bullyxtreme Chapter 40 Giant Ganoderma
Chapter 40 Giant Ganoderma
The next day, Lin Yan got up early, carried a basket on her back and went up the mountain. This time she planned to go deeper into the mountains.
The fog on the mountain had not yet dissipated, and the road was barely visible. Lin Yan immediately activated her special ability, sensing as she walked. She didn't stop for a moment when she noticed the movements of some living things in the surrounding area, but these were not her targets.
Today she wanted to go up the mountain to find some valuable medicinal herbs, such as Ganoderma lucidum, Dendrobium, ginseng, and Polygonum multiflorum. These are relatively hard to find, and their value is related to the year they are harvested.
Lin Yan was perfectly adapted to the mountain forest environment. Alone, she had no worries and moved swiftly. When she encountered difficult sections, she simply used vines to create a path. Deep in the mountains, she encountered several wild animals, but at this moment, Lin Yan's aura blended in with the trees, and she didn't attract any attention.
By noon, after crossing two mountains, even with the help of her supernatural abilities, Lin Yan hadn't found anything of value. It seemed that her discovery of that wild Ganoderma lucidum last time was truly a stroke of luck.
Upon reaching the third mountain, Lin Yan stood atop the summit and looked eastward. There were still several continuous mountain peaks, even higher and more precipitous than the ones she had just seen. To the northeast lay the place where Lin Yan had come from, also dotted with small hills.
To the west, however, the terrain is no longer mountainous; the land clearly slopes down, and to the north lies a lush forest, which is the opposite bank of the river from Gezhuang Village.
The southwest was also flat land with a gentle slope, and... Lin Yan stared at the flat land below and could see people walking around, but there were no buildings.
"This must be the border garrison! It seems we are indeed very close to the border troops, but we are separated by mountains and forests. They don't march through Rong'an County, so most people have never seen them."
However, this had little to do with her. Her main purpose today was to find medicinal herbs. After looking around for a while, Lin Yan continued searching on the mountain. Finally, she found a Ganoderma lucidum at the foot of the mountain near the forest.
Lin Yan breathed a sigh of relief, but this Ganoderma lucidum was clearly not very big; it had only grown for a few years and wasn't as large as the one she had found last time.
She touched the cap of the Ganoderma lucidum, and a faint green light appeared on her hand. She mobilized the spiritual energy of the surrounding plants and trees to gather on the plant, and the cap of the Ganoderma lucidum grew larger, with new ones growing layer by layer, and the rings on its surface continuously expanding outward.
The cap of the last Ganoderma lucidum was already half a meter wide, and it had a rich aroma.
"Isn't this a bit too exaggerated? It can actually increase in price so much!" Lin Yan wasn't quite sure about the price of this stuff either, she only knew that hers had been induced to grow for ten years.
She picked the Ganoderma lucidum and put it into her spatial storage, then took out a meat-filled wrap from the space, which she had made in the kitchen that morning.
Lin Yan found a clearing in the woods, swept a patch of ground with a branch, sat down against a tree, and prepared to eat something before heading back.
Before I could even take a few bites of the pancake, I heard a series of hurried footsteps approaching, the pace was chaotic, and it was clear that there was more than one person.
Lin Yan thought that this place was probably just those soldiers, so she should avoid causing trouble and jumped up into a tree to hide. She used her special ability to make the surrounding branches grow more lush to cover herself.
A short while later, a group of fifty soldiers came over, carrying weapons, and searched the woods.
A team leader came to the tree where Lin Yan had been sitting and pointed to the clearing made by sweeping branches, saying, "Someone has been here! Search carefully."
Lin Yan stood on the tree speechlessly. She was really unlucky. She was just having a meal when they started searching her, and they even found her here.
The soldiers behind stopped, and one of them asked, "It shouldn't be that person! He's surrounded by us, how could he have time to rest?"
Lin Yan nodded repeatedly, thinking: That's right, that's right, someone who knows what's going on! This is clearly the trace of someone unrelated! Let's stop searching here and get out of here! I haven't finished my pancake yet!
The leader, a burly man, ordered in a gruff voice, "Be careful, this person is slightly injured and there might be blood."
"Yes!" The group dispersed to search.
The team leader and the soldier behind him didn't move; they stood under the tree, patrolling.
Seeing that everyone had left, the soldier couldn't help but sigh, "That man was really amazing. So many teams surrounded him, yet he managed to break through the camp and only suffered minor injuries."
"He is Chen Feng, the personal bodyguard of the Crown Prince of Daye."
“We haven’t even started a war with Da Ye yet, so it wouldn’t be appropriate to kill him!” the soldier said softly.
"We have no choice but to obey the commander's orders. However, if people find out that someone from Daye has been to the camp without making a sound, it might give us grounds to accuse them of colluding with a foreign country."
"No wonder. But can't the Crown Prince of Daye discuss matters openly and honestly? Why does he have to secretly send someone to contact the Commander in private? What is he trying to do?"
"Although Xiao Jing'an is the crown prince, he has been poisoned and is now just a sickly man. He lacks influence in the court, so even if we make contact, the commander will not choose him."
"We're not really going to war with Da Ye, are we? I feel the situation has been a bit tense lately, with Ye troops constantly appearing in the border areas. But the commander hasn't mentioned anything about training troops."
The team leader was silent for a moment after hearing this, then said in a low voice, "There might really be a war. His Majesty's Consort Xiao is the younger sister of the Emperor of Daye. If he were alive, there might not be a war, but he is currently seriously ill, and his brother, Prince Cheng, has long coveted the position. In particular, he commands a large army and is very powerful. If Xiao Jing'an cannot stop him, the day the Emperor of Daye breathes his last will be the day the two countries go to war."
"Huh?! Then the commander doesn't seem to be preparing for war at all!"
The team leader snorted coldly, put his hand under his nose to cover his mouth and whispered to the soldier, "I'm only telling you this because you're my brother. I don't think the commander has any intention of fighting. If a war breaks out, he'll probably surrender."
The soldier's eyes widened in shock. "What?!"
"Xiao Jing'an lacks support in the court and has no large army. He is simply no match for Prince Cheng on the border. If he doesn't want to fight, Prince Cheng will not allow his men to send a message to the court. Therefore, he can only contact the commander in private."
If he sends the message and war breaks out between the two countries, he won't be able to escape; he'll inevitably become a pawn. King Cheng now has an army of 500,000, while our garrison is only 50,000. The Liang court can't even pay its soldiers; our national strength is depleted. How can we possibly win?"
The soldier seemed somewhat incredulous, "Then, isn't it also possible to maintain peace? As long as we support the Crown Prince of Daye..."
"Xiao Jing'an's power is vastly different from that of Prince Cheng, and his chances of winning are very slim. If the commander wants to kill that person now, it is probably because he wants to side with Prince Cheng in order to protect himself."
"This, this isn't..." the soldier blurted out, then realized what he'd said, looked around, covered his mouth, and whispered, "Isn't this treason?"
The team leader glanced at him with a complicated look in his eyes, then patted him on the shoulder. "If necessary, you don't have to be loyal to the emperor. When that time comes, I'll find an opportunity to let you leave. One of us brothers has to go back eventually."
After waiting a while, the searching soldiers returned, but found nothing. The leader then led everyone to continue searching.
Lin Yan waited in the tree for a while before jumping down.
Staring in the direction the leader had gone, he slowly muttered to himself, "It seems the soldiers of this Great Liang are not very united! The country is weak, and this emperor is indeed not a very good ruler."