They had been walking for a good half day when the sky opened up and the sun shone its powerful rays, signaling noon.
It was not easy to walk through the woods - the ground was covered with tall grass, broken branches, and thorny vines, making it much harder than walking on a clear path.
Though there were people clearing the way ahead, the villagers still felt extremely fatigued. Oldest Xie instructed those leading the way to find a relatively open clearing, and signaled for everyone to take a rest.
The men worked together to clear the wild grass and toss aside the dead branches, making the area safe from poisonous insects and reducing the risk of starting a forest fire when cooking.
Once the clearing was prepared, the villagers took out their blankets or grass mats and sat down to rest.
The women then set up stoves and began preparing food. Some elders took the children to forage for wild vegetables nearby.
Oldest Xie tilted his chin towards the back, signaling for Xie Zhan to look. "They're still following us, how despicable! We're clearing the path for them, making things easy."
In the distance, obscured by trees, they could make out figures from the Dahu Village, who had also stopped to rest not too far away.
"Utterly shameless, using us as free labor, a bunch of petty people."
"Village Chief, we can't just let them take advantage of us like this. At the very least, we should take turns. Let's go tell them that they'll have to lead the way tomorrow."
Xie Zhan curled his lips coldly, calmly saying, "No need to waste the effort, they're just a bunch of lepers who won't listen to reason."
If they refused to take the lead, there was no way to whip them forward from behind.
Let them live for now, they wouldn't survive much longer anyway. In such a great calamity, a few dozen people dying in this old forest wouldn't even cause a ripple.
At this point, Gu Jiu's system was frantically pinging: "Host, scan detected pure, natural, organic wild Jimsonweed 50 meters ahead. Jimsonweed can be used for anesthesia and... Scan detected pure, natural, organic wild Dendrobium 30 meters ahead..."
Within moments, it had reported more than a dozen types of medicinal herbs, along with their effects and processing methods.
Gu Jiu had already become familiar with many of these herbs, but most were from her era, cultivated in unhealthy environments which diminished their medicinal properties.
Hence the system's emphasis on the herbs being pure, natural, and organic - highlighting these special qualities.
Gu Jiu was itching to get started, thinking about how the herbs could help upgrade her spatial cultivation. Seeing Xie Zhan idle, she went to find him, "Xie Zhan, Xie Zhan, come with me to dig up some medicinal herbs. My mother's illness requires a lot of herbs, maybe we can gather everything needed on this journey to treat her condition sooner."
She wasn't making excuses, she really did intend to do this - since she now recognized the various herbs and had treated Mrs. Gao's illness, why not take this opportunity?
Mrs. Gao overheard and, not feeling at ease with just the two of them going, instructed Fifth Xie, "Don't go too far, Fifth Xie should go too. This forest is too dangerous, what if you encounter ferocious beasts?"
Fifth Xie agreed, and Xie Daji and the others also wanted to tag along, but the adults restrained them. If they encountered large wild animals, the children would not only be unable to help, but would become a burden instead.
Third Xie suddenly called out to stop them, handing each of them a sickle.
Gu Jiu was delighted at this convenience and thanked Third Xie.
Lu Aniu took the initiative to follow behind the three, not leading but not falling too far behind either, keeping pace with them.
Gu Jiu turned and smiled gratefully at him, while Xie Zhan simply nodded at Lu Aniu.
They hadn't gone far when they saw arrow-shaped plants growing beneath a large tree.
Gu Jiu immediately recognized them and exclaimed excitedly, "This is Gastrodia elata, so much of it!"
She had guessed this old forest would have precious medicinal herbs, but didn't expect to come across such an abundance of this highly valuable herb so soon after entering.
Gastrodia elata was considered one of the top ten most precious Chinese herbs in her previous life, on par with ginseng and always commanding a high price.
Once they were out of the old forest, just selling the Gastrodia elata would... oh my, they'd be rich!
She turned to the three with delight, explaining, "This is good stuff, it can treat migraines, numbness in the limbs, arthritis, rheumatism and more. You can even eat it, braised with pig's feet, in chicken soup..."
Gu Jiu nearly started drooling just talking about it, and Fifth Xie's eyes lit up, "You can eat it? With so much..."
Xie Zhan decisively instructed Fifth Xie to call more people over, as their food rations were limited and this much Gastrodia elata could sustain them for several days.
Gu Jiu had already started digging around the largest one, explaining as she worked, "Be careful now, don't damage the roots. Just like digging up sweet potatoes. The bigger the Gastrodia elata, the more valuable it is. We'll sell the large ones for money and eat the smaller ones."
Once she compared it to digging sweet potatoes, the two men understood and started digging with their own "tools".
Though Gu Jiu had been a technical professional in her previous life, clumsy at physical labor and unable to even distinguish the Five Grains, these were chores she had become accustomed to since transmigrating.
The Gastrodia elata didn't have shallow roots like other herbs, making it harder to dig up - she huffed and puffed for a while before finally unearthing one, only to look up and see the two men had already piled up heaps around them.
By then, Fifth Xie had also called over the villagers - Mrs. Zhang, Mrs. Xu, Mrs. Sun, none were missing, even the children had come. In times of food scarcity, the more people a family had, the more they could gather.
Gu Jiu quickly repeated her earlier instructions about distinguishing the large herbs for selling from the small ones for eating.
The villagers were delighted to learn this plant could not only be eaten but fetch a high price, and they attacked the task with renewed vigor, working feverishly like chickens injected with adrenaline.
Gu Jiu fumbled clumsily until Fifth Xie irritatedly pushed her aside, "Little sister, go play, let me handle this."
Gu Jiu didn't argue, watching everyone bent over busily working and paying her no mind, she quietly slipped several intact Gastrodia elata plants into her spatial realm.
Then she quickly ducked behind a large tree, swiftly entering her space and digging a few holes in the soil to plant the Gastrodia elata and other herbs she had previously dug up. But with the low oxygen levels, she was already gasping for air by the time she finished.
She took a few deep breaths after exiting, checking that no one had noticed, before finally relaxing.
The villagers stripped the area of all the mature Gastrodia elata, leaving only the seedlings to propagate as Gu Jiu had instructed. They returned to the camp site jubilantly.
Having these herbs to supplement their meals would save them several days' worth of rations, putting everyone in an excellent mood.
Gu Jiu also taught the villagers how to process the Gastrodia elata - selecting the larger ones, washing them clean, steaming until soft, slicing thinly, and then sun-drying them to sell to apothecaries for money.
In her former life, wild Gastrodia elata was nearly extinct and thus commanded exorbitant prices, sold not by the pound but by the gram.
She didn't know what the price would be in this era, but it shouldn't be low.
Mrs. Xu tugged at Gu Jiu's clothes and whispered, "You're so naive, teaching others skills for making a living?"
Gu Jiu smiled, "I have plenty of cooking skills, it's fine to give the villagers a way to make a living too. Oh, Mrs. Xu, while Gastrodia elata is good, it also has effects of invigorating blood flow, so it could disturb your pregnancy - you can't eat it."
Mrs. Xu hurriedly nodded, not daring to take any risks now that she was finally pregnant. She would also have to warn the wife of the Third Xie, who was over five months pregnant.
