Chapter 480: Teacher and Student, Master and Disciple
As one of the tallest peaks in the Li Zhu Cave Heaven, Fallen Mountain was an excellent spot for moon gazing.
A white-robed Cui Dongshan gently closed the bamboo door on the first floor. When the handsome, godlike youth stood still, the moonlight and white clouds seemed to return with him.
Cui Dongshan tiptoed up to the second floor. Old man Cui Cheng had already walked out into the corridor. Moonlight washed over the railing like water. Cui Dongshan called out “Grandfather,” and the old man smiled and nodded.
Grandfather and grandson—the old man stood with his hands clasped behind his back, while Cui Dongshan leaned over the railing, his two large sleeves hanging down outside.
Cui Cheng didn’t want to talk much with Cui Chan, but this “Cui Dongshan,” who was half of that soul split apart, perhaps struck him as more in line with his memories, and thus he felt closer.
Cui Cheng asked, “Why did you run back?”
Cui Dongshan said softly, “Roaming around outside, I just didn’t find it all that interesting. When I got to the Lake-Viewing Academy territory, I thought about meeting those bookworms—like talking to a chicken when the other only understands a duck. Annoyed me. So I snuck back.”
Cui Cheng laughed. “Since you’re doing great things that are true to your heart, you need to have perseverance. You can’t always think about whether it’s fun or not.”
Cui Dongshan used his chin like a cloth, wiping back and forth along the railing. “Got it.”
Cui Cheng asked, “Leaving tonight?”
Cui Dongshan nodded. “I still have to get down to business. That old bastard likes to be stubborn. He lost a bet and has to pay up. Since I chose to bow my head to him now, I naturally won’t hinder his grand eternal enterprise. I’ll work diligently and obediently, just like when I was a kid handing in homework to the family tutor.”
Cui Cheng didn’t say much more. The old man didn’t feel he had the right to boss them around. Back in the day, he had lectured them too much on outdated principles, stuffed them with rigid doctrines, and liked to put on airs. That’s why the little brat got angry and left home, traveling far away, leaving Bottle Gourd Continent all at once for the Central Continent, finding an impoverished old scholar as his teacher. All of this had taken the old man by surprise. Back then, whenever Cui Chan sent letters home asking for money, the old man was both angry and heartbroken. The legitimate grandson of the Cui clan, studying in a humble alley—how much great knowledge could he gain? And even if he did swallow his pride and ask the family for money, what was he supposed to do with just that little bit of silver each month? Could he buy a few sage books? Even if he didn’t eat or drink for a year, could he scrape together a half-decent set of stationery? Of course, much later, the old man learned that the old scholar’s knowledge was so profound it had reached the heavens.
Cui Cheng said, “Cui Chan came to see Chen Ping’an earlier. He should have laid everything out.”
Cui Dongshan let out an “Mm,” not surprised. Cui Chan saw through him completely, but in truth, Cui Dongshan’s view of Cui Chan was much the same. After all, they had once been the same person.
Cui Dongshan turned his head. “What if I leave a little later?”
Cui Cheng chuckled. “Whether you leave early or late, can I stop you? Aside from locking you in the attic to study when you were little, when have you ever listened to your grandfather since then?”
Cui Dongshan said, “This time, I’ll listen to Grandfather.”
Cui Cheng said, “Alright. If he starts nagging later, just shove the blame onto me.”
Cui Dongshan beamed. He expertly climbed onto the railing, flipped over, and landed on the ground floor. Swaggering toward the cluster of houses where Zhu Lian lived, he first went to Pei Qian’s courtyard. He let out a string of strange noises, rolled his eyes, stuck out his tongue, and flailed his arms and legs, scaring the half-awake Pei Qian into a jolt. In a flash, she pulled out a yellow paper talisman and slapped it onto her forehead. Then, barefoot, she grabbed her mountain-trekking staff and charged toward the window, eyes closed, swinging a mad sword dance while shouting, “Go away, go away! I’ll spare your life!”
Cui Dongshan roared, “If you smash my teacher’s window, you’re paying for it!”
Pei Qian froze. She extended two fingers and gently pressed down on the talisman on her forehead to keep it from falling. In case the demon had deliberately transformed into Cui Dongshan’s likeness, she couldn’t let her guard down. She tested the waters, “Who am I?”
Cui Dongshan smiled slyly. “The senior sister, of course.”
Pei Qian breathed a sigh of relief. It really was Cui Dongshan. She scampered to the window, stood on tiptoe, and asked curiously, “How come you’re back again?”
Cui Dongshan shot back, “What’s it to you?”
Pei Qian took off the talisman and tucked it into her sleeve. She ran to open the door, only to find that Cui Dongshan had vanished. After circling around and still not finding him, she looked up and saw a white-clad figure hanging upside down under the eaves. She was so startled she plopped onto the ground, her eyes already glistening with tears. Just as she was about to burst into loud wails, Cui Dongshan hung there like an icicle on a snowy day, only for Pei Qian to snap it off with her staff. Cui Dongshan fell headfirst from the eaves, his head hitting the ground with a thud, then lay flat on his back. Seeing this, Pei Qian’s tears turned to laughter, and all her grievances evaporated.
Cui Dongshan got up, shaking his snow-white sleeves, and asked casually, “Where’s that blind little wretch?”
Pei Qian said cautiously, “Sister Shiyou is busy at the New Year’s Money Shop now, helping me earn money. Even if she hasn’t done any great deeds, she’s put in the effort. You’re not allowed to bully her anymore, or I’ll tell Master.”
Cui Dongshan sneered. “Tattling? Your master is my teacher. Obviously, he’s closer to me. When I met him, you were still playing in the mud somewhere.”
Pei Qian wasn’t about to let him get ahead on this. She thought for a moment, then said, “Master went on that trip to Shuihu Country and brought me a huge pile of gifts—can’t even count them all. Did you get any? Even if you did, could it be more than mine?”
Cui Dongshan laughed. “You want to compare family fortunes with me, the one known as the ‘Treasure Lord’ in the martial world?”
Pei Qian said seriously, “We’re not counting our own stuff. We’re only comparing what our respective master and teacher gave us.”
Cui Dongshan spread his hands. “Losing to the senior sister isn’t shameful.”
Pei Qian nodded. “A wise man submits to circumstances.”
Cui Dongshan reached out a finger and poked Pei Qian between the eyebrows. “Go ahead, keep spouting nonsense. You’ll make the ancient sages roll in their graves.”
Pei Qian slapped away his dog-like paw and said timidly, “How dare you.”
Cui Dongshan was amused. Such a good phrase, and that little charcoal had used it with no grandeur at all.
Cui Dongshan started walking out of the courtyard. “Come on, let’s go mess with Pig Face.”
Pei Qian was no longer sleepy. Happily trailing behind Cui Dongshan, she told him about her great feat of poking a hornet’s nest with Bao-Ping sister. Cui Dongshan asked, “You were being naughty yourself, and you dragged Little Bao-Ping into trouble too. Didn’t your master spank you?”
Pei Qian rolled her eyes. “What nonsense you talk.”
Cui Dongshan sighed. “My teacher really treats you like his own daughter.”
Pei Qian was delighted. The white goose was much better at talking than the old cook.
As for the “white goose,” that was the nickname Pei Qian had privately given Cui Dongshan. She had only told the most “tight-lipped” Bao-Ping sister about it.
They passed a house. From inside the wall came the muffled sound of punching and stance practice—the rustling of clothes.
Cui Dongshan stepped into the void, rising step by step, and stood outside the wall. He saw a slender, pretty young girl practicing the six-step stance that his teacher was best at. Pei Qian leaned her staff against the wall, took a few steps back, leaped high, stepped on the staff, grabbed the top of the wall with her hands, and with a slight effort, poked her head over. Cui Dongshan was rubbing his face on the other side, muttering, “This punching really stings my eyes.”
Pei Qian lowered her voice. “Cen Yuanji isn’t a bad person. Just a bit simple.”
Cui Dongshan nodded. “I can see that.”
Cen Yuanji, after all, was a martial arts seedling that Zhu Lian had set his sights on—a girl with the potential to reach the Golden Body realm. It was only in a place like Fallen Mountain, where monsters and immortals roamed freely, that she didn’t stand out at all. If you threw her into Shuihu Country or Caiyi Country, once she climbed to the seventh realm, she’d be a veritable grandmaster. In a shallow martial world, she’d be like a mountain python wading into a pond—water splashing everywhere.
But Cen Yuanji had just finished practicing. To be able to immerse her entire mind in her training was already no small feat. It was only when she paused to rest and stopped her stance that she heard the whispering from the wall. Instantly, she turned sideways, stepped back, and pulled open a fighting stance. Lifting her head, she shouted, “Who?!”
When she saw the head of that handsome “youth,” she frowned. Where had this stranger, who seemed like a banished immortal, come from? Then she saw Pei Qian grinning next to him, and she relaxed.
Cui Dongshan rested his elbows on the wall and asked, “You’re the unregistered disciple that Pig Face… I mean, that Zhu Lian selected for Fallen Mountain?”
Cen Yuanji didn’t answer. She looked at Pei Qian.
Pei Qian cheerfully introduced him, “He’s called Cui Dongshan. He’s my master’s student. We’re on the same generation level.”
Cen Yuanji started to have misgivings.
That young mountain lord’s student-disciple?
This pretty, clever-looking youth in front of her—was he an idiot? Of all the people to choose as a teacher, why pick that good-for-nothing? The guy was out roaming around all year long, acting like an absentee boss. When he occasionally came back to the mountain, he was either drinking and carousing, as she had seen herself, or just frittering away his time. What could you possibly learn from him? And that guy really must have had lard for brains—daring to take on a student? Was he that desperate for money?
Cen Yuanji sighed inwardly as she looked at the white-clad handsome youth with some pity.
Cui Dongshan said softly, “Really stupid. Not pretending.”
Pei Qian hummed in agreement. “I didn’t lie to you, did I?”
The two heads—one big, one small—almost simultaneously disappeared from the top of the wall, in perfect sync.
Cen Yuanji didn’t hear clearly and didn’t care to bother. After all, there were plenty of strange people and odd happenings on Fallen Mountain.
Cui Dongshan didn’t go looking for Zhu Lian. Instead, he took Pei Qian to the summit of Fallen Mountain. He stomped his foot and barked, “Get the hell out here!”
Song Yuzhang, the mountain god of Fallen Mountain, quickly revealed his true form. Facing this “youth” whose true identity he had already known back then, Song Yuzhang bowed deeply at the bottom of the steps outside the shrine, but did not address him by any title.
Cui Dongshan’s face darkened, his whole body exuding murderous intent. He strode forward. Song Yuzhang stood his ground.
Pei Qian saw the situation turning bad. Cui Dongshan was about to start his nonsense again, wasn’t he? She hurried to catch up to him and whispered, “Talk nicely, talk nicely. A distant relative is not as good as a close neighbor. If you make trouble, in the end, it’s Master who’ll have a hard time.”
Cui Dongshan sighed. Standing before this unflappable mountain god, he asked, “You were a dead official, and now you’ve barely become a mountain god, but you still can’t see the light?”
Song Yuzhang, though in awe of this “State Preceptor Cui Chan,” had a clear conscience about his conduct. So he showed not a shred of timidity. He said slowly, “As for officials who know how to conduct themselves, it’s not like Great Li lacks them—from the fallen Lu dynasty to the barely surviving Sui Gao clan, and then to sycophantic vassal states like Huangting Kingdom, have any of them been few?”
Cui Dongshan asked, “Then let me ask you: whether as an official or as a mountain god, when the Li clan put you in these positions, were you pursuing moral self-perfection, or were you wholeheartedly serving the country and the people?”
Song Yuzhang asked, “Your Excellency the State Preceptor, is it not permitted for this humble subject to achieve both?”
Cui Dongshan waved his sleeve impatiently. “I can’t be bothered to waste words with you.”
Song Yuzhang bowed in farewell, meticulous to the last detail. His golden body returned to the clay statue, and he actively “closed the door,” temporarily giving up his patrol of Fallen Mountain.
Cui Dongshan took Pei Qian for a casual stroll on the summit. Pei Qian asked curiously, “Why are you angry?”
“I’m not angry. I never get angry at fools. I only worry that I’m not smart enough.”
Cui Dongshan shook his head, spreading his hands and gesturing. “Everyone has their own way of living. Knowledge, principles, old sayings, experience—all of it together builds a house for themselves. Some are small, like the little houses in Mud Vase Alley or Apricot Flower Alley. Some are large, like the mansions on Peach Leaf Lane or Fortune Street. Nowadays there are the immortal caves on various peaks, and even the human imperial palaces, the White Emperor City in the Central Continent, the Jade Capital in the Green Underworld… Besides size, there’s also stability. Big but unstable is like a castle in the air. It’s not as good as a small but sturdy house. If it can’t withstand wind and rain, when hardship comes, the whole edifice collapses. Beyond that, it also depends on how many doors and windows there are. Many, and often open—that allows one to quickly accept the scenery outside. Few, and always closed—that means a person is very stubborn, prone to getting stuck in a rut, living very self-centeredly.”
Pei Qian nodded. “I like looking at big and small houses, so I can understand what you’re saying. That mountain god who’s not afraid of you obviously has his heart tightly shut. A one-track mind, stuck on his own principles.”
Cui Dongshan turned his head and glanced at Pei Qian’s eyes. He laughed. “Not bad. Pretty sharp.”
Pei Qian hugged her arms, holding the mountain-trekking staff to her chest. “Of course. I’m about to go to school to study, after all.”
Cui Dongshan smiled. “Then I need to warn you: a house has limited space. If you put one thing in, you can’t fit another. Why do so many scholars become idiots? Because they read too many books along the same line of thought. For every extra book they read, they cover one more window or door. So the more they read, the less they can see the world clearly. In the blink of an eye, their hair is white, and they’re still scratching their heads, wondering why, with all their reading, they’re living like dogs and pigs. In the end, they can only console themselves: ‘It’s not my fault the world is going downhill.’”
Pei Qian looked around. No one was near. She lowered her voice. “I’m going to school just to make Master feel at ease when he goes on long trips. It’s not like I’m really going to study. Study my ass. Gives me a headache.”
Cui Dongshan blinked, then burst into laughter and sprinted down the mountain. “I’m going to tattle!”
Pei Qian was stunned for a moment, then her face crumpled as if she might cry. She started running desperately after that white goose.
Cui Dongshan suddenly stopped, standing on a step. He turned his head and saw a black charcoal girl, in her frantic pursuit, not caring if she hurt herself, planting her foot on the summit and leaping high, just like that straw-sandal boy from Mud Vase Alley long ago—soaring like a hawk across a ravine.
Cui Dongshan smiled faintly. “Teacher, student, disciple. So we’re all the same—all afraid of growing up, yet forced to grow up.”
Suddenly, a hand slapped the back of Cui Dongshan’s head. The uninvited visitor laughed angrily. “Still bullying Pei Qian.”
Before the words had faded, a figure in green robes, who had rushed swiftly from the bamboo building on Fallen Mountain, stepped lightly and shot forward, catching Pei Qian in his arms and setting her on the ground. Cui Dongshan smiled and bowed deeply. “Your student was wrong.”
Pei Qian wiped the sweat from her face, her eyes darting. She started defending Cui Dongshan. “Master, we were just playing around. We didn’t say anything at all.”
Cui Dongshan nodded eagerly. “Right, right!”
Chen Ping’an smiled. “Do you yourselves believe that?”
Pei Qian and Cui Dongshan said in unison, “Yes!”
Chen Ping’an didn’t press the matter. It was all just mischief anyway.
The three of them went down the mountain together.
Teacher and student, master and disciple.
Green robes, white clothes, a little charcoal.
Set a small goal first, like 1 second to remember: shukjuke.