The few surviving Pharmacists of the Shi family first washed the blood off their hands with clean water. Then, they took out their tools—medicinal trowels, bamboo slips, soft-bristle brushes, and the like—and laid them out in a neat row beside the Dragon Sinew Grass.
The lead Pharmacist crouched down and gently brushed aside the dead leaves and broken twigs on the ground, carefully identifying the roots and stems of the Dragon Sinew Grass.
The leaves of the Dragon Sinew Grass were long and narrow, and entirely blood-red. A central main stem ran from the root all the way to the tip of the leaf, looking like a taut Great Tendon. This Great Tendon, having absorbed an abundance of Qi and Blood essence, was the most valuable part of the Dragon Sinew Grass.
"Dig the trowel in three inches away. Don't damage a single root."
