Although it is a Jurchen territory, there are many Han people from the mainland who come and go here, most of them are fur traders, and a small number are Changbai visitors.

Changbai Mountain is located in the bitter cold land of Saibei, and the ginseng produced is hot in the cold, warm but not dry, and it is the best choice for nourishing and healing. An ordinary Changbai wild ginseng can be sold for more than 100 taels, and the price of ginseng over 100 years old has doubled according to its size and weight.

Although ginseng is priceless, it grows under harsh conditions, likes yin and yang, is far away from people, and often grows in inaccessible places. Some even grow in mountain crevices and cliffs, making it extremely difficult to pick. However, because of its high value, there are still many people who are willing to risk their lives and sacrifice their lives to search.

Fang Zhengkun has been here many years ago and is familiar with the nearby roads. He took Xu Puxian to repair a town specializing in fur trading at the bottom of the mountain for a day, prepared some dry food and water, and was afraid that the mountain would be too cold, so he made five catties of soju as a cold. Everything was prepared, and early the next morning, he took Xu Pu to Changbai Mountain.

Changbai Mountain is more than 1,000 zhang high, the snow on the top of the mountain does not melt all year round, all year round, the top of the mountain is a piece of snow white, look at it from a distance, as if a white-haired old man, so Changbai Mountain is also called Baitou Mountain, the Tianchi they want to go to, is on the top of Changbai Mountain.

Because of its high altitude, ordinary people climb from the foot of the mountain to the top of the mountain, at least four or five days, and more than ten days. Fang Zhengkun has peerless martial arts, and he can climb to the top of the mountain in only two or three days, but because he brought Xu Pu, the progress of climbing the mountain has been slowed down somewhat.

On the first day of going up the mountain, you can occasionally meet some passers-by, most of whom are local hunters and visitors. The next day, as they climbed, they encountered fewer passers-by. By the third day, the two of them had already passed half of their journey, and they had not met any living people along the way, and as far as the eye could see, there were only two of them alive except for the gray rocks and the cypress forests.

At noon, the two stopped for a short rest, ate some dry food, and then continued on their way. At this time, there was no road on the mountain, Fang Zhengkun could only follow the slower part of the mountain, crawling upward, sometimes the mountain was too steep, Xu Pu couldn't even stand, Fang Zhengkun carried him on his back and passed.

After walking for nearly an hour, Fang Zhengkun took Xu Puzheng forward, and behind the bluestone on the side, two big men suddenly jumped out, each holding a steel knife, pointing at the two and shouting: "Hey, that Taoist priest!

This is more than half a day down, did not meet a living person, at this time suddenly jumped out of two people, Fang Zhengkun was unprepared, but was startled, when looking carefully, I saw that both of them were in their twenties, one tall and one short, strong, rugged faces, but it didn't look like they were with profound martial arts, so they smiled slightly, and said, "The two of you want to block the road and rob?"

The tall man looked at Fang Zhengkun carefully and said, "You are a stinky Taoist priest, how many taels of silver can you have? Even if you have, we are not rare." To tell you the truth, this one will not work, and we are here to persuade you. If you want to go up the mountain, look for another path so you don't waste time. ”

Fang Zhengkun looked behind the two of them, and saw that there was a smooth road ahead, not like a dead end, and besides, these two people looked hideous, their words were arrogant, and they didn't look like people with good intentions, so he said: "Thank you two for your kindness, it is not easy to get here, if you find another way, it will only delay more time." The two are kind, the poor road is understood, but this road, the poor road must be walked, if the front is really unable to travel, when the poor road returns, thank you again. "Then you have to move forward.

The short man scolded: "Why are you so ignorant of what to do, you are so kindly persuaded to do so, but you don't listen." Why don't you still ask our brothers to do it?"

The tall man also said: "Old Dao, if you really do it, you can't get cheap." At the worst, you will break your arms and legs, and at worst, you will end up with the life of your old hairy dog!"

Fang Zhengkun couldn't help but be angry when he heard the other party scolding, his face was silent, he smiled slightly, and said, "Is it? As he spoke, he took a step forward.

The short man scolded: "The old miscellaneous hair is looking for death!" he said, slashing down with a knife.

Fang Zhengkun stepped sideways, dodging the blade, and at the same time raised his left hand to hold the inch ruler of the opponent's wrist. The internal force is everywhere, and the short man feels numb all over his body, and he can't exert the slightest strength, and as soon as his hand is released, the steel knife falls to the ground. Fang Zhengkun's right foot swept and clicked twice, breaking the short man's legs. The short man screamed and fell to the ground, wailing.

When the tall man saw this, he was furious, shouted, and slashed down with the steel knife in his hand. Fang Zhengkun didn't wait for his steel knife to fall, followed a step, and swung out his right palm, hitting the tall man's chest. With a thud, the tall man fell straight backwards and fell to the ground on his back, vomiting blood from his mouth.

Fang Zhengkun snorted slightly coldly and pulled Xu Pu forward.

After walking forward for half an hour, two more people jumped out from behind the tree, and what they said was not much different from what they had just said. Fang Zhengkun was not polite at all, still injured the two with heavy hands, and then continued to step forward with Xu Pu.

After walking forward for another stick of incense, Fang Zhengkun suddenly asked about a fragrance that seemed to be absent, and when he wanted to distinguish it carefully, the fragrance disappeared again.

Fang Zhengkun looked at Xu Pu and asked him, "Have you smelled a fragrance?"

Xu Pu glanced at him and ignored him.

Xu Pu hated Fang Zhengkun very much, and he rarely talked to him along the way, and even if he spoke, he never had a good mood. Fang Zhengkun has long been used to it, and he doesn't care.

I walked forward for a while, and the fragrance I had smelled before became clearer.

Fang Zhengkun is obsessed with alchemy, often dealing with various drugs, and is very familiar with the smell of various drugs. He closed his eyes again and tasted it carefully, trying to discern what kind of medicine it was scenting. I only feel that this fragrance is soft and mellow, but there is no fishy smell, it should be the fragrance of plants and trees. Moreover, although this fragrance is elegant and traceless, it is refreshing to the heart, just smelling it, it makes people feel shocked, it should be the fragrance of some rare herb. But what kind of herb it was, Fang Zhengkun had no impression.

Thinking of someone blocking the road just now, Fang Zhengkun thought: Could it be that someone in front of him planted some kind of rare medicinal herb, in order to prevent outsiders from picking it, so let people block it on the road? However, when I went up the mountain a few years ago, I also passed by in this vicinity, but I didn't smell this fragrance. Presumably, it had not been planted at that time. It's just that where to grow herbs is not good, why do you choose such a remote Changbai Mountain? Moreover, choose this halfway up the mountain?