After that, Shu Yu, who was already in poor health, fell gravely ill. Her condition, precarious at best, became increasingly dire.
Zhi Chen decided to take Shu Yu out to seek a consultation with a famous healer.
On the day Zhi Chen and Shu Yu left home, a young girl secretly followed them. She took out all the copper coins she had and hired someone. Then, she watched as this person entered a teahouse, striking up a conversation with a stranger as if they were old friends.
"Oh, isn’t this Sister Liu? Let me tell you, I’ve encountered a Divine Doctor, and all my ailments have been expertly cured! You know how gravely ill I was before, my family even prepared a coffin for me. But once the Divine Doctor took action, I was immediately healed!"
"What’s that? You say you don’t know me, that you’re not Sister Liu? Impossible, could I have mistaken you for someone else? Oh dear, although my illnesses are cured, I must admit my memory fails me in my old age. I’m truly sorry for that."
Afterward, when that person left the teahouse, Zhi Chen appeared to be deep in thought. He caught up with the person and made some inquiries. In a secretive manner, as instructed by the girl, the person said, "This Divine Doctor I speak of is very famous."
"She hails from Medicine Valley and is the heir of the King of Medicine. However, she has eccentric ways and is often as elusive as a dragon, seen by its head but not by its tail. The vast majority of people in this world have only heard her name, never having seen her in person."
"Also, let me tell you, this Divine Doctor has many particularities. Firstly, Medicine Valley is far from our Pingchang Prefecture, and leaving Pingchang to travel south through Qingfeng Prefecture and back might take about two months. Moreover, the Divine Doctor is someone who adores plants, something I came to know by chance. When you go to Medicine Valley to seek an audience with the Divine Doctor, you must bring a bunch of Purple chervil grass. It’s particular too—the number can’t be more or less, exactly seven stalks. As long as she sees this Purple chervil grass, even if your brother is half a step into Hell’s door, the Divine Doctor can still save him!"
Thereafter, Zhi Chen, with Shu Yu, headed for Medicine Valley, while the girl, as if unburdening herself of a heavy weight, had a look on her face that was part tearful, part smiling, part sorrowful, part mournful, and seemed somewhat forlorn...
On the hillside, the girl bit her fingertip and wrote a Blood letter on a strip of coarse cloth, as if she were making arrangements for after her demise.
"If you see this letter, it’s as if you’ve seen me."
"If you come across the Purple chervil grass, you will surely come here looking for me. But by then, I fear I will lie buried in Nine Springs, my soul ascending to the clouds, eternally severed from the mortal realm."
"These two years without word or query, cutting off all ties from the past, I feared stirring up heartache, yet I did not know if you and Jiujiu were well."
"Years ago, the Dajin Gu Woman used a living human as a catalyst to create this Gu; the Human lead was a vulgar village woman. Afterward, the Gu took residence in my body, causing my personality to become unbearable due to this Human lead, as if possessed by evil spirits, like a ferocious ghost attaching itself to me, manipulating my body, wreaking havoc and unceasingly causing harm."
"From the day I was afflicted with the Gu, the frequency of my crazed outbursts increased, from once a month, to once every two weeks, to every ten days, until numerous times in a single day, becoming more and more severe, too difficult to stay conscious. I also knew that my life had reached its end."
"Two years ago, after Departure from the Capital, I harbored the hope to see my birth parents one last time before I died, never imagining that such a wish would lead to so many sins."
"In a spell of madness, I accidentally injured my own parents. I thought about leaving to prevent further harm, but faced with my parents’ threats of death, I found it too difficult to leave, trapped at home..."