“Dr. Ma,” Ning Tao called out as he walked over to Ma Tongtong by the campfire.

Ma Tongtong was startled, subconsciously grabbed an engineer's spade at her side, and looked in the direction of the voice, but she could only see two shadowy figures coming toward her, unable to see the faces of the people. She became nervous, brandished her engineer spade, and shouted, “Who, who are you? Stop!”

“Relax. It's me, Ning Tao. Do you remember me?” Ning Tao was already in the fireside when he spoke. The fire was s.h.i.+ning on his face, and a faint smile was on his lips.

When she finally saw Ning Tao's face, Ma Tongtong relaxed and let out a long breath. “You almost scared me to death… Doctor Ning, what are you doing here?”

Jian Mi stepped into the firelit area and said shyly, “h.e.l.lo, Dr. Ma. I brought Brother Ning here. We have come to collect herbs.”

Ma Tongtong chuckled and said, “I see. Doctor Ning, the Shennongjia seems to have become your herb field.”

“Dr. Ma, why are you alone?” Ning Tao asked.

Ma Tongtong replied, “They are all sleeping in the tent. It's time for me to stand guard. You really scared me.” She went on, “Have a seat. Let's have a chat. I was going to call you, but I couldn't get a signal here.”

Thinking of something, Ning Tao walked over to her and asked, “Did you borrow that book?”

“Yes,” Ma Tongtong replied, “but it's a precious book. I can't take it here to you. I took some pictures. Come and see.”

Ning Tao sat next to Ma Tongtong and took the phone she handed him and flipped through the alb.u.m.

The first photo was the whole book of A Biography of the Feminine-moon People. The book in the photo was a yellowed, thread-bound book with frayed corners. On the cover was written the name of the author, Hermit Idle-cloud.

“Hermit Idle-cloud?” Ning Tao didn't remember the name.

Ma Tongtong explained, “He is probably a poor scholar. History has no record of this man.”

Ning Tao flipped through the first photo. The second photo was a pa.s.sage from the book, “The big world is full of wonders. I heard that there were Feminine-moon people in Shennongjia. They mined cloudy ore, refined metal, and knew the language of the G.o.ds. I was fascinated by them, so I set out in the eighth year of the Zhengde period, and spent more than a year to come to the place where the Yan Emperor set a ladder. Under the guidance of the natives, I went through several twists and turns and finally came to Feminine-moon City. But the city was ruined, devastated, without Feminine-moon people…”

“What year is the eighth year of the Zhengde period?” As a non-history major, Ning Tao didn't know much about the emperor's reign t.i.tle and year.

“Zhengde was the t.i.tle of Zhu Houzhao, the 10th emperor of the Ming dynasty, from 1506 to 1521,” Ma Tongtong said. “Hermit Idle-cloud said that he set out in the eighth year of Zhengde period and spent a year to find Feminine-moon City, which means that he set out in 1514.”

Ning Tao continued to look through the alb.u.m and saw some of the author Hermit Idle-cloud's descriptions of Feminine-moon City. “The whole city was shrouded in the mist without daylight. There was an altar in the city, under which were covered with bones. It looked grim. I got timid and even suspected that I was in h.e.l.l. Surprised and confused, a woman in red loomed in the mist, as if looking up for daylight. I ran after her but lost track of her. Then, I saw a giant with big feet. He held a stone, sometimes roaring, sometimes jumping and playing…”

Ning Tao's heart was noticeably racing as he read this.

Although he had not been to the so-called Feminine-moon City, he had seen the “woman in red” and the “giant with big feet.” From the words of a biography, the archaeologists could not tell whether the “woman in red” 500 years ago existed, but she had already appeared in his sight several times! As for the “giant with big feet” should be referred to the savage in Shennongjia. He even fought with a savage in Shennongjia, and was pursued by a large group of savages!

When Ning Tao was thinking about this, there seemed to be a window opened in his heart. “'The whole city was shrouded in mist, without daylight.' Is the mysterious Feminine-moon City in the deep canyon?”

“Doctor Ning, what are you thinking?” Ma Tongtong noticed the change in Ning Tao's expression.

Ning Tao stopped thinking about it. He almost wanted to tell her what was on his mind, but then he gave up the idea. Telling her about it was tantamount to telling the archaeological team. In that case, the team would probably explore the canyon at dawn. There were savages guarding that canyon. Facing them, even he and Qing Zhui had to run for their lives. If the archaeological team went there, they would all be killed!

Besides, it was only his guess, and it was about the woman in red. How could he tell Ma Tongtong about it without investigating?

“h.e.l.lo?” Ma Tongtong tilted her head, looking a little cute.

Ning Tao had already made up his mind. “The photos remind me of a text I read before, The Peach Colony written by Tao Yuanming,” he explained. “But this place is even more bizarre and mysterious. Have you been looking here for three years because of this book?”

“There's more to it than that, of course, but the biography is the most detailed,” Ma Tongtong stated. “We also found records of Feminine-moon people in a tomb of the Period of Warring States, but the content is very few.”

“It seems, then, that there are Feminine-moon people and their cities, only…” Ning Tao stopped.

Ma Tongtong gave a wry smile. “Only we can't find it, isn't it?” She sighed again. “It has been three years. When you've been trying to do something for three years, and nothing comes of it, it's not a good feeling. To be honest, this is our last chance. If we fail this time, we won't have the financial support. The team will disband.”

“How long will you be here this time?”

“A month, it's the last month. Captain Ji said that if we still can't find Feminine-moon City or any valuable clues this month, the team will disband, and we will have to return to our original positions,” Ma Tongtong said.

Ning Tao thought to himself, “There's one month left. I needn't rush to tell her the truth. When Zhu Hongqin's business is done, I'll come back and explore the canyon myself. If there is Feminine-moon City, I'll decide what to do then.”

There was another reason why he couldn't tell Ma Tongtong right now—the savages in Shennongjia. The canyon was the best place for the savages in Shennongjia to live. If he said the archaeological team about their existence, the country would know that. At that time, those savages would lose their last living place. That savage was a miracle of life, and he had no right to do so.

“Doctor Ning, what do you think after looking at these pictures?” Ma Tongtong looked at Ning Tao with hopefulness.

Ning Tao responded, “I'm a medical student, and I don't know anything about archaeology. I believe that Feminine-moon people and Feminine-moon City exist, but after thousands of years, what is left is uncertain. How about this? When I finish what I have been busy recently, I will come here to meet you. Maybe we can explore it together.”

Two dimples appeared on Ma Tongtong's cheeks. “Great, I'm looking forward to your joining us.” Then she made a pause before adding, “Doctor Ning, wait here while I get Captain Ji and the others up. They'll be glad to see you.”

Ning Tao stopped her and said, “No, don't disturb their sleep. Why don't you go back to your tent and rest? I'll stand guard for you.”

Ma Tongtong said, “How can I do that? I'll accompany you, and we'll talk.”

“All right, tell me about the Feminine-moon people and their cloudy ore. What information have you gathered about the Feminine-moon people's cloudy ore?”

“I did collect some information, but only vague descriptions. I was impressed by one who said, 'the cloudy ore is pure as jade, soft as cotton, and almost weightless…”

Jian Mi fell asleep by the fire.

Ma Tongtong didn't call a replacement and chatted with Ning Tao. In addition to telling Ning Tao about the civilization and legend of the Feminine-moon people, she also asked Ning Tao about himself. Ning Tao answered her extraneous questions in detail and intimate ones in a careless way.

Dawn broke before they knew it. The sky is turning bright in the east, and then the golden sun began to spread to the whole world from the horizon, wiping out darkness where it had pa.s.sed.

“I can't believe we've been talking all night.” Ma Tongtong was still in high spirits and didn't look tired at all.

Ning Tao held out his hand to Ma Tongtong and said, “Dr. Ma, thank you for chatting with me all night.”

Ma Tongtong graciously shook Ning Tao's hand, smiled, and said, “I should thank you. I haven't talked like this in years. Oh, I'm going to call the others. They should be awake by the time.”

“No, I have to go get herbs right away,” Ning Tao said.

Ma Tongtong asked disappointedly, “Don't you want to stay and have breakfast with us? How about if I make breakfast now?”

“No, I'm in a hurry. That's it, see you later, ” Ning Tao said and left.

Jian Mi also said goodbye to Ma Tongtong and followed Ning Tao away.

As soon as Ning Tao and Jian Mi left, Ji Wengui and Yang Chen emerged from a tent.

“Tongtong, I heard you talking to someone. Who are you talking to?” Ji Wengui looked around but saw no one else.

Yang Chen yawned and said, “Tongtong, we had an agreement that you would stand guard until midnight, and then I would. Why didn't you call me?”

“Doctor Ning came,” Ma Tongtong uttered.

Ji Wengui and Yang Chen paused and said, almost simultaneously, “Where is Doctor Ning?”

Ma Tongtong looked disappointed and replied, “He's gone. He said he was going to collect herbs.”

Ji Wengui was silent for a moment before he said, “What a strange man he is!”

Ma Tongtong had a strange smile on her lips and echoed, “Yes, he is a strange man.”

In the forest, when Ning Tao was in the state of smell, he was just like carrying a radar for collecting herbs. With his body as the center, the herbs within a kilometer radius were in his control. He always found what he wanted.

While picking herbs, Ning Tao taught Jian Mi to identify them.

The next day at noon, the two people returned to the Cloud-lying Village with plenty of herbs.

In less than two days, Ning Tao collected not only the herbs needed in the new elixir prescription but also many rare herbs. Although he didn't need the precious herbs now, they were of great value to keep in reserve.

In the afternoon, Ning Tao left the Cloud-lying Village with processed medicine. He unlocked the blood lock and returned to the Sky Clinic.

What would be the effect of the Ancestor-seeking Elixir made according to the new and old prescription?

He didn't know.