After feeling the page, Fang Qiu found that there were many ancient prescriptions hidden in this treasure book.
Therefore, he pored over only the first few prescriptions and changed the old measuring unit, such as qian, liang, into gram, which was used by modern people. Then, he looked through the rest of the ancient prescriptions below and thought of the conditions for making medicine addressed above.
From a modern perspective, the first condition was very easy to fulfill. As long as he found an adult man to make the medicine, it would do.
As for the second condition, it was obvious that he needed to keep the medicine away from impurities.
The third one talked about the age of the main component.
As a Chinese Medicine doctor, Fang Qiu naturally understood that the older the components were, the better the effect was. If there was a kind of Earth Treasure in the medicine, it could even be more effective than described on the prescription, if not less.
After studying the ancient prescriptions in the treasure book, Fang Qiu opened his eyes and murmured to himself, “Then, what I need to do next is to find some Fairy Desert Cistanche.”
Now, he already had the ancient prescriptions.
The next step was to solve the issue of making medicine.
Of course, he could also concoct medicine with ordinary herbs, but the effect of the medicine would not be ideal.
What was Fang Qiu’s goal then?
It was to open a company and make a fist product to open up the whole market.
Since he was developing a fist product, he could not make do with it!
For this reason, Fang Qiu could only put all his hopes on finding the Fairy Desert Cistanche.
As long as he found the Fairy Desert Cistanche, there would be a chance to continue.
But if he didn’t, there would be a big problem.
Even if Fang Qiu found it, he still might fail. Because in order to manufacture the fist product, a large amount of Fairy Desert Cistanche was needed. That was to say, after finding the Fairy Desert Cistanche, he must cultivate it first. If the cultivation succeeded, the problem would be solved. If not, things would become really tricky.
Fifty minutes later, the plane landed smoothly at Korla Airport.
Fang Qiu got off the plane.
After walking out of the airport, Fang Qiu directly got on a taxi and headed for the scenic spot of Taklimakan Desert where a large amount of Desert Cistanche grew.
In the taxi, the introduction of the Desert Cistanche in the medical book emerged in his mind.
“Desert Cistanche, also called Cistanche and Jiangyun, is a kind of endangered plant. It is a tall herb, about 40 to 160 cm high, and most of it grows underground.
“Desert Cistanche is a kind of parasitic plant that lives at the root of a desert tree. It absorbs nutrients and water from the host plant. It’s also reputed as desert ginseng and has very high medicinal value. It is a traditional and precious Chinese medicinal material. In history, it was treated as a precious commodity of the imperial court by various countries in the west of Asia. It is one of the most effective herbs used for Kidney-nourishing Prescriptions in history.”
Soon, the taxi stopped in front of the scenic area of Taklimakan Desert.
Fang Qiu got off the car at once.
At the time, there were many tourists in the scenic area.
Not far away, a tour guide was leading a group of tourists.
Fang Qiu went forward alone and started to listen to the tour guide’s introduction.
“Among all the deserts in the world, Taklimakan Desert is the most mysterious and attractive one. The center of the desert is the typical continental climate. Both the wind and sand storm are strong. There are sharp differences in temperature, with low precipitation all year round.
“The sand here is frequently blown up by the wind, and the shape of the sand dunes is also very unique. The highest one can reach 250 meters.
“Look over there.”
The tour guide raised a finger to point and said, “Those are two dunes, one red and the other white. They are the strangest ones in Taklimakan Desert. They are called the Holy Tomb Mountains. The wind has eroded the tops of the mountains, leaving them to be what they look like now. Tourists who come here all like to call them ‘Big Mushrooms’.”
Everyone turned to look at the dunes while discussing in a low voice.
Fang Qiu followed suit.
The Holy Tomb Mountains were about five meters high. There was an empty area under their huge canopies, which could accommodate more than 10 people. They did look quite strange.
“Look over there.”
The tour guide continued to give the tour description. He pointed to a place where there was a yellow forest in the distance and said, “That is the forest of haloxylon ammondendron in Taklimakan Desert.
“The haloxylon ammondendron, which is also called the City Salt Wood, lives on the edge of Taklimakan Desert. It can be used as burning material. Its tender branches and leaves can also be used as fodder. And there is a kind of parasitic Desert Cistanche living on it. Do you know what Desert Cistanche is?”
Many people shook their heads.
Beside the crowd, Fang Qiu’s interest was immediately aroused as he heard the name Desert Cistanche.
“Desert Cistanche is a precious Chinese medicinal herb. This forest of haloxylon ammondendron is a wild habitat for Desert Cistanche. But because it’s very expensive, many people come to steal some every year, especially in April.
“It’s the same this year. But there was an accident this year, which caused a lot of casualties.”
As the guide said that, the group of tourists also became curious.
“What kind of accident?”
“What could have happened in the desert?”
“It couldn’t be that the thieves were caught and they got into a fight, could it?”
The members of the tour group posed one question after another.
“Of course not.”
The tour guide shook his head and said with a smile, “It’s a natural disaster. It’s said that when those people came to steal the wild Desert Cistanche this year, they happened to encounter sandstorms. Moreover, the sandstorms came in a row, and several batches of thieves who came to steal the herb were caught in the sandstorms. I also heard that someone had seen a very huge black shadow, which was shaped like a giant scorpion in a sandstorm.”
The faces of those in the tour group turned pale.
But some people laughed out loud. They obviously didn’t believe it. However, some of them had horror written all over their faces. They were truly afraid that there really might be a monster.
When the tour guide saw that some tourists turned ashen-faced, he quickly added, “Don’t worry, everyone. Isn’t that far away? This is a tourist attraction. We’re absolutely safe here.”
Hearing his words, everyone gradually calmed down.
However, Fang Qiu took it seriously.
“A Black shadow?
“It’s huge, like a giant scorpion?”
An idea crossed his mind.
Fang Qiu looked up.
He saw that the place that the tour guide was talking about was very far away. Since this was a desert with a wide view, everyone could see clearly what there was in a long distance.
Fang Qiu took a close look at that place.
It was a bush area.
Or rather, the haloxylon ammondendron was a kind of bush after all.
The height of the trees there varied, ranging from two or three meters to seven or eight meters. Their barks were light gray or grayish brown, which looked quite the same to the color of the desert.
“Maybe it’s not just a rumor.
“Could that black shadow be real?
“If there is really a monster, it’s highly likely to be a guardian beast. That is to say, there is an Earth Treasure!”
With that in mind, Fang Qiu made his way ahead alone.
On the other side, the tour guide and the tour group continued to roam within the scenic area.
After walking for a while, Fang Qiu looked back and found that the tour guide and the tour group had disappeared. Although the view was clear, Fang Qiu would be inevitably covered by the endless desert if he was in the depths of the desert. After all, the desert was too vast, and there were also sand dunes of different sizes. Standing at the highest point of the scenic area, one might be able to see the forest of haloxylon ammondendron that was the most far away, but one absolutely could not see the people behind sand dunes.
Without further ado, Fang Qiu continued to move forward. Because there was no one around, his speed increased greatly.
He climbed over several hills.
Then, he suddenly slowed down.
Because he heard roars of the engine at a distance.
He looked over his shoulder.
He saw that a motorcade was crossing over the mountains.
It was actually not a motorcade. There were only three off-road vehicles in total. Nonetheless, the tires of these three cars had all been changed into Sand Hopper Wheels. Plainly, they were well prepared to go into the desert.
When the motorcade came near, Fang Qiu happened to arrive at the top of a sand dune and stand on the road that the team must pass.
“Rumble, rumble, rumble…”
With roars of the engine, the first vehicle skidded to a halt.
“Hey, bro.”
The driver and the one sitting in the front passenger seat of the first car got to their feet. They looked at Fang Qiu, who stood aside making way for them, and yelled, “You only packed one backpack and went into the desert by yourself? How daring!”
Fang Qiu chuckled behind his mask and answered, “I’m just having fun in the margin.”
“Come on, get on the car.”
The driver waved at him and said, “It’s fate that brings us together in this desert. Where are you going? Let me give you a ride.”
At this moment, the two cars behind also pulled over.
About six people got off the car and marched to the front from the rear.
“What’s wrong?”
“Why did you pull over?”
They questioned in bewilderment.
“Nothing serious. I met a bro here. I reckoned he was lonely, so I pulled over and asked if he needed a ride,” said the driver of the first car.
“Why are you heading into the desert?” asked Fang Qiu.
At that question, this group of people immediately put on a mysterious smile.
“Bro, do you believe in supernatural power?” the driver of the first car inquired.
“Well, that’s possible, isn’t it?” said Fang Qiu.
“We believe in it.”
Several people next to him immediately chimed in.
“Yes, we believe in it.”
The driver of the first car nodded at once and went on with expectation in his eyes, “We heard that there was a huge shadow of a scorpion that appeared when the sandstorm came in the desert. So, we’ve traveled here solely for the purpose of catching a glimpse of it. Maybe we can really witness some supernatural power.”
Fang Qiu scrutinized everyone in front of him and found that all of them were ordinary people. There was not even one martial arts practitioner among them.
Given their remarks, they were all fanciers of supernatural power.
“Now that you believe in supernatural power, have you ever seen any forms of supernatural power before?” asked Fang Qiu with great interest.
“Though this sand dune looks quite solid, the sand can’t stand the weight of the vehicles. I’m afraid that an accident will happen if the cars are parked here for long.”
The driver of the first car jumped out of the car and uttered his concern. He then asked everyone to get on their cars.
Fang Qiu also got on the first car and sat in the back row with another man.
The vehicles continued to move forward.
While driving, the driver said to Fang Qiu, who was sitting in the back seat, “Well, though I haven’t seen any supernatural power, there are people in our team who have seen it with their own eyes.”
“Who?”
Fang Qiu was intrigued.
“Me.”
The one sitting in the front passenger seat looked back and grinned. He began to gesticulate while saying, “You may not believe it. I saw a man break a tree this thick with one punch, but later I passed out for no reason. When I found the man again, he denied it no matter what I said and kept telling me that it was broken by the wind…”
As soon as this topic was brought up, several people in the same car immediately began to talk about their adventures.
They chatted like this for a while.
“Brother, aren’t you hot wearing that mask? You’ve been here and chatting for quite a while. Why not take off your mask and introduce yourself to us?” said the driver.
