Nie Chuan didn't say anything, and the two of them kept a tight hold on Da Xiong, lest he suddenly lose control.

Da Xiong, walking ahead, kept his gaze fixed on the knife in his hand, seemingly absorbed in studying it.

We didn't press him, simply following him as we continued deeper along the narrow path.

When we reached a fork in the path, Da Xiong stopped, muttering something over and over to his knife.

Seeing his strange behavior, I worried he was genuinely about to snap, and quickly asked him what was wrong.

Da Xiong gave me a very calm glance and stated, "This way."

I froze for a moment, thinking I had just been about to suggest we all confer on which route to take, only for Da Xiong to tell me first. How did he know to go this way?

Da Xiong seemed to sense my doubt and replied, "The knife told me."

Nie Chuan and I exchanged another look, feeling increasingly bewildered.

So Nie Chuan asked Da Xiong again, "The knife... how does it know what we're looking for?"

Da Xiong smirked proudly and declared, "I told it."

I quickly interjected, "How do you know the knife will lead us where we need to go, instead of figuring out a way to kill us?"

Da Xiong chuckled wryly, "Are you nuts? Do you really think the knife can talk? That’s hilarious. I just thought this direction seemed more logical because the other path snaked back toward where we came from—that definitely couldn't be right."

I was left speechless, realizing I’d been tricked by Da Xiong once again. But if the knife couldn't talk, what was the deal with summoning Da Xiong earlier? And why had Da Xiong been muttering to himself constantly?

Seeing my expression sour, Da Xiong knew he wouldn't get any satisfaction from us, so he looked toward the sun on the horizon and urged, "Hurry up, stop dawdling."

The sun sets much faster in the mountains than in the open, and as we continued along the path, the sun quickly dipped behind the distant peaks, plunging the area into sudden darkness.

Nie Chuan took a swig from his water pouch and remarked, "I wonder how Jie Yu-ting and the others are doing. We agreed to finish the mission before dark; looks like that's impossible now."

I pulled out my phone, checked the time—four-thirty in the afternoon—and noted my missed calls were empty. "This place isn't like the deep wilderness in China; I have full signal. If they’d finished what they were doing, they definitely would have called to let us know."

Nie Chuan checked his phone too. "I'm just worried that we'll have to go underground again later, and there will definitely be no signal down there."

I frowned and asked, "What do you mean? Can you talk to the knife too? Did it tell you the herb is underground?"

Nie Chuan waved his hand dismissively. "Don't joke. How could that be? I just don't think this plant is a surface-dweller. Even though it flowers, the leaves are half-wilted and half-dead. That kind of sickly appearance only comes from insufficient sunlight. Even if it’s not underground, it must be extremely shade-loving."

I glanced at the drawing in his hand and suddenly made an unexpected observation.

I pointed to the ground where the half-wilted grass was growing. "Look, that isn't dirt underneath; it's an oval-shaped object. It's a shame only half of it is drawn, but my guess is that this grass doesn't grow on the ground. Maybe it's on a rock or a piece of wood."

"You mean it's an epiphyte?" Nie Chuan asked.

I nodded. "Exactly. So when we get there, we can't just look on the ground. It might be growing on another tree, or perhaps on a stony riverbank."

When I said that, Nie Chuan pointed ahead. "If we're looking for trees, that's much easier. Look, it's all weeds here, except for that small copse of trees up ahead."

I agreed. "That seems likely too. See, only that area looks distinct; I highly doubt the medicinal herb would be growing among these common weeds."

I wanted to hear Da Xiong's opinion, but he said nothing, merely walking straight toward that direction.

Without another word, we quickened our pace to catch up.

From a distance, those few trees looked quite small, but when we navigated the winding path to this spot, we realized the trees were actually massive, and it wasn't just a few, but a rather sparse patch of woodland.

The trees here were predominantly mulberry trees, which are very common in Japan—hence Japan's historical nickname, the Land of Fusang.

Besides providing raw materials for the silk industry, the mulberry tree itself is a traditional medicine; the leaves can clear internal heat and detoxify, making them excellent steeped in water during summer.

By the time we reached the first giant mulberry, perhaps five or six meters tall, only a sliver of pale white light remained in the sky.

Though the three of us stood shoulder to shoulder, we could no longer make out each other's faces.

At that moment, fireflies danced throughout the mulberry grove, swarms of large glow-worms drifting slowly between the trees and the tall grasses. Despite the desolation, it was strangely beautiful.

At night, besides lovely creatures like fireflies, there were annoying swarms of mosquitoes and other insects.

A buzzing sound reached my ear, and looking up, I saw a cloud of mosquitoes, nearly the size of flies, circling above us.

Even with my double layer of skin, extended observation had taught me that this outer layer transmits all normal sensations to me, so I was still being bitten relentlessly.

We walked forward, swatting at the cloud of mosquitoes above our heads.

Then Da Xiong pointed toward a wooden sign surrounded by weeds up ahead. "Look, what does that say?"

I pushed through the weeds to get closer, only to find the writing on the sign had long been washed away by the rain, leaving only the faint outline of the character for 'grass' ($\text{}$).

Yet, that single character confirmed this place was a medicinal garden.

I strode into the tall weeds and discovered that most of what grew on the ground were indeed herbs, though countless weeds had choked them due to long neglect.

Even so, I quickly located gentian, aloe, ginseng, and other medicinal plants.

What made me feel luckiest of all was that I actually found a wild [Editor's Note: The name of the herb, which was censored in the original text, remains omitted here as per instruction].

This wild plant had slender stalks and plump leaves, emitting a refreshing, clean fragrance.

I immediately plucked several leaves, then gathered some dry grasses from the ground, placed the leaves inside, and bundled the grass into a torch.

Nie Chuan, knowing what I intended, quickly pulled out his lighter and ignited the bundle.

The weeds I gathered were not entirely dead; only the leaves were easily flammable, so the grass torch quickly burned down, emitting thick plumes of smoke.

Within this smoke, because the leaves of the wild [Herb Name] were added, a unique, exotic fragrance was released.

This scent was precisely what all kinds of mosquitoes and pests dreaded most.

So, as the thick smoke spread from the torch, the surrounding mosquitoes were immediately driven back.

Freed from the interference of bugs, we felt much relieved and resumed walking deeper into the medicinal garden.

Next, we realized the garden was quite vast. All sorts of herbs were competing for growth, totaling no fewer than a hundred different species.

As a botanist, I had never encountered many of these medicinal plants before.

While the sheer quantity of herbs astonished us, it also presented a significant challenge.

With such a complex variety, the difficulty of our search was undoubtedly increased.

Fortunately, we had previously hypothesized the plant might be parasitic, so our attention was mostly focused on the trees.

However, I soon noticed that almost all the trees here were mulberries, and parasitic plants rarely take root on mulberry trees.

So we searched for a long time using our flashlights, still finding nothing.

The three of us had distinct roles: I searched the trees, Da Xiong looked for any holes or caves in the ground, and Nie Chuan focused on identifying the half-wilted grass among the various herbs.

We checked methodically, inch by inch, but found nothing. Meanwhile, the sky grew darker and darker; soon the last trace of white light vanished from the horizon, and the moon and stars emerged.

Tired from searching, we sat down on a large stone in the center of the garden to rest.

Each of us took long drafts from our water pouches and ate some compressed biscuits.

Then, I lit another grass torch made with the wild [Herb Name] leaves, and we began to discuss strategy.

Nie Chuan said, "Searching like this isn't working. We need to come up with a better plan."

I nodded. "But what other way is there?"

Saying this, both of us turned to look at Da Xiong.

Da Xiong looked at us, confused. "What? Is there gold on my face?"

Nie Chuan smiled slightly. "Quick, ask your knife."