After entering the mountains, the brothers Minister Li and Li Erchen each cut a thick wooden stick to carry.
The stick was useless for fending off a bear. However, if you encountered one from a distance, you could bang it against a tree. The bear would hear the noise without seeing anyone and would usually wander off.
Minister Li led the way, guiding Li Erchen over mountains and ridges. After walking for about an hour, they arrived at a sun-facing slope.
There was a patch of woods on the slope, and at its edge grew numerous thorny stalks.
Even the shortest stalks stood over a meter high, with pale yellow leaves and sharp thorns covering their main stems and branches.
These were aralia stalks.
The aralia shoots, then, were the tender buds that sprouted from the very top of these stalks.
You could snap off these tender buds and take them home. Those who could afford it would scramble them with eggs; those who couldn't would simply blanch them and eat them with a dipping sauce.
