“But there’s no proof yet that the herbs are effective.”

“They’re experts, they can tell just by looking at the herbs.”

“Good heavens!” Mia murmured. “I feel cold. Let’s go home.”

When Mia reached the gate, she heard Yang saying, “Mia hasn’t gotten used to her new environment yet. The domain is expanding so fast.”

Milan rode on Lohan’s shoulders, exclaiming joyfully, “Look! There’s the moon! Can you see it?”

Mia looked up, and saw only blackness. Why couldn’t she see the moon?

“Everything will be fine . . . ,” Lohan comforted her.

“They and we . . . ,” Mia muttered blankly. “Lohan, do we have a good chance of succeeding this time?”

“We’ve already succeeded, Mia. Yang is connected with the people of Blue Mountain. I think he is one of them.”

“Good point. It seems that Yang has been staying in touch with them. But why am I so nervous? I keep worrying that something will go wrong.”

“When a great change is coming, people do feel anxious about it. Look at that phosphorescence, Mia. It keeps the same distance as it follows us.”

“Ah, that’s the old director! He thinks of me as his successor!”

That night, Mia slept soundly. The old director’s encouragement warmed her heart. She felt she could face any situation. In her dreams, she filled several prescriptions of herbs for her patients, and was quite pleased with herself.

At dawn, Yang woke Lohan and Mia from outside the window.

“Did something bad happen? Is something going wrong . . . ?” Mia asked nervously.

“No, it’s supposed to be a good thing,” answered Lohan.

They opened the door and let Yang in.

“Important visitors are coming! I couldn’t sleep. I wanted to share this good news with you as soon as possible! They’ve reached Dragon King Harbor now, and will be in the village in half an hour!”

“Are they the same people who came yesterday?” Mia asked.

“Yes, and besides them, there is a girl.”

“Angelica, Angelica! Lohan, Angelica is coming!”

“How strong we’ve become!” Lohan said.

Rubbing his eyes, Milan came out of the inner room. He tugged at Mia’s arm and said, “Tortoise, my tortoise.”

Yang handed the tortoise to Milan. Milan pressed his little face against its back.

“Look at your son,” Yang said to Mia. “He was born to be related to Blue Mountain. The two tortoises are from Blue Mountain. They came to my house and stayed.”

“Great, great . . . ,” Mia said through tears. “Will these people come to our house?”

“Not this time. Today they’re coming to pick up the old director. We can watch from a distance.”

“The old director! Oh, how exciting!”

“Listen, they’re entering the village. But they aren’t taking the main road. They’re taking the tunnel, because the director is down there during the day.”

“Great, great . . . ,” Mia said, as if moaning. “They should have come a long time ago to pick up my dear old director. Director, oh . . .”