Chapter 117: Going Up the Mountain

Chapter 117: Chapter 117: Going Up the Mountain

Hua Buwan seemed to have never mentioned her family to him. He knew more about Huaxia Country and her daily life.

He wondered, "Do her family members treat her as badly as that woman just did?"

Ling Qianjun looked at Hua Buwan with an aching heart.

"She is such a wonderful person," he thought. "Why does her family treat her like this?"

But since Hua Buwan didn’t say anything, Ling Qianjun wouldn’t take the initiative to ask. If she ever wanted to talk about it, he would definitely listen carefully.

Upon crossing over to Dongxuan Country, they were still in the forest. However, this time, besides Ling Qianjun, there was an extra person present—Ling Yunge.

"Sister Wan, I heard you wanted to pick medicinal herbs, so I volunteered to help you," Ling Yunge said, stepping forward to speak amiably to Hua Buwan. "It’s the perfect opportunity for me to learn how to identify herbs. There will always be times we’ll need this skill on the road and in the future.

"Qianfan originally wanted to fight me for this spot, but he was bitten by Little Qing while sleeping last night, so now he doesn’t even dare to enter the forest. Hehe, it worked out perfectly for me."

Hua Buwan raised an eyebrow curiously. "Little Qing? Is that a snake?"

"Yep! Fortunately, Little Qing wasn’t venomous. When it bit Qianfan, he howled in pain, and Qianjun immediately grabbed it with his bare hands. We even had snake soup last night." Recalling the taste of the meal, Ling Yunge swallowed nostalgically.

"I see." Hua Buwan sighed, amused at the thought of the young Ling Qianfan being so terrified by a snake bite that he didn’t even dare to step into the woods.

It was the classic case of once bitten, twice shy. Ling Qianfan would have to put in some effort to overcome this fear.

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration hit Hua Buwan. She thought of the toy snakes sold in her world, which looked incredibly realistic. She wondered if she could...

Ling Qianfan had no idea what challenges awaited him in the future. At that moment, he was sitting beside Xu Panqing, sneezing several times in a row. "ACHOO! ACHOO! ACHOO!"

"Let’s move forward," Ling Qianjun said, glancing at their surroundings. Noticing that some people seemed to be heading their way, his tone carried a hint of urgency.

He felt that he would eventually need to find an identity for Hua Buwan; otherwise, it was only a matter of time before she was discovered. However, it would be best if they could delay that discovery until they reached Lingnan.

Now that their journey was progressing more smoothly, everyone was walking as fast as they could, unwilling to delay their itinerary any further. As a result, the distance to Lingnan was constantly shrinking. They would probably reach their destination in about two months.

Once they arrived in Lingnan, they would have to fend for themselves. No one would care about them, but they were not allowed to leave the region.

Although they wouldn’t be punished with hard labor for the Government, they were still convicted criminals. For three generations, their descendants would be barred from participating in the imperial examinations and holding official positions. If they wanted to shed this criminal status, they had to perform meritorious deeds. Only then could they transition back to commoner status.

Upon arriving in Lingnan, their first priority would be survival, followed by regaining their commoner status. It sounded simple enough, but performing a meritorious deed was easier said than done. Some people never encountered such an opportunity in their entire lives.

Setting aside his thoughts, Ling Qianjun led Ling Yunge and Hua Buwan forward, widening the distance between them and the people behind. Only when he was sure no one would come over did he stop. "Let’s search around here."

Ling Qianjun could recognize a few medicinal herbs. When he served in the military in the Northern Land, they often went up into the mountains to hunt and pick herbs for stopping bleeding and treating wounds. He could identify those, along with some commonly seen and heard of medicinal plants.

Hua Buwan had done ample research the previous night, so she began her search by looking for the types of environments that the herbs preferred.

They searched and searched.