Murim's Weakest Princess

The rocky path to the river after leaving town slowed the group’s travel speed tremendously when Anji stumbled multiple times. Her little feet were frequently caught in little crevices between loose rocks, giving Gu Ying quite a shock whenever it happened. However, the resolute girl refused to be carried until Bai Dajin could not longer turn a blind eye to her meaningless struggles.

"Up you go!" he hoisted the stubborn child onto his shoulders when she started staggering, almost falling and twisting her ankle. "At this rate, you’d never reach the river."

Protesting against the special treatment, Anji pleaded to be allowed to walk. Feeling as if she was once again the burden, Anji made a huge fuss, almost falling from Bai Dajin’s shoulders.

"You could hold up the lamps for us," Mingfeng suggested in an attempt to cajole his sister. "It’s started to become very dark, and it’s not easy for Wei Zhen to walk ahead while carrying a lantern. The path is less steady than before, with mud and occasional moss. You’re sitting on a higher place now. The light should travel further if you hold it."

The logical persuasion worked and Anji gladly held two pocket lamps, one in each hand. The pink and green lights danced in front of Anji but Gu Ying quickly realised the problem with coloured lights when their experienced guide could not differentiate between moss and green lights.

"How about keeping it to orange and yellow lights?" Bai Dajin suggested. "It’s easier to see different colours on the ground if the light is white."

Swapping the rose quartz and green fluorite with citrine pocket lamps, Anji realised the brighter lights travelled further. Unfortunately, she did not have many citrine pocket lamps to distribute. The geodes she bought yesterday only contained three citrine crystals. Bai Dajin gave his to Mingshen and Anji gave her other citrine pocket lamp to Gu Ying who offered to walk with Wei Zhen so he could put away the lantern.

With the new arrangement, Wei Zhen made quicker progress. The well lit path made it easier for him to lead the way. In fact, he was able to see things he previously missed out on.

"This is a rare lingzhi mushroom!" he declared excitedly as they passed a decaying log. "It must have been growing for at least a year judging by the size of it. I passed by this log many times without realising it was here. Do you want to harvest this now or when you’re on the way back?"

Not wanting to miss the chance for a rare herbal mushroom, Anji insisted on collecting it and the spores on the mushroom. Using one of the small bottles meant to collect gold flakes and nuggets from the panning, Anji carefully dusted the lingzhi spore powder and collected it. The mushroom spores were great for improving immunity. Although this lingzhi could be sold at a high price, the true value is in consuming it. The rare mushroom is great at recovering vitality, including damaged internal organs.

After collecting the rare mushroom, they continued their hike to the river, with Anji demanding to be put down so she could collect the rare wild herbs. Apart from a few edible mushrooms, Anji collected many strange barks, vines, and even moss. Wei Zhen initially thought it was a coincidence that the little girl was foraging these. However, he soon realised that Anji knew more than she let on. Her excited blabber about its properties and what it could cure made him certain she knew some medicine.