Chapter 192: A Terrifying Discovery

“This is unbelievable.”

Lin Heng stared at the ginseng in his hand, feeling as if it wasn’t real.

The roots of this aged wild ginseng had already become semi-fibrous, incredibly tough—impossible to break by hand.

Lin Heng gave it a gentle try and found that it was indeed so.

That only confirmed his judgment—this was a century-old wild ginseng.

In this era, something like this wasn’t nearly as valuable as it would be in the future. For one, there were fewer wealthy people, and for another, resources were still abundant.

Unlike the future, where wild ginseng would be almost extinct.

Back in 2012, a ginseng like this could fetch three million if it made it to an auction. Normally, one would go for a few hundred thousand, rarely over a million.

But in this time period, a hundred-year-old wild ginseng might sell for around ten thousand yuan.

If you had the right connections and found a wealthy buyer, maybe you could get over twenty thousand. Thirty thousand would be the absolute max.

Looking at the ginseng, Lin Heng muttered to himself, “Of course, the best option is to store it away and wait until resources are scarce. That’s when the price will really soar.”

Ten thousand yuan was no small sum—it was worth as much as a million in 2020.

Then he chuckled. “In a few years, I probably won’t even need to sell it.”

If he still had to rely on selling ginseng to make money by then, he might as well be dead.

This was a powerful tonic, and keeping it for himself would do him good.

After another look, he took out a handkerchief and carefully wrapped it up. He’d decide later whether to sell it or keep it once he got home.

He had no intention of telling Old Man Gao or his uncle-in-law about this.

It was simply too valuable—there was no need to test human nature.

Besides, if he said it was found by Xiong Ba, they probably wouldn’t believe him anyway.

All things considered, it was best to just wrap it up and tuck it into the inner pocket of his coat.

Luckily, the ginseng’s roots were tough enough to bend without breaking.

The two handkerchiefs Xiulan had given him were just enough to wrap it securely.

Once it was packed away, Lin Heng restored the area to its original state.

He filled the hole with dirt, covered it with leaves—no need for snow.

Finally, he carved an X-shaped mark into a nearby tree to make it easier to find the spot again.

Since there was a century-old ginseng here, it was likely that it had dropped seeds at some point. There might be others of different ages nearby.

“Awoo~”

As Lin Heng finished, Xiong Ba barked and stretched his head forward.

He could tell from Lin Heng’s expression that this was something extraordinary and figured he’d be praised.

Lin Heng picked up his dog’s head and kissed it with a grin. “Good boy. I’ll catch you a golden pheasant later. From now on, I’ll try not to make you eat veggies. I’ll even find you a bunch of pretty little lady dogs.”

“Woof woof~~”

Xiong Ba wagged his tail happily, as if he understood every word.

“Alright, let’s get out of here.”

Lin Heng smiled and led Xiong Ba away.

He hadn’t gone far when he felt a sharp pain in his ankle. Pulling down his sock, he saw it was already swollen.

“Damn, that really hurts.”

He rubbed it a bit and managed to walk, though just barely.

He wanted to catch a golden pheasant for Xiong Ba, but after searching for half an hour, he came up empty.

By the time he checked his watch, it was already past 3 p.m. He made his way to the agreed meeting spot to wait for the others.

Li Baiquan and Old Man Gao were already there, and when they saw Lin Heng limping toward them, they rushed over to help.

“Lin Heng, what happened?” Li Baiquan asked.

Lin Heng smiled and shook his head. “Nothing serious. Just took a fall—twisted my ankle a bit.”

Old Man Gao looked at his foot and shook his head. “You’ve got to be more careful. Good thing it’s nothing major.”

“I’ll go find some herbs for you,” said Li Baiquan. He turned and came back with a small red herb he’d found on a rock. He crushed it and rubbed it onto Lin Heng’s swollen ankle.

Lin Heng didn’t feel much relief, but the rubbing nearly killed him—it hurt like hell.

Still, after the massage, he did feel some warmth in his ankle, and walking became a bit easier.

Once that was taken care of, Old Man Gao looked at the two and said, “Let’s move on.”

They hadn’t caught any game here and didn’t have high hopes for the area, so they wanted to head somewhere new.

Lin Heng didn’t mention the ginseng. He followed along silently. He knew exactly what to share and what to keep to himself.

As they crossed the mountain and headed back, the three of them kept an eye out for any prey.

Around 4 p.m., Lin Heng heard a gunshot from his uncle-in-law’s direction.

Soon after, Li Baiquan came back carrying a golden pheasant, grinning from ear to ear. “Almost missed it—good thing it called out.”

“Nice one,” Lin Heng gave him a thumbs-up.

Despite his aching foot, he’d been searching the forest for a while and found nothing.

Looks like the golden pheasant he promised Xiong Ba would have to wait. He’d have to settle for giving him some cured meat tonight.

Old Man Gao returned with two hazel grouse, clearly taken down with his bow.

He looked at Lin Heng and chuckled. “Looks like all the bad luck landed on you today—no game and a twisted ankle.”

“Yeah, pretty unlucky,” Li Baiquan chimed in.

Lin Heng gave a sheepish smile. Before he found the ginseng, he’d felt pretty unlucky too. Now, he just figured all his luck had gone into that one discovery.

They made their way back to the shelter with no further gains.

“Lin Heng, why don’t you stew up one of these birds?” Old Man Gao said, holding up one of the grouse with a smile.

“Sure thing.”

Lin Heng nodded with a smile.

He boiled some water and cooked rice, stir-fried some cured meat with fermented tofu, and they all dug in.

After a full day out, with only a bit of dry rations for lunch, they were starving and each ate three big bowls.

Lin Heng also prepared some cured meat just for Xiong Ba, who devoured it happily.

“We’re running low on rice and flour—probably only enough for five more days.”

During dinner, Lin Heng looked at the other two and said.

Old Man Gao nodded. “Once we find signs of the takin, let’s head back. I’ve had enough fun—haven’t felt this free in ages.”

Li Baiquan agreed. “Yeah, time to go back. Lin Yue’s probably getting anxious waiting at Three-Forked Gully.”

It had been over ten days without a proper bath, and all of them were starting to feel it.

If they were just sitting around at home, it wouldn’t be so bad. But out here, they were running more than ten kilometers a day. Their undershirts were soaked with sweat, dried, and soaked again—by now, they reeked.

Their shoes and socks were even worse. The insides of their shoes were black, and even though they washed their socks every day, by the next night, they were black again.

The hardship of hunting was clear for all to see—most people wouldn’t last a day. After dinner, Lin Heng cleaned the pine grouse Old Man Gao had brought back. He saved the giblets for the next day and stewed the bird together with enoki mushrooms and chestnuts.

Everyone lay down to rest, chatting casually.

By nine o’clock, they each had a bowl of the rich chicken soup, and a deep sense of contentment settled over them.

The aroma of chicken, mushrooms, and chestnuts had fully infused the broth. One sip left a lingering flavor on the tongue and warmth spreading through every limb and bone.

With that kind of warmth, sleep came easily and comfortably.

The next morning, they woke to find snow falling again—tiny flakes drifting steadily from the sky.

“It’s snowing again?” Li Baiquan said in disbelief.

“Yeah, let’s hope it doesn’t get too heavy,” Lin Heng replied, a bit helpless.

Snow at this point was definitely bad news.

Their supplies were running low. If the mountains got snowed in, things could get very dangerous.

When they opened the cover over the cave entrance, a blast of cold wind hit them like a knife.

After relieving themselves, the three men rushed back inside, ladled out some chicken soup, and drank it down.

“Ahhh, that hits the spot!”

Old Man Gao wore a blissful expression after finishing his bowl. It was pure joy to have hot chicken soup on a freezing winter morning.

“Let’s eat some meat too—makes it easier to get through the day,” Lin Heng said with a grin as he divided up the chicken. The meat had stewed until it was falling apart, practically melting in the mouth.

He also made some sauerkraut noodle dumplings—basically dough bits mixed into the soup—and after eating, the group set out in search of the takin.

Lin Heng’s foot was much better today. As long as he didn’t twist it to the left, it didn’t hurt much. But if he did, the pain was so sharp he couldn’t even stand.

Before leaving, he made up an excuse to hang back for a moment, took out the century-old ginseng to check on it, and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw it was still in good condition.

After thinking it over, he decided to carry it with him. The thing was too valuable—if he lost it, he’d be kicking himself for the rest of his life.

Even though they were deep in the mountains with almost no one around, you never knew who you might run into.

So not only did he carry the ginseng with him, he also brought the musk, both wrapped in plastic bags and tucked into the pockets of his coat.

“We’ll need to move fast. Tracking the takin might take us far. Lin Heng, you good to go?” Old Man Gao asked when he saw Lin Heng catch up.

Lin Heng nodded. “No problem.”

“Then let’s pick up the pace. Don’t worry about anything else on the way,” Old Man Gao said.

With all three men giving it their all, they moved quickly. Before ten o’clock, they reached the canyon where they had previously found takin droppings.

Xiong Ba led the way, with the three men following behind. Together with the dog, they tracked the trail deeper into the wild.

Snow was falling steadily, dusting their heads white. The canyon wind howled, making the cold almost unbearable. Though they were shivering, none of them slowed down.

If they didn’t find the trail soon, the snow would cover all the clues.

Before they knew it, it was already noon. They kept walking, but the trail had gone cold.

“What the hell? Did the takin grow wings and fly off from here?” Li Baiquan said, puzzled.

Lin Heng shook his head. “No way. I think they just didn’t linger here long, so there’s nothing left to find.”

“Yeah, that makes sense. Let’s keep tracking,” Old Man Gao agreed.

They pressed on. About a kilometer later, they found more droppings—but they were dry, nothing fresh.

Lin Heng checked his watch. “It’s already two. We probably can’t keep going or we won’t make it back before dark.”

They’d already hiked at least twenty kilometers through mountain terrain, but the takin’s migration speed was even faster than they expected.

The droppings they saw in the canyon were likely from two weeks ago, and now there were no fresh signs at all.

Old Man Gao checked the direction and shook his head. “This trail is heading southwest. Not a good direction for us to follow.”

“Then we’d better head back. Looks like we’re not fated to catch a takin,” Li Baiquan sighed, disappointed. He’d been hoping to bring one back for a festive feast, but that dream was fading fast.

The way back was mostly uphill. The three men were exhausted in both body and mind. The snow kept falling, and the cold and hunger were getting worse. They hadn’t even reached the shelter by the time night fell.

They had flashlights, but then the worst happened—they couldn’t find their way back.

It was too dark to see far, and they couldn’t identify the direction of the shelter. Plus, with the snow covering the ground, and the fact that they’d only walked this path once, they were completely disoriented.

None of them had brought a compass.

A heavy silence fell. None of them had expected this to happen.

Old Man Gao sighed. “We overestimated our stamina. We should’ve stopped earlier.”

Lin Heng nodded. “The downhill was too easy. And with the snow falling, we got too eager to find the takin. I should’ve marked the trail.”

He hadn’t thought something like this would actually happen to them. Expecting humans not to make mistakes was wishful thinking.

He’d thought his memory was good enough to remember the way back. But once it got dark and the snow started falling, he couldn’t find any of the landmarks he’d been counting on.

As the saying goes, “A good memory is no match for a bad pen.”

Li Baiquan looked at the other two. “We can’t keep wandering. Let’s find a sheltered spot and build a simple shelter right away.”

They all knew it was too dangerous to keep moving without knowing the way. At this point, wandering around was just asking to die. The top priority was to find a place that could block the wind and snow. The snow wasn’t heavy, but it had been falling non-stop, and the ground was already blanketed white.

At night, building a shelter from scratch on flat ground was nearly impossible. They’d have to rely on the natural environment. Even with three people, it would be tough.

After half an hour of searching in the freezing wind, they finally found a spot that would do.

It was under a large, slanted boulder. The ground beneath was dry yellow earth.

Once they’d settled on the spot, Lin Heng couldn’t wait. “Let’s get a fire going first.”

Li Baiquan said, “Damn, we don’t have anything to start it with. Lighting a fire’s gonna be tough.”

Just then, Old Man Gao handed over two chunks of pine resin. “I’ve got pine resin. Picked it up earlier when I saw it was getting dark—figured we might have trouble starting a fire.”

Lin Heng grinned and pulled a chunk of pine resin from his pocket too. “I’ve got one too. Picked it up this morning.”

Old Man Gao looked at him in surprise, then gave him a thumbs-up. “Nice thinking, Lin. That’s some solid survival instinct.”

He hadn’t expected Lin Heng to be carrying something like that. It might seem insignificant, but in a situation like this, it could be a lifesaver. With the resin, starting a fire would be exponentially easier.

Sometimes, it’s the little things that make all the difference. A single fire could mean the difference between surviving a freezing night or not.

In the pitch-black night, having something flammable was absolutely critical.

Li Baiquan, standing off to the side, could only grin sheepishly. He hadn’t even thought about bringing something like that. It was sticky and gross, and he’d always figured starting a fire was no big deal.

Now, looking at Lin Heng and Old Man Gao, he felt a little embarrassed.

“Hurry up and get that fire going, Uncle-in-law. I’ll go gather some firewood before I freeze to death.”

Lin Heng smiled and changed the subject.

In truth, he hadn’t just brought Pine Tree resin—he also had a flint and steel with him.

Even if the lighter failed, he could still make a fire.

But there was no need to mention all that.

(End of this chapter)