Read Novel Full Chapter 33 - Gufeng Mountain Encounter (1)
On the day of entering the mountain, the weather was exceptionally fine.
Thirty disciples each received a white brocade pouch embroidered with phoenixes. Ziluo smiled and said, “This is a Qiankun Bag
1, but it’s just a very ordinary one. It can only hold up to ten items in total, and once something is put in, it cannot be taken out until you return. So, unless you’ve collected something precious, don’t put anything in it. Otherwise, you’ll waste the space, and you can’t blame anyone else.”
Zanxing pinched the Qiankun Bag and looked at it from all angles. The pouch was only the size of a palm, soft to the touch. Zanxing tried to put her fingers in, feeling a coolness inside without any substance, and then withdrew her fingers.
“Gufeng Mountain is full of ferocious beasts. These beasts mostly sleep during the day, so remember to move slowly. Be sure to leave before sunset. Otherwise, when the moon rises and the beasts awaken, the mountain will be very dangerous,” Ziluo said, looking at the entrance to the dense forest in front of them. With a wave of her long sleeves, ripples appeared there as if some restriction had been lifted.
“Off you go. Remember, you must return before sunset,” she said.
Zanxing packed the Qiankun Bag and followed the others into the dense forest.
Gufeng Mountain was extremely perilous.
Perhaps because few ordinary people come here except for disciples from the sect, even the mountain roads were temporarily cut out. A wooden ropeway hung between the two cliffs, and the disciples went up one by one. The ropeway swayed and creaked. Looking down, all they saw was the mist and clouds swirling endlessly, with no bottom in sight.
Zanxing thought to herself, Luckily I am not afraid of heights.
The seasons here were also very strange. Just a moment ago, they had passed by a place where flowers were blooming brightly, but the next moment, the stone steps were covered in snow, like sparse and cold jade. On the mountainside, there were many strange trees and strange vines, as well as rugged rocks, with trees and rocks reflecting each other.
Suddenly, they hear a bird’s cry, and everyone looked up to see a long shadow passing through the peaks, approaching from afar. It was the size of a gray crane, with black feathers and surprisingly red eyes. The large bird hovered in front of everyone for a moment before flapping its wings and flying away.
“What is that?” Tian Fangfang wondered. “It doesn’t look like an ordinary bird.”
A disciple replied, “The ‘Illustrated Compendium of a Thousand Items from Mount Gufeng’ states: In the land of Taiyin, where the corpse gas accumulates, it transforms into a Rakshasa Bird, capable of changing forms and preying on human eyes. As shown in the illustration, it should be the Rakshasa Bird.”
The other disciples, upon hearing this, tightened their grip on their weapons, saying, “There are many ferocious beasts on this mountain. It’s better for us not to separate. Let’s stick together, at least there’s someone to watch out for each other.”
In unfamiliar surroundings, being in a group does provide some comfort, and Zanxing initially thought the same. That is until she saw this group of people starting to gather medicinal herbs.
The ‘Illustrated Compendium of a Thousand Items from Mount Gufeng’ documented thousands of species of flora and fauna. It was clearly impossible to memorize them all, but modern people educated through education system were somewhat good at summarizing. Generally speaking, the more colorful something was, the more poisonous it tended to be, and the more unique its appearance, the more dangerous it might be.
But these new disciples seemed to prefer picking the most eye-catching things. Zanxing tried to advise them otherwise, but to no avail. Everyone wanted to find something different to put in their Qiankun Bags. They disdained ordinary-looking but effective herbs.
And so, a young boy who had just joined was bitten by a snake as soon as he picked a plant.
A group of people gathered around the boy, making a commotion. The snake was killed, its appearance flamboyant and clearly not that of a regular snake.
“Don’t worry, Junior Brother,” a well-meaning senior said, “I’ll suck the snake venom out for you.” With that, he lifted the boy’s pants leg and was about to lean in.
Zanxing: “…”
This was indeed a wish-fulfillment story, to the point where it lacked logic and medical common sense, even the setup was so perfunctory. Zanxing couldn’t bear to watch and shouted, “Wait!”
Everyone looked at her in confusion.
“You can’t suck out snake venom,” Zanxing said as she took a piece of rope from the nearby senior and handed it over. “Tie this around the wound tightly.”
If they delayed gathering the medicinal herbs, the whole sect would be having dinner when they returned.
“What nonsense are you talking about?” a disciple spoke up. “If we don’t suck out the snake venom, what will we do if he dies?”
Hua Yue, observing the situation, interjected indifferently, “Yang Zanxing, I knew you were not only ugly but also very malicious. This junior brother has no grudge against you, yet you want to harm him.”
“Truly, one’s appearance reflects their inner character!”
Zanxing: “?”
How did she become malicious, and why did this turn into a discussion about looks? This hatred seemed a bit forced.
Just as she was pondering, another voice came from behind, “No need to suck, this is a Jade-Spotted Golden Snake, it’s non-venomous as mentioned in the manual.”
Zanxing turned around, and Mu Cengxiao glanced at them, saying, “I presume the bleeding has stopped by now.”
The young man looked down upon hearing this, and indeed, the wound from the snakebite had now congealed into a light-colored line, and it was about to scab over. He scratched his head in embarrassment and said, “Ah, it seems I was too quick to judge. Thank you, Senior Brother.”
Zanxing looked at Mu Cengxiao, she really didn’t expect Mu Cengxiao to speak up at this moment and help her out.
Since transmigrating to the present, she had spoken no more than ten sentences to the original male lead. Each time was initiated by her. Could it be that Mu Cengxiao was showing some goodwill towards her this time? Could it be… that the original plot couldn’t suppress her, so they decided to upgrade her to the female lead?
Zanxing felt a chill. She didn’t want to be Mu Cengxiao’s ninth wife.
Seeing Zanxing staring at him straight, Mu Cengxiao frowned and turned away. It seemed that he had no intention of developing a romantic relationship with her. Zanxing felt slightly relieved.
Everyone picked some herbs for themselves. Their appetites grew, with some wanting to pick spirit fruits to nourish their qi and blood, others aiming for herbs to aid breakthroughs, and some eager to try a certain flower rumored to be equivalent to a third-grade elixir. Everyone had different desires and feared being pre-empted by others, so the disciples who had just vowed to stay together suddenly split up and went their separate ways.
Zanxing and Tian Fangfang were together at first. After walking a few steps, Tian Fangfang stopped and scratched her head, feeling somewhat embarrassed as she said to Zanxing, “Junior Sister, I’ve carefully examined the diagrams these past few days and marked out the ten most valuable herbs. I plan to gather them and sell them at the Golden Pavilion… These herbs are in a different direction from your Night Vine Branch, so…”
Zanxing understood, “Go ahead.”
“Don’t worry, once I gather mine, I’ll come find you immediately,” Tian Fangfang assured her. “It won’t take too long!”
“It’s fine,” Zanxing replied, “I can manage on my own.”
After explaining a few more things to Zanxing, Tian Fangfang left. Zanxing looked at the diagrams in her hand and sighed softly.
Night Vine Branches grew on the edge of the Black Marsh, where miasma was prevalent, making it difficult for ordinary plants to thrive. Other disciples wouldn’t go in that direction to search for herbs. So, it was destined for her to go alone.
Footnotes
The Qiankun Bag is a magical item that can hold a large amount of items in a small space.