Chapter 23: Inserting Willow Successfully

Another night passed. Early the next morning, Han Li got up and walked towards the herb garden, wanting to see if there were any changes in the herbs.

Before he even entered the herb patch, he suddenly noticed several strong herbal scents.

Han Li was slightly startled, but then a thought struck him: "Could it be..."

He couldn't help but quicken his pace, finally arriving in front of the herbs that were emitting such a strong fragrance.

Are these the same herbs from yesterday? Han Li couldn't believe his eyes. He slapped his still slightly sleepy face a few times, stopping his self-inflicted actions only when it started to hurt.

"The leaves of this Yellow Dragon Grass are slightly purple! The Bitter Lotus has actually opened nine petals! The Forget-Worry Fruit's skin has turned black! Haha! Haha!" Han Li could no longer contain himself. Even though he usually remained calm and composed, he couldn't help but burst into laughter, looking up at the sky.

"I've struck it rich now! Overnight, these herbs, which only had one or two years of medicinal properties, have all matured to appear as if they are decades old. Look at the color of the leaves, the shape of the fruit, and the fragrance of the petals—they are exactly like rare herbs that have matured for many years." Han Li carefully examined the herbs again, confirming they were exactly as described in the herbology texts. They were indeed valuable medicinal ingredients that had aged for many years.

"If I can ripen herbs this way, wouldn't I have as many valuable medicinal ingredients as I want? And any herbs I don't need, I can sell to others. This way, I can earn back any amount of silver!" Han Li could no longer suppress his excitement and began to get carried away with fantasies.

The more Han Li thought about it, the more excited he became, his thoughts racing further and further. He felt like he had truly stumbled upon a treasure this time. He suddenly did several somersaults on the ground, completely losing his usual calm demeanor and acting exactly like a fourteen or fifteen-year-old boy expressing his excitement.

After a long while, Han Li finally calmed down. His mind regained its usual sharpness, and he began to consider the challenges he would face in taking advantage of this unexpected windfall.

Firstly, while these herbs appeared fine on the surface, their actual medicinal properties still needed to be tested. After all, they had transformed after absorbing that strange liquid. Who knew if there were any mutated components within them? He had personally witnessed the tragic fate of the rabbits yesterday, so it was better to be cautious.

Secondly, the green liquid in the mysterious small bottle had already been used up. He didn't know if any more unusual phenomena would occur to produce these droplets, and he hoped it wasn't a one-time use item. He needed to confirm this again tonight.

If both of the above issues proved to be non-problematic, he would then need to firmly grasp the specific details and steps of this herb-accelerating method, to fully control this incredible process.

After deep consideration, Han Li identified the above unresolved issues. Unless these problems were solved, this windfall would remain an illusion, like a flower in the mist or the moon in the water.

After considering everything, Han Li began to take action.

He first went to the main kitchen outside the valley and bought two more gray rabbits from the steward. Han Li's action made the kitchen steward both happy and somewhat puzzled, wondering why this boy always bought live rabbits. Was he going to slaughter them himself to practice cooking?

Han Li didn't care what others thought. This time, he didn't tie the rabbits in the herb garden. Instead, he tied them at his doorstep to make it convenient for him to observe their changes at all times.

Then he went to the herb patch, carefully harvested the accelerated herbs, and prepared them into several doses of good medicine for strengthening muscles and bones. He then mixed the prepared medicine into the rabbits' favorite food, feeding it to them three times a day to test if these herbs were toxic.

After doing all this, Han Li anxiously awaited the arrival of night. After what felt like a very long time, night finally arrived as he had hoped.

As soon as it got dark, Han Li ran outside, took the small bottle out of his pouch, and placed it on the ground. He then focused intently, anticipating changes in the small bottle.

A quarter of an hour passed, but the bottle showed no movement.

Another quarter of an hour passed, and still no movement from the bottle.

A third quarter of an hour...

As time passed, Han Li's heart sank deeper and deeper. He waited almost until dawn, but the bottle still showed no unusual activity.

He was completely dejected. Was this bottle really a one-time consumable, or had he done something wrong?

Han Li forced himself to lift his spirits and looked around at his surroundings.

"There's nothing suspicious," Han Li muttered to himself, "other than it being a bit dark."

He suddenly froze. He abruptly looked up at the sky. It was heavily overcast, and he couldn't see anything. The phrase "a bit dark" suddenly enlightened Han Li.

"Is it because it's cloudy, with no stars or moon?" Han Li recalled that previously, the bottle's strange occurrences had always happened on clear nights, when the sky was unobstructed, allowing stars and the moon to be seen. But today was gloomy, with thick clouds covering the sky.

Han Li's spirits lifted slightly as he had an idea. He also saw that the sky was starting to lighten, knowing that nothing would happen tonight, so he put the bottle away, planning to try again after the sky cleared.

However, to Han Li's surprise, for the next half a month, not only did the sky not clear up, but it also started raining continuously. This weather continued until now.

Han Li watched the soft, persistent drizzle outside, feeling extremely frustrated. The more anxious he was for the weather to clear, the more it continued to rain without end, showing no sign of stopping.

He turned to look at the two rabbits sheltering from the rain inside. Their lively, jumping appearance made Han Li even more depressed. Since these two rabbits had eaten the food mixed with medicine, not only did they show no ill effects, but they also became more energetic than before. During these ten-odd days, Han Li carefully observed them every day, ensuring that the rabbits showed no symptoms of poisoning. Instead, they became even stronger because they had eaten the good medicine for strengthening muscles and bones.

This positive outcome, however, didn't make Han Li happy. Instead, it filled him with a sense of anxiety and apprehension, and he found no way to calm himself down. For him, whether the bottle could produce more green liquid had become the key to all these problems. Yet, this endlessly lingering bad weather prevented this mystery from being solved, which naturally left Han Li feeling extremely depressed!