Gou Zai Xianwu Wenjing Search for Opportunities

The sky began to darken, and the three of them, worried about rain, disembarked from the boat at Xiawei Village, went back to the Lin family home to put on raincoats and straw hats, and then went into the mountains.

My aunt's house isn't far away, but it's a long way by mountain path. Plus, it's summer, and the mountains are full of vegetation, venomous snakes, and wild animals.

Fortunately, it didn't rain; it was just foggy in the mountains.

Lin Yuan drew his knife and slashed at the weeds to startle the snake. His elder brother had told him to bring this knife; having a knife in the mountains was indeed very convenient.

When we arrived at Zhou Dali's house, the sky had cleared up, so it seemed the rain had fallen at an off-center.

At this moment, Dad and Uncle were sitting in front of the courtyard gate smoking their pipes, puffing out clouds of smoke. My aunt and sister-in-law were cooking in the kitchen. Only Gou Dan was lying on the ground playing with mud and making little figures.

The two large black dogs eyed Lin Yuan warily, growling softly.

"You damn dogs, you don't recognize me after just a few days!" My uncle picked up some mud and threw it at the two dogs.

The two dogs nimbly dodged away, then wagged their tails and slowly approached Lin Yuan, sniffing his scent.

Lin Yuan greeted everyone.

"Come here!" The old man beckoned Lin Yuan and led him to the small woodshed behind the slope. Seeing Zhou Dali and his older brother following behind, he said, "You two don't need to go in!"

My uncle, whose legs were bad, walked with a bamboo cane, saying as he went, "You two go back to the main room, I'll go over there."

Lin Yuan caught up with his father and asked curiously, "Father, what happened? What could be so difficult for you that you had to call me back?"

"This is weird!" Old Man grinned, pushed open the low door of the woodshed, and said, "Go inside and you'll see."

Lin Yuan looked inside and saw Lin Lao Jiu lying on the haystack, covered with a quilt, asleep.

Lin Lao Jiu was so thin that he looked like a dried-up corpse whose life force had been drained. If it weren't for the sheet covering him still rising and falling slightly, he would really look like he was dead.

The old man used a bamboo pole to lift the tattered sheets, revealing Lin Lao Jiu's chest, on which grew a blood-red half-mushroom, though it didn't quite resemble a mushroom.

Lin Yuan seemed to have seen him somewhere before, a sense of déjà vu, but he couldn't quite place him.

He quickly closed his eyes and pondered. Perhaps it was the mirror that had worked, but he soon remembered that when Manager Zhang died last year, he had seen the book "Blood Ginseng Inscription" in Manager Zhang's bedroom.

He just casually flipped through the book at the time, and found it boring, so he even fell asleep while reading it. The scene of flipping through the book at that time is still a bit blurry when he thinks back on it, but he can still remember the general idea.

The book "Notes on Blood Ginseng" describes the process of harvesting and processing blood ginseng, as well as its varieties, medicinal uses, and growing environment. He only skimmed through much of the content at the time and could only remember a small part of it.

However, he still remembered the illustration on the blood ginseng injection.

Is this blood ginseng?

Does Lin Laojiu have blood ginseng growing on his body?

This thing is incredibly valuable!

Lin Yuan immediately opened his eyes and came to his senses. He walked to Lin Lao Jiu's side and examined him carefully. It was indeed a blood ginseng.

However, it is the most precious type of blood ginseng – the living blood ginseng.

Its exterior is crimson with a purplish tinge, while its interior is as vibrant as fresh blood.

Lin Yuan compared them one by one and found that they were not exactly the same, but somewhat different. The Blood Ginseng Notes said that Blood Ginseng could be used to make Blood Ginseng Nourishing Blood Pills.

He suddenly remembered that when he was looking at Zhang Dengyun's memories in the mirror, Zhang Dengfeng had mentioned refining blood ginseng into blood pills.

These two names are so similar, could they be the same thing?

He remembered Zhang Dengfeng calling the Blood Ginseng Blood Refining Pill a "ghost thing," a "ghost pill"!

If that Ghost Pill was refined using this Blood-Activating Ginseng, then that makes sense.

Lin Yuan picked up a twig from the side and gently touched the Blood-Activating Ginseng. He saw that the root of the Blood-Activating Ginseng was growing inside Lao Jiu's flesh, connected as one.

The roots of the blood-activating ginseng also have many fine lines that resemble blood vessels, extending all the way to Lin Laojiu's chest.

As Lin Lao Jiu breathed, these fine lines also swelled and contracted, just like a living heart.

Lin Yuan and his father exchanged a glance, then looked at his uncle, and the three of them fell silent.

Just then, Lin Lao Jiu seemed to be in pain, letting out a painful groan as he slowly woke up. His eyes were cloudy and lifeless, and he weakly said, "Uncle?"

He vaguely saw a stranger, dressed in a light blue outfit with a long sword at his waist. He was immediately startled and began to tremble: "You..."

"Nine Sons, don't be afraid, this is your brother, Erlu," Old Man Lin reassured him.

After confirming Lin Yuan's identity, Lin Lao Jiu gradually calmed down, but his face was still contorted with pain: "Uncle, I'm in pain, my heart hurts! Please, have mercy and help me..."

After saying that, he swallowed hard, his face contorting into a pretzel shape.

The old man sighed, "Sigh, I watched you grow up, and your parents are good people. Your uncle just can't bring himself to do it!"

Lin Yuan roughly understood that the Blood-Activating Ginseng was absorbing Lin Lao Jiu's life force to grow, and couldn't help but ask, "Ninth Brother, what happened to you?"

"Erlu?" Lin Laojiu confirmed his face before answering, "I escaped to the mountain stronghold and then fainted. When I woke up, my chest hurt, and it was pitch black all around me. I couldn't see anything. They brought me food every day..."

The uncle added, "He ran back and hid behind our hill. If it weren't for the dogs barking, we wouldn't have known there was someone hiding in the thorn bushes..."

Lin Yuan then learned that Lin Lao Jiu had fled the mountains to join bandits, only to be captured and forced to raise blood ginseng. He was unexpectedly rescued and escaped with the crowd. Luckily, he hid in the thorns and wasn't caught. Later, Lin Lao Jiu discovered a mushroom growing on his chest. When he tried to break it open, he fainted from the pain. After waking up, he wanted to die but couldn't. Every time he attempted suicide, he would faint first.

He was neither human nor ghost, and dared not return to the village. With nowhere to go, he hid near his aunt's house. He came but dared not see anyone, and was eventually discovered by his aunt's dog.

His aunt took pity on him, gave him food, and let him stay in the woodshed behind the slope. She also called Old Man Lin over, and Old Man Lin then found Lin Yuan.

Lin Yuan knew this was no ordinary matter. If this was indeed the main ingredient for refining the Blood Ginseng Blood Refining Pill, it would fit the description of the evil ghost pill that Zhang Dengfeng had mentioned!

This elixir allows ordinary people to become martial arts masters in a short period of time without much training, making it a truly miraculous medicine.

According to Zhang Dengyun in the mirror, the Blood Refining Pill is a rare commodity that only the sons of powerful families can obtain, which clearly indicates that the bandits are not simple.

According to what Manager Zhang in the mirror said, a few years ago, Zhang Xiangzheng of Jiuling Township colluded with mountain bandits to rob the autumn tax.

Whether they are colluding or not is hard to say.

Therefore, reporting it to the authorities is impossible; it would not only fail to solve the problem but would also bring even greater trouble.

If Lin Lao Jiu's affair were exposed to the public, my aunt's family would likely be affected, and the Lin family would also be implicated.

Lin Yuan observed Lin Lao Jiu for a while, then pointed at the Blood-Activating Ginseng: "Can we get rid of this damn thing?"

Old Man Lin said helplessly, "These mushrooms are as hard as iron. I can't cut them with a kitchen knife, and I'm afraid I'll break them with an axe. Besides, if I use any force, Jiu Zi screams in pain. I thought you'd practiced martial arts, including swordsmanship, so I asked you to come back and try. See if you can chop them with a knife?"

Lin Yuan understood his father's intention and did not immediately agree.

"Stop it, it hurts too much! Just kill me, I don't want to live anymore. Just bury me next to my father and mother's graves. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have run away from the mountains..." Lin Lao Jiu said, pleading, but he couldn't cry, as if his whole body had been drained by the blood-activating ginseng.

For Lin Laojiu, who was living a life worse than death, death might be the only relief.

Lin Yuan made up his mind and said, "Ninth Brother, my knife is fast, let me try it one last time. If it really doesn't work, then we'll do it your way."

Having said that, he drew his sword, the gleaming blade giving everyone a sense of intimidation.

"Come quickly!" Lin Lao Jiu, contrary to his usual self, suddenly perked up and shouted urgently. At the same time, he drew a large circle around the blood-activating ginseng in front of his chest. "Cut here, the meat is easy to cut, cut it all off together."

Lin Yuan looked at the circle he had drawn. With that kind of cutting, a person couldn't survive.

Lin Yuan gripped the knife with both hands, thought for a moment, then turned and went out of the house. He found some cloth to wrap his hands, put on a raincoat and a bamboo hat, and then went back into the house. He pulled the bamboo hat down to cover his exposed skin: "Ninth Brother, lie down and don't move! Father, Uncle, you two step back."

After Lin Yuan and the other two left the room, he took out his knife and brandished it on the ginseng.

He recalled the seven slashes he had learned to slay the snake, and finally chose the simplest one. He immediately lowered his body, raised his hand, lifted the knife, mobilized his qi and blood throughout his body, and quickly poured his qi and blood into his arms to build up his strength.

Lin Yuan closed his eyes in deep thought, recalling the Red Instructor's long whip. He couldn't help but shudder, instantly entering a state of absorption. He suddenly opened his eyes and swung his knife in an instant.

"Sweep the snake's tail!" A horizontal slash was made.

Lin Lao Jiu hurriedly got up and rammed his head into the blade, wanting to end it all.

A flash of light appeared, and a line of blood shot up.

The blade flashed too fast; Lin Lao Jiu was a few beats too slow and missed.

The blood-activating ginseng was cut off, and with the force of the blade, it crashed against the wall, fell to the ground, and gushed blood.