd caught was below ten parts per thousand. Xia Qing was even more delighted, and immediately turned on the walkie-talkie to contact Shi Du.