Chapter 4: She Found a Treasure!

Panting heavily, Fang Yu finally reached the mountaintop. She sat down on a boulder, resting for a long while before she began searching the summit.

At first, she used a stick to poke around the ground but found nothing.

She quickly realized that any plant already withered and yellowed was useless, not even worth checking.

The few green plants that remained were quickly examined—she dug around them with her stick, then with her bare hands. Still, nothing of value turned up.

Although she had a wood-type spiritual root, the aura of spiritual herbs was completely different from ordinary plants. Besides, most of the valuable herbs in the cultivation world simply didn’t exist in the mortal realm. Right now she was groping in the dark, unfamiliar with much of what she saw.

She could recognize the ginseng and lingzhi mushrooms so often written about in novels, but of course, those didn’t exist here.

As for wild fungus, fruits, or tree bark—at the rate people were scavenging, in a few days even bark would be stripped off trees to boil for food. There was no chance any of that would be left.

Feeling dejected, she sank back down onto the big rock again, closed her eyes, and let out a long sigh.

Just as she was telling herself not to get anxious, a faint trace of a unique herbal fragrance drifted past her nose.

Her eyes snapped open. She stilled herself, focused her senses, and indeed caught that faint medicinal scent again.

The direction was…

Behind her, to the left. Opening her eyes, she took a few excited steps in that direction, then stopped, closed her eyes again, and confirmed.

After repeating this twice, she finally opened her eyes and peered behind a large rock.

On the shaded side of the cliff face, sheltered perfectly by the massive stone, stood a half-meter-tall plant with dark green palmate leaves, swaying proudly in the wind.

She had found a treasure!

Thanks to the boulder blocking the sunlight, the plant had survived.

Though she felt a twinge of guilt, Fang Yu didn’t hesitate. She circled around a narrow path, carefully dug it out whole, and kept it intact.

She couldn’t process herbs properly—if mishandled, the medicinal properties would be ruined.

So she decided she would go down the mountain immediately and sell it in the county.

Going up had been easy, but going down was much harder. She ignored the shadowy figure lurking at the mountain pass, her legs trembling as she made her way out of the village and hurried toward the city.

By the time she arrived, it was already late afternoon. Fang Yu went straight to the largest pharmacy in town—Bao’an Hall.

The shopkeeper examined the plant and identified it as Sanqi (Tienchi ginseng). Fang Yu’s specimen was a four-year-old plant, the highest grade, and extremely valuable—though it still needed processing.

In the end, she sold it for two taels of silver.

She was about to leave but then remembered something. She asked the shopkeeper if they had any ready-made medicine pills for common use.

The shopkeeper, smiling warmly, recommended several pills for fevers, coughs, and other common illnesses. She spent one tael on them.

Afterward, she leafed through a physician’s herbal manual, pretending it was just so she’d know what herbs were worth digging up next time. She carefully memorized the descriptions of common valuable herbs before leaving the pharmacy.

Her next stop was Qin’s Cloth Shop, where she indeed found Xu Jiang, the Xu family’s second son, behind the counter.

The store was busy with customers, so she waited at the door. While standing there, she noticed yet another caravan passing through Qingzhou City heading west.

Her thoughts drifted, eyes unconsciously following one particular group of travelers.

On the side of a carriage ahead, a handsome young man felt the searing intensity of her gaze and only relaxed once it left him.

He couldn’t help glancing back. What he saw was a disheveled young woman, her hair in loose strands. Something about her struck him deeply, and he turned again to look—only to find that she had already disappeared.

A strange emptiness tugged at his heart. At that moment, the curtain of the carriage beside him lifted slightly, and a curious young girl asked:
“Uncle, what are you looking at?”

“Nothing. Why did you come out…?”

For some reason, the image of that weary yet delicate-looking girl etched itself into his mind, growing sharper and sharper with each clop of the horse’s hooves.

Meanwhile, Fang Yu had no idea that a brief glance of hers had stirred a storm in someone’s heart.

She had only come to see Xu Jiang to gather more detailed news about the current situation.

Compared with the villagers, Fang Yu felt that Xu Jiang—who dealt with outsiders frequently—would understand her anxiety better.

After the customers left, she went in to greet him.

As expected, Xu Jiang spoke briefly to the shopkeeper, then took Fang Yu to a small food stall by the roadside. Each ordered a bowl of noodles, and they talked while eating.

The moment Xu Jiang heard that Fang Yu was inquiring about people fleeing, he realized he might have found an ally.

In truth, the shopkeeper of the cloth store valued Xu Jiang greatly. Though Xu Jiang didn’t know the full extent of the chaos outside, he did know that his employer had already relocated his entire household—heading to a more remote place, Yanzhou.

The surrounding county branches were all temporarily managed by the shopkeeper. And the shopkeeper had secretly confided in Xu Jiang that he, too, was preparing to leave. Clearly, the situation was not looking good.

That day, Xu Jiang had originally wanted to mention this to his family, but telling people to uproot from a stable home was no small matter. He hesitated, and in the end, said nothing. But staying in the county day after day, he could see with his own eyes: the caravans were growing longer and more numerous. Though they moved slowly, Xu Jiang keenly sensed that things were indeed going bad.

Now, with Fang Yu bringing up the same concern, his unease doubled.

After exchanging information, Fang Yu explained in simple terms the worsening situation back in her village. Xu Jiang quickly grasped her intent.

“You’re really set on leaving? Once we go, coming back won’t be so easy.”

“If we don’t leave now, it’ll only be more dangerous when the big crowds start moving. We’re not leaving for anything else—we’re leaving to survive.”

Fang Yu didn’t bother saying more. Xu Jiang stirred his noodles into mush before finally asking:
“Do you have a rough direction in mind? Where are we heading? If our families travel together, we can look out for each other.”

“Yes. That’s exactly why I came to you. Go back and tell Aunt Xu. Let them prepare quietly in advance. We’ll leave in secret.”

Xu Jiang fell silent. Even if Fang Yu hadn’t come, the county was already filled with unease.

Some said war was imminent. Some dismissed it as needless worry.

It was true—Qingzhou was in the southwest, usually free of disasters. For over a hundred years, there had been no droughts this severe. Most people didn’t believe the region could descend into chaos.

But Xu Jiang knew—those endless caravans leaving were the clearest sign of danger. He didn’t understand the larger logic, but he trusted that following those with foresight was the safest bet.

Fang Yu, however, thought further: once war broke out, it wouldn’t just engulf a single county or province. Tugging one thread would shake the entire web.

If they didn’t leave, they’d end up as sacrifices in the bloodshed.

The increasingly frequent uprisings in the south were already omens of disorder. If war spread, the Yun Dynasty might face attacks from both north and south. Whether the court could withstand it was uncertain.

And whenever dynasties rose and fell, it was always the common folk who suffered most. Fang Yu knew her abilities were limited—she could only flee as far as possible. When the war ended and a new order was established, then she would reconsider her future.

After discussing with Xu Jiang, they roughly decided to head southwest.

With a direction and a common goal, the two agreed to make preparations as soon as possible. They quickly finished their noodles and went their separate ways.

Neither of them noticed the two pairs of eyes not far behind, watching them sit together in conversation, both filled with burning fury.

That day, Fang Yu not only found an ally but also gathered the information she desperately needed. She felt deeply satisfied.

On the way home, she even started rehearsing in her mind how to persuade her father to leave.

With a plan in place, it was as though the fog before her eyes had cleared. For the first time since arriving in this world, the panic and unease in her heart settled.

Her steps grew lighter. Bathed in the setting sun, Fang Yu walked home with a buoyant heart. The dark cloud that had hung over her finally dissipated.

She was filled with anticipation—of finding a place she truly liked, farming her own land, supporting her family, and staying far from the slaughter of the chaotic world.

After all, surviving was the most important thing.

But before she even reached her own courtyard, she heard the sound of quarreling from afar.

Worried her father might be at a disadvantage, she hurried forward.

Rounding the corner, the scene that greeted her eyes made her fury erupt instantly—