Zhang Xiaofan slung the medicine basket on his back, clutching a sickle, and headed straight for the big mountain behind Stone Village.
Half an hour later, Zhang Xiaofan finally made his way to the foot of the mountain behind the village.
There were only three kinds of medicinal herbs needed to cure Sun Qian's illness, none of them particularly rare but also not very common.
Although the mountain behind Stone Village was known as Herbal Medicine Mountain, Zhang Xiaofan wasn't certain that it would have all of them.
Especially one type of herb, the chances of finding it were quite slim.
After searching for more than two hours, Zhang Xiaofan had only managed to find two of the three kinds.
"Looks like, I'll need to buy it at the town's pharmacy."
Having no other choice, Zhang Xiaofan decided to go to the town's pharmacy to buy it.
On his way back, Zhang Xiaofan heard the sound of animals walking through the dense forest, rustling and bustling.
"Could it be the wild boars Brother Tie Zhu mentioned?"
This scared Zhang Xiaofan into breaking out in a cold sweat.
Although the wild boar won't attack humans on its own, if you enter its territory, it will consider you an invader and attack you.
Zhang Xiaofan quickly crouched down, his eyebrows tightly knitted, and his hand firmly gripping the sickle, his back drenched with sweat.
Suddenly, Zhang Xiaofan heard what sounded like a dog whimpering.
Three seconds later, it stopped.
Zhang Xiaofan sensed something was awry and started walking forward with cautious steps.
After a few meters, he saw fresh blood dripping onto the leaves on the ground.
Zhang Xiaofan followed the trail of blood.
Then, he saw an animal, roughly seventy to eighty centimeters long with grey-brown fur, lying on the ground.
It was covered in wounds, with its skin turned inside out, its innards seemingly protruding, and its bones clearly visible—it was a brutal sight.
Considering the situation plus the fact that it wasn't moving, Zhang Xiaofan was sure the animal was dead.
So, he mustered the courage to walk up to it.
Through its size and distinctive features, Zhang Xiaofan identified it as a musk deer, a forest musk deer.
Looking at the musk deer's wounds, Zhang Xiaofan guessed that it must have been injured by jackals, wolves, leopards, or tigers.
Although it had managed to escape, the severe injuries led to excessive blood loss, resulting in its death.
"What a pity, the forest musk deer is a national first-class protected animal; who would have thought it would appear here?"
"Huh?"
Zhang Xiaofan noticed an oval-shaped sac beside the musk deer.
"Musk!"
Zhang Xiaofan exclaimed excitedly.
Although he had never seen musk in reality, he was still quite familiar with it.
Without a second thought, Zhang Xiaofan quickly picked up the musk pod and swiftly left the area.
Because, this was no place to linger; the animal that had wounded the musk deer had to be particularly ferocious, and if it came here following the scent, he would be in trouble.
So he chose to take the treasure and quickly make his getaway.
Clutching the musk, Zhang Xiaofan ran at the speed of a hundred meters sprint for ten minutes and stopped only when he felt tired.
Looking at the musk in his hand, Zhang Xiaofan remembered that it was a very famous medicinal material.
Moreover, it was expensive, worth more than gold, especially natural musk, which was rare and had particularly high medicinal value.
Of course, how expensive it was, Zhang Xiaofan didn't actually know.
"Take it to the town's medicine shop and ask."
...
Upon his return to Stone Village, Zhang Xiaofan told Zhao Tieniu about the situation and that he had to go to town to buy one of the medicinal herbs.
While Stone Village was not particularly far from the town, it still required a two-hour walk.
So Zhao Tieniu lent his somewhat aged three-wheeled motorcycle to Zhang Xiaofan.
If he drove the three-wheeler, he could get to the town in half an hour.
Zhang Xiaofan rode the motorcycle to town, looking incredibly cool.
However, riding a three-wheeled motorcycle on mountain roads was too bumpy after all.
By the time he reached the town, Zhang Xiaofan's butt had gone numb.
He walked with an unusual gait.
Zhang Xiaofan made the rounds in town and asked at several herbal medicine shops, but none had the medicinal herb he needed.
When he arrived at a shop called "Herbal Medicine Hall", Zhang Xiaofan decided that if they didn't have it, he would have to go to the county.
Zhang Xiaofan entered the Herbal Medicine Hall, only to find it deserted.
Just as he was about to shout and ask if anyone was there, a very suggestive sound came from inside a room of the pharmacy.
It was followed by an embarrassing conversation.
"You devil, once is enough, you still want it twice, can you even handle that?"
"Damn it! I've been holding back for a week now, if you don't come over, I might have to find someone else."
"Yo! You've really got guts, thinking about finding a second one."
"Can you find a second woman in Shiao Town who is prettier than me, has a better figure, and is more experienced?"
"Heh! That's why I'm almost bursting with frustration just waiting for you."
"Get lost, don't touch me, and you still think about finding a second woman."
"Hey! Don't go! The effects of the medicine haven't worn off yet, let's do it one more time."
"You bastard, so you were on medicine. No wonder you were so capable. Are you useless without it, just like my husband at home?"
"Don't compare me to the trash at your house. Even without medicine, I'm a real man. I can last ten minutes, while that guy at your house can't even last half a minute. He doesn't deserve to be called a man."
"Besides, hehe! I take medicine just for you. You're like a bottomless pit, never satisfied."
"I'm telling you, don't let this get out. The guy at my house is the village bully of Stone Village."
"I'm not stupid. Your man has been to prison before. But I didn't expect that such a tough guy would be no good in bed, haha!"
Zhang Xiaofan had thought the couple inside might be husband and wife, since it's more likely for spouses to engage in such acts during the daytime in a shop.
It was only after listening further that he realized these were people sneaking around for an affair.
When he heard the woman mention the village bully of Stone Village, Zhang Xiaofan was certain.
The woman was definitely from Stone Village.
Zhang Xiaofan recalled that the village bully of Stone Village was none other than Zhao Tiezhu.
Plus, since the woman mentioned prison time, Zhang Xiaofan was one hundred percent sure it was Zhao Tiezhu.
Ten years ago, Zhao Tiezhu was imprisoned for causing serious injury to someone and had served several years.
After getting out, he returned to Stone Village; he bullied men and women alike, becoming the notorious village tyrant. He opened a factory, built a small villa in the village, and started driving a small sedan.
Zhang Xiaofan thought to himself, Who would have guessed Zhao Tiezhu married such a wife who likes to cheat, and that he's not up to snuff in bed?
"Alright, get to it, let me really enjoy it once more."
"Otherwise, I'll have to wait another week."
"Heh heh! Quick, sit down on it."
"You bastard, be gentle with me!"
"If he sees bruises on me when I get home, I'm done for, and so will you be."
"Just yesterday, a guy from the village named Zhang Quandan got in trouble for looking at my chest for too long; my man found out and said he'd have someone blind him."
Upon hearing the name Zhang Quandan, Zhang Xiaofan's eyes snapped open, and he took a step back.
"Bang!"
He knocked over a jar of medicinal herbs.
"Damn, someone's here!"