Chapter 18

Life and Death

Because he had brought Lin Suisui with him, Lu Ze didn’t plan to go too deep into this forest.

Therefore, after walking for about two hours, he stopped and settled Lin Suisui in this seemingly safe forest valley.

“The terrain here is relatively open. It’s convenient to rest beside the stream. Stay here first. Remember not to go far.” Lu Ze turned around and handed the basket in his hand to Lin Suisui. At the same time, he didn’t forget to instruct her carefully, “I’ll investigate the surroundings first, and I won’t be gone for long.”

Lin Suisui nodded, indicating that she would listen to orders and not run around.

Seeing that she was obedient, Lu Ze didn’t say anything else. He simply set off and did as he said. He checked the surroundings before leaving towards the deeper forest area.

After Lu Ze left, Lin Suisui first built a bonfire on the sandy ground by the stream according to Lu Ze’s instructions. Then, she turned around and went to the nearby bushes to look for the herbs she needed.

This forest area looked like it was rarely visited. Along the way, she actually discovered many herbs hidden in the grass. However, due to the restrictions, she had no choice but to let go of those that were not easy to preserve for the time being. She only picked some of the most useful herbs and placed them in the basket behind her.

Lin Suisui remembered that people had previously said that she could find good ginseng in the forest near the northern region. Although she didn’t know how far this area was from their final destination, she still subconsciously wanted to try her luck.

It had to be said that Lin Suisui was really lucky this time.

Under an old cypress tree at the edge of the valley, she really saw a familiar red color!

The fruit that was as red as flames was swaying behind the old cypress tree. Almost at a glance, Lin Suisui recognized that it was a very rare ginseng that was a certain age.

Even though there was no one around, Lin Suisui still swallowed nervously.

She quickly pulled a red thread from the belt around her waist and carefully walked over. According to her old custom, she tied the red thread to the branch of the ginseng.

When this was done, Lin Suisui heaved a sigh of relief and began to dig carefully with the small hoe in her hand. She didn’t dare to use too much strength. Afraid that she would damage the roots and destroy the medicinal properties, she simply scraped away the floating soil and used both hands for the rest.

One had to know that the value of a complete ginseng and a slightly damaged ginseng was worlds apart!

Lin Suisui’s movements were extremely slow.

Under the sunlight pouring down through the gaps in the leaves above her head, she didn’t even bother to take a sip of water. She was focused on the rare ginseng in front of her.

The entire excavation process was extremely slow. It took almost two hours. It wasn’t until Lin Suisui took the entire ginseng out of the soil intact that she fell to the ground weakly. She endured the numbness in her legs and laughed foolishly.

This ginseng looked to be about 30 years old. Although it didn’t look too old, it was slender. One look and one could tell that it was a top-grade ginseng!

Lin Suisui didn’t dare to delay. She sat on the ground to rest for a while before pushing herself up. She wanted to go to the riverbank to pack this ginseng properly. If it was damaged because it wasn’t preserved well, it would be her loss!

She stood up and took two steps towards the riverbank in a good mood before she sensed that something was wrong behind her.

The movement of something moving in the shadows made her nervous again. At first, she thought that it was a refugee who had entered the depths of the forest to try his luck like them, so she subconsciously tightened her grip on the silver hairpin that had been hidden in her sleeve. She turned around warily and waited for the bushes to move before shouting, “Who is it?!”

Although this shout wasn’t loud, it was still imposing.

However, Lin Suisui stood where she was and waited warily for a long time. However, there was no more movement from the bushes. Everything returned to calm.

Could it be that she was mistaken?!

Lin Suisui carefully took two steps back. Although she doubted herself, she didn’t let down her guard.

As she carefully moved back, the bushes, which had regained their calm, finally rustled again. When Lin Suisui saw her target walking out of there, she was stunned.

She had always heard that there were ferocious tigers in the forest in the north, but she didn’t expect to be so lucky. It was her first time entering the mountain and she had encountered such a big treasure!

However, after her initial panic, her survival instincts quickly calmed her down.

It was also because of this calmness that she could tell at a glance that something was wrong with the tiger in front of her.

It looked very dispirited!

The tiger looked dispirited, as if it was sick. It even acted as if it didn’t see Lin Suisui, who could be served as a snack, and didn’t have any desire to hunt.

The tiger took two more slow steps forward and stopped less than five steps away from Lin Sui. But instead of moving forward, it stood there, staring at her.

Although the tiger didn’t seem to be attacking now, Lin Suisui didn’t dare to move. She had heard before that ferocious beasts like tigers had always liked to eat living creatures. If you played dead and didn’t move, it might not attack you!

But if you panicked and ran around, you might become its meal in the next moment.

The human and tiger looked at each other for a moment. Although she felt that it was a little ridiculous, Lin Suisui felt that perhaps this tiger wanted her help with something?!

Thinking of this, Lin Suisui hesitated and finally decided to follow her intuition and try her luck.

She mustered her courage and asked the tiger in front of her in a low voice, “You, Tiger King, is there anything you need my help with?!”

The tiger stared at her for a long time without making a sound, but it still had no intention of attacking.

Seeing this, Lin Suisui felt a little relieved. She licked her lips and took a step forward carefully before asking in a low voice, “Well, if you’re feeling unwell, I have some medical skills. Perhaps I can help you.”

It was unknown if the tiger was annoyed by Lin Suisui’s words or if it was alarmed by her move, but it suddenly opened its mouth and roared at Lin Suisui, “Roar!”