At the end of the Shen hour, Liu Qingquan ran out to meet Old Liu, Liu Qingyan, and Hu Zhou, who had returned, at the alley entrance, bringing them all back home.
As soon as they entered, sharp-eyed Hu Zhou jumped in surprise, then gleefully circled around the snow sculpture world.
“Lu Lang’s hands are truly skilled!” Old Liu praised, “The needlework he showed a couple of days ago was astonishing, but I didn’t expect such snow sculpting talent too.”
Liu Qingyan’s eyes were full of smiles, gazing at her snow sculpture, then turning to Lu Zheng, saying nothing, just smiling.
“Pretty?” Lu Zheng sidled up.
“Pretty~”
“Not as pretty as the real you!”
Lu Zheng loved teasing Liu Qingyan, finding her flushed face particularly amusing.
Mrs. Liu had prepared the meal, and the group sat around the round table in the front hall. The old servant soon brought a large pot of chicken stew and plenty of steamed buns.
Old Liu stealthily fetched half a jug of wine, which Lu Zheng took, filling Old Liu’s cup and joining him with one himself.
After dinner, Lu Zheng took his leave, bringing Hu Zhou home and teaching him the *Eighteen Forms of Mountain Bearing* for an hour.
It must be said, Hu Zhou was not only naturally strong but also suited for martial arts. In just half a month, he had mastered the first three forms quite well.
At this pace, he could learn all of the *Eighteen Forms* in less than six months. What remained was constant practice, body conditioning, and building vitality to eventually generate a martial artist’s blood qi.
Given Hu Zhou’s physical condition, achieving martial artist blood qi was only a matter of time.
Compared to Hu Zhou, Lin Wan was still struggling with the first form, but even so, her reaction speed and strength had improved.
…
The next day, Lu Zheng taught Lin Wan martial arts in the morning and helped at Benevolent Heart Hall in the afternoon.
While administering acupuncture to an elderly patient with cold legs, he saw a lean middle-aged man with a bamboo basket on his back enter the clinic.
This was a herb gatherer, someone Lu Zheng had seen a few times before.
Herb gatherers ventured deep into mountains and forests, searching for wild medicinal plants to sell to pharmacies and clinics for a living.
The medical tradition of the Great Jing Dynasty was ancient, with many pharmacies and clinics in prefectures and counties. Naturally, not all herbs were wild, as many farmers grew medicinal plants for a living.
With herb farmers as the source, the Great Jing Dynasty had its own chain of herb buyers, distributors, and so on, though the division of labour was not as fine or the scale as large as in modern times.
Similarly, even though the Great Jing Dynasty lacked modern large-scale farming, cultivated herbs were less potent due to shorter growth periods and lower nutrients compared to purely wild ones.
Thus, the ancient trade of herb gathering persisted. If they found century-old yellow ginseng or mature mountain ginseng in the deep forests, the profit could sustain them for a year.
High risk, high reward!
Seeing the middle-aged man, Old Liu waved, “Guo the Third, what good stuff did you find in the mountains this time?”
“Ugh! Don’t mention it, I missed out on a five-courtyard mansion and ten acres of prime land!” Guo the Third sighed, waving his hand.
“Ha! Big talk! Was it yellow ginseng on a cliff snatched by a mountain sprite, or mountain ginseng in a shady valley taken by a wolf king?”
“Neither,” Guo the Third shook his head, “It was a lingzhi that grew legs and ran off.”
“What?” Lu Zheng was baffled.
Old Liu exclaimed, “A lingzhi spirit?”
Guo the Third shook his head, “Four legs, not quite a spirit yet, a lingzhi horse.”
Lu Zheng blinked, catching on, “A lingzhi turned spirit, lingzhi spirit or lingzhi horse?”
“There’s a lingzhi horse in the mountains of Tonglin County?”
A wealthy patient being treated widened his eyes, “Then you didn’t just miss a five-courtyard mansion and ten acres of land, but also a maid to serve tea and a concubine to warm your bed.”
“Don’t remind me! Don’t remind me!” Guo the Third’s eyes teared up in anguish, but he couldn’t help rallying himself, “It’s in the deep mountains to the northeast, just over thirty li from the city. I’ll gear up and go back, and this time I’ll catch it!”
“Forget it. Legends say lingzhi spirits and horses are incredibly elusive, roaming deep forests, never staying long in one place, crossing ten peaks in a day and night. What’s the point? Don’t go too deep and get nabbed by a mountain cat,” Old Liu said dismissively.
Guo the Third didn’t reply, just sighed.
“Come on, don’t be glum, as if you could catch a lingzhi horse,” Old Liu said irritably, “They’re so spirited, even if you got within two feet, you couldn’t grab one!”
“Not necessarily. Everyone in Tonglin County knows I, Guo the Third, have quick eyes and hands. I can catch a roe deer in the mountains with one hand…”
“Enough, enough. You’re a herb gatherer, not a hunter. You caught a dumb roe deer once and brag like a huntsman,” a patient teased.
“I still caught it!” Guo the Third argued heatedly, momentarily forgetting his lingzhi horse woes.
“Fine, you’re destined to stick with your wife. Careful she doesn’t find out about your little dreams.”
Guo the Third glared, “What? What little dreams?”
“Hahaha!”
“Alright, enough. Dream of lingzhi horses all you want. What’d you bring this time?” Old Liu cut off the banter, clapping his hands and moving behind the medicine counter.
“Good stuff!”
Guo the Third took off his basket and brought it to the counter.
“Thanks to Miss Liu curing my wife’s stomachache, I thought of Benevolent Heart Hall first for my good finds.”
After claiming some credit, Guo the Third set down the basket and pulled out a bunch of fresh herbs.
Old Liu’s eyes lit up, “Dendrobium?”
Guo the Third grinned proudly, “Found a small patch in a mountain hollow. I gathered all the best ones.”
“Good stuff,” Old Liu nodded, picking up a stem to sniff and taste, then giving a thumbs-up.
“I’ll split it with you, but I promised the other half to Half-Body Hall,” Guo the Third said.
Old Liu nodded, “Fair enough!”
They kept half the wild dendrobium, weighed it, and settled the payment.
Guo the Third pocketed the money, hoisted his basket, and hurried off.
Lu Zheng watched him leave, then asked Old Liu, “Lingzhi spirits and horses, are those just aged lingzhi with exceptional medicinal effects?”
Old Liu shook his head, “More than exceptional. They boost qi, calm the mind, strengthen the body, and enrich the blood. One bite could bring a dead man back to life.”
The patient getting acupuncture chimed in with a laugh, “Too bad no one can catch them!”
…
That evening, after teaching and sending Hu Zhou off, Lu Zheng didn’t sleep in the ancient world for once. Instead, he returned to the modern world, browsing outdoor-related knowledge and preparations.
