Chapter 4: Doctor Mo
Translated by: iris.knight
With her Feather Feet, Gu Qingyu reached the foot of the mountain. After covering her cat ears and hiding her tail, she walked into one of the mountainside villages. The villagers were especially hospitable, Gu Qingyu carefully pulled an elder aside and asked, “Is there a convenient path into the mountains?”
“There is, but it can be hard to find... If you don’t mind, why don’t this old man bring you there?” The old man smiled.
Something felt strange and odd about this, but Gu Qingyu nodded with caution, “Then, thank you in advance for your trouble.”
“No trouble, no trouble at all.” The old man chuckled, and walked up the mountain. Gu Qingyu followed behind, and found the scenery behind her becoming more unnerving by the minute.
Something is wrong! Why isn’t there a path behind me? I clearly followed the path up!
She looked forward, and found the old man had disappeared!
WTF is going on?!
Suddenly, a hand latched onto her shoulder. “Wah!” Gu Qingyu jumped, and looked back. It was a man with long black hair, red lips with the whitest teeth; dressed in a green robe, as if he was an immortal sage.
Gu Qingyu patted her chest, relieved, “You scared me!”
“Lady, are you alright?” The man asked gently, his lips were lifted in a fairly good-looking way.
Gu Qingyu nodded her head, “Yes, I’m fine.” She curiously looked behind the man, “Eh? How did the road reappear?”
“Lady, this mountain is the Mountain of Illusions. Those who don’t know their way would often be fooled into getting lost by the demons that live at the foot of the mountain. Yours truly was on the mountain harvesting herbs and saw you by coincidence so I came to help. Are you in need of assistance?”
“Yes! I do need help!” Gu Qingyu clung onto him like a lifesaver. “Please bring me out of the mountain!”
She changed her mind, “...Uh, if it is fine with you, can you also help me find an herb named the Illusory Spiritgrass?”
The man looked at her hand, tightly gripping his own arm, hesitated, and did not say anything. He then curiously asked, “What would you need the Illusory Spiritgrass for?”
“I need it for a friend!” Gu Qingyu blurted out without a second thought.
“The Illusory Spiritgrass is the treasure of Mountain of Illusions It lives on the cliff sides, terribly difficult to obtain.” He shook his head.
Gu Qingyu twisted her lips, realized that Jia Qizhe was playing her! It is impossible to find that herb! He clearly didn’t want to bring me along! Seeing Gu Qingyu’s crestfallen eyes, the man gently sighed, “Yours truly is also looking for the Illusory Spiritgrass, I do know where it is. If you do not mind, you can follow me, but whether we can find it will depend on our fate.”
“Uh-huh!” Gu Qingyu nodded, following the man.
Who cares! If I can’t find it, I’ll just pick a random weed, it’s not like Jia Qizhe knows what the Illusory Spiritgrass looks like!
But Gu Qingyu disregarded a serious problem. For someone like Jia Qizhe, who had travelled around the world, what has he not seen? Gu Qingyu followed behind the man, and discovered that after a while, the trees behind her would close automatically.
“Um...” Gu Qingyu finally dared to ask, “Mister, how should I address you?”
“Mister?” The man seems confused, but continued quickly, “Yours truly is Mo Bai. A hermit from another mountain who heals people. I came here as I need the Illusory Spiritgrass.”
“Oh, oh! You’re Doctor Mo!” Gu Qingyu nodded in shock, “I am Gu Qingyu.”
“Gu Qingyu?” Mo Bai tilted his head, puzzled, “The willful lady of the Gu Family?”
I am really curious, who spread this rumour, that a hermit of the mountains would hear it?
“Eh...actually...I...” Gu Qingyu did not know how to explain, perhaps the past Gu Qingyu was willful?
“Well, I see today that the rumours are not true.” Mo Bai gently smiled, and continued walking on. Gu Qingyu finally heaved a sigh of relief.
After a while, they reached a cliff. Gu Qingyu suddenly had the urge to shout into the mountains.
But there is a handsome man beside me! Gu Qingyu resisted the urge.
“It is here.” Mo Bai stopped next to the edge. Gu Qingyu looked below in curiosity, and there was a glowing herb. It might be a cat’s nature, but she had lost the fear of heights she had back in the modern world.
“I’ll go down first, to see if it’s safe. Just wait for me here.” Mo Bai held out a leaf.
Gu Qingyu nodded, with a puzzled look at Mo Bai’s leaf. Mo Bai tossed a leaf as he chanted. The leaf suddenly grew in size, almost to the size of a flying carpet!
Mo Bai stood on it, and the leaf started drifting downwards... Mo Bai came to the side of the cliff, picked the herb, and the herb fell easily into his hands. This magic is amazing...
Gu Qingyu watched the leaf bring Mo Bai back up, awestruck. She silently fumed... I thought being a cat demon was so great! But it feels like nothing compared to these grandmasters who could fly!
“There seems to be only one herb.” Mo Bai said with regret, “Lady Gu, the cave may have more, but it is guarded by demons and will be too dangerous. Yours truly still need to tend to the sick... How about I help you get it another day?”
“Um...” Gu Qingyu hesitated. The talent competition is tomorrow, who knows what traps those people have for her after it? What if Jia Qizhe left?
But, he did say he needed it to save people, so it wouldn’t be nice of her to take it. He did harvest it after all.
“Sure, thank you so much.” Gu Qingyu smilled out of a clenched jaw. Mo Bai already did a great job bringing her here, so she intended to check the cave out on her own.
“Lady Gu, the roads of these mountains are treacherous, how about I bring you back down?” Mo Bai asked her.
Gu Qingyu shook her head, “No need to trouble Mr. Mo, I can walk down myself.”
“But...” Mo Bai wanted to say more, but was half-pushed, half-pulled away by Gu Qingyu.