25 An old hobby (1/2)

”Why, I will travel wherever these old legs take me.” He answered as he walked straight into the forests that did not have any dirt paths to follow. There were no traces of the grass having ever been trampled on.

[That did not answer my question.] She thought in her heart.

Xue'er followed closely behind, wondering if he even knew where he was going. After surveying the area, she concluded that this place has been rarely touched by human hands, it was practically a paradise for the plants and animals.

She was fond of such isolated places.

They both took light steps, which ensured that the grass stayed in pristine conditions as if it had been undisturbed all along. It was more like preventing creatures from following their footsteps, not that there was anything that would like to follow them in this isolated place.

But still, one could never be too sure.

Along the way, she found a tree with clove-like leaves that were pointy at the ends, it resembled a peacock's feathers. Xue'er's eyes lit up, as she climbed the tree and broke off a branch of the tree before putting it in her bag.

Gan Tian Chi saw an excitement in Xue'er's eyes that she patted her bag gently. This was the excitement of a child when they were playing with a favorite toy.

He also recognized that tree, the neeme, it was known as the fairy's tree, as it was able to cure a variety of ailments that plagued most of the people. It was a pity that no one really knew of such a miraculous plant and opted for more costly options. Even if they knew, it would still be useless, as it was very rare.

”You like herbs?” Gan Tian Chi asked after he saw the childlike excitement on her face.

Xue'er nodded. Herbs were one of the most enjoyable things she liked. There was a time when she would play with herbs daily and experiment with her grandfather, it would not be an overstatement to say that she had at least seen all the herbs discovered by humans.

Of course, this left out the herbs that were undiscovered, and it was also what she wanted the most.

She loved how there could be endless combinations with herbs to make medicines.

Along the way, they met with other kinds of herbs, which were also harvested by Xue'er and placed into her bag.

It wasn't long before her bag was overflowing with precious herbs and there was nothing else that she could put into the bag.

”Don't put any more into your bag.” Gan Tian Chi advised her.