"Plant it?" Evan Yang, who had always thought herbs were just for medicine, was shocked. Seeing his expression, Logan Luo grew even more excited inside, but kept his face neutral as he said, "What, you don't even know how to plant herbs?"
Evan Yang shook his head as he looked at the herb in his hand. Logan Luo, who had expected this reaction, "kindly" pulled out a small booklet and handed it to Evan. "This has some instructions about planting herbs. Just follow what's written." Before Evan could react, Logan had already sent him off to the herb field to plant the herb.
When Evan arrived at the herb field, he happened to see Tiger Sun busy planting something. Tiger stood up and smiled at Evan. "What, you got assigned to plant herbs too?"
"Yeah, the steward told me to plant this." Evan took out the Three-Ring Grass, which only had leaves and a stem. Tiger Sun looked closely and immediately spotted the problem, then began cursing Logan Luo again, "That Demon! Always bullying newcomers who don’t know any better, acting like outer disciples are just easy targets."
Evan knew Tiger Sun was angry because it was impossible to plant a rootless stalk of Three-Ring Grass. But Tiger leaned in and whispered a few words in Evan’s ear. After thinking it over, Evan decided to follow his advice. He secretly slipped out through a hidden path Tiger had shown him, heading toward the place where he’d picked the Three-Ring Grass. Moving quickly to avoid being seen, he soon reached the cliff, tied up his vine rope again, and started climbing down. He thought he’d find the herb in the same spot, but ended up going a few meters deeper. Still unable to spot any Three-Ring Grass, Evan muttered, "I’ve already climbed down over ten meters—why haven’t I found it yet?" With nothing but fog around, he decided to keep going. Eventually, he discovered a spot where thick tree branches jutted out of the rock, clearly different from the rest. There, several Three-Ring Grass plants grew.
"Finally found it. But why are there so many branches here—maybe this place is special?" Evan dug up the Three-Ring Grass with the roots attached and stuffed them into his clothes, mumbling to himself. With time running out, he didn’t linger, climbed back up the way he came, and soon returned to the herb field.
Finding an empty patch of soil, Evan followed the booklet’s instructions to plant the Three-Ring Grass, watered them as directed, and then collapsed onto the ground. His hands were covered in mud, and because his old wounds had split open, the mud had fused into his torn flesh—a sickening sight.
Evan shook his head helplessly when he saw his hands, silently wishing that one day, if he ever became a steward or master, he’d make people like Logan do these chores instead.
Just as Evan was lost in thought, a commotion broke out nearby. When he hurried over, he saw Ryan Li wrestling with another disciple. The noise brought Logan Luo storming over. He shouted, "Do you people have no discipline? You—both of you, get up! Go haul twenty buckets of water each!"
Ryan Li stood up, brushed the dirt off his clothes, and shot a resentful glare at the disciple he’d fought with before leaving. Evan followed behind, wanting to see what was going on, but Logan Luo blocked his way. "Kid, how’s your herb planting coming along?"