“See how slow I am. It seems that I’m the last to become aware of anything.”

Mia went out of the front yard and stood in the middle of the road. The west wind blew her short hair, and blew Plum’s voice into her ears: “Mia, Mia, I am a patient, you are the doctor . . . Mia . . .”

Mia made a trumpet with her hands and shouted, “Plum, wait for me!”

After shouting three times, she felt much more relaxed. Her eyes scanned Deserted Village, and in the darkness she seemed to see one of the secret doors slowly opening.

Someone touched her shoulder. It was Lohan.

“That tortoise from Blue Mountain—Milan wouldn’t part with it even at bedtime,” he said.

“In fact, no one has ever been parted, right?” Mia was puzzled.

“I’m thinking about that, too. So many people have been waiting for you to be a doctor, and I didn’t know that,” said Lohan ruefully.

They saw Gray go by the road to the right, and the young man was radiant—as if he were a different man. Mia remembered his recent visit. It was Grandpa Onion’s idea for him to come for nothing. Now she was genuinely pleased to see his maturity. Her work, and Gray’s, had changed their lives completely. She heard that Gray was now a warm-hearted young man who often talked about herbs with the villagers. She wondered if Gray was now back together with Spoon.

Gray went to meet Yang, who was sitting on the roadside stone waiting. Mia saw them talking enthusiastically. “All people . . . ,” Mia murmured, and suddenly she saw the open door.

The patient who came that day had a malignant tumor growing in his head.

“Occasionally I feel that I have no desire to live any longer,” he said, “but I don’t want to die when I’m in remission. I’m always in this kind of cycle. One day I suddenly understood my illness. Dr. Mia, do I look calm?”

As he spoke, Mia kept nodding approvingly. His final question made Mia admire him—Uncle Owl sensed the pulse of nature.

“Uncle Owl, no other patients are as calm as you are. You don’t need drugs to fight the cancer. I can see from your eyes that cancer is an old friend hiding in your body. But perhaps you would like me to give you some herbs as a balm, so that you’ll be more attractive to your old friend?”

“Dr. Mia, I have seen that you’re my soulmate. Give me the balm so that I can live like a man. In the west wind of the night, I prayed repeatedly for your herb hill. Because in the hill there is a path for the villagers of Deserted Village to return to their former homes.”

“Uncle Owl, you’re a wise man, and a real man. Because of your example, we have more confidence in our own lives . . .” She was too emotional to go on.