CHAPTER 5: The Taste of Cockroaches

After the stone door closed, a formation powered by spirit stones lit up with a gentle glow, illuminating the chamber as bright as daylight.

The space was decently sized, furnished with a table, chairs, and a bed.

Most striking of all was the massive medicine cabinet filled with one hundred unmarked drawers. Yu Youyou pulled one open and found different dried medicinal herbs inside.

On the table, there were also ten empty medicine boxes—clearly meant for placing the ten correct ingredients.

“Cyathula root.”

“Smilax glabra.”

…

These herbs were all fairly common—none of the legendary spiritual medicines. It seemed the sect had taken into account that ordinary children wouldn’t have encountered such rare ingredients.

However, halfway through her examination, Yu Youyou’s eyes suddenly sparkled.

She had come across an herb she had never seen before.

The post-apocalyptic world she came from had abysmal conditions—air and soil pollution were severe, and zombies roamed everywhere. Most medicinal herbs were trampled before they could even mature.

Under such harsh circumstances, many plant species had gone extinct. Even something as ordinary as honeysuckle could fetch an exorbitant price, and medical experts had to maximize every last bit of medicine they could find.

As the top medical professor in a human survival base, Yu Youyou had full access to the system’s database and had studied the names and properties of virtually every herb.

But she had never seen them in real life. Now, looking at these dried specimens, distinguishing them was proving difficult.

“Feathered leaves, solitary flowers…” Yu Youyou held up a dried herb and examined it for a long time. Finally, she brought it to her nose and took a sniff, detecting a faintly fresh aroma. Then, she tentatively pinched off a tiny bit and placed it in her mouth.

In the post-apocalyptic world, people were wild like that—everyone dared to play the role of Shennong, tasting unknown plants.

“Bitter, with a hint of sweetness, slightly numbing on the tongue.”

Yu Youyou’s eyes lit up.

“Isn’t this the legendary Solitary Leaf Flower?”

Solitary Leaf Flower—a potent hemostatic herb. In a world where limb loss was a common occurrence, this stuff sold for tens of thousands in the black market. It was so rare that even Yu Youyou had only ever obtained a single leaf of it in her past life—never the flower, which had the strongest effects.

In her mind, countless prescriptions featuring Solitary Leaf Flower surfaced. Before, she never had the resources to make them, but now—she finally had the chance!

She stared at the Solitary Leaf Flower, her gaze burning with desire. It took a long moment before she finally managed to calm herself down.

She continued examining the rest of the herbs.

“White mustard seed. Pfft, basic stuff.”

“Andrographis. Meh, nothing special.”

“Silver Traced Grass… Gra—GRA—GRASS?!”

Yu Youyou clutched her tail tightly, using the pain to keep herself rational. She was afraid she might lose control and start gnawing on the herb right then and there.

Silver Traced Grass, with a black-market price soaring into the millions?! Compared to this, Solitary Leaf Flower was nothing!

If consuming painkillers made from Drunken Heart Flower allowed someone to keep running even after having their leg bitten off by a zombie…

Then painkillers made from Silver Traced Grass would let someone lose half their brain to a zombie bite—without even noticing!

What a pity. Yu Youyou stroked the dried stalk, feeling a little heartbroken.

The fresher the Silver Traced Grass, the more potent it was. But this one had already been dried.

If only she could get her hands on a fresh one.

….

Outside the stone chambers, Elder Wan sat leisurely, pouring fresh milk into his tea. Finding the taste unsatisfactory, he added two more cubes of rock sugar.

Beside him, Qu Qingmiao stood with her arms crossed, her expression unreadable—like a lone pine standing cold and proud upon a snowy mountain.

Elder Wan handed her a cup of milk tea. “Want some?”

Qu Qingmiao shook her head. “No need.”

Elder Wan wasn’t disappointed. He took a sip of his tea and muttered, “I wonder how this batch of kids will fare. If we don’t get a decent one soon, our Pill Cauldron Sect is going to get humiliated by the other three regions again.”

Qu Qingmiao remained silent, but her gaze darkened slightly.

In the Eastern Region stood the Pill Cauldron Sect. In the Western Region, the Spirit Herb Valley. The Southern Region had the Rejuvenation Gate, while the Northern Region was home to the Hanging Cauldron Sect.

These four major sects of medical cultivation constantly competed against each other. The other three had over a thousand years of deep-rooted heritage, with powerful medical cultivation families supporting them. The Pill Cauldron Sect, however, had only been formed five hundred years ago—after the great war between humans and demons—by a gathering of independent cultivators.

In every aspect, the Pill Cauldron Sect fell short of the other three. Even their disciple selection process showed the difference—while the other sects only accepted candidates with spiritual roots, and most of their members were second-generation cultivators, the Pill Cauldron Sect had no such restrictions.

The two stood in silence for a while. Suddenly, one of the stone chambers ahead flashed with light.

Elder Wan rubbed his bald head, his expression relaxing slightly. “Someone already identified one of the ingredients? Not bad. Which family’s child is it?”

To be able to decipher a newly developed pill formula so quickly—it had to be a child from a prestigious medical family or a lineage of alchemists.

Qu Qingmiao glanced over and said flatly, “He’s a concubine-born son of the Su Clan from the Northern Region, Su Yizhi.”

The Su Clan was a renowned family of pill cultivators in the Northern Region, holding considerable prestige within the Hanging Gourd Sect. By all logic, Su Yizhi should have joined the Hanging Gourd Sect, yet for some reason, he had come to the Pill Cauldron Sect instead.

Elder Wan immediately became alert. “Be careful, he might be here as a spy to steal our pill formulas.”

Qu Qingmiao’s expression turned somewhat strange. She was silent for a moment before finally speaking. “The Hanging Gourd Sect probably doesn’t even care about our pill formulas.”

After all, their sect had the most ancient lineage.

“…”

Elder Wan could only take a sip of his milk tea to cover up the awkwardness.

That one hurt.

….

Probably out of boredom in the guest courtyard, Yu Nianrou and the others had come as well.

The wound on Yu Nianrou’s face had mostly healed, but a faint scar on her cheek refused to fade, leaving a blemish on her otherwise delicate and flawless face.

She was extremely particular about her appearance, and every time someone looked her way, she felt ill at ease, convinced they were staring at the scar.

Seeing this, Jiang Yuan lowered his head and comforted her gently, “Don’t be afraid, Junior Sister. I promise that in seven days, your face will be as good as new.”

Yu Nianrou turned her face away and huffed, “You’re not a pill cultivator. What’s the use of your promises? You’re just as useless as the rest of them!”

It was infuriating how all the elders of the Pill Cauldron Sect were either in seclusion refining pills or out traveling to heal people. The few who were actually in the sect weren’t even willing to put in the effort to treat her injuries. As someone who had always been adored within the Cloudflow Sword Sect, Yu Nianrou was deeply displeased.

Jiang Yuan’s smile stiffened slightly at being scolded.

Beside them, Yu Changan tugged at his sister’s sleeve and reminded her, “Sister, lately, spirit beasts have been growing restless and injuring many people. The pill cultivators are busy treating them. It’s not that they’re deliberately ignoring you.”

Yu Nianrou lifted her chin slightly, her expression finally easing. She then turned to Jiang Yuan and asked, “Senior Brother, what were you about to say?”

Jiang Yuan smiled helplessly and said in a low voice, “I heard yesterday that a Silver Vein Grass has appeared in the Pill Cauldron Sect’s medicinal fields. It will mature in seven days.”

Silver Vein Grass was known for its ability to invigorate blood and regenerate flesh, making it one of the finest healing herbs—perfect for scar removal.

However, Yu Nianrou, who was used to seeing high-grade treasures, barely spared it a glance. “It’s just a mortal herb with no spiritual energy. What’s the use of it?”

Jiang Yuan added, “That particular Silver Vein Grass is growing in a Grade-One Spiritual Herb Field.”

Only then did Yu Nianrou’s expression shift slightly.

Ordinary mortal herbs could absorb spiritual energy and transform into spiritual herbs, but the chances of this happening were abysmally low—perhaps only one in millions would successfully evolve.

Since that Silver Vein Grass had grown in a spiritual herb field, it meant it had already become a spiritual herb! That made it far more valuable than an ordinary Grade-One Spiritual Herb.

But Yu Nianrou glanced at Qu Qingmiao’s back ahead of them and wrinkled her nose. “The people of the Pill Cauldron Sect are so stingy. Yesterday, I merely took a few bottles of pills, and they looked like they were in physical pain. If I try to take the herb, they might not even be willing to give it up.”

Pill cultivators treated their herbs like treasures. Whenever they found a rare herb, they hoarded it like misers. Even though that Silver Vein Grass was only a low-grade spiritual herb, its rarity made it highly coveted. Who knew if those poor pill cultivators would be willing to sell it?

Jiang Yuan smirked confidently.

“Junior Sister need not worry. Among those taking the Pill Cauldron Sect’s entrance exam, the one who will undoubtedly take first place is that Su brat from the Su Clan.”

“I went to find him last night and already paid a deposit of one hundred spirit stones. In seven days, he will personally present that Silver Vein Grass to you.”

….

By the second day of the examination, people had gradually started deciphering the pill formulas. Each time someone placed the correct medicinal ingredients into a box, the stone door before them would flash with light.

Su Yizhi’s stone door had already flashed three times.

Qu Qingmiao examined each participant one by one and finally paused at Yu Youyou’s stone chamber.

It was eerily silent—completely devoid of any activity.

Qu Qingmiao still remembered that little girl. If she wasn’t mistaken, she was from a poor family and had likely never had the opportunity to study medicinal ingredients, let alone decipher a pill formula.

What a pity. Such a kind and resilient child wouldn’t be able to pass the exam and stay in the Pill Cauldron Sect. Qu Qingmiao decided that when she sent Yu Youyou down the mountain, she would carefully examine her illness one last time.

Thinking of the girl’s clear and innocent cat-like eyes, Qu Qingmiao sighed almost imperceptibly.

Fate was always cruel to the weak.

…

“The gods of fate truly favor me!”

Inside the stone chamber, Yu Youyou was like a mouse that had fallen into a granary. Those medicinal ingredients that had long gone extinct and only existed in databases—were now in her hands!

The fragrant aroma of the herbs was intoxicating. Yu Youyou immediately immersed herself in a fervent state of work, meticulously cross-referencing the information in her memory and carefully classifying all the ingredients according to their properties.

It was a painstaking process. When it came to medicinal ingredients, even the slightest mistake was unacceptable.

After committing all the herbs to memory, her nerves finally relaxed, and her already overburdened body collapsed to the ground.

She had been too focused to notice earlier, but now she realized that she was so hungry it made her stomach ache.

Yu Youyou lay there for a while before slowly climbing to her feet.

If she remembered correctly, there were seven Fasting Pills provided by the Pill Cauldron Sect on the table. Taking just one would keep her full for an entire day—and eliminate the need for… other bodily inconveniences. It was an essential item for low-level cultivators traveling outside.

Sure enough, she found the small white porcelain bottle.

On the verge of fainting from hunger, Yu Youyou popped a Fasting Pill into her mouth—only for her already pale face to instantly turn the color of pig liver.

She had heard that Fasting Pills tasted bad, but she hadn’t paid much attention. After all, in her previous life, she had survived on bland nutrient solutions every day. In this life, she was a pitiful soul subsisting on plain mantou. What could be so unbearable?

But the moment the Fasting Pill hit her tongue…

Yu Youyou had never eaten a cockroach before, but the moment the taste of the pill exploded on her taste buds, she inexplicably pictured a flying zombie cockroach!

Urgh!

Compared to this, the nutrient solution in the apocalypse tasted as divine as a bottle of happiness-inducing soda.

For the first time since her rebirth, Yu Youyou found herself longing for the taste of nutrient solution.