Chapter 62: The Duo

Really leaving! Fortunately, Yun Qing wasn’t waiting in Leaf Village for Ye Xiaolang to return and join her team; she was perfectly capable on her own.

Yun Qing said, “Then I wish you all the best. When do you plan to leave?”

Ye Xiaolang gazed at Leaf Village, reluctant to part. But once a decision was made, sooner was better than later. He smiled, “I’ll leave soon. What about you, any plans?”

“I also want to leave Leaf Village. But before I go, I’d like to venture outside and gather some food to donate to the relief station.”

The relief station’s food—yes! If one could do something practical for the village, donating food to the relief station would be best.

Thinking of Yun Qing’s large storage pouch, Ye Xiaolang realized that with her accompanying him, they could bring back much more food at once. He said, “Let’s go out together to search for food. I’ll handle the hunting, you’ll process and carry it back. We’ll donate together—what do you think?”

She laughed, “Of course, no problem. I’ve always been the one doing the grunt work.”

“Let’s go a bit further out, prepare first, and then meet at the village gate.”

“Agreed!” Ye Xiaolang’s preparations naturally included extra water, food, and essentials.

Yun Qing was already prepared, and didn’t wait long at the village gate before Ye Xiaolang arrived.

With no tasks weighing on them, both simply wanted to gather food for the relief station. Ye Xiaolang, experienced at hunting, knew well which areas had the most game.

“Let’s go further out and move quickly.”

“Alright!” With just the two of them, speed wasn’t an issue. Yun Qing now ran quite fast herself.

She was just feeling pleased with her speed when Ye Xiaolang’s voice echoed from ahead, “Just do your best, I’ll wait for you up front.”

Watching Ye Xiaolang vanish in a flash, Yun Qing’s face darkened—she couldn’t keep up with that speed.

She pushed herself, trailing behind Ye Xiaolang for about three miles, finally catching up to him as he was collecting herbs tainted by toxic gas at the roadside.

She saw him finish picking one herb, which vanished into thin air in his hand. Yun Qing’s heart skipped a beat: Ye Xiaolang now had a storage pouch.

No one in the village had ever asked her where her pouch came from, so she didn’t ask him either.

“Wenjing exchanged her storage pouch with me when she left,” Ye Xiaolang explained the pouch’s origin.

...

When Ye Wenjing left Leaf Village and said goodbye to Ye Xiaolang, she was deeply worried about Ye Tao, who was blind. She had asked Ye Xiaolang to go to the black market in Lingcang County to seek any spiritual medicine that could cure or control the poison of the soul corpse.

Lingcang County was the town where Ye Wenjing had trained in martial arts. Ye Xiaolang traveled day and night, making a perilous three-day round trip between Leaf Village and Lingcang County, but fortunately returned safely.

He didn’t find a cure for Ye Tao’s eyes, but he did find a medicine that could halt the poison’s spread.

Though Ye Tao’s poison was suppressed in his eyes by internal energy, it could still spread during rest and relaxation. Over time, toxic gas might disperse.

For this, Ye Wenjing paid him with her storage pouch.

Before leaving, Ye Wenjing had asked Ye Xiaolang to find any medicine that could cure or control the soul corpse’s poison. Not only did Ye Xiaolang find a controlling medicine, he also found news of a cure.

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The medicine to cure the soul corpse’s poison was said to be found in the legendary City of Wanderers.

Ye Tao was also Ye Xiaolang’s teammate. Having accepted Wenjing’s reward, Ye Xiaolang wanted to try his luck in the City of Wanderers.

No one knew how long this journey would take; the City of Wanderers was fraught with danger, and whether he could return was unknown. Ye Xiaolang came back to Leaf Village both to deliver medicine to Ye Tao and to bid farewell to everyone.

Meeting Yun Qing and learning of her wish to donate food to the relief station led to this invitation to team up.

...

With a storage pouch of her own, Yun Qing’s value wasn’t high. She said, “You’ll be quicker and more efficient alone.”

As Ye Xiaolang was about to leave, his words grew more pleasant. He smiled, “First, my pouch isn’t as large as yours. Second, you can purify food, and we can cook for ourselves outdoors.”

Outdoor cooking was just Yun Qing’s style. Her biggest concern was that the aroma of food would attract danger, but with the strongest postnatal expert as company, she felt much safer.

Yun Qing laughed, “Being porter and chef is easy for me. I’ve brought plenty of charcoal, so we can cook whenever we like.”

Ye Xiaolang reminded her, “Practicing martial arts is expensive. Good food and herbs are getting pricier, so you’ll need more resources to exchange for silver.”

The issue of lacking money was something Yun Qing understood deeply. She was already poor enough; martial artists who trained with food and herbs seemed wealthy, but in truth, most were destitute.

Ye Xiaolang’s income was high, but he needed food with attributes, and often required precious herbs for body refinement.

They traveled swiftly, and within less than the time it took a stick of incense to burn, they left the cultivated land of Leaf Village, entering an area filled with wild vegetables and herbs shrouded in toxic gas.

Ye Xiaolang merely wanted Yun Qing to help carry more supplies back. In dangerous places, it was easier for him alone.

“Wait here for me. I’ll look for game nearby and return soon.”

That “soon” would likely be a while. Yun Qing nodded, “Alright!”

Once Ye Xiaolang left, only the polluted wild grass, vegetables, and herbs remained.

Any of these could be converted into energy. Yun Qing’s gathering skill was already at level 30; gathering level 31 items was mostly a failure.

Just after the dark night, these items abounded, and were worthless in the village, so it didn’t matter if she failed.

Successful gathering brought experience and items, while failed attempts yielded broken items to be converted into energy.

Even so, Yun Qing was meticulous with each plant she collected.

Gathering experience +124

Obtained polluted wild celery;
Gathering failed;
Obtained damaged, polluted celery leaf;
Gathering failed;

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Gathering failed;
Gathering experience +124;
Obtained polluted blood-staunching herb;
Gathering failed;
Obtained damaged, polluted flax leaf;
Gathering experience +0;
Obtained flax leaf

...

No matter how careful she was, most attempts failed, but the experience gained from successful collections was considerable; she could level up to 31 without needing a hundred successful gathers.

Yun Qing tried loosening the soil with iron pliers before collecting, which improved her success rate. Luck played a role; if iron pliers alone succeeded, no gathering experience was awarded.

Some items needed only their leaves and stems; using iron pliers to dig them out didn’t grant experience either.

This wasn’t helping villagers pick vegetables, nor pulling up wild grass en masse. A hundred successful gathers was no easy feat. Yun Qing tried every method, focusing intently, striving to level up to 31 as soon as possible, which would greatly increase her success rate and yield more intact items.

Gathering failed;
Obtained damaged, polluted pepper;
Gathering failed;
Obtained damaged, polluted blood-staunching herb;
Gathering failed;
Obtained damaged, polluted restorative ginseng;

“Sigh!” After three consecutive failures, Yun Qing prepared to take a deep breath and reset, when she heard a long sigh not far away.

Turning back, she saw Ye Xiaolang shaking his head at her, looking helpless.

“Just after the dark night, herbs tainted with toxic gas are plentiful, but your method of gathering is far too wasteful.”

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