Divine Tang Era

"Golden Tiger Ears"

"Milk Peach"

"Ghost Arrow Grass"

"White Cloud Fragrance"

Liu Xuan, Wan Zhen, and Fan Meng kept taking out the herbs they had dug up from their baskets and counting them. With each herb they took, their joy increased. Xu Dan, however, didn't feel particularly happy. Apart from the gentian root, the other herbs were just ordinary medicinal herbs, several levels inferior to the spiritual herbs he had dug up a few days ago.

Perhaps feeling a connection with them after coming out of the forest, Zhang Fengxiang greeted a few acquaintances and then ran over.

"Huh, what's this?"

Suddenly, Zhang Fengxiang noticed a basket covered in a golden liquid. He smelled it; it tasted sweet, like honey. He touched it with his finger, put it in his mouth, and exclaimed, his eyes widening, "Honey?"

The martial arts students nearby heard his voice and all looked over.

Bringing back so much honey is like fireflies in the dark, impossible to hide. If one eats it all alone, it will inevitably arouse jealousy.

Xu Dan lifted the basket on his back, took out a piece of honey, cut it open, and handed it to Zhang Fengxiang. "This is honey we just harvested. It tastes good. Try some." Since he had taken it out, he naturally couldn't just give it to him alone, so he cut the honey open again and handed it to his fellow disciples, and even gave a portion to the senior brother who was looking after them.

When Liu Xuan saw that he was giving honey to everyone, he also opened his basket, took out honey, and shared it with his fellow disciples.

Wan Zhen and Fan Meng also planned to follow suit, but Xu Dan stopped them, saying that two people were enough and too many would be a bad thing.

Having tasted the sweetness of the honey, a fellow disciple asked, "Where did you get the honey from? How come you have so much?"

"It's right there at the bottom of that cliff. You can go and cut some if you want. There are still plenty, but it's a bit dangerous, so be careful," Xu Dan said, pointing towards the cliff.

Zhang Fengxiang was somewhat tempted, but he was also afraid of encountering wild beasts if he went there.

As for the others, they were all sick and didn't have the energy to undergo surgery. Seeing that no one was going, Zhang Fengxiang had no choice but to give up the idea.

Liu Xuan hadn't finished the food he brought, and after carrying a bunch of things all the way, he suddenly felt hungry, so he took out some food to eat.

Xu Dan, Wan Zhen, Fan Meng, and Zhang Fengxiang also received a share.

Not far from where they were, there was a mountain stream. It was said that the stream once contained gold dust, but it had been thoroughly mined by those who came seeking it, leaving only a few insignificant specks. This was no longer worth the effort of gold prospectors, so they all left. Without anyone to disturb it, the stream gradually returned to its former natural, pristine state.

As Xu Dan ate, he turned his head to look around and suddenly noticed something, causing his eyebrows to twitch a few times.

It was a golden horsetail.

This herb was once wildly popular in his previous life. It is said that this herb only grows in places where gold is produced. After digging it up, drying it, and burning it, you can get a little bit of gold from the ashes. Therefore, this herb is also called "gold-absorbing herb" or "gold-seeking herb".

Gold is often found where this kind of grass grows.

At that moment, Xu Dan had the urge to dig up the gold-seeking grass to see if there was any gold inside.

But in the end, he suppressed that thought. With so many people here, it would be fine if they found a small amount of gold, but finding a lot, or even discovering a vein, might not be a good thing. So he could only wait until he got back and find time to come back.

However, since we're already here, we should at least experience the joy of gold panning.

Xu Dan quickly finished his food and drank some water, then walked to the stream, took off his shoes, rolled up his trousers, and jumped into the stream.

"Master, what are you doing?" Liu Xuan asked curiously. His fellow disciples also turned to look.

"Everyone says there's gold in the stream, let me see if it's true." Xu Dan responded and buried his head in digging.

Upon hearing this, the other disciples laughed, as they had all done similar things before. Zhang Fengxiang advised, "Don't bother. The gold dust has long been dug up; there's barely any left to fill a tooth gap. I've dug here before, and after a whole day of hard work, I only got a little gold dust, not even enough to cover my food expenses. You'd be better off digging up some good medicinal herbs in the mountains."

Xu Dan ignored what he said and just kept digging in the sand.

He wasn't trying to dig for gold; he just thought it would be fun and wanted to try it out. Besides, he didn't bring any tools, so he didn't know how much he could dig up. Xu Dan simply scooped up the sand with his hands, then cupped it in both hands and shook it in the stream to wash it.

The soil was washed away by the water, and large grains of sand fell through the fingers, leaving only a thin layer on the palm.

It turns out that all the gold in this stream has been mined out.

He dug up about five or six meters from where he was standing before he saw a tiny bit of gold dust, less than the tip of his finger.

Thinking that something is better than nothing, he kept the gold dust and placed it on a slightly sunken rock to dry. After digging for a while longer and seeing that there wasn't much gold dust left, he suddenly felt as if he had stepped on something, cool and smooth, like metal.

They bent down, dug it up, washed it clean, and took it out of the water. It looked like a piece of gold.

"Golden Dog Head!" Zhang Fengxiang shouted.

Hearing the sound, the patients lying or sitting nearby craned their necks to look in Xu Dan's direction. When they saw the gold nugget in his hand, they exchanged glances, jumped up, took off their shoes, and waded into the icy stream to search for it. Zhang Fengxiang did the same.

Liu Xuan, Wan Zhen, and Fan Meng were tempted, but seeing the baskets and wooden buckets beside them, they ultimately chose to stay.

So many people jumped into the stream to look for the gold nugget, making the water incredibly murky. Unable to stay any longer, Xu Dan took the gold nugget ashore, picked up his shoes and the stones used for drying gold dust, and headed towards Liu Xuan and the others.

"Not bad luck." Xu Dan tossed the gold nugget to Liu Xuan, who had been watching intently.

Liu Xuan took it in his hand and weighed it in his hand, saying, "I estimate it weighs about one jin." After looking at it, he gave it to Wan Zhen.

Wan Zhen had never seen a gold nugget before, so he examined it closely. After a moment, he handed it to Fan Meng and said, "My father told me that he used to pick up gold nuggets, but he sold them and never picked them up again. People say that gold nuggets are a blessing from heaven and shouldn't be sold, otherwise you'll lose your good fortune."

"Nonsense, we have a few people in our area who make a fortune selling golden-haired dog heads, and some of them have even moved to Chang'an."

Fan Meng had seen the gold nugget before, glanced at it, and then returned it to Xu Dan.

Xu Dan put it away and said, "It's true that this thing is a blessing from heaven, but it's superstition not to sell it. It would be the greatest irony to starve to death while holding gold."

"When it's time to sell, we still have to sell," Liu Xuan summarized briefly.

After a while, the herb-gathering disciples emerged from the forest one after another.

Seeing that it was getting late, Lu Shizong called out the people who were still gathering herbs in the forest, and then led the martial arts school disciples home.

Nights in the wilderness are fraught with danger and unsafe. Furthermore, the disciples gathering herbs lack experience, and to avoid any accidents, it's best to return to the city. The return journey was noticeably faster than the journey there. Even so, it was nearly dusk when they reached the city gates.

The setting sun was like blood, and the afterglow filled the sky.

In the wilderness, the green meadows, illuminated by the rosy sunset, possess an indescribable, ethereal beauty.

As the sun gradually set in the distance, the soldiers guarding the city shouted, "Hurry up and get into the city, the gates are about to close!"

Upon entering the city, Xu Dan looked back and saw that the city gates were slowly closing. Once inside, Lu Shizong told the martial arts school disciples to go home and not to return. Xu Dan then bid farewell to everyone and headed home.