“Oh, no. You misunderstood me. Mrs. Yi is from another world. I’m just a little worried about you. Go on doing what you’re doing. I’m 100 percent behind you.”

“Thanks, Dad.”

Gray put down his chopsticks and slipped out of the house. He was a little afraid of his dad. Dad’s old eyes could read his mind. He had hooked up with Spoon, given up his medical studies, and started a small business. Later, he broke up with Spoon and went back to work in Mrs. Yi’s herb garden. Dad had never said anything to him about any of this. Just now Dad had pointed out his weakness—his lack of interest in helping sick people. Thinking about his future, Gray felt a little dejected.

Today he planned to go to the mountains alone to look for an herb called “ancient mountain dragon.” Mrs. Yi had given him rough directions. As he passed through the village, he noticed that people were giving him strange looks, and they were all staring at the basket on his back. He felt these people were looking down on him just as Dad was, and thinking he would never become a doctor. He lifted his head, squared his shoulders, and walked quickly toward Niulan Mountain.

As he climbed to the cliff, he became nervous. Mrs. Yi had told him that the ancient mountain dragon grew in this area. He looked around blankly, feeling that this place halfway up the mountain was not at all like the environment in which the ancient mountain dragon should grow. There were some big trees here, but too sparse for a forest. The soil underneath the trees was poor and dry, the kind of red earth with so many stones mixed into it that even weeds rarely grew. He was surprised to find such a large barren space on Niulan Mountain. In his memory, there was fertile soil everywhere on the mountain.

Gray walked around the cliff several times, but he didn’t find a trace of the ancient mountain dragon. Why? Hadn’t he been paying close enough attention? Bracing himself, he tried again. He sniffed around, imagining that he was a wolf, and he even climbed more than ten meters up the cliff. Then he cautiously descended. As he sat on the ground, he thought of Mrs. Yi and of Dad’s comment that she was “from another world.” He was a little discouraged and a little suspicious. If there was no ancient mountain dragon here, shouldn’t he leave this spot and look elsewhere? This thought struck his muddled mind like a shaft of light.

He left the cliff and continued climbing up the mountain. Just then he saw Niulan Mountain’s other face. It was no longer the mountain he had known. Stony red earth was everywhere, and neither shrubs nor grasses grew under the trees. The trees had very few leaves, and some of them were even bald. Looking at the dark branches made him shiver. “Ah, ah . . . ,” he gasped. The farther up he went, the bleaker the scene became. When he neared the top of the mountain, he gave up hope and decided to go home. He did not understand how Niulan Mountain could have changed so much. He had climbed the mountain six months ago. At that time, it was not at all like this. Halfway down the mountain, he came to the cliff again. Someone spoke to him.