You are unlucky and I am tough

In the old forest, towering trees stood tall, like a giant green curtain covering the sky and the sun. The ground was covered with thick fallen leaves, which made a slight "crunching" sound when stepped on from time to time. The sound was particularly clear in the silent forest.

The villagers were hopeful, but nervousness was inevitable, and they all held their weapons tightly.

The deeper you go, the colder and more eerie the surroundings become. Even the chirping of insects and birds disappears without a trace, leaving only the crunching sound of rotten leaves under your feet. Every step feels like stepping on unknown fear, making you tremble with fear.

If Wei Qinglang, who was leading the group, had not remained calm and composed, and if Cheng Shuang had not shown any fear, some people would probably not have had the courage to move forward.

After walking for about quarter of an hour, the two leaders stopped under a thick tree.

The ground all around was flat, and the trees were very tall and strong, like giants standing there, staring coldly at the people who had rashly entered.

The villagers were terrified, but Wei Qinglang calmly said, "Let's start from here. Cheng Shuang and I will be in one group, and the others will be in groups of three. Be careful not to get left alone."

The villagers looked at each other for a long time and then began to form teams. Although they were filled with fear, no one backed down for the sake of their families.

"Qinglang, this place is so scary. Do you think there are tigers?" Feng Tiegen ran over and asked Wei Qinglang in a panic.

Wei Qinglang shook his head. "Brother Tiegen, I've been here several times. From what I've observed, there shouldn't be any tigers in this area."

There might be wild wolves, but he didn't say it out loud for fear of scaring them.

"We're not afraid of tigers." Cheng Fu came over with a hatchet. "Brother Tiegen, there are so many of us and we have weapons. Even if a tiger comes, we can still defeat it."

Cheng Fu is seventeen years old this year. He has the same physique as his father and is very tall. Along the way, except for Wei Qinglang and Cheng Shuang, he is the only one who is not afraid and is even a little excited.

Cheng Shuang smiled and shook his head when he heard this, thinking that he was really a newborn calf that was not afraid of a tiger.

The search for medicine officially began. The backpacks were placed under a big tree. Six groups took the big tree as the core and began a careful carpet search in different directions.

Wei Qinglang carried a bow and arrow on his back and held an axe tightly in his hand, while Cheng Shuang held a small shovel and bent over, carefully digging through the pile of fallen leaves.

Others did the same, some digging through the grass, some turning over fallen leaves.

Time passed slowly, and more than an hour had passed. Except for Cheng Shuang who dug up two Centella asiatica, the others found nothing.

Wei Qinglang called for a meeting and led the team to continue moving deeper into the forest. Cheng Shuang knew the growing environment of Gastrodia elata, so the team started searching wherever she said to stop.

We searched three places in a row. When we arrived at the third place, it was almost dark and everyone was exhausted with back pain.

Finally, Cheng Ergou suddenly shouted in surprise. "I found it, I found it, it's Gastrodia elata."

The scattered people rushed towards Cheng Ergou. Cheng Shuang and Wei Qinglang were far away, so they also quickened their pace and ran over.

Squeezing into the crowd, Cheng Shuang squatted down to take a closer look. It was indeed a Gastrodia elata with its stem exposed, and it looked quite large.

She used a shovel to push away the dead leaves around her, and suddenly found a small bump on the edge, so she quickly dug it out with her hands.

"There are two." Cheng Shuang raised her head in surprise, "There's a smaller one next to it."

There was a sudden cheer in the team.

"That's great! I finally got something out of a busy day."

"Uncle Ergou is really amazing. He found two trees in one go."

"It's really not easy. Although it's hard to find, as long as there is hope, don't give up."

Cheng Ergou was about thirty-five or thirty-six years old, strong and powerful. He took the hoe and started digging according to Cheng Shuang's instructions. In a few strokes, he dug out two Gastrodia elata plants.

A group of people gathered around to watch. The acquisition of two precious medicinal herbs greatly boosted the morale of the team. Everyone saw hope and began to regroup.

Everyone discussed it and finally agreed to give the found herbs to Wei Qinglang for safekeeping. Wei Qinglang wrapped the things in a piece of cloth, put them in a backpack, and then threw them into the space under cover.

It was already late, so after putting his things away, he said to everyone, "That's all for today. Let's find a place to rest for the night."

When it comes to spending the night, everyone can't help but become nervous again, because this is an old forest where ghosts are rumored to appear at night.

Night fell quietly, and the darkness around them quickly swallowed up the remaining light. The team lit two torches and began to look for a habitat for tonight.

Wei Qinglang led the way with a torch, and left the task of using a compass to determine the direction to Cheng Shuang. The two then communicated with each other through the woods carefully, leading the team.

The wind whistled through the forest, making strange whistling sounds, and everyone became increasingly nervous. Finally, after walking for more than half an hour, the team found a cave.

Everyone was excited to see the cave, but Cheng Shuang warned, "Be careful, there may be animals living inside."

Wei Qinglang and several villagers threw stones into the cave, and then took three people to take a closer look. Only after confirming that it was safe did they let the entire group in.

The cave was not very big, but it was enough to accommodate more than a dozen of them.

The team leader, Wei Qinglang, said, "We will rest here tonight, but we must not let our guard down at night. Starting from midnight, we will be divided into groups of two to keep watch for one hour each."

Everyone agreed, and the group of people quickly took action. Some went outside to collect branches and firewood to prepare for a fire, while others cleared the rocks in the cave.

Soon a bonfire was lit in the cave, and the villagers found a place to sit down, with a hint of relief on their tired faces.

Cheng Shuang was the only woman, and the villagers consciously reserved the innermost seat for her, even leaving the closest seat a little distance away.

She used leaves to sweep out an area of ​​the ground, then went outside to find some hay to spread on the ground. She rummaged through her backpack and took out a piece of cloth to spread on the ground, making a simple bed.

The others were too lazy to bother and decided to sit on the ground and lean against the wall for the night.

Sitting around the campfire, staring at the jumping flames and eating pancakes, although it was a tiring day, thinking about our families and today's harvest, everyone felt that all the hard work was worth it.

"When I was digging through the grass today, a wild rabbit suddenly jumped out. I was so scared that it ran away. If I had known, I would have caught it and had meat to eat tonight." Cheng Fu said while chewing on a pancake and recalling the game he had at noon.

"I also saw a bird in the tree. My god, it's so big! If I could shoot an arrow, I would shoot it down and roast it."

"Isn't it the pheasant that ran away this afternoon? Its tail has grown so long and it looks fat."

"I must try to catch a pheasant or rabbit tomorrow to have an extra meal."

Everyone was chatting about what happened today. Wei Qinglang listened quietly. When he raised his head to drink water, he suddenly found that something was wrong with Zhao the Hunter who was sitting near the cave entrance.

He raised his hand and gently hit his head, with a half-eaten pancake beside him.

"Uncle Zhao, Uncle Zhao, what's wrong with you?" Wei Qinglang frowned and called him twice.

Zhao the Hunter is Zhao Xiuwen's father, a very simple and kind-hearted man. His family lives a tight life to support Zhao Xiuwen's studies, but sometimes they still share the prey they hunt with the elderly, widows and children in the village.

Hunter Zhao raised his head, his tone full of fatigue, "I think my headache has come back. It just happened a few days ago, so it shouldn't come back so soon. I don't know what's going on."

Cheng Shuang walked over upon hearing this, and her eyes met Wei Qinglang's as he turned around to look for her.

Cheng Shuang said, "Uncle Zhao, let me give you a few injections."

Hunter Zhao didn't know what the meaning of a few needles was, so he asked, "How do you do it?"

The others also looked over in confusion. Cheng Shuang took out a bag of silver needles from her body and said, "Use silver needles. Didn't the village head tell everyone that I can cure this disease?"

Cheng Shuang guessed that it was because the harmful gases in the old forest accumulated and could not disperse, and Hunter Zhao inhaled them, causing him to fall ill again.

This means that if they stay there for too long, these young people who are not even 20 years old yet may develop the disease prematurely, so those who enter the mountain this time must be detoxified after coming out.