"My mother’s version goes... It is rumored that the Sun Zhuzhao and the Dark Moon Youying were a pair of mythical beasts, one male and one female, one yin and one yang. After their death, they left behind a pair of inner cores that contained the essence of their entire bodies. Later, one of these cores ended up in the hands of the Dao Sect, and the other in the possession of the Imperial Family’s Jin Family in Zhuzhao Country,"
It was still those two creatures’ inner cores, which, although sounding slightly different from what Jin Zijin had mentioned, were essentially the same thing. Gu Youyou felt somewhat disappointed.
Searcy then said, "Youyou, this is the legend, but my mother has another version."
"Oh? What else does she say?" Gu Youyou’s interest was piqued.
Searcy let out a cold sneer and said, "Hmph, people like us never believe in such ghostly nonsense. How could those two things possibly be the inner cores of beasts? They’re nothing more than a pair of stones from beyond the heavens."
Gu Youyou stumbled in shock.
Stones from beyond the heavens?
Could she be referring to meteorites?
Gu Youyou instinctively reached for her belly. If Jin Zijin really had one of those inside of him, the idea of performing open-chest surgery on him crossed her mind yet again.
If she really couldn’t obtain the bug from Xuanzong, she might have to resort to this option as a last resort.
"What’s wrong? You look rather pale," Searcy asked curiously, staring at Gu Youyou.
Gu Youyou laughed bitterly and said, "Do you know where these two stubborn stones were dug up from?"
Searcy replied, "I heard they came from the East Sea region. There are more legends about the Sun Zhuzhao and the Dark Moon Youying over there."
Gu Youyou made a mental note to visit the place when she had the chance.
In Qi Mountain, Gu Youyou’s storybooks had become famous. Disciples of age who left to gain experience thought of a way to make a fortune using her storybooks.
They would hand-copy several books and send them to printing workshops outside to print more. They eventually took up the trade of selling storybooks.
Completely unbeknownst to Gu Youyou, her storybooks had become a popular pastime for the common folk during their leisure time. Not only that, but even the storytellers in the teahouses took her stories as a base to create new ones.
Someone who was particularly fond of her stories made inquiries and found out they were from Qi Mountain, so that person came, driven by their admiration, to see for themselves what kind of remarkable person could have so many interesting stories in their mind.
When this person finally met Gu Youyou, she was so surprised to see a young woman that she could hardly believe Qingyang, who was showing her the way, and said, "Is it really this young lady? You’re not fooling me, are you?"
Qingyang responded, "Oh, Sister Lun, you’ve come all the way up the mountain to find us, how could I possibly deceive you? You’ll know as soon as you ask her yourself."
Gu Youyou looked bewildered at the woman who seemed not too old but still as lovely as a flower.
"Who is this sister?"
Lun Tong approached Gu Youyou, looked her up and down, and asked, "Did you really write it?"
"Write what?" Gu Youyou asked, puzzled.
She pulled out a book from her bosom and said, "This, did you really write this?"
Gu Youyou took the book handed to her with suspicion, flipped it open, and immediately understood.
She was completely unaware that the stories she had written for Tian Jizi had spread outside, and this fan’s visit left her feeling perplexed.
Gu Youyou confirmed, "I did write this." She then turned her gaze to Qingyang, who was trying to look away, and said, "Aren’t you going to explain this to me?"
"Well... hehe, about that..." Qingyang mumbled, scratching his head, "I don’t really know, doctor Gu, but I will go ask the other disciples."