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Chapter 96: Giving Master a Little Surprise
"Big brother, you're back!"
As soon as Lu Qing arrived at the courtyard halfway up the mountain, a small figure came running out and leaped into his arms.
Gently catching the little one, Lu Qing felt relieved to see the joy on Xiao Yan's face.
Thankfully, the little one hadn't thrown a tantrum.
"Mhm, I'm back. Has Xiao Yan been a good girl while I was gone?" Lu Qing asked dotingly as he held his sister.
"Of course I was good! I didn't even cry when you didn't come home last night," Xiao Yan boasted.
"You're so amazing, Xiao Yan!" Lu Qing praised without hesitation.
The fact that the little one hadn't cried was quite unexpected.
"Grandpa Chen said that big brother is very powerful now and that nothing bad would happen to him. I knew big brother would come back, so I didn't cry," Xiao Yan said earnestly.
"Mhm, big brother is very powerful now," Lu Qing said as he ruffled Xiao Yan's hair.
"You're back! Why did it take so long this time?"
At that moment, Old Doctor Chen walked out into the courtyard.
"Master," Lu Qing put Xiao Yan down and his expression turned solemn, "Some unexpected things happened, and I'm afraid I worried you."
"Don't mention it. It's not unusual to be delayed when collecting herbs in the mountains," the old doctor waved his hand.
As someone who frequently ventured into the mountains to gather herbs, he was well aware of the unpredictable nature of the terrain.
Sometimes, despite sunny skies outside, one could encounter a sudden downpour upon entering the mountains.
Not to mention the mountain mist that could envelop the area without warning.
It was common to be trapped inside for several days if one wasn't careful.
If not for Lu Qing's minor success in the Qi and Blood Realm and the presence of Xiao Li, a peculiar spiritual beast, the old doctor might not have allowed him to venture into the mountains alone.
"By the way, where's your black little beast? I don't see it with you," the old doctor asked in curiosity.
During these days, the old doctor had also seen Xiao Li, and it seemed that the little beast didn't mind his presence due to the innate kindness emanating from the old doctor's being.
"Yeah, big brother, where's Xiao Li? Did it come home?" Xiao Yan asked as well.
"Meow~"
Before Lu Qing could answer, a meow rang out, immediately capturing Xiao Yan's attention.
"It's Xiao Li!"
The little one spent every day playing with Xiao Li, even sleeping together. How could she not recognize its meow?
Hearing the sound, she started looking around, "Xiao Li, where are you?"
But no matter how she looked, she couldn't spot Xiao Li, which filled Xiao Yan with confusion.
She had clearly heard the meow just now, so why couldn't she see it? Where was Xiao Li hiding?
On the contrary, Old Doctor Chen looked at Lu Qing with a mix of surprise and uncertainty.
He had realized that the meow had come from Lu Qing's direction.
However, he couldn't see Xiao Li's figure, and Lu Qing didn't seem to be hiding the black little beast on his body.
Could it be hiding in the herb basket?
The old doctor turned his gaze to the basket on Lu Qing's back.
"Xiao Li, stop fooling around and come out," Lu Qing said with a smile, patting his shoulder.
Then, under the watchful eyes of the old doctor and Xiao Yan, Xiao Li deactivated its invisibility.
Seeing Xiao Li suddenly appear on Lu Qing's shoulder, looking proud and pleased, both the old doctor and Xiao Yan were astonished.
Especially Xiao Yan, whose eyes and mouth formed perfect circles as she stared in shock.
Xiao Li, feeling proud of itself, held its tail high.
"Ah Qing, this..."
Old Doctor Chen was bewildered. He could confirm that he truly hadn't sensed Xiao Li on Lu Qing's shoulder just now.
Despite being so close, it had managed to remain undetected by him, a cultivator in the Internal Organs Realm. When had this little beast's hiding ability become so formidable?
"This little thing had a fortuitous encounter during our trip into the mountains. It seems to have awakened a rather remarkable talent, and it's showing off to you all," Lu Qing explained with a smile.
Lu Qing smiled and said, "Xiao Li, show-off."
In an instant, Xiao Li jumped in front of Xiao Yan, looking proud and expecting her praise.
Xiao Yan didn't disappoint, immediately hugging the little beast in astonishment.
"Xiao Li, you're amazing! How did you do that?" Xiao Yan exclaimed.
"Meow~" Xiao Li purred, delighted by the praise.
It jumped out of Xiao Yan's embrace and started running circles around her, popping in and out of the air like a magic trick, causing Xiao Yan to cry out in surprise.
Old Doctor Chen watched Xiao Li's spatial-like movements, unable to hide his astonishment.
Even though he wasn't skilled in combat, he could tell just how formidable Xiao Li's newfound ability was.
"Ah Qing, what happened in the mountains? Xiao Li's transformation is incredible," Old Doctor Chen asked, unable to contain his curiosity.
"Let's talk inside, Master," Lu Qing said, tightening the herb basket on his back.
In the courtyard, Xiao Li and Xiao Yan played a game of hide-and-seek while Lu Qing and his master went inside.
"Master, Xiao Li and I made quite the haul on this trip into the mountains. First, we gathered these herbs," Lu Qing said as he took off his herb basket and laid out its contents.
"Star Grass, Angelica, Ginseng... Wait, Ginseng?!" Old Doctor Chen exclaimed, examining each herb with growing surprise.
Aside from their impeccable quality, he was shocked to find Ginseng among the collection.
When had this variety of Ginseng started growing in the mountains behind Jiu Li Village?
But the real surprise came when Lu Qing pulled out a particularly impressive specimen—a ginseng root with fully formed hair and limbs, almost human-like in appearance!
In Old Doctor Chen's experience, a ginseng of this caliber was at least four to five hundred years old and could be considered a treasure.
It was a rare and priceless find.
And that wasn't all; after Lu Qing took out the precious ginseng, he continued to pull out more herbs from the basket.
Each one was ginseng, and every root was at least a hundred years old, with a few being even older.
"Master, this is everything I gathered on this trip into the mountains," Lu Qing said after laying out the last ginseng root.
"Is that all?" Old Doctor Chen asked, looking at the row of century-old ginseng roots laid out before him.
He gave Lu Qing a wry look, "In my entire life of gathering herbs, I've only come across a few ginseng roots of this quality, and here you are, bringing back an entire collection. Did you stumble upon a ginseng nest?"
"Something like that," Lu Qing chuckled. "Xiao Li led me to a place with an abundance of ginseng. I only picked the ones that were sufficiently aged."
"You really found a ginseng nest?! Xiao Li is incredible! To think it could find such a treasure trove," Old Doctor Chen marveled.
He finally understood why Lu Qing had taken so long in the mountains.
With such a trove of precious herbs, even he would have found it hard to leave so soon.
As a healer, the temptation to linger among such valuable medicinal ingredients would have been strong.
"Master, I'd like to ask for your help in refining these ginseng roots into Blood Nourishing and Qi Enhancing Pills," Lu Qing requested.
"You want to refine all these ginseng roots into pills?" Old Doctor Chen asked, puzzled. "You've already achieved minor success in the Qi and Blood Realm. At most, you'd only need four or five hundred-year-old ginseng roots to reach perfection in that realm. Why refine so many pills?"
"That's because of another fortuitous encounter I had in the mountains," Lu Qing said as he took out a small jade bottle from his pocket.
"Master, I discovered a mystical liquid in a cave during this trip. It has incredible properties."
(End of Chapter)
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