Chapter 90: That Was a Gunshot
The siblings spent the entire day digging up ginseng — from morning all the way into the afternoon — taking only a short break to eat some flatbread before continuing their work.
As they dug more and more, their initial caution faded. No longer meticulously scraping away the dirt bit by bit, they started hacking away with sickles and woodcutting knives, much more casually.
Surprisingly, the faster pace didn’t cause any damage — not a single root was broken. Each ginseng plant came out whole, with all roots intact, and they neatly laid them in rows.
Only after digging up the last one did the siblings finally let out a sigh of relief.
Rubbing his sore wrist, Ning Qingyuan muttered, “I never knew picking up free money could be this exhausting.”
Half-collapsed on the ground, Ning Xiyue looked at the rows of neatly arranged ginseng and felt deeply satisfied. “The exciting part has come! Come on, let’s count them. I’ll count one, and you pack one.”
“Got it.”
And once they started counting, they were shocked.
Good heavens — big and small combined, there were a total of thirty-two ginseng roots.
After the system scanned them, the results were as follows: Under 10 years old: 12 roots; 15–20 years old: 6 roots; 20–30 years old: 6 roots; 30–100 years old: 4 roots; Over 100 years old: 4 roots.
Among them, one root was over 200 years old, weighing 850 grams, even surpassing the largest and oldest ginseng Ning Xiyue had ever heard of in her past life.
Ning Qingyuan’s grin nearly split his face as he held the gigantic root in his hands.
“Sis, how about we keep this one as our family’s treasure? It’s too rare. No matter how much we sold it for, it would feel like we were losing money.”
“I agree. Something this rare should stay with us. We should keep the oldest ones — they’re life-saving medicine.”
Ning Xiyue glanced at the huge root in her brother’s hands — the one that had taken the longest to dig up, the two-century-old ginseng.
It was a hermaphroditic root — enormous, humanoid in shape, and resembled two little people hugging each other. Its roots were thick and sprawling, looking almost alive, as if it might suddenly sprout legs and run off.
It was so rare that they wouldn’t sell it for any price.
Ning Qingyuan carefully packed away the four century-old roots and handed them to her. “Sis, let’s keep these four big ones for ourselves. We can sell the rest slowly. The only thing is… how do we store them? It’d be a shame if they spoiled.”
He looked troubled.
“Brother, that’s what I’m here for,” Ning Xiyue said confidently. “I’ve been reading Grandpa’s old notes lately and learned quite a bit, including how to process herbs. Let me handle these — I’ll make sure they’re properly prepared. Plus, I have a little kitchen of my own, which makes it easier.”
The “grandpa” she referred to was the village barefoot doctor. The original Ning Xiyue had spent a lot of time at his house as a child, and he’d liked her a lot — even teaching her some basic knowledge. He had once joked about training her to become a barefoot doctor too.
Before he passed away a few years ago, he had given her a notebook full of his experiences and reflections. No one but the original Ning Xiyue had ever read it, so it was the perfect cover story.
“Oh, right — Grandpa gave you that notebook. Then I’ll leave this to you.”
Relieved, Ning Qingyuan fully trusted his sister’s intelligence — if anyone could master their grandfather’s medical skills, it was her.
As for him, while he wasn’t particularly skilled at anything, he did have a talent for making friends. “Once everything’s ready, I have ways to sell it. I know people here and back home. We’ll make sure our ginseng is sold for what it’s truly worth.”
Ning Xiyue nodded, then shook her head. “No rush. We need to sell them slowly, little by little, and through different channels. And we shouldn’t take unnecessary risks by going to dangerous places ourselves. Once these herbs are processed, they’ll keep for years. We’re not in a hurry — we want them sold safely and at high prices.”
“You’re right, sis. As always, you think ahead,” Ning Qingyuan said, nodding in agreement.
Ning Xiyue carefully stored the ginseng away. She placed the bag containing them at the bottom of the basket and covered it with mushrooms and wild fruit. In reality, she had already transferred everything into her space — the cloth bag at the bottom was just for show.
The siblings left the ginseng patch, erased all traces of their presence, and returned the weeds and thorn bushes to their original positions.
They didn’t stop until they reached a quiet clearing, where they lit a fire to roast the rabbits.
Having only eaten a single flatbread at noon, they were starving. Between the two of them — and Little Gray — they devoured both wild rabbits, leaving the bones completely cleaned. Only after everything was tidied up and the fire pit buried did they continue on their way.
They didn’t encounter a single person. Likely, their route was too remote — and as they moved farther from Mount Da Qi, they entered a much smaller third peak.
It was a rarely visited area — whether that was good or bad luck, they couldn’t say. Maybe all their luck had been spent on finding the ginseng.
Most of the other marked locations on the map turned out to be empty.
They hadn’t seen any large animals either. The smaller creatures were too alert and quickly fled. So far, their basket contained only one type of meat — a pile of bird eggs. The rest was all kinds of mountain goods. Still, both of their baskets were half full, which was something to be grateful for.
Ning Qingyuan grinned foolishly, looking completely satisfied. “We did well today. Look at all this mountain loot — more than enough.”
Seeing her brother so happy made Ning Xiyue happy too. The best part of the day was spending time wandering the forest together.
“Huh? Sis, is that… blood on the ground?”
Ning Qingyuan noticed fresh bloodstains on the grass and immediately felt a wave of unease. He quickly stepped in front of his sister, shielding her while scanning their surroundings.
“Judging by the freshness, this blood was spilled less than fifteen minutes ago.”
Ning Xiyue crouched down for a closer look. After smelling it, she confirmed it wasn’t animal blood — it was human. Any thoughts of scavenging immediately vanished.
“Brother, this place isn’t safe. We should leave quickly before something happens.”
What worried her most was that whoever had bled here might not have been attacked by an animal — but by another human. And if that were the case, things could get very troublesome.
Ning Qingyuan handed her the woodcutting knife and kept the sickle for himself. “Let’s head back the way we came. No point going forward. We need to leave now.”
As for following the blood trail to see if someone was injured — that wasn’t even a consideration for them.
They turned around immediately and started heading back the way they came — the only path they were familiar with.
But fate had other plans.
After just a few minutes, they came face to face with a burly man with a vicious expression and a wounded arm. One look was all it took — they knew he was trouble.
Ning Qingyuan gripped his wooden stick tightly, his other hand clutching the woodcutting knife.
Ning Xiyue tightened her hold on her brick with one hand and pulled a jar of medicine from her pocket with the other. When she saw a strange yet familiar object sticking out of the man’s waistband, her heart leapt. The brick in her hand itched to fly, and her Tai Chi energy surged within her.
The moment the man reached toward his waistband, Ning Xiyue hurled her brick — and Ning Qingyuan flung his sickle.
Thud!
Clang!
Bang!
“Don’t… move…” The man didn’t even finish speaking before collapsing to the ground, his hand still at his waist, weapon not yet drawn.
“Bang?”
Ning Xiyue and Ning Qingyuan’s faces changed drastically. They looked down and saw a small, bloody hole appearing on the man’s arm. Their expressions grew even more serious.
That was a gunshot.
