Chapter 5: The Herb Gathering Team

At the moment, Liuliu still didn't know, but Yun Qing suspected it was very likely. She was tempted to see what it felt like to be hated—if she returned to the village, picked a fight with a child, and stole his food, would that earn her some hatred points? The more people hated her, the more points she could accumulate for the lottery. The corners of Yun Qing's mouth curled upward; she found herself looking forward to this so-called hatred value.

Ye Xiaolang, having failed to stump Yun Qing, was surprised to see her smiling to herself. Was she really so happy just to recognize a scallion? He pointed to a Qi Supplementing Ginseng and said, “Hey! Any plant with this kind of special aura requires you to gather spiritual or internal energy to harvest it. Can you do that?”

Yun Qing focused her gaze on the Qi Supplementing Ginseng he indicated. It was nearly mature, but a black aura swirled around it.

"Polluted Qi Supplementing Ginseng cannot be harvested. Level 31 Harvesting is required for mature, polluted Qi Supplementing Ginseng.”

Ordinary Qi Supplementing Ginseng could be harvested with Level 10 Harvesting, but the polluted ones required Level 31. Just now, Ye Xiaolang had said only those who could gather spiritual or internal energy could pick them.

The original host had no spiritual roots when tested, but the surge of power before death suggested she might possess the rare Light Spiritual Root. However, the host had never cultivated spiritual energy, nor did she have any techniques. Yun Qing had tried over the past few days and found she couldn't cultivate or gather spiritual energy at all, nor did she possess internal energy.

It seemed she would have to rely on leveling up through the system.

Ye Qiaoqiao eagerly added from the side, “If you can't gather internal energy and haven't reached the Postnatal Realm, it's best not to touch it. You could get burned.”

Postnatal Realm! What level was that? The original host's memories only included the stages of Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, and Divine Transformation.

Nodding vigorously, Yun Qing replied, “Thank you both. I can't gather spiritual or internal energy yet, so I can't harvest it.”

Ye Xiaolang, regaining a bit of face, said, “Only by being able to harvest such herbs can you better support yourself.”

Reaching Level 31 was possible, Yun Qing thought confidently, clenching her fist to her chest. “I’ll work hard.”

Ye Xiaolang smiled subtly. Some things, after all, couldn’t be achieved by effort alone; talent was crucial.

Not wanting Yun Qing to starve, he pointed to a short plant with oval leaves. “This is wild strawberry. It'll bear fruits about the size of your pinky. When they turn red, they’re ripe and can be eaten directly to fill you up and quench your thirst. But if the fruit has a special aura, don’t eat it raw—you need internal energy to pick it and then have a chef who can purify it make delicious jam.”

The aloof yet kindhearted boy earned another point of favor in Yun Qing’s heart, though his favorability toward her was still just one. She focused on the plant he indicated. “Wild strawberry—cannot be harvested. Ripe wild strawberry requires Level 1 Harvesting.”

She could eat it directly. Yun Qing swallowed her saliva.

After last night’s dinner and the long night since, her hunger had reached 46—she’d hardly last a day outside without food. Learning to recognize wild strawberries came at the perfect time. Along the way, she’d seen many short plants with oval leaves, some of which looked as if their fruit had just been picked.

Before long, Ye Qiaoqiao pointed to a vine in the grass. “Wild musk melon—this one’s good, not very common, and you can eat it directly too.”

With their help, Yun Qing quickly identified all the plants along the way that were worth harvesting.

Time slipped by; the group had been walking for half an hour and were now far from the village. All around, there were plenty of things to harvest, as well as many ripe wild strawberries.

Ye Xiaolang stopped, then pointed at Ye Qiaoqiao. “From now on, you should stick with them.”

What did he mean by “with them”? Before Yun Qing could ask, Ye Qiaoqiao turned to her with a bright smile. “I’m Ye Qiaoqiao and I pick medicinal herbs. You’re new to our village—come gather herbs with us. It’s the easiest and safest work.”

So that was it. Yun Qing returned her smile, saying, “There’s so much I don’t know. Please take care of me.”

“Of course!”

Ye Xiaolang waved his hand. “Yun Qing, stay around here with the herb-gathering team. It’s safer here. In the evening, you can return with everyone. We’re heading farther out.”

“Got it!” She’d been looking forward to trying out her Harvesting Skill.

The main group continued onward, leaving behind a team of five gatherers: two boys and three girls, including Yun Qing.

After introducing Yun Qing, Ye Qiaoqiao introduced the other three: Ye Qiu Yue, a pretty fourteen-year-old girl; Da Niu, a sturdy boy of twelve or thirteen; and Da Chun, a slim boy of similar age.

The new member had a sickly look and was less skilled at gathering herbs, but the team greeted Yun Qing kindly.

They discussed dividing up the safer areas, and the team leader, Ye Qiaoqiao, assigned, “Yun Qing, since you’re new, this area, three zhang wide, is yours. You can keep moving forward. To prevent you from getting lost, we’ll call out to you from time to time—you must answer. In the evening, be sure to return here so we can go back to the village together.”

“Thank you, Captain Qiaoqiao.”

“We’ll look out for each other. Qiu Yue, Da Chun, you’ll be on Yun Qing’s left; I’ll be on her right with Da Niu.”

No one objected to Ye Qiaoqiao’s arrangements, and the four began working.

Watching the others head to their areas, Yun Qing’s heart raced with excitement—she could finally try out her Harvesting Skill. In her assigned area, she could already see several plants with system text hovering above them.

She descended the mountain path, entered the underbrush, and aimed for a speck of red peeking through the wild grass not far away.

As she approached, she found three wild strawberries. Carefully, Yun Qing reached for one; it was perfectly ripe, and the red fruit came off easily in her hand.

Harvest Experience +1

Obtained: Perfect Wild Strawberry ×1

She examined the strawberry in her hand—it was about the size of her pinky, bright and inviting. A gentle squeeze brought out a drop of red juice and a sharp, sour scent teased her nose, making her swallow.

“Wild Strawberry—restores 0.2 fullness.”

If one meal required 40 fullness, she’d need to eat 200 wild strawberries to be full.

The fruit looked temptingly sweet and sour.

Yun Qing put the wild strawberry in her mouth. A wave of sharp, unripe citrusy sourness swept over her tongue—pure sour, with no sweetness at all. No wonder the system hadn’t rated it as delicious.

After eating one, her fullness did increase by 0.2. If she ate 200, her teeth would probably ache from the sourness.

She decided to try harvesting another using her skill.

In her mind, she focused on using Harvesting Skill on the wild strawberries. Her hand moved almost without conscious control, reaching for a ripe fruit. The system smoothed out her usual awkward motions, and a transparent progress bar flashed before her eyes. In about a second, she saw the prompt:

Harvest Experience +1

Obtained: Perfect Wild Strawberry ×1

The strawberry in her hand was even more pristine than the one she’d picked herself. To outsiders, it would simply look like she was deftly picking strawberries.

Wild strawberries bruise easily, but if she got hungry, they could stave off hunger for a while. It was best to store them in her system backpack.

Yun Qing glanced around. Thanks to the cover of shrubs, she saw none of the others nearby on either side.