Chapter 32: The Ginseng Child

To be fair, burrowing in the medicinal garden is indeed a good method. While practicing the “Shrink Earth” technique, Lu Yang could also learn about herbal knowledge in practice, making up for his deficiency in this area. It’s a win-win situation.

Senior Sister is thinking for his benefit.

Senior Sister is thinking for his benefit.

Senior Sister is thinking for his benefit.

Lu Yang hypnotized himself into believing that his senior sister had his best interests at heart. After truly accepting his task to replace earthworms in burrowing, he remembered something: earthworms don’t usually have genders.

“Why do earthworms have a husband and wife?”

Old Ba explained, “Ordinary earthworms indeed don’t have genders, a characteristic of lower life forms, oh, I don’t mean any offense by that. Intelligent, transformative earthworms do have genders, especially the Silver Ring Heavenly King Worms, the king of all earthworms, possessing a bloodline suppression over all other earthworms.”

“I understand. Please continue.”

Old Ba went on, “There was no issue with the Silver Ring Heavenly King Worm couple managing the soil loosening. But then, I made a careless comment, asking the wife if, like earthworms that can survive being cut in half, she could do the same to take turns working with her new self.”

“She was tempted by my words and immediately cut herself in half, turning into two individuals.”

“It was like seeing identical twins, no, more like a clone. I watched one person turn into two and couldn’t tell which was the original.”

“Fortunately, they themselves could distinguish.”

“When the husband returned and saw two wives, he was completely dumbfounded. The two women then asked him whom he preferred.”

“Being a straightforward man, he confessed his liking for both.”

“Then, a family feud erupted. The three of them got caught up in a series of love and hate dramas and have since lost interest in working.” Old Ba seemed very remorseful in his tone.

Lu Yang: “...”

What a bunch of lunatics.

“How exactly should I do this?” After his rant, Lu Yang quickly adjusted his mindset, gradually adapting to the thinking of cultivators.

It’s all trivial matters.

Old Ba stroked his white beard with a smile: “Just go inside, someone will guide you. But I must warn you, entering the medicinal garden is for loosening the soil. If you dare to pick any herbs, the Silu Peak will hold you accountable!”

Silu Peak, managed by the eldest senior, is known for its justice and impartiality.

The ginseng child was chubby with sturdy legs, running around Lu Yang energetically. Its roots served as arms, flapping as it ran. Its body’s patterns formed facial features, expressing emotions just like a human.

“Young man, who are you?” the ginseng child asked in an elderly tone.

Being an intelligent ginseng, it was certainly old, so Lu Yang didn’t dare to be disrespectful and bowed, “My name is Lu Yang, and I’m here to loosen the soil in the medicinal garden.”

“Just here to loosen the soil,” the ginseng child sighed in relief, worried that another hateful human had come to pick them.

It had nurtured all the herbs in the garden.

“You must have been allowed in by Little Ba. Besides him and that female demon, it’s been a while since I’ve seen outsiders.”

To the aged ginseng child, even Old Ba was just a junior.

What use is high cultivation when the true measure among them is longevity? It looked down on everyone in the Dao Seeking Sect.

Lu Yang knew the rules of the medicinal garden: the herbs were precious, and if one wanted to take any, they had to ask the garden’s caretaker. Without this task, Lu Yang wouldn’t have been allowed in.

He wondered who the ‘female demon’ the ginseng child referred to was. Another caretaker of the garden?

The ginseng child, with its roots akimbo, complained, “Why are all you humans so tall?”

Lu Yang also found it inconvenient to talk down, so he used his “Shrink” technique to reduce his size to three inches, matching the ginseng child’s height.

“Ah, you’re quite capable, much better than Little Ba,” the ginseng child exclaimed, pleased to see a human of its own size. It always disliked having to look up at humans.

The ginseng child was one solid piece, with no neck.

“From now on in this garden, just follow me,” it declared boldly, patting Lu Yang’s shoulder in approval.

“I still have some things to do, but I’ll take you to meet the other Medicine Kings after I’m finished.”

Medicine Kings were the most precious and intelligent of herbs. Even the most powerful sects might not possess one. Any sect which was a Medicine King would treat it like an ancestor.

From the ginseng child’s words, it seemed there were quite a few like it in the garden.

Lu Yang marveled inwardly at the profound depth of the Dao Seeking Sect.

(End of the chapter)