Republic of China: Guandong Ginseng King

Chapter 153 Sixth-grade Leaf Under the Backpack

There was total silence in the valley, with only the occasional sound of mountain breeze blowing through the treetops.

In the cave, the master and disciple held their breath for a long time before they finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"It was really exciting tonight. Not only did we encounter wolves, but we also encountered tigers."

Now, neither the master nor the disciple needed to sleep, and they just stayed by the fire until dawn.

In the morning, it was bright outside.

Qu Shaoyang stuck his head out of the cave and looked down, and saw a number of wolf corpses lying in the valley not far away.

Needless to say, it must have been last night, when he was killed by a tiger.

"Master, what are we going to do today?" Qu Shaoyang stepped back and asked Liu Dongshan.

"Let's go down and take a look. Aren't you thinking about looking for that old omen? Then let's go and take a look.

The wolves suffered heavy losses last night, so they certainly won’t dare to come again today.

The tiger took away a wolf yesterday. I guess it is now full and sleeping.

We both carry guns and stay alert, so it shouldn't be a big deal."

In the Northeast, tigers are also called mountain gods.

It is generally said that the tiger is the mount of the mountain god, but people cannot see the mountain god, they can only see the tiger.

Adult Siberian tigers generally do not actively hurt people.

Only those Siberian tigers that are old and weak and unable to hunt prey will hurt people.

The one last night was so agile and quick that it was able to kill so many wolves in an instant. It must be a young and strong tiger.

After a tiger successfully hunts, it will usually find a place to lie down and sleep for a day or two until it gets hungry and then come out to look for food.

Therefore, Liu Dongshan thought that it should be safe today and they might as well go for a walk.

Qu Shaoyang thought it made sense. They had finally come into the mountains, and they would be unwilling to just take a look around.

So the two of them ate some dry food, then came out of the cave and went down to the valley.

The master and his disciple didn't even touch the wolf corpses.

This person was killed by a tiger. Who can guarantee that the tiger will not come back? What if you touch the tiger's prey and make it angry?

In this way, the two of them followed the road they remembered and walked towards the small Bashanzui in the southeast.

As he walked, Qu Shaoyang took out a big firecracker from his pocket and lit one at random.

These big firecrackers were bought by the family during the Chinese New Year last year. Qu Shaoyang specially stockpiled some more for future use.

Although the father and son carried guns and bullets, those things were so precious and could not be wasted.

Lighting a big firecracker will make a loud noise. If there are any wild animals around, they will be scared away when they hear the noise, thus ensuring their safety.

In this way, Qu Shaoyang set off seven or eight big firecrackers along the way and finally arrived at the Bashanzui.

The master and his disciple wandered around Bashanzui and found the old sign they saw last year.

Liu Dongshan led Qu Shaoyang, knelt down in front of the old omen, kowtowed three times, and then began to wander around the old omen looking for the hammer.

But after wandering around for the whole morning, he still didn't see any trace of Bangchui. Qu Shaoyang couldn't help feeling discouraged. Could it be that the dream was inaccurate?

"Don't worry, let's take a rest first.

There are only two of us and the area we are travelling in is small, so it's normal that we can't find it for a while.

Take a break, drink some water and eat something, then wander around the north in the afternoon. If there is nothing, we will go back."

Seeing that his apprentice was a little agitated, Liu Dongshan hurried to comfort him.

Qu Shaoyang thought about it and it made sense. Going into the mountains was all about luck, and no one could guarantee that they would meet one when they entered the mountains.

So, Qu Shaoyang threw the large backpack he was carrying to the ground, and the master and his disciple found a clean place with less weeds to sit down and rest for a while.

Then he took out the pancakes and pickles he brought with him and ate a bite. After the meal, Liu Dongshan smoked a pack of cigarettes. After both of them had rested enough, they decided to continue climbing the mountain to look for clubs.

Qu Shaoyang picked up the big backpack, but before he could put it on, he suddenly heard Liu Dongshan shouting in surprise, "Bangchui."

Qu Shaoyang was dumbfounded and looked around, "Master, where is the club?"

"You kid, I called you idiot, but you took the lead." Liu Dongshan glared at Qu Shaoyang angrily.

"What grade of leaf?" Qu Shaoyang finally reacted and quickly answered.

"Sixth-grade leaves." Liu Dongshan pointed excitedly at where Qu Shaoyang had put the backpack just now.

I saw a plant among the flattened grass.

It has six palm-shaped compound leaves and a purple-black stem. At the top of the stem, there is only a small broom head with a small red fruit on it.

Qu Shaoyang looked in the direction his master pointed and was stunned. How could he have thrown it so accurately when he just threw it casually?

It turned out that the hammer I had been looking for for a long time was right under my nose.

"Is it really a sixth-grade leaf? Where are the ginseng seeds on top?"

Qu Shaoyang moved closer and took a closer look, and found that it was indeed a sixth-grade leaf.

It’s just that the ginseng seeds on top fell off for some reason, so he didn’t notice it just now.

"Maybe it was eaten by a club-eared bird or a chestnut tree?
Well, don't worry about that for now, clean up this area quickly, make a fire, and we'll start to carry the ginseng."

Liu Dongshan took out the hammer lock with a smile and wrapped it around the stem of the six-leaf tree.

Then he took out tools such as scissors, knives, deer bone sticks, etc. from his bag and started to lift the ginseng.

Qu Shaoyang couldn't sit idle either, so he found some dry firewood to start a fire and built a pile of fire in the windward direction.

Then throw some wormwood, earthworm vines and other things onto the fire to produce smoke to drive away the mosquitoes.

This place is a bit far from the cave. If we go back there to rest at night, it will take a long time to go back and forth.

After discussing with Liu Dongshan, Qu Shaoyang decided to build a shack nearby, and the two of them would guard the ginseng until it was dug out.

So, Liu Dongshan carried ginseng over there, while Qu Shaoyang went to chop trees and prepare to build a shack.

The mountain is not flat. It is covered with weeds and shrubs, and there are fallen trees here and there.

Qu Shaoyang was holding an axe and was about to chop down a tree, when there happened to be a fallen tree blocking his way.

The fallen tree was really big, probably as thick as two people could hug together, and more than ten feet long, lying across the road.

Qu Shaoyang couldn't step over the fallen tree, so he could only climb over it. But just as he climbed over the fallen tree, a red thing came into his sight.

It turned out that there was a ginseng hidden behind the fallen tree.

"Stupid." Qu Shaoyang became excited and shouted quickly.

"What grade of leaves?" Liu Dongshan, who was carrying ginseng on the other side, asked hurriedly when he heard it.

"Sixth-grade leaves." Qu Shaoyang counted them several times and found that they were indeed sixth-grade leaves.

"All right, all right."

When Liu Dongshan on the other end heard this, he dropped the work in his hands and hurried over to check.

It turned out to be a sixth-grade leaf tree, and judging from its growth, it should be bigger than the one he was carrying now.

"See, I told you not to be anxious. This money is yours and it won't run away." Liu Dongshan patted Qu Shaoyang on the shoulder and said with a smile.

Qu Shaoyang also laughed happily, then took out the hammer lock and locked it around the ginseng.

"Well, you just walk around here first, and I'll carry the ginseng out first."

The appearance of the second ginseng gave Liu Dongshan confidence.

He told Qu Shaoyang that there was no need to rush to build a shack, but to just wander around the area first.

(End of this chapter)