Because of the lure of rewards, He Wanqing’s enthusiasm for collecting herbs finally increased—just a little.
To help the system scan more effectively, she deliberately moved from the center of the refugee group to the roadside.
Whenever the system gave a notification, she would temporarily leave the group to dig up herbs. Fortunately, the refugees weren’t moving very fast, so after digging she could jog a few steps and easily catch up again.
But this also caused her stamina to drain much faster than everyone else’s.
After walking for a little over an hour, she finally gave out. Her legs felt as heavy as stone and refused to lift.
Ye Jianshan had been watching his mother the entire time. Seeing her pale face, he immediately became nervous.
“Mother, sit on the cart.”
The other children also looked worried. Ah Ming even quietly moved behind her, subtly raising his hands as though ready to catch her if she fell.
With her useless body betraying her, He Wanqing could only shamelessly climb onto the cart.
After a brief delay, the family continued following the group.
Sigh…
He Wanqing silently lamented in her heart.
Looking around, she realized that among everyone currently riding on carts, aside from herself there were only toddlers. Even the elderly had more strength in their legs than she did—they walked like the wind.
Sure enough, all those years of living too comfortably were now coming back to bite her.
Though sitting on the cart was pleasant, it also restricted her movement range.
Which meant no more herb gathering.
Bored out of her mind, she could only chat with the system.
“Little Sixie, how many kinds of herbs did I dig up just now?”
Since several herbs often grew together in one spot, and she’d been in a hurry, she dug them up and immediately handed them over to the system without counting carefully.
“Eight kinds.”
He Wanqing deliberately provoked it.
“Only eight? I feel like there were ten. Did you miscount?”
Ah, in order to make Little Sixie entertain her, she once again had to play the villain.
As expected, 616 exploded instantly.
“How can you doubt my calculation abilities?! There were clearly only these eight: Stargrass, Cassia Seed, Chicken Tongue Grass, Mountain Millet Herb, Heartless Grass, Mint, White Hair Grass, and Stone Xiangru!”
“Oh? Then maybe I remembered wrong. People get forgetful when they get older. Be understanding.”
616: “…”No, I do not want to be understanding.
For the rest of the journey, whenever He Wanqing felt bored, she would tease the system a little. Thanks to the entertainment it provided, the harsh refugee road became slightly more bearable.
Very quickly, it became He Wanqing’s fifth day in this world.
During this time, she had consciously trained her body and finally reached the point where she could walk half a day without her legs aching.
As a result, she collected many more herbs.
At present:
At this rate, she might actually reach the first reward milestone before entering Xuannan Province!
Just thinking about it made her excited.
What could the reward possibly be?
“Look! There’s cooking smoke ahead!”
A villager’s excited shout startled He Wanqing out of her fantasies.
Looking up, she indeed saw wisps of smoke rising in the distance.
Another village?
But she wasn’t excited at all.
They had already encountered two small villages before this.
Both villages had treated them with extreme caution and refused to let them approach.
Probably afraid the refugees would rob them.
After all, refugees didn’t exactly look trustworthy.
Having traveled this long, the village chief naturally understood others’ concerns. So he stopped the group where they were and brought only two people with him toward the village.
After giving a few instructions to the children, He Wanqing walked toward a nearby hillside.
“Little Sixie, start scanning.”
She was now extremely motivated when it came to collecting herbs. She just wanted to reach one thousand points as quickly as possible.
616 was very pleased with her initiative.
“Three steps to your left. See that orange-red plant? That’s Black Cattail Grass.”
“Oho, pretty color. Too bad your life ends here now that you’ve fallen into my hands. Hehehe…”
616 had already grown accustomed to her occasional nonsense and simply ignored it.
He Wanqing didn’t care either. After admiring the herb for a moment, she handed it over to the system and continued searching.
Suddenly—
“Waaaah—!”
A child’s crying echoed nearby.
Turning toward the sound, He Wanqing saw a little boy curled up on the opposite slope.
For some reason, his small figure reminded her of Ah Ming.
Without hesitation, she hurried over.
“Little boy, what’s wrong?”
When she reached him, she saw him clutching one ankle, his face covered in tears and snot.
“A snake bit me! It hurts! Waaaah—!”
She removed his hand and immediately saw two puncture wounds on his ankle.
The blood flowing out was faintly black.
Poisonous.
He Wanqing didn’t know how to treat snake venom, but she also couldn’t bring herself to abandon him.
“Don’t be scared. I’ll take you to a doctor.”
She bent down, picked him up, and carried him back toward the refugee group.
Thankfully, her body had improved over the past few days. Otherwise, she might not even have managed to carry him uphill.
Before she even reached the group, she shouted:
“Auntie Chen! Hurry over! A child’s been bitten by a venomous snake!”
Hearing the call, Old Madam Chen agilely pushed through the crowd toward them.
“Where was he bitten?”
“Left ankle.”
He Wanqing carefully set the child down and rolled up his pant leg, exposing the wound for everyone to see.
“It’s definitely a venomous snake,” Old Madam Chen said after examining it. “Fortunately, the venom isn’t very strong. I have medicinal powder for snake bites, but first the poisoned blood has to be sucked out.”
While He Wanqing hesitated, Ye Jianwu suddenly stepped forward.
“I’ll do it.”
Right.
She had children to use.
“Auntie Chen,” He Wanqing asked, “will the poison affect the person sucking it out?”
“As long as there are no wounds in the mouth, it’s fine.”
In that case, she had no psychological burden whatsoever.
Since the venom was weak, Ye Jianwu only needed a few mouthfuls before the blood cleared.
Ye Jianwen quickly handed him a water pouch to rinse his mouth.
Meanwhile, He Wanqing took the medicinal powder from Old Madam Chen and carefully sprinkled it over the wound before wrapping it with a clean handkerchief.
Then she gently patted the boy’s head.
“Alright now, stop crying. You’ll be fine. Where’s your home? Auntie will take you back.”
The child sniffled and pointed toward the village.
“My house is in the village…”
“Jianwu, carry him.”
Just as He Wanqing and the third son reached the village entrance with the child, the village chief happened to come out.
“Jianshan’s mother, what’s going on here?”
“Village Chief, perfect timing. This child is from the village. He was bitten by a venomous snake, but Auntie Chen already treated him. I was just bringing him home.”
Some nearby villagers immediately recognized the child.
At once, one of them rushed over and took him, distressed.
“Little Stone! Where were you bitten? Let Uncle see!”
The boy pitifully pointed at his ankle.
“Uncle Hu… I was scared…”
“It’s alright now. Uncle will take you home.”
Then he turned gratefully toward He Wanqing and the others.
“On behalf of Little Stone’s parents, thank you.”
“It’s nothing. The child was probably terrified. Just keep a closer eye on him next time.”
After Hu Laoda carried the child away, He Wanqing turned back toward the village chief.
“Village Chief, did you find out anything useful?”
“Yes. The villagers said that if we continue along this official road for half a day, we’ll reach Wuning Prefecture. Once we pass through there, we’ll enter Xuannan Province.”
“So we’re almost there.”
“Yes… finally.”
When the news was shared with the refugees, everyone immediately erupted into cheers.
The village chief announced:
“We’ll rest here tonight. Everyone look around for a suitable spot.”
But before they even found one, villagers from the settlement came over—including Little Stone’s parents.
After learning that He Wanqing and Old Madam Chen had saved their son, they were deeply grateful and each gifted them one jin of pork and one jin of white rice.
Little Stone’s mother said sincerely:
“Our family doesn’t have much. We hope our benefactors won’t dislike these gifts.”
He Wanqing accepted without hesitation and smiled warmly.
“These are wonderful gifts. How could I dislike them? Just watch the child more carefully in the future. Letting him go up the mountain alone is too dangerous.”
“You’re absolutely right. Oh, and our family still has one spare room. If you and Doctor Chen don’t mind, you could stay at our house tonight. It’s simple, but better than sleeping outside.”
He Wanqing’s eyes immediately lit up.
She was very tempted.
But reason prevailed, and she didn’t agree immediately.
“Thank you, big sister. Let me discuss it with my family first.”
“Of course. My house is easy to find—the third house after entering the village. Come over if you decide to stay.”
Before He Wanqing could even think further about it, the village chief announced another piece of good news.
“No need to search for a campsite. The chief of Peach Blossom Village has invited us into the village. They’ve prepared a suitable resting place for us.”
So the refugees pushed their carts into Peach Blossom Village.
At a glance, everyone saw a large flat area waiting for them.
The Peach Blossom Village chief raised his hand.
“This is our grain-drying ground. You may rest here tonight. There’s a well just ahead—feel free to fetch water.”
After speaking, he left, though privately he instructed several young men to keep an eye on the refugees.
After all, it never hurt to be cautious.
When the four boys learned that He Wanqing planned to stay overnight at Little Stone’s house, they all became uneasy and kept glancing at her.
It made He Wanqing feel strangely awkward.
“You’re acting like I’m never coming back.”
The moment she said that, all four boys’ eyes widened.
He Wanqing burst into laughter.
“It was a joke. Couldn’t you tell? Alright, stop hovering around me and go do your own things. I’m not leaving immediately.”
After finally driving away the clingy children, He Wanqing packed a spare set of clothes into a bundle to bring with her later.
Then she stared at the one jin of streaky pork belly and began imagining how to cook it.
The more she thought about it, the hungrier she became.
Braised pork…
Served with steaming white rice…
Just imagining it felt heavenly.
Unfortunately, she had no iron wok and no proper seasonings.
Suddenly, an idea flashed through her mind.
Mm.
That could work.
Once the thought appeared, she immediately acted on it.
First, she went to find Old Madam Chen.
“Auntie Chen, are you staying at Little Stone’s house tonight?”
Old Madam Chen answered without hesitation:
“No.”
Once she confirmed that, He Wanqing decided she would go alone.
“Jianshan, Mother’s going to Little Stone’s house now. Leave the pork there for now—I’ll come back later and teach you how to prepare it.”
Taking several taels of broken silver with her, He Wanqing carried her bundle toward Little Stone’s home, humming cheerfully along the way.