Chapter 88: Preparing to Leave the Valley

In the small valley, the group discovered yet another miraculous treasure—Vein-Opening Purple Spirit Flowers.

Xiaoding had intended to pick some of these flowers to bring back as a gift for Tang Yunzhi, but before he could act, the giant ape spotted them and charged toward their location.

With no other choice, the group followed Mu Yiyi back into the protective array.

“How are we ever going to get some of those flowers?” Xiaoding muttered to himself, frowning as he watched the giant ape prowling outside the array.

“Brother Xiaoding, do you want to pick those flowers?” Mei Ruoshuang, overhearing his murmur, asked casually.

“Yes. Miss Tang needs them to refine medicine for her mother’s injury,” Xiaoding replied.

“How many do you need? I can go pick them for you,” Mei Ruoshuang offered.

“You…” Xiaoding barely began before Mei Ruoshuang interrupted, “Brother Xiaoding, don’t worry. I wasn’t the one who barged in here on my own—the giant ape captured me and brought me in. It won’t hurt me.”

“All right, but be careful. Wait until the ape leaves before you go,” Xiaoding said.

Soon after, the giant ape, unable to find anyone, pounded its chest and howled in frustration. It lingered around the patch of blue flowers for a while before finally wandering off.

Xiaoding suddenly wondered if perhaps all miraculous treasures were guarded by exotic beasts.

He thought back over the past few days. The first unusual beast he’d encountered after entering the mountains was the giant bear, and in the bear’s territory, he’d found the Fiery Sun Fruit.

Next, it was the giant serpent atop Sunset Peak and the massive clam inside the serpent’s cave, where he’d discovered the red mushroom. Although they didn’t yet know what kind of treasure the mushroom was, Yue Yurou would surely find out once she returned to Jade Purity Sect and checked the records. Any spiritual item that had grown for centuries must be extraordinary.

The third encounter had been with this giant ape, and then they’d found the Vein-Opening Purple Spirit Flowers under its watch. These spirit flowers were the main ingredient for refining the Vein-Opening Purple Spirit Pill, a medicine for repairing damaged meridians. Such pills were rarely needed, but when meridian injuries did occur, the medicine was nearly impossible to find.

Then, Xiaoding remembered the two giant wolves he’d met right after he first arrived in this world. Near their den, he’d found a hundred-year-old ginseng. While not quite a miraculous treasure, it too had been guarded by exotic beasts.

It seemed these beasts were intelligent; they knew some plants were rare and precious.

By now, Mei Ruoshuang had already left the array to pick the Vein-Opening Purple Spirit Flowers. Yue Yurou advised her to choose only the yellow blossoms and to gather just a handful.

Half an hour later, Mei Ruoshuang returned, her skirt gathered up, cradling fifty or sixty yellow flowers.

“Ruoshuang, why did you pick so many?” Yue Yurou asked with a smile.

“There were still plenty of yellow flowers left. I only came back because my skirt could hold no more,” Mei Ruoshuang replied as she laid the flowers on the ground and straightened up.

Though the yellow flowers had seemed scattered among the patch, the area was large, so during harvesting, it turned out there were quite a few.

“Come, sit down and rest. These are more than enough; we’ll be able to make plenty of Vein-Opening Purple Spirit Pills,” Yue Yurou said, patting Mei Ruoshuang on the shoulder.

“Thank you, Miss Mei!” Xiaoding said gratefully.

“Brother Xiaoding, just call me Ruoshuang from now on. Always saying ‘Miss Mei’ makes it sound like there are no other young ladies around, and it feels so distant.”

“She’s right! We have names, but you never use them. It’s always ‘Miss Mu,’ ‘Miss Yue,’ as if we were strangers,” Mu Yiyi and Yue Yurou chimed in.

“All right, from now on, I’ll call you Ruoshuang, Yiyi, and Yurou. Will that do?” Xiaoding replied, smiling awkwardly and spreading his hands in resignation.

“That’s more like it…” The girls only let him off after he agreed.

Looking at the pile of yellow flowers before him, Xiaoding thought to himself that Mei Ruoshuang had truly picked a generous amount. Glancing around at the group, he said, “It seems the task of refining the Vein-Opening Purple Spirit Pills will have to fall to Yue—uh, Yurou.”

“Brother Xiaoding, aren’t you giving these to your friends in the Tang Sect? Don’t forget, they know how to refine medicine, too,” Yue Yurou reminded him.

The Tang Sect did know how to make medicines, though unlike the Jade Purity Sect—which specialized in healing and cultivation-enhancing elixirs—the Tang Sect’s expertise lay in poisons and antidotes. They could make other medicines if given a recipe, but their success rate was much lower.

Xiaoding knew little of the ways of the martial world and was unaware of these distinctions. Hearing Yue Yurou's explanation, he said, “Oh, I didn’t realize. If they can make it themselves, I’ll just bring the flowers back for them.”

Yet, as he looked at the large heap of flowers, he wondered how he might carry them all.

Since the giant ape had taken his two large bundles, all Xiaoding had left were five or six water flasks hanging around his neck.

Mu Yiyi noticed his quandary. She told him not to worry and, returning to the cave, brought out the bundles she and Mu Hong had used, pulling out two old garments.

“Let’s divide the flowers amongst us; we can all help you carry them,” Mu Yiyi said, squatting down to wrap the yellow flowers into two separate bundles.

Xiaoding thought it was a good solution—both he and Mei Ruoshuang had lost their own packs, so now they could each carry one of these new ones.

Once everything was packed and Mu Hong had been helped out of the cave, the group shouldered their bundles. Xiaoding, no longer interested in scouting the terrain, told everyone to prepare to leave the valley.

Mu Hong, after receiving Xiaoding’s healing the night before, looked much better and had regained considerable strength.

Mu Yiyi and Xiaoding left the array and paused. Mei Ruoshuang was stationed as lookout—her task was to signal the others to leave quickly as soon as Xiaoding lured the giant ape away.

Everyone took their positions, ready to act.

Xiaoding ran toward the valley’s entrance. He ran to avoid being discovered too soon; if the giant ape found him while he was still inside, it would block the exit and they’d be trapped.

As Xiaoding neared the valley mouth, he was surprised. By rights, the ape should have noticed him running around by now.

Reaching the entrance, he saw the giant ape sitting on a hillside, intently fiddling with two glittering objects in its paws.

Xiaoding realized the ape was clutching two golden ingots, with a small heap of gold, silver, and jewels piled beside it. The bundles were gone, and the small pile was only a fraction of the treasure they’d packed—who knew where the rest had been stashed.

At that moment, the giant ape saw Xiaoding about to leave the valley. Once it had spotted him, Xiaoding picked up a stone and hurled it at the ape.

Though Xiaoding was strong, the distance was too great; the stone landed not far in front of the ape.

The ape, amused, watched the stone fall and, in turn, casually tossed one of the gold ingots toward Xiaoding.

The ape’s strength was even greater—its throw nearly struck Xiaoding. Quick as a flash, Xiaoding snatched the gold ingot from the air. Glancing down at it, he thought, “What a foolish beast, tossing gold at me! I wonder if I can use this trick to recover all my lost treasures?”