"Today Elder Chu asked us to learn herb identification and preferably make some medicine to show him," a male disciple said. This speaker seemed to have an elegant bearing and was a prince charming in many girls' hearts. Several female disciples nearby subtly showed such feelings.
"Oh, then please look around freely, but don't step on the herbs, and don't go into that closed garden,” the medicinal garden person said, neither servile nor overbearing, stating what needed attention.
He had to remind them even if he didn't want to, because he had seen such situations several times before, people stepping on herbs, people entering places they shouldn't. Although those people were punished, he and his colleagues also suffered and were implicated.
"What's in that closed garden?" the male disciple asked, clearly not the type who only knew how to show off his abilities.
"Inside are some rare medicinal materials that no one can disturb, or they'll be punished by Elder Xing. Once, Young Master Hai Feng forced his way in and damaged an herb. He was whipped by the elder and then confined to the Meditation Cave for a year of retreat." The person answered and gave an example to let people know the consequences, lest curiosity kill the cat.
"Ah, so Senior Brother Hai Feng was punished for this. I thought he had harassed my sister..." the girl in the center who was like stars around the moon said somewhat dazedly...
Everyone fell silent, whether because of what the center of attention said or because they realized the seriousness of the matter. Anyway, they all made a decision to absolutely not wander around or carelessly damage the herbs here.
As Heavenly Gate people, they also knew the importance of the medicinal garden to Heavenly Gate. This was the place that supplied everyone with pills, so naturally no one was allowed to cause trouble.
"Let's divide into several groups to identify the herbs here. Gathering together isn't very efficient! Junior Brother Chen and Junior Sister Zheng form one group..." The disciple from before began dividing groups. Everyone was fairly agreeable to his assignments, but regarding the partner he assigned himself, everyone had slight opinions, though ultimately no one voiced them and could only accept it.
...
...
The person that disciple assigned himself was—
"I'll go with Junior Sister Dongfang!"
Junior Sister Dongfang was that center of attention. Obviously, the organizing disciple had feelings for her, and at the same time, that disciple's status seemed unusual too. Even if others had opinions, they didn't speak up.
Because they had divided into groups, more people were needed to accompany them. Fortunately, Xiaoyao's seniority wasn't sufficient to be assigned to explain and help them identify herbs.
Just when Xiaoyao felt relieved and was keeping his head down working, he noticed a very bad phenomenon, that disciple and Junior Sister Dongfang were actually heading his way.
Xiaoyao wanted to find a quiet corner to work so he could work peacefully without being disturbed.
That disciple also wanted to find a quiet place so he could identify herbs with Junior Sister Dongfang alone, likewise not wanting to be disturbed.
For different reasons, but both because they didn't want to be disturbed, that disciple brought Junior Sister Dongfang near Xiaoyao.
Regarding Xiaoyao's presence, that disciple didn't care much, thinking Xiaoyao could be ignored. He just gave a look, indicating that if Xiaoyao was sensible, he should move farther away and not make any noise.
Xiaoyao was very sensible, he wouldn't make noise and moved a bit farther, but he still had to finish the work at hand, so while he moved farther, he wasn't really that far away.
"Junior Sister Dongfang, I'm very familiar with these herbs. As the elder said, we martial artists often get injured, so we must learn some medical and pharmaceutical knowledge. Since childhood, I've studied medical texts. This kind of identification is really too simple. If you have anything you don't understand, just ask me," that disciple said proudly, as if he were a medical expert.
"Senior Brother Cui is indeed learned. Then little sister won't be polite. What is this?" Junior Sister Dongfang seemed to admire that disciple, who was Senior Brother Cui in her words, and immediately pointed at an herb to ask.
Senior Brother Cui looked at the herb Junior Sister Dongfang pointed to, then with a very relaxed attitude said, "This is Emperor Grass, a very precious herb. The name implies it's an herb only emperors could possess. Its nature is fire, suitable for treating..."
Not bad, quite detailed. He indeed had some capital for boasting!
Xiaoyao was weeding while listening to Senior Brother Cui's words. It wasn't that he was deliberately eavesdropping, but the other party's voice was a bit loud, and his ears were so sensitive, there was no help for it.
Continue weeding!
One stalk, two stalks...
Xiaoyao was weeding one by one, then preparing to move farther from Senior Brother Cui and the other person, gradually moving outward while continuing to weed.
"Huh? Why do I feel like they're getting closer to me?" Xiaoyao discovered a strange phenomenon. He seemed to have moved farther and farther, but when he looked up, he found Senior Brother Cui and his companion had moved closer to him, making their voices even louder.
Looking carefully, it turned out this Senior Brother Cui wasn't moving anywhere else but toward Xiaoyao's direction, because there were the fewest people in Xiaoyao's direction…
Forget it, I'm afraid of you!
Xiaoyao stood up, then prepared to leave and avoid these people. He would go help elsewhere, and since other people all had guides, they probably wouldn't pay attention to his presence.
Just at this moment, Junior Sister Dongfang spoke, "I recognize this herb, it's mugwort."
"No, this should be Vermillion Leaf, which looks very similar to mugwort. It starts green, then turns vermillion red. It's a very precious medicinal material," Senior Brother Cui said. Actually, he wasn't certain this was Vermillion Leaf either, but it definitely wasn't mugwort, because mugwort was such a common herb that they could just purchase it, there was no need to waste medicinal garden space.
"Hmm, this isn't mugwort, but this isn't a Vermillion Leaf either," Xiaoyao said at this time. He wasn't deliberately trying to spoil things, but what they were pointing at was what he needed to deal with.
"Then what is this?" Senior Brother Cui asked.
"If you want to know specifically, I can tell you. This is called Greater Chickweed," Xiaoyao answered.
"Greater Chickweed? What kind of medicinal material is it? What's it used for? Why have I never heard of it?" Senior Brother Cui was somewhat puzzled, looking at Xiaoyao and suspecting whether Xiaoyao was deliberately causing trouble.
But he couldn't be certain, because he practiced martial arts while Xiaoyao tended the medicinal garden. In terms of herb knowledge, Xiaoyao would definitely be much more knowledgeable than him. It was very normal for him to mention something unknown.
Xiaoyao walked over, pulled up the grass with one hand, and said, "It's nothing, just a weed..."
Senior Brother Cui fell silent. His face began to darken. Xiaoyao's words had completely slapped his face, but he couldn't find a reason to vent on Xiaoyao because Xiaoyao hadn't done anything outside his duties.
Yes, Xiaoyao was removing weeds due to his duties, so he came over to pull up this grass. He just casually explained the weed's name.
At this moment, Xiaoyao hadn't yet realized that his casual explanation seemed to interfere with Senior Brother Cui's plan to woo the girl, which would definitely offend him.
However, when Xiaoyao saw Senior Brother Cui's dark face, he immediately realized that what he said seemed very inappropriate. So he immediately said, "Young Master Cui, Miss Dongfang, you two take your time looking here. I still have matters to attend to, so I'll take my leave."
Xiaoyao didn't specify what matters, believing this wasn't very important and no one would care. He didn't need to explain clearly, it was just an excuse to withdraw.
Senior Brother Cui was just keeping a dark face at this moment. Compared to teaching Xiaoyao a lesson, he more hoped he could spend time with Junior Sister Dongfang, so he wouldn't prevent Xiaoyao from withdrawing.
At this moment, something neither Xiaoyao nor Senior Brother Cui expected happened. Junior Sister Dongfang spoke up, calling out to Xiaoyao, "Wait a moment. Just now you could even name a weed, so you should recognize the herbs here. How about you stay and help me learn about the herbs here.”
"Junior Sister Dongfang, having me here is enough. He's just a small helper, how could he know as much as I do," Senior Brother Cui immediately said. He didn't want Xiaoyao to ruin his world for two.
"But just now you didn't even recognize a weed..." Junior Sister Dongfang said weakly.
"..." Senior Brother Cui was immediately struck down. It was not recognizing a weed, not not even recognizing a weed, this phrasing was too devastating. But Senior Brother Cui couldn't refute it because it was fact.
"I'm sorry, Miss Dongfang. I still have work to do. This Young Master Cui can help you identify herbs. He knows a lot, I just happened to know a few things." Xiaoyao said very modestly. He didn't want to get involved in others' romance. Such things were thankless and could easily offend people, severely at that.
Regarding Xiaoyao's sensible performance, Senior Brother Cui was very satisfied, and his hatred toward Xiaoyao immediately diminished by more than half.
However, Junior Sister Dongfang seemed to ignore these things. She still continued wanting to drag Xiaoyao down, saying, "Perhaps you'll happen to know something again. One person's knowledge is short, two people's knowledge is long. Having one more person can't be wrong."
"Well, I have work..." Xiaoyao deflected. He really didn't want to get involved in others' troublesome affairs.
"Your current work is to follow us. Elder Instructor Uncle asked your medicinal garden to cooperate with our studies. Look at them, now you understand what you should do." Junior Sister Dongfang pointed at the medicinal garden members explaining herbs to the disciples, making Xiaoyao understand that his current job was to explain herbs to them.
(End of Chapter)