Chapter 201

Our Discord Server: https://discord.gg/PazjBDkTmW

Zhang Xiaohua cautiously approached and softly asked: “Captain He, what… what happened here?”

He Tianshu didn’t turn around but sighed and said: “See for yourself. I have no idea what’s going on either.”

Zhang Xiaohua hesitated to step forward and instead admitted in a low voice: “Captain He, it’s my fault. I got too caught up in participating in the Martial Arts Competition and didn’t properly take care of the medicinal fields.”

He Tianshu glanced back at Zhang Xiaohua and shook his head. “You can’t take all the blame for this. After all, the medicine fields are under the care of our Medicine Hall. You were only here to help. And honestly, I’ve also been overly focused on preparing for the tournament and overlooked the fields. That’s on me too.”

Seeing that He Tianshu didn’t reproach him, Zhang Xiaohua felt even more guilty. He finally stepped forward, entered the field, and crouched down to carefully examine the herbs under the torchlight.

Although the lighting wasn’t ideal, he could make out that the leaves of the herbs were slightly withered, with yellowish edges appearing along their sides. Having read extensively about medicinal plants, Zhang Xiaohua immediately recognized these as symptoms of imminent decay.

He was puzzled. The withering of herbs wasn’t uncommon—many books mentioned that a portion of plants in any medicinal field would naturally die. However, what was unusual here was that these fields at Huanxi Villa had always been meticulously tended to, and everything had been fine before. How could such a drastic change occur in just a few days?

Moreover, the books stated that once medicinal herbs exhibited signs of decay, there was no way to save them. Thinking of this, Zhang Xiaohua raised his head and asked: “Captain He, what do you think we should do? Do you have any good ideas?”

He Tianshu shook his head. “This kind of situation has been around for thousands of years, and no one has ever found a solution. What could I possibly do? To be honest, we’ve always been prepared for something like this to happen. But for the past year, the herbs have been growing so well that I let my guard down and overlooked the possibility. Alas.”

He Tianshu had used the word “overlooked” twice in a row, which clearly showed he felt guilty about what had happened in the medicinal fields.

Zhang Xiaohua glanced at the pitch-black fields and asked; “Brother Xiao’er, roughly how many of the herbs are showing signs of withering?”

Nie Xiao’er replied: “About sixty percent.”

“What?” Zhang Xiaohua was startled. “That much? Isn’t it usually only ten to twenty percent?”

Nie Xiao’er sighed: “Exactly! Why else would we be so anxious?”

He Tianshu looked at Zhang Xiaohua and asked: “You were the only one in the fields during this time. Think carefully—did anything unusual happen?”

Zhang Xiaohua lowered his head and thought for a long time. “During this time, I’ve been staying in the little hut by the fields to focus on cultivating my internal strength. From dawn to dusk, I was always near the fields, but I never noticed anything unusual. Everything seemed just like when you were here.”

He Tianshu frowned. “Think again. There must have been something different from before. Even if it seems unrelated to the herbs, mention it.”

After thinking for a while, Zhang Xiaohua said: “If there’s anything different, it’s that the weeds in the fields seemed to decrease day by day, which wasn’t the case before. However, after it rained one day, there were suddenly a lot of weeds again. But afterward, they started decreasing once more.”

He Tianshu, Nie Xiao’er, and the others listened carefully but couldn’t make sense of it. From what they had learned in the Medicine Hall, there was never any mention of a relationship between weeds and medicinal herbs—they were only taught to pull weeds as necessary.

Seeing their silence, Zhang Xiaohua tentatively asked: “Captain He, could there be something wrong with the soil?”

He Tianshu shook his head and said: “That’s impossible. This soil was all brought over from the Medicine Hall, and I’ve just inspected it—everything is normal. The moisture levels are also adequate.”

After some thought, Zhang Xiaohua added: “Captain He, I’ve been meaning to ask you this for a while. The symptoms of these withering herbs seem similar to the crops back in Guo Village when they lacked base fertilizer. For crops, we would usually apply some manure as fertilizer, and within a few days, they’d recover.”

“Pfft!” He Tianshu couldn’t help but laugh, and Nie Xiao’er and the others followed suit.

He Tianshu chuckled and said: “Zhang Xiaohua, oh Zhang Xiaohua, do you think these herbs are the same as the crops your family grows? Crops grow fruits and can benefit from base fertilizer, but medicinal herbs can’t. You’ve read so many books—did any of them mention using manure as fertilizer for medicinal herbs?”

Zhang Xiaohua scratched his head awkwardly and shook his head.

He Tianshu continued: “It’s good that you’re trying to draw analogies based on what you’ve read, but not all experiences can be applied arbitrarily. If you were to spread manure in the herb fields, Elder He would probably string you up for a beating!”

The group burst into laughter again.

Zhang Xiaohua scratched his head and said: “I was just offering a suggestion. Besides, when I left Huanxi Villa, there really wasn’t anything unusual about these herb fields.”

He Tianshu nodded with a smile. “We know. If there had been even the slightest issue with the herb fields, you would have reported it right away. You might not have even participated in the Martial Arts Competition. That much, we’re sure of. However, the fact that sixty percent of the herbs are now on the verge of withering is highly unusual. We’ll report this to the elders tomorrow and let them decide. Still, I doubt we’ll escape a charge of negligence.”

Zhang Xiaohua was alarmed. “Isn’t that bad? What kind of punishment might we face?”

He Tianshu patted Zhang Xiaohua’s shoulder and said: “No need to worry. We haven’t even figured out the cause yet, so the blame might not fall on us. Even if we’re held accountable, at most, it’ll mean a deduction of a few months’ allowance or being confined for a while.”

Only then did Zhang Xiaohua relax. “That’s not too bad. I was worried we might get expelled from the sect.”

Everyone glared at him angrily. “It’s just that more herbs have withered this time. Every year, some of the herbs die off to some extent. This time, it’s just more than usual. And you’re talking about expulsion? Such a sinister thought is truly vile!”

After saying this, they all pretended to raise their fists to hit Zhang Xiaohua.

Zhang Xiaohua quickly begged for mercy. Nie Xiao’er, glancing at the nearby straw hut, said: “Alright then. If Zhang Xiaohua wants to earn our forgiveness, he can stand watch in the hut tonight and keep an eye on the herb fields. If he manages to uncover the cause of the withering herbs, we’ll let him off the hook.”

Zhang Xiaohua smiled bitterly and said: “I don’t mind keeping watch, but finding the cause is going to be tough. The books don’t even mention it. Where am I supposed to find clues?”

Nie Xiao’er and the others were insistent. “Just stay here and keep watch. Who knows? Maybe some opportunity will arise.”

After thinking it over, Zhang Xiaohua realized that he had been spending his nights in this thatched shed before heading off to Piaomiao Manor for the Martial Arts Competition. Coming back to stay here wasn’t a big deal, so he nodded in agreement.

He Tianshu chuckled and said: “You don’t have to. They’re just teasing you. Don’t take it seriously.”

But by this point, Zhang Xiaohua had become determined. With such a major issue happening in the herb fields, he felt that he bore some responsibility for not being vigilant enough. Spending a night by the herb fields could at least ease some of the guilt weighing on his heart.

Seeing that Zhang Xiaohua was determined to stay, He Tianshu did not insist further. He knew this fellow often practiced martial arts while keeping watch, so returning to the field under the guise of standing guard seemed more like a symbolic gesture to express his guilt. Noticing the late hour, He Tianshu gave a few instructions before leading Nie Xiao’er and the others back to their courtyard.

Once they had gone far enough, Zhang Xiaohua began carefully examining the herb fields again. As Nie Xiao’er had described, most of the herbs were in dire condition. The edges of their leaves had turned yellow to varying degrees. Zhang Xiaohua was utterly puzzled. When he was here, there had been no abnormalities at all. How could such a drastic change occur in just a few days?

Standing amidst the herb fields for a long time without gaining any insights, he returned to the thatched hut. There, he painstakingly reviewed every detail of the past month spent guarding the fields. Yet, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

By now, it was deep into the night. Zhang Xiaohua sat cross-legged and began practicing the internal cultivation technique of the [Carefree Heart Sutra]. Extending his senses to detect the Yuan Qi from the outside world, he prepared to draw the energy into his body to refine his meridians.

But as soon as his senses expanded, he was startled to discover that the Yuan Qi in the herb field seemed to have diminished significantly, at least by half compared to before. Zhang Xiaohua was astonished. How could the environment have changed so drastically in just a few days of his absence? Still, he reassured himself that the Yuan Qi here, although reduced, was better than in the forest.

With that thought, Zhang Xiaohua calmed his mind and started drawing the energy into his body. However, as he guided a few strands of Yuan Qi into his body, a sudden realization struck him like lightning. His heart skipped a beat. Could it be? Could the true culprit behind the withering herbs really be himself?

Just as Zhang Xiaohua was lost in thought, midnight arrived and he naturally fell asleep as per his routine. The first layer of the [Carefree Heart Sutra] began to operate on its own, his body emanating faint, mysterious undulations. An endless stream of starlight, along with the sparse Yuan Qi of Heaven and Earth lingering in the night sky, was greedily drawn into his body.

Through countless pores, the Yuan Qi and starlight were absorbed, refined, and merged into the thin, barely perceptible strands of True Qi within him.

The night passed uneventfully. It wasn’t until a pale sun began to rise over the horizon that Zhang Xiaohua abruptly opened his eyes. Though the sky was overcast and gloomy, he took a deep breath, feeling a subtle essence from the morning air infuse into his body.

Rising to his feet, Zhang Xiaohua stepped out of the grass hut and again carefully inspected the entire herb field. He couldn’t tell if it was due to the darkness obscuring his view the previous night or if his practice of drawing Qi into his body had exacerbated the situation. Regardless, the signs of withering among the herbs seemed even more severe than before.

Zhang Xiaohua let out a long sigh. This desolate scene was undeniably the result of his own actions. Although it was an unintentional mistake, the damage was real, and he had no idea how to explain himself to He Tianshu.

If he hadn’t realized last night that the Yuan Qi he absorbed for cultivation was the same energy these herbs relied upon to grow, he might have felt less guilty, dismissing the situation as an accident. But last night’s insight had revealed the truth. The faint stream of Yuan Qi descending into the herb field wasn’t random; it was the energy these herbs had painstakingly drawn from the heavens and earth to sustain themselves. Yet, he had unknowingly intercepted and consumed it.

By depriving the herbs of the vital energy they needed for growth, he had directly caused their decline. No matter how he looked at it, there was no excuse. He was unquestionably responsible!