Good grief, it's the 'jail-time-until-the-end-of-time' lotus.
In the future, it would be a class-two protected plant; even the artificially cultivated ones sold for several thousand per catty.
As soon as she touched the leaf, the system in Qin Sang's mind prompted:
"Rare quality Golden Thread Lotus detected. One thousand mall coins per gram. Would you like to sell?"
One thousand per gram... this single plant must weigh several dozen grams. That's tens of thousands of mall coins for just one plant.
Qin Sang immediately turned and called for San Gui:
"San Gui, come here and help Mother move this rock."
The entire Golden Thread Lotus plant could be used as medicine, so Qin Sang naturally wanted to pull it out by the roots.
The others didn't know what Qin Sang was doing and all came over:
"Da Zhuangs Mother, aren't we all sleeping in the trees? Why are you moving a big rock?"
Qin Sang pointed to the herb underneath:
"This rock is blocking a good medicinal herb. I plan to dig it up."
Hearing it was a good medicinal herb, everyone pitched in together and quickly flipped the big rock over.
Qin Sang used her medicinal hoe to carefully dig up the Golden Thread Lotus. Only then did everyone see clearly that it was just a plant with golden veins on its leaves.
"Da Zhuangs Mother, this is a good medicinal herb? I think I just saw one over there."
Qin Sang immediately looked up:
"Where did you see it?"
Tian Dajiang reached out and pointed:
"Right over there."
Qin Sang followed him for about ten meters and indeed saw a second plant.
She was going to be rich.
Qin Sang didn't forget to say to Tian Dajiang:
"Since you found this one, it counts as yours. Do you want ten catties of grain or five sausages?"
Tian Dajiang was stunned. Had pie fallen from the sky?
"Ha, no... no need. It's just a weed by the roadside."
Qin Sang didn't waste words with him:
"Then let's say one Golden Thread Lotus is worth five catties of grain and two sausages. Everyone look around nearby; there might be more."
Hearing that this herb was worth so much, everyone immediately scattered.
Da Huang ran around excitedly nearby. Before long, Qin Sang had dug up the second plant. Xu Hu ran over holding one in both hands:
"Aunt, here, I found one."
Qin Sang saw that the child's hands were covered in dirt, even under his nails. She guessed that Hu Zi had clawed it out directly with his hands.
"Silly child, what if you hurt your hands? If you find one, just tell me directly. Don't wander too far."
Qin Sang put away the Golden Thread Lotus and then heard Eldest Daughter-in-laws Nickname's father shouting that there was one over there.
In total, five plants of Golden Thread Lotus were found. Hu Zi alone found two. Qin Sang promised to exchange them for grain and rice for everyone once they returned to the village, but the honest child kept saying he didn't want anything.
Everyone wanted to keep searching, but Qin Sang wouldn't allow it:
"It's already dark; we won't be able to see the path soon. There might be wild beasts out at night. Everyone gather and head back to our camp to rest. Don't forget our goal is to find a place for the whole village to settle."
"Don't worry, I've already marked this spot on the map. Once we find a place to settle, we can come back for the herbs."
Only then did everyone reluctantly agree.
Hu Zi and San Gui dug a pit for Da Zhuang, lined it with a layer of leaves, and gathered many branches to build a shed for Da Huang.
Qin Sang left some freeze-dried treats for Da Huang and gave him some water before turning to climb the tree.
Everyone considered that Qin Sang was a woman and wanted her to take the first watch, but Qin Sang had a different idea:
"We need to let Xu Hu and his father get good rest. For this scouting mission, we're mainly relying on the father and son. If they take the dawn watch and then keep moving, they'll surely be exhausted. I'm used to waking up early, so San Gui and I will take the dawn watch. Paternal uncle, In-law, you two take the middle of the night. The Zhou Family members and Brother Dajiang, you take the early night watch. Besides, the early night is the most dangerous; animals actually need to rest during the later half of the night."
After Qin Sang finished speaking, everyone thought it made sense, so it was arranged that way.
Tian Sangui had clearly never slept in the wild before, especially since the hammock gave him a dangerous feeling of being suspended in mid-air. He couldn't fall asleep at all.
"If you don't sleep now, you definitely won't be able to hold out by dawn. You don't want to hold us back tomorrow, do you?"
After being strictly scolded by Qin Sang, Tian Sangui gave an 'oh' and forced himself to close his eyes. Accompanied by the familiar, curling scent of mosquito coils, Tian Sangui's heart gradually calmed down.
Qin Sang had no trouble adapting. Although she had slept in tents while hiking in her previous life, sleeping in a hammock was not much different. She soon fell asleep.
When it was time for Qin Sang's watch, it was pitch black all around. San Gui didn't wake up at all, and Qin Sang had no intention of waking him.
She took out night-vision goggles from her space and put them on. Aside from a few people hanging in mid-air, there were only birds resting on distant branches and some small insects and mice scurrying past Da Huang's shed.
The night passed without incident. When the sky began to brighten, Qin Sang woke everyone up.
"Dawn comes late in the forest. It should already be the hour of Chen by now."
Everyone stretched their limbs in their hammocks before untying them and bringing them down.
Da Huang lunged over, and when Qin Sang pointed in a direction, he lunged out again.
"I've never slept in the wild before. Once we enter the mountains, I'm afraid we'll have to get used to it."
"Actually, as long as there are no wild beasts, sleeping in the wild is nothing. At most, you can't stretch your limbs, so you wake up a bit numb."
"Haha, I almost fell off when I turned over in the middle of the night. Luckily, a tree fork caught me."
Everyone chatted and laughed as they continued forward. After another morning and crossing two more mountains, Hunter Xu, who was leading the way, suddenly stopped:
"Look over there..."
Everyone looked where Hunter Xu was pointing:
"Why is it so bare over there? It's all rocks?"
Qin Sang said:
"There should be a mountain spring there. The spring's eye is quite large, flowing out from halfway up the mountain. Since it hasn't rained for half a year, the spring is no longer bubbling with water, so the rocks of the mountain are exposed."
Everyone suddenly understood:
"What a pity, there's no water even this deep in the mountains."
Qin Sang deliberately guided them:
"Although there's no water, the area washed down by the mountain spring is usually quite flat. Since this water hasn't flowed out, it might have formed a pool. Let's go take a look over there."
No one objected, because they had no direction to begin with.
Looking at the mountain peak that seemed right there, it actually took more than an hour to reach the foot of the mountain.
After walking along the riverbed carved out by the mountain spring for a while, everyone felt as if their horizons had suddenly broadened:
"This place... this place..."
"Da Zhuangs Mother, this place is surrounded by high mountains on three sides. Can this mountain basin serve as a place to settle?"
"Even if we light a fire to cook here, it won't be a big problem. The smoke will disperse once it rises to the mountaintops."
Everyone was discussing one after another, while Hunter Xu repeatedly examined the riverbed and the mountain basin:
"The only way into this place is through this riverbed. If refugees really come, as long as we block this opening, they won't be able to get in."
The good location Qin Sang had seen with the drone yesterday was right here. It was surrounded by mountains on three sides, with only a narrow riverbed providing entry. Because silt from years of washing had accumulated here, this basin was much flatter and wider than other places.
"This isn't actually a good place to settle down."