A night of good sleep.
The next morning, when the first pale light streaked across the sky, Liú Xiǎomǎn opened her eyes and felt sticky all over, yet unusually light and refreshed.
She reached up to touch her forehead; the scorching heat that had almost burned through her soul had completely subsided, leaving only the weakness of someone just recovering from a serious illness.
Lǐ Xiùxiù had hardly slept all night. Hearing the movement, she immediately came over and touched her daughter’s forehead. The cool sensation made her burst into tears of joy. “It’s gone! Really gone! Shítóu has shown his spirit! He really has…”
Liú Xiǎomǎn did not interrupt her mother’s rambling. She struggled to sit up, her voice hoarse but resolute: “Mother, I’m fine. You and Cōngmíng stay here at home; I need to go into the mountains.”
“Into the mountains? No!” Lǐ Xiùxiù immediately opposed without thinking, grabbing her daughter’s arm, her eyes red again. “You just recovered, your body is still weak. The mountains are dangerous! What if the wind strikes again, or if you encounter some wild creature…”
Liú Xiǎomǎn held her mother’s cold hand in return, her black, shiny eyes burning like twin flames in the dim hut. “Mother, the porridge Father sent only sustains us for a while. We can’t just wait to die. There’s food and a way to survive in the mountains.”
She glanced at Liú Cōngmíng, rubbing his sleepy eyes, and added, “I’ll take Cōngmíng with me. He can help me recognize the path. We’ll only stay around the mountain’s foot and won’t venture deep inside.”
Seeing her daughter’s firm resolve, Lǐ Xiùxiù’s protests gradually weakened.
She looked at this daughter who seemed reborn overnight, feeling both worry and a subtle sense of reliance.
Ultimately, she could only hand over the only slightly thicker tattered jacket she had, draping it over Liú Xiǎomǎn.
The morning in the back mountains was shrouded in a thin mist.
The air was full of the fresh scent of soil and vegetation, mixed with the coolness of dew, invigorating anyone who breathed it in.
Yet this body was too weak. After only a hundred or so steps, Liú Xiǎomǎn felt tightness in her chest, weak legs, and cold sweat breaking out on her forehead.
Liú Cōngmíng obediently followed behind, still slightly dazed, but he actively reached out to support his sister’s arm, using his small body to share her burden.
A warmth spread through Liú Xiǎomǎn’s heart. Steadying her breath, she silently thought: “System, activate scanning function.”
In an instant, her world transformed.
Her vision seemed overlaid with a transparent data screen; every plant, every stone around her was precisely labeled in a faint blue data frame, information streaming rapidly across her retina.
Liú Cōngmíng watched curiously. He saw her sometimes staring at an unremarkable weed, sometimes touching a roadside shrub, muttering words he didn’t understand — yet he followed quietly, making no sound.
【Scan result: Common foxtail grass, recyclable, value 0.001 points.】
【Scan result: Wild hawthorn tree, fruit not ripe, no recyclable value.】
【Scan result: Maidenhair fern, ornamental plant, no medicinal value, no recyclable value.】
A series of scan results slightly dampened Liú Xiǎomǎn’s enthusiasm.
Her account had only a pitiful 0.35 points — 0.3 points from recycling the empty medicine box and porridge bowl yesterday, plus 0.05 points remaining, not enough to even exchange for a bowl of rice.
It seemed the system wasn’t a limitless money tree. Finding something truly valuable wouldn’t be easy.
But she did not lose heart; instead, she became even more focused.
As a top agricultural scientist, she knew better than anyone that real treasures often grow in the most inconspicuous and seldom-visited places.
She abandoned random scanning and began carefully observing the terrain and vegetation distribution.
Leading Liú Cōngmíng, she avoided the villagers’ usual paths and headed toward a shaded, damp rocky wall.
There, tall trees blocked sunlight for most of the year, and moss thickly covered the rocks where moisture seeped from crevices.
She stopped in front of an inconspicuous vine.
Villagers all recognized it: if cattle or sheep ate it, they would suffer severe diarrhea or even dehydration and death. Elders always warned children not to touch it — it was poisonous.
Liú Cōngmíng instinctively clutched his sister’s clothing, timidly tugging and whispering in a mosquito-thin voice, “Sister, poisonous plant. Grandma said not to touch.”
Liú Xiǎomǎn’s heart tightened — that old woman again.
She turned, squatted down, gently patted her brother’s head, and, looking into his slightly confused eyes, spoke word by word: “Cōngmíng, trust me. This is not poisonous. This is a treasure that can save our lives.”
She had Liú Cōngmíng step back a few paces, took a deep breath, and reactivated the scanning function, focusing on the vine.
【Ding! Rare medicinal plant detected: Hemostatic Vine (variant)! Due to its special growth environment, its roots contain trace unknown active elements. Its hemostatic and healing effects far exceed ordinary varieties. Recyclable value: 15 points per plant. System recommendation: This species is extremely rare in the current era. Host may process and sell to apothecaries or traveling merchants for higher estimated value!】
The series of system alerts rang like heavenly music in Liú Xiǎomǎn’s mind.
Her heart raced uncontrollably, blood rushing to her head, fingertips trembling with excitement.
Hemostatic Vine!
And a variant far superior to ordinary types!
In the ancient era of melee weapons, this was hard currency!
A top-quality ingredient urgently needed in the military for treating wounds!
Even a single high-grade Hemostatic Vine could fetch a sky-high price!
She suppressed her inner ecstasy and carefully surveyed the shaded wall.
On this shaded wall, she counted over a dozen of the same vines.
She did not harvest them all but carefully selected the largest, darkest, and most mature one.
From her waist, she pulled out the only tool she had — a chipped, worn-out hatchet — and began digging around the vine’s roots, along with the surrounding soil, inch by inch.
Meanwhile, at the Liú family mansion, Wáng Jīnhuā was excitedly embellishing the story of last night to Elder Tián.
“Mother, you should have seen how brazen that little brat was! Not only cursing me, but using the meat from the mass grave to scare me! I think she’s possessed by a ghost — full of evil!”
Elder Tián’s face darkened. She slammed her palm on the table, rattling the bowls and chopsticks. “How dare she! A dying little brat, still acting so defiant!”
A vicious glint flashed beneath her drooping eyelids. She snorted coldly: “Ignore them. Let’s see how long those three can last.
When they’re so hungry they crawl back on their knees, begging me, we’ll see how I deal with them! By then, not a single grain of porridge, not even a hidden needle, will escape me!”
Below the cliff, Liú Xiǎomǎn, unaware of the impending storm, concentrated entirely on her treasure.
Finally, with the last cut, the vine, along with clumps of soil, was completely dug out.
But with the treasure in hand, a more pressing problem arose: how to get it to the town over ten miles away? She, a fifteen-year-old girl just recovering from illness, accompanied by her mentally limited ten-year-old brother, both thin as bean sprouts, were now carrying a rare medicinal plant.
Walking boldly with such a precious item to town was equivalent to writing “come and snatch me” on her forehead — a moving target!
This thought made her immediately sober.
She glanced at the curious Liú Cōngmíng beside her and decided not to tell Lǐ Xiùxiù for the time being.
With her mother’s timid nature, knowing would only cause constant worry, which would be useless.
She needed a perfect plan to convert the herb into life-saving money while ensuring their safety.
Liú Xiǎomǎn’s eyes scanned the surrounding area, and a bold, meticulous plan quickly took shape.
She cut several large leaves, carefully wrapped the vine and its soil, coated it with a layer of mud, and finally bound it with a pliable vine.
With this disguise, the priceless treasure now looked like a lump of inconspicuous dirt freshly dug from the ground.
She slung the heavy dirt lump onto her frail back, took Liú Cōngmíng’s small hand, and began descending the mountain.
At the foot of the mountain, looking toward the winding dirt path leading to town, Liú Xiǎomǎn’s mind was rapidly constructing a daring and meticulous plan.