Chapter Seventy: Daybreak
The town's current appearance was like a sand table crafted by an officer of the Great Li army, after the battle had ended, discarded and casually covered with a piece of black cloth.
Chen Ping'an lit an oil lamp in his own house and began to take stock of his belongings: three bags of golden essence copper coins—one bag each of offering coins, spring-welcoming coins, and coin-warding coins. One bag was a gift from the Great Sui prince, thanking him for allowing the encounter with the golden carp; the two bags left by Gu Can were payment for the loach.
As for the two bags of coins that Chen Dui had originally given him in thanks, Chen Ping'an, while leaving the mountain, had earnestly requested that Chen Dui pass them on to Liu Xianyang. Although Chen Dui was puzzled, she did not refuse. Perhaps she was surprised by the back-alley boy's choice, or maybe she was in a good mood after succeeding in her ancestral rite. Chen Dui, breaking her usual reserve, showed a smile and spoke some heartfelt words in a soft voice, telling Chen Ping'an to rest assured. She frankly stated that the promise of a direct descendant of the Yingyin Chen clan was far more valuable than two bags of golden essence copper coins. Chen Ping'an was actually uncertain about this and didn't dare to fully believe it, but Ning Yao, after hearing about "the direct descendant of the Yingyin Chen clan," privately told Chen Ping'an to relax.
Mr. Qi had given him carved seals twice, totaling four. The first two seals, "Still Heart, Content Mind" and "Chen Eleven," were from Mr. Qi's private stock of snake gallstone. The later two seals were carved by Mr. Qi based on the snake gallstone that Chen Ping'an had gifted him, following the shape: one in small seal script and one in clerical script. Coincidentally, the two seals could be joined together, forming a landscape of green mountains and clear waters—one thick and sturdy, the other slender and delicate. Mr. Qi carved the characters "Mountain" and "Water" on them respectively. According to Ning Yao, they could be called a pair of "Mountain-Water Seals."
Chen Ping'an placed Daoist Lu's two prescriptions, three sheets of paper, on the table.
Ning Yao had once criticized Daoist Lu's handwriting as bland and tasteless, lacking any human touch, talent, worldly spirit, or immortal aura—like the academic script of a successful candidate in a mundane dynasty, rigidly conforming to please the imperial examinations, all rules and submission.
Chen Ping'an naturally couldn't discern the depth of artistry or the level of skill in the young Daoist's handwriting, nor did he dismiss the three sheets of paper because of Ning Yao's low opinion. Moreover, before leaving, Daoist Lu had personally said that buying books and learning to read in the small town was extremely difficult. If Chen Ping'an wanted to learn characters, he could start by studying the prescription.
At this moment, Chen Ping'an carefully picked up the last sheet of paper. He had previously glanced at the vermilion seal at the end reading "Lu Chen Imperial Decree" but hadn't thought much of it. Now that he himself had as many as four seals, he found those small characters particularly endearing and intimate. Thinking that later, if he had some spare money and bought a book to add to his home collection, he could lightly stamp the vermilion characters of "Chen Eleven" on the title page or the final page—the mere thought made him grin involuntarily.
But soon Chen Ping'an felt a bit troubled: having a seal meant needing seal paste. In Qilong Lane, next to the shop that specialized in pastries called "New Year's Gift," there was a shop that sold all sorts of miscellaneous goods, with the sign "Grass Head." Song Jixin and his maidservant Zhigui often frequented that shop, buying their so-called Four Treasures of the Study and scholar's desk ornaments there.
Chen Ping'an hesitated for a moment and then decided that when he could read and someday encountered a book he loved at first sight, he would then buy a box of seal paste.
Besides these, there was a sack of carefully selected snake gallstones, seven or eight of them, in various colors. Even after being out of water for so long, the colors hadn't faded. The mouth of the sack on the table was open, revealing stones as large as an adult's palm, as medium as a child's fist, and as small as a pigeon's egg, huddled together, looking pleasing.
Chen Ping'an had originally wanted to give them to Liu Xianyang. Although Song Jixin was a bookish seed with a sharp tongue, he had said something quite reasonable: roughly meaning that the same small item, if placed in the hands of a vendor outside the Bottle Alley, might sell for a few copper coins after much effort, but if placed in a cabinet at the Grass Head shop, it would cost three or four taels of silver to start, and customers could take it or leave it—if you had no money, get lost.
The speaker had no intention, but the listener took it to heart. Chen Ping'an thought Song Jixin's words made a lot of sense. So if the snake gallstones stayed with him in the town, they'd probably fetch a low price at best. But if he gave them to Liu Xianyang, who was heading to the big place where the Yingyin Chen clan resided, even if people cheated and haggled, the amount would certainly be more than what Chen Ping'an could get.
As for whether to keep a thatched cottage for himself or let a friend gain a mountain of gold and silver, which was better—for Chen Ping'an, it wasn't even worth considering.
Otherwise, why be friends with Liu Xianyang?
So even though Liu Baqiao of the Wind Thunder Garden seemed like a decent person, no matter how much Liu Baqiao called him "brother," Chen Ping'an never took it seriously from start to finish and never echoed it.
Finally, Chen Ping'an picked up the jade hairpin. Mr. Qi had said it was given to him by his own teacher in earlier years, an ordinary object, not any rare treasure.
The jade hairpin had eight small characters carved on it.
Ning Yao had explained the meaning of the phrase "Gentle as jade, my noble lord thinks of the gentleman."
Gentleman.
Although Chen Ping'an hadn't studied books, he still felt that this term must carry great weight.
From the doorway, Ning Yao's voice came: "Why don't you stick that hairpin in your hair? Since the person was willing to give it to you, they naturally hope you'll make good use of it."
Chen Ping'an, lost in thought, looked up and smiled. "Why are you here?"
Ning Yao sat down across from Chen Ping'an's table, glancing at the hairpin in his hand. "I checked it carefully; it's really just an ordinary hairpin, no hidden secrets. At first, I thought it might be a small cave heaven."
Chen Ping'an was bewildered. "What?"
Ning Yao looked at the table full of Chen Ping'an's "treasured family heirlooms under the floorboards" and explained, "You've heard the phrase 'a separate world hidden within,' right? Ordinary people think it's just a literary figure of speech for scholars; they don't take it seriously. But there's actually a lot to it. The world's cave heavens are of two types. One is the Li Zhu Cave Heaven we're in, which is one of the Ten Great Cave Heavens and Thirty-Six Minor Cave Heavens—the 'cave heaven' in 'cave heaven and blessed land.' Some have vast territories, stretching thousands or tens of thousands of miles. Legend says the Dao Ancestor has a Lotus Cave Heaven, though it's one of the thirty-six minor cave heavens, but one of its lotus leaves is larger than the capital of your Great Li dynasty."
Chen Ping'an was startled. "Impossible, right?"
Ning Yao smiled, raised her thumb, pointed it toward herself, and said confidently, "I don't believe it either, so in the future, I'll go see it myself and come back to tell you if it's true!"
Chen Ping'an said softly, "Such strange and wonderful places, not just anyone can enter, right?"
Ning Yao laughed. "Who do you think I am?"
Chen Ping'an quickly changed the subject. "Miss Ning, please continue talking about cave heavens."
Ning Yao casually picked up a small, exquisite snake gallstone—peach-colored—and rubbed it in her palm. "Any large cave heaven can connect heaven and earth, with abundant spiritual energy. It's a true immortal mansion. For a qi refiner to cultivate inside, progress is doubled. The master of a cave heaven must be someone with immense fortune; they cannot be occupied at will. These have long been carved up by the best among the Three Teachings and Hundred Schools, and no one else is allowed to touch them. As for the Thirty-Six Minor Cave Heavens, they're a bit like hidden secret realms, like a woman hiding her face behind a pipa. Among them, the Peach Blossom Cave Heaven has the most beautiful scenery, the Astral Wind Cave Heaven the most mysterious and perilous, and the Li Zhu Cave Heaven..."
Chen Ping'an asked curiously, "What about ours?"
Ning Yao pouted, held up two fingers, and gently rubbed them together. "The smallest, just this tiny. A mere speck; not worth mentioning."
Chen Ping'an crossed his legs, lounged lazily, leaned on the table, then raised a fist, unfolding his fingers one by one, and said softly with a smile, "But here, I met Mr. Qi, Old Man Yang, Liu Xianyang, Gu Can, and of course you, Miss Ning."
Ning Yao also smiled. "There's another kind of minor cave heaven: a place for storing things. The Buddhist school has the concept of 'Mount Sumeru in a mustard seed,' the Daoist school speaks of 'sleeves holding the universe,' and the other schools each have their own terms. The essence is that 'a tiny space can contain heaven and earth.' In short, it means that a very small object can hold a lot of items. But unlike true cave heavens and blessed lands, these treasures labeled 'cave heaven' cannot hold living things. One of my mother's most valuable dowry items was a jade bracelet; the cave heaven inside it was about the size of this house."
The straw-sandaled boy, who knew nothing of heaven's heights and earth's depths, felt disappointed. "So small! And they say that a single lotus leaf of the Dao Ancestor is as big as a city."
Ning Yao, annoyed and embarrassed, leaned forward and reached out to slap Chen Ping'an's head. Chen Ping'an quickly leaned back, dodging left and right.
Ning Yao tried several times without success. An inspiration struck, and she threw a threatening gesture with the hand holding the peach-colored snake gallstone.
Chen Ping'an immediately panicked. "Don't throw it! If it gets chipped at the edges, we'll lose a lot of copper coins!"
Ning Yao curled her lip and set down the snake gallstone, but suddenly raised her hand again swiftly.
Chen Ping'an, frightened, closed his eyes, unwilling to see.
With a smack, she slammed the stone heavily onto the table, then burst into laughter.
Chen Ping'an opened his eyes and said helplessly, "Miss Ning, can you not be so childish?"
Ning Yao raised her slender eyebrows, swept her arm across, and knocked the stone off the table.
Chen Ping'an scratched his head with both hands, his face bitter.
Reasoning with Miss Ning just didn't work.
Ning Yao laughed lightly, then from under the table, she produced her other hand, holding the stone that should have fallen to the ground. It lay calmly on her fair palm.
Chen Ping'an still held his head, looking pitiful.
Ning Yao stopped teasing him, her expression turning serious. "What will you do from now on?"
Chen Ping'an thought for a moment and answered honestly, "After I finish those heavy tasks for Master Ruan, I want to go into the mountains and burn charcoal myself. I can also collect herbs on the side and sell them to the Yang family shop."
Ning Yao hesitated for a moment, then asked, "And what about the mountain-moving ape from Zhengyang Mountain, the woman from the Qingfeng City Xu family, the River Severing True Lord Liu Zhimao, and the Cloud Mist Mountain and Old Dragon City behind Cai Jinjian and Fu Nanhua? What will you do? If they come looking for trouble, where will you escape?"
Without waiting for Chen Ping'an to answer, Ning Yao said gravely, "So, what Daoist Lu said at the time—that no matter what, you should shamelessly stick with the blacksmith shop—is the right path."
Chen Ping'an worriedly asked, "What if it brings a lot of trouble to Master Ruan?"
Ning Yao sneered. "A sage who presides over the operation of a minor cave heaven—would he be afraid of these troubles?"
Chen Ping'an nodded. "Then I'll go back and ask Master Ruan first, tell him the whole truth, and see if he's still willing to take me on as a long-term apprentice."
Ning Yao propped her cheek with one hand and idly picked through the snake gallstones with the other. "In this town, if a bag of golden essence copper coins can't solve a problem, then two bags will."
Chen Ping'an said mournfully, "That hurts my heart."
Ning Yao looked at him sideways. "But you didn't hurt at all when you planned to give it all to Liu Xianyang?"
Chen Ping'an shook his head. "That's different. No comparison."
Ning Yao rolled her eyes. "In the future, whichever woman is unlucky enough to be your wife, I think she'll want to slap you to death every day."
Chen Ping'an said seriously, "If I really have a wife, that's a different matter. I'm not stupid; I wouldn't let my wife suffer."
Ning Yao looked unconvinced, her face full of mockery.
The coal-black boy crossed his arms, sat cross-legged, and for once showed a bit of arrogance. "Humph! If my wife is wronged, even if it's the old ape of Zhengyang Mountain, or even that Dao Ancestor you mentioned, I'd still try to kill him. Never mind if I can kill him—I'll strike first and talk later!"
Ning Yao was very surprised, dumbfounded.
She had always thought that Chen Ping'an wasn't a hard-tempered person. Of course, killing Cai Jinjian and fighting the mountain-moving ape were exceptions. In daily interactions, Chen Ping'an seemed never to get angry, not stubborn, with an even-keeled, good-natured temper.
If such words had come from the lips of a favored son of heaven like Fu Nanhua or Song Jixin, Ning Yao would have found it natural and unsurprising. But from Chen Ping'an's mouth, she could hardly believe it. She couldn't help asking, "Why?"
Chen Ping'an grinned. "My father only fought one fight in his whole life, and that was for my mother. Someone in Qilong Lane insulted my mother; my father couldn't take it, so he went and fought hard. When he came back, my mother complained for a long time. But my father told me privately: whether you can win a fight is one thing; whether you fight is another. A man who doesn't protect his own wife—why marry her at all?!"
Ning Yao felt a bit strange. "Hmm?"
Chen Ping'an scratched his head sheepishly. "My father was excellent at firing porcelain, but terrible at fighting. When he came home, his face was all bruised and swollen; he got beaten badly."
Ning Yao propped her forehead with her hand and didn't want to speak.
After a moment of silence, she stood up. "I'm leaving. Going back to the shop."
Chen Ping'an asked, "Shall I see you to the entrance of Bottle Alley?"
Ning Yao said impatiently, "No need."
Chen Ping'an didn't insist. He just saw her to the courtyard gate.
Ning Yao didn't turn around, but she knew the boy was still standing at the gate.
Good people who aren't rigid—their hearts are especially warm and bright, like plants that turn toward the sun.
That itself is a very beautiful thing.
The orphan boy from Bottle Alley, called a "mud-legged wretch" and "cheap life" by those outsiders, an ant grubbing in the dirt from the market alleys.
But the boy ultimately had his own life to live. He wanted to live well—not out of greed for comfort. In fact, from childhood, he was a child who could endure hardship. He simply thought that if his parents knew underground, they would be at ease. Although the Chen family had only Chen Ping'an left, one person could still live a good life. That meant that the family handed down from his parents was still doing okay, even if only one person remained.
Even if he had money to buy Spring Festival couplets, he had to paste them up alone. No one would tell him whether they were crooked or straight. The character for "blessing" on the door lintel—he had to set up the ladder himself, with no one to steady it.
Living a life, you bear everything yourself, not asking anything from the heavens.
So such a person might seem easygoing, but his bones are especially hard. His fate is especially resilient.
Walking out of Bottle Alley, the girl suddenly felt a pang of loss and guilt.
For her decision to leave without saying goodbye.
Back in his room, Chen Ping'an stared at the oil lamp, dazed.
He drifted into a half-sleep, half-dream state.
He seemed to inexplicably walk to the southern end of the covered bridge. He only vaguely remembered that the road had been pitch-black, and even he couldn't see a few feet ahead.
But as soon as he stepped onto the stairs, heaven and earth suddenly blazed with light.
In a daze, Chen Ping'an walked along the corridor of the covered bridge. Suddenly, at the center of the corridor, an extremely dazzling white light bloomed, even more glaring than the earlier brightness, carrying a more exalted sense of meaning. Chen Ping'an's eyes stung and teared, but strangely, he could see the wondrous scene there even more clearly.
A tall figure, face blurred, stood in the middle of the covered bridge.
Somewhat reminiscent of when Chen Ping'an first saw Mr. Qi in the alley: wide sleeves fluttering, pure white like a god or immortal.
But in the chaotic subconscious galloping like a wild horse, Chen Ping'an was utterly certain that the figure before him was even more ethereal than Mr. Qi, as if he or she were even farther from the mortal world.
Chen Ping'an walked slowly forward. At his ear, it seemed there was a woman's voice, like a fox spirit whispering, seducing his heart: "Kneel down, and good fortune will be yours."
Then another voice boomed sternly, shaking his heart: "Mortal! Kneel at once!"
A moderate, balanced voice spoke calmly: "For common folk, kneeling to heaven, earth, the sovereign, and one's parents is only proper. One more kneel won't hurt; in exchange, you can reach the summit of the Great Dao."
A hoarse, raspy voice sounded: "One kneel, and you will have crossed the Bridge of Longevity, ascended the Ladder of Azure Clouds, and leaped over the Chasm of Heaven and Earth. Do not hesitate. Kneel quickly. If heaven offers and you don't take, you will suffer its consequences!"
A familiar voice strained to shout: "Chen Ping'an! Stop right there! Do not go forward, do not turn around, and above all, do not kneel! Just hold your ground for the time it takes to burn one incense stick. As a mere mortal, how much divine will can you bear? Do not go against heaven's workings..."
It sounded a bit like Old Man Yang's reprimand and warning.
But the old man's voice grew lower and lower toward the end.
At the same time, another voice said warmly, "Chen Ping'an, why not stand straight and take a few steps forward and try?"
This sounded like Mr. Qi.
Chen Ping'an, guided by instinct, straightened his back, stopped in his tracks, and looked around in confusion.
He only knew he had many questions to ask Mr. Qi.
A cacophony of voices rose and fell:
"This is Ma Kuxuan's rightful fortune! Get out of here, you brat!"
"If Ma Kuxuan can't get it, it should naturally fall to that immortal seed Ning Yao! Who do you think you are?"
"Your branch of the Chen clan is nothing but a heap of mud that can't be propped up. Your bloodline should have long died out, yet you dare covet divine treasures, shameless little bastard!"
"Chen Ping'an, aren't you very concerned about Ning Yao and Liu Xianyang? Turn back to the town and leave the fortune to your friends. Isn't that better? Qi Jingchun already sacrificed his life to secure peace for you mortals. From now on, settle down as a wealthy man, marry and have children, and there will be a next life. Isn't that good?"
"Take another step, and we'll grind your bones to dust!"
Chen Ping'an took a step forward.
The covered bridge boomed with a shock.
Heaven and earth fell silent; the clamor instantly vanished.
There were sighs, fears, panics, reverences, and regrets—a tangled mess.
After taking that one step, Chen Ping'an naturally took a second step forward. It was then that he realized Mr. Qi was walking side by side with him.
The entire covered bridge and everything beyond suddenly became pitch-black, impossible to see even an inch in front.
Earlier, when the boy had stopped, he had stopped crying from the brightness. Now, without reason, he suddenly choked up. Moved by intuition, he asked, "Mr. Qi, are you leaving?"
"Yes, I'm leaving. Out there, too many people want me dead. I don't have much choice myself."
"Mr. Qi, who are we going to meet?"
"Not 'we.' You. You are going to meet... an old man?"
A loud bang.
Mr. Qi seemed to have been struck and sent flying, but he laughed heartily instead. In the end, he shouted solemnly, "Chen Ping'an, the Great Dao is at your feet. Go!"
Chen Ping'an took a deep breath and raised his foot to take a third step.
A voice, seeming to come from a distant, high place, pierced through layer after layer of heaven and earth, and said with a smile, "Don't go beyond three times. Stop when it's appropriate."
From the middle of the covered bridge, someone let out a cold snort.
Chen Ping'an jolted awake, realizing he was lying on the table. The oil lamp was still burning. The boy instinctively turned his head to look out the window.
Daybreak had come.