Medicine sable?
Master Longbrow froze for a moment, “What’s a medicine sable?”
Ye Qiu explained, “A medicine sable is a creature that thrives on eating herbs and excels at finding them.”
“To put it simply, it loves munching on medicinal plants and has an incredibly sharp sense of smell. Its greatest talent is tracking down herbs.”
“They say an adult medicine sable can easily locate century-old herbs within a ten-mile radius.”
“This one in front of us probably isn’t fully grown yet, but even so, if there’s a century-old herb within a mile, it can sniff it out with just a twitch of its nose.”
“I’d only ever read about medicine sables in medical texts before. I never imagined such a legendary creature actually existed.”
That incredible?
Master Longbrow’s eyes darted around as a thought struck him, “If I could get my hands on this medicine sable, finding century-old herbs in the future would be a piece of cake, wouldn’t it?”
Ye Qiu saw right through Master Longbrow’s intentions, gave a faint smile, and said nothing.
Master Longbrow edged closer to the sable, putting on a friendly grin and waving at it, “Little darling, come here, come to big brother’s arms.”
Pfft, Ye Qiu couldn’t hold back a laugh.
Shuisheng, standing nearby with a sour expression, muttered, “Martial Uncle’s really lost it, calling himself ‘big brother’ to a beast. By that logic, wouldn’t I have to call that thing ‘Martial Uncle’ too?”
Ye Qiu chuckled, “If the old man actually manages to tame this medicine sable, calling it ‘Martial Uncle’ wouldn’t be a loss. After all, its abilities are nothing to scoff at.”
“But the medicine sable is a highly intelligent creature. Taming it isn’t a simple task.”
As the two spoke, Master Longbrow was now just three metres from the sable.
He crept closer, light on his feet, still cooing, “Little darling, come to big brother’s arms. I’ll take you to Dragon Tiger Mountain for some tasty treats.”
“There’s loads of good stuff to eat at Dragon Tiger Mountain.”
“I’m sure a little thing like you would love it.”
Master Longbrow inched nearer, now just half a metre away. Suddenly, he lunged, trying to grab the sable.
With a flash, the sable darted three metres away, leaving Master Longbrow grasping at air.
“Didn’t expect you to be such a cheeky little thing. Too bad for you, you can’t escape my clutches.”
Master Longbrow grinned wickedly and charged at the sable again.
His speed was astonishing.
But unbeknownst to him, the sable was even faster. With a few leaps, it vanished into the herb field, then perched atop a plant, still gnawing on its lingzhi.
By now, half the lingzhi had disappeared into its belly.
Master Longbrow’s temper flared. He, a master who’d comprehended true qi, couldn’t outpace a mere beast? If word got out, he’d be a laughingstock!
“Want to race me? Fine, let’s see just how fast you are.”
In an instant, Master Longbrow’s body blurred into an afterimage, streaking forward like lightning.
The next second, the sable vanished from his sight again.
And so began a frantic chase between man and sable through the herb field.
Half an hour later, Master Longbrow was drenched in sweat and still hadn’t caught it.
The sable squatted on a herb, nibbling its lingzhi while eyeing him warily with bright little eyes.
“Damn it, this beast’s like a bloody spirit, impossible to catch!” Master Longbrow plopped down on the ground, cursing in frustration.
“How about I give it a go?” Ye Qiu offered suddenly.
“No point trying, you won’t catch it either,” Master Longbrow said.
“What if I do?”
“If you catch it, the medicine sable’s yours. I won’t fight you for it.”
“You said it.” Ye Qiu rummaged through Shuisheng’s backpack, pulled out two Big White Rabbit milk candies, unwrapped them, and dangled them in front of the sable.
“Childish!”
Master Longbrow sneered.
But no sooner had he spoken than the sable zipped over, stopping a metre from Ye Qiu. Its bright eyes flicked between Ye Qiu and the candies, full of caution.
“Come here, little one, have some candy,” Ye Qiu said with a smile, “Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you.”
Step by step, the sable edged closer.
Before long, it was right in front of Ye Qiu. Dropping the half-eaten lingzhi, it snatched a candy with its mouth and gobbled it down.
After finishing, it licked its tiny pink tongue, staring at Ye Qiu with a look that screamed, “More, please!”
Ye Qiu unwrapped another candy and handed it over.
The sable’s eyes lit up. Clutching the candy with its fuzzy little paws, it munched away happily.
After the second one, it kept gazing at Ye Qiu.
“You can’t have too many candies at once, or you’ll get cavities. Stick with me, though, and I’ll give you even tastier treats later,” Ye Qiu said with a grin.
Master Longbrow scoffed, “Little brat, if you can tame it with two candies, I’ll write my name backwards from now on.”
The next moment, his smirk froze.
The sable leapt lightly onto Ye Qiu’s shoulder, rubbed its fluffy nose against his face once, then again, and finally started licking him. It was as clingy as a lovesick couple, downright mushy.
“Disgusting!”
Master Longbrow spat out the word.
It wasn’t so much disgust as envy toward Ye Qiu.
After snuggling with Ye Qiu for a bit, the sable settled on his shoulder and fell asleep, snoring softly. It looked utterly adorable.
“Old man, looks like you’ll be writing your name backwards now, huh?” Ye Qiu teased.
Master Longbrow huffed, “Hmph, using cheap tricks to fool a little beast, gentlemen would scorn it.”
“Are you a gentleman?”
Master Longbrow, “…”
“Shuisheng, thanks for that. If it weren’t for your Big White Rabbit candies, taming this little guy wouldn’t have been so easy,” Ye Qiu said with a laugh.
Wait, the candies came from Shuisheng?
Master Longbrow’s face turned green with rage. He stormed over and smacked Shuisheng’s bald head.
“Martial Uncle, why’d you hit me?” Shuisheng clutched his head, looking wronged.
Master Longbrow fumed, “If you’d taken out those candies earlier, that beast wouldn’t have gone to Ye Qiu! Tell me, don’t you deserve a whack?”
Shuisheng felt even more aggrieved, “Ye Qiu didn’t say it’d eat candies! I thought he just wanted them for himself.”
“You dimwit!”
“Alright, old man, don’t blame Shuisheng,” Ye Qiu interjected, “The sable sticking with me isn’t really about the candies.”
“Then what’s it about?” Master Longbrow asked, baffled.
Ye Qiu grinned, “Because I’m handsome.”
Pah!
Master Longbrow wanted to spit in Ye Qiu’s face. Fuming, he turned and stormed off.
Before leaving, he stuffed the half-eaten lingzhi into his bag.
After hours of trekking, the three finally emerged from the Hundred Thousand Mountains.
