My sister broke off her engagement to marry someone richer? My older sister married me and became in

Another arrogant brat who doesn't know his place.

With only a few tattered medical books and a few names of medicinal herbs, he dared to arrogantly venture into the depths of Changbai Mountain.

This pile of herbs represents decades of his hard work. It contains "waste medicine," "counterfeit medicine," and "similar medicine," so much so that even seasoned herbalists who have spent their entire lives collecting herbs in the mountains would be completely lost, let alone a young man in his early twenties.

just wait.

Once he's made a complete mess of these precious things, he'll be so ashamed he'll want to crawl into a hole and roll down the mountain.

This will save him from having to say another word.

A long silence fell over the thatched hut, with only the small oil lamp remaining, its wick occasionally crackling softly.

Lu Qingshan saw right through the old man's thoughts, but paid them no heed.

He squatted on the ground, and his movements not only didn't stop, but became faster and faster.

He hardly relies on his eyes.

When he gets his hands on a medicinal herb, his fingertips will quickly run over the stem and leaves, feeling the fine hairs, textures, and moisture it contains.

Then, he would bring it to his nose and inhale the unique, primal aroma of the herb with a very short breath.

Spicy, sweet, fishy, ​​earthy... countless complex smells were rapidly decomposed and recombined in his brain, which was comparable to a calculator, and confirmed one by one with his memories of his previous life.

The next second, the herb will be accurately tossed into its designated basket.

"Clatter".

"Clatter".

In the quiet thatched hut, only the sound of herbs falling into different baskets could be heard.

The sound had a peculiar, steady, and unsettling rhythm.

Like an old monk striking a wooden fish in a temple, unhurried yet carrying a Zen-like quality that seems to understand all things.

He picked up a plant that looked almost exactly like the highly poisonous "red arsenic".

He only took one sniff before tossing it into the "warming and nourishing" basket without hesitation. It was aged Rhodiola rosea, a powerful tonic for replenishing vital energy.

Another herb with seven serrated leaves, closely resembling the highly tonifying "Seven-Leaf Lotus".

Lu Qingshan's fingers gently pinched the base of the plant, barely perceptible, to feel the slight viscosity of the sap, before tossing it directly into the "Great Cold" basket.

That's "the devil's bane," a tiny difference can lead to a huge error, something that can kill.

On the bed, the old man, whose eyes had been tightly closed, suddenly twitched his eyelids.

He couldn't keep up the act any longer.

He slowly opened his eyes a crack.

The room was dimly lit, but his eyes shone brightly in the darkness, like two eerie will-o'-the-wisps.

He saw that the young man was processing that pile of miscellaneous herbs at a speed that he could hardly comprehend, a pile that would give any old herbalist a splitting headache.

Without the slightest hesitation.

Without the slightest hesitation.

Every single one was done with absolute precision.

For the first time, the old man's heart, which had been as still as a well for decades, stirred with a ripple that contained the turbulent waves of a storm.

This kid... he didn't just guess.

He really knows his stuff!

Sudden.

The "click" sound that had been steady for so long stopped.

Lu Qingshan picked up a plant, his brows furrowing slightly.

He glanced at the five straw baskets that had already piled up like small mountains, but didn't throw the things in his hand into any of them.

He gently placed it at his feet on a clean, open ground.

After completing this action, he continued sorting.

But not long after.

He picked out another herb and placed it on the open ground at his feet.

Then came the third plant.

The fourth plant.

Gradually, a small sixth pile, separate from the five straw baskets, was formed.

The old man could no longer lie in bed!

He sat up abruptly, his eyes fixed on the sixth pile of herbs, like an old lion whose territory had been invaded.

His breathing became heavy without him even realizing it, and his chest heaved violently.

Impossible! Absolutely impossible!

He was very familiar with the contents of that sixth pile.

There are "shady ferns" dug up from sunny slopes, which have absorbed a lot of cold air because they grow in the shady crevices of rocks.

There are "water peanuts" harvested from dried-up riverbeds. They look plump, but in reality, their roots and stems are full of sandy soil that cannot be used as medicine.

There's also that "Purple Jade Ginseng" that's clearly over thirty years old, but because it grew next to sulfur ore, its roots are filled with poison!

These things look exactly like real top-grade medicinal herbs, but they are worthless "waste medicines" that he deliberately mixed in!

It's the ultimate trap designed to test your eyesight and character!

How could this kid possibly tell the difference?

The night was gradually fading away.

As the first rays of dawn, pale white, pierced through the window, Lu Qingshan put down the last herb in his hand.

He stood up, patted the dirt off his hands, and looked as calm as if he had just done something insignificant.

Five straw baskets, filled to the brim, clearly separated.

Beside it, the lonely sixth pile stood out conspicuously, as if silently mocking something.

The old man got out of bed.

He wasn't wearing shoes; he walked barefoot on the cold ground, step by step, very slowly, as if measuring his own shock.

He didn't look at the five perfectly sorted straw baskets.

He walked straight to the sixth pile of "waste medicine", squatted down, picked up a plant that looked like a withered bone, and his eyes were as cold as ice in the dead of winter.

"Kid, you'd better explain yourself."

"This 'Nine Deaths Resurrection Grass' grows on a precipice, absorbing the essence of metal and stone; it is a highly potent plant. What makes you think it's trash?"

His voice was like two stones rubbing together—hoarse, dry, and carrying a sense of interrogation.

Lu Qingshan glanced at what was in his hand, his tone as indifferent as if he were talking about someone else's business.

"Sir, an orange grown south of the Huai River is an orange, but grown north of the Huai River it becomes a trifoliate orange. The same principle applies to medicinal herbs."

"This thing does grow on a cliff, but unfortunately, it grows in the cracks of rocks on a shady slope. Its roots look dry, but they are actually moistened by dampness all year round."

"It didn't absorb any of the metal and stone's energy; instead, it accumulated a belly full of cold yin energy. It looks quite lush, but its medicinal properties are actually suppressed and unreleased, making it no different from a piece of rotten wood. Can this thing even be called medicine?"

The old man's knuckles, which were gripping the plant, were slightly white, and the veins on the back of his hand were bulging.

Lu Qingshan didn't stop; he picked up a plant from the pile of discarded medicines himself.

It was a He Shou Wu plant with a plump rootstock shaped like a human figure, and it looked to be of excellent quality.

"And this, sir, this thing can really fool a lot of laymen."

Lu Qingshan held the he shou wu in his palm as if he were showing off an interesting toy.

"Its skin is bright and shiny, and its shape resembles a human figure; it looks like a rare treasure."

"What a pity," he said, his tone turning sarcastic.

"Count its knots, one, two... no more, no less, exactly nine."

"A nine-year-old He Shou Wu is like a little kid dressed in adult clothes; it has the form but not the spirit."

Lu Qingshan threw the he shou wu (Polygonum multiflorum) back to the ground. The sound wasn't loud, but it felt like a series of heavy hammer blows hitting the old man's heart.

"This kind of thing is not only useless as medicine, but it will also ruin the medicinal properties of the whole pot of soup."

He raised his head, his gaze meeting the old man's for the first time, calm yet sharp.

"This is not medicine, it's something that harms people."

"..."

A long, suffocating silence fell over the thatched hut.

Its daybreak.

The old man looked at the young man before him, his eyes reflecting a gaze that had witnessed centuries of growth and decay, and the stillness of an ancient well.

For the first time, he revealed an indescribable surprise, shock, and a hint of annoyance at having his thoughts exposed.

That kind of keen eye.

This kind of insight.

Let alone a twenty-year-old.

Even among those seasoned herbalists who have spent their entire lives gathering herbs in the mountains, you couldn't find one as ruthless as him.

A long time passed.

Finally, the old man managed to squeeze out a sentence from his dry throat.

The voice was no longer cold, but held a hint of inquiry.

"From which old geezer did you learn all these skills?"

He finally asked the first question he truly cared about.

But as soon as he finished speaking, his nose twitched suddenly, as if a hunting dog had caught a whiff of blood.

The old man's expression changed instantly!

The surprise and admiration vanished, replaced by a sharp and scrutinizing gaze, like a falcon spotting its prey!

"etc……"

The old man stepped forward and approached Lu Qingshan. This time, his expression wasn't one of concern, but rather like that of a wild beast.

He was inhaling deeply the extremely complex, mixed smell emanating from the wound, a smell masked by the stench of blood.

"The bloody smell of tiger cubs."

He stared intently at Lu Qingshan, his eyes seeming to say, "Don't try to fool me."

The old man slowly exhaled a breath of stale air and finally asked the question he truly wanted to know, each word weighing as heavy as a thousand pounds.

"Tell me, what exactly happened between you and it?"

"I saw that the mountain tiger was in trouble that day, so I went back to get my tools. When I came back, the mountain tiger had already escaped."