Chapter 396: Beast Repellent Incense

When Jiang Hong saw his wife walking over, he immediately assigned the nearby soldiers to stand down, then walked toward her.

“You came over here? Is everything alright?” he asked, checking her over with concern.

Li Yiyi patted his arm. “I’m fine. I just came to tell you that I found some large predator tracks nearby. You need to be more vigilant, and stay alert.”

As she spoke, she remembered the important matter she came for. “Here,” she said, handing him a packet. “Have your soldiers distribute this around our camp. It’s my homemade beast repellent incense. If the large predators smell it, they’ll automatically stay away from us.”

The repellent incense she made was similar to mosquito coils in the modern world, but with medicinal herbs added that predators found unpleasant.

Seeing the incense in her hand, Jiang Hong looked up at her with admiration. His wife was truly a treasure.

“Got it. You should go back and stay with the others. Don’t wander around. Although we’ve checked the area, I’m still worried we might have missed something,” he said with concern.

As the couple continued talking, they suddenly saw Hong Shuo walking towards them, his face serious.

Jiang Hong immediately knew something had gone wrong. He quickly turned to his wife. “Go back. Tell everyone not to leave. It’s for everyone’s safety.”

Li Yiyi nodded, seeing Hong Shuo stop halfway as if not wanting to discuss the matter in front of her. She turned and left.

Not far away, Hong Shuo, who had been waiting anxiously, saw that no one else was around and quickly walked towards Jiang Hong. His face was anxious, though he spoke in a lowered voice. “Something’s happened.”

Jiang Hong glanced at the team in front of them, then grabbed Hong Shuo’s arm and whispered, “Let’s go over there and talk.”

The two quietly moved to a nearby tree to discuss the matter.

“Earlier, when our team was patrolling, they found some human remains. They were likely eaten by large predators. As for who it was, we couldn’t tell, because there were too few body parts left to identify,” Hong Shuo explained in a low voice.

Jiang Hong frowned and immediately handed over the beast repellent incense. “Take this and distribute it to the men. Tell them to light it and place it around our camp.”

Hong Shuo’s eyes brightened as he looked at the incense. “Nice one, Jiang! I didn’t know you had something like this. You should have pulled this out earlier. You scared me.”

Before he could finish, he noticed Jiang Hong staring at him with an exasperated look. Suddenly, Hong Shuo understood, “Wait, this must be from your wife, right?”

“Who else could’ve made something so useful other than my wife?” Jiang Hong gave him a sarcastic look.

“You really lucked out, marrying someone so capable,” Hong Shuo said with a grin. “Though my girlfriend’s no slouch either. She’s a researcher, and she’s got some real skills.”

Jiang Hong couldn’t help but roll his eyes at him. Shaking his head, he quickly walked towards the group that had discovered the remains.

Meanwhile, Li Yiyi returned to the group. The others were still unaware of the danger nearby and were enthusiastically discussing the things they had found on the mountain.

“This trip has really been worth it. On the way here, I found something drought-resistant. If we research it well, our country won’t have to worry about droughts in the future,” one of them said excitedly.

“I found something rare too. Look at what’s in this bottle! It’s an insect that’s never even been documented. If I study it and publish the results, my name will be in the books. I named it after myself – ‘Qi Yuan Worm.’ Don’t you think it sounds nice?” another researcher chimed in.

Li Yiyi walked over and overheard their excited discussions.

“Everyone, what you’ve found isn’t even the most precious thing on this mountain. Do you know what the most valuable thing here is?” At that moment, Ye Fan, who had been quietly listening to them, raised his hand and said excitedly.

Curiosity was immediately piqued among the group.

“Ye, tell us, what’s the most valuable thing on Wushan?” someone in the crowd asked eagerly.

Ye Fan smiled mysteriously. “It’s said that Wushan used to be a sacred mountain, where an immortal lived. The immortal planted a special herb that could bring people back to life, cure all diseases, and even grant eternal youth.”

The group listened to this with skeptical expressions.

“That’s impossible. It sounds like a myth,” someone said calmly.

“Not necessarily,” another person replied. “There are all kinds of things in this world. Look at what we’ve already found. We once thought those things didn’t exist either, but now they’re right in our hands.”

Listening to the debate, Ye Fan smiled and interrupted. “Actually, it’s true. I heard that a long time ago, there was a filial son whose mother was dying. The doctors gave her only two days to live. But the son couldn’t bear to watch his mother die, so he secretly went to Wushan and searched for a whole day and night. He eventually found the magical herb and saved his mother. This story has been passed down in several nearby villages. I’m not lying.”

“Ye, can you describe what this herb looks like? Maybe it’s right here, and we just don’t know it,” someone asked greedily.

Ye Fan smiled. “I’ve only heard that it’s very special. At night, it glows, and its leaves seem to have water droplets on them.”