Chapter 83

When Sun Baicao said this, Li Wenjun felt greatly comforted, knowing that he had not misjudged the man. Sun Baicao, despite knowing that he had killed the county official, still thought of him and helped him find a fine horse, which showed that Sun Baicao was a man of deep loyalty and righteousness.

Li Wenjun waved his hand and said, "Uncle Sun, there's no need to rush to find the horse. I have a place to hide. To be honest with you, this time I not only killed Wu Qi, but also the son of the governor and the retainer of the General of the Breaking Army. They three conspired to harm me and steal my credit. If I didn't kill them, they would have killed me. I had no choice but to do it."

Sun Baicao, a law-abiding citizen, turned pale, his lips trembling, not knowing what to say.

Li Wenjun continued, "The situation is serious. I plan to leave for a while. Your family and I are closely connected, and I'm afraid you might be implicated. Uncle Sun, shouldn't you also take Aunt Sun and Jianning to a safe place? As a herbalist, you have traveled all over the three mountains. Finding a place where no one can find you should be relatively easy."

Sun Baicao was somewhat moved but soon shook his head and said, "It's hard to leave one's homeland. My family, relatives, and friends are all here. It's hard to suddenly leave. Besides, what you say is just speculation. Would the General of the Breaking Army and the governor really take out their anger on me just because they can't find you? Do they not respect the law?"

Li Wenjun was about to persuade him further, but Sun Baicao raised his hand to stop him and said, "Of course, your concern is not without reason. Tonight, I will arrange for Jianning to leave and hide elsewhere. As long as he is safe, whether we leave Sanxian County or not is not a big deal. Wenjun, Uncle is a bit stubborn, so don't try to persuade me. I have my own plans."

Li Wenjun sighed. He knew further persuasion was futile. He took out a cloth bag he had prepared in advance and handed it to Sun Baicao, saying, "Uncle Sun, this is a token of my appreciation. Since you're sending Jianning away, this can serve as capital for him to start a business elsewhere."

When the cloth bag was lifted, it made a clinking sound. Sun Baicao, based on his experience, knew it contained silver. He took it and said, "If I don't take it, you won't be at ease. Fine, I'll accept it for Jianning. Wenjun, I don't know how long you'll be away. Uncle only has one thing to say: take care!"

Li Wenjun nodded heavily, bowed to Sun Baicao, and turned to leave.

Sun Baicao watched Li Wenjun go. He then opened the cloth bag and was surprised to find ten gold ingots inside, totaling one hundred taels of gold. He looked up at the direction Li Wenjun had gone and thought to himself, "Wenjun, as a master, you have treated our Sun family so well. Even though we haven't read much, we know the principle of dying for a true friend. Rest assured, I will do everything you asked me to do."

Li Wenjun hurried out of the county and headed straight for Wufeng Mountain. He had already decided to return to the cave left by Wang Yonggui. The location was remote and far from human habitation, with plenty of food and water, making it an ideal place for cultivation.

The next day at noon, Li Wenjun arrived at the cave and carefully inspected it. The traps and mechanisms he had set up before leaving were still intact, and the marks he had made in hidden places were still there. No one had been there during his absence.

It made sense. Wang Yonggui had more experience in hiding and escaping. A place he chose to hide would naturally be hard for others to find. The last time, Li Wenjun had only discovered it by chance while gathering herbs.

Li Wenjun entered the cave, washed a clay pot, and placed it on a tripod made of three thick branches. He lit a fire and boiled water.

While waiting for the water to boil, Li Wenjun took out all the herbs given to him by Zhang Jianjie. He needed to sort and mix them according to the formula for Qi-Gathering Powder. After mixing them, he could boil the medicinal soup and begin his cultivation.

After preparing twenty doses of herbs, Li Wenjun carefully repacked the remaining herbs and stored them. He drank some water, then began to soak the herbs and prepare to boil them. He poured the mixed herbs into a sand pot, cut a small piece of wild ginseng root, and added it as a medicinal guide, then poured in clear water. He repeated this process twice.

Li Wenjun had already decided on the way to the mountain that, to improve his strength and accelerate his cultivation, he could not be satisfied with his previous methods. He decided to change from "two sessions a day, one dose each time" to "two sessions a day, two doses each time."

After more than an hour, the two doses of herbs were boiled into medicinal soup. Li Wenjun jumped into a pool of water in a corner of the cave and used a cloth to block the opening connecting the pool to the outside. He then poured the medicinal soup into the pool.

Li Wenjun sat cross-legged in the pool and began his cultivation. When he activated the Eternal Spring Technique, a loud boom echoed as a surge of spiritual energy and impurities rushed toward him.

At that moment, Li Wenjun felt as if he were standing under a waterfall, with a torrent of water fiercely pounding him, threatening to crush him into pieces.

Li Wenjun had used two doses of medicinal soup for cultivation before, but compared to this time, it was clearly child's play.

The last time, Li Wenjun had used herbs he had gathered himself, and the medicinal guide was a wild ginseng with only a hundred years of age. This time, both the main and auxiliary herbs were top-quality, carefully selected by Zhang Jianjie from years of accumulation. They were the best of the best, with strong medicinal power. The herbs he had gathered in the mountains had different growth periods and uneven medicinal power, and the medicinal guide was only a hundred years old, while this time it was three hundred years old, a significant difference.

The characteristic of Qi-Gathering Powder was that the older and better the medicinal guide, the more it could stimulate the medicinal power of the main and auxiliary herbs. A three-hundred-year-old wild ginseng could fully stimulate the medicinal power of the main and auxiliary herbs, leaving almost no residue.

However, using a three-hundred-year-old wild ginseng as a medicinal guide, while thoroughly stimulating the medicinal power, also had a downside: it simultaneously stimulated the impurities contained in the main and auxiliary herbs.

The higher the quality of the herbs, the stronger the medicinal power and the fewer the impurities, but these impurities were highly concentrated. Just like bandits who could escape the repeated encirclements and blockades of the army, they were the elite among bandits. The same principle applied to the impurities in the herbs; ordinary impurities had already been expelled during the growth of the herbs by the medicinal power.