Chapter Summaries

Jian Mo returned from his journey and examined Dan Guan, confirming that his bald patches were likely caused by seborrheic dermatitis. He prepared medicine for Dan Guan and left him to grind the ingredients while he went to fetch cotton cloth.

• Jian Mo and Wu Jiong shared stories about their journey, and the group discussed raising Flying-Winged Beasts for future travel and trade.
• Jian Mo and Wu Jiong returned home, rested, and agreed to join the others for a bonfire party that evening.
• Dan Guan visited Jian Mo after hearing he had returned and asked whether his bald patches could be treated.
• Jian Mo examined Dan Guan in beast form and diagnosed symptoms of seborrheic dermatitis.
• Jian Mo weighed black knife grass and white clay, then asked Dan Guan to grind them while he fetched cotton cloth.

Jian Mo treated Dan Guan’s bald patches, then joined the Riverside Tribe’s bonfire feast celebrating his return. After eating, singing, and dancing with Wu Jiong and the others, Jian Mo went home with Wu Jiong and suggested trading with the Mengshui Tribe for their salve.

• Jian Mo applied medicine to Dan Guan’s bald patches and invited him to stay for the tribe’s bonfire party.
• Jian Mo helped season fish balls and meatballs while the tribe prepared hotpot and grilled meat for the feast.
• Wu Jiong returned from a hunt and gave Jian Mo berries, and the two ate hotpot while sharing stories with the others.
• Jian Mo and Wu Jiong listened to an epic, watched people dance, and stayed at the feast until late at night.
• Wu Jiong carried a tipsy Jian Mo home, where they used their salve, and Jian Mo suggested trading for salve from the Mengshui Tribe.

Jian Mo harvested tubers with the tribe’s little ones, welcomed Haizuo Tribe members who came to thank him for healing Fen Hui, and spent the following days trading and treating patients. Restless after nearly ten days in the tribe, he set out with Wu Jiong to gather Kunzhi Tree sap, herbs, nuts, and mushrooms, accompanied by Jiujiu and Ying'ao.

• Jian Mo dug up ripe tubers with the little ones and told them about the sea as they worked.
• The Haizuo Tribe came to thank Jian Mo for treating Fen Hui and brought him supplies, but he insisted they take them home again.
• Jian Mo hosted the Haizuo tribespeople, discussed cultivation and travel, and let the little ones listen in.
• Jian Mo and the others traded with visiting tribes and used his new medical techniques to treat patients over the next several days.
• Jian Mo persuaded Wu Jiong to go gather Kunzhi Tree sap, and Jiujiu and Ying'ao joined their outing.

Jian Mo and Wu Jiong gathered supplies with Jiujiu and Ying'ao, then shared a promise to stay together. Wu Jiong later told Jian Mo that the tribes had agreed to hold this year's Hunting Gathering at their tribe's new arena.

• Jian Mo and Wu Jiong collected Liankunzhi sap and gathered herbs, vegetables, fruit, and mushrooms with Jiujiu and Ying'ao.
• Jiujiu led Jian Mo and Wu Jiong to an alpine meadow, where they found and picked mushrooms.
• Jian Mo promised Wu Jiong he would not leave him behind, and Wu Jiong embraced him.
• Wu Jiong returned late from a meeting with other tribe chiefs and told Jian Mo they had discussed the Hunting Gathering.
• Wu Jiong explained that the Hunting Gathering would be held at their tribe's new arena instead of the Mengshui Tribe.

Jian Mo traveled to the Cypress Branch Tribe with Wu Jiong to examine the ailing chief, Zhou Zhi, after his people reported that he had fainted, lost weight, and struggled to eat. Zhou Zhi revealed that cold weather aggravated an old ailment, and Jian Mo began examining him, hearing something unusual inside his body.

• Wu Jiong said the Hunting Gathering would likely alternate between the Riverside Tribe and the Mengshui Tribe, and Jian Mo credited the tribe’s growth to everyone’s work.
• Wan Zheng and other people from the Cypress Branch Tribe asked Jian Mo to examine Zhou Zhi, who had fainted, lost weight, and looked pale.
• Jian Mo prepared herbs and agreed to travel with the chubby chirps, while Wu Jiong decided to accompany him and leave De Jiang in charge of the Hunting Gathering.
• At the Cypress Branch Tribe, Zhou Zhi privately told Jian Mo that cold weather worsened an old lower-abdominal ailment from his delayed development.
• Jian Mo used his stethoscope to examine Zhou Zhi and heard strange sounds inside his body.

Jian Mo discovered that Zhou Zhi was pregnant by Qi Ming, the chief of the Rain Rising Tribe, and advised him to consider his health and whether to keep the cub. After Qi Ming asked Zhou Zhi to become his partner, Zhou Zhi decided to keep the cub and asked Jian Mo for care; Jian Mo and Wu Jiong ended the day betting on the cub’s beast form.

• Jian Mo examined Zhou Zhi and realized that he was pregnant, then advised him about nourishing himself and offered a safe way to end the pregnancy if he chose.
• Zhou Zhi said he needed time to think, and Jian Mo promised to keep his condition confidential while staying in the Cypress Branch Tribe.
• Qi Ming arrived that afternoon and asked Zhou Zhi to become his partner, prompting an angry confrontation between the Cypress Branch Tribe and the Rain Rising Tribe.
• Qi Ming offered to live in the Cypress Branch Tribe, but Zhou Zhi said he would think about it, and the Cypress Branch Tribe rejected Qi Ming’s supplies.
• Zhou Zhi told Jian Mo he wanted to keep the cub, so Jian Mo planned a food-based regimen to support his health.
• Jian Mo and Wu Jiong speculated about the cub’s beast form and made a bet.

Jian Mo and Wu Jiong returned from the Cypress Branch Tribe after confirming Zhou Zhi was well, and Qi Ming met them along the way to ask Jian Mo how to care for a pregnant sub-beastman. Back at the Riverside Tribe, the tribes agreed to add a cubs’ combat competition to the Hunting Gathering, and Ban Ming teased Banjiu about giving him special training.

• Jian Mo and Wu Jiong left the Cypress Branch Tribe after Zhou Zhi thanked them for visiting.
• Qi Ming joined Jian Mo’s group at their campsite and asked how to care for a pregnant sub-beastman, especially one in poor health.
• Qi Ming thanked Jian Mo and left that night, while Jian Mo and Wu Jiong guessed he was hurrying back to care for Zhou Zhi.
• After Jian Mo and Wu Jiong returned to the Riverside Tribe, De Jiang told them the tribes were considering a cubs’ competition at the Hunting Gathering.
• Wu Jiong and De Jiang helped the tribes agree to let the cubs fight in the arena, with the event to be reconsidered next year.
• Ban Ming offered to give Banjiu special combat training, and Banjiu suspected he only wanted an excuse to hit him.

The Riverside Tribe hosted a large Hunting Gathering, welcoming participants from nineteen tribes and preparing meals for the arrivals. With too many guests for the available houses, the visitors agreed to camp on the open ground and eat mala tang cooked by the Riverside Tribe.

• The Riverside Tribe's cubs practiced combat under Mo A, and Jian Mo watched them spar.
• Jian Mo made sweet soup to encourage the cubs, while Jiujiu enjoyed some too.
• Jian Mo observed that Jiang Xing was the strongest cub fighter, and Wu Jiong suggested a sub-beastman might become the tribe's next chief.
• Swift-footed young people including Ban Ming notified nearby tribes about the Hunting Gathering.
• People from the participating tribes arrived, and the Riverside Tribe asked them to stay on the open ground because its houses were full.
• The Riverside Tribe prepared more than ten pots of mostly clear mala tang broth and offered meals to the guests without charge.

The Riverside Tribe welcomed visitors arriving early for the Hunting Gathering and served them malatang, a new specialty that quickly impressed the Jintuo Tribe and other guests. Jin Shi and his people tried the food, while the gathering grew livelier around the popular meal.

• Yan Dun greeted Jin Shi and the Jintuo Tribe, explaining that several nearby tribes had arrived early for the gathering.
• Jin Shi and his people watched Mu Chu of the Ice River Tribe eagerly eat malatang, and Yan Dun told them they could try it.
• Ye Luo warned the Jintuo Tribe that Mu Chu's bowl contained chili, but Ying Ji asked to taste some anyway.
• Ye Luo served the Jintuo Tribe malatang, and Jin Shi praised its flavor after trying it.
• The Riverside Tribe's malatang drew enthusiastic crowds from the major tribes, who had heard about it from the cubs attending classes.

The visiting tribes admired the Riverside Tribe’s food, homes, and progress, then asked to see how its classroom worked. Jian Mo and the tribe’s leaders agreed to host a demonstration and organized volunteers, whose wooden brooches would bear the first year’s date and tribal marks.

• Jin Shi and other Jintuo Tribe members praised the Riverside Tribe’s food and asked for extra servings, while visitors from other tribes marveled at its improvements.
• Tribes asked Wu Jiong and the others to show them the Riverside Tribe’s classroom and explain its changes.
• Jian Mo, Wu Jiong, Qing Kuo, and De Jiang agreed to demonstrate the classes and let local people guide visiting volunteers.
• Jian Mo suggested making volunteer brooches and marking them with the year, and Wu Jiong agreed to call the current year the first.
• Jian Mo asked the Dianxin Tribe to make wooden brooches, and its members proposed carving tribal beast forms or other chosen designs as identifying marks.

Jian Mo watched the Hunting Gathering’s sub-beastman fighting matches and cheered as Qing Kuo defeated his opponent with a powerful spinning kick. He planned to watch Ye Luo’s match the next morning and asked Qing Kuo to teach him the move, learning that Wu Jiong could teach it even better.

• Ban Ming invited Jian Mo to watch the Riverside Tribe’s competitors, and Jian Mo agreed after finishing his volunteer work.
• Jian Mo ate at home, then joined Ye Luo at the arena to watch a Dianxin Tribe fighter lose to a Xiongying Tribe fighter.
• Qing Kuo fought an Ice River Tribe sub-beastman and knocked him unconscious with a spinning kick.
• Jian Mo promised to watch Ye Luo’s match the next morning and went with Ye Luo to congratulate Qing Kuo.
• Jian Mo asked Qing Kuo to teach him the spinning kick, and Qing Kuo told him to ask Wu Jiong, who performed it even better.

Jian Mo traded for a mysterious fruit that might be a medicinal ingredient and prepared a scar-removing plaster for Bei Ya. The plaster was left to cool while Wu Jiong urged Jian Mo to rest.

• Qing Kuo, Ye Luo, and Jian Mo went to the Hunting Gathering stalls to trade for ingredients.
• Jian Mo traded cloth for sweet yellow berries and unusual blackish fruit from a young sub-beastman of the Thick Flow Tribe.
• Jian Mo suspected the fruit might be Throat Eyeball, gathered other herbs with Ying'ao, and set out to test it as a treatment for skin disease.
• When Wu Jiong returned home, Jian Mo explained that he was making a medicinal plaster to try on Bei Ya's scars.
• Jian Mo combined the medicinal liquid with processed Kunzhi Tree sap, spread the mixture out to cool, and Wu Jiong encouraged him to rest.

Jian Mo tested his medicinal plaster by applying it to Wu Jiong’s old scar, then watched the Hunting Gathering matches and talked with Ji Xun. The plaster’s effect remained unknown, while Ji Xun inferred that Zhou Zhi was pregnant with Qi Ming’s child.

• Jian Mo persuaded Wu Jiong to let him shave a narrow strip of leg hair and apply medicinal plaster to his childhood scar.
• Jian Mo watched Ye Luo decisively win his match against a fighter from the Qin Sea Tribe.
• Jian Mo stayed to watch the other matches after Ye Luo and Qing Kuo left to help oversee them.
• Ji Xun joined Jian Mo in the stands and said he had come with Mo A for an exhibition match.
• Ji Xun guessed that Zhou Zhi was pregnant with Qi Ming’s child, and Jian Mo realized Ji Xun had used his reaction to confirm the guess.

Mo A and Huo Meng held an exhibition match before the official bouts began, and Jiu Yin defeated Ya Zheng in a close fight. Jian Mo then discussed the Riverside Tribe’s fighting classes and the medicinal and culinary uses of throat eyeballs with Ji Xun and Mo A.

• Mo A and Huo Meng fought to a draw in their exhibition match, then bowed to the cheering crowd.
• Jiu Yin defeated Ya Zheng by using the Giant Armor Beast’s momentum to flip it onto its back, and Zhou Fu cheered him on.
• Ji Xun remarked that the Riverside Tribe’s fighters had improved, and Jian Mo and Mo A explained that their fighting classes helped everyone learn.
• Jian Mo offered to send Ji Xun throat eyeballs if they proved effective against scars, and Ji Xun explained that the fruit could also flavor cured meat.
• Ji Xun advised Jian Mo to ask the Thick Flow Tribe about gathering more throat eyeballs after the Hunting Gathering.

After the Hunting Gathering, Jian Mo arranged to visit nearby tribes and treat their people, then continued caring for Bei Ya’s facial scars. The gathering ended successfully, and Jian Mo and Wu Jiong began collecting autumn supplies.

• Jian Mo asked the Sharp Teeth Tribe, the Meng'an Tribe, the Thick Flow Tribe, the Fanbing Tribe, and the Mountain Bright Tribe about visiting their territories, and they welcomed him and Wu Jiong.
• The Hunting Gathering ended smoothly, with the Riverside Tribe impressing the visiting tribes and nearby groups helping repair and clean up.
• Jian Mo examined Bei Ya’s fading facial scars, applied medicinal plasters, and gave him extra plasters and care instructions.
• Bei Ya offered Jian Mo and Wu Jiong a place to stay and promised to take them gathering when they visited his area.
• Jian Mo and Wu Jiong gathered autumn fruit, vegetables, mushrooms, and tubers until they had filled half a storeroom.

Jian Mo was approached by people from nearby tribes who wanted him to make scar-removal ointment, and he agreed to seek the ingredients. After receiving supplies as deposits, he and Wu Jiong decided to make the trip to find them.

• Wu Jiong reassured Jian Mo that Jiujiu's extra weight would be burned off through exercise.
• A group of beastmen and sub-beastmen visited Jian Mo at the clinic to ask whether he could treat their scars.
• Jian Mo explained that he needed the hard-to-find ingredient throat eyeball before he could make more ointment.
• Jian Mo arranged for the visitors to stay in empty tribal houses, charging them supplies.
• After some visitors left supplies as deposits, Jian Mo asked Wu Jiong to make the trip to find the ingredients, and Wu Jiong agreed.

Jian Mo and Wu Jiong traveled to the Thick Flow Tribe to search for Throat Eyeballs, but the tribe had not found any yet. Jian Mo treated the tribe’s sick until dark, then settled in for the night while Jiujiu and Ying'ao rested nearby.

• Jian Mo and Wu Jiong arrived at the Thick Flow Tribe, where Yi Sen said they had searched for Throat Eyeballs without success.
• Yi Sen welcomed Jian Mo and Wu Jiong with grilled cured meat and tubers, and they enjoyed the tribe’s meal.
• Jian Mo examined and treated members of the Thick Flow Tribe, continuing by bonfire until poor light forced him to stop until morning.
• Wu Jiong told Jian Mo that Jiujiu had settled in comfortably and was sleeping beside Ying'ao.

Jian Mo and Wu Jiong searched the mountains near the Thick Flow Tribe for Throat Eyeball after finding only four small ones the previous day. They split up with Jiujiu and Ying'ao to search, and Jiujiu returned to report something.

• Jian Mo treated more patients in the Thick Flow Tribe, then joined Yi Sen and the others searching for Throat Eyeball, but they found only four tiny ones.
• Jian Mo and Wu Jiong decided to search the mountains again with Jiujiu and Ying'ao, hoping the birds' keen senses would help locate the herb.
• Jian Mo fed Jiujiu and Ying'ao meat marinated with Throat Eyeball and promised more if they found some.
• Jian Mo and Wu Jiong searched the forest while Jiujiu and Ying'ao flew off in opposite directions; Jian Mo gathered mushrooms and unhatched bird eggs along the way.
• Jiujiu flew back to Jian Mo and Wu Jiong and called to them.

Jian Mo and Wu Jiong followed Jiujiu into the mountains to gather Throat Eyeballs, which Jian Mo planned to use for salve and to make a promised treat for Jiujiu. They returned to the Thick Flow Tribe with fifty-three, and Jian Mo refused to give away the share he had promised Jiujiu.

• Jiujiu led Jian Mo and Wu Jiong through thorny bushes to a hidden Throat Eyeball plant, where they picked five fruits.
• Jian Mo and Wu Jiong searched nearby without finding more, while Jiujiu found another patch and led them to seven Throat Eyeballs.
• Jiujiu continued finding patches, and the group gathered fifty-three Throat Eyeballs over the day while Ying'ao found none.
• Back at the Thick Flow Tribe, Jian Mo told Yi Sen he would use some Throat Eyeballs for scar-removing salve and save the rest to marinate meat for Jiujiu.
• When a tribe member suggested giving Jian Mo marinated meat instead, Jian Mo refused because he had promised Jiujiu a treat.

Jian Mo and the others prepared to leave the Thick Flow Tribe after gathering Throat Eyeballs, then decided to visit the Rain Rising Tribe to investigate its fresh wild greens. They planned to bathe with Jiujiu and Ying'ao at a lake near the Snow Foot Tribe before traveling there the next day.

• Jian Mo told Yi Sen that he would return to hold clinics and recruit witch doctor students after preparing lessons and an entrance exam.
• Several young people from the Thick Flow Tribe volunteered to become students, but Jian Mo kept the exam details secret.
• Jian Mo learned that the Rain Rising Tribe had sent fresh wild greens to the Thick Flow Tribe and decided to visit Chief Qi Ming's tribe the next day.
• Jian Mo and Wu Jiong discussed bathing with Jiujiu and Ying'ao, and Ying'ao agreed while Jian Mo brought Jiujiu along.
• Jian Mo suggested bathing at a lake near the Snow Foot Tribe, and Wu Jiong proposed that Jiujiu and Ying'ao carry them there before they continued to the Rain Rising Tribe.