Get up to wash up and eat, and it's another day with nothing to do. Suddenly, on a whim, he took Kong'er's hand and said, "Kong'er, can you take me to the back mountain?" ”

"Back Mountain? There are a lot of poisons in the back mountain, and some animals are also very ugly, Xuan'er will be scared, so don't go. ”

"I'm not afraid, should I ...... You're scared, right? ”

"Who said that!? Don't be afraid of empty space! He assured me with his chest held high. Xuan'er wants to go, just take Xuan'er with you! ”

I was overjoyed and thought to myself how nice a child is.

Starting from the other garden, it took half an hour to arrive at the back mountain with empty air. Sure enough, this is the shady side of the mountain, and the clouds are shrouded in mist. The towering trees block out most of the sky, and walking through them can make people mistakenly think that it is evening. In fact, I came to Houshan to explore the way, so that I could come here on the night of the full moon half a month later to search for the moon snake.

My curiosity about exotic species was innate, and my biggest dream as a child was to go to the rainforests of the Amazon. The most admired idol is the British biologist Jeanne Goodall. In 1960, at the age of 26, she lived alone in the rainforest of Gombe, Tanzania, to observe chimpanzees. So I aspired to be a biologist since I was a child, but I became a thoracic surgeon by mistake.

However, my interest in wildlife has never diminished, and it is in the process of exploring wild animals and plants that I discovered the mystery of Chinese herbal medicine, and since then it has been out of control, from "Shennong's Materia Medica" to "The Yellow Emperor's Neijing", from "Qianjinfang" to "Compendium of Materia Medica", all of which are my pillow collection. Starting with Chinese herbal medicine, my interest has expanded from the simplest methods of looking, hearing, asking, and cutting to acupuncture and scraping, which has led to my achievements in the field of Western medicine being dimmed.

Walking all the way, the empty figure about two or three steps in front of him suddenly stopped, and then immediately turned around. I wondered, and before I could figure out what was going on, my eyes were covered. I don't know why. "What's wrong?"

"Xuan'er will be scared when she sees the things in front, so don't look at them."

I wondered. "What is it?" At the same time, he took his hand and looked forward. Seeing what the empty child was referring to, he didn't feel anything unusual, but stepped forward and squatted down to take a closer look.

"Xuan'er is not afraid?" Sora seemed shocked by my performance.

Fear?! How can I, a surgeon, be afraid of human skulls?

I didn't answer, but I looked closely and found that it was not only the skull, but also the spine, collarbone, and sternum...... It was a complete skeleton. This skeleton has a slightly narrower pelvis and a rather large skeleton, presumably an adult man before his death.

How long has he been dead? The environment in the back mountain is humid, and there are many snakes, insects, rats and ants that breed bacteria, and I am afraid that it will become a pair of bones in more than a month. Seeing that the shape of the whole skeleton was very distorted, he must have endured great pain before he died, and then he realized that it was too reckless for him to enter the back mountain so rashly.

Fortunately, I have been to the primeval forests at home and abroad many times since I was in college, and I still have basic survival skills in the wild. Besides, it's all here, just go back like this, it's just as dangerous on the road, so it's better to take this opportunity to investigate.

He stood up, patted the dirt on the corner of his skirt, and moved on. After walking a few steps, he felt that Kong'er didn't seem to be keeping up, and when he looked back, he was still standing in place, his expression was stunned, and he was in disbelief.

What happened to him?

I went back to him and raised my hand to shake it in front of his eyes. His gaze was finally on my face again.

"Xuan'er, you really ...... Aren't you afraid? In the past, you were so timid that you couldn't even see the scene of killing chickens and fish. ”

I suddenly scolded myself: I'm really stupid, why did I forget to converge? Not to mention the young lady who did not leave the ancient gate, even in the twenty-first century, there are few girls as bold as me.

I could only smirk and say vaguely: "Hehe, courage can also be practiced!"

And he didn't seem to listen to me, and his expression was still a little dull.

"Alright!" I grabbed his arm and walked on.

It took him a while to retract his sluggish expression and return to normal.

As I walked, I suddenly saw something squirming on the ground covered with dead leaves in front of me, and the movement was very slow.

My heart moved, and I hurriedly pulled the empty man who was half a step behind to squat down, holding my breath and observing carefully.

Although the reason for the absence is unknown, it is also cooperative. I saw that the living creature was buried in the dead leaves, and the red and black patterns on its body could barely be seen through the cracks.

Red & Black ...... Creep forward...... Slow to move...... A stirring in my heart: Could it be?!

Guessing what it might be, I was in ecstasy, and Mari pulled out the tool he had brought with him before going out, aimed it well, and poked it straight through.

I was overjoyed, but I didn't want to let out a sudden exclamation. The sound was right in my ear, and it made me shudder, and I took off my tools.

I suddenly screamed in my heart that it was not good. I saw that the living creature that had been moving slowly suddenly left the ground, its head shrank back sharply, and then rushed straight towards my front door like an arrow from the string!

I was so shocked that I tried to stand up, but it was too late. The creature's mouth was barely an inch from my neck, and I thought, "Oh no!

Unexpectedly, a green shadow flashed in front of him, and Kong'er reached out at a faster speed to block the sudden attack.

My heart tightened as I snorted, and I hurried to check on his injuries. I saw that two extremely small blood holes appeared on the outside of the palm of his left hand, and there was some Fan Zi around the wound, but there was no sign of blackening. I breathed a sigh of relief, it seems that the Red Chain Serpent of this plane is not too different from my plane.

That's right, the creature that overjoyed me was the Red Chain Serpent. The description of the "Compendium of Materia Medica" is: "Neem, red and black knots, like neem, mulberry roots, not very poisonous." ”

That is to say, the toxicity of the red chain snake is very low, but it has high medicinal value, and has the effect of dispelling dampness and relieving pain, detoxifying and aggravating sores. That's why I'm so excited to see it.

However, although the red chain snake is low in venom, it is still poisonous. Seeing that Kong'er's face turned pale and fine sweat oozed from his forehead, I didn't dare to be careless, so I took out a knife and cut his wound into a cross shape, squeezing out the dirty blood. During the whole process, Kong'er bit her lip stubbornly, and did not react too much except for an irrepressible snort.

When it was over, I touched his head. "Sora is so brave!" With tears in his eyes, he forced a smile at me.

I looked around and saw a large rock on a higher ground nearby, and the sunlight happened to be shining through a gap in the tall trees. Such a place on higher ground and with direct sunlight usually does not have poisons, so they helped him up. He stumbled a little, but finally climbed the stone and sat down with my help. I settled him down, and I was going to go down and find a way to save him on the spot.

He tugged at my sleeve but didn't speak. I understood what he meant, so I comforted him, "I'll be fine, just go and go back." ”

Returning to the same place, I took a few steps in the direction where the snake had appeared, searched around, and it didn't take much effort to find what I needed - small leaf horseshoe incense.

Horseshoe microphylla is an oval-heart-shaped herb with a pungent and warm taste, usually growing near snake nests and detoxifying various snake venoms.

At the end of mid-autumn, when the weather turns cooler, animals like snakes with hibernation habits rarely stay far from their nests at this time, so I guessed that the snake's nest is nearby, and if there is a snake's nest, there will be a small leaf horseshoe incense. Sure enough, I guessed right. It's a pity that this small leaf horseshoe incense has less than half of the water because of the arrival of autumn, and I don't know if the medicinal effect will be reduced, but at least it is better than nothing.

After collecting the medicine, he returned to the boulder, and just sat down beside him, but his hand was grasped by him, although he did not have much strength, but it was very firm.

"Xuan'er, empty child...... Are you going to die? His voice was almost inaudible.

Die? The red chain snake is not so poisonous, but it will make you weak and sluggish.

I was about to speak, but I felt his hand holding my hand tight, I don't know why, but I saw his mouth move, as if he wanted to say something.

"If you have anything to say later, I'll help you ...... first"

Before I could say the word "dressing", I felt his hand holding my hand tighten again. What he wanted to say, he didn't want to delay for a moment. Don't...... Is it related to his physical condition at the moment? I chuckled inwardly and pressed my ear to his lips.

"Two years ago...... Xuan'er, after your accident, there is no ...... Taoist backyard...... Loaded with ...... Begonia trees. Because...... Empty remember...... Xuan'er ....... I love begonias. Free time...... In the annex...... also planted...... Begonia trees. But...... Only ...... Two trees, because Xuan'er left...... Two years. Free time...... I've been looking forward to ....... Looking forward to Xuan'er's return. But Xuan'er ...... But I fell asleep all the time. Waiting for ...... I was anxious, so I decided...... Every year in the garden...... Plant a ...... for Xuan'er Begonia trees. Such...... There is Xuan'er's favorite begonia...... With me, I can ...... Wait with peace of mind. Empty thoughts...... Stay until years later...... Xuan'er returns...... You can see the garden...... The garden is full of begonias. Thinking about Xuan'er...... The look of joy...... I feel like I'm empty...... This wait is also ...... Sweet ......"

His voice was extremely low and intermittent, almost drowned out by the chirping of insects and birds in the forest. I had to try to concentrate on his staccato words, syllabic by syllable, but my heart seemed to melt: he didn't know sweet words, he didn't know how to swear oaths, he only knew how to wait so stupidly. But this unconditional, endless waiting is more unsettling to me than any love words or vows.

His words continued: "It's good that Xuan'er ...... Didn't let it go...... Wait that long. But it's empty...... Empty but can't ...... Can't go any further...... accompanied Xuan'er...... "His words were full of sadness, I didn't know why, but I didn't interrupt. "Xuan'er, you....... Promise to be empty...... Don't be sad...... Don't wait for time to come back. Because...... Waiting like that...... It's too bitter. I don't want to ...... Xuan'er suffered. ”

As if he had exhausted his strength, he tilted his head and rested on my shoulder. But his words made my heart flutter: he thought he was going to die, so he insisted on saying what he had just said. And even at the last moment of his life, what he thought in his mind and what he thought in his heart was still the original owner......

I smiled and stroked the back of his head, but something slipped in my eyes.