Where The Mountain Meets The Moon

A-Gong administers the medicine to Dragon’s injured arm, and Dragon instantly begins to breathe normally. Minli sees that Dragon will recover and finally starts to relax. A-Gong orders his grandchildren to send for more medicine from the women in their village. He tells the twins to take Minli with them so she may warm up and sleep comfortably while he nurses Dragon in the cave.

Minli follows A-Fu and Da-Fu and learns to call them by their preferred combined name of Da-A-Fu. When they reach the yellow village, Minli sees that multitudes of yellow flowers growing on trees cause the village’s color. It’s the only flora growing from the hard rock. The twins tell Minli their ancestors’ story.

Da-a-Fu’s ancestors were hard-working people who couldn’t seem to grow anything they planted in the stony, unforgiving land they called home. One night, the moon came out and rain fell from the sky. These raindrops were actually seeds shaped like pearls. The townspeople planted the first seeds, and every night after that, the seeds fell and planted themselves, eventually growing into silver trees with gold leaves. This is how the village came to be known as the Village of Moon Rain.

Minli grows curious about this rain that continues to fall whenever there’s a moon in the sky, but before she can find out more, she arrives at the red gates of Da-A-Fu’s home.

Back in Minli’s village, the storm has subsided, and all of the homes are intact. Still, Ba is worried about what the goldfish said about the wind being full of fear. He asks the fish to tell him if he thinks Minli is okay, but the fish doesn’t speak, and Ba begins to question whether or not he ever heard the fish speak in the first place. Ma walks in and laughs at the sight of her husband holding his ear to a fishbowl. Ma and Ba share a rare moment of joy together, but their laughter turns to tears as they remember their missing daughter.

Minli awakens in Da-A-Fu’s hut, having slept almost a whole day and barely remembering the events that led her there. Dragon is still healing with A-Gong back in the cave. Amah, the twins’ grandmother, gives Minli a cup of the medicine used to cure Dragon, and Minli drinks it like tea.

For four moons, the Green Tiger terrorized the Village of Moon Rain, killing their animals not for food but for pleasure. The villagers sent a hunting party to kill him, but their weapons were useless, and many men came back injured, including Amah’s husband, A-Gong. A-Gong realized it was foolish to fight the Green Tiger with more anger: “His anger is his strength, but it can also be his weakness. His anger can blind him, and that is when he is vulnerable” (198). The Green Tiger left a message demanding a sacrifice of two children per month in exchange for one month of peace. Without their grandparents knowing, A-Fu and Da-Fu took it upon themselves to employ A-Gong’s wisdom and to use the Green Tiger’s anger to trap and kill him.

Minli tells the family her own story about how she left home in search of Never-Ending Mountain. They reveal that Never-Ending Mountain is only one day’s journey away and suggest that Da-A-Fu can take Minli and Dragon there once Dragon heals. When Minli sees the love between Da-A-Fu and Amah, she feels homesick.

Dragon joins Minli in the Village of Moon Rain, where all the villagers watch him closely with wonder. Together, they eat breakfast with Da-A-Fu’s extended family members. Dragon relaxes in their generosity, having lived alone and been unaccustomed to the kindness of others. The villagers rename the tea Well Tea, for having made Dragon well again. Amah gifts Minli with a warm patchwork jacket made from cutouts from the sleeves of each family member. Heartened by the family’s care and led by Da-A-Fu, Minli and Dragon take off toward Never-Ending Mountain.