Especially when it came to her benefactor.

Zizi’s mother didn’t say a word. After they finished eating, she took the last one hundred thousand yuan she had borrowed—money she originally planned to use to take Zizi to various doctors—out of her bag and placed it in the room in the clinic’s backyard. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

She didn’t tell Doctor Wen.

It was clear Zizi had grown very fond of Doctor Wen. Zizi’s mother found the only inn on the street and checked in.

Now that Zizi was awake, they naturally couldn’t keep staying at the clinic.

With the mother and daughter gone, the clinic felt somewhat empty.

Wen Ying found a book her grandmother had left behind. The pages, made of cloth, had yellowed with age. The cloth sheets had been strung together to form the book.

Spirit Plant Record

Wen Ying frowned as she opened it. The Spirit Plants described inside were clearly no ordinary vegetation.

They were more akin to the legendary Spirit Plants of the Cultivation Era, though these seemed somewhat more common in comparison.

’Such an important book, just left carelessly in a small drawer at the clinic.’

Zizi’s mother had actually been the one to find it while helping to clean the clinic. Without looking inside, she had given it to Wen Ying right away.

[Zhu Yu]: There is a grass, its form like a leek with blossoms of blue-green. It is called Zhu Yu. To eat it is to know no hunger.

Wen Ying stared at the illustration of the Zhu Yu Grass, a little dazed.

The grass looked very plain, blooming with small cyan flowers. It wouldn’t stand out at all in this day and age.

But what left Wen Ying dazed was the feeling that she had seen this Zhu Yu Grass before.

She had seen it on the day she went to the mountain peak to absorb the essence of the sun and moon.

Thankfully, Wen Ying had a good memory, or she would have missed it. Though the grass looked plain, it was a Spirit Plant, and Wen Ying decided to bring the Zhu Yu Grass back as soon as she could.

After buying a flowerpot, Wen Ying headed for the back mountain. The path was deserted. Halfway up, she dug up some moist soil and filled the pot with it.

Once she reached the top, Wen Ying followed her memory and found the Zhu Yu Grass. It didn’t cover a large area and was growing right next to the spot where she had meditated.

There were only two solitary stalks.

Wen Ying looked at the Zhu Yu Grass. "Little Zhu Yu, you’ll have a much better life with me than out here. If you agree, shake your head."

After she spoke, Wen Ying mobilized the Spiritual Energy within her body and let a tiny bit of it leak out.

Immediately, the small cyan flowers began to shake.

Wen Ying smiled. She knew a plant like this had to have some awareness. Even with just a hint of Spirit Communication, it was a priceless treasure in this day and age!

Wen Ying gently transplanted the Zhu Yu Grass into the flowerpot, then infused it with a little Spiritual Energy.

It was a taste of the rewards for pledging its allegiance.

The Zhu Yu Grass began to shake even more vigorously, like a joyous child lost in delight.

Looking at the Zhu Yu Grass, Wen Ying had a strange feeling. ’This world isn’t as simple as I thought.’

It felt like a great secret was hidden, and a storm was on the horizon.

After sitting on the mountaintop for an hour, the sky began to darken. Wen Ying picked up the flowerpot and started her descent.

The sounds of chirping insects and birds followed her all the way down. The vegetation here seemed to be growing more lush; at this rate, it would soon cover the entire mountain.

It was turning into a beautiful natural landscape.

Passing the inn on her way down, the proprietress told Wen Ying that her guests had settled in. She told Wen Ying not to worry and that she would provide their meals as well.

As she passed Uncle Zhang’s grocery store, he spotted her with the flowerpot. "Little Ying, you went up the mountain again? It’s so late."

"Uncle Zhang, do you recognize this flower?"

"I don’t recognize it. Haven’t seen it on this street, though I feel like I’ve seen something similar on the mountain before. Oh, right! The old man is really busy down below. Do you think I should... support his work?"

Uncle Zhang looked like he was bursting to talk, but the whole affair was so bizarre he couldn’t tell anyone else.

He could only hope Wen Ying was willing to listen.

Wen Ying smiled, pulled up a stool, and sat down. "Go on, Uncle Zhang."

Uncle Zhang was a little embarrassed, but his need to vent was just too strong. He’d been bottling it up for too long and couldn’t hold it in anymore.

"Well, your aunt and I burned all that money for him that same day, and the old man was thrilled! He even told me a few little secrets... something about a way to strengthen my body."

"That’s great. At your age, Uncle Zhang, it’s good to get some exercise."

Uncle Zhang was too embarrassed to say what that body-strengthening method actually was.

"Fine, we’ll put the body-strengthening stuff aside for now. Do you know what else the old man wants from me?"

Wen Ying shook her head. She had no intention of prying into his secrets.

"He wants me to burn weapons for him! Weapons! What kind of nonsense is that? The people who make these paper offerings have all sorts of things—tool sets, cars, houses, clothes, servant dolls—but who makes weapons? You tell me, what in the world is the old man doing down there? Isn’t all that money enough for him? Why is he asking *me* for weapons? If I had access to weapons, what would I be doing running a grocery store?"

Uncle Zhang complained for nearly half an hour, but Wen Ying could tell that despite all the grumbling, he still wanted to burn those things for his father.

But he was facing two problems. First, where could he even find such weapons?

And second, how could he burn the paper weapons in a way that they’d actually reach the underworld?

The first problem might be solvable, but as for the second, no matter how thick-skinned he was, he was too embarrassed to ask Wen Ying for help again.

After all, they had seen how much it drained Wen Ying to handle the spirit money for them before.

These endless requests... wasn’t that just being too greedy?

’A person can’t be insatiably greedy!’

’You have to know where to draw the line, even with close friends or relatives.’

Wen Ying listened without saying anything. What could she say? She wasn’t some selfless saint who would help with everything for free. Besides, based on Uncle Zhang’s story, this would consume a great deal of her Spiritual Energy.

’The cost outweighs the benefit.’

’It wasn’t a matter of earning Merit, nor was it a matter concerning the living.’

"So, what do you plan to do, Uncle Zhang?"

"What else can I do? I’ll see if I can find a place that makes these things first. Then I’ll try and see if I can get them burned for the old man."

Wen Ying got up and returned to the clinic. For dinner, she planned to test the effects of the Zhu Yu Grass. Each of the two stalks had four small flowers. After washing her hands, Wen Ying plucked off a small piece of a leaf and put it in her mouth.

It had a cool, refreshing sensation and a light, sweet flavor. It was the kind of taste one could only experience in a place with pure, natural, and unpolluted vegetation.

But unlike what others might experience, Wen Ying also felt a faint stream of Spiritual Energy enter her body.

And with it, the slight feeling of hunger she’d had before vanished.

She didn’t feel full, just that the nagging desire to eat was gone.

The Zhu Yu Grass didn’t provide much Spiritual Energy, but it showed Wen Ying another path.

’But where could she find more things like this?’

Whether it was a matter of fate or destiny, it wouldn’t be simple. If there really were still some old monsters in this world, the re-emergence of things like this would cause a massive earthquake.

That evening, Wen Ying didn’t eat dinner. Instead, she once again picked up the book her grandmother had left behind.

By the time she looked up, the lights on the street outside had nearly all been extinguished.

A glance at the time showed it was already 11:30 p.m. A peculiar idea came to Wen Ying.