Early in the morning.
A team of twenty-two people seeking ginseng found a mountain path and began the ascent.
With more than twenty people, it was natural to split into groups, roughly four or five each, searching different areas.
How many one could find depended on personal luck.
The leader was an old man, known in the village as Uncle Liu.
Uncle Liu was a competent man, unambiguous in his work, owning several cows and farming a few acres of land. He often liked mountain rushing, being a professional mountain runner.
In his youth, he had already begun climbing the mountains to dig for wild ginseng.
In the past, wild ginseng was more plentiful; occasionally, several large ones could be unearthed. But over the years, the wild ginseng has become scarcer and consequently more valuable.
Nowadays, many people also grow forest undergrowth ginseng by planting ginseng seeds in a forest, remembering the location, and returning in a couple of years to harvest.
Forest undergrowth ginseng is still mountain ginseng, but its medicinal effects can't compare to pure wild ginseng, and most are just one or two years old, at most five years.
So the price is not high.
Once in the mountains, Xu Yang began live streaming.
Soon, the number of viewers in the room started to grow.
Xu Yang would edit videos daily. The videos could attract some netizens' attention, and he now had over 2,300 fans following his account.
The number of fans wasn't much, considering he had just started with short videos.
But, for a new account, this was already quite impressive.
Xu Yang's plan was to build the live stream steadily, step by step.
"Today, we are going into the mountains to dig for wild ginseng; we might do this for several days in a row."
"Digging for wild ginseng requires a lot of knowledge, and whether you find any is all down to luck."
"Now we are all heading up the mountain."
"Ordinary people going into the mountains will definitely not find wild ginseng, so it's necessary to follow an experienced leader."
"Today is our first day in the mountains, and we also need to worship the mountain god."
As Xu Yang walked up the mountain, he explained things to the net audience.
Seeing a crowd marching up the mountain, the online audience became interested.
[Digging for wild ginseng? Can you really find any?]
[Finally starting the dig!]
[Go for it, host! I have faith in you!]
[How much can you earn from one dig, and are you short of people?]
Comments kept streaming in.
Digging for ginseng amounted to a money-making business and usually, of course, outsiders wouldn't be brought along.
For specifics, one could refer to the cordyceps digging in Xizang.
During the cordyceps season, local herdsmen would start going into the mountains to dig for them. If outsiders came in, the locals would band together to drive them out, often by violent means.
However, Changbai Mountain didn't have this kind of rule. Anyone who wanted to dig could do so, taking responsibility for their safety, and success depended on one's skill.
Soon, the ginseng diggers found a clearing.
Then, everyone took a stick and planted it into the ground, tying a red rope to the end of the stick.
The ground was soon full of inserted sticks.
The online audience found this curiosity-provoking.
Xu Yang explained:
"We're preparing to worship the mountain now, before going into the mountains to pay tribute to the Mountain God."
"On one hand, it's to pray for the Mountain God's protection for our safety, and on the other, for blessings to make us wealthy."
"Only those who live within nature understand how terrifying the power of nature can be."
"Hence the human practice of worship, from ancient times to this day."
"Fishermen in the south have their own Ma Zu culture, which is based on the same principle."
Upon hearing Xu Yang's explanations, the audience began to understand.
At that moment, Uncle Liu looked up, directing his gaze towards the main peak of Changbai Mountain, and laid out some yellow paper on the ground.
Then everyone took out apples, peaches, and pastries to place on the yellow paper.
After that, Uncle Liu took a bundle of incense, lit it all at once, and planted it in the ground.
He faced the main peak of Changbai Mountain and began to chant:
"Mountain God, venerable leader, bless us with wealth as we ascend the mountain."
"Today, we enter the mountains in search of Big Hammer."
"Bless us with safety and success in finding Big Hammer."
Big Hammer referred to wild ginseng; this was insider slang.
"Alright, time to bow our heads."
Uncle Liu spoke once more.
Everyone knelt on their own, facing the main peak of Changbai Mountain, and kowtowed three times.
Worshiping the Mountain God was a custom everyone observed before digging for wild ginseng in the mountains.
Some even needed to specially build an altar for the ceremony.
Here, they used a simple method, spreading some yellow paper, offering fruit, burning a bundle of incense, and kowtowing three times.
Folk culture is always intriguing.
The number of viewers in the live streaming room also began to increase.
"Okay, everyone eat the offerings, and then let's split up and look for ginseng,"
"We'll start heading into the mountain from here, but don't go too far."
Uncle Liu arranged.
The others listened to him, ate some apples and peaches, and then set off in groups into the interior.
Xu Hongshan asked Xu Yang to follow him.
But Xu Yang waved his hand, indicating he had his own plans.
The deep forests may be dangerous, but Xu Hongshan, who always had a big heart, wasn't worried about Xu Yang going alone.
Xu Yang's mother sometimes thought it was a miracle that Xu Yang had grown up alive; both father and son were too fearless.
Xu Yang naturally wanted to go alone, after all, he had the Treasure Compass, and he hadn't used it for three times already.
Now entering the deeper mountain regions, it was the perfect time to use it.
Changbai Mountain was so vast that they had walked in for over three hours that day and had not even passed a single mountain peak.
Changbai Mountain has countless such peaks.
"I'm now deep in the mountains,"
"In such places, where human footprints are rare year-round, mountain runners usually don't dare to go too deep because it's too dangerous,"
Xu Yang continued walking further into the mountain and simultaneously educated the online friends.
He entered into the dense forest once again.
The scenery within imposing mountains always seems somewhat mystical.
Especially here, in the heart of pure nature, it gives people a sense of freshness.
Xu Yang kept walking deeper, and after reaching a certain distance, he chose to use the Treasure Compass to locate mountain products.
Soon, the locations of three mountain products appeared on his phone.
"I hope there's Wild Ginseng, preferably old Wild Ginseng,"
Xu Yang thought to himself.
There were many valuable treasures in the mountain.
Xu Yang was full of anticipation for this treasure hunt.
He began searching the ground.
Although he had the location from the Treasure Compass, he could also look around as he walked; he might stumble upon something valuable.
"Everyone, look at this area, these are wild Pueraria Root, a type of medicinal herb, but not particularly valuable,"
"Pueraria Root after drying can be sliced and soaked in water to clear heat and defeat fire,"
"Pueraria Root is not expensive, and there's about two or three hundred pounds of it here. I don't have the tools and cannot transport it, so I won't dig it up,"
"In the deep mountains, when you come across such large patches of herbs, there's nothing you can do. They're not expensive, and you can't get them out, so you just have to look,"
Xu Yang stopped, pointing to a large expanse of green leaves nearby, explaining to everyone.
The online friends looked at the screen full of wild grass, totally bewildered.
What Pueraria Root?
Isn't it all wild grass?
This one is such wild grass, that one is another wild grass.
Basically, they're different kinds of wild grass.
[The host knows so much, no matter how I look, all I can see is a bunch of wild grass!]
[Indeed, he's got some stuff, rattling it off makes him seem even more impressive!]
[Say what you will, I acknowledge this host's knowledge!]
[I've been watching for two days; he's really impressive! Sometimes he walks for two hours on mountain roads without stopping, his physical condition is amazing!]
[Am I the only one here for his good looks? This host is so handsome and the live broadcast is completely real, no filters at all, it's so rare!]
Xu Yang glanced at the barrage, seeing that everyone was wondering where the Pueraria Root was, so he walked over and parted the grass.
The drone camera zoomed in, and the online friends could then see, under the leaves, many soil-yellow roots entwined like tree roots.
This stuff was very cheap, even the wild kind, and although there might be two to three hundred pounds, it was difficult for mountain runners to pick and transport them back, so they usually just looked.
When you come to the deep mountains, you aim for the valuable mountain products.
"These are Pueraria Roots. I've lived in the mountains for a long time, so I definitely know a thing or two about mountain products,"
Xu Yang said with a smile, then headed towards the location of the first item.
The first location was not far from him, just a few steps away.
The prospect of an unknown surprise was always exciting.
At that moment, Xu Yang spotted the plant marked by the Treasure Compass.
He suddenly stopped, a hint of joy appearing on the corner of his mouth.
"Seems like I've found something,"
Xu Yang said.
Seeing his expression, the new viewers were still curious about what the host had found, while the regular viewers had already begun shaking their heads in amazement.
No way, the host has found something again!