Koji Fights The World - Chapter 29 Ginseng Hunting

Under the guidance of Princess Zelea, the party steadily trekked further up the mountain. They noticed that she would stop now and then, look up at the hill, and continue moving to remain under the shadow of Sailan Mountain. Furthermore, whenever she reached a clearing of the woods, Zelea would turn around and return to the forest. As she walked, the princess would periodically pause to check the plants on the ground and then continue moving.

The morning flashed by quickly in this manner, but it was extremely eventful because the party inadvertently entered the exclusive territories of a mountain lion! They encountered a female cougar which laid hidden on a tree branch when it suddenly pounced on one of the scouts who wandered too far away! The attacker landed on her victim’s back and scratched at the centaur’s back with its razor-sharp claws.

But the hard leather armor covering the would-be victim’s torso reduced the penetration of this vicious attack. The centaur yelled at the top of his lungs to attract the attention of his comrades, who quickly shot arrows at the cougar!

The predator saw the incoming missiles. She jumped off the centaur to avoid the arrows and ran off. However, the cougar continued to stalk the party. She was furious at their intrusion into her territory, and the mountain lion was determined to kill all the intruders as their entry fees.

The centurions were experienced hunters, and they knew that the animal would not give up her attacks. Thus, they tightened their circle so that all members of the party stood within a ten feet radius. Whoever receives an attack from the lion, the others would counterattack with their arrows. With the blessing of Arrieta, Goddess of the Hunt, the centurions may even kill the Rank 3 beast with a lucky shot!

But this tactic of closing the circle led to another problem for the party. The forest under the mountain covered an extensive area of at least one hundred miles. Since the cougar’s presence imposed a much smaller search radius than the centurions expected, that meant a lengthier search for the needed ingredient.

Fortunately, Princess Zelea knew what the ginseng plant looked like, and with a simple glance at the floor, she determined whether any such plant was on the floor.

The party continued its search until noon when Xanthur called for a lunch break. But due to the stalker staying nearby, the leader asked his party to sit in a circle with each person facing outward. He passed the rations to his immediate right, and each person took a portion before sending the rest to the next member in the circle. When the food finally returned to Xanthur, he took his proper share and stored the remainder in his saddlebag.

“Why don’t we go out and hunt the cougar?” one of the centurions asked, eliciting “yeah!” and enthusiastic nods from his comrades.

Xanthur shook his head. “We’re centurions. We respect the land, and it provides for us. The mountain lion is defending its territory, and we must respect its right to fend off intruders, including ourselves. Until it attacks one of us again, we cannot hunt it down,” he said.

The younger centaur wanted to disagree. His life was more important to him than the centurion way of life. However, this attitude was antithetical to the Centurion Code which encompassed this respect for the land and its inhabitants. Furthermore, he risked expulsion from the ranks of centurions if he publicly voiced his disagreement with the commander because this was tantamount to insubordination of a superior’s orders.

Xanthur patiently waited for Nikakos to do just that. The leader was prepared to dismiss the heretic from the mission as a sacrificial lamb and send Nikakos back to the Kingdom of Hapta. This example would help discourage the other Centurions from dissenting with their superior officer. To Xanthur’s disappointment, however, Nikakos exercised enough self-restraint to keep his mouth shut. Thus, the two remained at a stalemate.

During the lunch break, Koji took this opportunity to ask Zelea his questions. “How does the ginseng plant look? How can you tell if it’s a thousand years old?”

The herbalist smiled at these thoughtful questions because she wanted to teach the party about the ginseng root. Once the party members become educated, this would increase the number of eyes seeking the ingredient. “The ginseng plant has big green leaves and red berries at the center. These berries make it easy to see if you encounter a ginseng plant on the ground,” Zelea explained.

“As for the age of the plant, there are two ways to tell. First, by counting the number of leaves. Ginseng plant has one long stem that separates into prongs or leaves. A three-pronged plant is approximately five years old while a four-pronged one is ten years old. For a thousand-year-old ginseng plant, you’re looking for at least fifty-prongs, and its size will be gigantic compared to the younger plants.”

“The second method is to dig up the plant and examine the rhizome or root neck of the plant and check the number of stem scars. A five-year-old plant has four scars. When the leaf stem dies during autumn, one scar adds to the root neck. But sometimes, the scar skips, so this counting method is not foolproof. For a thousand-year-old ginseng root, there should be a few hundred scars,” Zelea lectured.

The party members listened carefully to her words. Now, they knew what to look for if only the mountain lion would leave them alone.

“I noticed that you kept taking us back into the shadow of the mountain. Why?” Koji asked.

Zelea smiled at the question. “Ginseng plants prefer to grow under the shadow of trees. So you won’t find these plants in a cleared area,” she answered.

“Are they solitary plants, or do they grow in clusters?” Koji continued.

“Clusters,” she replied. “They prefer to grow on a slope, and the seeds inside the berries can roll down the slope. So when you find a cluster of ginseng plants, the ones at the lower end of the slope tend to be younger than the plants up top,” Zelea added.

The Centurions’ regard for the princess grew. While they had obeyed her commands during this morning’s search, the centaurs held doubt in their hearts over her knowledge as a herbalist. Now that they heard this discussion, Zelea had demonstrated her skills to their satisfaction and removed their unease. The centurions became confident in her ability to find the ingredient.

Xanthur clapped his hands. “The break is over. Let’s continue the search!” he ordered.

His men broke up the circle.

Suddenly, the cougar ran toward the group to attack! The beast believed her prey would lower their guard and thus, she took advantage.

However, Koji had kept track of the lion using his Qi Perception. When she approached, he immediately intervened. With a quick draw of his saber, Koji’s slash cut the animal’s throat!

The mountain lion abruptly stopped running as she lost her strength. Splash! Blood poured out of her carotid artery. The animal looked at Koji with disbelief before its majestic body hit the ground!

Koji casually wiped the blood off his blade with the cougar’s fur, and then he sheathed his weapon.

The centurions were awestruck by this young man’s lightning fast movement and outstanding offensive skill. The mountain lion was a Rank 3 beast and nearly impossible for any of them to handle alone. But Koji killed this powerful animal with one move! In their eyes, he was a monster even more frightening than the lion. Their minds returned to Mylia’s challenge of Koji yesterday; they realized that his win over their leader was not a fluke!

“Take the beast core and leave the rest of the body behind. We need to hurry up and find the hundred-year ginseng root!” Xanthur ordered.

The eyes of his men lingered on the deceased cougar. Her pelt was worth a lot of money plus her head would serve as a beautiful trophy. However, the centurions saluted and obeyed their leader.

Halix, their best skinner, used a long, thin knife to cut out the eyeball and dig a path through the brain to reach the stone. Then he inserted two fingers inside to pull out the precious beast core. He wrapped the bloody stone inside a cloth and wiped his hands. This process took only two minutes!

Once Halix rejoined the group, they quickly formed a protective circle around Zelea and Koji.

The princess pointed north, and the party moved in that direction. A short time later, a male lion found the body of its mate. His roar of anguish echoed through the forest, freezing the party.

“Oh, fuck! We’re screwed!” a centurion blurted out in fear.

“That’s probably the mate of the lion we just killed. There’s no way for us to outrun it,” another centurion observed.

“Let’s go the clearing,” Xanthur ordered. He turned and headed toward the east. The commander moved at a quick pace, forcing Zelea and Koji to run after him.

The centurions kept swiveling their heads to check for signs of the mountain lion. Fortunately, it hadn’t caught up with the party. Yet.

When the group arrived at the clearing, Xanthur barked, “Form a circle around the royal couple!”

The centurions obeyed. Each centaur held his bow and pulled his bowstring. The experienced hunters knew that the lion was already following their tracks and will shortly arrive.

In a few minutes, the mountain lion made its appearance. The beast held its head high. Its eyes swayed from side to side, and the apex predator sent its killing intent to each person before it. The lion implicitly promised death to each of them for killing his mate! He roared, showing his sharp teeth which will soon rip their soft flesh to shreds!

“Formation Alpha!” Xanthur yelled! He pulled his saber from his saddlebag.

The centurions immediately regrouped and changed their formation to an arrow with the leader at the arrowhead.

Koji walked up and stood next to him.

“Prince Consort, please let us handle the beast,” Xanthur said politely.

The young man shook his head. “You need me,” he said softly. Koji mentally compared this new animal to the one he killed recently. He realized that this newcomer was more potent than the female lion. Thus, Koji decided to intervene or else Xanthur will die. And if that happens, then Mylia would decline to teach Koji new saber techniques. Thus, for the sake of learning from her, Koji stepped forward to protect Mylia’s followers.

However, the centurions misunderstood his intentions, and they stomped their feet in anger. How dare this human look down on them?

“Enough!” Xanthur hissed. “He is the best fighter in our group,” the leader acknowledged openly.

His men frowned and cursed under their breaths. But none dared to dispute this claim because it was true!

When Koji pulled out his saber, he felt intense pressure from the lion, who smelled his mate’s blood on the weapon!

Whoosh! In the blink of an eye, the beast charged at Koji!

The centurions fired their arrows, all of which struck the lion but bounced off! “Body refinement!” they realized in horror. For a beast to possess such a high level in this skill, the lion must be at Rank 4! Their courage faltered as they watched the lion murder the young man.

One person in the group broke free–Xanthur! He remembered his pledge to protect Koji and tried to block the beast.

Before Xanthur could stand in front of Koji, the young man used his light foot step to run around his would-be protector. Koji ran to the left and drew the lion away from the group.

Understanding his intentions, the centurions fired their arrows at the beast again. However, nothing penetrated his tough hide.

Finally, Koji stopped running and turned around to face the lion head-on!

The apex predator’s eyes widened in delight. He opened his mouth and pounced on the weak human!

Whoosh! Koji channeled his Yang Qi into his legs and sidestepped the attack! When the lion landed, the defender stood behind the beast. Koji immediately grabbed his tail and cut it off with his saber!

The proud beast yelped in pain as he jumped away from his attacker! The mountain lion glared at Koji and roared at him. How could this insignificant insect damage his magnificent body? How was this possible? He was the king of this mountain! The mountain lion charged again! However, with the missing tail, the beast lost his balance and stumbled!

Koji noticed this, and he channeled his Qi again. In an instant, he appeared in front of his opponent. Whoosh! Click! Koji stood with his back turned toward the lion and sheathed his saber. “I win,” the fighter proclaimed under his breath.

The next moment, a geyser of blood burst from the lion’s neck! BOOM! HIs body fell to the ground, and a pool of thick red blood formed under his carcass.

The centurions stared with their jaws dropped. How could a weak human defeat such a powerful beast? They refused to entertain the possibility that Koji was Rank 4 or even higher.

Zelea immediately slithered across the field and stood next to her husband. Her reptilian eyes looked up and down his figure to check for wounds. When she found none, Zelea breathed a sigh of relief. Suddenly, her face turned ugly, and she smacked the top of his skull! Whack!

“Ow! Why did you hit me?” Koji complained.

“Are you trying to frighten me death, Koji? You were too reckless in charging ahead by yourself!” she yelled in his face.

Koji remained calm despite her outburst. “I won,” he stated simply and turned away. However, Koji grabbed her hand and pulled his wife along.

“What am I gonna do with you?” Zelea muttered under her breath, drawing a smile on his face.