Chapter 36: Century-Old Wild Ginseng
The Biluo Bell was undoubtedly a medicinal herb. But was it an exceptionally valuable one?
Perhaps not. The Biluo Bell had a fresh fragrance and a slightly bitter, astringent taste. Its main purpose was to temper the fiery nature of potent medicines, a function similar to licorice. However, it wasn’t as easy to cultivate.
That’s why most modern herb farmers were unwilling to grow Biluo Bells. Over time, it was gradually replaced by other medicinal herbs.
Until one year, she accidentally discovered that the Biluo Bell contained a very special medicinal essence. This essence could effectively kill cancer cells. It was a major discovery. However, by the time she found this out, the Biluo Bell had become exceedingly rare in the world. Furthermore, the environment at the time was no longer suitable for its growth.
’Even though there’s a huge patch of Biluo Bells in front of me, enough to extract plenty of the medicinal essence for research and compounding, so what?’
’This isn’t the 23rd century. I have no way to extract the medicinal essence from these green herbs. So right now, these Biluo Bells are nothing more than common herbs...’
Seeing the initial excitement on her face fade, he asked with a puzzled look, "What’s wrong?"
Bai Zhi sighed and shook her head. "It’s nothing. I just got my hopes up for nothing. These Biluo Bells probably won’t fetch a good price. Let’s just leave them here. Maybe they’ll be useful someday, but definitely not now."
She turned with a bitter smile, the basket on her back still completely empty. ’I really thought a forest like this would be covered in medicinal herbs, that I could find as many as I wanted... Reality is rarely as kind as your imagination...’
By now, her stamina was depleted. She knew they couldn’t go any further; they had to turn back. If they got lost in this forest, they would be in serious trouble once night fell. The fierce beasts, hungry all day, would come out to hunt for food, and that would be disastrous.
Just as she was about to turn back, a flash of bright red caught her eye. She thought her eyes were playing tricks on her. There, under a tree not far from the Biluo Bells, was a dazzlingly brilliant splash of red.
She scrambled over, her eyes gleaming as she stared at the fruit, which resembled a large, red date.
Hu Feng followed her over. Spotting the red fruit, he asked curiously, "Is this a wild fruit?"
Bai Zhi rubbed her hands together, grinning from ear to ear. "No, this isn’t wild fruit. It’s wild ginseng! Wild mountain ginseng! Look at the size of this red fruit—the ginseng root itself must be enormous. This should sell for a lot of money!"
Hearing it was wild mountain ginseng, Hu Feng grew excited as well. Ginseng was as valuable as gold, especially wild ginseng from deep within the mountains and old forests. An old root was worth more than its weight in gold, far beyond what ordinary people could ever afford.
She quickly took out her small trowel and began to dig, her movements meticulous. She wouldn’t let Hu Feng help, even when he offered. ’He’s never done this before,’ she thought. ’He doesn’t know what he’s doing. He’d probably ruin the ginseng.’
Digging up ginseng was delicate work that couldn’t be rushed. One had to proceed slowly, bit by bit, to guarantee the root’s integrity. The better its condition, the more valuable it would be.
After digging for what felt like half a day, she finally exposed part of the ginseng root. It was even larger than she had imagined. ’I wonder how long it’s been growing in this deep forest,’ she thought. ’It must be at least a hundred years old.’
She finally unearthed the entire wild ginseng root. Shaking the dirt from it, she beamed and dangled it in front of Hu Feng. "Well? Have you ever seen a ginseng this big?"
Hu Feng shook his head. "I don’t know about before I lost my memory, but in my three years in Huangtuo Village, I’ve never seen one like this."