SS CH48

Early the next morning, the heavy downpour finally ceased. The party resumed their journey, winding around rivers, circling mountains, and traversing forests, until they finally reached Anxi Mountain at noon on the fifth day.

This mountain sat deep within a valley, where winds entered but struggled to escape. Streams murmured continuously, dark clouds hung low to the earth, and the grass grew lush and thick. Even wild birds and beasts were rarely seen here, let alone any signs of human activity.

The locals went out of their way to avoid this place, not only because of its rugged and treacherous terrain, but even more so because it was also known as the “Mountain of the Dead.”

Over thirty years ago, this had been merely a nameless valley with relatively abundant vegetation, and people from nearby villages frequently came in to hunt. However, at that time, the Northern Knight Qin Hebai was accused of treason, and his entire clan was executed. The generals and personal troops he had once left behind to guard the frontier were urgently recalled to the imperial court. This force, totaling over three thousand soldiers, arrived here late at night. Caught in a relentless torrential rain, they set up camp to rest.

On that very night, a sudden mudslide erupted within the mountains. The earth shook and the mountains swayed as a roaring torrent of mud and rock engulfed the area with catastrophic force, burying those three thousand soldiers along with two nearby hamlets beneath the deluge of mud, timber, and stone.

Once the natural disaster passed, the government brought officials and laborers to clean up. However, with countless corpses buried deep beneath the silt and sand, and to prevent an outbreak of plague, they had no choice but to stack the skeletal remains of the deceased within the mountains. A fire was lit and burned for three days and three nights before the dead were finally reduced to ashes.

Since then, no towns or villages existed within a thirty-mile radius. Only a scattered handful of households still lived lonely lives in the mountains, guarding this barren land and treacherous waters, alongside the heroic spirits that had fused into the dirt and stone.

It was currently midday, but because of the rain over the past few days, the sky remained somewhat gloomy. The path on the ground was incredibly muddy, and one could easily slip if not paying careful attention. Ye Fusheng drove the horse carriage, trying his best to look for smoother ground to tread. However, exiting this massive mountain range was not something that could be accomplished in a day or two. Worried that nightfall might bring more wind and rain, he kept a watchful eye on his surroundings along the way, intending to scout out a place to rest for the night.

Inside the carriage, Ruan Feiyu kept his eyes closed to rest his mind. Lu Mingyuan had finally woken up this morning, but his body still lacked strength, leaving him with no choice but to curl up inside the carriage like a timid quail. After being cooped up inside for a while, Qin Lanchang ultimately couldn’t sit still any longer. She lifted the carriage curtain and sat down beside Ye Fusheng, demanding to help him drive the carriage. However, this young mistress had no sense of moderation; one lash of her whip would likely send the horses galloping wildly to the ends of the earth. Ye Fusheng had no intention of pitting their fragile flesh and bone against the treacherous mountain paths.

Thus, in the face of Qin Lanchang’s attempt to snatch the horsewhip, Ye Fusheng lifted his hand to move the whip out of her reach, saying earnestly, “Lass, do me a favor.”

Qin Lanchang asked, “What?”

“Go find a cool place to stay out of the way.”

Sensing his undisguised disdain, Qin Lanchang’s anger turned into embarrassment. Crossing her arms, she snapped, “I’m only worried you’ll doze off and drive the carriage straight into a ditch! You really ought to find a mirror and look at yourself—you look as if you just fought three hundred rounds in a brothel!”

Ye Fusheng: “…”

For a girl of her age, she truly knew far too much, behaving not at all like a maiden in the bloom of her youth.

Yet Ye Fusheng had no way to refute her; he indeed had not rested well these past few days.

In truth, ever since that incident years ago, he had never truly slept soundly. After waking up from nightmares countless times, he had long abandoned any hope of being blessed with sweet dreams. It wasn’t until that night in the ruined shack, when his soul was nearly shocked out of his body by a single remark from Qin Lanchang, that he somehow leaned against the dirt wall, fell asleep, and even had a dream.

He dreamed that he had returned to many years ago. He was no longer the Commander of the Hidden Shadows, but merely an ordinary traveling martial artist of the jianghu. Chu Xiwei had reverted to a child’s appearance once more, yet he was no longer a descendant of the royal lineage either, but simply the pampered child of a wealthy household. The moment the boy met him, he stubbornly refused to go home, spending the entire day clinging to his side as a pampered little disciple.

There were no underhanded conspiracies, nor had those irreparable grievances and enmities taken place. He watched as Chu Xiwei grew from a young child who only knew how to act spoiled and cute into a tall, broad-shouldered adult, while he himself transformed from a young man with a full head of dark hair into one whose temples were gradually frosted with white.

In the dream, they lived in a small courtyard in Jiangnan. Yellow flowers bloomed by the eastern fence, and green trees leaned against the western wall. Dressed in coarse hemp robes, Chu Xiwei practiced his blade techniques at a leisurely pace. He would pluck a sugar-preserved lotus seed and flick it over, lecturing lazily, “A young man who has just reached his capping ceremony—how can you move as slowly as someone in their seventies or eighties?”

Chu Xiwei caught the lotus seed in his mouth, chewed it, and said, “How can I possibly compare to you, Master?”

He laughed out of sheer exasperation. “Indeed, your Master is older than you and will enter the coffin before you. In the future, when someone beats you until you cry, let’s see who will avenge you and crash their place! Sigh, it seems hoping for you to become a supreme martial arts master is out of the question. I might as well look around for a formidable disciple-in-law while I can still move!”

“I don’t want to!” Chu Xiwei leaned back against the large tree behind him. “When you live out your natural lifespan, Master, I’ll simply accompany you to the afterlife. What is there to fear?”

Ye Fusheng thwacked him on the forehead with a lotus seed. “Spineless boy, talking utter nonsense!”

“I’m not talking nonsense.” Chu Xiwei turned his head to look at him. “Master, I mean it.”

Ye Fusheng met the young man’s gaze filtering through the shadows of the tree, which looked as though a tree of jade blossoms had bloomed within his eyes, instantly filling his vision with brilliant splendor.

The mass of flesh and blood within his chest felt as if it were violently gripped by a hand. Ye Fusheng snapped his eyes open. The people and surroundings beside him remained unchanged; only the campfire on the ground had been reduced to ashes.

He stared blankly for a long time, unable to fall back asleep.

Recalling that nonsensical dream now, his face remained composed while his mind experienced a whirlwind of emotions—until two silhouettes appeared on the road ahead.

The path he was taking was relatively clear of weeds, and the muddy ground bore a chaotic array of footprints coming and going, showing that it was frequently traveled by locals. At this moment, one tall and one short silhouette approached from afar against the dim daylight. Ye Fusheng raised his eyes and saw an elderly man riding a donkey, accompanied by a lean, small man carrying a crude bow and arrows.

The younger man held a wild rabbit in his hand, a smile gracing his sallow face as he hummed an unfamiliar mountain tune. The scrawny old man sat atop a skeletal donkey; while driving the animal forward, he was conversing with the younger man. A patched cloth bundle was slung over the donkey’s back, packed with wild fruits and vegetables that still glistened with fresh dew.

Seeing a horse carriage—a rare sight in these parts—the duo froze for a moment. Believing it to be some wealthy lord passing through and fearing to offend the noble personage, they quickly scurried to the side of the road while still thirty feet away. Ye Fusheng’s gaze swept across them. Just as they were about to brush past each other, he suddenly spoke up: “Brother, that rabbit cannot be eaten.”

The two individuals were stunned. Seated on the donkey, the old man was at least able to look levelly at Ye Fusheng on the carriage, and thus asked with reverence and trepidation, “Dear officer, it’s a perfectly fine wild rabbit. Why… why can’t it be eaten?”

Ye Fusheng reined in the horse, turning his head as he said, “Because it is poisoned.”

The lean, small man was startled and hurriedly inspected the rabbit. He found that the grey wild rabbit lay motionless in his hands; although it bore no external injuries, it possessed no vitality whatsoever.

“Wild rabbits are inherently cunning. Seeing that it isn’t injured yet remains motionless in your hands is strange in its own right.” Ye Fusheng tilted his chin upward. “Look closely at its ears, mouth, and nose. I am afraid it mistakenly consumed poisonous weeds.”

The man cradled the wild rabbit properly, only to discover that a trace of dark blood was oozing from the base of its ears, mouth, and nose. Though its two eyes were still open, the light within them had vanished at some unknown point, leaving an eerie emptiness.

Terrified, he let out a sharp cry and hastily flung the wild rabbit away. The old man froze for a moment, then repeatedly struck him with a slender bamboo switch, cursing, “You accursed boy! I told you there was no such thing as a free lunch—a rabbit lying dead still on the ground just waiting for you to catch it! You nearly poisoned our entire family to death!”

The slender bamboo switch stung sharply when it struck, causing the man to grimace in pain, yet he dared not dodge, using his hands only to shield his head and face. Qin Lanchang grimaced, whispering to Ye Fusheng, “The way this old gentleman beats his son—it looks exactly like he’s thrashing a son of a bitch.”

Ye Fusheng merely smiled without a word, raising his horsewhip as he prepared to resume driving. Unexpectedly, after the old man finished thrashing his son, he spoke up at this juncture: “May I ask, where is the officer headed?”

Ye Fusheng replied, “Naturally, we wish to leave the mountains.”

The old man looked in the direction the whip was pointing, his expression changing drastically as he cried, “Officer, you must take a detour! You cannot go that way!”

Qin Lanchang asked curiously, “Why can’t we go that way?”

“There are mountain bandits!” the lean, small man chimed in. “Our locality isn’t any place of fortune, but whether one travels north or east, one must pass through here. Although there are only a few destitute households with nowhere else to go living in the mountains, a band of bandits arrived some days ago. They have claimed the mountain ahead as kings, extorting money and goods from travelers. They will kill at the slightest displeasure—they are ferocious!”

Qin Lanchang possessed a fiery and straightforward temperament, so she immediately questioned, “How many men are there in that band of bandits?”

“At least a hundred or so, they are not to be trifled with!” A trace of dread surfaced in the old man’s eyes. “They look down on poor folk like us, so we usually coexist in peace. But if you officers pass by, I’m afraid… that road cannot be taken. The officer should still take a detour!”

Ye Fusheng narrowed his eyes and smiled broadly. “No matter. Thank you for the warning, elder.”

Having said that, he was about to crack his whip to drive the horse forward. Seeing him deliberately heading into danger despite knowing the risks, the old man was at a loss for what to do for a moment, when Ruan Feiyu’s voice drifted out from inside the carriage: “Young Master Ye, it is better to avoid unnecessary trouble. Let us listen to this old gentleman.”

Qin Lanchang was nearly driven mad by this “amiable” Southern Scholar. She truly couldn’t fathom how such a cowardly turtle, who always sought advantages and avoided harm, had the audacity to propose new laws and abolish the old factions. Hearing his words, she couldn’t resist mocking him: “Old sir, if you are afraid, then stay inside the carriage and don’t come out. Either way, we won’t need you to wield a blade and hack people down, so what are you afraid of?”

Ye Fusheng patted her shoulder, feeling that with this girl leading the charge, all fierce women under heaven could be considered gentle and refined. After pondering for a moment, he addressed the old man, “Since that is the case, does the elder know of any other path that can lead us out of the mountains?”

Hearing that his savior would not go to seek his own death, the old man breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly said, “There is. There is a small path behind my house. Although it is somewhat steep, it is well-concealed, and those newly arrived mountain bandits are unaware of it.”

Ye Fusheng said, “Could I trouble you to lead the way?”

“Leading the way is no trouble, since we are heading home anyway. However…” the lean, small man interjected, “that path runs along the cliffside and cannot be traversed after nightfall. The officer might as well rest at my home, so that we may repay the kindness from just now.”

“A matter of a single sentence—what kind of kindness is that?” Ye Fusheng shook his head, handing over a small silver ingot. “Then we shall trouble you.”

The old man repeatedly declined, but the lean, small man hurriedly accepted the silver, breathing on it as his smile grew more genuine: “No trouble at all! No trouble at all! Officers, please follow us!”

They turned down another small trail and gradually drifted away. Only after their silhouettes completely vanished did a hand reach down to pick up the discarded wild rabbit.

The wealthy-looking man stared in the direction where Ye Fusheng and the others had disappeared. After a moment of silence, he suddenly smiled, appearing to speak to himself: “He still possesses a thread of kindness. Ah well…”