Chapter 481: - Climbing the Mountain

Tianhu Mountain had once been a famous sacred retreat of the reclusive traditions in Jin.

Long ago, two generations of Celestial Masters had emerged from this mountain. One had been enfeoffed as State Preceptor by the Emperor of Jin of his era. Another had been so valued by the head of the Wenren Clan that he was taken as a clan guest retainer, and the clan head had even had one of his own children acknowledge the man as a Daoist godfather.

More recently, the grand elder who had guarded the inner palace of Yan for nearly thirty years had also descended from this mountain.

Once, the incense fires of Tianhu Mountain had burned without cease. Especially during festivals and holidays, worshippers and tourists climbing the mountain came in an endless stream.

Zhou Bian remembered the mountain’s glory very clearly, because his family had always lived at its foot. Later, he emptied his savings, borrowed some money besides, and took over a small wine shop below Tianhu Mountain.

There was a small town at the foot of the mountain. In truth, “town” was generous; it was smaller than many ordinary villages.

There were fewer than twenty storefronts: an inn, wine shops, teahouses, places selling incense and candles. These were proper shops, and anyone wanting to do business there had to lease the premises from Tianhu Mountain.

During certain festivals, the crowds of pilgrims would swell dramatically, which naturally attracted countless peddlers hoping to make a little money. Tianhu Mountain would send disciples down to register them, and every one of them had to pay a cut.

Zhou Bian had once been a street peddler himself and had often come to set up a stall beneath Tianhu Mountain. Every time they charged him a stall fee, he would curse inwardly at these people who claimed to have renounced the world while still being so greedy for money.

Then, after he had finally managed to take over a wine shop, whenever other peddlers flooded in during festivals, he found himself hating those same recluses for not charging the food vendors even more, since those little stalls were stealing business from his own shop for nothing.

Unfortunately, the good days did not last.

That day, the Marquis climbed the mountain. The grand elder from the palace dissolved himself in death. A great fire swept across Tianhu Mountain, and its ancestral seat was burned to the ground.

Indeed, a mountain need not be high if an immortal dwells there.

Once Tianhu Mountain’s people were gone, this place became nothing more than the foot of an ordinary mountain.

Not only did the peddlers stop coming to steal business, even the neighboring shopkeepers had long since given up. Zhou Bian, however, remained here with his wife and son.

Back when he took over the wine shop, he had already sold the family home. If they did not stay here, the three of them would not even have a roof over their heads.

They kept the business going after a fashion. He no longer went out of his way to buy fresh ingredients. Mostly, whatever his family happened to eat was what he sold to customers as well. Wine, at least, kept well. He still had quite a lot left unsold from before, so that could continue to be served.

Every few days, Zhou Bian would take his wife up the mountain to inspect the terraced fields. The ancestral seat of Tianhu Mountain was gone, and the fields that had once belonged to it had been abandoned.

Zhou Bian planted a few crops there. No one came to collect taxes and no one cared what he did, so at least it put a little extra food on the family table.

Also, he should have had to renew the shop lease this year, but naturally no one came to collect that money either. Seen that way, things were not so bad. He had only meant to take over a shop, but now he had at least ended up with a house.

Today, Zhou Bian had originally planned to go up and check the terraces again. But before the morning was even over, two groups of customers arrived.

The first group consisted of a scholar, a swordswoman, and a monk.

They were very easy to identify.

The scholar looked exactly like a scholar, the swordswoman looked exactly like a swordswoman, and the monk, naturally, looked exactly like a monk.

They ordered three bowls of dough-drop soup. That had originally been meant as lunch for Zhou Bian’s family of three, but what sort of shopkeeper refused a paying customer?

The second group consisted of a drunkard and an accountant.

The drunkard’s face was already bright red despite it being early in the day. The moment he sat down, he shouted for Zhou Bian to bring wine.

The accountant carried an abacus with him. He set it to one side and ordered no food, instead taking flatbread from his own bag and asking Zhou Bian for a bowl of noodle broth to soak it in.

A while later, Zhou Bian’s wife brought out a small jar of wine.

Whether because he had already drunk too much or simply because that was his nature, the drunkard pointed at Zhou Bian’s wife’s large backside and said:

“Good heavens. You run a shop with no damn business way out here in the middle of nowhere, and your woman still sticks with you. Tsk, tsk.”

A man doing business could not lose his temper over every little thing. Zhou Bian’s wife shot the drunkard a glare and cursed:

“Shut that dog mouth of yours and drink your horse piss.”

It was a curse, but she delivered it with enough flirtatious charm that no one could really get angry.

After his wife went back to look after their child, Zhou Bian grinned and said:

“My given name’s just one character: Bian. Whip. Can’t help it. Heaven gave me the goods to make a living. Mine’s been big since I was a little tyke. At first my pa always called me: ‘Donkey. Donkey.’ Then when it came time to give me a proper name, he figured he might as well make the decision himself and call me Whip.”

The drunkard burst into laughter.

“All right, all right! I believe you, I believe you. I won’t compete with you. No competition here.”

“Would you like something else to go with the wine?” Zhou Bian asked with a smile.

“Just rustle up whatever you’ve got.” The drunkard clearly understood that a place like this would not have anything particularly good.

“Coming right up.”

Zhou Bian went into the kitchen, personally tossed together a dish of wild greens, then dug out two salted duck eggs he had originally saved for his son. On his way out of the kitchen, he stopped and said to his wife:

“Wife, steam a little more rice. Scrape off that piece of smoked meat too.”

“What, more customers coming?”

“No, but when business is bad like this, either you don’t see a soul all day, or once two groups show up, there’s bound to be another right behind them.”

“Got it.”

Zhou Bian carried the cold greens and salted duck eggs outside.

Sure enough, he immediately saw three people step down from a carriage.

The one walking in front wore white and carried an object wrapped in cloth.

Behind him came a young man and a young woman.

The man wore black silk, with a fishing pendant hanging from his waist. The woman wore a purple dress and a plum-blossom hairpin. She had a rounded figure and a sweet, guileless face.

“Well now, honored guests. What would you like to eat?”

The drunkard immediately laughed and cursed:

“Why ask what they want to eat? What the hell does this dump of yours even have? Just bring out whatever there is. They only need something to appease the Five Viscera Temple. Oh, the wine here is decent enough. It comes from the Miao Village wine shop in Litian City. There’s a bit more water in it than what the restaurants in Litian serve, but out here at the foot of a deserted mountain, it’s still passable.”

“Well, sure. I don’t charge more than the restaurants in Litian City either. Just think of the water I add as the sweat I worked up pushing the cart all the way back here by myself.”

Zhou Bian was nothing if not quick-witted.

“Hahaha! You little bastard.”

The drunkard picked up some wild greens with his chopsticks and put them into his mouth. They were crisp and refreshing. He nodded.

“These greens are dressed pretty well. Not bad.”

“Of course they are. Wild greens from the foot of Tianhu Mountain have soaked up spiritual energy too, haven’t they?”

At that moment, the scholar from the first group spoke:

“What spiritual energy is left on Tianhu Mountain these days? Ghostly energy, perhaps.”

The drunkard gave two dry chuckles and took a sip of wine.

Zhou Bian walked over to the new arrivals. By now, all three had taken their seats.

“Honored guests, this humble shop doesn’t have much food. How about three bowls of rice mixed with lard? I can throw together a few little side dishes too. Conditions here are poor, I’m afraid. My apologies.”

Count Pingye, dressed in ordinary clothes, smiled and nodded.

“Bring whatever you think best.”

“Right away. Please give me a moment.”

Zhou Bian headed back into the kitchen.

At that point, the drunkard’s gaze fell on the sword wrapped in cloth beside the Sword Saint.

He could not help asking:

“Heh. What sort of fine treasure is that? You’re willing to wrap it in cloth this good?”

The Sword Saint ignored him, sitting with his eyes closed as he rested.

The scholar who had spoken earlier stood and walked over.

“From the shape, I imagine there’s a sword inside. Miss Ding, he’s a swordsman just like you. If he’s wrapped it in something so exquisite, the sword itself must be extraordinary. Would you do us the honor of letting us broaden our horizons and admire it?”

The Sword Saint still ignored him.

The sword was wrapped in cloth because it was called Longyuan.

Seeing that the Sword Saint paid him no attention, the scholar frowned slightly. His tone immediately hardened.

“My junior sister is also a lover of swords. Sir, please show us some face.”

“Oho, face, face.” The drunkard cut in. “Out here in the wilderness after leaving home, how much is face worth? Besides, you haven’t hung a signboard around your neck. How is anyone supposed to know how many catties your ‘face’ weighs?”

The drunkard lifted his bowl and took a long drink, then wiped his mouth.

“Young man, this table holds three distinguished people. That young gentleman in black has an exceptional bearing, body and spirit alike. There’s a thread of noble aura around him. He is certainly no ordinary person.”

The scholar laughed.

“You think I can’t see that?”

The clothes worn by all three were plainly expensive.

Clothes made the man just as a saddle made the horse. In this age, what a person wore often revealed his status with remarkable clarity.

“Heh. You see one thing but not the second. That young gentleman in black has more than noble aura. He also carries a kind of easygoing freedom, at peace wherever he finds himself. He can enter this miserable wine shop and sit on this filthy stool without the slightest discomfort. When he enters the sea, he becomes a jiao. When he enters a stream, he becomes a fish. Either he comes from a family so rich and noble that privilege has nourished him since birth, leaving no anxious fire in him, or he clawed his own way into high office with his own two hands. The former is someone you cannot afford to provoke. As for the latter, heh, a man with ability is even more dangerous to offend than a man with pedigree.”

“Hahahahaha!”

The scholar threw his head back and laughed.

“You’re a strange fellow. I only wanted to look at a sword, and I’m asking properly, aren’t I? What are you, some fortune-teller by trade? Why spin so many twists and turns around it? What a coincidence. This young master traveling with me also understands physiognomy, yet even he hasn’t said anything. You’ve been spouting nonsense for half the day.”

The drunkard shook his head.

“This young master has roots of wisdom, true enough. But how should I put it? Physiognomy—where do you think it really comes from? Sitting in a temple chanting sutras? No. You learn it by looking at people. You study a person’s form, observe his aura, take in the whole, then spend half a lifetime in the world seeing every sort of man and experiencing every sort of affair. Only then do you dare say you have touched the art of reading faces. Anything else is just making yourself a laughingstock.”

The monk, who had been eating his dough-drop soup, immediately stood, faced the drunkard, and pressed his palms together.

“Amitabha. This poor monk has been instructed.”

But the scholar would not let it go.

“Then tell me this. On what grounds do you think I cannot afford to provoke him? On what grounds do you think I’m not allowed to see this sword?”

The drunkard pointed at the swordswoman sitting nearby and smiled.

“With a beauty beside you, the heart grows urgent, and impatience follows. You should know that a true dragon among fish and shrimp does not display its might, and a Kunpeng among little birds does not spread its wings. Just look. You’ve spoken so rudely and made yourself thoroughly annoying. Has that gentleman in white reacted at all? And isn’t that young gentleman in black still smiling?”

“Hehehe.”

Zheng Fan truly was amused.

Just then, Zhou Bian brought over a teapot and bowls, apologized, and hurried back into the kitchen.

Xiong Liqing poured Zheng Fan a bowl of water.

Zheng Fan lifted it and raised the bowl slightly toward the drunkard in a toast.

“Oh! Oh, my.”

The drunkard hurriedly rose, holding his wine bowl in both hands. He bent at the waist and smiled ingratiatingly.

“Please. Please.”

Zheng Fan took a small sip and set the tea bowl down.

The drunkard drained his entire bowl of wine, then turned it upside down to show not a drop remained before sitting again.

At that moment, the swordswoman also found her gaze drifting toward Zheng Fan, then toward Xiong Liqing.

Xiong Liqing was not an overwhelming beauty, but her bearing was excellent. That bearing made the swordswoman faintly uncomfortable, because in that respect she felt completely outclassed.

The scholar shook his head.

“Once a man leaves home, naturally he cannot judge everything by family background. This sword, I truly do want to see today.”

The drunkard stroked his beard.

“You can’t see it. You truly can’t. Some people live on their pedigree. Their pedigree is the only thing they can rely on. Open their mouths and it is always what their grandfather did, what their father did. Others, once they step beyond their pedigree, become freer than ever. The same pedigree: one person sees a door plank, another sees a prison. Behind the door plank, chickens and pigs are raised. Inside the prison, a fierce tiger is locked away.”

“Hey, you drunken fool. You keep talking about him. Why not say something about me?”

“You? Hmm. I can’t make you out.”

“If you can’t make me out, then on what grounds do you insist I can’t see it?”

“Fine. Then let me explain a little more. The beauty beside the young gentleman in black wears her hair in the Cloud-Flow style, a coiffure for noblewomen. The perfume on her body sells for its weight in gold. When she walked in, her steps were composed and graceful. This is not something a pampered maid from a wealthy household can imitate. The first may have jewels and finery; only a truly highborn woman possesses this kind of cultivated bearing. And look at her after sitting down in this miserable wine shop. She plainly dislikes how dirty and shabby it is, yet she sits without complaint because he does. When the tea bowl arrived, she lightly wiped it with her own sleeve, then poured tea and served the young gentleman herself. That isn’t merely being madly in love. It looks almost as though she is terribly afraid of him too. If even his companion is like this, then what kind of man must the young gentleman in black be? I’ll give you another hint. When this gentleman walked in earlier, his stride and the slight angle of his shoulders showed the habit of someone accustomed to riding warhorses. On horseback, a man often needs to twist and shift in tiny spaces, performing an entire ritual inside a snail shell. That kind of habit leaves traces. Then look at his hand from when he lifted the tea bowl. The web of the thumb and the center of the palm have been cared for, yes, but there are still thin, glossy calluses. He practices archery constantly. And the weapon he favors is a saber. Bow, horse, long saber. This gentleman is certainly a military man. Furthermore, he is traveling in plain clothes rather than armor, yet his clothing remains generous, proper, and expensive. No armor because he does not want attention. Nothing deliberately rough because he prefers comfort and ease. He does not wish to attract attention, but neither is he afraid of being seen. That kind of bearing... heh. There are plenty of Jin military chiefs in Jin territory today, but the Yan people are the true masters of the Three Jin lands now. Commanders of Jin birth are all living with their tails tucked between their legs. So, this gentleman in black must be a nobleman of Yan.”

The drunkard pressed his palms together.

“May the noble lord enjoy health and fortune.”

Count Pingye neither confirmed nor denied it. Inwardly, however, he was wondering whether the drunkard had truly guessed his identity.

“A nobleman of Yan? A Yan commander? Hahahahaha!”

The scholar suddenly burst into laughter.

He laughed so hard tears nearly came to his eyes.

“In that case, I really can look at this sword after all.”

The drunkard stopped speaking and merely watched him coldly.

The scholar turned toward Zheng Fan.

“Bring me the sword. Let me see it.”

Count Pingye propped his chin on his clasped hands and looked at the scholar.

“Why?”

The accountant sitting beside the drunkard suddenly stood.

At the same instant, the young monk who had just sat back down sprang to his feet as well.

Their auras collided in an instant.

The accountant turned with his abacus in hand and thrust it forward.

At the same time, the young monk hurled the prayer beads from his wrist.

When the two objects collided, there was no sound. Instead, they seemed to attract each other, sticking together.

Then, the young monk’s eyes sharpened.

He gave a low shout.

“Om!”

The accountant was forcibly pressed downward and dropped back into his chair.

The young monk tugged his prayer beads back, taking the accountant’s abacus with them. He caught both in his hand and idly flicked the beads of the abacus.

The drunkard narrowed his eyes and praised:

“Cultivating both Buddhist arts and martial arts, one orthodox and one unorthodox. That reminds me of Great Yan’s Southern Marquis. Years ago, outside the capital region of Jin, the Southern Marquis fought the Sword Saint of Jin. The Sword Saint lost! Afterward, I went to that forest myself to find the place where they fought and examine the traces. I discovered that the Southern Marquis possessed not only a terrifyingly powerful body, but also skill in the arts of the reclusive traditions. Thus I concluded: The Sword Saint’s defeat was not because he lacked the strength to fight. Rather, the Southern Marquis treated their duel as though it were two armies facing each other in battle. He had another move prepared behind the first, and thus he won. This young master cultivates both Buddhism and martial arts. Perhaps one day he too may walk a road like the Southern Marquis.”

“Amitabha.”

The young monk recited the Buddha’s name. With a flick of his hand, the abacus flew back toward the accountant, who caught it and placed it on the table.

The drunkard pointed at the accountant and laughed as he cursed him.

“I told you to learn more ways to fight, but you refused. Now you’ve made me lose face.”

The accountant was evidently a Qi Refiner. During the first exchange, he had matched the young monk in the arts of the reclusive traditions. But once the monk revealed his Martial Artist’s physique, sheer strength overwhelmed technique and forced the accountant straight back down.

Seeing the brief clash end, the scholar once more looked at Zheng Fan.

“You asked me why?”

Count Pingye nodded.

“Fine. Then I’ll tell you. The truth is, we’re on the same side. It’s perfectly normal that you don’t recognize me, because I rarely show my face.”

As he spoke, the scholar took a token from his robes and displayed it to Zheng Fan.

Then he declared:

“I am the foremost guest retainer under Great Yan’s Count Pingye— Zheng Fanli.”

——

Good night.

[End of Chapter 481]