Chapter 35: Licorice
After Liu Xianyang and Chen Ping'an walked out of Mud Vase Alley, they found two groups of people standing on each side. The little girl was riding on the neck of the burly old man, while the arrogant boy in bright red robes stood beside a gracefully poised woman. Liu Xianyang walked through them with an air of calm composure. In the eyes of the white-haired old man, this showed a certain bearing of a general. The straw-sandal boy's cautious and restrained demeanor, which he tried hard to conceal, was quite unimpressive.
After bidding farewell to the two, Lu Zhengchun remained trembling on the spot and cautiously reported, "Liu Xianyang suggested that you honored immortals offer a suitable price. Next time, he will reluctantly part with his family heirloom and sell it."
The woman looked at the white-haired old man from Zhengyang Mountain and asked with a smile, "Senior Ape, what do you think?"
The old man thought for a moment and said in a deep voice, "Things should not be done more than three times. Before that, just as Liu Xianyang said, give him a sky-high fortune. Zhengyang Mountain can grant this young man the status of a true disciple of the mountain gate. Apart from that, I will personally lend him a magical artifact for a period of a hundred years. As for your Xu family of Qingfeng City, handle it as you see fit."
The woman was shocked. "The status of a true disciple of Zhengyang Mountain is already extremely honorable. Senior Ape, are you actually going to lend out a magical artifact? Could it be that this young man surnamed Liu is a cultivation genius who was overlooked by a porcelain buyer when he was nine years old?"
The old man ignored her and only said to his young master with a smile, "There are many shops in this town, each with its own origins and history. Miss, you can take a stroll. You might just find a bargain."
The little girl shouted with childlike joy, "Giddy up, giddy up!" The old man, who was the chief enshrinement elder of Zhengyang Mountain, laughed heartily and began to jog, moving like a mountain shifting.
The boy sneered, "What a show of authority from Zhengyang Mountain!"
The woman signaled Lu Zhengchun to return home first. She herself led her son casually along the street, explaining the background to him. "Apart from the ordinary main path up Zhengyang Mountain, there is also a special 'Sword Path.' To this day, it has opened six paths to the summit. This means that Zhengyang Mountain has produced six genuine sword immortals who have attained the Dao."
The boy scoffed, "What's the use of thick history books? How many years can you live off past glory? All the qi cultivators who have come into this town, even those who arrived later than us, every single family—whose ancestors weren't wealthy?"
The woman held her son's hand and smiled. "Then do you know that in the last hundred years, two new Sword Paths are about to reach the summit of Zhengyang Mountain? The little girl who is your age is remarkable because she can move freely on that 'Sword Summit' where sword qi crisscrosses, and she can stay there for a time even comparable to several founding ancestors of Zhengyang Mountain."
The boy was stunned for a moment, then stopped and said with extreme annoyance, "Since that stupid girl has such an extraordinary background, why didn't you tell me earlier? Then I wouldn't have been at odds with her the whole way, provoking her to argue with me at every opportunity. If I marry her in a few years and then smoothly form a Dao companion bond, wouldn't that be a great advantage for our Qingfeng City?!"
The woman looked at his handsome face, still carrying childish anger, like a young tiger. Instead of getting angry, she laughed. "You and that little girl are both cultivation prodigies expected to reach the 'Upper Five Realms.' Therefore, your fate lines are more complex and changeable. Forcing things deliberately will only make it worse. Do you really think that girl is just completely hating you right now?"
The boy frowned. "What else?"
The woman said softly, "Let nature take its course."
The boy suddenly said seriously, "Mother, I don't like that guy following behind Liu Xianyang. From the first moment I saw him, I really don't like him!"
The woman asked curiously, "Why is that?"
The child thought carefully for a moment and replied, "This guy is strange. He's different from Lu Zhengchun, who understands everything, and Liu Xianyang, who understands nothing. And I especially hate his eyes!"
The woman thought her son was just being childish again, so she tried to soothe him. "Within the town, you cannot act as you please. But think about it, once this place collapses, you'll feel much better knowing the fate of everyone here."
The boy nodded and unconsciously repeated the word he had said when he first saw the straw-sandal boy, "Ant!"
――――
After leaving the town, Chen Ping'an and Liu Xianyang soon saw the covered bridge. Liu Xianyang asked casually, "Why do you think Song Jixin's father built this covered bridge? And if he was going to build it, why did he have to cover the old stone arch bridge? I heard they didn't dismantle the stone bridge; it's like wearing clothes. I wonder if it gets hot in summer, hahaha..."
At the end, the tall boy laughed at his own joke.
A gold-lettered plaque hung at one end of the covered bridge, with four large characters: "Wind Rises, Water Surges." It was unclear who had written them.
As the two youths stepped onto the steps, Liu Xianyang stomped heavily and said mysteriously, "Old Man Yao once told me there's something weird under these steps. He said that when the covered bridge was first built, late one night, Song Jixin's father ordered people to dig a big pit here and bury a large porcelain jar as tall as a person. Are you scared?"
Chen Ping'an said indifferently, "What's there to be scared of?"
They walked into the shaded covered bridge. Liu Xianyang lowered his voice and asked, "Do you think it's because several people have drowned in the deep pool under the bridge, so they needed to invite monks and Taoists to perform rituals to suppress evil spirits?"
Chen Ping'an never spoke recklessly about ghosts and gods.
Liu Xianyang, getting no answer, lost interest.
This newly built wooden covered bridge still exuded a faint scent of wood and lacquer. The main beams and pillars were made of wood cut from deep mountain forests that had been sealed for countless years, making them extremely difficult to transport out of the mountains. The stream that wound around the mountain usually had low water levels, far from enough to float those huge logs. They had to wait for heavy rain, when the mountain paths were muddy and slippery, making it easy to fall into the floodwaters. It was extremely dangerous. Fortunately, no young men died during that timber transport. Some said that on that trip, the private school teacher Qi Jingchun personally came to help, teaching people how to handle the logs. So it was thanks to Mr. Qi that everything went smoothly.
When they reached the steps at the northern end of the covered bridge, Liu Xianyang suddenly sat down on a large strip of bluestone. Chen Ping'an had no choice but to squat beside him.
Liu Xianyang asked with a smile, "If not for me, do you think you and Song Jixin would have become very good friends?"
Chen Ping'an shook his head. "Maybe we'd get along better, but not by much."
Liu Xianyang asked curiously, "Why? You two are neighbors, about the same age. To be honest, Song Jixin likes to show off his book knowledge and has a sharp tongue, but he hasn't done anything really bad. And you're easy to get along with. Why wouldn't it work?"
Chen Ping'an smiled. "Let's not talk about this. When we get to the blacksmith shop, don't be so casual. Whether you can keep your family's magic armor depends on whether you can become Master Ruan's apprentice."
"I know, I know. Chen Ping'an, to be honest, you really need to change this habit of nagging. Otherwise, you'll drive me crazy."
Liu Xianyang leaned back, resting the back of his head on the top step of the covered bridge, looking up at the blue sky. "You've gone far with Old Man Yao, climbed high mountains. How far can you see?"
Chen Ping'an casually pulled out a piece of licorice, dusted it off, and put it in his mouth, chewing while speaking indistinctly, "The farthest was probably two years ago. Old Man Yao and I went for about ten days. We bypassed over a dozen sealed mountain peaks and finally reached a very strange mountain, so high it was scary. You might not believe it, but when we got to the halfway point, all you could see was clouds and mist. Finally, Old Man Yao and I managed to reach the top, and then..."
Liu Xianyang waited for a long time, but there was no follow-up. He turned his head and laughed, "You can't just take a half-shit and then pull up your pants!"
Chen Ping'an felt a bit sad and said softly, "You know, Old Man Yao has a bad impression of me. He almost never lectures me or teaches me the real skills of porcelain making. Every time we went into the mountains, he barely spoke. From entering to returning to the dragon kiln, we'd exchange only a few words. But that time at the top, he was probably in a good mood, so he said a bit more. He told me to look at the scenery over there, but after coming down the mountain, I shouldn't talk too much. A person should keep his head down and work hard. If I just talk big, even if I leave the town, I'd only bring shame."
Liu Xianyang comforted him, "I'm not defending Old Man Yao, but he doesn't dislike you either. He has that foul temper with everyone. It's only a bit better with me."
Chen Ping'an nodded. "So in my heart, I've always been very grateful to Old Man Yao."
Liu Xianyang suddenly got angry. "You've talked so much, but you still haven't said what you saw!"
Chen Ping'an pointed to the east. "The mountain we climbed was already very high, but when I looked from the top, there was an even higher mountain in the far east. I can't even describe how tall it was."
Liu Xianyang cursed, "So you just saw a high mountain? I thought you saw immortals riding clouds and mists!"
Chen Ping'an thought for a moment, his eyes full of longing. "Maybe there really are immortals on that mountain?"
Liu Xianyang laughed and asked, "Chen Ping'an, do you think immortals also need to eat and shit?"
Chen Ping'an rubbed his chin. "If immortals have to shit, that's kind of unbecoming."
Liu Xianyang slapped Chen Ping'an hard on the head, then stood up and ran off. "Well, this immortal just shit on your head!"
Liu Xianyang didn't control his strength, and the slap left Chen Ping'an a bit dizzy. He didn't bother chasing the tall boy. He stood up and muttered to himself, "Thunder—is that immortals snoring? Rain—it can't be immortals peeing, can it? That would be too miserable for us..."
Chen Ping'an quickened his pace and soon caught up with Liu Xianyang.
With some horseplay, they finally arrived at the blacksmith shop by the stream. There were already seven or eight buildings, including a mud hut and a thatched cottage. In Chen Ping'an's eyes, these were big piles of copper coins.
A large group of town youths and young men were digging wells. Most of them were of the same age as Liu Xianyang, former dragon kiln apprentices. After losing the porcelain rice bowl granted by the emperor, being able to get an iron rice bowl at the blacksmith shop was already considered good luck. But according to Liu Xianyang, most of these helpers were temporary laborers. Master Ruan said he would only take a few formal disciples at most; the rest would become long-term workers at best.
Liu Xianyang waved his hand. "Wait here. I'll go greet Master Ruan and see if I can get you a look at the forging scene. Tsk, if you saw his daughter swinging the hammer, I guarantee it'd scare you to death!"
Chen Ping'an stood still, not wandering around.
He looked around. There were already seven well pits taking shape, with windlass frames and railings at the mouths. At some wellheads, people kept popping out headfirst with baskets on their heads.
Watching the busy well-diggers, Chen Ping'an habitually crouched down, picked up a handful of soil, and rubbed it between his fingers.
It felt relatively damp, but it wasn't actually water-type soil. On the contrary, it was fire-type soil, specifically the last kind of fire-type soil. According to Old Man Yao, this was called "July Flowing Fire Soil." Its nature would naturally turn warm and cool, not too dry, with strong plasticity. This meant that when reinforcing the well walls, it wouldn't easily collapse. That was a good thing.
Obviously, Master Ruan the blacksmith was no amateur at digging wells, nor was he an expert.
But Chen Ping'an didn't understand why they needed to dig so many wells in such a small area.
Chen Ping'an turned his head and looked toward the stream, grinning.
In the eyes of the straw-sandal boy, this nameless stream was now a treasure trove filled with gold, silver, and copper coins.
However, after tonight's snake gallstones hunt, Chen Ping'an planned to sneak back to Mud Vase Alley. According to Gu Can's parting words before he left town, he had hidden something under the big water vat at his house. Gu Can had left in such a hurry that he didn't say what it was, only that it was his family's treasure, something even his mother didn't know he had hidden there.
Chen Ping'an thought of that runny-nosed kid and couldn't help but smile.
In the past, Chen Ping'an had been Liu Xianyang's shadow, following him to catch fish, catch snakes, and rob bird nests. Now that Chen Ping'an had grown up, he had a little shadow of his own.
To the homeless straw-sandal boy, one was his older brother, the other his younger brother.
One needed his gratitude, the other needed his care.
So over the years, Chen Ping'an had lived a hard life, but not a bitter one.