Gradually, she lost her confidence. Would she ever arrive at Blue Village? There were always the same woods, always the same pattern of stone roads. The small birds with colorful necks were far away; she could only faintly hear their call. She consoled herself that she would not get lost—she could always go around the mountain and return to her starting point. Why should she be worried? As soon as she got flustered, she grew angry with herself all over again. Even the man with ascites sat calmly at the roadside, while she was a healthy young person—why panic? As if arguing against herself, when she saw a path into the mountains, she took it.

But what kind of path was this? It was narrowing. Before she had walked a kilometer, it was totally blocked by a tyrannical parasitic banyan. Angelica had to turn around and head back. She realized that at the foot of Blue Mountain one couldn’t wander around as one wished. She had to either feel her way forward or retreat.

She returned to her original spot. It was strange to see Blue’s husband again. He was still sitting at the roadside but not in the same place. He was playing with pebbles. He tossed the shiny pebbles in the air and caught them one by one.

“Mister, can you tell me why I can’t find Blue Village?”

“It’s pointless to look for it.” He stopped playing and looked at her sternly. “I am Blue Village. Couldn’t you recognize me?”

“I—oh, I kind of get it now. I love you, mister.”

He smiled and motioned to her to keep walking.

Angelica walked for a while. Suddenly she felt her heart filling with joy. “I love Blue Village so much! Oh, I—” How she longed to tell someone! But there was no one near her, only a small bird hopping in the tree.

Blue suddenly appeared on the road.

“I’ve brought you some food.” She pointed at the basket.

“I’ve been out for a long time. How did you find me so quickly?”

“Look, isn’t that your clinic?” She pointed to the right.

“Oh, so it is! It seems I’ve been walking around in the place I started from.”

“It’s all right, newcomers always do.”

Blue took out steamed buns and broth from the basket and set them on a stone table beside the road.

“I can’t let you bring me food all the time,” said Angelica, embarrassed.

“It’s a job Dr. Lin assigned to me.”

Under Blue’s urging, Angelica ate the buns and broth.

“Blue, may I make a request of you?” Angelica asked.

Blue avoided her gaze; she was a little uncomfortable.

“I know you want to go to the village, but it isn’t a place you can go just because you want to. Ah, it’s a long story . . . To tell you the truth, Angelica, we have no fixed abode. Our Blue Village is such a secret place that it can’t be found on the map. Only the clinic is always here. It is the mark of Blue Village, and the treasure of Blue Mountain . . . Dr. Lin left, and you came. You now belong to Blue Mountain. You are a pearl. I have to go back now to look after my husband. He was very impressed with you.”