At that moment, the look Ah Lann cast toward him held a few more shades of trust.
In the afternoon, he would set out with Ah Fen's gathering team.
Along the way he silently memorized every medicinal habit Ah Fen taught him—what stopped bleeding, what reduced fever, what was lethally poisonous and had to be avoided.
He also witnessed how hard gathering really was; for a few precious clumps of Moonlight Moss they had to climb slick rock walls.
To dodge the venomous bees, they were forced to abandon a thicket of berries that was about to ripen.
Ah Fen would stare longingly at the berries they were leaving behind, her small face full of heartache, then search even more diligently for substitute food.
At night, by the campfire in the center of the encampment, he would sit next to Ah Lü and watch this little steward distribute the day's harvest of food and herbs.
