Chapter 4: Treasure Dragon Mountain, She Loves It So Much
Shen Jiang’s gaze lingered on the vigorously growing Cistanche deserticola, unable to tear itself away.
The “small pagoda”-like Cistanche deserticola, like the masters of this mountain range, were all plump and sturdy. It had been so long since their clinic had stocked such wild, natural Cistanche deserticola. Their quality was pure, their color rich; one could tell their quality was top-notch just from their appearance.
Many of the Cistanche deserticola were in bloom, their spike-like inflorescences hanging from the stems like wheat. The flowers were of various colors—some white with blue edges, others yellow with pink edges—and they looked quite beautiful together.
To an ordinary person, this scene would be considered a beautiful landscape.
But to Shen Jiang, it was truly heartbreaking.
She knew that once Cistanche deserticola bloomed, the inside would become hollow, and its medicinal value would be more than halved. She couldn’t just watch a cooked duck fly away. Shen Jiang subconsciously wanted to rescue the Cistanche deserticola that hadn’t bloomed yet.
The giant dragon’s evil smile suddenly flashed in her mind.
Shen Jiang barely stopped her hand, which had almost pulled out a Cistanche deserticola, and let out a shaky breath.
She had almost fallen for it, clearing out the precious medicinal herbs at the giant dragon’s doorstep as if they were weeds.
In truth, Shen Jiang had always been skeptical about the giant dragon letting her go. After all, when she saw a cockroach suddenly appear in her room, she would also stomp on it without hesitation.
To the giant dragon, she was probably not much better than a cockroach, at best the difference between a mouse and a cockroach.
Neither was a welcome presence in one’s home.
Shen Jiang felt as if she had vaguely touched upon the truth. The dragon she had encountered might have some innate restrictions that prevented him from randomly killing ordinary creatures. Only when these ordinary creatures violated certain conditions, for example, by privately picking the precious medicinal herbs at his doorstep.
At that point, the big black dragon could strike without any scruples.
Suppressing her instinctive impulse, Shen Jiang tried her best not to look at the Cistanche deserticola that almost made her unable to walk.
But the weeding couldn’t stop. Shen Jiang cleared the weeds in front of her one by one and moved on without lingering.
Soon, her gaze was attracted by a large cluster of red flower balls not far away. There was a sea of dotted red flowers there. Upon closer inspection, she realized they weren’t flowers. Besides the large leaves at the bottom, each plant had a single stem with a cluster of spherical red berries at the top, plump and vibrant.
Just by looking at their very distinct appearance, Shen Jiang had already recognized these herbs.
“Panax notoginseng of this quality must be at least ten years old. They’re growing so well,” Shen Jiang couldn’t help but praise.
Godwin Caesar, who was paying attention to the movements outside, was stunned when he heard this.
How does she know how long the weeds here have been growing?
*
Godwin Caesar listened to the gasps of surprise that came from time to time. The excitement and joy in her tone were so exaggerated, as if she had seen countless treasures. It didn’t seem like she was faking it.
The giant dragon couldn’t help but be surprised. Could it be that there are countless treasures buried under the weeds at my doorstep, and I just don’t know about it?
If he were to walk out and take a look right now, he would have marveled at how utterly foolish the human’s expression was.
Shen Jiang hadn’t shown such an excited gaze even when she saw the numerous treasures under the giant dragon. At this moment, her bright and brilliant eyes were staring at the plants in front of her, shining brightly, looking just like a country bumpkin who had come to the city and had her horizons broadened.
This couldn’t be blamed on Shen Jiang for making a fuss. The truth was that in her country of Huaxia, and even in other countries, due to over-exploitation of resources and wanton discharge of pollutants by people, the resources of traditional Chinese medicinal herbs had rapidly dwindled. The prices of medicinal herbs had skyrocketed, several times higher than in the past.
As far as Shen Jiang knew, there were many Chinese medicine shops in her city of Nanze that sold fake medicines. Those herbs could almost pass for the real thing, and only experienced experts could tell them apart, not to mention how rampant it was throughout the country.
For example, mulberry twigs were used to replace Astragalus root, Platycodon grandiflorus to replace American ginseng, and cheap Angelica pubescens to impersonate Angelica sinensis. The tricks of the trade had been studied by medicine peddlers in a hundred different ways, making it impossible to guard against.
In the past, what troubled her and her grandmother the most was how to outwit these people and select the real medicinal herbs they needed.
Sometimes they couldn’t even be picky about the quality. As long as it was a real medicine, they would take it all back to the clinic first.
Now, outside the giant dragon’s lair, the mountains and fields were covered with medicinal herbs that were within Shen Jiang’s reach.
Thinking that their owner was not someone to be trifled with, Shen Jiang swallowed, daring only to look from a distance and not to touch.
However, during this time, nothing happened at all.
After pulling weeds with her bare hands for more than three hours, Shen Jiang also took the opportunity to patrol a radius of several hundred meters. Besides Cistanche deserticola and Panax notoginseng, there were also many other medicinal herbs that exceeded Shen Jiang’s expectations, such as Atractylodes macrocephala, Astragalus root, Polygala root, and Coptis chinensis.
The giant dragon saying there was a pile of weeds at his doorstep was a complete lie. It would be more accurate to say it was a mountain of “auspicious signs.”
This patrol yielded a huge harvest, but at the same time, the price Shen Jiang paid was also very painful. Even though Shen Jiang was used to handling medicinal herbs year-round, the thin calluses on her palms were still cut to a miserable state by the sharp edges of the weeds.
She held up her two hands to look. Her red palms were covered with blisters of all sizes, faint traces of blood mixed with the unique green juice of the plants, and her fingernails were filthy, a far cry from their original slender, fair appearance.
“Hiss.”
Shen Jiang carefully blew on her palms. The gentle coolness relieved some of the pain in her hands.
She simply stopped what she was doing and found a shady spot to sit down. If she continued to pull with these hands, they would probably swell up like pig’s trotters. She really couldn’t pull a single weed on this mountain anymore.
The variety of medicinal herbs on this mountain was numerous, and each one was growing vigorously. But it was like a bank full of money; she could only look, not take.
How frustrating.
Shen Jiang looked at her hands, which were already starting to turn red and swell, and then at the medicinal herbs covering the mountains and fields. She really couldn’t hold it in anymore and let out a long sigh.
“Sigh.”
Now she was genuinely willing to become a follower of the Lord Dragon.
Unfortunately, a watched flower never blooms, while an untended willow grows.
The little thought of playing the part of a useless follower who was willing but unable had long been thrown to the back of Shen Jiang’s mind. However, she was a modern person who had enjoyed the comfortable life brought by twenty-eight years of technological convenience. On this mountain, she was a pure physical weakling.
She gave up. Anyway, she couldn’t take the medicinal herbs here with her. Not being able to become this giant dragon’s follower wasn’t something to be depressed about.
*
The noise outside gradually subsided over time. Hearing the rustling sounds, Godwin Caesar decided to come out of the dragon’s lair.
The scenery outside the cave was as usual, nothing new. The only difference from usual was—that fanatical human follower.
Those unknown, cheerful melodies reached Godwin Caesar’s ears, clearer and louder than when he was in the cave.
He didn’t realize that his own mood had been infected. The tail behind him began to sweep lightly. Under the warm afternoon sun, the wind today felt particularly pleasant as it blew across his body.
These were just the most worthless weeds at the doorstep of the great fire dragon Godwin Caesar, yet they could make this ordinary human so happy. If she were to see his real treasures… wouldn’t she be completely dumbfounded?
Godwin Caesar looked with a hint of pity at the inexperienced human not far away. It was only when that sigh reached him that Godwin Caesar noticed the sun had already shifted to the west and was beginning to set.
Godwin Caesar had not expected her to last this long.
He knew that the dragon-slaying knights and mages who had come here before could only last for about ten minutes at most, yet she had persisted for several hours.
Godwin Caesar walked to a spot not far from the tree trunk and said coldly, “Who gave you permission to be picky and only clear the weeds you like?”
Shen Jiang had been working all afternoon and was tired and thirsty. She was listening to the chirping of the birds in the distance to relax. Startled by the thunderous voice behind her, she almost jumped up from the ground.
“Lord Go… Godwin, I was just taking a break. Please rest assured, I will immediately clear up the other weeds as well.”
As Shen Jiang spoke, she got up, walked straight past the Coptis chinensis beside her, and went to a goosegrass plant further away. Her hands trembled as she gripped the stem and leaves. Shen Jiang bit her lip, ignoring the sharp, stinging pain in her palms, and pulled outwards with all her might.
Godwin Caesar pointed at the few stalks of Coptis chinensis that were right there in disbelief. “You dare to deceive and fool the great fire dragon Godwin to my face? Why don’t you pull these weeds?”
When Shen Jiang heard this, she immediately let go of the goosegrass in her hand. As soon as she looked up, she saw a huge triangular claw pointing at a few lushly growing Coptis chinensis plants.
Shen Jiang didn’t quite understand the situation. She asked cautiously, “Such precious medicinal herbs, do they need to be pulled out too?”
Coptis chinensis was quite famous in traditional Chinese medicine, known as an extremely bitter but good medicine. In Huaxia, Coptis chinensis, as one of the commonly used precious Chinese medicinal herbs, had long been listed as a national second-class key protected medicinal material.
Godwin Caesar rolled his huge eyes. “Enough. Is there something wrong with your head? Can’t you see that there isn’t a trace of magic on this weed?”
In an instant, like lightning flashing across the night sky, something flashed through Shen Jiang’s mind.
Shen Jiang had never expected such a wonderful turn of events. She immediately unleashed a huge burst of enthusiasm:
“Honorable Lord Godwin Caesar, I promise I can clean up all these weeds! I just need some time. Please rest assured, as long as I am here, this patch of weeds will definitely not be an eyesore to you!”
Godwin was now quite certain that this human’s brain was really broken.
Why did she look so elated after being scolded by him? Just a moment ago when he came over, he had seen this person looking listless and lifeless.
“Honorable Lord Godwin Caesar, after I finish clearing these weeds, I will immediately transport them away so they won’t be an eyesore to you.” Seeing that the atmosphere was good, Shen Jiang took the opportunity to offer a more considerate service.
Godwin looked deeply at the human whose face was filled with joy, his heart full of complex emotions: This foolish, strange human, is she so desperate to be my follower that she doesn’t care about her dignity as a mage at all?
“This is part of the cleanup work to begin with. Does it even need to be said?” Godwin dropped this cold sentence and turned to leave.
It was too difficult to get rid of this follower.
Godwin couldn’t understand her sudden changes in emotion, sometimes real, sometimes fake.
But Godwin Caesar knew there was a way to solve this problem.
*
The surprise came too suddenly, and Shen Jiang was a little troubled for a moment.
She was a bit conflicted about whether to go dig up the Cistanche deserticola, or to dig up the Panax notoginseng, or perhaps picking some Angelica sinensis would be a good choice too.
Adults don’t make choices. Shen Jiang decided that today, every household would receive her patronage.
If it weren’t for the serious condition of her hands, Shen Jiang felt that she could have harvested all these herbs overnight in one go.
The medicinal part of most herbs is in the root. Simply pulling them out with brute force wouldn’t work. Not only would it be difficult to pull them out, but it could also damage the herbs. Shen Jiang found a wooden stick nearby and planned to use it to dig out the herbs.
With a slight exertion of force, a sharp, piercing pain shot through Shen Jiang’s palm.
Shen Jiang looked at herself, tore the sleeve off her shirt, wrapped it tightly around her palm, and continued to dig through gritted teeth.
Just as Shen Jiang was carrying out her grand plan, she looked up and saw the big black dragon walking out of the lair. Without giving her a single glance, he spread his wings and took to the sky. His movements were swift and decisive. Against the vast backdrop of the sky, he looked down from above with an arrogant demeanor.
Shen Jiang thought: Not gonna lie, the black dragon looked pretty cool and stylish when it took off.
If only she could fly too. It would be best to fly back to Nanze City in one go to see how her grandmother was doing.
Thinking of this, Shen Jiang suddenly realized, the dragon had flown away, so why was she staying on this mountain alone?
She quickened her pace, picked a few of the herbs she needed most at the moment, dug them out of the soil with a branch, tied them together with a few strands of grass, and then chose the easiest path to take and briskly went down the mountain.