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Chapter 17: Saving a Life
Watching the tiger run off into the distance, Ye Xin Ran adjusted her basket and began searching for herbs again.
She remembered that last night, she had come across the herb while cutting vines, so she followed the same path from yesterday to find it.
Mi Lu Mountain is located between Yun Bian Village and Dong Gou Village. Due to the thick mist that always surrounds the area, and the presence of wild animals, very few people venture here.
However, in the past six months, most of the edible plants in the surrounding mountains have been collected, so villagers from both sides have started coming up to forage intermittently.
Ye Xin Ran climbed halfway up the mountain and soon saw two women coming down. Their baskets were half-filled with wild vegetables, and one also had a yellow lump.
“Liang Zi’s mother, what is this thing in your basket? Is it edible?”
“I don’t know either. I was thinking of going back and having someone take a look at it.”
Although they didn’t know what it was, Ye Xin Ran immediately recognized it as kudzu root as soon as she saw it in their baskets.
Not only is it edible, but it also has medicinal properties.
However, Ye Xin Ran didn’t say anything. She averted her gaze and walked past the two women, continuing her ascent up the mountain.
When she reached the trap from yesterday, she finally saw the Ice Spirit Flowers she had been searching for.
The three Ice Spirit Flowers were blooming, their petals holding dew drops that glistened in the light, gently swaying in the wind.
Ye Xin Ran thought she had discovered the main area where the Ice Spirit Flowers grew, so she quickly scanned the surroundings with her eyes.
However, after looking around twice, she only found these three flowers in the area.
Ye Xin Ran let out a slight sigh of disappointment.
Though there were fewer flowers than she had hoped, the three flowers would still be enough to produce two bottles of Snowy Skin Cream. Although her scars wouldn’t heal completely, they would improve by at least half.
Having even a little was better than nothing.
Moreover, the appearance of these flowers confirmed that Ice Spirit Flowers did exist in this era.
Once she cultivated these flowers, she could produce an endless supply of Snowy Skin Cream. She could sell each bottle for ten taels of silver, selling a hundred bottles would bring in over a thousand taels!
“I’m going to get rich!” Ye Xin Ran thought, her excitement bubbling up.
With money, she could buy fashionable clothes, all sorts of jewelry, various pastries, and even a few shops. She could relax at home, collecting rent, and live a laid-back life like a salted fish…
Lost in her day dreams, Ye Xin Ran was suddenly interrupted by a loud shout.
Looking down at the basket in her hand, she realized that her family couldn’t even afford meat right now, let alone talk about buying shops.
The road must be walked step by step, and money earned little by little. She had to focus on filling her family’s stomachs first.
The shout came from ahead. Ye Xin Ran took a few steps forward and saw a middle-aged scholar lying in the trap that Chang Sheng had been in yesterday, groaning and calling out.
This trap was clearly meant for hunting, wasn’t it?
Why was it that no animals ever seemed to fall into it, but it seemed that people were always ending up in the pit?
Ye Xin Ran crawled out from the bushes and called down to him, “Hey, do you need help?”
The middle-aged scholar, not expecting anyone to be in the mountains, looked up and immediately welled up with tears upon seeing Ye Xin Ran.
“Yes, yes, please, young lady, lend me a hand and pull me up!”
“Two taels of silver,” Ye Xin Ran said.
“What?” The scholar thought he had misheard and asked again.
“I said, it will cost two taels of silver to pull you up,” Ye Xin Ran repeated.
She had often helped others in the past, but that was when she lived more comfortably. Now, looking at the scholar’s finely made clothes, she figured asking for two taels of silver in exchange for pulling him out of the pit was quite reasonable.
“Fine,” the scholar replied quickly, “Pull me up, and I’ll take you home to get it. I’ll give you ten taels.”
“No going,” Ye Xin Ran refused. “What if you trick me and I go back with you? Let’s settle the payment first, then I’ll help.”
The scholar patted his waist with some difficulty, “It’s not that I intend to renege on my word, but I lost my purse while in the mountains and now have no money.”
Adhering to her principle of ensuring her own safety first, Ye Xin Ran thought for a moment, then said, “You can give me your hairpin instead.”
The scholar’s hairpin, although simple in style, was made of fine jade, bright and pure in color, obviously valuable.
Wei Jing Zhi had entered the mountains in search of medicine but had been bitten by a venomous snake upon arrival. As he stumbled down the mountain, he accidentally fell into the trap.
Now, his mind was beginning to fade, and he could only place his hope in this young woman before him.
“Alright, don’t just take the hairpin, take anything you want from me. I just ask that once you pull me up, you take me to a nearby clinic. The snake venom is spreading, and if it’s delayed any longer, I may not survive.”
“Deal!” Ye Xin Ran agreed.
It seemed this trip wasn’t in vain after all. The scholar’s clothes should be worth two taels of silver.
The vine she had used to pull Chang Sheng up yesterday was still available, so Ye Xin Ran lowered it down, asking the scholar to tie it around himself. Following the same method as before, she pulled him up from the pit.
The scholar was weak and exhausted. As he moved, the poison in his body spread faster. By the time he reached the top, he was on the verge of collapse. As he saw the woman who saved him, only half of her face was visible before he fainted.
Ye Xin Ran checked his pulse and realized the venom was quickly reaching his heart.
She immediately took out an antidote from her space and injected it into him.
“You’re lucky to have encountered me. If it were anyone else, even if they took you to the nearest clinic, you wouldn’t have survived. So, you should pay me a higher reward,” she said as she administered the antidote.
Once the injection was done, to ensure his safety, Ye Xin Ran gave him two pills of the daily calming medicine.
She waited a little longer, but the scholar still didn’t wake up. Ye Xin Ran decided to take action herself and removed the hairpin from his head.
“This is your promised reward, not theft,” she muttered as she removed the pin.
After that, she checked him over once more and took the jade pendant from his waist.
With no more valuable items left on him, Ye Xin Ran hesitated for a moment, then decided to take his outer robe as well.
The robe was soft and made from fine fabric, with intricate embroidery. Chang Sheng didn’t have a proper robe, so she could bring it back and have it altered for him.
As she stripped the robe from the scholar, she noticed his shoes. They were made of fine material, and with an insert, Chang Sheng would likely be able to wear them.
However, thinking about how difficult it would be for the scholar to descend the mountain without shoes, Ye Xin Ran showed some mercy and decided to leave them.
She stood up, looking down at the scholar, who was still disheveled and unconscious, and said with a hint of apology, “I promised to take you to the clinic, but as a woman, I can’t carry you. Still, I’ve cured your poison, which exceeds my promise. I’ll take the reward now.”
“You’d better wake up soon. If you run into a wild animal, that’s no longer my responsibility,” she added before turning and walking off, heading back to collect her Ice Spirit Flowers.
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