Chapter 29: Fox Spirit
The boy walked all the way under the fine starlight, leaving the small town and heading towards the stream. Even though it was night, Chen Ping'an ran no slower than during the day. He deliberately bypassed the covered bridge where the water was deepest, where the stream was far deeper than elsewhere. Chen Ping'an selected a section of the stream where the water barely reached his knees. He took off the large bamboo basket on his back, bent down to pick up a small bamboo creel hidden inside, tied it tightly around his waist, took off his straw sandals, rolled up his trouser legs, and only then stepped into the water to feel for stones.
The wound on his left hand from being cut by broken porcelain was still piercingly painful, so naturally he couldn't submerge it. The boy could only use his right hand to rummage and pick through the stream. In fact, stones on the dry riverbed were the easiest to collect, but as Liu Xianyang had said, their colors would fade badly. Now that Chen Ping'an had roughly learned the secret from the girl in black, it wasn't hard to understand. He felt that these stones were like when he used to follow Old Man Yao over mountains and ridges, tasting the soil from various peaks. The seemingly ordinary soil, sometimes even from a mountain away, would taste completely different in the mouth.
Old Man Yao said this was like trees die if moved, people die if moved, but soil becomes a Buddha when moved. A handful of soil, once it leaves its original land, quickly changes flavor.
The stream had no name. The stones in the stream, some as big as fists, some as small as thumbs, were of various colors. But the townsfolk, generation after generation, had grown accustomed to seeing them lying quietly in the clear water, so naturally no one thought they were anything special. Anyone who brought these stones home would surely be considered a fool—having nothing better to do, using this energy instead of working in the fields, what else but a fool?
Bending over and wading through the water, Chen Ping'an kept moving and overturning large rocks at the bottom. He had already picked up seven or eight stones and put them in his creel, big and small, in various colors. The skins of the stones resembled golden oranges hanging high on branches in autumn, some were as fair and delicate as a baby's skin, some were pitch black and shiny, and some were as bright as red peach blossoms. The most common color was like the back of a shrimp—bluish-green, and there were all kinds.
These stones, commonly called gall stones by villagers, were mostly not very large, feeling smooth and heavy in the hand. If held up in sunlight during the day or under candlelight late at night, the internal texture and veins of the stone would be clearly visible, vaguely like threads, like tiny snakes or fish winding. When viewed from a slight distance, the skin color would also resemble shimmering fish scales or snake scales.
After about an hour, Chen Ping'an's waist creel was almost full. He returned along the same path to the stream bank where he had placed his basket and sandals. First, he went to the bank and pulled up several large handfuls of reeds, wild celery, and foxtail grass, laying them at the bottom of the basket. Then he placed the stones one by one into the basket. Carrying his sandals, with the creel tied at his waist and the basket on his back, he walked ashore. When he reached the stream bank at the turning point, he put down his sandals and basket again, went into the stream, and continued to move and overturn stones.
After picking up half a creel, Chen Ping'an straightened up, looked up at the starry sky, hoping to see a shooting star streak across the night sky. But obviously, he wasn't that lucky tonight. After snapping back to reality, he continued to do what a treasure seeker should do, relying on the faint starlight and his exceptional eyesight.
Every time he successfully turned up a stone, Chen Ping'an felt a surge of joy. To the boy, each stone was like a piece of hope.
Before he knew it, Chen Ping'an had accumulated over half a basket of stones, about eighty-something in total. The largest one was bigger than his fist, with a striking color like condensed chicken blood—bright and pure, without any unpleasant sensation. This large stone was almost flawless and crack-free. At this moment, Chen Ping'an was walking on the bank towards the next section of the stream, holding a medium-sized gall stone in his hand. It was light green, much paler than the plum-green of the town's porcelain. The stone was round, smooth, and very lovely. Chen Ping'an took an immediate liking to it.
Chen Ping'an walked towards the huge green stone cliff by the bank. In the hot summer, the town children often bathed in this section of the stream. The water under the cliff was particularly deep; the deepest pit was as deep as two Chen Ping'ans stacked. This was the deepest spot in the stream except for the pool under the covered bridge. Youngsters with good swimming skills liked to compete here to see who could stay underwater the longest.
Chen Ping'an chose this deep pit because, when he used to bathe here with Liu Xianyang, he found that the gall stones at the bottom were extremely numerous. Once, to show off his swimming ability, Liu Xianyang deliberately surfaced with a gall stone tucked under his arm. Chen Ping'an remembered that stone was at least as big as Gu Can's head. The stone was slightly white and translucent, with fine red dots inside, like frozen peach blossom petals.
At that time, Liu Xianyang thought it was meaningful, so he asked Chen Ping'an to help carry the big stone home. But when they reached the town, the tall, fickle boy lost interest and told Chen Ping'an to deal with it himself. As Chen Ping'an entered Mud Vase Alley, he found that his neighbor Zhigui was following him inexplicably. She didn't say anything but stared fixedly at the stone in his arms, with an expression like Chen Ping'an's whenever he saw the meat buns sold in Apricot Alley. Chen Ping'an couldn't bear her covetous look, so he gave the stone to her. But she couldn't even move it at first and almost dropped it on her foot. Chen Ping'an had to carry it all the way to Song Jixin's courtyard. As for the final whereabouts of that stone, Chen Ping'an never knew.
The stone was as clear as water, with peach blossoms floating inside.
It was like the peach blossoms after rain in Peach Leaf Alley, a lush green after the rain.
Even before today, when Chen Ping'an didn't understand the mystery of such stones, he had always felt that big stone was truly beautiful.
Chen Ping'an sighed and suddenly stopped.
Thirty paces away, on the green stone cliff by the stream, sat a girl in green. Her cheeks were puffed out, and she was still stuffing things into her mouth.
Chen Ping'an's first impression was that this girl must have been reborn from a starving ghost to be so pitifully hungry in the middle of the night.
He thought for a moment and decided not to approach, afraid of disturbing her enjoyment of her late-night snack. But he didn't turn and leave either, because he had already made up his mind to try his luck at that water pit tonight. He would just take one or two stones ashore each time, and with enough trips, he would succeed. Moreover, the gall stones in this pit were larger and seemed more vibrant than those elsewhere in the stream.
Chen Ping'an wasn't as good a swimmer as Liu Xianyang, but he wasn't bad either.
He didn't expect the strange girl to finish one snack and then pick up another from beside her, never pausing. Her cheeks were always puffed. Chen Ping'an, carrying the heavy basket of stones on his back, thought that diving for stones would also be physically demanding, so he turned sideways, took off the basket, and placed it on the ground.
He underestimated the green-clad girl's hearing. Just that slight sound made her perk up her ears, and her gaze instantly swept over.
Chen Ping'an couldn't very well say, "Miss, take your time eating," so he just smiled awkwardly.
The girl looked a bit dazed. She hiccupped twice in a row, then seemed to choke. She quickly straightened up and thumped her chest with her hand.
Chen Ping'an then noticed that she wasn't very old, but from the neck down, the scenery was truly spectacular—completely comparable to many women who had given birth to children.
The clothes on her chest were stretched tight.
Chen Ping'an quickly averted his gaze, without any improper thoughts.
The girl then remembered she had a water flask. She turned sideways, facing away from Chen Ping'an, tilted her head back, and gulped down a big mouthful of water. Only then did her breathing smooth out.
The boy carrying his straw sandals had only one simple thought at the time: the fabric of this young lady's clothes must not be cheap to withstand such strain.
The girl in green continued eating, but this time much more demurely—at least her cheeks weren't so exaggerated. She lowered her head and took small bites, occasionally glancing sideways at the strange town boy. Her long, narrow eyes were like peach blossoms, with slightly upturned corners, making her look naturally like a young fox spirit.
She seemed to be asking him with her eyes, "What's up with you? Keep going."
Chen Ping'an, looking resigned, had to point to the stream beyond the green stone cliff and called out, "I'm not just passing by. I need to go into the stream over there."
She stared at the thin boy without saying a word.
Chen Ping'an quickly took a stone from his basket and explained further, "I need to go into the stream to pick up these stones."
The girl suddenly looked as if she remembered something important. She raised her finger to her lips, signaling Chen Ping'an to be quiet. Then she shifted her position, obviously letting him pass so she wouldn't interfere with him going into the water to pick up stones.
Chen Ping'an had no choice but to put on his basket and go over reluctantly. Fortunately, the green stone cliff was large enough to hold a dozen people, and the girl had already moved to the edge. Instead of stretching her legs out as before, she sat cross-legged properly. On her lap was an open bundle piled high with all kinds of pastries and snacks, like a small mountain. So far, she had only eaten one small peak off it.
Chen Ping'an put down his straw sandals, basket, and creel. He had originally planned to go into the water shirtless in the dead of night, but that was out of the question now. Not to mention whether she would scream, if any of her elders saw or heard, Chen Ping'an reckoned he would have both legs broken—and it wouldn't even be unfair.
Chen Ping'an walked to the edge of the stone cliff, took a deep breath, and plunged into the deep pit.
He quickly surfaced with a stone the size of his palm. Unfortunately, it wasn't a gall stone. He wiped his face and dived again. After three attempts, he finally brought up a bluish-black gall stone. Dripping wet, Chen Ping'an climbed onto the stone cliff, put it in his basket, and then plunged into the water again.
Throughout, the girl sat with her back to him, busy eating.
In less than half an hour, Chen Ping'an had fished out seven or eight stones. Except for the first one, which was darker, the rest were large and vibrant.
On his last dive, he didn't bring up a stone but caught a live fish about the length of his hand. Locally known as flagstone fish, they liked to hide under rocks when they saw people. Their meat was delicious, but they were usually no longer than a finger. It was rare to find one as big as the one in Chen Ping'an's hand. Earlier, he had actually felt a few in the cracks between rocks at the bottom of the pit, but he had let them go because he was after stones. This time, he had a sudden inspiration: if he could catch a dozen or so fish tonight, he could make fish soup for Miss Ning tomorrow. That would be nice.
After coming ashore, Chen Ping'an casually tossed the fish into his creel.
When he came ashore with the second fish, he suddenly noticed the girl squatting beside the creel, staring at the single lonely fish inside. Her face was radiant with excitement, much like Zhigui's expression when she saw that stone in the alley.
Chen Ping'an threw the second flagstone fish into the creel.
The girl slowly looked up.
The barefoot boy had already turned and quickly walked away, going back into the stream.
Listening to the boy's splash, she quickly grabbed a fish from the creel in each hand. Looking down at the still-jumping fish, she put on a serious expression and nodded, "Impressive, impressive!"
The girl in green knew that this small town had many strange sights. The well in Apricot Alley had an unknown length of iron chain hanging from it. Not far away, the covered bridge was originally a stone arch bridge that had spanned the stream for three thousand years. Under the bridge was a rusty iron sword, its tip pointing to a bottomless green pool. There was a crab-shaped archway with twelve legs. In the grass outside the ancestral hall lay broken clay statues scattered about. To the north, there was a porcelain mountain piled high with defective wares judged by successive imperial overseers, all smashed to pieces. And so on.
She even knew most of the reasons.
She had traveled far and wide with her father since she was very young, so she had truly seen the world.
But when Chen Ping'an came ashore for the third time with a flagstone fish, the girl, now empty-handed, was still squatting by the creel, secretly wiping her hands on her clothes. She looked up at the barefoot boy approaching as if a commoner beholding a divine immortal.
Chen Ping'an felt uncomfortable under her strange gaze. He ventured, "Do you want these fish?"
The girl nodded instinctively and vigorously.
Chen Ping'an smiled and said, "Then I'll give you these three. I'll catch more later."
The girl blinked, then smiled happily. Fox spirit indeed, bewitching and charming.