SS CH49

Their home was situated halfway up the mountain, built from stacked large green stones. It was impossible to tell how much wind and frost it had weathered; a few stones had already cracked and were plugged with smaller rocks and wooden boards, bearing the mottled scars of time.

It was past noon, but no cooking smoke rose from the stone house. Only a girl, roughly the same age as Qin Lanchang, was outside washing clothes. Behind the house was a small pool filled with crystal-clear mountain spring water. However, the season was late, and the water felt freezing to the touch. She was straining to lift a bucket of water to pour into a wooden basin when she heard the skinny man’s shout. Looking up, she caught sight of the strangers; her grip slipped, and the bucket crashed down, splashing water all over the ground.

_

She seemed unaccustomed to seeing outsiders and was incredibly shy. Hurriedly, she ducked into the house, leaving only her head peeking out to spy on them cautiously. The old man hitched the donkey to a tree stump, wiped the sweat from his brow, and called out, “Xiuer, stop hiding! Quick, pour some hot water for the guests!”

The girl uttered an “ah” and shrank back inside. A moment later, she emerged carrying a kettle of hot water and a few old bowls, though her demeanor remained entirely timid. Seeing that the girl’s hands were trembling as she poured the water, Ye Fusheng gave Qin Lanchang a meaningful look. However, the young mistress—despite her female appearance—possessed the inner sensibilities of a rugged brute. Ransacking her brain, she managed to blurt out a remarkably clumsy consolation: “Don’t be afraid, we won’t eat you.”

Ye Fusheng: “…”

To offend someone the moment she opened her mouth was practically courting disaster. He truly wondered what kind of eccentric the old sect master of the Hundred Ghosts Gate was to have raised a granddaughter with such a peculiar disposition.

“Do not be afraid, young lady. It is already improper for guests to disturb their host, and it would be our fault entirely if we made you cry.” Seeing that the girl looked on the verge of tears, Ye Fusheng sighed. He reached into his robes, drew out a small, red-lacquered box, and offered it to her. With a slight curl of his lips, he smiled. “You look a bit pale, young lady. Though this rouge is of humble quality, it may add a touch of color. Do not let the prime of youth be spent in vain.”

In this day and age, many women in the remote mountains lived their entire lives without ever touching rouge or cosmetics. The girl’s hand trembled, but she accepted it nonetheless. Ye Fusheng spoke a few more words to her in a soft, gentle voice, then turned to the skinny man and drank half a bowl of water as a substitute for wine, successfully easing the tension.

Watching him chat and joke with effortless charm, Qin Lanchang blinked. He had not only amused the two rough men into beaming smiles, but even the timid girl was whispering brief responses, stealing secret glances at him from time to time. Qin Lanchang suddenly felt a pang of worry: when her young uncle returned, would he break her legs for this?

“The scholar is hungry,” she abruptly announced. At the same time, she subtly nudged Lu Mingyuan from behind, nearly elbowing the poor scholar—who had only just managed to stand up—right back onto the ground.

The group, who had been conversing so warmly, seemed to snap awake. The skinny man and the girl went inside to prepare food, while the old man brought out a small stool to keep the guests company. Though Ruan Feiyu was a scholar, he bore no lofty or pretentious airs. He spoke of matters spanning from the heavens to the earth, from the cities to the countryside, with perfect balance—neither making the ignorant feel inferior nor boring those who already knew.

_

Ruan Feiyu inquired, “Life is harsh here, and there is the menace of mountain bandits. Why hasn’t an elder like yourself moved away, as others have?”

“Move? Where would we go?” The old man sighed, a look of sorrow and the wear of hardship filling every deep wrinkle on his face with that single breath. “I hear from passersby that times are tough everywhere. Wouldn’t it be the same wherever we go? Besides, most of our relatives and friends are gone, their bones buried right here. This old frame of mine doesn’t know how many days it has left; sooner or later, I’ll be joining them, so why bother uprooting?”

Though one’s body may be as drifting willow catkins and life as fleeting as duckweed, one’s roots are here. Even if one drifts to the ends of the earth, there would be nothing left to lean on.

Ye Fusheng asked, “Then with the mountain bandits causing trouble, hasn’t the local government done anything about it?”

“The government and the bandits belong to the same family; what is there to manage?” The old man set down his water bowl. “Leaving aside the fact that the county seat is far from here, the town itself is plagued with unrest. Those thugs dare to engage in petty thievery right under the noses of the officials. Even if they get locked up, they just spend a little money and come right back out to offend again, completely unfazed.”

Ruan Feiyu rubbed the rim of his water bowl with his finger and asked, “Why not appeal to higher authorities? I heard the imperial court has revised the laws. Citizens no longer have to roll over beds of nails or endure beatings with rods to accuse an official. As long as a written complaint is submitted with verified human and material evidence, justice can be served.”

“Is the master speaking of the New Law?” The old man raised a pair of cloudy eyes. “Though this old man rarely leaves the mountains, I have heard traveling merchants mention that someone dared to alter the ancestral laws… It seems it was pushed forward by a man named… hm, Ruan Shen.”

Ruan Feiyu smiled slightly. It was impossible to tell if it was out of self-satisfaction or something else, but the smile did not reach his eyes. He asked casually, “Old man, you know of Ruan Shen as well?”

A sharp glint flashed across the old man’s cloudy eyes as he said, “I hear the travelers speak of him with both curses and praise. A hundred different people will say a hundred different things. I have never seen him myself, but there are many in this world who are content with the status quo, and very few who dare to bring about change. For him to dare alter the laws of an entire nation, he must be a bold one, someone unafraid of death.”

Ruan Feiyu’s smile remained unchanged. “Listening to you speak, elder, you seem to be a man of learning yourself.”

The old man coughed a few times. “I read a few books in my youth, but I wouldn’t dare pretend to be a scholar!”

“Then why did you not continue your studies and sit for the imperial examinations?”

“The family was poor. Where would we find the spare coin for that?”

Lu Mingyuan suddenly chimed in, “Now that the New Law is being implemented, those from impoverished families can exchange labor for schooling. At the very least, they can learn to read and write, which is always a good thing.”

The old man glanced at him and smiled. “This old man’s household consists of only an incompetent son and a little granddaughter. Ultimately, we will grow old and die in these mountains, so there is no need to waste effort on such things.”

Being a woman herself, Qin Lanchang despised it when people looked down on women. Her expression instantly soured as she said, “Old grandpa, your granddaughter is young; she will eventually have to marry and manage a household. She can’t remain an illiterate village woman guarding an empty mountain her entire life, can she?”

The old man merely sighed and remained silent. Seeing this, Ye Fusheng changed the subject. “By the way, it rained heavily for days and has only just stopped a bit today. Since your home is in the mountains, elder, you must watch out carefully for natural disasters.”

“Is the master referring to a mudslide?” The old man froze for a moment, then laughed. “There is no need to worry about that! It’s been so long; I’ve only ever heard of a mudslide happening once, some thirty-odd years ago. It has been perfectly safe all these years.”

Hearing this, Ye Fusheng narrowed his eyes and said, “Then it seems I was merely worrying needlessly.”

With that settled, and seeing that Ruan Feiyu and the old man were conversing quite cheerfully, Ye Fusheng patted Qin Lanchang’s shoulder, signaling for her to walk around the area with him. Lu Mingyuan cast a glance at them, then looked back at his mentor, ultimately choosing to sit obediently without moving.

_

They walked along the small path outside the house, gradually putting some distance between themselves and the clearing. Qin Lanchang, loathing the thought of the muddy water ruining her shoes, leapt onto a large green boulder. Crouching down with her hands supporting her chin, she asked, “Uncle Ye, what did you want to say to me? I was listening so intently back there!”

This girl was sharp as a tack, so Ye Fusheng didn’t waste time teasing her. Scanning their surroundings out of the corner of his eye to ensure no one was spying, he unfastened a small silver flask from his waist and handed it over. “Take a sip.”

“What is this?”

“Something that neutralizes poison.”

“You…” Qin Lanchang caught on instantly. She quickly glanced back at the stone house, her expression turning grave. “There’s something wrong with those three?”

“The house is very old, but the people are very new,” Ye Fusheng said, crossing his arms. “They claim to have lived around here for many years, yet they aren’t even aware that the soil and rocks of this terrain are unstable and prone to natural disasters. Furthermore… both the old man and the skinny one have calluses on their hands, but the girl does not.”

Qin Lanchang frowned. “Isn’t it normal for people who do farm work to have calluses? Besides, she’s a girl; it’s natural for her to care about her appearance.”

“The calluses formed from manual labor are entirely different from those of a martial artist. And as for farm work… Heh, look at that vegetable patch. What kind of farmer would be so careless?” Ye Fusheng’s eyes swept over the area. The small vegetable plot behind the house might have been nourished by the rain, but the cabbages in the soil had already turned yellow and withered.

Unlike the imperial families who possessed estates and icehouses, mountain folk had to harvest and store vegetables like cabbage as soon as autumn deepened. Yet, looking at the state of that plot, it hadn’t been tended to for at least half a month.

Qin Lanchang’s heart skipped a beat as Ye Fusheng continued, “Lanchang, you were born into wealth, so you don’t know the hardships of the poor. Leave aside the remote mountains—even the daughters of the common market-folk have to do chores from a young age. Their hands will always be rough to some degree. Yet, that girl’s fingers are long, slender, and fair, with wear appearing only on her fingernails. That indicates a pair of hands meant for plucking the strings of a qin.”

Qin Lanchang gritted her teeth. “Is this trouble brought upon us by that old scoundrel Ruan?”

“A child your age should mind her tongue. But if you’re asking if they are after him… it’s highly likely,” Ye Fusheng said calmly. “So, drink up.”

Qin Lanchang took a sip with half a mind of doubt and nearly spat it right back out. It took her a long time to force down the universally reviled liquid. Her face looked as though she had an irreconcilable feud with him. “What kind of ghostly garbage is this?”

“Don’t be so temperamental; this is excellent stuff.” Ye Fusheng retrieved the small silver flask as if it were a precious treasure. “It’s a medicinal wine brewed from the Crimson-Heart Snow Lotus. Ordinary poisons flee from it like mice encountering a cat.”

The Crimson-Heart Snow Lotus was a rare, miraculous herb known throughout the land for its divine efficacy in clearing the mind and neutralizing poisons; it wasn’t a common sight even within the Hundred Ghosts Gate. Hearing this, Qin Lanchang said incredulously, “The taste is worse than bitter medicinal soup! You must be lying to me!”

Ye Fusheng rubbed his nose. In truth, he hadn’t believed it either in the past. However, his martial aunt was entirely capable of maintaining the face of a celestial being while concocting things completely unfit for human consumption.

Clearing his throat slightly, he diverted the topic. “Later, I’ll provide a distraction for you. Make sure both Ruan Feiyu and that bookworm take a sip. It’s better to be safe than sorry.”

Qin Lanchang asked in confusion, “Since we clearly know there’s something wrong with them, wouldn’t it be easier to just capture them directly?”

Ye Fusheng looked at her and sighed. “Girl, do you grow a brain just to make yourself look taller?”

Qin Lanchang: “…”

“Among the four of us, we’ve managed to account for the old, the weak, the sick, and the disabled. We have no idea what kind of hidden hand they have prepared. If we rashly shed all pretenses, we will certainly be the ones to suffer.”

Qin Lanchang frowned. “Then what should we do?”

With a smile hovering on his lips, the light in Ye Fusheng’s eyes gradually turned cold. “We watch and wait. We will lure the snake out of its bamboo thicket.”