Chapter 18: Discovery of Dendrobium Officinale

“Tong Chuxue!”

Huh? Did someone just call her name? Perhaps it was just a hallucination—after all, who else could be alive on the back mountain this late at night besides her?

“Tong Chuxue.”

Another call came. As a steadfast materialist, Tong Chuxue refused to believe in anything intangible.

She turned around and saw Luo Hui’an standing behind her, clad in a thick coat. Perhaps trying to keep up with her pace, he was walking hurriedly, beads of sweat forming on his forehead, his face pale as paper.

Startled, Tong Chuxue asked, “What are you doing here?”

Even in summer, the mountain nights were chilling. Luo Hui’an was about to speak when he suddenly coughed heavily twice.

Tong Chuxue hadn’t expected him to be so perceptive—he had already guessed her intentions. But even if he was here to stop her, she couldn’t just stand by and do nothing.

Waving her torch around, she spotted a nearby fruit tree.

She picked some wild fruits, rinsed them with water from her gourd, then quietly used her wood elemental power to catalyze them.

In this post-apocalyptic world, besides nurturing special plants, the greatest use of wood elemental power was healing. Though her abilities had waned considerably, they were still more than enough to treat common ailments.

“Eat some fruit. It should help.”

Luo Hui’an looked at the bright red wild fruits in Tong Chuxue’s hand and pursed his lips. He shouldn’t have come tonight—his body couldn’t withstand the mountain’s cold—but he did. The reason, he didn’t want to delve into.

Dragging his weakened body along, what else could he do?

Seeing Luo Hui’an eat the fruit, Tong Chuxue felt somewhat relieved. “I know you came to stop me, but I have things I must do. No matter who tries to stop me, I won’t give up.”

Besides, for her, the plant-covered forest was not a danger but a treasure trove.

“I’ll go with you,” Luo Hui’an said, taking the torch from her. Perhaps it was his imagination, but after eating the fruit, a warm energy seemed to rise within him, spreading from his chest throughout his body, making him feel much stronger.

“That’s not possible,” Tong Chuxue objected. “You can’t risk your health.”

Luo Hui’an had already taken a few steps forward and looked back. “Do you think my poor health will be a burden to you?”

“That’s not what I meant,” Tong Chuxue hurriedly explained. “Actually, it doesn’t matter if your health isn’t perfect. You can still do what you want.”

It was the first time Luo Hui’an had heard such a strange idea. “Still the same?”

Since childhood, he had never felt the same as others. While other children played outside, he watched from home. While others worked in the fields, Lin Chunyan never let him lift a finger, always telling him to rest.

Rest, rest—he had been resting for over ten years. How much longer was he supposed to wait? Was he born just to await death?

What was the point of living day after day waiting for death?

“Hard physical labor is only a small part of life. If you can’t do it, so be it—there are plenty of other things to do. Getting sick easily isn’t the end of the world.”

In the quiet mountain forest, the young girl holding the torch spoke with such conviction, as if it were self-evident.

Luo Hui’an stood there dumbfounded, stunned for a moment, then suddenly felt ridiculous.

He was alive with fully functioning limbs, able to eat, drink, and move about—but he always sank into despair and negativity.

The world was vast, life long; why define the destination so soon after setting out?

How much time had he wasted on these meaningless emotions?

“Um, can you give me back the torch?” Tong Chuxue asked anxiously, seeing he remained silent.

The journey was tough; she didn’t have time to sermonize Luo Hui’an here.

He clung to the torch and moved forward. “If we go, we go together.”

Tong Chuxue curled her lips. She could say she wanted to go alone, but seeing how determined he was, she gave in. Besides, she had just given him something good to eat, so his physical condition should improve momentarily.

They reached a temporary agreement and ventured deeper into the forest.

“What exactly are you looking for on the back mountain so late?” Luo Hui’an asked.

Since they had decided to travel together, there was no point in hiding it. Tong Chuxue said, “Dendrobium officinale. Do you know it?”

“I know. The doctors at Renshan Hall mentioned it—only that it’s very expensive. Are you planning to gather some to sell? From what I know, wild Dendrobium is extremely hard to find,” Luo Hui’an warned kindly.

Indeed, to ordinary people, wild Dendrobium was difficult to find, but for Tong Chuxue, who possessed wood elemental powers, judging whether the environment was suitable for Dendrobium growth based on surrounding plants was effortless.

At that moment, the bright moon hung high, its cool light filtering through towering tree branches, casting a silvery frost upon the ground.

“Your name is Chuxue—you must have been born in winter,” Luo Hui’an said, perhaps to break the long silence.

“Maybe…” Tong Chuxue responded vaguely. Since she had crossed over, almost not a day had been peaceful. Being asked such a question suddenly made her uneasy. She truly didn’t know; Xu Jinniang certainly knew.

Her reaction puzzled Luo Hui’an. It seemed she didn’t know much about herself.

Tong Chuxue shot Luo Hui’an a glance, snatched the torch back from him, and looked over at the base of a sturdy tree. Wrapped around its roots was a circle of green-leafed plants.

She stuck the torch into the ground, took a shovel from her basket, and carefully dug around the roots of the plant, preserving the surrounding soil before placing everything into her basket.

It was Luo Hui’an’s first time seeing the legendary Dendrobium officinale, said to be more precious than gold. Curious, he asked, “Do you think you can keep this wild Dendrobium alive when you bring it back?”

Tong Chuxue didn’t want to explain too much. “We’ll see. I’m not sure either. But what if it works?”

Having achieved her goal, Tong Chuxue packed up and prepared to descend the mountain.

Luo Hui’an had come because he worried about her, so naturally, he followed when she left.

Near the trail’s exit, they extinguished the torch and, under the cover of night, quietly returned to their respective homes.

Luo Hui’an had a small separate room at the Luo family home, making his midnight escape easy. Tong Chuxue, however, shared a bed with Xu Jinniang. She had managed to slip away unnoticed because she had added a little “something” to the food during dinner, causing Xu Jinniang to sleep deeply and remain unaware.

Tong Chuxue placed the freshly dug Dendrobium officinale inside her new home.

The next morning, Xu Jinniang told her she hadn’t slept so soundly in a long time. Tong Chuxue smiled, feeling a bit guilty—fortunately, Xu Jinniang wasn’t a particularly meticulous person and didn’t suspect much.

Tong Chuxue sorted the herbs, packed them in a basket, and covered it with a floral cloth to keep prying eyes away.

Today, she and Xu Jinniang planned to go to town to sell the herbs. The only transport between Qingshan Village and town was the magistrate’s ox cart, with limited daily spots on a first-come, first-served basis. To their surprise, many people had come to catch the cart today.

Luo Hui’an arrived with Luo Huifeng, and Zou Hongping came along with Tong Yuer as well.