Chapter 77: Entering the Mountains
Ruan Xiu ran back to the blacksmith shop and found only her father sitting on a bamboo chair under the eaves. She handed him the flask of wine, then sat down on another chair. "Dad, are you done with your talk?"
Ruan Qiong opened the flask. Without even drinking, just sniffing it gave him a headache. It was indeed Peach Blossom Spring Brew, but it was definitely not the high-grade Peach Blossom Spring Brew worth two taels of silver. It was clearly the cheapest spring brew, only eight qian of silver per flask. From the corner of his eye, Ruan Qiong caught sight of his daughter, who looked guilty as a thief. She was twisting the hem of her clothes with both hands, her gaze darting around, clearly afraid that he would expose her. Ruan Qiong sighed inwardly, forced himself to pretend he hadn't noticed anything, and tilted his head back to take a gulp of the wine. He was filled with frustration and grievance. The man spoke slowly, "We're done talking. It went well enough. Later, I'll have someone go to the Kiln Affairs Office to find that Da Li official named Wu Yuan and get the old and new topographic maps of the mountains and rivers. Once Chen Ping'an comes to his senses, he'll probably come asking me for them."
Ruan Xiu breathed a sigh of relief, smiled, and said "Oh," then stretched her legs out straight, yawned comfortably, and leaned back against the cool, smooth back of the little bamboo chair.
Thinking about how he was about to make his move here, and how every beginning was hard, and the omens were good, Ruan Qiong's mood improved a bit. He even managed a rare compliment for Chen Ping'an. "That kid from Mud Vase Alley—his personality is simple, but he's not stupid."
Ruan Xiu smiled happily. "Dad, that's called 'great wisdom appears foolish,' you know?"
Ruan Qiong laughed dryly and said nothing.
He just muttered to himself, I know jack about great wisdom appearing foolish.
Ruan Qiong gazed at the distant creek, holding the flask by the neck with two fingers and gently shaking it. "Some things, it's not convenient for me to tell him directly. I don't want him to overthink or get the wrong idea and make things worse. Tomorrow, when you see him, you tell him."
Ruan Xiu asked curiously, "What things?"
Ruan Qiong was silent for a moment, then took a small sip of the strong wine before speaking. "Just tell him not to get his hopes up about Dragon Spine Mountain. Even some people in the Upper Five Realms without backing might not dare to claim that chunk of Dragon-Slaying Platform. Wind and Snow Temple and True Martial Mountain put in significant effort, and with my current status, we barely managed to secure it. There are still plenty of people eyeing it secretly, grinding their teeth behind the scenes. Of course, you don't need to explain all those twists and turns to Chen Ping'an. Just tell him straight: he can forget about Dragon Spine Mountain. Next, this time the Da Li court is selling off the peaks at a low price. There are only a little over sixty peaks in total. At most, Chen Ping'an can buy five mountain peaks. If he tries for more, it will be hard for me to protect him and his mountains. Third, I've just made up my mind to ask Da Li for three mountains, with Divine Beauty Mountain as the main one. Have Chen Ping'an pay attention to the surrounding peaks of Divine Beauty Mountain, Lantern-Lighting Mountain, and Horizontal Halberd Peak when he looks at the topographic maps. I'm not an unreasonable person. I won't make him spend all his money buying near me. He only needs to spend half his gold essence coins. That said, if he's really smart, buying more peaks around my two mountains and one peak would be the right path. Finally, you can also tell him that if he can spare a few coins, he should buy a few shops in town. There will probably be many good shops changing hands soon, because many families in town with connections outside will likely move away, so the prices definitely won't be high. At most, one coin apiece."
Ruan Xiu tested the waters. "Dad, why don't you buy the New Year's Shop? Didn't you put away those two bags of coins I had? Give me one back, just one, how about it?"
Ruan Qiong gave a forced smile. "Don't even think about the coins I've saved up. I advise you to give up that idea right now. By the way, you can make Chen Ping'an pay. He's the big moneybags in our town now."
Ruan Xiu answered without hesitation. "How can that be? He's so poor. He even has to borrow a dozen taels of silver from others."
Ruan Qiong's mouth twitched. He couldn't help himself and turned his head. "Oh, so my money isn't money, but Chen Ping'an's is?"
Ruan Xiu grinned sheepishly. "Well, I'm not that familiar with him."
Ruan Qiong nearly spat out blood. Not familiar? If you weren't familiar, could you have the conscience to make your own dad drink this crappy wine while you pocketed the difference just to lend money to that bastard? How familiar does a daughter have to be to count as familiar? Ruan Qiong took a heavy gulp of the mediocre wine, stood up, and said, "Anyway, I've said what needs to be said. You pick and choose what to tell Chen Ping'an tomorrow."
The man strode away. Actually, he didn't need to think hard to know that she would tell Chen Ping'an everything, whether it should be said or not.
The more Ruan Qiong thought about it, the more frustrated he became. He couldn't scold his daughter, and he couldn't hit that little bastard with the hoe digging at his foundations. So the man just muttered a curse under his breath, went for a walk to an empty spot with no one around, and threw away the empty flask of wine that had tasted terrible but was now fully drunk. His figure leaped up from the ground, and in an instant, he landed at the shop in town that sold Peach Blossom Spring Brew. The shop was, of course, already closed for the night. He pounded on the door, and soon a woman, still sleepy-eyed, got up from the back courtyard and opened the door. She cursed and complained, something like "What, you in a hurry to go die and be reborn?" and "Drinking in the middle of the night—why don't you just drink piss, it's free," and "Daring to knock on a widow's door at night, aren't you afraid I'll break your three legs?" She showed no politeness at all.
Ruan Qiong stood at the door, his face dark, saying nothing.
Seeing that it was Master Ruan from the blacksmith shop, the woman glanced at the middle-aged man's muscular, taut arms in the moonlight. Her expression immediately changed. Her eyes became seductive, and she enthusiastically grabbed his arm, which was as hard as iron. The woman, starved for affection, smiled even more eagerly. As she led the way, she pretended to stumble, nearly falling into the man's arms. Unfortunately, the blacksmith was not one for romance. He gently steadied her by the shoulder. In the end, he tossed down some silver, grabbed two flasks of wine, and strode away.
The woman stood at the door, a mocking look on her face, and called out loudly in jest, "A fine, strong man like you, and your surname is just as soft! Soft Master—oh, I mean Ruan Master—if you come to my shop to buy wine again, I'll charge you double! If Master Ruan ever gets a harder backbone, maybe I won't charge you a single coin—wine for free, and sleep for free."
Ruan Qiong walked all the way to the end of the street in silence. Then his figure flickered, and instead of returning to his shop in the southern part of town, he went north until he came to a small hill.
It was entirely made of broken porcelain, piled into a mountain.
Thirty paces away from the hill, Ruan Qiong found a spot and sat down cross-legged.
A voice sounded not far away. "What a coincidence. You're here too."
Ruan Qiong nodded and tossed over a flask of wine.
The old man caught the flask, weighed it in his hand, and clicked his tongue. "Going to Widow Liu's shop to buy wine at this hour—any man would take a loss."
Ruan Qiong didn't want to talk about that. Instead, he asked, "Old Mr. Yang, who is that young man beside Wu Yuan, the new Superintendent of Construction? I can't see through his depth. On the surface, he seems no different from an ordinary person."
The old man was none other than Old Man Yang from Yang's Shop. He took a sip of wine. "Identity unknown, but as the old saying goes, 'He who comes is no friend, and a friend who comes is no evil,' right?"
After saying that, Old Man Yang laughed and looked up.
Atop the porcelain mountain stood a young man in a blue robe. His hands were tucked into his sleeves, and he had a beauty mark between his eyebrows. His smile was like a spring breeze.
The young man pulled one hand out of his sleeve and waved. "When you enter a house, you greet the people; when you enter a temple, you worship the gods. I know the rules. I've met with Master Ruan first, and now I've come to see Old Man Yang. There's no fault in my manners."
Old Man Yang didn't drink anymore. He somehow found a string and tied the flask to his waist. Then he took a puff from his dry pipe and smiled. "Entering the mountains and marshes, drawing talismans to intimidate. But I wonder if the talisman you're drawing is a ghostly one or a divine one?"
The young man withdrew his hand, leaned forward slightly, and said with a grin, "However you and Master Ruan misunderstand, I assure you that after this visit and greeting, we will have no further contact. Hmm, if there is any connection, it's only that I am temporarily in charge of establishing the City God Pavilion. That will have a slight bearing on you two. As for the Wen Chang Pavilion and Wu Sheng Temple, I have no control over them. I only oversee a tiny City God Pavilion, as insignificant as a sesame seed or a mung bean."
According to common folk wisdom, within the boundaries of a county, the county magistrate has full authority over all matters of the yang world, while the lofty clay statue of the City God is responsible for overseeing the night and the yin things within his jurisdiction.
Ruan Qiong frowned. Was this a sacrificial official from the Ministry of Rites of the Da Li court? Or a qi practitioner from the Imperial Observatory?
But no matter whether his roots were in the Ministry of Rites, the Imperial Observatory, or somewhere in the Da Li imperial palace, since he dared to stand atop the porcelain mountain so boldly, he was at the very least a tenth-floor cultivator at the peak of the Middle Five Realms.
So this young man was definitely not actually young.
The handsome cultivator, with what looked like a cinnabar dot between his brows, looked at Old Man Yang and said, "Old gentleman, a word of caution: fear the gods and keep yourself safe."
Old Man Yang took a deep drag from his pipe but only exhaled an extremely thin wisp of smoke, which then dissipated silently into the world.
The seemingly youthful cultivator still had his hands hidden in his sleeves, but his sleeve cuffs moved slightly, as if he were making hand seals.
Ruan Qiong let out a heavy sigh. "For my sake, let's call it quits here. If the three of us get into a melee, are we really going to smash this thousand miles of land to pieces?"
The young man immediately pulled his hands out of his sleeves and raised them high, clearly willing to adapt. He grinned. "No problem from me."
Old Man Yang sniffed, and two barely visible streams of blue-purple smoke quickly flew into the old man's nose.
The old man sneered. "You know quite a bit."
The young man pinched his nose. "Just enough, not too much. For example, I only know that I should address you as Qing... the Great One, not Old Man Yang."
The young man deliberately left out one character.
It was not a joke or a fun thing to do; rather, in the moment before that character was about to slip out, he genuinely felt the old man's killing intent—decisive and resolute—so he chose to temporarily back down.
The young man leaned back and fell backward, laughing. "Farewell here. I hope we don't meet again. The broad road, the single-plank bridge, or the gates of hell—each walks his own path, each shows his own skill."
The blue-robed young man, falling backward, vanished without a trace.
Ruan Qiong said in a low voice, "He might be in the Upper Five Realms!"
Old Man Yang laughed mockingly. "Don't make a fuss. You're in the Upper Five Realms too, Ruan Qiong. As small as East Treasured Vase Continent is, it's still one of the nine continents. Don't think eleventh- or twelfth-floor qi practitioners, or even thirteenth-floor ones, never show their faces."
Ruan Qiong was not relieved. He shook his head. "But I only just ascended to the eleventh floor. My realm is not yet stable. Even though I come from a military background and am somewhat skilled in the art of offense and combat..."
The old man shook his head and turned to leave, holding his pipe and puffing clouds. "Be content. There are tens of millions of cultivators in the world, and tenth-floor cultivators are already as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns, let alone those in the Upper Five Realms. When it comes down to it, you fear him, and he fears you too. Porcelain clashing against jade—you're both uneasy."
Ruan Qiong thought about it and figured that was true. He wasn't one to split hairs, so he decided to stop worrying about the strange young man's origins. The best outcome would be for them to stay out of each other's way and let peace and harmony bring prosperity.
With a loud bang, Ruan Qiong's figure shot up into the sky. After reaching the sea of clouds, he plummeted rapidly toward the creek bank.
Old Man Yang, slowly wandering back to town, chuckled. "Young and impetuous."
–– ––
A young man in a blue robe walked through the alleys of the town, muttering to himself, "There needs to be a night curfew, there need to be watchmen, there need to be marketplaces. Everything is in ruins and waiting to be restored. Our county magistrate is going to be busy."
The handsome young man with a beauty mark between his brows twirled an old set of keys lightly in his fingers as he walked into an alley called Erlang Alley. It was right next to Apricot Blossom Alley. Legend had it that the alley had produced two extraordinary figures in the past, but no one could say exactly who they were or what they had done. Over time, it had become yet another topic for the old folks to mystify under the old locust tree.
Now that the old locust tree had fallen, the town's vitality seemed to have diminished a lot. The children didn't feel it deeply, but the younger generation actually thought it was nice to have a clear view and an extra open space. Only the nostalgic old folks occasionally sighed. Erlang Alley and Apricot Blossom Alley didn't house any wealthy families, but they were better off than most—certainly above average. For instance, the people living near Mud Vase Alley usually looked down when they saw people from these two alleys. Grandma Ma and her grandson Ma Kuxuan lived in Apricot Blossom Alley, and their family was considered quite well-off in town.
The young man stopped in front of a house. On the door were two newly pasted, colorful door gods. The young man looked up at one of them, a silver-armored door god holding a short halberd, looking majestic, standing on one leg like a golden rooster, with a furious glare like a vajra. The young man laughed. "Returning home in silk and brocade—that's what this is."
The young man opened the door and entered. It was a modest but exquisite house. There was a square, open courtyard above, and a pool had been carved into the ground. The ventilation was excellent. On the second floor, there was a built-in bench for leaning on, perfect for watching stars at night or enjoying snow in winter. The young man was very satisfied. He murmured, "Not bad, not bad. This is a good place for cultivating the body and nourishing the spirit."
He moved a carved wooden chair and sat down beside the pool. He shook his sleeves, and with a clatter, a large pile of broken porcelain pieces fell out. Some were as big as fists, others as small as grains of rice—countless in number. In the end, the pile was so full that even a basket couldn't hold it all. They all suspended in the air above the pool under the courtyard.
This trick was truly called "sleeves holding heaven and earth."
The young man looked left and right, rubbed the spot between his brows, and muttered to himself, "Where do I start?"
"You." Finally, he fixed his gaze on a piece of date-red broken porcelain that caught his eye. With a thought, it flew out of the pile and stopped quietly in the air a foot in front of him.
After that, more pieces of porcelain flew out from the small mountain, coming to the young man one after another, and he gently placed each one somewhere.
As if he were piecing together a piece of pottery.
–– ––
The next day, at the blacksmith shop, Ruan Xiu handed Chen Ping'an two maps. One was old, its paper yellowed, with mountains and peaks marked only by labels like "A1" and "B3." The new map, still smelling of fresh ink, had more pleasant names like Dragon Spine Mountain, True Pearl Mountain, and Divine Beauty Mountain. At the bottom, it also added "Da Li, Longquan County."
Ruan Xiu pointed out the names of places and mountains, explaining and introducing each one to Chen Ping'an. Finally, she reminded him, "Even though on the maps the positions seem to shift only by the size of a fingernail, once you go into the mountains, you'll find the difference could be several miles of mountain trails. Because after the Lìzhū Cave Heaven settled into Da Li's territory, there were huge tremors on the surface. Some peaks with weak roots even collapsed and crumbled during that time. This will create many unexpected obstacles on your path. You must be careful."
Chen Ping'an carefully put away the two maps. Finally, he shouldered a bamboo backpack, much like the one he had taken when he led Chen Du and the others into the mountains. He said apologetically to Ruan Xiu, "This time, I'm going to try to reach the area around Lantern-Lighting Peak and Horizontal Halberd Peak on the map. I estimate it will take at least half a month, maybe a month at most, to return here."
Ruan Xiu said softly, "That long? How will you have enough food?"
Chen Ping'an suppressed a smile. "I'm used to being in the mountains. I can eat wild game and mountain fruits, and I know where to find them. I promise I won't starve."
Ruan Xiu nodded and smiled. "My dad promised to lend you a dozen taels of silver. I'll definitely give them to you once you come out of the mountains."
Chen Ping'an thought for a moment and decided to be honest. "Miss Ruan, don't put yourself through that. I can find the money myself. You can't really go ten or fifteen days without eating the pastries from the New Year's Shop, can you?"
Ruan Xiu's face flushed red. She couldn't figure out how he knew the truth.
Chen Ping'an felt a bit helpless and smiled without saying anything. He thought to himself, given Ruan Qiong's temper, it would be a miracle if he agreed to lend me silver. It wasn't that I had sharp eyes; it's just that your act wasn't very convincing, Miss Ruan.
Seeing that she looked a bit disappointed, he quickly comforted her. "Miss Ruan, I appreciate the thought. Thank you."
Ruan Xiu bit her lip and smiled.
Then she suddenly said, "Let me see you off."
Chen Ping'an was already striding away. He turned around and waved his hand. "No need. I know the way very well. I could walk it with my eyes closed."
The ponytailed girl softly said "Oh" and waved goodbye to him.
After Chen Ping'an left the Ruan family shop, he ran all the way along the creek upstream.
He wasn't interested in the few peaks near the town. Although they were small and cheap, he didn't want to buy there—they were too close to town. That kind of attention wasn't worth it. Besides, Master Ruan had dropped some hints earlier. The area including "True Earth Mountain" and "Distant Screen Peak" had originally had decent foundations, but after so many years, they had been pretty much hollowed out. They were just embroidered pillows. He would have to keep heading west, past True Pearl Mountain, before things improved.
Chen Ping'an walked for a full day and night, resting for less than two hours in total, before finally climbing to the top of a small hill. He took a deep breath, filling his lungs with the fresh scent of mountain vegetation.
The straw-sandaled young man puffed out his chest and stomped his foot hard, shouting with great ambition, "This is mine!"