When Yue Zhixian returned with the harvested pine resin, he saw Xie Mingzhu already fastening palm-leaf bundles onto the children. Some of these bundles were even larger than their heads.
It looked somewhat alarming, especially since Old Man Sha was actually helping with the task.
“Old man, why aren’t you advising against this? Look at Xiaoshi’s slender neck—it can barely support that palm-leaf bundle,” Yue Zhixian remarked, noticing drops of green liquid dripping from the bundles, which made the scene even more peculiar.
Being more experienced, Old Man Sha had understood Xie Mingzhu’s intention the moment she started preparing to hang the palm-leaf bundles on the children.
He actually approved, thinking it might prove useful.
That’s why he joined in to help.
By now, most of the bundles were fastened. Those whose necks couldn’t bear the weight of the larger bundles supported them with their hands.
The bundles covered their mouths and noses, making it impossible to speak.
The children found it incredibly amusing, their eyes brimming with excitement.
When Old Man Sha heard Yue Zhixian’s questioning, he ignored the comment and instead scolded him, “I asked you to collect some pine resin, and you took so long. You must have laziness clinging to you.”
Mentioning the pine resin, Yue Zhixian quickly handed two coconut shells filled with resin to Xie Mingzhu. “How’s this? Guaranteed to be enough, right?”
It was indeed sufficient. Xie Mingzhu promptly placed the coconut shells on the cart and began distributing the resin. “When we’re about to arrive, help me light it. I’ll throw in the wormwood,” she instructed Yue Zhixian.
Turning to Old Man Sha, she added, “I see you’re accustomed to the Poisonous Miasma Pills. Once we enter the canyon, would you mind driving the cart?”
Old Man Sha was indeed used to them. Even if they weren’t heading into Fish Tail Canyon, he would still crave the Poisonous Miasma Pills.
He had saved a few pills, intending to keep them for Xie Mingzhu and the others as a precaution against the miasma; otherwise, he would have finished them back in the county town.
“No problem,” he replied. But noticing three remaining palm-leaf bundles, he asked, “Do we need to wear them too?”
“Double the protection for extra safety,” Xie Mingzhu explained. Having given all necessary instructions, she fastened her own palm-leaf bundle. From then on, they would breathe through these large bundles, using them as air filters.
Yue Zhixian glanced at Old Man Sha, confirming whether they really had to wear these large, dripping palm-leaf bundles. It looked utterly bizarre.
Old Man Sha glared at him. “Your wife worked hard to layer these together. Don’t waste her efforts.”
Besides, the bundles were filled with wormwood, which was beneficial rather than harmful.
With that, he hung his own bundle around his neck.
Seeing this, Yue Zhixian had no choice but to do the same.
At first, everyone found breathing somewhat difficult, but they quickly adapted.
As the entrance to Fish Tail Canyon approached, Xie Mingzhu hurriedly signaled Yue Zhixian to light the pine resin in the coconut shells.
While he lit the fire in front, she supported the large palm-leaf bundle around her neck with one hand and added wormwood from behind.
The vigorous flames of the pine resin immediately enveloped the wormwood, and smoke carrying the scents of pine resin and wormwood soon shrouded their entire group.
She used her leg to secure the coconut shells. Fortunately, Yue Zhixian had brought back extra palm bark, and with it layered beneath, her legs didn’t feel the heat.
As the mule cart entered the canyon, even the mule was chewing betel nut. Xie Mingzhu saw nothing but a vast expanse of white ahead—an endless fog that seemed to fill the entire canyon.
The progress was only about five or six meters, but the old trees and thickets in sight were almost entirely covered in moss, with vines wrapping all over their bodies. Now, only some withered remnants remained.
It seemed these trees had been strangled to death by the vines.
The scorching sun overhead was no longer visible, blocked by a thick layer of miasma. This place felt like a strange, silent world.
On those vines and ferns, there were also some slimy-looking leeches moving about.
She was most afraid of these things, and her scalp immediately tingled with dread.
Fortunately, the lit smoke kept the leeches from approaching.
She quickly averted her gaze and saw that the children were obedient, all keeping their eyes tightly shut. After checking the pine resin and mugwort in the coconut shell—which didn’t need replenishing for now—she hurriedly closed her eyes as well.
Yue Zhixian noticed her closing her eyes and lowered his own gaze.
In truth, this poisonous miasma meant little to him.
In the past, when he traveled back and forth, he neither chewed Poisonous Miasma Pills like most of Old Man Sha’s group nor carried a large palm bundle around his neck as he did today.
He could still manage to pass through Fishtail Gorge, though he would feel dizzy and nauseous. But after a good sleep, aside from some eye discomfort that took four or five days to recover from, there were no major issues.
Now, with everyone unable to communicate, the journey was quiet. The only sounds were the creaking of the cart wheels crushing branches and the occasional bird calls from beyond the miasma.
Perhaps due to the environment, the bird cries inexplicably carried a piercing, mournful tone.
Xie Mingzhu opened her eyes after estimating the time and found that the pine resin and mugwort in the coconut shell had just been replenished.
She figured it must have been Yue Zhixian and gave him a grateful glance before quickly closing her eyes again.
This kid really was reliable.
Diligent and perceptive, he didn’t seem like the idler Old Man Sha made him out to be.
During the brief moment she had her eyes open, she didn’t notice any pungent odor in the air.
Old Man Sha, who kept his eyes open, could clearly see their entire small group enveloped in the pine resin smoke scented with mugwort.
It was evident that this method was indeed effective.
The journey felt prolonged, and three of the five children had fallen asleep after being told to keep their eyes closed.
When they finally emerged from Fishtail Gorge, the bird calls grew clearer, and they could even feel the wind brushing against their faces.
Xie Mingzhu then heard Old Man Sha call out, “Alright, everyone can open your eyes now. We’ve safely passed through Fishtail Gorge.” He hadn’t dared to tell Xie Mingzhu that there were many swampy areas in Fishtail Gorge, home to snakes as thick as buckets.
He was afraid of scaring them.
Thankfully, they hadn’t encountered any—truly a blessing from the Sea Goddess!
Whether it was his imagination or not, after removing the palm bundle, Old Man Sha felt remarkably clear-headed and refreshed.
Unlike before, even after chewing Poisonous Miasma Pills, he would still feel slightly dizzy and lightheaded after crossing the gorge.
So, was the palm bundle really that effective?
Even the mule pulling the cart seemed full of energy.
It was clear that the mugwort smoke burning in the cart also provided protection for the mule.
He was quite excited, “I never knew mugwort was so effective! From now on, whenever anyone from Silver Moon Beach passes through Fishtail Gorge, we’ll do it this way!” Plus, there were no leeches sticking to them anymore.
Yue Zhixian also removed his large palm bundle and felt no dizziness or pain—not even the slightest hint of lightheadedness.
Upon hearing Old Man Sha’s words, he naturally agreed wholeheartedly.
While speaking, he didn’t forget to ask Xie Mingzhu, “You don’t mind us secretly learning your method, do you?”
Xie Mingzhu had already removed the large bundle and was untying it for the children. Hearing this, she felt these two were using her for something? “I’m now a member of Silver Moon Beach too, so how can it be called stealing my method?”
Looking at the red marks left by the palm-fiber bundles on the children’s necks, her heart ached slightly. “But there’s a better way—don’t use these palm fibers anymore from now on. They’re not only prickly but also cumbersome. If we have extra gauze, these anti-toxic-miasma masks can be much lighter. And they won’t hinder communication either.”
“Gauze is easy to manage. There’s a patch of hemp plants near our village! When everyone isn’t out fishing, we can all process the hemp and weave cloth together.” Old Man Sha had already planned to specifically assign people to make these masks.
To think the old man hadn’t lived in vain! His mind quickly turned, and he immediately realized, “This gauze can be reused, right?” Only the wormwood inside needs replacing.
So that patch of hemp wouldn’t need to be completely harvested either.
Xie Mingzhu nodded, “Correct.” However, this wasn’t a permanent solution either. She observed that the reason for the toxic miasma formation in Fishtail Gorge was quite simple.
Poor ventilation and stagnant air meant that any plants or animals that died there would rot directly.
The gorge’s low-lying terrain and relatively high temperatures allowed these toxic gases to ferment repeatedly inside, eventually creating the persistent miasma that now perpetually lingers in Fishtail Gorge.
Yue Zhixian was still fiddling with the remaining pine resin in the coconut shell. Although it produced considerable smoke, it could be directly placed in a lamp when fish oil was insufficient, not even requiring a wick.
So it definitely shouldn’t be discarded.
Moreover, they’d continue using it to burn wormwood when passing through Fishtail Gorge to reach the county town next time!
Seeing his actions as he collected all the coconut shells, Xie Mingzhu remarked, “Coconut shells do have other uses, but we won’t need to go through such trouble in the future. We used pine resin today because we hadn’t sun-dried the wormwood in advance.”
If they sun-dried the wormwood beforehand and made it into moxa sticks, each one could be broken into many segments—enough to last a round trip!
Old Man Sha immediately thought of the dried wormwood that Ji Popo had prepared. “Right, we’ll use dried ones next time, so we won’t need pine resin.”
Heaven knows, an occasional whiff of pine resin isn’t particularly bothersome.
But when it’s too concentrated, it becomes somewhat pungent.