Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
âHe may wake up in advance,â Mr. Wu said.
âHey, you need to get ready soon,â Zheng Shixiong said.
âOK,â Mr. Wu said.
...
On Nanshan Mountain, Wang Yao sat in the medicine field and looked at the sky with the dog lying next to him. âSan Xian, there is a beautiful little girl who likes me. What do you think I should I do?â
In fact, Su Xiaoxue was not very little. She was more than 20 years old.
Woof! Woof!
âAre you asking what I feel?â Wang Yao asked. âHow would I describe her? She is a beautiful girl. I would lying if I said I had no feelings at all, but we come from two different worlds. I am in the wild mountains while she is like a bright pearl in a bustling city. We are too different.â
Woof!
âWhat, you want to have a companion?â Wang Yao asked. âThere are some dogs at the foot of the mountain. You can go down and see whether there is anyone you like.â
Woof! Woof!
âWhat do you mean by that eye expression?â Wang Yao asked.
The dog got up, turned his rear to him, and returned to his kennel without looking back. Once there, he raised his head to look at the sky.
The next day, the weather was fine. The morning air in the mountain village was exceptionally refreshing and slightly cool.
Su Xiaoxue woke up early while Chen Ying prepared breakfast. After eating, the four of them set off and went straight along the mountain road to Nanshan.
It was more peaceful in the mountains.
Cuckoo! Cuckoo! The sound of birds were all around.
âAh, the air here is so fresh!â Su Xiaoxue stretched out and breathed the air.
The four people did not take long to walk across the mountain. Nanshan Hill soon appeared in front of them. At this time, the mountain was surrounded by clouds, but the trees and rocks were faintly visible. It was quite like a cloud wonderland.
âItâs so beautiful!â Su Xiaoxue exclaimed.
âThis mountain is pretty distinctive.â Chu Lian slightly sighed. She could not tell what the distinctiveness was, but it indeed looked different.
âLetâs keep going,â Chen Ying said.
They continued to move forward. Although Nanshan seemed to be very close to them, the journey took them a while. They came to the foot of the mountain and looked up. By now, the atmosphere of the lush trees on the mountain were clearly visible.
Cuckoo! Cuckoo! The birds seemed to be extraordinarily cheerful.
At the bottom of the mountain, even breathing was much smoother.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
âCan you go up the mountain?â Su Xiaoxue asked.
âWeâd best not,â Chen Ying said.
She and her younger brother had been there more than once. When arriving at the foot of the mountain, they had never gone up.
âMr. Wang does not like it, right?â Su Xiaoxue asked.
âCorrect,â Chen Ying said.
âOK, we wonât go up,â Su Xiaoxue said.
They stood at the foot of the mountain for a while before turning and leaving.
Standing on a rock on the top of the mountain, Wang Yao watched them. He had seen them walking along the mountain road from far away. He also saw them stay at the foot of the mountain for a while but not go up it.
âWhat is the plan today, Lady?â Chen Ying asked.
âWell, letâs just walk around,â Su Xiaoxue said. âIs there something interesting in town?â
âThe interesting place here... You were there last time,â Chen Ying said after thinking. Recently, she and her brother had also wandered around. There really were not many places worthy of visiting. There were no historical sites or beautiful scenery of mountains and rivers. Plus, it was not as ancient, bustling, or famous as Jing.
âSince we cannot go up to Nanshan, letâs go to the nearby mountains,â Su Xiaoxue said.
âYou canât go up Xishan either,â Chen Ying said. âMr. Wang said that the last infectious disease originated from Xishan. Now, the people in this village do not go there.â
âCan we go to the east side?â Su Xiaoxue asked.
âYes, we can go there,â Chen Ying said.
The group headed to the east side of the mountain. Although it was called a mountain, it was actually an upland where the forests were not particularly large. Most of the land had been reclaimed as farmland. They walked along the path south. Not long after, they saw Nanshan. Unlike where they were, most of the plants on Nanshan were green trees, which left a pleasing feeling.
Wang Yao had already come down the mountain.
âCan we go a little closer?â Su Xiaoxue asked.
âOh, I donât know,â Chen Ying said.
âLetâs just get a little closer,â Su Xiaoxue said.
They slowly came to the place where Dongshan and Nanshan connected.
Woof! Woof!
âWhat is that?â Su Xiaoxue asked.
A very large dog walked out from the woods behind them and stared at the four people.
âItâs such a big dog! Is it Mr. Wangâs?â Su Xiaoxue asked.
âYes,â Chen Ying said. The dog appeared bigger than the last time she had seen it.
âWhat is it called?â Su Xiaoxue asked.
âSan Xian,â Chen Ying said.
âSan Xian. What a strange name,â Su Xiaoxue said.
Woof! Woof! The dog roared at them. The sounds he made were heavy and powerful.
âDoes it want us go?â Su Xiaoxue asked.
âYes,â Chen Ying said. âWe better go.â
Following her lead, the group turned and headed back in the direction from which they came.
Su Xiaoxue turned to Chen Ying and asked, âYou have been here for more than a month. Donât you feel bored?â
âFortunately, I really like to it here,â Chen Ying replied.
During the period of martial law because of an infectious diseases, she had been forced to stay. She had spent most of the time in the village. She took walks, read books, and listened to music, which kept her from being bored.
Not long after Wang Yao sat down in his clinic, someone rushed in.
âDr. Wang, Wei Yun woke up,â Zheng Shixiong said.
âOK, I will go there,â Wang Yao said.
In Sun Yunshengâs house, Mr. Wu sat on the bed and whispered to the patient, who had just awoken, âChilde, how do you feel?â
âUncle Wu, how many times have I told you not to call me that?â The young manâs voice was smoky. It was almost as if it could be blown away by a gust of wind.
âI am used to saying it,â Mr. Wu said.
âWhere are we?â the young man asked.
âIn a small mountain village,â Mr. Wu said. âThere is a doctor here whose medical skills are extraordinary. He cured Sun Yunshengâs disease.â
âI remember him. He used to have my sympathy. Now, I am the person who should have otherâs sympathy.â The young man sighed weakly.
âDonât talk too much,â Mr. Wu said. âYou need to save your vitality.â
âOK,â the young replied.
After a while, Zheng Shixiong entered the room with Wang Yao, who quickly approached the patient. The young manâs eyes were dim and not concentrated.
Wang Yao reached out his hand to shake it in front of the young manâs eyes. âCan you see it?â
âItâs just a blurry shadow,â the young man said.
âTake the medicine,â Wang Yao said.
A bowl of regather soup was served.
âUntie his clothes and let me see,â Wang Yao said.
Zheng Shixiong removed the quilt and pulled up the young manâs clothes to reveal his skinny body, which had almost no muscles. His skin was a strange blue-black color and as dry as bark.
Wang Yao reached out his hand to press it gently. The skin was not supple at all. âCan you feel my hand?â
âYes, I can, but barely,â the young man said.
Wang Yao took out the silver needles and chose an acupoint to insert into. âDo you have any feeling?â
âNo,â the young man said.
Wang Yao inserted needles into two more acupuncture points.
The patient still did not feel much. His sense of numbness, itchiness, and pain were weak. He only felt a slight sense of touch. Among the five senses, only his hearing was still within the normal range.
From the outside of the body to the inside, none of the skin, bones, organs, or marrow was normal. His situation was not much better than that of Su Xiaoxueâs when Wang Yao first saw her.
âWhat about defecation?â Wang Yao asked.
âBowel movement is one time every two or three days, and urinating is one or two times a day,â Mr. Wu said.
In the young manâs current situation, a large amount of toxins had accumulated in his body that could not be excreted smoothly or in time. The body tissues, such as the organs, were continuously poisoned in the body.
âThere is a medicine here to help him detoxify,â Wang Yao said. âHe can take it with the regather soup.â
He took out another dose of medicine made from antidote herb, along with ancient spring water. It was a good antidote to eliminate internal and external poisoning.
âOK, thank you,â Mr. Wu said.
After the young man drank the two medicines, Wang Yao waited for a while. He checked him from time to time. During this period, Mr. Wu fed the young man soup. The aroma of the soup was very refreshing.
Wang Yao guessed that there were many valuable herbs in the soup due to the smell it gave off. He could smell ginseng, angelica root, poria, cartialgenous and ganodorma lucidum. This soup was like a versatile tonic.
The patient drank less than two-thirds of the soup.
âIs this soup very particular?â Wang Yao asked.
âYes. Itâs stewed with sea cucumber and red-scale fish, along with ginseng, cartialgenous, ganoderma lucidum and many other herbs,â Mr. Wu said.