When Hua To was up in the mountains gathering medicinal herbs, he saw two strong men running after a maiden. "That's strange!" the men said, "All of a sudden she just disappeared!" "Who were you chasing?" Hua To asked. "That girl was a servant of our master's who ran away two years ago. She was seen on this mountain recent ly, and our master sent us after her to bring her back. But she's simply a wild animal now. You can't catch her no matter how hard you try." A helpless woman had hidden in the depths of the mountains for two years, Hua To thought, not only with out starving to death but in fact gaining in strength and energy. Could she be eating some efficacious kind of herb? There must be a reason.
Hua To began to search for the girl, and after a long time he finally found out that she was often seen near the cliffs of the northern face. He set out some food there, and the next day it was gone. "It must be her!" he thought. He set out some food for her again, and then hid behind a rock and waited for her to appear. When she did, Hua To rushed out and grabbed her. Terrified, she kicked and scream ed with all her might. "Don't make a fuss!" he said. "Calm down. I'm a doctor, not a bad man. I've come looking for you to ask you something. I heard that you ran awa y from your master. If you're caught and brought back, you'll lose your life for sure. But it's no good living like this in the wind and rain in the mountains every day. Why don't you be my adopted daughter from now on, all right?"
Then Hua To brought the girl home with him, doting on her like his own daughter. After she had calmed down, he asked her, "What did you eat when you hid out in the mountains all the time?" "Oh, a wild root shaped like a chicken." The girl took him back up in the mountains and pointed out an herb with a light green flower. Hua To quickly dug it up by the roots. "It has a scaly, yellow root that really does look like a chicken," he said. Hua To brought it back with him and gave it to his patients. It turned out to be a very nourishing and effective medicine.