Birth, Aging, Illness, and Death

Ever since that day, Li Mo had indeed seemed to have an epiphany.

In the examinations over the following months, he answered every question with ease and offered his own insights, making Doctor Zhang find him more pleasing the more he looked at him. The doctor could not help but develop a fondness for talent and began considering whether to let him graduate early after Evening Moon.

Naturally, he did not know that Li Mo's tremendous improvement came partly from years of accumulated learning finally bearing fruit, and partly from the aid of a mysterious dreamscape.

Li Mo named it Mystic Dream.

Over the past few months, Li Mo had entered Mystic Dream many times, thoroughly integrating all the herbal knowledge he had learned over the past two years. After repeated experiments, he had initially summarized several effective ways of entering Mystic Dream.

First, continuously reading the Mystic Box and letting his imagination unfold from it could greatly increase the chance of entering Mystic Dream.

Second, falling asleep during summer thunderstorms could raise the chance of entering Mystic Dream.

Lastly, what one thought of by day, one dreamed of by night.

Li Mo discovered that every time he awoke from Mystic Dream, he had not gained knowledge from thin air. Rather, his subconscious had integrated it all, linking together details he had previously overlooked—or, perhaps, allowing him to view problems from another angle.

Mystic Dream seemed to be a world rooted in the subconscious. Thus, if Li Mo wished to receive its help, he first had to grasp the key clues of a great deal of knowledge. Only then could Mystic Dream connect those threads within his subconscious and produce the effect of accumulated learning bursting forth.

After initially summarizing the many patterns of Mystic Dream, Li Mo had made it his secret.

The latter half of the second month was called Evening Moon.

Like the evening hour each day, Evening Moon was also a forbidden time, lasting fourteen days in all.

During this period, it was taboo to go out and work. One had to rest indoors as much as possible, lest misfortune, foul luck, or evil spirits cling to them and bring calamity.

A few days after that came the Flower Festival.

During the Flower Festival, all things revived. Boys tied up their hair, girls came of age, and vitality flourished; people went out to enjoy spring and gather sunlight, while orioles sang and swallows danced.

Morning.

After another examination ended, Doctor Zhang ignored Wang Pan, who was crying beside them. He believed that strict teachers produced outstanding students; when prescribing medicine and treating illness, carelessness was unacceptable.

"Today is the fourteenth day of the second month. In two days, Evening Moon will begin. During this holiday, go home and visit your families properly. Return after Evening Moon ends and before the Flower Festival. I will conduct your annual graduation examination and assess whether you are ready to complete your apprenticeship."

"Yes."

After the four of them responded respectfully, they returned to their rooms to pack their belongings.

After Li Mo finished packing, he saw that Wang Pan, Zhang Limin, and Jiang Ming had already left. He went before Doctor Zhang, a faintly pleading look in his eyes.

"Teacher, I would like to ask you to prescribe two more doses of medicine for my mother."

"Ah."

Hearing this, Doctor Zhang let out a long sigh and looked at this well-behaved, sensible apprentice. Sometimes, he even wished Li Mo were his own child.

"Didn't I explain it all to you after I went back with you to see your mother last time?"

Doctor Zhang stroked his beard and said in a low voice, "Your mother's illness came from years of overwork and long-term physical depletion. It is no longer something herbs can cure. You are now half a physician yourself, so you should understand that birth, aging, illness, and death are natural laws. As the saying goes, the moon waxes and wanes, and people meet fortune and misfortune overnight. You must learn to accept fate and cherish the present."

"Student... Student..."

Li Mo could not speak.

He naturally understood these grand truths, but aching for one's closest family was only human. Even physicians accustomed to life and death could not remain unmoved by the life and death of their own loved ones.

Seeing this, Doctor Zhang opened a drawer, took out two packets of herbs, and handed them to Li Mo.

"I knew you would come. These two packets cannot cure your mother's illness, but they can spare her pain. Take them. Ah, it is a pity that this old man is merely an ordinary person, just a herbal physician. If one day you encounter cultivators, be sure to find a chance to learn the art of pill refinement. Perhaps then you might be able to... Ah."

Doctor Zhang's sigh seemed full of regret and longing.

"Yes."

Li Mo committed his words firmly to heart. After bowing deeply, he hurried away.

It was Si Hour now. If he traveled at full speed, he should reach home before Weishi. Another month had passed. He wondered how his mother was doing.

Li Mo jogged all the way and finally returned to Shanbei Village after Wu Hour.

Walking along the narrow bluestone steps, he looked out at the farmland on both banks of the Tan River. Evening Moon was about to begin, and no one was out working anymore. He then came to the western end of the village and saw thick smoke rising from the Zhao family courtyard.

He knew Zhao Siman had gathered enough firewood and grass and was burning charcoal. The charcoal had to be delivered to town before Evening Moon to fetch a good price.

"Cough, cough! Cough, cough!"

Choked by the smoke, Zhao Siman ran out of the courtyard. Her little face was blackened with soot, and the two tracks of tears on it stood out sharply.

"Xiao Man, are you alright?"

Zhao Siman opened her tear-filled eyes. Seeing that it was Li Mo, she forced a smile.

"Brother Xiao Mo, you're back."

Then she seemed to suddenly remember something and hurriedly said, "You haven't gone home yet, have you? Hurry back and see your mother. She hasn't gotten out of bed for several days!"

Li Mo's expression changed.

Just then, a woman's shrill yelling came from inside the courtyard.

"Xiao Man! You dead girl, where did you run off to? The charcoal kiln hasn't been sealed yet. If you ruin the charcoal, I'll skin you alive!"

It was Zhao Siman's third aunt.

Zhao Siman's slender body trembled lightly. Reluctantly, she said, "Brother Xiao Mo, I have to go back."

This courtyard had originally belonged to Zhao Siman's family. After her father died, with no man left in the household, it had been seized by her third uncle and aunt. Instead, mother and daughter became guests under another's roof in their own home, reduced to cheap labor for her third uncle's family and living a precarious day-to-day existence.

"Xiao Man is here! Xiao Man is here!"

Three snot-nosed children came hopping and skipping out of the courtyard, following behind Zhao Siman and shouting without pause.

A moment later.

A woman's scolding, the crack of thorny switches, and Zhao Siman's crying came from within the courtyard.

Li Mo's heart ached, yet he could do nothing. He could only clench his fists fiercely and run home in great strides.

"Cough, cough."

Before he even entered the house, Li Mo heard the familiar coughing. Compared with a month ago, Zhou Mei's condition had clearly worsened.

Li Mo rushed inside and saw his bedridden mother. Her sunken cheeks held not a trace of color, and he immediately ran to her bedside.

"Mother!"

Seeing Li Mo, Zhou Mei tried to sit up, but she had no strength.

Li Mo hurried forward to support her, letting her lean against the pillow.

"Mother is fine. I'm just tired. I'll be alright after resting for a while. I was fine just a couple days ago. Ah, why are you crying again?"

"Mother, I'll go make dinner."

Li Mo hid his sorrow and made himself appear like a man. Zhou Mei smiled in comfort at the sight and nodded to him.

Night.

After feeding his mother rice porridge, Li Mo hurried outside to check the medicine pot. Not until late at night did he feed her the brewed herbal medicine. Under Li Mo's attentive care, Zhou Mei's condition seemed to improve. Her complexion grew slightly rosier, and she revealed a faint smile.

She reached out and touched Li Mo's hair.

"After Evening Moon comes the Flower Festival. My Mo'er is already Li Mo now. It is time for you to tie up your hair and take a wife."

"Mother."

Li Mo quietly lay against Zhou Mei's chest.

After coughing twice, Zhou Mei recovered some strength and sat up from the bed. She gestured for Li Mo to dim the oil lamp and save lamp oil.

Li Mo knew his mother had always been frugal, so he could only step forward and do as she asked.

When he returned to the bedside, he saw his mother take out a small cloth bundle. She unwrapped it layer by layer, revealing broken silver and copper coins inside.

"You like Xiao Man from the east end of the village, don't you?"

Seeing Li Mo stare blankly without speaking, Zhou Mei smiled. "A few days ago, I already asked the matchmaker to visit them. Her third aunt demands thirty strings of cash before she will let Xiao Man leave. I have twelve taels of silver here, along with a little more than two strings of copper coins. Together, it is nearly half the amount. Mother has saved it all over these years. Once Mother is gone and you are no longer burdened, take this money and save a little more. Marry Xiao Man home soon and have her bear the Li family a plump boy."

"Mother, stop saying that. You'll be fine!"

"Child, Mother knows her own condition."

A gentleness appeared in Zhou Mei's eyes. She was neither afraid nor lost because of it. Looking at Li Mo, she simply stroked his hair again and again.

"Be a real man from now on. Mother is proud of you."

The next day.

Perhaps Doctor Zhang's medicine had taken effect, for Zhou Mei was actually able to get out of bed and walk.

Yet Li Mo, who understood his mother's condition well, felt even more pain at the sight. This often meant a patient was having a final flash of vitality before the end.

Li Mo kept trying to persuade his mother to rest properly, but Zhou Mei took his hand and led him to North Mountain across the Tan River. She happily sat on the grass, gazing at the glittering Tan River in the distance with an expression of utter peace, then stretched lazily beneath the sunlight.

"How wonderful. To come out once before Evening Moon and return here again."

Li Mo took out a garment and draped it over Zhou Mei.

"Mother, don't catch a chill."

Zhou Mei smiled sweetly. "Do you know? It was right here that your father confessed his admiration to Mother during the Flower Festival. Mother agreed to him, and then there was you. In the blink of an eye, more than ten years have passed, and you have grown so big."

Sunlight fell across Zhou Mei's face. At that moment, she seemed like a child, gesturing to show Li Mo's height.

After a long while.

Zhou Mei leaned against Li Mo's shoulder and gently held his hand. In a soft voice beside his ear, she said, "Mo'er, Mother misses your father. Promise Mother that after I die, you will bury me here."

Li Mo wept until he could make no sound.

Seeing this, Zhou Mei made a playful face and laughed. "Just like your father when he was little—you always love crying."

Three days later.

Zhou Mei passed away from illness. Li Mo wailed loudly, once again weeping until he could make no sound.

But he knew that in her heart, his mother had been happy and content.

Though it was Evening Moon, Zhou Mei had always treated the people of Shanbei Village kindly. Families from every household came to pay their respects, expressing their grief for her again and again. Li Mo felt the villagers' sincere affection for his mother, and the sorrow in his heart shifted as well.

Just as his mother had been proud of him, he too was proud to have had such a mother.

After the first seven days.

Following his mother's final wish, Li Mo buried her coffin on North Mountain.

North Mountain was the sacred mountain of several nearby villages. There had once been a Mountain God Temple here, with the Mountain Goddess within it. But after Hua'an Town was incorporated into the Da Gan Kingdom, the Mountain God Temple had gradually fallen into ruin.

At that moment, flowers covered the hillside, and butterflies fluttered among them.

Li Mo stood quietly on the slope. It was as though he could see the Flower Festival of more than ten years ago, when his father and mother had met here. The sorrow in his eyes gradually turned into tears of laughter.

"I hope you live happily in the other world."

Li Mo set down the wildflowers in his hand. He felt as though he had finally grown up.