Chapter 29: The Compassionate Grass, Strange Mushrooms

When a person is with the person closest to them, they often feel a desolate loneliness. But that isn’t true loneliness—it’s true desolation. (Gu Long)
……
Silently, it was over. Everything was over. The lingering melodies faded away in the wind. As the melodies disappeared, the wolves opened their eyes and gradually stood up… Yet they had no intention of attacking Liu Yi and Jili’er. They turned around and dispersed in different directions.
Thousands of wolves rushed in all directions at once, creating a spectacular sight in the air…
Jili’er gradually woke up as well. She released her arms around Liu Yi, sat down beside him, wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes, and said in disbelief, “So impressive! What kind of martial art is this?”
Liu Yi casually turned the flute in his hand and handed it back to Jili’er, smiling. “What martial art? It’s just music. If we say humans and animals can’t communicate, I think that’s wrong. At least there’s something they can use to communicate—music.”
Jili’er looked at Liu Yi curiously and asked, “Then what was the tune you played just now? How did you communicate with those wolves?”
Liu Yi waved the folding fan in his hand and said, “That was a tune I composed myself, ‘Spring Breeze.’ As for communication? I didn’t really communicate. I just expressed my longing for life through music.”
Jili’er stared at Liu Yi, her eyes seemingly wanting to say something, but then she withdrew them.
Liu Yi said, “You’ve been scared for so long—you must be tired. Let’s go to sleep. We still need to travel and gather herbs tomorrow.”
Jili’er nodded. The two of them sat quietly beside the fire, leaning against a large rock…
Liu Yi looked up at the starry sky and sighed, “Everything comes without reward. The next step could be death. The world is both wonderful and terrifying.”
As Liu Yi was lost in thought, he suddenly felt a heavy weight on his right shoulder. Without having to think, he knew the girl had used his shoulder as a pillow again. A gentle breeze blew, and strands of her black hair brushed against his face—soft and tickling…
“The night is quiet, the moon has set, the wind is gentle… How many times has this strand of hair caused worry?” With the gift from Yuecang Mountain, Liu Yi also fell into a deep sleep…
When Liu Yi opened his eyes, the campfire in front of him had long since burned out. The rising sun warmed his body, and the morning breeze brought fresh air, making him feel incredibly refreshed. But another sensation arose… His right shoulder hurt terribly, as if it had fallen off.
Liu Yi turned his head and remembered that Jili’er had slept on his shoulder all night. He wasn’t an iron man—without blood circulation, how could he not feel numb or painful?
As Liu Yi moved slightly, Jili’er also opened her big, expressive eyes. Like a child, she stretched and stood up, saying, “I slept so well.”
Liu Yi rubbed his shoulder in pain and groaned, “You might have slept well, but my shoulder feels like it’s about to fall off.”
Jili’er packed up her things and said, “Hmph. Even an ordinary person’s shoulder isn’t something I rely on.”
Liu Yi shook his head in fear and said, “It seems I’m quite honored. I should thank you.”

Gillyel chuckled and said, “Alright, enough chatter. Today’s task is to pick ten ‘Heart-Compassionate Grasses.’ If we’re lucky, we might find one ‘Cristal Grass’ too.”
Liu Yi took out some dried food and the remaining wolf legs, saying, “We need to eat first if we’re going to work. Do you want to eat?”
Gillyel glanced at the wolf legs, looking a bit scared, and said, “I’ll just eat the dried food. I don’t want more wolves to show up. I dare not eat wolf meat.” With that, she took the dried food and started eating.
After a quick meal, the two continued on toward the east side of the mountain top.
Gillyel led the way, saying, “If we keep going straight from here, there’s a cliff ahead. It’s along this path that we’re most likely to find the ‘Heart-Compassionate Grasses.’ These plants usually grow under trees, somewhat like orchids, but their color is pink…”
Liu Yi glanced back casually, tugged at the edge of Gillyel’s clothes, and said, “Is the ‘Heart-Compassionate Grass’ you mentioned something like this?” He pointed at a thick tree nearby.
Gillyel turned around and saw it, then quickly said, “Scholar, your eyes are really sharp! It’s this one… Hehe, calling you ‘scholar’ sounds awkward. From now on, I’ll just call you Brother Liu.”
Liu Yi walked toward the big tree and joked, “Brother Liu? It’s better to drop the ‘big’ part.”
Gillyel mumbled, “Brother Liu? That sounds so awkward… Wait a moment! You can’t pull it out with your hands.” She rushed over quickly.
Hearing this, Liu Yi stopped immediately and asked, “Then what should we do? There are so many plants here—can’t we pull them out?”
Gillyel looked around in surprise and said, “How come there are so many ‘Heart-Compassionate Grasses’ here? There are hundreds of them.” She squatted down next to Liu Yi, took out a small shovel, and said, “The leaves and branches around the ‘Heart-Compassionate Grass’ aren’t very useful. What matters most is its root. It has long roots, and all the medicinal properties are concentrated there.” As she spoke, she carefully dug with the small shovel, showing Liu Yi how to do it.
Liu Yi finally understood why she had brought a small shovel—these plants were quite delicate. Thinking about this, he also took out a small shovel and started digging carefully, following Gillyel’s example.
As he dug, Liu Yi said, “There are hundreds of these plants here. Didn’t you say they’re hard to find?”
Gillyel placed the dug-up ‘Heart-Compassionate Grasses’ into a special box and said in surprise, “Yes, it’s strange. Usually, it takes hours to find just one, and sometimes you might not find any at all in a day. How come there are hundreds here all of a sudden?”
Liu Yi continued digging carefully and said with a smile, “It seems we’re lucky today.” After digging for a while, he still couldn’t see any roots in the plant he’d dug up. Growing anxious, he dug faster. Finally, he reached the bottom of the root, but it seemed to be connected to something else…
Gillyel smiled and said, “Not bad. It seems Sister Ajiu won’t have to lie down for two days.”
Liu Yi didn’t reply to her. He kept digging at that thing. The hole grew bigger and bigger, and gradually, something larger than a fist appeared. At last, a faint shape showed up—red, like a mushroom but not quite. Liu Yi thought to himself, “I’ll dig you out completely, no matter how big you are.” With that thought, he accelerated the movement of his small shovel, expanding the hole further…

“Hey, what are you doing? Look at what you’ve done—so much damage, such a waste. This medicine is so hard to find!” Gilliel shouted loudly.
Liu Yi said, “Look, what’s this?”
Gilliel turned her head and glanced at the large hole in the ground—a bright red mushroom? No… how could a mushroom be this big? Ganoderma? Impossible; how could Ganoderma be underground?
Gilliel shook her head and said, “I don’t know what this is either. You dig it out and take a look. I’ll go gather enough ‘Mercy Grass’ first.” With that, she busied herself digging for the ‘Mercy Grass’ again.
Liu Yi picked up the shovel and continued working. Finally, the entire upper part of this strange mushroom was exposed—it was actually a foot in diameter. The red mushroom emitted an enticing fragrance, a very special scent that made one feel eager to eat it right away…
Liu Yi had heard Gilliel say that the roots of ‘Mercy Grass’ were extremely useful. After thinking it over, he decided to dig out the whole mushroom first…