Start with a photographic memory and build a memory palace

Chapter 4: Going to Nanshan to Collect Herbs

……

When they arrived at the foot of a green mountain, Wu Wen and Zhu Jiuye did not go up the mountain directly to collect herbs, but chose to take a detour and go to a farther place.

This green mountain has an owner.

Every blade of grass, every tree, every soil and every stone on this mountain belonged to a private person. If someone went up the mountain to cut wood or collect herbs without permission and was discovered by the owner, he would be fined at the least and his legs would be broken at the worst.

Therefore, Wu Wen and Zhu Jiuye had to travel far away to look for those ownerless mountains.

They went around four or five mountains in a row, starting in the morning and finally arriving at their destination in the afternoon.

"are you tired?"

Master Zhu Jiu asked the breathless Wu Wen with concern.

Wu Wen was filled with admiration as he looked at Master Zhu Jiu, who was still in high spirits despite his unsteady steps.

"Master Jiu, I'm fine." Wu Wen replied.

"Then let's go into the mountains. There is a place to rest on the mountain."

As he spoke, Jiu Ye took the lead and walked into the mountains along the path left by their predecessors, with Wu Wen following closely behind.

The forest was dense and covered the sky, and the sunlight shone through the gaps between the leaves, falling on the ground in patches. Under the rotten leaves, various medicinal herbs were hidden.

Master Zhu Jiu seemed to have the ability to see through things and could accurately identify where the medicinal herbs were hidden.

Therefore, before they had walked far, the medicine basket was already filled with seven or eight kinds of herbs.

Going up the mountain along the path, when you are almost halfway up the mountain, a flat open space appears in front of you.

A simple wooden house was built on the open space.

Wu Wen secretly speculated that this wooden house should be a temporary resting place built by people who frequently come to Nanshan.

"We're here. Let's go over and take a rest." said Master Zhu Jiu.

The two men walked into the wooden house and saw a pile of stones in the middle of the house.

Wu Wen sat down on the ground and sighed tiredly: "Oh, I'm so tired."

Master Zhu Jiu put down his things, walked out to pick up some hay and firewood, and came back to light a bonfire in the cabin.

Then he roasted the dry food he brought on the fire and handed it to Wu Wen.

Wu Wen, who was already starving, took the dry food and immediately started eating it in big mouthfuls.

"That's it for today. Have a good night's rest. We'll continue to go up the mountain to collect herbs tomorrow morning."

"Yeah!" Wu Wen nodded in response while chewing food.

Eat quickly.

The two of them went outside the cabin to pick up more dry firewood to ensure that the bonfire would not go out and they could spend the night.

Night falls quickly in the mountains.

Wu Wen leaned against the campfire. After a whole day's journey, his tired body made him fall asleep quickly.

Woof~Woof~
Suddenly, I heard a dog barking.

Spending the night deep in the mountains, Wu Wen, who was already nervous, suddenly woke up.

He looked up at Master Zhu Jiu who was standing across the campfire and asked, "Master Jiu, where does the barking sound come from?"

"It should be the hunters who came down from the mountain. Don't worry." Master Jiu said slowly.

Hearing this, Wu Wen felt relieved.

It didn't take long.

The wooden door was pushed open, and a strong and sturdy middle-aged man wearing an animal robe came in, followed by a strong hunting dog.

Seeing someone in the house, the hound started barking.

Woof~Woof~
The middle-aged man slapped the dog on the head and shouted, "Shut up!"

The hound hummed a few times, then dropped its head and stood at his feet in silence.

"Master Jiu!"

The middle-aged man came forward and said respectfully to Master Zhu Jiu with a smile.

"It's Da Kui, is your father okay?"

"Thank you for your concern, Master Jiu. I took the medicine you prescribed last time and I feel much better now."

The middle-aged man came to sit down by the campfire, turned his head to look at Wu Wen beside him, and asked in confusion: "Who is this?"

"My name is Wu Wen, and I am now studying medicine with Master Jiu." Wu Wen introduced himself. Upon hearing this, the middle-aged man immediately showed a warm smile on his face: "So you are Mr. Wu, my name is Zhou Dagui, and I am a hunter down here."

As he spoke, he took out a piece of dried meat from the cloth bag around his waist and handed it to Wu Wen.

When Wu Wen saw the dried meat, his eyes lit up. He hadn't eaten meat for a long time. However, he did not reach out to take it. Instead, he turned to look at Master Zhu Jiu.

"Eat it!"

After getting permission, Wu Wen reached out to take it, first roasted the dried meat over the fire to make it softer, and then couldn't wait to put it in his mouth and chew it.

Well, it tastes good. I don’t know what animal the meat is from, but it tastes delicious.

The middle-aged man Da Kui chatted with Jiu Ye for a few words, then fell asleep hugging the hunting dog behind him.

It was quiet in the dead of night.

The only sound coming from the campfire was the crackling of burning wood.

Wu Wen had fallen into a deep sleep, but suddenly he heard a baby crying, which instantly made him sit up in fear.

This also woke up the hunting dog nearby, which looked up at Wu Wen.

At this time, the hunter Zhou Dagui, who was holding the hound with his eyes closed, said as if he was mumbling in his sleep: "Don't worry, young man, this is the cry of a strange bird in the mountains."

Now Wu Wencai felt relieved again and turned over to continue sleeping.

The night passed quickly.

Wu Wen woke up from his dream with the sound of birds singing in the early morning.

When I looked up, I found that the hunter Zhou Da Kui, who had stayed with me last night, had left with his hunting dogs.

"Eat something, and then we'll go up the mountain when the sun rises."

Master Zhu Jiu was roasting some dry food beside the campfire and handed a piece to Wu Wen.

Wu Wen took the dry food and ate it slowly, occasionally taking a sip of the water he brought with him.

Not long after, the sky was bright.

The sunlight shines through the dense leaves and onto the mountain, forming brilliant rays of light that complement the surrounding environment, creating a beautiful picture.

"Let's go!"

Carrying the medicine basket, Master Zhu Jiu led Wu Wen up the mountain.

The deeper you go, the blurrier the road becomes, until you reach a place where few people go.

There is no road anymore, so the only thing left is to make one by yourself.

Holding a wooden stick in his hand, Master Zhu Jiu explored the way while explaining to Wu Wen the various things that must be paid attention to after entering the mountain, as well as the environment where herbs may grow.

After collecting more than a dozen kinds of medicinal herbs, I suddenly heard the sound of flowing water.

Master Zhu Jiu raised his head and looked in the direction of the voice.

"over there!"

The two followed the sound and found a gurgling stream in the cracks between bushes and rocks.

Seeing the clear spring water, Wu Wen immediately went forward to wash his hands and face to relieve his fatigue, and filled the water bag he carried with him.

At this time, Master Zhu Jiu pointed to a patch of calamus between the cracks in the rocks and said, "Awen, look!"

Wu Wen looked in the direction that Jiu Ye pointed and found the calamus.

"I'll pick it!"

After saying that, he took two strides over, picked up the medicine hoe in his hand, and took a lot of effort to collect the calamus.

However, when he turned around, he found that Jiu Ye was nowhere to be seen.

Turning around to look, I saw that Jiu Ye had actually climbed onto a smooth rock wall not far away.

The rock wall was almost ninety degrees vertical, and there were not many protrusions or gaps on it to provide leverage, but Jiu Ye climbed up the rock wall with ease like a nimble gecko.

My Jiu Ye is so awesome!
With this level of rock climbing, even in modern times, he can be called a top rock climbing master. What's more, he is a person with inconvenient legs and feet!

Just as Wu Wen was marveling at the sight, Jiu Ye had already collected a Dendrobium officinale from a crevice.

Then he jumped easily and jumped directly down from the rock wall more than three meters high.

His body rolled on the soft ground and he stood up, totally unharmed.

……

(End of this chapter)