The Trail (5)

Group 5

Jin Baoyu and Tong Kenzhi was speeding towards a cliff that has a bush with red berries on them.

"These are them right?" Tong Kenzhi asks.

"They should be, they fit the prescription Master gave us. The blood berries. It's very strange for berries to grow on a cliffside." Jin Baoyu looked down the bushes again.

"It's because the cliff is called Red Cliff or Master called it Red Cliff. The paper she gave us said the cliff has tiny particles of iron which is why it's called Red Cliff and why the Blood Berries have their color and name." Tong Kenzhi was reading off the paper Jin Baoyu handed over.

Jin Baoyu was surprised he knows how to read. "Oh because, at least to my knowledge, blood contains iron which is why our blood is red. I wonder what she needs it for…?"

"Me too. It's very strange… I feel very safe with her. Which is why I want to help her but I have an uneasy feeling at the same time." Tong Kenzhi mind shuffles with different emotions.

"Right. We both know people don't help other people for no reason. I guess us helping her with her revenge is a trade but doesn't it feel like she is helping us too much?"

"A little bit…" He is confused at the change of attitude she gave him since they left that warehouse. "Aren't you… scared of me? I mean, I'm from the blood clan. Everyone isolated me from the group."

"Well…" She wasn't sure either but the little demon boy did give out a heavy aura every time anyone got near. "Well… I guess before you were a little hard to approach. It makes sense since we were all victims of slavery but now you feel more at ease. Especially now that we are a little more free."

"Right…"

"By the way kid, you are very smart only being 5 years old. It's no wonder she held you when no one else did."

He didn't know how to follow up on that sentence so he talked about how to get the berries. "But how are we going to get the blood berries? It's very far away down there… the cliff is very steep. How are we able to reach it?"

"I don't know… We need a rope or something. But we don't have one…" They both just stand there trying to think of a different plan but nothing comes up.

"Well, we still have about 2 days left, let just find the other ones. What do you think is the easiest one to get first, Kenzhi?" Jin Baoyu started calling Tong Kenzhi by his first name. He was shocked but he also didn't mind being called that.

"Well…" He looked at the piece of paper. "We can get some Jade leaves from the Jade flower. It is grown where there is a lot of water and has to have spiritual bees to pollinate them for the jade flower to be a spiritual herb."

"Why not? We also need Honey from the Spiritual Honey Bees anyway right?" Jin Baoyu looked at Tong Kenzhi for confirmation.

"We do. It also cures most poison. We should get a lot just in case something poisons us in the forest."

"Great, let's get going."

They both walk towards the sound of water running hoping to find the Jade flower.

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Group 6

Li Dan E and Zhao Meiying has found the first spiritual herb in their list already. "Wow, we found that fast! I can't believe you used to be an apprentice!" Li Dan E was so excited to find the herb already.

"Yeah, it's no problem. I'm glad to have some knowledge before I was…" Zhao Meiying has told Li Dan E what her life was before this.

Zhao Meiying was born an orphan. She was taken care of by a doctor in her area and they had good times together. The doctor was kind and amazing but she was poor. The village they were from was poor but they live happily being with each other. One day, the doctor fell in love with a man in the same village and that man kidnapped Zhao Meiying to sell her to the slave market to get money for drugs.

That was 6 years ago and Zhao Meiying is still trying to find her village. "I had so much fun but that guy was only using my teacher for her knowledge of herbs. Since she is a doctor and he is her husband, of course, he wouldn't be a suspect of drug-making and selling."

"That's horrible…" Li Dan E and Zhao Meiying bonded together since they have similar interests.

"Anyway, because we got the spiritual light fern and we still have a little less than 3 days left. We have to make sure it's preserved and we can also use our qi to do so." Zhao Meiying was explaining how to do that to Li Dan E since those two want to be Alchemist.

"But make sure you don't insert your qi in the spiritual herb. It's going to mess with the herb and the herb may absorb the energy-giving the herb a different compound then it originally was."

"Ah, that makes sense." They both try with normal flowers and leaves before they finally succeed on a small layer around it. Took them longer than 6 hours until they both out it. They then slowly and carefully did the same with the spiritual light fern and placed the now preserved herb in their pouches.