Having experienced the wonder of hearing everything in the rain, Ji Yuan is now very confident in his hearing. Although he was not completely distracted just now, at such a close distance, he would definitely not miss a person's footsteps.
Thinking back to what Jin Shunfu had just said, Ji Yuan couldn't help but feel a chill in his heart.
On a cold night in the wild mountains, a scholar with unknown origins suddenly appeared. It seemed a bit strange no matter how you thought about it.
But the scholar's expression and movements were very appropriate, and coupled with his status as a scholar and his helpless appearance, he seemed to have successfully gained the initial trust of the traveling merchants.
To be honest, this mountain temple is not the private property of traveling merchants. Everyone has the right to come in and rest. After all, they are not vicious and unreasonable people, so even if they are wary of scholars, they will not drive them away.
The traveling merchants were certainly not completely off guard. Although they politely invited the scholar to sit down, they still wanted to know where he came from.
"May I ask your name, sir? Where do you live? Where did you go to school?"
Zhang Shilin had read some books after all, so when he asked the scholar, this sentence sounded much more literary, which made the youngest Wang Dong couldn't help but look at him several times.
Upon hearing this, the scholar did not dare to be negligent and bowed to Zhang Shilin.
"My surname is Lu, my given name is Xing, and I live in Paimenfang, Shuixian Town. I am a student of Qingsong Academy in Desheng Prefecture. This time, I went up the mountain with my friends from the academy after studying abroad..."
Probably because of the way Zhang Shilin asked the question, the scholar thought he was half a scholar and changed his self-proclaimed name from "I" to "Xiaosheng".
The scholar was reminiscing and fearful at the same time. He recounted in detail which friends he had gone up the mountain with, why they accidentally got separated in the mountains, where he lived, and which academy he studied in. From time to time he would utter a line of flowery poetry. His words were all well-organized and did not sound like nonsense.
The scholar was neither hesitant nor artificial, and his words were polite and appropriate.
Especially when they heard that the scholar was a student of an orthodox academy, the traveling merchants were in awe. Compared with the scholars who studied hard alone at home, the students of the academy would have much better status, family background and talents, which is what is commonly known as high value.
Scholars have always been respected, let alone the students of Qingsong Academy.
Gradually, even Zhang Shilin let down his guard. Not only that, everyone became very respectful to Lu Shusheng.
The scholar was not arrogant. He would thank the master repeatedly when he was offered water or food, but he said he was not hungry and would not eat for the time being.
Ji Yuan's heart had sunk to the bottom. This so-called scholar was too good at acting. If Ji Yuan had not already concluded in his heart that this guy was definitely not a human, he would have probably believed him a long time ago.
This is horrible, so horrible!
If there was an option now that allowed Ji Yuan to choose between continuing the journey through time or returning home immediately, he would choose the latter without hesitation. Unfortunately, he has no choice now.
Now Ji Yuan still has a glimmer of hope, because the scholar needs to act like this, which means that this thing should not be a master who can kill everyone, and the other party does not seem to have discovered that there is a beggar lying behind the statue of the mountain god.
Scholar Lu and the peddlers were already chatting and laughing. It was rare that students from a big academy had no prejudice against them, the merchants, so they chatted naturally and harmoniously.
As if he suddenly thought of something, the scholar slapped his head and spoke mysteriously to Zhang Shilin and others.
"Oh, right! I don't have much money on me, so I can't repay you for your help, but I saw a good thing on the way to the mountain temple, and I think it can bring you some benefits!"
Sure enough, it immediately aroused everyone's interest.
"I wonder what good stuff it is?"
The scholar lowered his voice.
“Very old Sanwang ginseng!”
Ginseng is a precious medicinal material, and adding the word "Sanwang" before the word "Shen" often refers to the best ginseng.
As traveling merchants who travel through mountains and rivers all year round, if they come across suitable medicinal materials, they will carefully dig them up and take them away, which will bring considerable profits.
When everyone heard the word "Sanwang ginseng", their expressions became excited.
Zhang Shilin frowned when he heard this and looked at Lu Shusheng.
"Mr. Lu, you are a scholar, how can you recognize the appearance of Mountain King Ginseng?"
"Hahaha, what Brother Zhang said is very true. Although I have indeed read the characteristics of ginseng in the miscellaneous book "Essence of Herbs and Trees", I can't tell the mountain king ginseng at a glance. But if I can't, others can!"
When Lu Shusheng said this, he looked around carefully and then lowered his voice.
"I'm from Narcissus Town. I know that occasionally a group of mountain herders come to the town to sell mountain products and medicinal herbs. I've talked to them a few times and know some inside information."
"The most important thing about the mountain king ginseng is that it has nine leaves and a tall red seed flower..."
At this point, all the peddlers, including Zhang Shilin, couldn't help but lean forward.
"The most important thing is that there are three small red ropes tied to the ginseng stems. This is a traditional method led by a skilled mountain leader to prevent the mountain king ginseng from escaping!!"
This statement was refreshing and exciting to many peddlers.
"Yes, I heard from the old people that old ginseng will burrow into the soil and escape, and only the most powerful mountain hunters can catch them!"
Kim Soon-bok also recounted what he had heard before.
"That's right! Brother Jin, what you said is true!"
Lu Shusheng clapped his hands and nodded in agreement.
"The herder tied a red string around the ginseng and didn't dig it up. I guess he wanted to wait until the ginseng reached its best temperature. But you don't have to do that. If you can get this ginseng, it will be a great profit. If I wasn't so scared and afraid of damaging the herbs, I might have dug it up."
"Yep!!!"
"Brother Shilin, let's go dig!!!"
"Scholar, where is the Mountain King Ginseng?"
…
The traveling merchants were so excited that they couldn't wait to dig up the mountain ginseng.
Money can move people's hearts, and the drive for profit makes them trust Lu Shusheng's words even more.
Ji Yuan felt a growing chill in his heart, and only had one thought: bad things are going to happen!!
Faced with the eagerness of the peddlers, the scholar thought for a moment before answering.
"That place is not far from where I took shelter from the rain before. It will take less than two incense sticks to go back and forth. If you really want to, it's best to follow me before dawn."
"Why is that? It's dark and the roads are slippery right now. Isn't that too unsafe?"
Zhang Shilin asked doubtfully.
"Brother Zhang, you don't know that the mountain herders go into the mountains before dawn. I see that the red flowers of the mountain king ginseng have already bloomed. What if the mountain herders come to dig ginseng in the next one or two days? If we don't go tonight, won't we miss it?"
"yes!!"
“That makes sense!!”
"Brother Shilin, I'm agile, I'll go!!"
"Yeah, let's go dig!"
These days, supporting a family is the most important thing, and the mountain king ginseng is naturally grown, so it’s not like the mountain herders can tie a red rope around it and say it must be theirs. As long as they don’t bump into it, it’s fine.
"Not everyone needs to go. Just go with a few people who are nimble and the rest of you can stay here and watch over things."
Zhang Shilin did not hesitate any longer and began to take out torches, oilcloth and other items from the basket.
"Lao Jin, Xiaodong, Liu Quan, and Li Gui, the four of you go with Master Lu. The roads in the mountains are slippery, so be careful on the road and make sure Master Lu is safe!"
"Leave it to me!" "Don't worry, Brother Shilin, I won't let Master Lu fall!"
"Thank you for your hard work"
Lu Shusheng bowed to express his gratitude. On the side of the fire where no one was paying attention, his smile spread into a pale and strange arc...
Ji Yuan felt waves of chills running straight to his scalp and roared in his heart.
'Don't go!!! Don't go with him!!!'