After her master's death, Shen Aheng lived alone in a rundown temple on a desolate mountain. The neighbors nearby were all too afraid to ask her for medical help, and she barely scraped by.
One day, with her food stores nearly gone, Shen Aheng had no choice but to head up the mountain to dig for shepherd's purse. A heavy rain began, and while she was sheltering from it, she unexpectedly came across an injured boy from a foreign land.
The boy was curled beneath a dead tree, his black hair clinging to his neck. His face was as beautiful as carved jade, but completely bloodless, with a faint purple pattern along his neck.
The most striking thing was the silver earring dangling from his earlobe, set with a piece of black jade that swayed in the shadows and made her head spin.
Shen Aheng's hand trembled, and she nearly dropped the shepherd's purse she was holding.
When she first rescued him, Shen Aheng happily did the math. His earring alone could buy her several storehouses of millet, not to mention seafood at every meal. Maybe she could even renovate the whole sect.
But she hadn't expected him to be a "medicine human" from the Western Regions. He spoke Central Plains Chinese haltingly, yet was remarkably docile.
She held her nose and made him drink bitter medicine that made him wince. His eyes reddened, and he rasped, "All right." When she casually complained about the cold, he clumsily chopped half a bundle of firewood that very night, rubbing blisters onto his hands.
Shen Aheng found this "snail boy" very convenient to have around. Gradually, she forgot her original intentions and simply treated him as a quiet, handsome disciple she'd taken in.
Until one day, she touched his now-rosy cheek and said with a bright smile, "There, you're well enough to run and jump again. Go find your family."
The boy suddenly looked up, bits of ash from the herbs he'd been boiling still clinging to his hair. After a long pause, he shook his head and forced out a sentence in halting but resolute words: "No... don't go. Aheng, don't... don't send me away."
A bold little doctor from an unconventional martial sect who loves using strong medicine but hates conventional practice x a clingy, lovesick boy from the Western Regions, a medicine human with strange martial arts
Silly humor x pure-hearted romance
One-on-one, mutually devoted
Little scene:
One day, Shen Aheng had nothing to do, so she taught Ashina Yu the names of various herbs. Pointing to a patch of angelica, she teased him with a perfectly straight face: "This is called 'Big Liar Egg.' Make sure you remember."
The boy committed it to memory, carefully writing the words in the sand, stroke by stroke: Big Liar Egg.
A few days later, a physician from the foot of the mountain came by to ask for some angelica. The boy earnestly corrected him: "No, Aheng said it's called 'Big Liar Egg.'"
The physician: "..."
P.S. The medical knowledge here comes from the internet and made-up sources. Please don't take it seriously or use it in real life.
Saved on August 23, 2025
Theme: There is always a way forward once you reach the mountain
