Time Travel: My Comfortable Life After Going to the Countryside

The afternoon sun grew even stronger, and the woods felt like a giant steamer; even the cicadas seemed to be chirping weakly.

Liu Xiangyang took off his coat and tied it around his waist, leaving him in only a faded white shirt. He weighed the heavy oak spear in his hand, feeling the coolness seep through his palm, which calmed him down a bit.

With a thought, all the other miscellaneous items were stored away in that quiet space that belonged only to him. Traveling light, his steps became much lighter.

The perception of spiritual power is like an invisible film of water, evenly spreading within a 15-meter radius around the body. The rustling of grass blades, the crawling of insects in the soil, the slight trembling of branches when a squirrel jumps overhead—all the subtle movements are transformed into clear, three-dimensional images that are fed back into the mind.

After crossing two gentle slopes covered with hazelnut trees, a deep valley suddenly appeared before us. Tall red pines, oaks, and linden trees blocked out the sun, filtering the sunlight into fine dappled patterns that scattered on the thick, soft, humus-rich soil.

The light dimmed, but the temperature suddenly dropped, and the air was filled with a cool, moist scent, carrying the distinctive aroma of decaying wood and fertile soil.

"This place is shady, which is a good place to find those few shade-loving medicinal herbs." Liu Xiangyang thought to himself, treading even lighter and carefully scanning the damp slope at the bottom of the ditch with his spiritual power.

Suddenly, the edges of my senses began to outline the silhouettes of several strangely shaped plants—stems standing upright, leaves whorled, and faint bell-shaped flowers at their tips.

A thought struck him, and he quickly approached. Parting a few clumps of ferns, several thriving Solomon's seal plants came into view. The stems were as thick as a little finger, the leaves were thick and glossy green, and the pale green flowers at the tips looked like strings of upside-down little bells.

"Good luck." Liu Xiangyang's lips curled up slightly as he squatted down and took out the small, sharp herb-gathering hoe from his spatial storage. He didn't rush to start, but first carefully examined the soil around the plant and the possible direction of the root system before cautiously digging along the outer edge of the main root.

With steady and light movements, he carefully removed the compacted black soil and tangled fine roots. In about the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, three top-quality Solomon's Seal rhizomes with large, fleshy, and ginger-yellow main root nodes were completely unearthed.

He carefully wrapped the roots with the damp moss he had prepared beforehand and tucked them into the lining of his basket. He thought to himself, "I have the Solomon's Seal, and the Salvia miltiorrhiza prefers sunshine. It'll probably be hard to find in this gully. I'll have to go up there."

Just as he straightened up, ready to set off, a sudden commotion came from the edge of his mental perception!

It wasn't the heavy, oppressive feeling of a large wild beast, but rather several small, fast-moving things that were frantically darting out of the bushes twenty meters to the right, heading in all directions haphazardly.

Hare.

Almost simultaneously, from the left, closer in, two larger, heavier, and clearly hostile "shadows" entered his perception range. They were crouching low, close to the ground, and with an eerie agility, they were flanking him from the left and right.

Badger!

Liu Xiangyang instantly understood. He guessed that the two locals were hunting rabbits and were startled by his unexpected visitor, or perhaps they simply saw him as a new threat.

His right thumb unconsciously rubbed the rough wooden handle of the short spear, feeling the sense of security it provided.

The two badgers stopped ten meters away, their small, black bean-like eyes fixed on him, making low, threatening growling sounds in their throats, their plump bodies rising and falling slightly.

The standoff lasted for a few seconds, the air seeming to freeze.

The badger on the left suddenly moved! Its plump body burst forth with astonishing speed, its head lowered, its sharp teeth bared, and it lunged at his calf like a cannonball!

Liu Xiangyang's eyes narrowed, and instead of retreating, he advanced! He took a small half-step forward with his left foot, his body turning to the side, and the muscles in his right arm suddenly released like a fully drawn bowstring—

"Whoosh!"

The short spear pierced the air, accompanied by a soft, sharp whistling sound.

In the dim light, the trajectory of the spearhead was almost invisible; only a solid, muffled "thud" was heard, followed by the badger's abrupt, mournful howl.

The spear tip pierced its shoulder and neck with perfect precision. The powerful penetrating force not only countered its forward momentum but also caused it to tilt backward, where it was pinned to the ground with a thud. Its limbs twitched twice before it fell silent.

The other badger was startled by the instant death of its companion and paused for a moment, but the ferocity of the beast instantly overwhelmed its fear. It bared its teeth and pounced again without hesitation!

Liu Xiangyang moved with lightning speed, nimbly sliding to the left and narrowly avoiding the badger's gaping maw. In the instant the badger missed its target and its body brushed past him, his right hand had already drawn another short spear like a ghost. Without even looking, relying on the precise location he sensed with his mental power, he thrust it backward with a backhand thrust!

The spear shaft transmitted a solid and powerful penetrating sensation.

The second badger was pierced through the side ribs, the spear tip protruding through its body. The force of the spear still lingered, pinning it firmly to a tree trunk about the thickness of a calf. It struggled futilely for a few moments before losing its breath.

From the moment the badger launched its attack to the moment they both died, it took only five or six breaths.

The forest fell silent again, with only the strong smell of blood slowly spreading.

Liu Xiangyang walked over, grasped the spear shaft with one hand, and with a little force, pulled out the two short spears cleanly and neatly. He casually wiped the blood off the spear tips with a broad leaf from the side and put them back into the leather sheath at his waist.

"Badger oil is a good thing; it's more effective than many ointments for treating frostbite and burns." With a thought, the two plump badger carcasses disappeared from the spot and entered his space. "The pelts are also good; once they're tanned, I can make them knee and elbow pads or something; they'll be useful in winter."

Having resolved this minor incident, he shouldered his basket and continued his search for salvia miltiorrhiza.

As the sun began to set and gilded the treetops with gold, he finally found his target on a sunny, rocky hillside. Several clumps of Salvia miltiorrhiza grew sparsely among the rocks, blooming with inconspicuous blue-purple flowers. He carefully dug up six of the thickest and most purplish-red rootstocks and kept them.

"The five ingredients are all ready," he thought to himself, glancing up at the sky.

The sunset painted the western sky crimson, and the light in the woods quickly dimmed.

It's time to find a place to stay for the night. They didn't get much sleep last night, and they climbed mountains all day. Although they have the physical strength, they've been mentally stressed and need a good rest.

He chose a sheltered, high spot with a large tree that would take two or three people to encircle. The ground was dry sand, and the view was relatively open. There was also a small puddle not far away. He cleared away the pebbles and dead branches, used a few large stones to build a makeshift fire pit, and gathered enough dry firewood.

As the orange-red campfire roared to life, the leaping flames dispelled the rapidly gathering darkness and chill. Liu Xiangyang spread a blanket on the ground and sat down.

He ate the dry rations with water. The bread was a bit hard, but it tasted delicious. After he finished eating, he added a few thicker pieces of firewood to the fire to keep the flames burning steadily.

As night fell completely, sparse stars began to appear in the inky black sky, and the mountains and forests sank into an even deeper silence, with only the regular crackling of firewood burning in the bonfire.

A soft "crack" sounded as a branch snapped.