Chinese Medicine: Starting with Daily Intelligence-Chapter 54: Digging Gastrodia

The rural bus jostled along the winding mountain road for nearly an hour before finally stopping in Jiushui Town.

Li Xu got off the bus with his backpack and looked around.

Jiushui Town was built into the mountainside. A main street ran through its center, lined on both sides by low, brick-and-tile houses, with a few small shops and restaurants scattered about.

In the distance, Niuti Mountain towered majestically, shrouded in clouds and mist, like an ink-wash painting.

The town was quiet, with few people on the street. A couple of old men sat by their doors, soaking up the sun, and sized up the unfamiliar face with curiosity.

Li Xu walked up to a general store, bought a bottle of water, and took the opportunity to ask the owner, "Hello, could you tell me how to get to Mopan Mountain?"

The shop owner was a tan man in his fifties. Hearing the question, he looked up at Li Xu. "Mopan Mountain? That’s a tough trail. You going alone?"

"That’s right. I’m here to gather herbs."

The shop owner shook his head. "Young man, the trails there are steep, and there are wild boars. It’s too dangerous to go alone."

Li Xu smiled. "It’s okay. I’ll just stick to the foot of the mountain and won’t go too deep."

Seeing his insistence, the shop owner pointed toward the west end of town. "Follow that little path until you cross a stone bridge, then head upstream along the creek. You’ll see Mopan Mountain from there. But—"

He paused. "We’ve had a lot of rain lately, so the creek is high. Be careful."

"Thanks."

Li Xu thanked him and set off in the direction the shop owner had indicated.

Once he left the town, the path gradually narrowed, becoming overgrown with weeds on both sides.

The air was filled with the crisp fragrance of damp earth and vegetation, punctuated by the occasional sound of birdsong.

After walking for about half an hour, Li Xu arrived at the stone bridge.

Just as the shop owner had warned, the creek under the bridge was rushing violently, SPLASHING against the rocks.

He cautiously picked his way across the slick stones of the bridge and began his ascent along the creek.

The mountain path grew steeper, and the vegetation became more and more dense.

Tall redwoods and pines blotted out the sky. A thick carpet of fallen leaves, soft and yielding, lay underfoot.

As he walked, Li Xu scanned his surroundings.

The intel had given the location as "under a 15-meter-tall redwood," but in this primeval Qinling forest, redwoods were everywhere. Finding the right one wouldn’t be easy.

Fortunately, there weren’t that many redwoods over 10 meters tall.

Otherwise, he could have searched all day and still come up empty.

He stopped, pulled a compass from his bag to confirm his direction, and continued toward the southern slope of Mopan Mountain.

After walking for nearly another hour, Li Xu finally stopped in a grove of redwoods.

Before him, a stout redwood stood out. Its trunk was perfectly straight, and its crown towered high above.

He looked up, estimating its height to be around 15 meters.

’This is the place...’

Li Xu crouched down and carefully brushed away the thick layer of humus beneath the redwood.

The damp earth gave off a faint, musty smell, and a few withered leaves stuck to his fingers.

Suddenly, his fingertips brushed against a withered brown stalk—the remnant of a Gastrodia’s overground stem.

’Found it!’ Li Xu’s heart leaped. His fingers traced the stalk down into the soil.

As he slowly brushed away the dirt, a brownish-yellow tuber gradually came into view.

The Gastrodia tuber was about as thick as a thumb, its surface covered with fine, concentric rings, resembling a miniature tree trunk.

Its tip bore a pointed bud, known in herbalist texts as a "parrot’s beak."

At its base was a round scar, the "belly button" left behind when it detached from the parent tuber.

Li Xu gently scraped the skin with his fingernail, revealing translucent flesh that gleamed like amber in the sunlight.

He carefully cleared away the rest of the soil, discovering three smaller daughter tubers still attached to the main one, hanging like a string of bells.

’The quality...’ He couldn’t help but hold his breath.

The rich, medicinal aroma unique to wild Gastrodia filled his nostrils, carrying a hint of a pungent, Musk-like scent.

The tuber was hard as stone to the touch. Tapping it lightly produced a crisp CRACKLE—the sign of "copper skin and iron bones."

He took out his small herb hoe and began to slowly dig around the edge of the tuber.

With a soft POP, the Gastrodia came free from the soil, perfectly intact.

The cross-section was translucent and crystalline. A few drops of milky-white sap seeped out, quickly oxidizing to a pale red in the air.

This was a characteristic found only in the highest-grade Gastrodia.

Continuing his search, Li Xu found six more Gastrodia of varying sizes in the vicinity.

The largest was spindle-shaped and as long as his palm.

The smallest was as round as a date, its skin mottled with purplish-red spots.

The rings on each tuber were fine and distinct, recording the years of their growth like the rings of a tree.

’Seven top-grade specimens...’ Li Xu was very satisfied.

The quality of these Gastrodia surpassed anything he had ever seen at the medicinal herb markets.

The full-bodied texture and rich medicinal aroma of wild Gastrodia were things their greenhouse-cultivated counterparts could never hope to match.

In fact, there is a legend associated with Gastrodia.

Legend has it that after the Peach Banquet, Tai Shang Laojun was touring the four seas on an auspicious cloud when he accidentally knocked over a bottle of Immortal Pills. One yellow-and-green pill fell to the mortal realm, landing on a large rock on Changbai Mountain and causing a massive explosion.

The rock shattered into two pieces, which rolled into the tall grass.

The following year, two strange things grew in that spot: one was a vibrant green plant with a stem and leaves; the other was a pale yellow plant with a stem but no leaves, topped with a structure that resembled a fist.

These were the very first Ginseng and Gastrodia.

They absorbed the essence of heaven and earth, gradually taking the form of little people who traveled the mortal realm, helping cure the sick.

However, during a battle with a Python Spirit, Gastrodia was swallowed whole. As Ginseng wept in sorrow, its tears miraculously transformed into new Gastrodia plants.

That is why Gastrodia is always found where Ginseng grows. And while Ginseng has roots, Gastrodia is rootless—this is the origin of its name, the "Heaven-sent Divine Medicine."

And while the myth is fantastical, the fact that Gastrodia is rootless is scientifically proven.

The Gastrodia tuber is parasitized by a fungus called the honey mushroom, which uses its mycelia to absorb nutrients from other plants.

When a honey mushroom encounters a Gastrodia tuber, it envelops it with its mycelia and begins to absorb its nutrients.

However, the Gastrodia does not submit meekly. It secretes a special substance that completely digests the honey mushroom, turning it into its own source of nutrients.

Despite this setback, the honey mushroom doesn’t give up. It continues its symbiotic relationship with the Gastrodia, and they live on together.

The Gastrodia, for its part, settles into a leisurely parasitic existence. Its roots and leaves have degenerated, as it no longer needs to produce its own nutrients.

And so, the rootless, leafless Gastrodia presents its miraculous form to the world.

After packing everything up, Li Xu checked the time.

It was already one in the afternoon.

He was starting to get hungry, too.

’Looks like it’ll be tough to make it back today.’

But Li Xu wasn’t worried.

He wasn’t on some perilous high-altitude expedition, and he had emergency supplies. Finding a mountain village to spend the night shouldn’t be a problem.

He took out his phone.

The signal was weak and spotty.

Luckily, he had downloaded an offline map beforehand.

He searched for Bailingyu Village.

’Ten li as the crow flies. I’ll have to cross two ridges.’

Li Xu took some bread and a bottle of mineral water from his bag.

After a quick meal, he shouldered his backpack and set off toward his destination.