Chapter 97: Paying Respects to the Mountain Stronghold

(There's another chapter tonight.)

The group slowly traveled south along the Dragon Whisker Creek and Iron Talisman River, covering a little over sixty *li* each day. Li BaoPing and Li Huai were children of extraordinary stamina, and although Lin Shouyi had already worn through two pairs of straw sandals, as the son of a wealthy family, he refused to admit defeat in front of the two Li children, enduring the hardship. Coupled with Chen PingAn's method of applying herbal poultices to his feet, he finally managed to persevere. With the help of the white donkey and horses carrying their belongings, the journey wasn't too arduous.

Chen PingAn deeply admired the three children, and the words "traveling student" and "scholar" carried even more weight in the straw-sandaled boy's mind.

Dragon Spring County belonged to the Yongjia Prefecture of the Great Li Dynasty. Long ago, all the dynasties of the Eastern Treasure Bottle Continent issued an edict that any state, prefecture, or county containing the character "dragon" had to be renamed to avoid the taboo. Now, Dragon Spring County probably benefited from the blessing of the Carp Pearl Grotto-Heaven, allowing it to be an exception.

The rooted location of the shattered grotto-heaven was much further south than its earlier suspended position, and it was actually only a month's journey by carriage on the official postal roads to the Wild Man Pass on the southern border of the Great Li.

Zhu He, from the Li family in Fortune Street, should have read many private collections, knowing many things beyond their own front door. Chen PingAn would often consult with Zhu He, and Zhu He was happy to ask the boy about the rules and tricks of going into the mountains and wading through the water. For some reason, A'Liang drank more often and spoke less. Lin Shouyi, since drinking the strong liquor from the silver gourd, had become very close to A'Liang, often asking him questions and showing a tendency to become a little drunkard.

Li BaoPing had a painted edition of the Great Li Dynasty's prefectural and county gazetteer in her small bookcase, which should only be archived and secretly kept by the governor's office of a state. According to the gazetteer, they would soon be climbing a mountain range called Chessboard Mound Mountain, with a mountain road of over three hundred *li*, passing through four prefectures, including Yongjia and White Cloud.

The group rested at the foot of the mountain. Li Huai looked at the path, which was no wider than Riding Dragon Lane, stunned. After the shock, he turned and angrily cursed, "A'Liang! This is what you call an official postal road, specially built by the Great Li Dynasty?! This broken road as thin as a chicken intestine is considered an official road?"

Postal roads, commonly known as official horse roads, connect all the prefectures and counties of a dynasty. Postal roads are like the meridians of the human body; once blocked, the flow of qi and blood is obstructed. For a country, it means that government orders cannot be carried out.

A'Liang sat on a rotten wooden stump by the roadside, tilting his head back and drinking, laughing. "Postal roads also have levels. The Wild Man Pass on the southern border of the Great Li has three postal roads leading to the north. The Chessboard Mound Mountain postal road is the smallest, mostly used to transport porcelain, tea, and refined salt. It used to be very lively with people coming and going. Now that the Carp Pearl Grotto-Heaven has fallen to the ground, blocking the original north-south passage, this postal road has been temporarily abandoned, cutting off the livelihood of many people. Many goods are stalled at a water transport wharf at the southern foot of Chessboard Mound Mountain, called Red Candle Town. Hmm, the pleasure boats there are mostly small boats with two or three people. At night, they are brightly lit, and the girls on the boats are very pretty, sitting on the bow or stern, deliberately showing their fair legs to you. You can order a pot of wine and a plate of peanuts in a wine shop on the shore and watch all night for free without spending money."

The maid Zhu Lu quickly bent down and covered her young mistress's ears to prevent her from being defiled by the rogue's licentious words. She said angrily, "We are not staying overnight in that Red Candle Town!"

A'Liang pointed to Chen PingAn with his wine gourd, grinning. "Whether we stay overnight or not, you have to ask him. He is the God of Wealth who manages our money bag."

Zhu Lu's eyes were sharp, filled with killing intent, as if she would kill Chen PingAn if he dared to nod.

Chen PingAn thought for a moment, his expression serious. "We definitely need to stop in the town to replenish some essential supplies. As for whether we stay overnight, it depends on how expensive the inns and hostels are. There are many of us. If the prices are unfair, we'll just have to forget about it."

Zhu Lu's face was gloomy, and she was aggressive. "If it's cheap, we'll stay in that kind of dirty place with powder and rouge? Chen PingAn! Have you ever thought that my young mistress and Lin Shouyi are both half-Confucian disciples and students of Cliff Academy? How can they live next to those depraved women? Even if they can't see those disgusting scenes, they'll always hear some unbearable, lewd sounds!"

Chen PingAn steeled himself and replied, "We'll see when we get to the town."

Zhu Lu was furious. Zhu He stopped his daughter. "Just do as PingAn says. Don't jump to conclusions. We'll see when we get there. It's not like we have to stay overnight in Red Candle Town."

Zhu Lu pointed at Chen PingAn, still seething with anger. "It's a good thing you're not a scholar, or those books of sages would be shamed because of you!"

Chen PingAn, who had been learning to read and write with Li BaoPing and Zhu He along the way, was immediately defeated by Zhu Lu's righteous demeanor.

The culprit A'Liang gloated.

Zhu Lu finally glanced at the jade hairpin on the boy's head, finding it truly an eyesore, and sneered, "A monkey in fine attire!"

Zhu He said softly, "Zhu Lu!"

Li BaoPing and Lin Shouyi frowned at the same time.

A'Liang lazily took a sip of wine. Even the best wine loses its flavor if you keep drinking it. He thought of the newly brewed Apricot Blossom Spring in Red Candle Town and looked forward to it, wondering how to trick some silver from Chen PingAn to satisfy his craving.

Chen PingAn hesitated, but in the end, he didn't speak, silently leading them up the mountain.

However, before entering the mountain, the straw-sandaled boy still bowed three times as usual.

This was an old rule passed down by Old Yao, but he never explained the reason to Chen PingAn. Chen PingAn had always done it without fail these past years.

A'Liang scoffed at this, and he never paid attention to Chen PingAn's request not to sit on tree stumps, just plopping down whenever he was tired, just like he was doing now.

Chen PingAn wasn't the kind of person who liked to impose his preferences on others. After trying to persuade him twice, and since A'Liang continued to do as he pleased and there were no problems along the way, Chen PingAn didn't say anything more.

The next section of the long mountain road, although paved with bluestone postal road, was quite difficult to travel.

In late spring, the mountain wilderness showed no signs of decline. The grass and trees were lush, and the flowering trees were in full bloom, full of vitality, as if this year's spring was particularly long, reluctant to end.The mountain path twisted and turned, winding upwards. Regardless of age, the travelers had wrapped their legs with cotton gaiters to strengthen their feet. Each held a wooden staff, and wore the straw sandals hand-woven by Chen Pingan. Even Zhu He and his daughter Zhu Lu, who had several pairs of sturdy boots in their luggage, were no exception.

Zhu Lu initially refused, finding the sandals too ugly and shabby. But after encountering a rainy day in the mountains, the muddy path caused her to slip frequently. As a martial artist of considerable skill, she wasn't in mortal danger, but her stumbles were embarrassing. Eventually, she reluctantly took the straw sandals from her father and silently put them on. Li Huai snickered, provoking the infuriated girl to stomp hard on his foot in the mud. The strike from a martial artist at the peak of the second realm was powerful. Li Huai was instantly covered in mud.

The child came from a poor family and had brought few changes of clothes. This immediately struck a nerve. He burst into tears. Lin Shouyi, unwilling to get involved in the mess, rolled his eyes while resting to the side. Zhu He, a man of simple virtue despite being a fifth-realm martial artist, patiently apologized to the boy, promising to buy him a new set of clothes when they reached a town. But the child was sensitive about his poverty. Seeing the ill-tempered girl with her wealthy father, he felt like salt was being rubbed into his wounds. He cried even harder, stomping his feet in the mud until he resembled a small mud monkey. Soon, everyone was irritated. Chen Pingan tried to console him, but Li Huai refused to listen, and Chen Pingan was quickly splattered with mud as well. Fortunately, Chen Pingan had endured far worse hardships and didn't lose his temper, only feeling a bit helpless.

Zhu Lu seized the opportunity to stir things up, saying, "See? No good deed goes unpunished, Chen Pingan. You should just leave this heartless brat behind."

Li Huai cried even louder.

Li Bao Ping scolded him, but it did no good.

Chen Pingan thought for a moment, then tentatively asked, "Li Huai, how about I make you a small bamboo box later?"

The child immediately stopped crying, roughly wiping away his tears and snot. He asked earnestly, "How big?"

Chen Pingan replied, "Not too big, you're small, and it shouldn't be too heavy to carry. If you don't agree, pretend I didn't say anything. You can keep crying, and we'll keep going. It's up to you whether you keep up."

Li Huai grinned, "Small is fine, but it has to be pretty! At least as good-looking as Li Bao Ping's book box!"

Zhu Lu clicked her tongue. "Like father like son. Learning to swindle and deceive at such a young age. The character of the parents is plain to see. What a fine family!"

Li Huai, anticipating his bamboo box, winked, nearly causing Zhu Lu to explode.

Chen Pingan turned to Lin Shouyi and said, "Want me to make a book box for you too?"

He smiled. "It's just a small matter."

Lin Shouyi was about to refuse but hesitated after hearing the last part. He nodded.

The summit of Chessboard Mountain was a peculiar sight, resembling a giant threshing ground commonly found in towns. The ground was flat, as if a celestial being had sliced off the mountain peak with a sword.

The children were overjoyed. Even Zhu He, gazing at the north, felt refreshed and wanted to shout.

Chen Pingan was accustomed to mountains, especially after his last journey. He was relatively calm.

They would spend the night on the summit. Zhu He and Zhu Lu began setting up tents. Li Huai and Lin Shouyi went to gather flammable firewood. Chen Pingan and Li Bao Ping used stones to build a stove for cooking. Their supplies of rice and dried vegetables were running low, and they needed to find a market town to resupply. Along the way, Chen Pingan collected medicinal herbs he found and placed them in his basket. Because he was familiar with mountain travel and sure-footed, he could quickly catch up with the group even when detouring to climb cliffs. He had already gathered a small basket of dried rare herbs, hoping to save a little money.

After finishing their rice with a few plates of pickled vegetables, Ah Liang started a rebellion, banging on his white bowl with chopsticks along with Li Huai, demanding meat.

Chen Pingan nodded and said he would set a few traps tonight to see if he could catch some mountain chickens for meat in the morning.

Snakes have snake paths, and mice have mouse trails. It was the same for the beasts of the mountain. Chen Pingan was familiar with this and could easily spot the routes that wild animals used to find food and water. It wasn't complicated to make small traps from trees and stones. Practice made perfect. As dusk fell, the sky was filled with colorful clouds. After the youth left the summit to try his luck, the surrounding clouds gathered and dispersed rapidly, like a mischievous child changing faces. At the same time, the clear mountain scenery gave a somber feeling to those who were perceptive.

This made Zhu He's mood heavy. Trying not to disturb the three students reciting books, nor to disturb his daughter sitting alone on the cliff, Zhu He thought for a moment and went to a secluded place. He took out a yellowed ancient book from his robes and turned to the "Mountain Opening" page in the middle. His finger stopped near the "Soil-Gathering Incantation," carefully reading the tiny red characters. He turned the page, revealing two diagrams. One depicted a small mountain, with its base like intertwined bamboo shoots, annotated with "Mount Tai Talisman" in the blank space beside it. The other showed the mysterious hand seals.

Zhu He's expression was grave as he muttered intermittently, deepening his impression. "Take a handful of soil each from the east and south sides of the mountain, preferably with the character 'Yue' [mountain], 'Shan' [mountain] is also acceptable," "Burn a Mountain God Talisman, step on the characters 'Kui' and 'Gang', exhale a breath, and borrow a mountain from the Mountain God and Land Deity. Qi connects with the earth..."Closing the ancient text, Zhu He carefully returned it to his embrace. He then drew a yellow talisman from a stack in his sleeve, and following the book's instructions, gathered a handful of soil from both the east and south sides of the stone terrace. He began to mold the earth into the shape of the ancient character for "Yue," meaning a towering mountain above a prison, 山嶽. Just as Zhu He was about to ignite the yellow talisman given to him by the Li family's ancestor, he jumped in surprise. Ah Liang had silently squatted beside him, a wine flask in hand, chuckling, "That mountain-entry talisman in your hand is made of common materials. The brushwork of the person who drew it isn't bad, but in the Dao of talismans, even a single step out of place is unacceptable. The quality of the paper is as important as a person's bones. It can't bear the weight of the 'Yue' character. I advise you to just write the single character '岳'. Otherwise, you might not summon the spirit and instead anger the mountain god."

Zhu He was, after all, a novice in dealing with the legendary mountain spirits and deities. He was a bit nervous, and whispered, "Senior Ah Liang, does this Chessboard Mountain truly have a resident land spirit or mountain god? If so, why is there such a heavy aura of Yin energy?"

Ah Liang leisurely took a swig of wine and scoffed, "Who told you that mountain gods and land spirits are necessarily benevolent?"

Zhu He looked bewildered. "Aren't they?"

Ah Liang chuckled. "I was just saying. Only the heavens know if the master of this place has a good temper towards guests."

Zhu He suddenly realized, "No, Chen Ping'an is alone, not on the mountain peak!"

Ah Liang nodded.

Zhu He anxiously said, "Senior Ah Liang, will you find Chen Ping'an while I continue with this Soil-Gathering Mountain Spell? I, Zhu He, am only a Fifth Realm martial artist. I'm confident I can put up a fight against secular experts, but when it comes to those strange things, I'm truly at a loss."

Ah Liang chuckled, got up, and swaggered away, casually tossing back the words, "Then be careful yourself."