1oo47 New Urban Farmers Chapter Ninety-Four: Herb Garden

Zhang Baoshun, the village head, put down the wild boar's head and said to his son, "Prepare some food for lunch. I'll prepare some medicine for the guests now."

Yi Xiangyun nodded and glanced at Li Ningguang and Du Wenqiang. Among the group, Li Ningguang's face was somewhat ashen, while Du Wenqiang was pale. As the son of Master Yi, Yi Xiangyun naturally inherited some of his skills.

Traditional Chinese medicine emphasizes observation, listening, questioning, and palpation; he could tell at a glance that both people were unwell.

Li Ningguang and the others were arranged by Yi Xiangyun to stay in an empty side room with a heated kang (a traditional Chinese bed-stove) and firewood. Although it was simple, the bedding was new and it was warm in winter and cool in summer. However, he was not in good spirits, was worried and anxious, and looked a bit haggard.

Wang Zhen, Liu Dewang, and Du Wenqiang were all present, except for Zhang Guodong.

Li Ningguang glanced at Du Wenqiang and said, "Everyone, take a rest. The cannon is much better than the tent. You can get some sleep." "Boss, I'm fine. I'll take some medicine and keep up with everyone!" Du Wenqiang said.

"Let's rest for a bit. Since we're already here, let's make the best of it," Li Ningguang said, shaking his head.

“Boss, should I go check on him?” Wang Zhen said at this moment.

That was Zhang Guodong. Wang Zhen naturally knew what Li Ningguang was worried about.

"It's good to be careful!" Li Ningguang said after thinking for a moment.

He trusted Wang Zhen to handle things.

Zhang Guodong, disregarding the need for rest, followed Elder Yi and Xiao Hu towards the medicinal herb garden. The closer they got, the denser the spiritual energy became, ten times more concentrated than outside. Numerous precious medicinal herbs were found within!

"The aroma of medicinal herbs is incredibly strong!" Zhang Guodong exclaimed enviously. "How many kinds of medicinal herbs are in here, Elder Yi?"

Old Man Yi smiled but remained silent. Little Tiger, however, said, "Grandpa's herb garden has plenty of good herbs. Besides me, you're the first one to come in!"

Zhang Guodong chuckled twice.

"I'm an honest man, so naturally I'm not afraid of you peeking at these medicinal herbs!"

"You? I don't think that outsider is a bad person! Grandpa told me to just leave that person alone. We should even provide them with medicine to help them recover. Enjoy!" Little Tiger said disbelievingly.

"Don't be disrespectful. People can be good or bad. I can tell that your brother Guodong is a good person," Old Man Yi said, tapping Xiaohu on the head.

Zhang Guodong blushed instantly, feeling deeply moved.

"Old Yi, I'm not as good as you say. But I can still tell right from wrong, what's right and what's wrong!"

Old Yi understood.

As soon as Zhang Guodong met him, he explained the nature of Li Mingguang and his group, so he could understand it completely.

Little Tiger pouted and said, "Last time that guy dug up three trees, I tried to stop him, but Grandpa said to let him go. Hmph, he's coming to dig them up again this time, don't even think about it!"

Zhang Guodong hurriedly asked, "Bu Hu, do you know where that cave is?"

“Of course I know!” Bu Hu said. “We’ve been following that man the whole time, but he’s so stupid he didn’t even notice!”

Zhang Guodong paused for a moment, then took a breath and said to Elder Yi, "Elder Yi, the three trees that Liu Dewang dug up last time have been identified as fruit trees that went extinct two million years ago. Each one can be sold for 'a considerable amount of money.'"

"Oh?" Old Yi's brow twitched. He hadn't expected it to be worth so much money. Zhang Guodong's "a lot of money" must have been a huge sum; no wonder they were digging up trees again. People in the mountains didn't have such a clear concept of the value of trees.

But Old Yi often went outside the mountains. He knew how much a million was and how much tens of millions was.

"Yes, it's a huge sum of money!" Zhang Guodong said seriously. Seeing Xiaohu's confusion, he explained, "That money could fill your kang (heated brick bed)!"

"Is this the kind of money you gave me, Brother Guodong?" Xiaohu asked, pulling out a hundred-yuan bill.

Xiao Hu had a thousand dollars on him, but he hadn't had time to hide it yet.

“Of course, isn’t this a lot of money?” Zhang Guodong laughed.

Xiao Hu opened his mouth, his eyes full of confusion. Grandpa said that one hundred yuan could buy many bags of salt. How many bags of salt could one heated kang (a traditional Chinese stove) buy?

"Xiao Hu, tell Grandpa what happened back then," said Old Man Yi.

So Xiao Hu described what happened that day. Liu Dewang, with his old wolfhound, sneaked into Shiya Village, wandering the mountains in search of a chance encounter. Xiao Hu and his companions spotted them and followed. But Liu Dewang remained unnoticed for the rest of the journey. It wasn't until Liu Dewang excitedly entered the cave and dug out a sapling that Xiao Hu sent someone to deliver a message to Elder Yi.

But at the time, Yi Lao didn't care and let Liu Dewang go.

Afterwards, Xiaohu and his companions went into the cave to investigate, but only three large pits remained. There were no other trees, so they left.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Xiandong was taken aback for a moment before sighing and saying, "It seems we'll mostly be making a wasted trip this time. How could such an extremely rare tree be found everywhere?" Although he had many questions about the small tree, he only felt a little regretful and did not experience any great disappointment.

Old Yi nodded: "Then we don't need to worry about it. If they really had that much money, the village would no longer be peaceful. This is good!"

As the three were talking, they arrived at the herb garden. Two barks were heard, followed by a huge golden-furred hound and a black-and-white hound rushing out.

Zhang Guodong was startled and flew in front of Elder Yi and Xiao Hu with lightning speed!

Old Yi also felt a blur before his eyes, and Zhang Guodong stepped in front of him, hurriedly saying, "Guodong, step back! They're the ones I keep to guard the medicinal herb garden!"

I was inwardly impressed by Zhang Guodong's breakthrough in boxing at Qingshuiping; his progress was truly remarkable.

Even if Elder Yi possessed unparalleled health preservation techniques, he couldn't help but wonder if Zhang Guodong's techniques were perhaps even superior. Otherwise, how could a person undergo such a dramatic transformation?

"Little Golden Flower!" Bu Hu cheered and greeted the two hunting dogs with great affection.

The two hunting dogs, one gold and one black and white, licked Bu Hu until he was soaking wet.

Zhang Guodong was stunned by the two enormous animals. The one used to guard the medicinal herb garden was a bit reckless, a red-faced peach blossom. If left unguarded, it might all be lost. Perhaps the villagers are honest and simple, but the children don't understand these things.

Surprisingly, the two hunting dogs circled Zhang Guodong for a moment without barking.

"Hey, why aren't Xiao Jin and Xiao Hua yelling at you?" Xiao Hu asked Zhang Guodong in surprise.

Zhang Guodong thought to himself, "Even a bear like me knows how to flatter me, let alone the most intelligent dog. Now that my boxing technique has broken through and touched the threshold of power, my flesh and blood contain more or less spiritual energy, which I can sense even more when hunting nature."

Zhang Guodong chuckled and said, "Your grandpa said I have good character, so naturally such a cute dog wouldn't bite."

Cute? Well, this hunting dog is a descendant of a large mountain hunter, so it's quite large, and the owner often uses medication to improve its physique. It's about three-tenths the size of a regular large hunter.

They're far from being cute; they're more like fierce. Of course, they're still a bit behind Big Black, Two Black, and Four Little Green.

Zhang Guodong and Yi Lao Xiaohu opened the wooden door and entered the large medicinal herb garden, where a wave of heat wafted out. It was a large courtyard, easily over a thousand square meters, all planted with medicinal herbs. The majority of the herbs were small ones, while the larger ones were planted along the walls.

Moreover, most of the medicinal herbs here are not ordinary herbs and are quite precious!

"I've been cultivating these medicinal herbs in this herb garden for over thirty years. Most of them are rare herbs. There are nearly a hundred kinds. There are no common herbs here. Most common herbs can be found on the hillside. Most of the villagers dig them up and transplant them to the village, which is enough for them." Seeing Zhang Guodong's eyes widen, Old Yi smiled slightly and said.

Zhang Guodong swallowed, his mouth watering!

Nearly a hundred kinds of precious medicinal herbs, including Buddha's Hand, Mint, Cardamom, Angelica, Clove, Goji Berry, Reed, Black Grass, Red Magnolia, Saxifraga, and Honeysuckle.

spa? !

Zhang Guodong was overwhelmed by the sights, but his gaze suddenly stopped on a small pool of steaming water. The rising white mist made the entire herb garden feel warm and inviting.

"This?!" Zhang Guodong exclaimed in surprise.

Where does this hot spring come from?

"This hot spring was quite a serendipitous find," Elder Yi said. "Back then, we were digging a well for water and unexpectedly struck a hot spring. Steam rises from the wellhead year-round, even raising the temperature within the Imperial Palace, making it ideal for cultivating most medicinal herbs." "However," he continued, "its effects are considerably less than those of a traditional hot spring."

Hot spring?

Zhang Guodong understood a bit better; what Yi Lao meant by "hot spring" rather than "hot spring" was probably just a difference in the substances contained in the soap.

Hot springs are much richer in mineral elements than regular hot springs.

But for the mountain village and for Elder Yi, the hot springs greatly solved the problem of medicinal herb cultivation. Otherwise, the garden wouldn't still be so lush and green.

All of this is thanks to this hot spring well!

"Master Yi, this is a blessed land! With this hot spring, many medicinal herbs can be cultivated!" Zhang Guodong said enviously. "Even if they can't reach the top quality, they'll still be around the middle grade!"

The medicinal herbs cultivated on the outermost edge of his paradise are now extremely rare, even if they are of superior quality.

In terms of cultivation, most medicinal herbs are considered excellent if they can be cultivated to a medium-grade quality. The majority are of low-grade quality, not even reaching the medium-low grade.

With the help of hot springs and the expertise of the old traditional Chinese medicine doctor, the cultivated medicinal herbs could barely reach the lower-middle or even middle grade.

"Places where the spiritual energy of heaven and earth is concentrated are hard to find, otherwise these medicinal herbs could be even better," Elder Yi said. "Although many of the medicinal herbs in this herb garden grow in different environments, this hot spring can harmonize them and minimize their impact. However, places where the spiritual energy of heaven and earth is concentrated are indeed hard to find, and this condition is very difficult to solve."

Zhang Guodong thought about it and agreed.

The outermost edge of Peach Blossom Paradise has a spiritual energy concentration ten times higher than the outside world, and it boasts an excellent, unpolluted growing environment. In the outside world, spiritual energy consumption is much higher, and even less spiritual energy is absorbed by the plants.

Imagine a plant that can absorb 20 parts of spiritual energy versus 5 parts of spiritual energy; which would grow better?

Zhang Guodong walked towards the hot spring well, where plumes of hot steam gushed out. He felt that his clothes were a bit too thick. The temperature at this distance was not low, probably over thirty degrees Celsius, spreading out into the garden. The temperature of the medicinal herbs here could remain constant year-round.

Moreover, while the elemental composition of hot spring fruit is not as rich as that of hot spring water, it is still much richer than that of ordinary spring water, and it is ejected with the steam. Once absorbed by medicinal herbs, it can promote quality improvement and also harmonize differences caused by different growing conditions.

Zhang Guodong's senses could cover the entire garden. The strong fluctuations of spiritual energy emanating from several medicinal herbs stirred something within him. These must be even more precious herbs; he had to exchange them with Elder Yi!

"A red Ganoderma? This is huge?" A massive red Ganoderma was hidden in a shady, damp environment under a medicinal herb tree at the base of the wall. The spiritual energy fluctuations were intense!

Zhang Guodong turned to Elder Yi and said eagerly, "Elder Yi, you must give me some of the red Ganoderma lucidum spores and that big guy too!"

This refers to an exceptionally large, flat-topped Ganoderma lucidum. It is one of the most precious medicinal herbs in Yi Lao's herb garden.

The red Ganoderma lucidum grew on a thousand-year-old tree, and even the rotten wood was brought back with it. The flat-topped Ganoderma lucidum was over a hundred years old! Extremely rare and precious medicinal materials!

Old Man Yi smiled helplessly, while Little Tiger said, "That's a treasure that Grandpa wouldn't trade for, I can't give it to you!"

Defense: The gap between us and the ninth is getting too big. Heavenly Dao is in a hurry, so it has decided that from this moment until tomorrow, when the number of monthly tickets can be increased to 100 by 5 pm, Heavenly Dao will add an extra chapter!

I'm forced to save up a lot of drafts right now.