Early the next morning, before the sun had even started its shift, Jiang Xia had already gotten up and freshened herself.
She looked around to make sure everyone was still asleep and that no one would follow her. Only then did she confidently step outside.
The sky was just beginning to lighten with a dim blue, providing just enough brightness for her to barely see the road. Jiang Xia was worried she might get lost.
The place where she had dug for Fleece Flower Root the previous day was near the edge of the bamboo forest. However, there wasn't much of it. Jiang Xia planned to check the boundary between the bamboo and the tree forest, hoping for a pleasant surprise.
Both forests were vast, and getting lost inside could mean never finding a way out. So, as Jiang Xia proceeded, she marked her way by scratching crosses onto the bamboo with rocks.