Chapter 604 - 222: Divine Hidden Crane’s Love Letter to the Empress (Part 3)

"Granny Nan." Xu Xingguang wore a pair of black cloth shoes today, looking ready for work.

Granny Nan glanced at her with a somewhat indifferent look.

Seeing her staring at the tea in her mug, she frowned slightly and asked, "What are you looking at?"

"Are you drinking Black Eagle Tea?" In the Xia Country Era, Black Eagle Tea was Imperial Tea, very famous and worth its weight in gold, though Divine Hidden Crane knew she liked it and sent her some from time to time.

Upon hearing the words ’Black Eagle Tea,’ Granny Nan’s gaze deepened, "You know?"

Xu Xingguang smiled and said, "Black Eagle Tea only grows on the cliffs of steep mountains, where black eagles love to perch. Hence the name Black Eagle Tea."

"This tea is the hardest to harvest. In ancient times, only eagle trainers could control black eagles to collect the tea leaves. Therefore, in the Xia Country Era, Black Eagle Tea was reputed as worth its weight in gold."

Seeing Xu Xingguang accurately recount the details of Black Eagle Tea, Granny Nan was somewhat surprised. "How does an intern from the Infected Zone know these things?"

Xu Xingguang smiled softly without replying.

"Such a good thing, you’ve never seen it before, have you?" Granny Nan suddenly said, "Open your cup, I’ll let you have a couple of sips."

Xu Xingguang smiled and quickly unscrewed her water cup.

Granny Nan said she’d give her two sips, and she really only poured her a couple of sips.

Xu Xingguang took a light sip and commented, "Though it’s good tea, it’s somewhat bland. It should be old tea collected in a rainy year."

Granny Nan’s gaze at her became even more incredulous.

Putting away the cup, Xu Xingguang carried a hoe into the herb field.

At noon, when Granny Nan was drowsy, the gate was knocked on with a bang-bang-bang.

Granny Nan rolled her eyes, impatiently opened the door, and frowned to scold Xu Xingguang, "Disturbing my sweet dreams, you’d better have something important."

Xu Xingguang then said, "I need an excavator, can you get it for me?"

"No problem." But she didn’t forget to remind Xu Xingguang, "But I advise you not to waste your time. I’ve worked here for two years and encountered seven or eight interns. None of them lasted."

"This plot is a dead land. You can’t grow any herbs on it."

Xu Xingguang said, "Everything exists for a reason. It doesn’t mean that nothing can be grown on this barren land."

Granny Nan frowned, "You’re young, but you talk big."

"Wait, come over in an hour to get the tools you need." Granny Nan slammed the door shut, not bothering to deal with Xu Xingguang.

Xu Xingguang had nothing to do at the moment, so she sat on the stone stool in front of the post to rest.

She consumed a tube of nutrient, leaned against the wall behind her for a brief nap, and then saw an excavator driving up the winding mountain road.

It was an unmanned excavator. Xu Xingguang boarded it and, within minutes, became familiar with its operation principles, then drove the excavator into the medicinal field.

Granny Nan sat inside the post, watching through the glass window as the excavator moved away, frowning and sighing, "The poison field that’s lost its vitality can’t grow anything. Silly girl."

Cattle Hump was originally the most fertile of the twelve peaks, best suited for growing medicinal herbs. Across the entire Central Yu Continent, Cattle Hump was renowned as a Divine Medicine Mountain.

And the 18th herb field was the one on Cattle Hump that produced the most high-quality medicinal herbs.

Unfortunately, during the power struggles among the major families of the Alliance, someone ruthless had mixed a killing virus into the 18th herb field.

This killing virus was a chemical agent specifically used to annihilate the virus bodies produced by dead organisms. Usually, it’s only used in mass warrior graveyards.

The 18th herb field, sprayed with the killing virus, hasn’t produced a single herb in over three hundred years.

Thus, the once fertile medicinal field had turned into a poison field.

Any student sent to intern at the 18th herb field was considered banished to the cold palace of the medical palace, their life doomed forever.

At seven in the evening, Xu Xingguang punctually carried her canvas bag to check out with Granny Nan.

Granny Nan saw her pant legs covered in mud, and her previously clean and smooth fingernails filled with black poisonous mud. For once, her heart softened, and she explained the past and present of the 18th herb field to Xu Xingguang.

"Girl Xu," Granny Nan said earnestly, "No student from the Infected Zone has ever been heavily used by the Ying Family. Never, and they can’t be."

Xu Xingguang understood what she meant.