The room fell silent for a moment.
Miss Jun didn't want them to see her tears.
It wasn't that she was afraid of crying and losing face, but she was worried about the three people in front of her.
She had always been with her master, and though she was heartbroken by his death, she had no regrets as she could bid him farewell personally; however, for these friends who had been waiting and hoping, to learn that their loved one could never return was too cruel.
She lowered her head and squeezed her eyes hard, holding the tears back.
"Can I see Niuniu?" she asked, lifting her head and smiling slightly, "Maybe I really recognized the wrong person."
The woman remained somber.
"No need..." she said.
"Sister-in-law," Yang Jing and Xia Yong called out anxiously.
Just then, the door was pulled open. All four were startled upon seeing the girl standing at the door.
The girl stood there timidly, her hand gripping the door tightly, as if that was what supported her standing there.
"You, you..." her voice trembled, not knowing what to say, and then she suddenly pulled down the covering on her face.
The four outside were startled once again.
This girl had always hidden from others and never took off the covering in front of others; even doctor was not allowed to see, which explained her enormous reaction upon hearing a doctor had arrived.
Unexpectedly, she had the courage to step forward and uncover her face.
The expression of Yang Jing and the others was complex again, certainly not because Miss Jun was a divine doctor.
The reason this girl did this was still because of the words Miss Jun had said.
"Your dad asked me to come and treat you."
All these years, the girl who lived isolated and unseen, it was because of this sentence that she came running out and took off her mask, showing how much she had hoped.
The calm expression of the woman turned sorrowful, she was about to step forward to hug her daughter, but Miss Jun had already stepped forward first.
"You." She also spoke, but the rest of her words were left unsaid.
Her gaze rested on the girl's face, filled with disbelief.
This shock was not because she finally saw the person her master drew in his handwritten notes, in fact, this girl was not it at all, or perhaps, even though she took off the covering, Miss Jun still couldn't clearly see her face.
The girl's face had what seemed like two chrysanthemums blooming on her cheeks, and while chrysanthemums are beautiful, the red flowers growing on her skin were not, with bloody tissue curling and winding across her face like worms spreading, hideous and terrifying.
How could this be?
This was nothing like the description her master had given.
"No, no," Miss Jun said, shaking her head repeatedly.
No?
Seeing her shake her head and hearing her words, everyone present was stunned.
What does she mean by no? Is it not the person she was looking for? Was it really a case of mistaken identity?
The greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment, and Xia Yong's heart sank.
"She's not the person Miss Jun you're looking for," the woman said, her voice calm, but a fleeting sorrow flashed in her eyes as she stepped forward to embrace her daughter.
"No, no," Miss Jun shook her head again.
It really wasn't, was it.
Yang Jing and Xia Yong looked dejected.
Upon hearing this sentence, the girl's accumulated strength completely depleted, she reached out to cover her face about to scream, but someone beat her to it.
Miss Jun covered her face and started crying, her cries so heavy it seemed she could barely stand, stumbling and crouching down.
"Is it this, is it this?" she kept asking while crying.
Is this why her master said not all illnesses in the world can be cured?
Is this why her master took her over hills and mountains searching for herbs and prescriptions?
Is this why her master left pages of anxiety and despair in his handwritten notes?
Is this the kind of despair where everyone calls you a divine doctor, yet you can't even cure your own daughter?
Is this why her master lost his life over a single herb?
Is this why he wasted away outside, never making it back home before his death?
In this world, who is to be pitied, who is to be sorrowed over, who in this world isn't to be pitied, who isn't to be sorrowed over.
Miss Jun knelt on the ground, covering her face and crying loudly.
Seeing her like this, Xia Yong and others, despite their disappointment, couldn't help but feel heartache seeing her cry such heartrending sobs, making the girl forget her own cries as she stood there, covering her face somewhat dazedly watching Miss Jun knelt on the ground.
It must be because she realized she hadn't found the right person.
"Too disappointed, that's why too heartbroken," the woman sighed lightly, with a touch of melancholy, "This feeling is indeed hard to bear."
She then looked aside, Lei Zhonglian and two guards stood there blankly.
"Didn't even bring a maid." She sighed again.
Having a maid would be good for consolation, these male attendants are really unreliable.
The woman glanced at her daughter, patted her on the shoulder, then walked away; the girl did not cry out or falter, but continued to lean against the door, standing dazed.
She always cries by herself, rarely seeing others cry; now for the first time she realized, there were sorrows greater than her own.
The woman stood beside Miss Jun, bent down, and patted her shoulder.
"Miss Jun, don't be sad..." she said softly.
Before she finished speaking, Miss Jun raised her head, crying and shaking her head.
"No, I'm not sad, I'm very happy," she cried.
That, indeed, was hard to see.
The woman stiffened.
"Miss Jun, even though this time you didn't find..." she continued.
Miss Jun had already grabbed her hand, stood up, hurriedly wiped away her tears, and kneeled to the woman.
"Gongzhu, meeting mother of my mentor," she said with a choked voice.
Mother of the mentor?
The woman startled, Yang Jing and Xia Yong glanced at each other.
"So you mean, Brother Zhao really is someone you knew?" Xia Yong said.
"Although he didn't tell me his name was Zhao Zhiyi, I'm sure he's the Zhao Zhiyi you're talking about," Miss Jun said.
Yang Jing and Xia Yong were instantly thrilled again.
"Was it him, who told you to come here to find us?" the woman asked again, her tone calm.
"Of course, otherwise why would Miss Jun..." Xia Yong said excitedly.
The woman didn't look at him, only at Miss Jun.
Of course it wasn't, Miss Jun shook her head to indicate this to her.
Xia Yong was momentarily taken aback.
"Coming here was a coincidence," Miss Jun said, her eyes again brimming with tears, "Now it seems it was destiny, the mentor led me here, why else was I always drawn to come this way…"
The woman wasn't excited by the mention of destiny; her expression grew even more serene.
"So, you never knew about this place?" she said, "Your mentor never mentioned it to you?"
He never mentioned it while alive; if she hadn't gone through the handwritten notes herself, perhaps she would have never known in her lifetime.
Such words, they were somewhat cruel.
"Mother of my mentor, there are some other matters regarding my relationship with my mentor," Miss Jun said cautiously, considering she was a princess (junzhu), her mentor probably never truly considered her an actual disciple, so it was normal to withhold some information from her, "but the mentor always thought of you, he may not have told me, but he wrote it down."
As she spoke, she busily searched the medicine chest, Lei Zhonglian stepped forward and handed the medicine chest over, watching as Miss Jun opened it and took out the handwritten notes.
"Mother of my mentor, look, these are the notes left by my mentor," she said, her gaze turned to Yang Jing and Xia Yong, "Uncle Yang and Village Chief Xia were listed there, so I recognized them at a glance."
Really? So, this girl asked just their names and performed a respectful greeting for this reason.
Yang Jing and Xia Yong grew even more excited.
"Big Brother drew us?" Xia Yong said, his voice choked, "Big Brother was particularly good at drawing."
Yang Jing wasn't as openly emotional but just looked at the woman.
"Sister-in-law," he said, "Please take a look, is it so?"
Miss Jun held out the handwritten notes to the woman with excitement, watching her intently.
The woman remained calm, looking at the passed aged, thick handwritten notes.
"It's not," she said, pushing the notes back, "I told you Zhao Zhiyi is dead, not the same person as your mentor, go look somewhere else."
After saying this, she turned and walked towards the doorway, embracing the still dazed girl and went inside, the door also closed behind them.
"Brother Yang, please see the guests off."
Miss Jun stood there with the handwritten notes, dazed.
*****************************************
Thanks to Winjill, Jian Lani, and Ice from the South for rewarding He's Bi (>^ω^<)
Thank you for another month of companionship, will trouble everyone again next month, thank you.