Zheng Qilin in the car noticed that there were three people coming out, swished, got out of the car, and hid not far behind a tree, and it was at this time that Zheng Qilin saw these three people clearly, and the physiognomy of these three people was obviously Oriental devils.

"It turns out that the old nest of those devils is here! do you want to kill them?"

Zheng Qilin thought about it for a while, and decided to let them go for the time being, as the saying goes, the scope of activity of these devils can go deep here, it is definitely not a few people, and the local forces colluding behind it are not one or two, and it doesn't make much sense to kill a few small minions now, and they must be served directly in a pot to never suffer in the future.

They must have done something shady in that cave, and when they are gone, go in and take a look.

After watching the three people get into the car and leave, he was about to walk over quietly, when the figures of two women not far away came sneakily, these two people were Wu Xia and the woman together.

"Why did you two get here again?"

Zheng Qilin suddenly appeared next to them and asked.

"Ah......h

"It's you...... It scared the hell out of us!"

Wu Xia and the woman with them glared at Zheng Qilin.

"We came here following those Oriental devils, why did you come here too?

Wu Xia asked.

"Well, I found this side and found it. ”

Zheng Qilin smiled.

"Is there a cave there?"

Wu Xia then asked.

"Hmm. ”

Zheng Qilin nodded.

"Let's go, let's go in together and see what these Oriental devils are doing here!"

The eyes of the woman beside Wu Xia flashed with coldness.

"Okay...... Since you're here, let's go together. ”

Zheng Qilin walked over there.

Wu Xia and the woman with her hurriedly followed, and the three of them came to the stone wall, which was bare, and there was no cave in sight.

"It's supposed to be here, why can't you get in?"

Wu Xia and the woman with him looked at this place seriously, Zheng Qilin also looked at it, he would clearly see the three Oriental devils coming out of here in the car, there is also a door here, but how to activate the door here?

After looking through it with a perspective eye, I saw the location of the entrance to the cave and the machine inside, as well as the corresponding hand switch.

Telekinesis controls pressed the switch.

"Click!"

"Boom la la ......"

A door opened in front of him, and a deep cave appeared in front of him.

"Wow!"

"It's on!"

Wu Xia and the woman with her eyes lit up.

"You two follow me, be careful!"

Zheng Qilin admonished, and walked inside first. To his surprise, there was almost nothing in it, and when he walked to the deepest part of the cave, he saw an iron cage, in which a gray-haired old man was imprisoned, and some food was placed next to the cage.

"Uncle, who took you...... Imprisoned here?"

Zheng Qilin briefly looked at the old man and asked with concern.

"I'm a nearby herb picker, and I was kidnapped and imprisoned here by a few devils some time ago. ”

The old man sat quietly on the ground, lowered his head, did not look at Zheng Qilin, and said calmly.

"Grandpa Gu, it's you!"

The woman next to Wu Xia exclaimed.

"Satsuki?"

The old man raised his head suddenly, his eyes widened, and he looked at the girl beside Wu Xia in surprise.

"Grandpa Gu, I've finally found you! Do you know how hard we searched!"

The girl next to Wu Xia said with tears rolling in her eyes and crying.

"Help open the door. ”

Wu Xia glanced at Zheng Qilin.

"Oh......"

Zheng Qilin grabbed the lock, and with a click, the lock opened...... With a bang, the iron cage was opened.

.........

Ten minutes later, the four of them left the cave, walked less than three or four miles of mountain roads, came to the side of the road, got into Wu Xia's car, and returned to Kuncheng.

In the car, they chatted, and Zheng Qilin also figured out what was going on.

This old man's name is Zhang Qihuang, an old Chinese medicine doctor with high moral and superb medical skills, and he is also a medicine collector on Kunlun Mountain. The devils kidnapped him in search of a legendary elixir, but he refused, so he was imprisoned here.

And the girl Wu Xia is with Jiang Xiaoyue, and she is still related to this old man.

In the car, Zheng Qilin chatted with the old man very speculatively, he was very interested in collecting medicine, and the old man told him some of his experience in collecting medicine with relish.

Go deep into the mountains, taste herbs, climb on the cliffs like apes to collect medicinal herbs, sleep in the mountains at night, and cook with a stone stove. This profession is their herb picker. The 70-year-old man Qihuang has been collecting medicine in the deep mountains and forests near Kunlun for more than 50 years, and is the only remaining professional medicine collector in the local area. He traveled all over the mountains near Kunlun and cured many patients with the collected mountain herbs. After the beginning of spring, around the Qingming Festival, it is the peak season of spring herbal medicine collection, and it is also the busiest time for herb pickers......

An hour later, they sent the old man to his residence, and I have to say that the old man's mental state was already in very good physical condition. Because of the perennial collection of medicine in the wild, Zhang Qihuang has dark skin and looks very burly and strong. His Mandarin has a local accent, but Zheng Qilin understands it all.

This place is called Takada Town, and the old man's yard is at the foot of a mountain.

With a few barking dogs, an old lady came out, and when she saw the old man, she was so excited that she almost cried.

......

A few hours later.

Zhang Qihuang was eating with a bowl of noodles, and at the same time took Zheng Qilin and Wu Xia with him, and introduced them to some of the medicinal herbs he picked, as for Jiang Xiaoyue, he went home for the time being.

In the warehouse, there are many pieces of traditional Chinese medicine stacked like firewood, and some branches and vines.

"This is grass coral, which specializes in making grass coral lozenges, also called Jiujie tea, clearing heat and detoxifying. This is mountain longan, which removes water and swelling, removes postpartum wind, and can also treat liver cancer. This is a two-sided needle, which can treat rheumatic joint pain, bruises. In the past, it was cut by hand, but now it can be cut by machine, which is much more convenient. ”

Speaking of Chinese herbal medicine, the old man Qi Huang is very bright.

After a while, two young men of about twenty years old came in a hurry, these two young men were the old man's apprentices, one was named Ah Lan and the other was Ah Feng.

Suddenly the apprentices came, and the old man went to rest for a while, and the two apprentices introduced Zheng Qilin Wuxia.

"What is that pile of firewood for?

Wu Xia asked curiously.

"It is used for medicinal purposes in the stew bath soup. Four large buckets of water are required for the herbal bath, which must be boiled with firewood to make the essence of the herbs completely dissolved in the water, and the two of us take turns to operate every day, and we have to get up at 3 o'clock in the morning to boil the potion......"

Alain recounted.

Opposite the firewood room is the medicine room, in which there are 4 cauldrons side by side, and the air exudes a strong aroma of Chinese herbs.

Alan and Ah Feng talked for a while, and Old Man Zhang came out again, he said that he was in good health and couldn't sleep, and he chatted with Zheng Qilin very much, and wanted to chat for a while.

Zheng Qilin took the opportunity to ask the old man about his experience in collecting medicine.

Zhang Qihuang is a family of Chinese herbal medicine. He said that his grandfather had taken him since he was a child to treat villagers with Chinese herbal medicine. His Chinese herbal medicine skills come from his father's inheritance and also from apprenticeship. His master was an old Zen master from a temple on Mount Kunlun. When he was 18 years old, his father heard that Zen masters often collected Chinese herbs in the depths of the mountains, so he sent him to study the arts. The master changed his name from Zhang Youzhe to Zhang Qihuang.

Qi Huang, the way of Qi Huang!

"Collecting herbs is a very difficult skill to learn, and it takes five years just to get started. ”

Zhang Qihuang said. There were too many Chinese herbs that he needed to identify. The recognition of medicine is also divided into one look, two touches, three smells, and four tastes. There is no physical herb need, such as "Compendium of Materia Medica" and "Tang Materia Medica". When the master led him into the door, the first thing he taught was to identify poisonous herbs. Foxglove, tea medicine (broken intestine grass), strychnine, oleander, goldenrod (mandala), tripterygium wilfordii...... The master led him to identify them one by one, and if he made a mistake, he would be beaten to the board. In five years, he can already identify more than 200 herbs. Next, learn how to tie knots on the cliff face and collect some rare "fairy grass".

In the courtyard, there is a tea shed that he built in the courtyard with planks and vines. The tea he drank was wild camellia and wild chrysanthemums picked from the mountains, and he also made flower cakes from the flowers picked from the mountains.

Zheng Qilin and Wu Xia tasted a cup of old man's tea, and it tasted really good.

The old man then preached that even now, at the age of seventy, he still goes up to the mountains every day to collect medicine. He has a very regular schedule, going to bed before 10 o'clock at night and getting up at 5 o'clock in the morning, which is the biological clock he has cultivated by going up the mountain to collect medicine for 50 years.

Even during the period of time when he was captured by those Oriental devils, he still rested and got up on time.

At the end of the chat, Zheng Qilin still asked Jialan Caodao for information.

The old man looked at Zheng Qilin in a daze.

"You saved me for the elixir?"

The old man's eyes flashed with disappointment.

"Sir, you misunderstood, saving you was completely by mistake. ”

Zheng Qilin then told him about the tiger he had met when he went into the mountain to collect medicine, and then came over there and saw several Oriental devils coming in and out of the cave.

"Oh, I see, so let's take you tomorrow!"

The old man hesitated and said.

"Thank you so much!"

Wu Xia hurriedly thanked.

Zheng Qilin smiled and didn't say a word of thanks.

In the evening, the old man prepared the necessary equipment for entering the mountain, a pair of hiking shoes, a firewood knife, a shovel, a telescope, and two snakeskin bags. The snakeskin bag contained steamed buns, bread and other dry food, as well as a pot of water, and returned to the fashion herbs. Usually going up the mountain alone, Zhang Qihuang also carries a small iron pot with him, a bag of rice, a bag of matches, and a lighter for cooking when he sleeps in the mountains after getting lost.

The old man told Zheng Qilin and Wu Xia that there were hundreds of mountain herbs in Kunlun Mountain. When I was a child, I went out to collect herbs, and I got up at 3 o'clock in the morning and set off, because some herbs had to be picked with dew. At that time, he wore straw sandals with spikes and carried a bamboo basket. Although there is a circle of cloth wrapped around the edge of the bamboo basket, the place where the bamboo basket is carried at the end of the day still has to wear out the skin. What's even more miserable is to wear straw sandals to climb the mountain, and when the weather is fine, the feet are full of blisters at the end of the day, and you need to use thorns to pick up the blisters, and wrap them with strips of cloth to continue walking. On rainy days, straw sandals walk on muddy mountain roads like a dance. After half a day, he became a clay figure.

At 5 o'clock in the morning, before dawn, the sound of making breakfast came from the kitchen. woke up Zheng Qilin and Wu Xia to eat.

At 6 o'clock, Zhang Qihuang took two disciples and Zheng Qilin Wuxia and set off on time. Before leaving, he first performed a "blessing" ceremony. He lit an incense stick and silently recited the name of the mountain god and the king of medicine in his mouth, praying for a smooth entry into the mountain.

"This is all handed down by the ancestors. ”

The old man said.

There are many rules in the pharmaceutical industry. First, no matter how valuable the medicinal materials are, they cannot all be dug up, and the source of medicine must be left for future generations. The second is that single seedlings and seedlings are not picked, so that the herbs in the mountains can grow endlessly. The third is to pray for blessings and worship ancestors before going up the mountain, silently recite the names of Shennong, the king of medicine, and the mountain god, pray for more precious medicinal materials, and also hope that the mountain god will bless peace and avoid wild beasts. Fourth, when you go into the mountains with your companions, you should talk less and do not call each other by their names.

Driving in the car, several people went to Kunlun Mountain again.

After an hour's drive, the group came to a winding path. It had rained last night, the road was slippery, the vines were crisscrossed, and the old man used a firewood knife in front of him to remove the weeds and bushes, as if he were walking on the ground.

"This is called purple flower root, which has the effect of clearing heat and detoxifying, and is effective for female breast hyperplasia. This is an eyepiece grass, which has the functions of dispelling rheumatism, channeling and lowering blood pressure. ”

By the way, the old man introduced the mountain herbs to his disciples, such as a number of family treasures.

"When I was a child, a villager was bitten by a snake on his right leg, and many doctors asked him and said that he would have his leg amputated. In the end, my father used Chinese herbal medicine to take an oral bath to remove the poison. Since then, I have felt that collecting medicine can cure diseases and save people, and the merit is immeasurable. When I found out the bitterness of collecting medicine, I was already obsessed with it and couldn't quit. ”

Zhang Qihuang said with a sigh.

"Hmm. ”

"Yes!"

Zheng Qilin and Wu Xia just nodded silently and didn't ask much. Whether Zheng Qilin can pick the Jialan grass this time depends on this old man, and he must not be offended.

"That's right. I tell you, different herbs are to be picked in different seasons. Experienced herb pickers know that it is a smooth sentence, picking lush leaves in spring, picking safflowers in summer, picking roots after autumn, and picking dead flowers in winter. In March, we began to dig Panpan dragon ginseng, in April, we dug half a lotus, and in May, we started digging Niu Dali. Herb pickers must first have basic skills. Before entering the mountain to collect medicine, it is necessary to understand the terrain and whether there are poisonous snakes and beasts in the mountain. If you want to go to patrol the mountains when you have time like a land lord, you will ask the master if you encounter herbs you don't know, and after a long time, you will know what herbs are in every corner of the mountain. Secondly, the herb picker must also have a good sense of sight and smell. I could see the medicinal herbs hundreds of meters away. Not only by looking, but also by smelling with the nose. ”

The old man looked proud.

"Do you think there's something wrong with Grandpa Zhang?"

Wu Xia asked Zheng Qilin in a low voice.

"Hmm. ”

Zheng Qilin nodded.

In fact, from the first time he saw this old man, he felt that something was wrong, but there were some things that he couldn't say more......

"I always have the feeling that Uncle Zhang is explaining what happened......"

Wu Xia continued.

"Don't talk nonsense. ”

Zheng Qilin reminded.