Chapter 400: Chapter 149: Storm
The days passed quickly, and the night deepened.
The medical officers of the Medical Officer Institute had all gone to bed, and Lin Danqing, who had accompanied the Chief Physician to the palace to take the pulse of a noble in the afternoon, was too exhausted from the day’s work and went to rest on his cot early.
Lu Tong, however, could not sleep, so she simply went to tidy up prescriptions in the herb storage.
After she had finished with the prescriptions and still felt no drowsiness, she picked a medical book she hadn’t read before from the shelves and spread out paper and brush to copy down the text at the desk.
The night was very quiet, with only the low sound of insects outside the courtyard, and behind the stacks of medicinal shelves, Lu Tong sat in front of a low table, copying books by the light of a lamp.
"Maimendong, peony, Sedum, and duck’s weed, all mainly treat delirious fever..."
"Tinglizi suddenly causes madness, take White Dog Blood Pill for treatment..."
"Dog..."
Her pen stilled, and she looked at the character "dog," slightly lost in thought.
During the day, the puppies cradled in the boy’s arms looked like fluffy dumplings, and she could feel the warmth of their fur when they touched the back of her hand. When they naively poked their heads out to lick her hand, it always reminded her of another pair of eyes from her memory, clear, timid, like two shiny black pearls.
Telling Duan Xiaoyan, "I don’t like dogs," was a lie.
She too had once owned a black puppy, many years ago.
She called it "Black Cloud."
That was probably the third year Lu Tong was on Luomei Peak, or maybe even earlier, she couldn’t quite remember.
After many days of testing medicines, Lu Tong gradually adapted to life on Luomei Peak. She learned to store food, to lock herself in the thatched hut after drinking the medicinal soup Lady Yun had given her, and to endure the solitary nights accompanied only by a lonely lamp when Lady Yun was not around.
Such days, however, were inevitably monotonous.
So, when she was not testing medicines, Lu Tong secretly flipped through the books in Lady Yun’s house.
She was literate, as her father had taught her to read, and though she had never loved reading before, at that time, she was glad there were so many books to pass the time, making the dull and gloomy days somewhat more bearable.
Most of the books in Lady Yun’s collection were on medical topics and pharmacology, with the occasional historical or classical text. Matching them against the medicinal herbs she gathered, Lu Tong gradually learned to recognize them.
Lady Yun discovered that she was sneaking peeks at the medical books but didn’t stop her, letting her browse through them with apparent interest.
Later, when she was familiar with the herbs, Lu Tong started to understand some simple prescriptions. After testing medicines administered by Lady Yun, Lu Tong would use the herbs available in the mountains to detoxify herself and nurse her health.
At that time, she was quite happy, feeling that her days on the mountain were not wasted, and she slowly nurtured an illusion that she might be able to become a female doctor in the future.
Soon after, Lu Tong began to bring back various animals to the thatched hut.
In the mountains, there were often injured creatures, wild cats wounded by traps, rabbits with legs bitten off by foxes, young birds that had fallen from their nests...
Whenever Lu Tong encountered them, she would bring them back, treat them with medicinal herbs, and then release them back into the wild once they were healed.
Gradually, as she became busier, she no longer felt lonely. The thatched hut seemed like a lively clinic, and she the Resident Doctor providing care to the world, with the animals she had saved by chance becoming her patients.
Even amid hardship, she found joy, and the bitterness turned sweet.
One day, she picked up a wild dog at Chaos Burial Mound, seemingly newborn with its eyes not yet open. It was probably too weak, and the mother dog had taken the other puppies away, leaving this one behind.
Lu Tong brought the puppy back to the thatched hut.
The puppy was completely black and had smooth fur. Chewing on her pen cap, Lu Tong thought for a long time before naming it "Black Cloud."
"A cow’s tail whipping like black clouds spreading thick ink, the cow’s head facing wind and rain like spinning cartwheels..."
This was a poem her father used to make them write to practice calligraphy. Lu Tong liked the last two lines the most, which went "In haste braving the rain to rush across the stream, the rain stops abruptly and the mountains turn green again."
She stroked Black Cloud’s head and whispered softly, "Finding me was your luck, it’s like ’the rain stops abruptly,’ right?"
Black Cloud grew quickly.
The lively little dog was always by her side, helping Lu Tong carry the basket for gathering herbs when they went down the mountain. Lu Tong would share her food with Black Cloud during the day and at night, when she sat under the lamp reading medical books, Black Cloud would lie at her feet keeping watch.
It was Lu Tong’s only companion on the mountain, and sometimes, seeing the puppy frolic in the sunlight, she would feel as if she were back in Changwu County, chasing butterflies on the banks of the river.
Lady Yun sat under the tree at the small table, making medicine while watching her thoughtfully.
"You really like this little dog, don’t you."
Lu Tong hugged Black Cloud’s neck and gave a soft "Mhm" in response.