"Your technique is good. The cut was clean and neat. You didn't even cut into the flesh to get blood into the fur."

The old hunter who had been watching couldn't help but be dazzled by his skillful and quick skinning technique. He took a few steps forward and stood behind him, speaking in admiration.

"Ah, my father was a leatherworker. I learned a lot from him before I joined the army. Although I lost a lot of my skills when I was in the army, I still know some of them."

Pierre was stunned for a moment, then explained with a smile.

After all, he was very happy to receive praise from a famous old hunter.

So that's how it is. The old hunter nodded in sudden realization.

Pierre said nothing more and carried out the final skinning work seriously. The head was the most need for extra care. He used the skinning knife to carefully cut the ears, eyes, nose and mouth with the blade, not too deep or too shallow, just enough to peel off the skin. With a light push, the entire camouflage forest leopard fur was peeled off, leaving only a naked leopard corpse that was bleeding.

Pierre breathed a sigh of relief, wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve, folded the leopard skin and put it into the backpack on his back.

At this time, the guards who were searching nearby also returned to the team, finding nothing. Although there were indeed many herbs nearby, they were all extremely common herbs, and collecting a large bundle was worth less than fifty longding.

Natalia was not disappointed about this. Although the herbs she was looking for were not very rare except for the one that only bloomed on the winter solstice, it was impossible to collect them just after entering the outskirts of the Gray Demon Forest. If it were that easy, people around would have flocked to it long ago.

With enough benefits, the danger is nothing.

"Okay, let's continue our journey and head northwest."

Natalia spoke after looking at the sheepskin map unfolded in her hand.

The team started moving forward again, heading deeper into the cave. The next step...

It’s not that safe anymore.

Tap tap tap…

Footsteps were heard in a dark passage, and a figure walked out quickly from the dark passage and entered a cave illuminated by dim firelight. Sitting at the innermost part of the cave, on a gray, black and silver stone seat that seemed to be carved out of a huge rock, a man in dark green clothes sat lazily on it, squinting his eyes like a poisonous snake, staring at the figure walking out of the dark passage.

The person who walked out of the dark passage looked at his sharp eyes, shuddered subconsciously, lowered his head hurriedly, walked quickly to the front of the stone seat and half-knelt.

"What's up?"

The man on the stone seat sat up lazily, held his chin with his right hand, looked at the figure below expressionlessly and asked, his voice sounded very hoarse and harsh.

"Captain, the people we sent out to keep watch discovered that someone else had entered the Gray Demon Forest."

The half-kneeling man lowered his head as low as possible and reported clearly.

"oh?

Who is it?

"Based on the footprints, there were about a dozen people. They came along the main road. They should be from Songkani or Panta."

Hearing the question from the person on the stone seat, he responded quickly without thinking.

The man on the stone seat did not speak. He placed his chin on his other hand and tapped the armrest of the stone seat with his right fingers, making a continuous sound.

The dim firelight shone on his face, and his expressionless face made it impossible to tell what he was thinking.

The cave suddenly fell silent.

"Send a team to kill them."

After an unknown amount of time, the hoarse voice in the cave sounded again.

"yes!"

…

Um?

Livia frowned. He suddenly had a bad feeling.

He subconsciously spread his perception and found that there were indeed a few snakes hiding in the bushes, entangled in branches and hanging on trees, but there was nothing that could threaten him or give him any ominous premonition.

Livia frowned deeply. Just now...

Is it an illusion?

Natalia sensed a wave coming from her right and spreading in all directions. She glanced at it with the corner of her eye and withdrew her attention when she saw it was the black-haired young man named Livia. She had become accustomed to his occasional sense of perception. She was very happy to see Livia sensing the surroundings from time to time. After all, the original plan was for her and Honasan to take turns sensing the surroundings. Now someone volunteered to take over the task and be responsible for sensing the surroundings. What was wrong with that?

Walking out of the dense forest, they saw a stream more than two meters wide in front of them. A tiger that was drinking water in front of the stream saw them and quickly ran into the woods beside it and disappeared.

"grown ups!

Brown calamus! "

A guard quickly pointed to the stream and spoke loudly.

His words attracted everyone's attention, and they saw two small flat cylindrical plants with a brown surface growing on a stone beside the stream.

Are those the herbs to be picked? Livia looked at the plants on the rocks beside the stream and felt that one of them contained a trace of spirituality, while the other was just like a roadside weed, nothing special about it.

After entering the forest for more than half an hour, they finally saw the herb they needed. It was spiritual and could be used to make potions. Natalia couldn't help but smile.

Honasan stepped forward eagerly and walked in front of the brown stone calamus, "Tools!"

He shouted to the guards behind him without turning his head.

"Is this what you're looking for?

It doesn’t look like anything.”

Paros crossed his arms and said nonchalantly.

"Humph, what do you know?"

In front of him, the old hunter suddenly snorted, "The brown stone calamus has a strong hallucination-destroying poison. The whole plant is poisonous, and its rhizome is the most poisonous. Just one plant like this can turn you into a madman."

"oh?"

Hearing his words, Paros' eyes became serious. His tone did not sound like a lie. "Then if it is highly poisonous, why did Lady Natalia pick it?"

Caius asked doubtfully from the side.

The old hunter shook his head slightly, indicating that he didn't know either, and then looked at Natalia who was standing still. The meaning was very clear, why not ask her in person.

Feeling their gazes, Natalia smiled and explained, "It is indeed dangerously toxic and can cause hallucinations, but its rhizome can be used with other things to neutralize it and become a drug that can wake up the mind and improve intelligence."

After explaining, she looked at Honasan who was taking out some tools from the guard's bag and preparing to start picking. "Honasan, leave the ones that are not old enough."

Hearing her words, Honasan turned his head and nodded, then squatted down carefully, gently shoveled the small iron shovel in his hand along the cracks in the stone, and gently pried the rhizomes of the brown stone calamus rooted in the cracks in the stone.

“Why leave one?”

Now it was the turn of the trio's leader Jeffrey to ask questions in confusion. After all, according to her, this thing should be very rare and valuable, so why not just pick it?

Natalia shook her head with a serious expression. "The reason why the medicinal herbs near the town are becoming increasingly scarce and rare is because people always pick the herbs with the roots, so we now have to go to places like this to pick them.

It is obvious that one of the two brown calamus plants is younger and was bred from the other one. If we pick them all this time, the brown calamus here will definitely become extinct and will be difficult to find in the future.

Whether we need to use it again in the future or leave it to others who need it, it is best not to pick it all at once."

The old hunter nodded in agreement and said with emotion: "Yes, in the past, there were common herbs everywhere near Songkani City. We hunters often relied on wild remedies and these common herbs to treat injuries. But now, you can't even see them if you go ten miles away. The herbalists and pharmacists in the city are often out of medicine."

Livia looked at Natalia in surprise. After all, maintaining ecological balance was not an issue that was taken seriously until the modern era in the previous life, and it was surprising that someone could understand it in this era of obviously backward thinking and ignorance of human beings.