Clouds and Moon Shadow

"It was the village chief who chose it. At the time, my master said he wanted to stay, but the village chief was unwilling. Later, out of respect for my master's earnest pleas, he gave us several places to choose from. In the end, my master chose this place, which was the farthest from the village, saying that the scenery here was quite nice." Chai Hu thought for a moment and remembered that he and his master were very happy at the time, never expecting that the place they chose might face such danger.

Fortunately, three years have passed and things have been relatively peaceful.

Gu Qingyue seemed to be thinking about this. In other words, the village chief did not want to take in outsiders, and the place that Chai Hu and his apprentice could choose was so far away from them. Could there be some unspeakable secret in the village?

Suddenly, she remembered the screams from last night. Could it be...?

Looking back at the boy who was deep in thought, Gu Qingyue didn't disturb him. Instead, she walked with great interest toward a medicinal garden by the fence.

"Is this your medicinal herb garden?" Gu Qingyue's voice pulled Chai Hu out of his thoughts.

He realized what was happening and quickly followed.

“Yes, I’ve divided it into several areas, and the medicinal herbs I planted were all dug up by myself from deep in the mountains,” Chaihu said, pushing open the fence gate of the small medicinal garden.

Gu Qingyue squatted down and carefully looked at the small area, which actually contained many kinds of rare medicinal herbs. Gu Qingyue's heart pounded.

She wants to buy them all!

What a pleasant surprise! This Bupleurum doesn't seem to be just some ordinary village doctor; his lineage must be quite impressive.

Otherwise, how could I recognize so many rare medicinal herbs?

She herself had received years of careful instruction from her maternal grandfather in her previous life, and had also read a large number of medical books and ancient texts passed down over the centuries. After coming to this world, she continued to search for and study various medical books, which gave her a rough understanding of the subject.

But this boy's little herb garden has collected so many good medicinal herbs!

Gu Qingyue's heart began to stir. No! She had to buy them all and take them all with her!

Thinking about it, no, I'll take this Bupleurum root with me too!

What a surprise!

"Bang bang bang-----"

Just as Gu Qingyue was getting excited, there was an urgent knocking on the front door.

Finally, she was brought back to reality.

"Someone is knocking on the door," Gu Qingyue said to Chai Hu behind her.

"I'll go take a look," Chai Hu said, turning to leave.

"I'll go with you," Gu Qingyue said, standing up as well. After all, this was someone else's secret place, and it wouldn't be appropriate for her to stay behind alone.

“Okay!” Chai Hu paused and said one word. He was a little worried that the villagers would be unhappy to see Gu Qingyue, but it didn’t matter. He was also an outsider back then, and he stayed in the end.

"coming!"

As soon as they arrived in the front yard, they saw the people outside the fence gate through the fence.

He was a young man.

"Brother Ershan," Chaihu greeted from afar.

Gu Qingyue looked at the man outside the courtyard with curiosity and decided to observe him first.

The closer she got, the more curious Gu Qingyue became.

The man was very handsome, with a wheat-colored complexion but a robust physique and a straight, upright posture.

Although he was wearing a gray short jacket, the sharp glint in his eyes amidst his eagerness made him seem unlike a country bumpkin. Who was he, really?

However, Chai Hu calls him Brother Ershan, so it seems they know each other and are likely from the same village.

"Chaihu, please go and check on my father. He fell and injured his leg while hunting yesterday, and he has a fever this morning," the man said urgently when he saw Chaihu approaching.

As soon as he finished speaking, he saw Gu Qingyue behind Chai Hu and a sharp glint immediately flashed in his eyes. Although it was fleeting, Gu Qingyue still caught it.

Gu Qingyue twitched the corner of her lips. Indeed, that's quite interesting.

"Oh, this is Gu Qingyue, a doctor I met in the mountains yesterday who also gathers herbs," Chai Hu said hastily when he saw Song Ershan's wary expression.

Gu Qingyue nodded, which was her way of greeting her.

After saying this, Chai Hu hurriedly ran into the main room and came out a moment later carrying a medicine box.

“Let’s go, Brother Ershan, I’ll go check on Uncle Song,” he said, taking the lead and walking down the hillside.

Gu Qingyue did not move, remaining standing in the same spot, watching the two walk away.

How could there be such a person in this village...?

Gu Qingyue stroked her chin and made a bold guess. She hadn't missed the dangerous glint in the man's eyes when he turned to look at her before he left.

He was silently warning himself, why?

Gu Qingyue wandered aimlessly around the courtyard, and finally rolled up her sleeves to help Chai Hu dry the herbs.

Her intuition was right; this Chaihu was no ordinary person, at least his medical skills were certainly not low, as could be seen from the way he processed and dried the medicinal materials.

She held the medicinal herb and examined it closely. The processing method was indeed unique. The more she looked at it, the more she wanted to know its origin.

"Qingyue, what are you doing?" Chaihu's voice came from behind.

"Oh, it's nothing. I was just looking through some herbs for you. You're back? How's Uncle Song doing?" Gu Qingyue asked casually.

Chaihu nodded.

"The place where I fell yesterday had some inflammation and I had a high fever, but it's gone down now, so it's not a big problem," he said, before picking up his medicine box and heading towards the main room.

“Oh, right, Uncle Song asked me to take you to his house for lunch, saying he wants to meet you,” Chai Hu’s voice came from the main room.

After hearing this, Gu Qingyue hummed in agreement, not surprised at all, as she had already expected it.

At lunchtime, the two came out from the backyard. They had already agreed that Gu Qingyue would buy all the medicinal herbs they had planted and pay five thousand taels of silver.

Gu Qingyue originally intended to give 10,000 taels, but Chai Hu insisted on refusing, as he was stunned the moment Gu Qingyue mentioned the price.

He came to this village at the age of fifteen. Before that, he had been traveling around practicing medicine with his master and had lived in Lizhou City for more than a year. Therefore, he was not an ignorant young man.

Therefore, they have some knowledge of the prices of most common medicinal herbs.

However, these medicinal herbs grown in the small herb garden are very rare and are not commonly seen in pharmacies.

He wasn't sure about the price either, but ten thousand taels was indeed outrageous. He was truly frightened by Gu Qingyue's extravagance.

Finally, he suggested that at least one plant of each type of medicinal herb be left for him so that he could divide and plant them later.

Gu Qingyue pleaded until her lips were sore, but he insisted on only asking for five thousand taels and leaving one plant for each of them; he had no other requests.

Gu Qingyue thought about it and decided not to insist for the time being.

She had a premonition that she would eventually take this young doctor with her, so she decided to leave it at that for now.

The two strolled into the village, where there were hardly any people to be seen. According to Chai Hu, the villagers made their living by hunting, so most of them would go deep into the mountains during the day.

"Where are the children? We can't find any." Gu Qingyue and her companion had been walking for a long time without seeing a single child in the village, so they couldn't help but ask curiously.

"Uh... not many people get married in this village. There are only two children, and they're still young," Chai Hu hesitated for a long time before finally managing to utter this sentence.

Gu Qingyue found it amusing, but it also solidified her resolve.

According to Chaihu, this means that the village is too isolated, so no one can find a wife, and of course no children are born.

They're all grown men, who would they have children with?

But isn't it suspicious that a village is full of men?

Of course, so far, this matter has nothing to do with Gu Qingyue, and she doesn't want to delve into it.

The two walked along the winding mountain road, past the village entrance, towards Uncle Song's house. They passed several houses where smoke was rising from the chimneys, which was relatively normal.

Just as we were about to reach Uncle Song's house, we encountered a woman, about thirty years old, carrying a basket and going out to pick vegetables.

She wore a long cloth dress and a coarse cloth apron around her waist. Her hair was neatly combed, her face was fair, and she had delicate features. She walked with a brisk pace, exuding an air of arrogance.