"Brother, you're back!"
As soon as Lu Qing arrived at the small courtyard halfway up the mountain, he saw a small figure run out of it and rush into his arms.
Lu Qing gently caught the little one and picked her up. Seeing the joy on Xiao Yan's face, Lu Qing breathed a sigh of relief.
Thankfully, the little one didn't cry.
"Yes, you're back. Has Xiaoyan been good at home?" Lu Qing asked affectionately, holding his younger sister.
"Of course I was good. This time, even though my brother didn't come home tonight, Xiaoyan didn't cry," the little girl boasted.
"Xiaoyan is amazing!" Lu Qing praised her without reservation.
The little guy didn't cry or fuss, which surprised him greatly.
"Because Grandpa Chen said that my brother is very strong now and will be fine. I know my brother will come back, so Xiaoyan won't cry," the little girl said earnestly.
"Yes, your brother is very capable now." Lu Qing rubbed the little guy's head.
"You're back. Why did you take so long to get back to the mountains this time?"
At this moment, Dr. Chen also came out of the courtyard.
"Master." Lu Qing put Xiao Yan down, his expression becoming more serious. "Some unexpected situations have arisen, which has worried you."
"I'm not worried. Gathering herbs in the mountains is never easy, so it's normal that we can't come back on time," the old doctor said, waving his hand.
The old doctor often went into the mountains to collect herbs, so he naturally knew what the mountains were like.
Sometimes the sun shines brightly outside the mountains, but once you enter the mountains, a sudden mountain rainstorm may break out.
And then there's the mountain mist that can appear at any time.
If you're not careful, it's normal to get trapped inside for several days.
If Lu Qing hadn't already reached the minor completion stage of the Qi and Blood Realm and hadn't brought along such a strange spirit beast as Xiao Li, the old doctor might not have agreed to let him go into the mountains alone to collect herbs.
"By the way, where's your little black beast? Why hasn't it come back?" the old doctor asked curiously.
These days, the old doctor has also met with Xiao Li, and it seems that Xiao Li can sense the natural kindness emanating from him, so she doesn't seem to dislike him.
"Yes, brother, where's Xiao Li? Did it go home?" Xiao Yan asked as well.
"Aww~"
Before Lu Qing could answer, a shout rang out, immediately attracting Xiao Yan's attention.
"It's Xiao Li!"
The little guy plays with Xiaoli every day, and even sleeps together, so how could he not be familiar with its bark?
Upon hearing the voice, he immediately looked around: "Xiao Li, where are you?"
But no matter how she looked, she couldn't find Xiao Li, which filled Xiao Yan's little mind with doubt.
She clearly heard the voice right next to her, so why couldn't she see it? Where did Xiao Li hide?
On the contrary, Doctor Chen looked at Lu Qing with some surprise and uncertainty.
He recognized the voice; it was coming from Lu Qing's side.
But he didn't see Xiao Li either, and Lu Qing didn't seem like he could hide the small black beast on his body.
Could it be hidden in the medicine basket?
The old doctor couldn't help but look at the medicine basket that Lu Qing was carrying.
"Xiao Li, stop fooling around and come out."
Seeing that his master and Xiaoyan were both confused, Lu Qing smiled and patted their shoulders.
Then, under the watchful eyes of the old doctor and Xiaoyan, Xiaoli deactivated her invisibility.
The old doctor and Xiao Yan were both very surprised to see Xiao Li suddenly appear on Lu Qing's shoulder with a smug look on her face.
Xiaoyan, in particular, had her mouth and eyes widen in shock.
Seeing this, Xiao Li became even more smug, its tail wagging high.
"Aqing, this is..."
The old doctor was very surprised. He was certain that he hadn't noticed that Xiao Li was sitting on Lu Qing's shoulder.
So close, yet he, with his internal energy cultivation level, couldn't detect her. When did Xiao Li's ability to hide become so formidable?
"This little thing had some amazing adventures on its trip into the mountains and awakened a pretty good talent. It's showing it off to you guys right now," Lu Qing said with a smile.
Xiao Li darted in front of Xiao Yan in a flash, looking smug, as if waiting for her praise.
Xiao Yan did not disappoint it; she immediately picked it up, her face full of disbelief.
"Xiao Li, you're amazing! How did you do that?"
"Aww~"
Xiao Li was even happier after being praised.
It jumped down from Xiaoyan's arms and ran around her, while also appearing to dart through the air like a magician, making Xiaoyan exclaim in surprise.
The old doctor was somewhat shocked by Xiao Li's performance, which seemed to traverse space.
Even though he wasn't good at fighting, he could see just how terrifying the ability Xiao Li had displayed was.
"Ah Qing, what did you encounter in the mountains? Xiao Li has changed so much!" the old doctor couldn't help but ask.
"Let's go inside and talk about it, Master." Lu Qing tightened his grip on the medicine basket on his back.
In the courtyard, Xiao Li and Xiao Yan were playing hide-and-seek.
Lu Qing and his master went into the house.
“Master, Xiao Li and I have gained a lot from this trip into the mountains. First of all, these medicinal herbs.”
Lu Qing put down the medicine basket on his back and took out the medicinal herbs one by one.
"Heavenly Star Grass, Angelica sinensis, Panax notoginseng, ginseng... wait, this ginseng?!"
The old doctor was surprised by each and every one of the medicinal herbs that Lu Qing had taken out.
Not to mention the exceptionally good quality of the medicinal herbs, the Tianqi alone was enough to surprise him.
When did this mountain range behind Jiuli Village start producing Tianqi (Panax notoginseng)?
When the old doctor saw Lu Qing take out the ginseng, he almost jumped up.
Because he saw that the ginseng had all its hair and beard, and had almost completely formed a human shape!
According to his experience, ginseng of this quality must be at least four or five hundred years old, making it a truly precious ginseng.
Truly rare and priceless.
But that wasn't all. He saw that after Lu Qing took out the precious ginseng, he continued to take medicinal herbs from the medicine basket.
And they are all ginseng. Judging from their quality, each one is at least a hundred years old, and some two or three are even more than a hundred years old.
"Master, these are the medicinal herbs we collected on this trip into the mountains."
Lu Qingdao took out the last ginseng and placed it on the ground.
That's all?
The old doctor looked at the row of ginseng roots that were over a hundred years old on the ground, and then looked at his disciple with some speechlessness.
"I've been collecting herbs my whole life and I've never even come across more than a few of these ginseng plants. You went into the mountains and dug up a whole bunch. Did you find a ginseng nest?"
"More or less," Lu Qing said with a smile. "The place Xiao Li took me to did have a lot of ginseng, but I only picked some that were old enough to dig up."
"They actually dug up a ginseng nest?" the old doctor exclaimed. "Xiao Li is really amazing; it managed to find such a treasure trove."
He finally understood why Lu Qing had lingered in the mountains for so long.
With so many precious medicinal herbs, if it were him, he probably wouldn't be willing to leave the mountains so soon.
As a doctor, it's almost impossible to resist good medicinal herbs.
"Master, I would like to ask you to help me refine these ginseng into blood-nourishing and qi-boosting pills."
"So many ginseng roots, are you going to refine them all into blood-nourishing and qi-boosting pills?" the old doctor asked, puzzled. "You've already reached the minor completion stage of the Qi and Blood Realm. At most, four or five more hundred-year-old ginseng roots would be enough for you to reach the perfection stage of the Qi and Blood Realm. Why do you need to refine so many blood-nourishing and qi-boosting pills?"
"This is another extraordinary encounter I had on this trip into the mountains."
Lu Qing took out a small jade bottle from his pocket.
“Master, this time I discovered a magical liquid in a cave in the mountains.”
