Meng Shushu kept digging as he said, "When digging up spiritual medicines, be careful not to damage them. Otherwise, their medicinal power will leak away. Once too much time passes, there won't be much medicinal power left."
He was a spiritual medicine prospector and thus intimately familiar with various kinds of spiritual medicines.
He continued to explain to Xu Yan and his companion, "Herb-type spiritual medicines aren't so delicate; as long as they are dug up without significant damage, there won't be a loss of medicinal power. For fruit-type spiritual medicines, special attention is required—they must be harvested with the calyx attached. As for those like Di Yue bamboo shoots that grow underground, be a bit more careful when digging them up to avoid damage, but it should not be a big issue.
"Those that grow underground usually have a protective coating.
