After walking for about two hours, they entered the depths of the dense forest. Hu Hongde stopped and asked Su Nian, "Let's take a look here. I'm afraid we might encounter wild animals if we walk any further!"

Hu Hongde walked all over the forest. After hearing what he said, Su Nian stopped and explored the surroundings.

Chu Beichen followed her closely. After a while, Su Nian came back with a handful of hay. "Here, this is it!"

Everyone came over to take a look, only to see that the plant had turned yellow and its leaves looked like miniature bamboo leaves; it couldn't even be called wild bamboo.

Su Nian held the plant's roots in his hands and said, "Everyone, pay attention. It's winter now. When the roots of wild bamboo dry up, they look a bit like turmeric!"

Han Qing grabbed the plant from Su Nian's hand, quickly plucked off the roots, and distributed them to his men. "I'll lead them in one group, Su Nian, and you'll be in the same group with Beichen Lao Hu. Let's work separately, it will be faster this way!"

Su Nian didn't expect her brother to be so decisive. "Okay, don't go too far!"

The two teams agreed to meet back at the original place in two hours, then parted ways and walked in opposite directions.

Han Qing's group of five people were carrying weapons. Hu Hongde was experienced and carried a hunting rifle. He happened to be with Su Nian and Chu Beichen. This arrangement was reasonable.

Su Nian and his group were looking for wild bamboo as they walked. It was a pitch-black night, and the three of them would occasionally wake up the sleeping birds. The birds would flap their wings in panic and fly away, making fluttering sounds.

The branches and leaves of wild bamboo are short and difficult to find among the many withered weeds. Su Nian wore a mining lamp on his head. Whenever he came across a place with many wild bamboos, he would kneel on the ground and dig frantically for a while, take out the roots of the wild bamboo, and throw them into the bag carried by Chu Beichen.

"Xiao Su, can this thing really cure the plague?" Hu Hongde was very familiar with this mountain, but he had never heard of this miracle medicine.

"If the disease has already occurred, this wild bamboo is useless. It is only effective for patients who have not yet developed an attack." Su Nian took a breath, "So time is very tight!"

Hu Hongde breathed a sigh of relief and threw the wild bamboo roots in his hand into the bag. "That's good. I was worried you'd leak the secret recipe! If it's like what you said, ordinary people like us won't be able to tell whether the patient is in the incubation period or not. It would be useless even if we got it!"

Laowan Township didn't have a large population. Su Nian calculated the dosage of the medicine. He saw that the three people on his side had dug out half a bag, while Han Qing had even more people on his side, so he must have made a lot of money. "Beichen, Lao Hu, I think this is enough!"

"Then let's go back!" Chu Beichen looked at Hu Hongde, "Old Hu, lead the way!"

The three of them stumbled back the way they came. At this time, a cold wind blew, and the three of them felt a chill on their faces, and snowflakes fell from the sky.

"Oh, it's snowing," Hu Hongde said anxiously, "Hurry up, we have to get out before the snow gets heavier!"

The three of them quickened their pace and rushed towards the place where they parted with Han Qing, hoping to meet up with him.

At this time, Han Qing was still deep in the dense forest. Although he brought more people with him, they were all men who had fought with guns, and it was really difficult for them to dig herbs.

After working for a long time, there was only a shallow layer of herbs in the bag.

Han Qing frowned and said, "This won't do. Even if we dig until dawn, it won't be enough. We have to find a way!"