diskusbooks Chapter 219 Xiaoxiao
Chapter 219 Xiaoxiao
After arriving in Baishan, Luo An and his party stayed at Baishan Jin Temple, which was located halfway up the mountain. The abbot was very shrewd and quickly vacated a detached courtyard house by the mountain for them to stay in.
Manduo, who came from the grasslands, was seeing such a majestic mountain for the first time. Amazed, he said to Luo An, "Doctor Luo, it won't be easy to find medicine in such a big mountain. Golden dodder is easy to find since it has no legs, but this snow deer will be difficult to find."
Luo An asked, "How do you know that the golden dodder has no feet?"
Luo An's tone was flat, not like he was joking. Besides, it was indeed hard to imagine a detached immortal joking.
Mando exclaimed in surprise, "I've only ever heard of thousand-year-old ginseng running away. Could it be that dodder vines can turn into living golden rabbits?"
Luo An said, "What's the difference between the sacred mountain's divine medicine, the thousand-year-old golden dodder, and the thousand-year-old ginseng?"
If the miracle doctor says there's no difference, then there must be no difference.
Mando murmured, "Then it will be even more difficult."
The abbot quickly said, "It's not difficult for the general to find medicine. Although Baishan is vast, many mountain people make a living by hunting and gathering herbs. They are very familiar with Baishan, and the general can ask them to help find medicine."
Manduo said, "A generous reward will surely bring forth brave men. I will send people to post notices, offering a reward of a thousand taels of gold for finding the snow deer and golden dodder."
The abbot exclaimed in surprise, "A reward of a thousand taels? A thousand taels of gold?"
Manduo opened the box, grabbed a gold ingot, and threw it to the abbot: "We have been a great disturbance by staying here. Please forgive us, abbot. Consider this our offering."
The abbot expressed his deepest gratitude and hurried off to make arrangements.
Mando laughed and said, "Do monks care about gold and silver? It seems that the Buddhist and Taoist hearts are just legends, and only the heart for money is real."
The mountain village is bitterly cold and unsuitable for living, remaining chilly even in summer. The villagers are not wealthy, and the abbot lives a very frugal life, rarely even seeing a few coins, let alone gold.
The county reward notices were posted in every village and market. Mando ordered his soldiers to guard all the main and side roads leading up the mountain, and anyone who went up the mountain, regardless of gender or age, would be rewarded with ten copper coins.
The usually quiet Baishan Mountain quickly became lively. Some people even brought their families, some carrying children, up the mountain. If they couldn't find the miraculous medicine, they could get ten coins. For poor families, ten coins was enough for a day's food and drink.
Luo An drew a snow deer and a dodder for Man Duo, and usually stayed in the backyard and didn't come out. In a place like this, there was no fear that Luo An would run away, so Man Duo didn't pay much attention to him.
Every day, mountain people would come carrying deer and dodder seeds, hoping to receive a reward. But Mando would carefully examine the picture and always say it was wrong.
Some are clearly wrong and just meant to fool people. Others are ambiguous; after seeing many, you can tell intuitively that something is wrong.
The mountain people didn't feel they were at a loss. The deer they hunted were theirs, the herbs they gathered were theirs, and even if there was no reward, they still had the spoils. Besides, they received a copper coin for going up the mountain every day, so they all thought these soldiers were fools.
That day, as usual, a girl brought a handful of dodder to collect her reward.
Mando looked left and right, then shook his head: "No, that's not it."
The girl exclaimed, "It's been so long, and every time I bring it to you you say it's not right. It's not this, it's not that, so tell me, what is it?"
The onlookers nodded in agreement, agreeing that the girl's words made sense.
Manduo slammed his hand on the table and stood up: "What are you yelling about? Our notice makes it clear. Dodder should be completely golden yellow, and deer should be completely snow white. Look at yourself, yours is light yellow..."
The girl was not intimidated and argued, "My father and brother are hunters, and my mother has been taking me to collect herbs since I was a child. We have lived in the White Mountain area for generations and have never seen a deer that is completely white or a vine that is completely golden."
The onlookers chimed in, "Yeah, yeah, I've never seen anything like it before."
This girl has come every day since day one, and many people have come to know her.
Seeing that her clothes were tattered and patched, her hair was disheveled and she had a stubborn look on her face, Manduo took out a piece of silver and handed it to her: "Alright, alright, you should go now."
The girl was very principled. She snorted, threw the dodder on the table, and turned to leave: "I won't accept a reward without doing anything. I won't take your money for nothing."
Many people thought that this girl was very eager to accept the reward, and she was also quite reasonable.
After everyone had left, a soldier approached Man Duo and said, "General, so many mountain people have been helping us search every day, but it's neither this nor that. General, do you actually have either of these two medicines?"
Mando also became suspicious. He picked up the dodder on the table and looked at it from left to right, then decided to go find Luo An.
Luo An sat at the stone table under the tree, holding a medical book and reading it slowly, just as he had done for thousands of years, feeling peaceful and at ease in the world.
He was just a doctor, frail and aloof, and shouldn't have been anything to fear. Many had reminded themselves countless times that they weren't afraid of anything, so why should they be afraid of a doctor? But they just couldn't change it.
Manduo carefully placed the dodder seed on the table and said, "Dr. Luo, look at this... it's entirely yellow..."
Luo An shifted his gaze from the book to the table, his expression somewhat surprised. He actually put down the book, picked up the dodder seed, and nodded with an "Mm".
He'd delivered it a few times before, but Luo An's eyes had only been glancing at it, and he'd never bothered to say a word. Man Duo hadn't held out much hope, but hearing that "hmm" was like hearing heavenly music.
Manduo asked with delight, "Dr. Luo, is this medicine any good?"
Luo An nodded: "Okay!"
Manduo tried his best to suppress the urge to jump for joy: "Okay, okay, I'll inform them to collect the reward right now."
The girl and her brother came together, and she was quite dissatisfied when she saw Manduo: "Did the general send us here?"
Manduo said, "Our doctor has examined your medicine and confirmed it's genuine. We've invited you to come and collect your reward."
The girl and her brother exchanged a glance, both somewhat incredulous.
Mando directed the soldiers beside him to open the wooden crate, and a dazzling expanse of gold dazzled everyone. Mando said, "This crate of gold is all yours."
The girl's eyes widened, and she tugged at her brother's sleeve: "Brother, we're rich!"
The older brother remained calm: "Xiaoxiao, these soldiers have worked hard too. We can't take all of this gold."
The girl immediately understood: "Sir, we only need half, you can divide the other half among yourselves."
Mando, seeing her cleverness, smiled and asked, "What's your name? How old are you? Are you married?"
The girl said, "My name is Du Xiaoxiao, and my brother's name is Du Dada. My brother is thirty years old, and I am nineteen. Our family is too poor to afford a bride price, so my brother is not married yet. There is an order of seniority, and if he doesn't get married, I can't get married either."
Big and small? That certainly fits the mountain people's custom of naming their children arbitrarily.
Manduo asked with great interest, "Xiaoxiao, if your brother can't get married, won't you be unable to get married forever?"
The girl glanced at the gold and said, "We'll have money soon, and my brother will be able to marry his sister-in-law soon."
Manduo said, "I'm not married either. Why don't you come with me? I'll guarantee you wealth and honor. Once we find the snow deer, your brother will come back with us."
I'll teach your brother how to lead troops in battle. If he achieves military merit, he can become a general too. You and your siblings will then rise to prominence, bringing glory to your ancestors—better than spending your lives as mountain dwellers in Baishan, unable to find a husband."