Chapter 345: Chapter 134 Medicine Man_4
After Lady Yun’s death, before Lu Tong descended the mountain, he scattered the pouch of Golden Qin beneath the Red Plum Tree.
Lady Yun was right, Luomei Peak does not grow herbs that cure poison; sometimes, fate seems to seal destiny from the very beginning.
Lu Tong knelt on the ground, reaching his hand toward the cluster of pretty flowers.
They appeared only slightly larger than winter jasmine, a beautiful golden color, exactly like the illustrations in books, in the snowy landscape, their branches full and lush. The bright colors trembled gently in the breeze, illuminating one’s eyes.
Lu Tong gently touched them.
The cluster of flowers she had thought would never sprout, after she left, after the snowstorms, had quietly bloomed on their own, in the cold wind, under the snow, brilliantly forcing their way open.
As she gazed upon them, for some reason, her eyes suddenly warmed, and tears fell.
...
"Snap—"
The sound of stepping on a snow-broken plum branch was crisp and sharp.
Someone walked through the grass behind the house, the Silver Knife at their waist gleaming fiercely.
Lu Tong was still asleep in the house; Pei Yunmeng didn’t wake her and stepped outside to check the surroundings.
With a night of snow, Luomei Peak was blanketed in white. From the peak, one could see a vast expanse of whiteness; ordinary people would easily lose their way in these mountains.
The captain of the Su Nan County, Li Wenhu, did not oppose the Medical Officers climbing the mountain out of cowardice; in fact, even the Palace Front Office Guards entering the snowy mountains would face the same dangers.
Yet somehow, Lu Tong was like a fish in water here.
Pei Yunmeng strolled through the snow without a care.
Lu San of Changwu County became the Female Doctor No. Seventeen in Su Nan City. Something seemed to be missing in between, and precisely that gap she guarded most cautiously, as if protecting a shocking secret, not letting anyone glimpse even a hint.
In the desolate mountain, an untidy hut, a narrow bed, ropes, and fingerprints— he had thought he knew enough about her, but now the mysteries seemed even deeper. Without her opening up, he couldn’t get in, and the invisible line between them was what made her unable to face herself squarely.
Pei Yunmeng stopped in his tracks.
Ahead was a large patch of overgrown grass.
The neglected grassland behind the house was disorderly, with the heavy snow pressing down the vegetation into a mess, yet amidst the chaos, a row of mounds stood starkly.
The cold snow covered everything, some falling upon the mounds, making the bulging graves all the more apparent, row after row, exceptionally clear among the wild grass.
Pei Yunmeng’s eyebrows began to furrow gradually.
This was the house where Lu Tong once lived.
But behind it lay so many startling graves.
His gaze fell on the grave at the forefront.
That grave was different from the others; it was significantly wider and topped with a stone stele, apparently haphazardly hewn from outside and not at all straight, its full face covered by snow.
The young man contained his emotions and took two steps forward, brushing off the snow from the stele.
White snow brushed aside, gradually revealing the carved inscriptions.
The writing was also rather blurry, but the scrawled strokes were very familiar; they were unequivocally Lu Tong’s handwriting—
The grave of my mentor Mo Ruyun.
Mo Ruyun?
A peculiar feeling rose in Pei Yunmeng’s heart, the name sounding oddly familiar.
He stared at the inscriptions on the stone for a while, intending to leave when he turned around, but suddenly thought of something and abruptly looked up.
In a flash, someone’s voice echoed in his ears.
"Although Miss Mo of the Mo Family was exceptionally talented, those children she saw as Medicine Men were the key to her frequent miraculous recipes. Those children led lives worse than death under her command, utterly miserable, with none surviving except the newly captured Medicine Man."
...
Handfuls of the golden, glittering Golden Qin were plucked and placed within the bamboo basket.
Lu Tong picked the last cluster of Golden Qin, feeling somewhat elated.
Great expectations for flowers often end in vain, while unintended willow planting yields shade. Unexpectedly, the seeds casually scattered beneath the tree years ago had now grown and bloomed.
The red vine on the mountain had withered, but the Golden Qin offered new hope. Golden Qin had the nature to counteract heat toxins and was actually more effective than the red vine. Although it was uncertain whether it would ultimately be useful for plagues, where there’s hope, there’s everything.
She wanted to bring all these Golden Qin down the mountain. This way, her journey wouldn’t be in vain.
Lu Tong brought the bamboo basket filled with herbs back into the hut, placing it beside the medical kit. Seeing that Pei Yunmeng had not yet returned, she wondered, and was about to call his name when suddenly, through the wooden window, she glimpsed a figure standing indistinctly behind the house.
That place...
Lu Tong’s heart began to pound furiously.
In an instant, she disregarded everything else, dropped the medical kit, and rushed out the door.
The ground behind the hut was covered with white frost over plants. The young man stood amidst the snow, his silhouette tall and straight, yet in this vast mountain range, it exuded a sense of loneliness.
Lu Tong stopped behind him.
Upon hearing the noise, he turned around.
Pei Yunmeng stood in front of her, those sharp, beautiful eyes quietly staring at her, as if hiding surging emotions, causing one’s heart to tremble upon hearing it.
Lu Tong’s gaze fell behind him.
There, on Lady Yun’s tombstone, the snow had been cleared, and her hasty handwriting was distinctly visible, like a crude secret painting suddenly unveiled.
Pei Yunmeng stared at her fixedly, taking steps toward her.
"Why do you call yourself Seventeen?"
His voice was different from usual, calm, gentle, as if suppressing some emotion, making one’s heart quiver.
"Is it because of this that you push me away?"
He approached Lu Tong, lowered his eyes, and slowly began to speak.
"Are you a Medicine Man of Mo Ruyun?"