“Witch doctor,” Pu Yueling interrupted Ling Yunxi.
The beasts on and around the sacrificial altar finally came to their senses.
"Um?"
The witch doctor was listening carefully to Ling Yunxi's answer when he suddenly heard Pu Yueling's voice. He frowned slightly, but remained expressionless on the surface.
"She answered before you had even fully presented it, so I doubt that counts."
As soon as Pu Yueling finished speaking, the orcs below the stage began to murmur amongst themselves.
"That's right, she answered before it was even taken out, that it doesn't count."
"No!"
"No..."
The orcs below shouted in support of Pu Yueling.
"Heh, she hasn't even seen all the herbs yet, she's too impatient. Her answer was pointless now," a beastman from the Beast Academy said disdainfully.
“That’s not right,” Xuan Yize said, remembering something.
"That doesn't count, start over!" an orc shouted.
"Let's try again! Let's try again!..."
"Quiet!" The witch doctor raised his hand, signaling the beastmen below to be quiet.
After the beastmen below the stage gradually quieted down, the witch doctor spoke up: "As I said at the beginning, this competition includes the accumulation of knowledge about herbs and the contestants' sense of smell."
"After I took this perilla from a pile of herbs in the basket, the female Ling Yunxi answered immediately, and her answer was completely correct."
"Therefore, Ling Yunxi is the winner of this round."
After the witch doctor finished speaking, the orcs below the stage quieted down considerably, but there were still many voices of doubt.
“Witch doctor, the herbs in the basket all have their own scents. How can you immediately identify which one you’ve taken out?” an orc questioned.
"Could it be that she knew before the competition?"
"yes……"
"Could it be cheating?"
"It's very likely cheating."
The orcs below the stage nodded in agreement with what the other orc said.
Upon hearing this, Ling Huashuang looked at Ling Yunxi with a serious expression.
She said that her daughter had always been lazy, good-for-nothing, and uneducated. She even needed her father to feed her. How could she possibly know so much all of a sudden?
I thought she had truly reformed after being submerged, but I never expected this...
Thinking of this, she felt embarrassed and ashamed to stay any longer, so she simply got up and left.
Noticing Ling Huashuang's departing figure beside the altar, many beastmen became even more certain of the doubts they had just heard.
"Look, the Holy Maiden has left," an orc said after noticing.
"Even the Holy Mother feels ashamed, could it be that Ling Yunxi really cheated?"
Pu Yueling was already annoyed when she saw Ling Yunxi answer the question, but after seeing Ling Huashuang leave, a smug look appeared in her eyes, and she immediately felt much more at ease.
Hearing the cacophony of voices around him, Xiao Chenzhao glared angrily at the questioning beastmen: "My Yunxi is just that amazing. What, you can't do it, so you won't allow others to do it?"
Seeing the incessant chatter of the orcs below the stage, the witch doctor sighed helplessly and looked at Ling Yunxi.
“Female Ling Yunxi, tell everyone, how did you guess what herb I took out?”
"good."
Ling Yunxi glanced at the witch doctor and the herbs in his hand, then looked at the angry, questioning gazes of the orcs below the stage, and said:
"The scent of perilla is different from that of other herbs. I could faintly smell its scent among many herbs before."
"When the witch doctor took it out of the pile of herbs, the scent that had been covered up became even stronger. Combined with the fact that I noticed the purple side of the leaves when the witch doctor took them out, I was able to determine what kind it was."
After Ling Yunxi finished explaining, the voices below the stage quieted down a bit. Some looked embarrassed, while others still thought she had gotten away with it.
Upon hearing this, Pu Yueling frowned and said defiantly, "This time I didn't notice the purple side of the perilla leaf. You're lucky!"
"Did you all hear that? Hey, this is what Yunxi figured out herself," Xiao Chenzhao said excitedly to the beastmen around him.
"Tch, he just guessed right." One of the orcs retorted.
"It must be because the purple side just happened to be on her side that she gained the upper hand."
"It's just luck."
"Tch, I thought she was something special."
"..."
The witch doctor looked at the orcs below the stage and continued:
"Next is..."
“This is Anoectochilus roxburghii!” Pu Yueling exclaimed as soon as the leaves of the herb the witch doctor took out of the basket were visible.
"Born high in the mountains, for an extremely obese orc..."
As she spoke, she deliberately turned her head and glanced at Ling Yunxi beside her, "There are great benefits to it."
"Ha ha ha ha……"
Upon hearing this, the beastmen below followed Pu Yueling in casting disdainful and mocking glances at Ling Yunxi and loudly laughed.
The witch doctor didn't give an answer immediately, but just smiled slightly and continued to take out the whole herb.
"wrong."
After examining all the herbs the shaman had brought out, Ling Yunxi denied it, saying, "This is spotted orchid, also known as silver thread orchid."
"It is commonly found on dark and damp hillsides. Its flowers look like a string of white birds with outstretched wings. It can be used externally to treat snake bites, hence the name 'Green Snake Grass'. When taken internally, it can treat respiratory problems."
"Hmm..." The witch doctor nodded at Ling Yunxi with satisfaction, his eyes showing appreciation for her.
Then, looking at the orcs below the stage, he said, "In the final round, Ling Yunxi has won."
"Impossible!" Pu Yueling's face turned pale upon hearing this, and she immediately denied it, "This is clearly Golden Thread Lotus."
Upon hearing this, the orcs below the stage also joined Pu Yueling in questioning the witch doctor and Ling Yunxi, expressing their dissatisfaction, with some even howling like wolves.
“Female Pu Yueling, take another look.” The witch doctor showed her the whole herb.
Pu Yueling remained unchanged in her answer, frowning as she said, "It's *Anoectochilus roxburghii*..."
"Witch doctor, could you be mistaken?" Some of the beastmen below couldn't tell, but they all firmly believed Pu Yueling's answer.
“Yes, witch doctor, I remember that’s what golden thread lotus looks like.”
Some of the orcs in the audience who had seen the golden thread orchid said, "I've encountered it in the mountains before, and it's similar to this."
"Hmph..." The witch doctor smiled without saying a word after hearing this.
Then he stretched the herbs toward Ling Yunxi.
"Ling Yunxi, can you explain to everyone why this is a variegated orchid and not a golden thread orchid?"
Ling Yunxi took the herbs from the witch doctor's hand. "The back of the golden thread lotus is light purple, but the back of this one is light green."
"It's such a small plant, it hasn't grown up yet, its features aren't obvious enough," Pu Yueling said, unconvinced.
Ling Yunxi ignored Pu Yueling and continued explaining to the orcs below:
"The leaves of the variegated orchid are ovate-lanceolate in shape and have white spots, hence the name variegated orchid. Please take a look."
As she spoke, she took two steps toward the audience and twirled the herbs in her hand to show them so that they could see them more clearly.
"The leaves of the golden thread orchid are oval with golden-red veins, and when the sun shines on the leaves, you can vaguely see a golden light. But this plant has no purple, gold or red at all."
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