SS CH48

The heavy rain finally ceased the following morning, allowing the group to continue their journey. Winding past mountains, rivers, and dense forests, they ultimately reached Mount Anxi by noon on the fifth day.

Nestled inside a valley, the mountain was a place where wind entered but could barely escape. With gurgling streams, dark clouds hanging low to the ground, and lush, overgrown vegetation, even wild birds and beasts were rarely seen here, let alone any signs of human habitation.

The locals avoided this place at all costs, not only because of the rugged terrain, but also because it went by another name: “Dead Man’s Mountain.”

Over thirty years ago, this location was merely an unnamed valley with lush vegetation, where villagers from nearby areas frequently came to hunt. However, back then, the Northern Hero, Qin Hebai, was executed along with his entire clan for alleged treason. The garrison officers and personal troops he had once led along the border—totaling over three thousand men—were urgently summoned back to the imperial court. Passing through this area late at night amid continuous heavy rain, they set up camp here to rest.

During that very night, a sudden mudslide struck the mountain. The earth shook and the mountains trembled as a torrent of mud, sand, trees, and stone swallowed the area with terrifying force, burying those three thousand soldiers along with two small neighboring villages beneath the debris.

After the disaster passed, the local government brought men to clean up. However, with countless corpses buried deep beneath the mud and sand, they decided to pile the remains in the mountain and set them ablaze for three days and nights to prevent an epidemic, burning everything to ashes.

Since then, no villages or towns existed within a thirty-li radius. Only a few scattered households remained in the mountains, enduring a lonely existence as they guarded these treacherous waters, barren mountains, and the heroic spirits merged with the soil and stone.

Although it was noon, the sky remained overcast from the recent days of rain. The ground was muddy, and a single careless step could cause someone to slip. Ye Fusheng drove the carriage, trying his best to find smoother paths. Knowing it would take a day or two to travel out of these massive mountains and worrying about storm clouds returning at nightfall, he kept a watchful eye on his surroundings to scout a place to rest for the night.

Inside the carriage, Ruan Feiyu rested with his eyes closed. Lu Mingyuan had woken up that morning, but still lacked any strength, leaving him no choice but to curl up inside like a frightened quail. Qin Lanshang could no longer sit still inside after a while. She lifted the curtain, sat next to Ye Fusheng, and offered to help drive the carriage. However, the young lady knew no restraint; one strike of her whip might send the horses galloping wildly toward the horizon. Ye Fusheng had no intention of putting their fragile bodies to the test on treacherous mountain paths.

When Qin Lanshang tried to snatch the whip, Ye Fusheng held it out of her reach and requested sincerely, “Girl, do me a favor.”

“What?” Qin Lanshang asked.

“Go cool off over there.”

Detecting his undisguised distaste, Qin Lanshang flew into a rage from embarrassment. She crossed her arms and snapped, “I was just worried you’d doze off and drive the carriage straight into a ditch! You really ought to find a mirror and look at yourself—you look like you just fought three hundred rounds in a brothel!”

Ye Fusheng was left speechless.

For her age, she simply knew far too much, lacking the typical innocence of a girl in her early teens.

Yet, Ye Fusheng could not refute her words; he indeed had not slept well over the past few days.

In truth, ever since that incident years ago, he had never truly enjoyed a peaceful night’s sleep. After waking up terrified from countless nightmares, he had abandoned any hope of being blessed with good dreams. It was only on that night in the ruined house, when Qin Lanshang’s single sentence scared the soul right out of him, that he somehow fell asleep leaning against the earthen wall and had a dream.

He dreamed he had returned to many years ago. No longer an imperial Lueying Commander, he was merely an ordinary Jianghu wanderer. Chu Xiwei had returned to his childhood form, no longer a royal descendant, but the spoiled child of a wealthy family. Upon meeting him, the boy stubbornly refused to go home, insistence on staying by his side all day as his little disciple.

There were no scheming conspiracies or irreversible feuds. He watched as Chu Xiwei grew from a child who only knew how to act spoiled into a tall adult, while he himself aged from a dark-haired youth into a man with graying temples.

In the dream, they lived in a small courtyard in Jiangnan, with yellow flowers blooming by the eastern fence and green trees leaning against the western wall. Chu Xiwei, dressed in coarse cloth robes, practiced his saber techniques leisurely. Ye Fusheng tossed a preserved lotus seed over and chided lazily, “You’re a young man who just reached adulthood; why are your movements as slow as an eighty-year-old?”

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

Ye Fusheng laughed out of frustration. “That’s right, Master is older than you and will step into the coffin earlier! In the future, when you get beaten until you cry, let’s see who will avenge you and cause trouble for them! Sigh, relying on you to become a martial arts master seems hopeless. I’d better find myself a capable disciple-in-law while I can still move around!”

“No!” Chu Xiwei leaned against the large tree behind him. “When you pass away of old age, Master, I’ll just go with you. What is there to fear?”

Ye Fusheng flicked a lotus seed right onto his forehead. “Useless child, talking nonsense!”

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

As Ye Fusheng met the young man’s gaze beneath the tree’s shadow, it was as if a tree of peach blossoms had burst into bloom within his eyes, filling his vision with brilliant splendor in an instant.

It felt as though a hand had fiercely gripped the organ inside his chest. When Ye Fusheng opened his eyes, everything around him remained unchanged, save for the campfire that had turned to ash.

He remained dazed for a long time, unable to fall asleep again.

Recalling that nonsensical dream now sent his mind spinning beneath a calm expression, until two figures appeared up ahead.

The path he traveled had few weeds, and the mud bore a chaotic mess of footprints coming and going, proving it was frequently trodden. As one tall and one short figure approached against the sky, Ye Fusheng looked up to see an old man riding a donkey alongside a thin man carrying a crude bow and arrows.

The thin man held a wild rabbit in his hand, a smile on his sallow face as he hummed a folk tune. The emaciated old man sat atop a bony donkey, chatting with the man while guiding the animal. A patched cloth bag rested on the donkey’s back, filled with wild fruits and vegetables still glistening with water droplets.

Spotting a rare carriage on the road, both of them froze, assuming a nobleman was passing through. Unwilling to disturb a person of high status, they quickly moved to the side of the road three zhang away. Ye Fusheng’s eyes swept over them, and just as they were about to pass each other, he suddenly spoke up: “Brother, that rabbit cannot be eaten.”

The two were taken aback. Being up on the donkey, the old man was able to meet Ye Fusheng’s eyes at equal height, and asked nervously, “Kind sir, why can’t a perfectly fine wild rabbit be eaten?”

Ye Fusheng reined in his horse, turned his head, and said, “Because it’s poisonous.”

Startled, the thin man quickly checked the rabbit. The gray wild rabbit lay motionless in his hands, bearing no external injuries, yet completely devoid of vitality.

“Wild rabbits are naturally cunning. Since it isn’t injured, it’s quite strange for it to stay still in your hands,” Ye Fusheng gestured with his chin. “Look closely at its ears, mouth, and nose; it likely ate poisonous grass by mistake.”

The man held the wild rabbit up and finally noticed a small amount of dark blood oozing from the roots of its ears, mouth, and nose. Although its eyes were open, the spark of life had vanished, leaving them eerily hollow.

Terrified, he cried out and shoved the rabbit away. The old man froze for a moment before hitting him repeatedly with a thin bamboo pole, cursing, “Curse you! I knew there was no such thing as a free meal! A rabbit staying still on the ground waiting for you to catch it! You almost poisoned the whole family!”

The thin bamboo pole stung, but the man didn’t dare hide, using his hands to shield his face. Qin Lanshang grinned and whispered to Ye Fusheng, “The way this old man beats his son looks just like beating a turtle son!”

Ye Fusheng merely smiled without speaking, raising his whip to resume driving the carriage. Unexpectedly, after beating his son, the old man called out, “May I ask where you are heading, sir?”

Ye Fusheng replied, “Naturally, out of the mountains.”

The old man looked in the direction Ye Fusheng pointed his whip, his expression changing instantly. “Sir, take a detour! You cannot go that way!”

Qin Lanshang asked curiously, “Why can’t we go there?”

“There are bandits!” the thin man chimed in. “This isn’t a good place, but whether traveling north or east, one must pass through here. Although there are only a few destitute households in the mountains, a group of bandits arrived recently and claimed the mountain as their domain. They extort money from passersby and kill at the slightest displeasure. They are fierce!”

Being fiery and straightforward, Qin Lanshang immediately asked, “How many bandits are there?”

“Over a hundred, I’m afraid! They are not to be provoked!” Fear showed in the old man’s eyes. “They look down on us poor folk, so things are usually peaceful. But if you pass through, sir, I fear… That road is impassable, you had better detour!”

Ye Fusheng narrowed his eyes and smiled. “It’s no matter. Thank you for the warning, old man.”

With that, he prepared to crack his whip. Seeing him heading straight toward danger despite knowing the risk, the old man was at a loss for what to do. Just then, Ruan Feiyu’s voice came from inside the carriage: “Young Master Ye, it is better to avoid unnecessary trouble. Listen to this old man.”

Qin Lanshang was disgusted by the “amiable” Southern Scholar. She couldn’t understand how a turtle like him, who always sought profit and avoided harm, had dared to push for new reforms and abolish the old faction. Hearing his words, she mocked, “Old man, if you’re scared, stay inside and don’t come out. You won’t be required to swing a blade anyway, so what are you afraid of?”

Ye Fusheng patted her shoulder, thinking that with this girl around, any fierce woman in the world could be considered gentle. After pondering for a moment, he asked the old man, “In that case, do you know of any other path out of the mountains?”

Relieved that their savior wasn’t marching to his death, the old man quickly said, “Yes! There’s a small path behind my house. Although it’s steep, it’s hidden, and those newly arrived bandits don’t know about it.”

Ye Fusheng asked, “Could you please lead the way?”

“Leading the way is no trouble since we’re heading home anyway, but…” the thin man interjected, “that path runs along a cliff, so it’s impassable after dark. You might as well rest at my place, sir, as a way to repay your favor just now.”

“It was just a few words, hardly a favor,” Ye Fusheng shook his head, handing over a small silver ingot. “Then we shall trouble you.”

The old man tried to refuse, but the thin man took the silver, blew on it, and smiled with genuine warmth: “No trouble at all! No trouble at all! Follow us, sir!”

They turned down another small path and gradually faded into the distance. Long after their figures disappeared, a hand picked up the discarded wild rabbit.

The plump man watched the direction Ye Fusheng and the others had vanished. After a moment of silence, he smiled, as if talking to himself: “He actually possesses some kindness. Ah well…”