Chapter Summaries

Jian Mo and Wu Jiong took the gravely ill Fen Hui to the Stored Star Tribe to seek treatment from Witch Doctor Xing Yi. After a difficult six-day journey, they arrived and were directed to land their Flying-Winged Beasts and wait for help.

• The Riverside Tribe and Haizuo Tribe agreed to support the journey, and the Haizuo Tribe promised not to blame Jian Mo or Wu Jiong if Fen Hui's treatment failed.
• Jian Mo, Wu Jiong, and Fen Hui set off, with Wu Jiong riding Ying'ao and Jian Mo riding Jiujiu.
• The travelers received food and directions from tribes along the way, while Fen Hui told Jian Mo he hoped to become his student if he recovered.
• After about six days of travel, the group reached the prosperous Stored Star Tribe on the morning of the seventh day.
• Stored Star Tribe residents recognized that they had come to seek treatment from Witch Doctor Xing Yi and instructed them where to land their Flying-Winged Beasts.
• Wu Jiong carried the too-weak-to-walk Fen Hui down from Ying'ao.

Jian Mo and Wu Jiong brought the seriously ill Fen Hui to the Stored Star Tribe, where Witch Doctor Xing Yi examined him and suspected hardened liver tissue and ascites. Xing Yi asked Fen Hui to transform into his beast form so he could assess him more accurately before prescribing treatment.

• Xing Jiu told Jian Mo that the Stored Star Tribe had heard of his surgical treatments and led the group to lodging for patients and their families.
• Jian Mo rested while Wu Jiong stayed nearby, and Xing Yi returned from treating another patient.
• Jian Mo and Wu Jiong joined Fen Hui as Witch Doctor Xing Yi examined his face, eyes, and swollen belly.
• Xing Yi identified signs of a hardened liver and ascites, then asked Fen Hui to change into his beast form for a closer examination.
• Fen Hui struggled to stand and transform but managed to change into his beast form in front of Xing Yi and the others.

Xing Yi examined Fen Hui and found that his liver disease was treatable, then prepared to prescribe medicine and gather fresh ingredients before dark. Jian Mo observed Xing Yi’s methods and learned that the tribe recorded prescriptions in a writing system he could not read.

• Xing Yi examined Fen Hui while Jian Mo listened to his heartbeat and organs under Xing Yi’s guidance.
• Xing Yi determined that Fen Hui’s liver disease could still be treated and said he would prescribe medicine.
• Xing Yi asked Jian Mo and Wu Jiong to help gather fresh ingredients so Fen Hui could take his first dose that night.
• Xing Jiu brought Xing Yi wooden boards containing prescriptions for liver disease, and Xing Yi planned to adjust the second prescription because Fen Hui was weak.
• Jian Mo asked about the marks on the boards, learned they were writing, and admitted he could not read them.

Jian Mo and Wu Jiong helped Xing Jiu gather herbs for Fen Hui’s medicine, then watched Xing Yi prepare the brew and learned about the Stored Star Tribe’s careful methods. The chapter ended with Jian Mo realizing that the choice of pot could affect a medicine’s properties.

• Xing Yi explained the herbs in Fen Hui’s prescription, and Jian Mo recognized most of them from his own experience.
• Jian Mo, Wu Jiong, and Xing Jiu climbed the mountain to gather the needed herbs, and Xing Jiu showed Jian Mo the tribe’s more meticulous methods of preparing them.
• Jian Mo discovered the sea from the summit, and Xing Jiu promised to treat the visitors to seafood later.
• The group gathered enough herbs near dusk, and Wu Jiong carried Jian Mo and Xing Jiu back down in his giant wolf form.
• Xing Yi checked the gathered herbs and prepared Fen Hui’s medicine while Jian Mo and Wu Jiong watched and asked questions.
• Xing Yi explained how a patient’s condition, the order of ingredients, and the use of a clay pot could affect the medicine’s strength and properties.

Jian Mo learned Xing Yi's methods for preparing medicine and diagnosing Fen Hui, then shared his own strengths and introduced Xing Yi to a stethoscope. The chapter ended with Xing Yi testing the device and asking how it worked.

• Xing Yi explained medicinal preparation and diagnosis as he treated Fen Hui, and Jian Mo learned why medicine had to be handled carefully.
• Xing Jiu and Jian Mo cooled the medicine and helped Fen Hui drink it, then observed his sweating and examined him with Xing Yi.
• Xing Yi taught Jian Mo and Xing Jiu to assess Fen Hui's symptoms and listen to his internal sounds after treatment.
• Jian Mo explained that he was better at treating external injuries and using surgical instruments, then showed Xing Yi and Xing Jiu his stethoscope.
• Xing Yi tried the stethoscope and asked Jian Mo how it worked, and Jian Mo gave an uncertain explanation about sound traveling through solids.

Jian Mo learned more about Xing Yi’s medical techniques and decided to stay at the Stored Star Tribe to study and perform surgery. After examining six patients, he chose to operate on Man Zhi’s large neck tumor, leaving the operation still to come.

• Xing Yi taught Jian Mo how to interpret sounds heard through the stethoscope, and Jian Mo wrote down what he learned.
• Jian Mo examined Fen Hui the next morning and saw that his yellowed skin had begun to regain a normal color.
• Jian Mo told Wu Jiong he wanted to stay longer and learn from Xing Yi, and Wu Jiong agreed they could remain.
• Xing Yi brought six patients for Jian Mo to assess, and Jian Mo chose Man Zhi’s neck tumor as the first case.
• Jian Mo examined Man Zhi in both human and beast form while Xing Yi explained that the growth had slowed his qi and blood, and Jian Mo judged it suitable for surgery.

Jian Mo operated on Man Zhi in beast form and exchanged medical knowledge with Xing Yi and his companions. Man Zhi and the other patients recovered well, and word of Jian Mo’s skills brought patients from nearby tribes.

• Jian Mo explained surgical disinfection and operated on Man Zhi in beast form with Xing Jiu and Wu Jiong assisting.
• Jian Mo removed Man Zhi’s large tumor and sutured the surrounding tissue.
• Jian Mo and Xing Yi agreed to exchange surgical methods, prescriptions, and medical knowledge, with Xing Jiu translating.
• Jian Mo examined Man Zhi’s recovery and warned him to wait two days before changing forms so his neck wound would not reopen.
• Jian Mo treated the other patients, and people from more than a dozen nearby tribes came to seek his care.

Jian Mo settled in with Wu Jiong at the Stored Star Tribe, treating patients and sharing medical knowledge with Xing Yi. When Xing Jiu invited him to collect medicinal seaweed from fish at the coast, Jian Mo watched the tribe members call a school of large fish into a bay and scrape seaweed from them.

• Jian Mo and Xing Yi treated more patients, including people with toothaches, while setting aside cases they could not solve.
• Jian Mo discussed his unusual second stage of development with Xing Yi, who reassured him that it was not an illness.
• Jian Mo and his companions stayed at the Stored Star Tribe, where he exchanged medical knowledge with Xing Yi and traded paper, brushes, and ink.
• Xing Jiu invited Jian Mo to join a trip to the coast to gather medicinal seaweed from fish, and Jian Mo accepted.
• Xing Jiu's party used a bone instrument to call large fish into a bay, then swam out to scrape seaweed and debris from their bodies while Jian Mo and Wu Jiong watched from shore.

Jian Mo and Wu Jiong joined Xing Jiu and the others in the sea to scrape medicinal seaweed from large fish, then learned about its uses and treatments for ringworm. They continued gathering seaweed and discussed the value of inherited medical knowledge.

• Jian Mo and Wu Jiong entered the sea with Xing Jiu and learned how to scrape seaweed from the large fish.
• Jian Mo rubbed a fish's belly when it rolled over and seemed to enjoy the scraping.
• Xing Jiu identified Dan Guan's condition as oily ringworm and offered Jian Mo black knife grass and white clay to treat it.
• Jian Mo asked Xing Jiu to teach him how to treat tumor ringworm.
• Jian Mo and the others returned to scraping seaweed, and Xing Jiu explained that its medicinal use had been passed down for hundreds of years.

Jian Mo and the Xingchu Tribe gathered seasonal fish and algae while Xing Jiu explained that knowledge would be passed down through lessons and students. Jiujiu and Ying'ao joined them in the sea, and the group began collecting shellfish and crabs for their feast.

• Jian Mo and Xing Jiu discussed teaching people to read and write and passing knowledge down to future generations.
• Xing Jiu explained that the fish visited their waters only at that time of year, and Jian Mo described how sea fish migrated with seasonal temperatures.
• Jiujiu and Ying'ao arrived, and Jiujiu carried Jian Mo, Wu Jiong, and others on its back while they rested at the surface.
• Jiujiu tried to catch fish but failed, so Ying'ao caught one, which Jiujiu claimed as its own.
• Jian Mo and the others gathered large shellfish, and one Xingchu tribesperson offered to dive back down for the crabs they had spotted.

Jian Mo and his companions returned to the Xingchu Tribe with a plentiful seafood haul and enjoyed grilled sea urchin, crab, and shrimp. Jian Mo praised the crab as the best he had ever eaten.

• Jian Mo and the others found large crabs, arm shrimp, and sea urchins while diving near the reef.
• The group gathered the seafood and returned to the Xingchu Tribe to cook it.
• The tribe members grilled the seafood and served it with sour and salty sauce.
• Jian Mo shared sea urchin with Jiujiu while Wu Jiong fed Ying'ao.
• Jian Mo tasted freshly grilled crab and praised its tender, sweet meat.

Jian Mo and Wu Jiong enjoyed the Xingchu Tribe’s seafood and learned about its traditional remedies before joining Xing Jiu to gather seaweed. They reached a shallow coastal area rich in seaweed, where Jian Mo began harvesting it and spotted unusually large abalone-like shellfish.

• Xing Jiu offered Jian Mo dried seafood and explained that the tribe used seaweed to treat swollen necks.
• Jian Mo and Wu Jiong checked on Fen Hui, who was recovering, and reassured him that he could rest before helping carry supplies later.
• Xing Jiu led Jian Mo, Wu Jiong, Jiujiu, and Ying'ao along the coast to a shallow stretch dotted with small islands.
• Jiujiu and Ying'ao waited under a tree while Jian Mo and the others dived to gather seaweed.
• Jian Mo cut a large pile of seaweed and noticed palm-sized abalone-like shellfish beneath it.

Jian Mo and Wu Jiong gathered abalone and seaweed with the Stored Star Tribe, then Jian Mo prepared the abalone while studying medicinal recipes with Xing Jiu. After teaching and cooking late into the night, Jian Mo planned to go out to sea with the tribe again.

• Jian Mo learned that the Stored Star Tribe considered abalone unappetizing, but collected two baskets of it to take home.
• Wu Jiong prepared the abalone while Jian Mo copied medicinal recipes and studied with Xing Jiu.
• Xing Jiu and Jian Mo finished their lessons, and Xing Jiu praised Jian Mo for learning quickly.
• Jian Mo slowly cooked the abalone before drying it, explaining that the method would help it stay tender and keep from spoiling.
• Xing Jiu left for the night, and Jian Mo planned to join the tribe on more trips out to sea.

Jian Mo accompanied Xing Yi to study Yan Sui’s twin pregnancy and helped deliver the cubs after a difficult labor. The twins and Yan Sui stabilized, and Jian Mo later visited them as they recovered.

• Xing Yi took Jian Mo and Xing Jiu to Yan Sui’s tribe, where Jian Mo learned that Yan Sui was carrying twins and would likely give birth that night.
• Xing Yi taught Jian Mo and his other students how to assess and manage the birth, while Jian Mo explained episiotomies and his delivery forceps.
• Yan Sui went into labor that evening, but the twins’ difficult delivery stalled until Xing Yi let Jian Mo take over.
• Jian Mo performed an episiotomy and used forceps to deliver a struggling feline cub, then learned alongside the others as they cared for the newborns and helped deliver the second cub.
• By dawn, Yan Sui and both cubs had stabilized, and the exhausted helpers rested at the tribe.
• Jian Mo woke before noon, washed, and visited Yan Sui and the healthy yellow and black leopard cubs.

Jian Mo checked on Yan Sui, then traveled back toward the Stored Star Tribe with Wu Jiong and Xing Yi's group. Along the way, they met the Cypress Branch Tribe youths, who had brought supplies and began discussing trade, and the story left with Xing Yi examining the fat chirpers.

• Jian Mo examined Yan Sui and reassured him that his swelling should improve within a few days.
• Jian Mo told Xing Yi that the Long-Tailed Beast sinew stitches would be absorbed and would not need removal.
• Jian Mo and his companions headed back after confirming Yan Sui was recovering well.
• Jian Mo and Wu Jiong encountered the Cypress Branch Tribe youths, who had brought supplies and traded many goods along the way.
• Xing Yi introduced himself to the Cypress Branch Tribe youths and examined the fat chirpers with Jian Mo and the others.

Jian Mo and Xing Jiu began treating patients’ teeth and sharing their medical knowledge while the chubby chirps traded with nearby tribes. The chubby chirps then found the Green Forest Tribe, where Xing Yuan’s two fathers had come from, and Jian Mo considered telling Xing Yuan about it when he was older.

• Xing Yi examined the chubby chirps and explained that their digestive troubles were not an illness, though they could improve their gut health.
• Jian Mo and Wu Jiong planned to resume dental treatment, and Xing Jiu agreed to spread the word and learn the procedures and medicine formulas from Jian Mo.
• Jian Mo taught Xing Jiu tooth extractions and fillings, and Xing Jiu soon began performing the simpler procedures himself.
• The chubby chirps traded with nearby tribes and brought back metal, unusual medicinal herbs, and news of the Green Forest Tribe.
• Wu Jiong identified the Green Forest Tribe as the one Xing Yuan’s two fathers had come from, and the chubby chirps confirmed they had not revealed Xing Yuan’s connection to the tribe.

Jian Mo and his companions prepared to leave the Xingchu Tribe after finishing their studies, while the fat chirps completed a successful trading trip. Before heading home, Jian Mo joined the Xingchu Tribe youths and the fat chirps for a day of surfing, where the group quickly bonded.

• The fat chirps traded with nearby tribes until they had little left to acquire, and Jian Mo and his companions prepared to return home with them.
• The people of the Xingchu Tribe asked Jian Mo to stay, but he said he and his companions missed home and would visit again.
• The Xingchu Tribe youths invited Jian Mo and his companions to try surfing, and Jian Mo eagerly accepted.
• The fat chirps insisted on joining the outing, and nearly a hundred people set off together under the guidance of two dependable youths.
• The fat chirps quickly befriended the group, and Wan Zheng said the Cypress Branch Tribe now got along well even with the Rain Rising Tribe.

Jian Mo and Wu Jiong joined the Xingchu Tribe in surfing, with Jiujiu turning the game into exhilarating flights over the water. When Haiqin appeared, Jian Mo learned they were intelligent and friendly, then rode on Wu Jiong’s wolf form to feed and pet them.

• Jian Mo, Wu Jiong, and the fat jiujius learned to surf with the Xingchu Tribe.
• Jiujiu pushed Jian Mo, Wu Jiong, and the others across the water, and the group later took turns flying while holding a rope.
• Jian Mo spotted a fin, and an Xingchu Tribe member identified the creature as a friendly Haiqin.
• Wu Jiong carried Jian Mo toward the Haiqin in his giant wolf form while Ying'ao watched over them.
• Jian Mo fed dried meat to the Haiqin and stroked them as more gathered around to beg for food.

Jian Mo and his companions enjoyed one last day by the sea before the nearby tribes sent them off with gifts and promises of friendship. As they flew home from the Stored Star Tribe, Jian Mo realized how attached he had become to the places and people along the way.

• Jian Mo and the others rode Haiqin, gathered seafood, and shared a grilled dinner on the beach.
• Jian Mo told the others he had learned most of what he could and planned to return home, saving difficult medical cases to ask about later.
• More than ten nearby tribes gave Jian Mo and his companions gifts and saw them off, while Wu Jiong invited them to visit his tribe.
• Fen Hui rode with a fat chirper from the Cypress Branch Tribe, while Jiujiu and Ying'ao carried Jian Mo, Wu Jiong, and their supplies away from the Stored Star Tribe.
• Jian Mo told Wu Jiong that the region seemed less distant than before, and Wu Jiong said it was because Jian Mo had grown attached.

Jian Mo and Wu Jiong returned to the Riverside Tribe in the middle of the night after nearly a month away. Their friends and the cubs gathered to welcome them, and Jian Mo reassured everyone that his health had improved and Fen Hui had nearly recovered.

• Jian Mo and Wu Jiong chose to fly home overnight rather than rest in the wild, and the patrollers rushed to announce their return.
• The Fat Chius declined Jian Mo's offer to stay, while Fen Hui left with them and said he would return to thank the tribe.
• Jian Mo and Wu Jiong found their home clean and prepared, bathed, and then greeted Qing Kuo and the others who came to see them.
• Jian Mo told Qing Kuo, Ye Luo, and the others that his health was better, Fen Hui had almost recovered, and they had met skilled, kind witch doctors.
• The cubs crowded around Jian Mo, who welcomed them and joined the tribe members in sharing stories beneath the moonlight.