Chapter 7 Part I

    Ruo Lan slipped into the warm bedroom, shedding her bulky clothes and brushing off the snowflakes entangled in her hair before embracing a portable stove to warm herself. That night, she sneaked out of the house in the late hours to distribute the remaining fruits and food from her dimension to the villagers, alleviating their hardships. Given the harsh weather conditions, she feared some villagers might not survive the snowstorm. Unlike before, she didn't invite Mei Zhu and Yu Chang, aiming for a more efficient operation by directly placing items from her dimension for the villagers, avoiding the hassle of dragging a cart through the snow. Thus, she opted to venture out alone at night.

    After changing into her nightwear, Ruo Lan climbed into her soft bed, pulled the thick blanket over her legs, and examined the item she had acquired earlier. It was an old but sturdy wooden box with a complex mechanism, intriguingly out of place. Unsure of what the peasant woman's ancestor might have stored inside, Ruo Lan infused her spiritual power into the box's lock.

    Click!

    A mechanism sounded, and the lid sprang open, revealing three ancient manuscripts inside. The first was a travel diary, presumably belonging to one of the peasant woman's ancestors. The second, much thicker than the first, bore the title Myriad Herbs in faded letters. The final manuscript, with its hardcover and barely legible title Sea and Mountain Compendium contained several thin sheets of paper tucked inside, unfolding to reveal maps and geographies of over ten regions, with detailed illustrations of mountains and rivers that captivated her attention.

    Good stuff!

    Ruo Lan hadn't expected to find such treasures with the peasant woman. The mere travel diary contained a lifetime of experiences of an ancestor who was an explorer, studying herbal concoctions across various regions, experimenting through trial and error over decades, apprenticing in different sects across various regions, and compiling all knowledge and experiences into these three manuscripts. While the first two manuscripts were valuable, the ‘Sea and Mountain Compendium’ was even more so, containing maps and geographies of different regions, detailing mountains, rivers, and even local weather patterns. If this manuscript fell into the hands of any region's military, it could serve as a formidable weapon.

    This morning the weather was clear and bright. The heavy snow that had fallen for several days had finally stopped. The gentle sunlight touched the skin. Today, Ruo Lan and Yu Chang took Shen You Wei out to enjoy the morning sun. For the past few days, Ruo Lan had been spending time with her father and brother. This was because a few days ago, the young woman received the Myriad Herbs Manual from that villager woman. After opening and reading several prescriptions recorded therein, including one that integrated tendons, Ruo Lan meticulously studied the ingredients and then secretly used her father's body for experimentation, acting as an unlicensed doctor lacking in ethics. However, the herbs and prescriptions she studied were thoroughly researched, and she was confident they would not harm Shen You Wei's body.

    Furthermore, she secretly added a sticky liquid from her dimension into the medicine pot every time and gradually increased the amount when she saw Shen You Wei's body improving day by day.

    "Father, do you feel this in your foot?" Ruo Lan gently tapped her father's foot once.

    "I don't feel anything," Shen You Wei answered.

    "How about now?" she increased the strength of her tapping.

    "Um... I can feel it now," Shen You Wei smiled, his eyebrows revealing an unmistakable joy.

    "The Myriad Herbs Manual that Miss has obtained is truly a treasure. Could it be that heaven has seen the good deeds Miss has done and thus bestowed this manual to you?" Mei Zhu, holding a cup of medicine next to her, said excitedly, praying every morning and evening for her master's recovery.

    "Um. Actually, the manual also contains a formula for concocting herbs that requires rare herbs, some of which are from other regions. When the weather gets better, I will go to the port to see if the middlemen have brought those herbs for sale," Ruo Lan smiled. She did not hide the three manuals she received from the villager woman from her family. She showed the Sea and Mountain Compendium to her father and brother. When Shen You Wei and Yu Chang read it, they were trembling with excitement, noting the recorded maps were incredibly detailed, even more so than the military maps of theYue Region's royal court. The former war deity, Shen You Wei, read the Sea and Mountain Compendium every day without getting bored.

    Seeing Shen You Wei's happy face, Ruo Lan couldn't help but wonder. This honest, straightforward, and brave man, even in his downfall, could still stand tall. Did he harbor anger towards the Ming family? Resent his parents for abandoning and trampling on him? Hate his siblings for fighting over the wealth and favor he had worked hard to build? Despise the entire family for abandoning him just to save the Ming family from the disaster brought by the new emperor?

    "Father, do you hate the Ming family?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

    "I do," Shen You Wei immediately replied with a still joyful expression. Ruo Lan was unsure what the former general was thinking. The answer pleased the young woman. If he had said he didn't hate or had forgiven the Ming family, she would have been quite disappointed. Even though she was just a spirit inhabiting Ruo Lan's body, she felt anger and vengeance on behalf of the original owner as if she had experienced it herself.

    After some time, Ruo Lan spoke up before swiftly heading to the vegetable garden behind the house, saying, "Father, I will plant more corn and taros."

    Shen You Wei and Yu Chang watched Ruo Lan's back disappear, leading the father to comment, "This child really holds a grudge." The corn and taros Ruo Lan intended to plant were the main crops cultivated by the Ming family.

    The Ming family was one of the most powerful clans in the land, with members serving in the royal court. However, their main income came from their extensive agricultural lands, spread across various cities in the Yue Region, acquired through the merits of a general like him. After the war, all benefits flowed to the Ming family, sharing the spoils among themselves.

    Besides corn and taros, the Ming family also owned fruit orchards and rice fields, along with large stores in cities that competed with other major families in trade.

    Ruo Lan's mention of planting corn and taros seemed like a direct competition with the Ming family. But how easy could it be just by word of mouth? The Ming family owned vast lands, hired workers year-round, and relied on their small backyard garden to compete with them was like a firefly trying to compete with the moonlight.

    "Little Sister has suffered a lot, all the hardships caused by the Ming family. Yet, she's still young, so her thoughts might be somewhat naive," Yu Chang responded to his father. He, too, was wronged by the Ming family, unable to forgive them. From a respected young master capable of cultivating spiritual power from birth, honored wherever he went, to being left with a frail body unable to harness spiritual power anymore, the frustration was deep in Yu Chang. That Ruo Lan harbored such thoughts, he couldn't blame her at all.

    After announcing that she would plant corn and taros in front of her father and brother, Ruo Lan busied herself in the garden throughout the day. Throughout the past winter, heavy snow had fallen, but Yu Chang had built a greenhouse to protect against the snow, so they were not damaged by it. In such cold weather, if it were plants planted in the cultivation areas of the major families, they might have been stunted or not grown well due to the cold. However, the plants in Ruo Lan's garden grew well as usual, with plump stems and vibrant green leaves as if they had grown in the ideal weather. This might be an advantage of the land that was adjusted by the spirit pearls.

    After Ruo Lan obtained more than three hundred spirit pearls, she had not yet buried them to adjust any area of the land. This was because the weather had been too harsh. Today was a good opportunity, so the young woman buried them in the soil behind the house, aiming to expand the garden area as much as possible. She planned to plant various spices and herbs she had collected from the forest.

    "Lan'er, are you going to expand the garden again?" Yu Chang walked into the garden when he saw that his sister had been busying herself here all day, and there were new plots of land that had just been dug up to pioneer the area for cultivation.

    "Yes, our backyard has so much space. It would be a waste not to plant more."

    "However, you shouldn't overexert yourself. Come, I will help you dig the plots," said Yu Chang, picking up farming tools to help his sister vigorously.

    After a while of digging and chopping, Ruo Lan asked, "Brother, do you still keep the spirit pearls from the head of the White Tiger and the Snow Eagle?"

    "Of course, I keep them," he replied. When the opportunity arises, he would concoct them into spirit growth medicine. However, concocting them into spirit growth medicine required a skilled medicine master, and skilled medicine masters capable of making such valuable medicine were not easy to find. Most of them were travelers searching for various medicinal recipes without a permanent residence. Finding a skilled medicine master was truly not easy.

    "Brother, if you trust me, I will take them to the medicine master to concoct the spirit growth medicine for you."

    "Have you found a medicine master already!" Yu Chang asked excitedly.

    "It is said that an old medicine master has traveled to stay at the Fo Tuo temple at the foot of that mountain. Tomorrow, I plan to ask him to make the medicine."

    "Is that true? But tomorrow, I have an appointment with the herbal shop owner. I must go into town to pick up a new batch of herbs to brew for Father. I can't take you to the Fo Tuo temple," Yu Chang frowned, his face troubled.

    "It's okay, Brother. I often pass by the mountain's base when I go into the forest. Just stopping by the temple for a bit won't be a problem. Please entrust me with this important task," Ruo Lan pleaded earnestly.

    "In that case, I'll leave it to you. It's said that most medicine masters have peculiar temperaments, proud and aloof, not seeing anyone as their equal. Regardless, if you are refused, do not lower your head or grovel. You are my sister, Yu Chang, the daughter of Shen You Wei. You should hold your head high. Understand?" Yu Chang instructed uneasily. He had heard that most medicine masters were extremely proud. Some of them wouldn't even heed the emperor's personal summons. He feared his sister would kneel and beg others if she failed.

    "Brother, please be at ease. If the medicine master refuses to help, I will simply leave without any hard feelings."

    On a quiet night, after the snowstorm had passed but the air remained cold, people slept under thick blankets. Half a dozen burly men in black leaped over the fence and into the Shen family's residence. The house was peaceful, its inhabitants likely dreaming sweetly.

    One of the men surveyed the residence and muttered disdainfully, "Tch, these crippled father and son dogs are still living comfortably." He had heard rumors of Yu Chang looking healthy and buying goods in town. Ming Heng Zhong had thought his subordinates were mistaken, not believing that the crippled father and son could improve their lives. But seeing it with his own eyes today, he knew he had to report back to his father. However, before leaving, he intended to leave a 'gift' for these worthless people.

    "Bring me fire. It's cold like this; let's give them a bit of warmth, hah?"