Chapter 454: The Dragon King Soars
Qu Shaoyang went down to the platform and immediately ordered everyone to take out the pipe and smear the tobacco oil on the front end of the rope stick.

Then, everyone lit their pipes and put them in their mouths.

Qu Shaoyang and Meng Lanxin were in the middle, the two gunners were on the outside, and the guys were next to Qu Shaoyang and the other one.

The crowd lined up horizontally, holding their guns and rope sticks tightly in their hands, and slowly walked towards the old lime tree.

As they gradually approached, the specific appearance of the ginseng in front came into everyone’s sight.

Wow, this ginseng plant is actually one meter tall, and the stem is almost as thick as a finger.

The ginseng seed above is slightly bigger than an adult’s fist, and each ginseng seed is crystal clear and bright red.

“Oh my God, I have never seen such a big ginseng in my life.” Lao Zhang, a buddy, exclaimed when he saw the ginseng.

The other guys were the same, they were all stunned and unconsciously walked forward.

At this time, Qu Shaoyang suddenly shouted, “Be careful.”

Before he finished speaking, the White Mountain Green Python, which had been hiding its tracks, jumped out from the weeds.

The Baishan Green Python is a very rare large snake in Changbai Mountain. It can be as thick as a barrel and several meters long.

When the Baishan Green Python saw someone coming, it immediately raised its head and straightened the front half of its body.

Wow, this thing is more than one person tall, its tail swings quickly in the grass, and it quickly jumps towards Qu Shaoyang and others.

Qu Shaoyang shouted, “Smoke, puff smoke.”

They all took a deep puff of their pipes and blew the puff in the direction of the Baishan Green Python.

It is said that there is always a conqueror, and this is true. Poisonous snakes are most afraid of smog.

The Baishan Green Python felt a little uncomfortable with the strong smell of dry tobacco, so it immediately turned its head and swam towards the ginseng.

Then it quickly coiled up into a ball, with its head raised up, its bright red tongue spitting out, and its triangular eyes stared fiercely at Qu Shaoyang and the others, preventing them from getting close.

The Baishan Green Python was guarding the Ginseng King, and no one else could get close to it, so naturally they couldn’t lift the ginseng.

Qu Shaoyang saw this and shouted, “Lao Zhang, go and have a look under that linden tree, is there a hole there?
If there is, just put the tobacco leaves we brought into the tree hole and light it.”

This is to prevent the Baishan Green Python from returning to the tree hole, which would cause trouble again.

Then, Qu Shaoyang called on the two gunners to keep an eye on the area and beware of sneak attacks by leopards.

The rest of the people smoked and blew out smoke, then pushed the rope sticks smeared with tobacco oil towards the White Mountain Green Python.

The Baishan Green Python was afraid of the smell of tobacco oil, but it was unwilling to leave like that, so it suddenly jumped up and pounced towards Qu Shaoyang.

Qu Shaoyang also gave it his all at this moment. He blew out smoke vigorously while pushing the rope-pulling stick hard towards the mouth of the Baishan Green Python.

When Meng Lanxin saw that her man was in danger, she joined forces with a few other guys and worked together to thrust the rope stick towards the White Mountain Green Python.

The smell of dry tobacco oil is very overbearing and is something that all snakes are afraid of.

Although the Baishan Green Python is larger than ordinary snakes, it is also afraid of this smell.

This guy really couldn’t stand it anymore, so he turned around and ran towards the old lime tree, trying to get into the tree hole.

As a result, before it reached the old lime tree, a very strong smell of burning dry tobacco wafted out.

The Baishan Green Python’s home was destroyed, so it had no choice but to turn around and swim quickly towards the edge of the platform.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when they saw the White Mountain Green Python leave, but unexpectedly at this moment, a leopard’s roar was heard.

It turned out that the leopard did not go far, but hid in the dark.

Seeing that Qu Shaoyang and others had driven away the Baishan Green Python, the Golden Leopard made a comeback and tried to stop Qu Shaoyang and others from carrying ginseng.

The two gunners raised their guns and immediately opened fire at the leopard.

They remembered Qu Shaoyang’s instructions not to actually kill the leopard, but to scare it away.

The bullet whizzed past the leopard’s fur and hit the mud.

The leopard was frightened and dared not attack Qu Shaoyang again, but it was unwilling to leave either. It could only keep circling around the crowd and roaring.

If the leopard doesn’t leave, Qu Shaoyang will have no way to put a bridle on the ginseng or lift the hammer.

There was no other choice, so everyone had to give it their all. They all held their guns, yelled loudly, and shot into the air.

The sound of gunfire rang out one after another. The leopard had never seen such a scene before. It was frightened and could only roar and run away.

The two spirit beasts guarding the Ginseng King had been scared away. Qu Shaoyang looked up and shouted towards the cliff, “Watch out for the top so we can lift the club.”

The person above responded loudly, “Don’t worry, good luck.”

Then, Qu Shaoyang instructed Meng Lanxin and others, “Lanxin, you take Wang Paotou and Qi Paotou to protect the emperor, and the rest of you follow E’ou to put on the bridle, open the plate, and carry the mallet.”

“Protecting the emperor” originally meant protecting the emperor.

Because ginseng is the king of herbs, protecting ginseng can also be called protecting the emperor.

The original meaning of wearing a bridle is to tie a rope to cattle and horses to prevent them from running around and make them easier to drive.

According to legend, if ginseng does not want to leave the mountain, even if it is discovered by someone, it can escape instantly and disappear without a trace.

The people who freed the ginseng in the mountains came up with a countermeasure. They tied the ginseng with a red rope with a copper coin on each end. The ginseng could not escape, so it was also called “wearing a bridle”.

Opening the plate means clearing away the weeds, stones, bushes, etc. around the ginseng before digging it to facilitate digging.

Lifting the mallet means digging ginseng. There are some rules for digging ginseng in the mountains. It cannot be called digging, but lifting, lifting it out of the soil.

Qu Shaoyang knelt on his knees facing the ginseng with a solemn look, raised his hands above his head, and kowtowed three times to thank the mountain god.

Then he shouted, “Put on the bridle and set up the Five Dragons to Confine the King Formation.”

After saying that, Qu Shaoyang took out his hammer lock from the deerskin bag in his backpack and wrapped it around the stem of the ginseng.

Then, Qu Shaoyang got up from the ground, and another worker came over to hang another hammer lock on the stalk of the ginseng.

Just like that, five people in front and behind hung up five hammer locks, which is the Five Dragons Trapping the King Formation.

Qu Shaoyang had heard about the Five Dragons Trapping the King Formation from some old bosses before.

The Ginseng King is different from ordinary ginseng. It must be trapped using the Five Dragons King Trapping Formation. Otherwise, the Ginseng King will run away.

Of course, the old boss who follows this rule has never seen the King of Ginseng, so no one can verify whether it is effective.

Qu Shaoyang was just doing this according to what the older generation had said.

Immediately afterwards, Qu Shaoyang ordered the gunners and men to face outwards and guard in the four directions of east, south, west and north to prevent any accidents from happening.

Meng Lanxin, on the other hand, kept a close eye on these gunners and men.

After everyone was in their positions, Qu Shaoyang took out deer bone chisels, axes, scissors and other tools from the deerskin bag and placed them one by one on a piece of red cloth.

Then he took the deer bone chisel and began to patiently peel off the soil bit by bit.

The root system of this ginseng king is very developed. The plate that Qu Shaoyang opened is about three feet square.

After digging more than half a foot deep, we finally saw the ginseng reeds. The age of the ginseng can be seen from the reeds, just like the growth rings of a tree.

The longer the reed head and the denser the reed bowls on it, the older the ginseng is.

The ginseng head in front of me is so densely packed with reed bowls that it is impossible to tell exactly how many there are.

This alone is enough to prove that this ginseng is quite old.

Qu Shaoyang did not dare to be careless. He just moved the soil bit by bit and slowly carried the ginseng out.

It was getting late, so Qu Shaoyang lit a bonfire on the platform. The people above used ropes to bring down dry food and water, and Qu Shaoyang and his men simply ate each morsel.

At night, Qu Shaoyang stayed in front of the ginseng tree, while the others stayed in their own positions and took turns taking a nap. No one dared to be careless.

Early the next morning, Qu Shaoyang got up and continued to carry ginseng.

Even so, it took nearly three days to completely lift out this ginseng.

When the whole ginseng seedling was unearthed, Qu Shaoyang was stunned.

The weight of this young ginseng is heavier than that of Miao Fengxiang, and the most important thing is its shape.

The ginseng stem is held high like a dragon with horns, and the stem is covered with horns like dragon scales.

Looking at the ginseng’s body shape again, it does not look like a human at all. Instead, it looks like a dragon or snake in a painting, like a flying dragon.

The most surprising thing is that this ginseng seedling actually has a pair of branch roots on the front and back, like dragon claws.

Qu Shaoyang recalled what his master had said. When Fengxiang was unearthed, Liu Dongshan said that it was rumored that there was a dragon ginseng in Changbai Mountain, which was shaped like a dragon.

Nurhaci, the old Khan, dug up a dragon ginseng in Changbai Mountain.

Ginseng is the king of grasses and dragon is the king of living creatures. The appearance of dragon ginseng means the birth of the human king.

At this point, Nurhaci led his subordinates to start a large-scale war. In the third year after the dragon ginseng was unearthed, Nurhaci established the Later Jin regime in Hetuala.

Of course, these are just folk legends, meant only to build momentum for the Qing Dynasty’s rule over the world, and are not credible.

But the Miao ginseng in front of him was very rare. Qu Shaoyang felt that it should be more valuable than the Fengxiang ginseng and could definitely be called the king of ginseng.

Qu Shaoyang was very excited. After thinking it over again and again, he placed the ginseng horizontally in the ginseng nest, tied up the five hammer locks again, and then buried it little by little with soil.

Qu Shaoyang didn’t want anyone to see the true face of Miao Shen, as he was afraid of causing trouble.

After arranging all this, Qu Shaoyang shouted loudly to the people above to peel the bark and dig the moss.

Generally speaking, birch bark is used to make ginseng buns, because it is easier to peel off in one piece and is also tough enough.

As for moss, it must be fresh moss on shady slopes or rocks by the river.

This moss is emerald green in color and has a high water content. When wrapped around ginseng, it can keep the ginseng fresh.

After hearing the order, the people above immediately started peeling off the bark and digging moss. Afterwards, Shunzi came down from the cliff and handed the things to Qu Shaoyang.

Qu Shaoyang whispered something in Shunzi’s ear and asked him to return to the Qu family compound immediately.

Then transfer four artillerymen and eight men over, two by two, and secretly distribute them on the way home to provide support.

Shunzi understood as soon as he heard it, and immediately climbed up quietly and left quickly.

Everyone guarding the top of the mountain knows the rules. They never ask questions that they shouldn’t ask and just guard there with peace of mind.

Qu Shaoyang took the birch bark and moss, and then ordered all the men to face outward and be on guard.

Then Qu Shaoyang carefully spread out the birch bark, covered it with thick moss, and sprinkled a layer of moist ginseng soil on the moss.

Only then did he slowly dig out the ginseng buried in the loose soil with his own hands and carefully placed it on the moss.

Wrap the ginseng king with moss and roll it tightly into a birch bark tube.

Qu Shaoyang called Meng Lanxin over and asked her to help him tie the ginseng buns tightly around his body with leggings.

“Bring the kettle.” Qu Shaoyang called out, and a waiter brought over a leather bag filled with water.

Qu Shaoyang pulled out the stopper from the leather bag, handed it to Meng Lanxin, and asked Meng Lanxin to pour the water in the bag on his hands.

Qu Shaoyang rubbed his hands vigorously, then shook off the water on his hands, knelt on the ground, and kowtowed to the four directions. This was to worship the mountain gods and the land gods in all directions.

Then, Qu Shaoyang pointed to the sky and swore, “The gods of heaven and earth are above me, and the mountain gods are my witnesses. I, Qu Shaoyang, swear to the heavens that I will wash my hands of the practice of ginseng from now on, and never go into the mountains to carry ginseng again.”

When these words were spoken, everyone was shocked.

“Shaoyang, you?”

The guys didn’t dare to ask, but Meng Lan didn’t dare. She looked at Qu Shaoyang in confusion, not understanding why her husband made such a vow.

“Lan Xin, a person’s fortune is limited.

I have been in the Northeast for many years and have obtained a lot of ginseng. I should be satisfied with getting this Miao ginseng king.” Qu Shaoyang sighed.

Meng Lan thought about it and agreed.

Considering Qu Shaoyang’s current wealth, ordinary ginseng is not worth his money.

But this ginseng king only appears once every few hundred years. What a great blessing it must be to be able to meet it again?
Therefore, Qu Shaoyang said that from now on he would wash his hands of ginseng and stop carrying ginseng.

After washing hands and thanking the mountain, Qu Shaoyang was the first to climb up the cliff. It was already the end of the hour of Wei, and Qu Shaoyang announced that he would go down the mountain immediately.

The shacks and other things on the mountain were all left alone. After they got down the mountain safely, they would send someone back to get them.

Everyone understood the seriousness of the matter. No one objected and they immediately followed Qu Shaoyang down the mountain.

Qu Shaoyang arranged four guards to lead the way, with two gunners in the middle, and then Qu Fu and those guys.

Qu Shaoyang and Meng Lanxin were behind Qu Fu and the others, and finally, came the remaining guards.

In this way, the group walked quickly down the mountain. No one was allowed to speak during the process, and no one was allowed to look ahead or behind.

Qu Shaoyang, Meng Lanxin, and the guards were more than a mile behind the crowd and followed quietly at the back.

It gets dark early in the mountains and forests. Before the evening hour, it is already quite dark in the forest.

Even so, the crowd did not stop and continued to walk back in the dark.

At this moment, gunshots were suddenly heard from the front, followed by someone shouting.

“I opened this mountain and planted this tree. If you want to live from now on, I will leave money to buy the road.”

Needless to say, this was a case of being robbed.

Whenever they arrived at Red Hammer City, some bandit gangs would send spies to various places.

As soon as they saw the shack of the gangsters or the signs of a newly chopped tree, they would immediately arrange people to track them down and rob them along the way.

Qu Shaoyang and his gang made such a big noise in the mountains that they were already noticed by the gangs hiding in the woods.

The top of the mountain was steep and dangerous and inconvenient, so these people stayed at the foot of the mountain, hoping to wait for the opportunity to arrive.

(End of this chapter)