Chapter 699: Chapter 699
The Daoist and the little girl were slowly making their way along the mountain road, the Daoist leaning on his staff. Suddenly, a swallow flew in and landed in the treetops.0
“Sir, up ahead there’s a group of constables and soldiers. They seem to have something to do with you.”0
“Oh? Constables and soldiers? How would they have anything to do with me?”0
“They seem to be escorting something, and there’s an official with them. They’ve stopped to rest by the roadside. After we passed them, some common folk who saw them asked the official if they could travel together. The official kindly agreed, and then I heard him ask those commoners if they knew Yin-Yang Mountain in Lingquan County.”0
“I see…” The Daoist walked on, thinking.0
The official road wound around the mountains like an earthen serpent, sometimes exposing patches of stone beneath, but it was fairly easy to walk.0
The swallow glanced at Lady Calico, who was acting as a porter for little Jiang Han, and decided scouting ahead was far more pleasant, so it flew off again.0
Lady Calico, on the other hand, didn’t feel tired at all. She chatted with Jiang Han as they walked, teaching her a bit of cat speech. But after a while, she suddenly fell silent, craning her neck to look ahead.0
At some point, the earthen layer of the road had thinned, revealing the bluish stone underneath. The trees along the roadside had also grown much denser, blocking the warm late-spring sunlight and casting wide patches of shadow and dappled light across the ground.0
What caught her attention most, though, was the stone tablet beneath the trees. It was a boundary marker.0
At first sight, Lady Calico’s instinct was to rush up to it, read the inscription like she had with every boundary marker since she learned to read, then run back and tell the Daoist. But this time she restrained herself.0
Light flickered in her eyes.0
Some things she couldn’t quite remember outright, but now, without warning, fragments surfaced in her mind. Strange yet familiar pieces of memories weaved together into an odd feeling.1
She turned her head toward the Daoist Master, then back again. Holding her little bamboo staff without leaning on it, she followed the Daoist’s pace as they walked toward it.0
On one side, the stone read, “Yizhou Border.”0
On the other read, “Xuzhou Border.”0
It was the first prefectural boundary marker she had ever seen, and it was also the place where the Daoist had first taught her to read.0
Lady Calico stood there, gazing at it for a long time.0
In that moment, it was as if the scene from back then surged into her mind like a rising tide. It felt as though it had been a lifetime ago… and yet also as though it had been only a few days past.0
“That stupid cat…” Lady Calico couldn’t help but shake her head.0
She didn’t know that studying was the way to become strong.0
“Little Jiang Han, don’t learn from her. Once we return to the Daoist temple, I will personally teach you to read. You have to learn early if you want to become like me… or at least close to my level.”0
“Fool… Hmm, you said that very clearly. If only you’d say a few more words, it would be even better.”0
Lady Calico absentmindedly swung her bamboo staff as she walked forward. She glanced back several times, but in the end, she slowly moved farther away.0
Up ahead on the right was an open space.0
A large crowd was resting there.0
The people were clearly divided into two groups: One group occupied most of the area. In the middle stood several horse-drawn carts, and what they carried was unknown. Around them were more than a dozen soldiers and even more yamen officers. At the very front stood a man in official robes, speaking with members of the other group. 0
The other group was none other than the merchants and travelers Song You had met earlier at Nianping Ferry Crossing.0
The moment they saw Song You approach, the travelers lit up in excitement.0
“He’s here, he’s here…”0
“This is the gentleman who knew the Mountain Lord up ahead, he’s the one who saved our lives!”0
“Lord Cen was talking about Lingquan County’s Yin-Yang Mountain. We don’t know it, but this gentleman is a high Daoist priest. We might as well ask him; maybe he’ll know.”0
The official surnamed Cen followed their gaze toward the Daoist walking down the mountain road.0
From the tale the travelers told of their earlier encounter, if it had been over a decade ago, such a story might have been unbelievable. But even in these days, when spirits and monsters appeared frequently, such an experience was still enough to make anyone feel both astonished and fortunate. Judging by their faces, they weren’t lying, so the official couldn’t help but feel keen interest in this “Daoist priest” they spoke of.0
When the Daoist came near, the official stepped forward to greet him, first bowing and saying, “I am Cen Xing[1], my style name is Yuanguang. It’s an honor to meet you, sir.”0
“I am Song You, a Daoist from Yizhou. Greetings.”0
“I just heard that you are acquainted with the Mountain Lord in these mountains, and that you travel with a descendant of the Swallow Immortal of Anqing. You must indeed be a man of great magic and power. I have always admired such masters.” The official was rather young and, like most officials and scholars of the Great Yan, fond of befriending Daoists and eminent monks. “Might I ask, in which immortal mountain do you cultivate?”0
“It is no immortal mountain, just a small hill. I cultivate at a humble Daoist temple there.”1
Song You still didn’t know where these people came from, who they were, or why they wanted to seek out his temple, so he didn’t immediately reveal anything. It was better to avoid unnecessary entanglement.0
He asked instead, “May I know where you have come from, and where you are headed?”0
“We came from the capital of Changjing and are bound for Zhuozhou in Yizhou,” the official replied politely. “Have you heard of a place in Zhuozhou called Lingquan County? Outside Lingquan County is a mountain called Yin-Yang Mountain. They say there is a Daoist temple on the mountain. 0
“But back in Changjing, when we asked people from Yizhou, some had never heard of such a place; some knew of the county but not of any temple there; some had heard of the temple, but said many people had gone looking for it and could never find it… We have been ordered to go there, yet we don’t know whether this temple really exists. If it does, how could we find it?”0
As the official spoke, he studied the Daoist, the little girl beside him, and the baby she carried on her back. But the little girl only stared straight up at him, and the baby sucked her fingers while staring as well.0
The Daoist asked, “And what business takes you there?”0
The official’s eyes lit up, as this man seemed to know. But he hesitated, unsure whether to speak.0
In the end, he merely said, “To deliver something.”0
Unexpectedly, the Daoist smiled. “So it’s for the Mingde Great Encyclopedia, then.”0
“Ah?” The official was startled, eyes wide. “How did you know, Master? Could it be that you truly have great magic, able to divine such things?”0
The others nearby were also astonished.0
“Not so. My surname is Song, given name You, and I’m from Hidden Dragon Temple on Yin-Yang Mountain. Many years ago, I had some connection with Lord Cui, and I knew he was compiling a great encyclopedia that would be sent here.” As Song You spoke, he gestured to Lady Calico. “This is my attendant, Lady Calico.”0
“You… you are truly Immortal Song?”0
The young official surnamed Cen was momentarily stunned.0
“Lady Calico?” The official pointed to the girl carrying the baby on her back, his tone holding a trace of disbelief. “Could she be the very Lady Calico who authored Tianpin Diary?”0
“I have indeed read it.”0
The so-called Tianpin Diary was the travel journal Lady Calico wrote after journeying overseas years ago. She had submitted it to a bookseller in Yangzhou, who gave it the title Tianpin Diary[2].0
It was said this book had recently begun to gain popularity in Great Yan. Though strange-tale collections had long existed, there were few good ones, and even fewer written from firsthand experience with such vivid and meticulous detail. In its pages, the wonders and marvels of the overseas world dazzled the reader’s mind, from the rarely-seen and awe-inspiring Sea Dragon King to the White Rhino God, who had only in recent years begun to be worshiped by seafarers and coastal folk. The narrative viewpoint was unique, presented in the rare form of a diary, which made it beloved by many.0
Within this book, both the author’s unusual perspective and the depiction of a nameless Daoist capable of all things stirred admiration in different readers.0
The Daoist himself, however, had not yet read it.0
At this moment, he only smiled, neither confirming nor denying, and instead asked, “Has Lord Cui’s Mingde Great Encyclopedia been completed?”0
“Thanks to the court’s full support, and the tireless efforts of many scholars alongside Lord Cui, it was finished two years ago. On that day, heaven and earth over Changjing showed signs and omens. A copy was later made, and Lord Cui instructed us to deliver this very copy to Hidden Dragon Temple on Yin-Yang Mountain in Lingquan County, Zhuozhou, Yizhou after this year. Otherwise, if troubled times should come, this world-shaking work might be lost forever.”0
“I see.” The Daoist nodded, then asked, “I wonder how Lord Cui is doing these days?”0
Here, the young official’s face fell with regret. “Not long after finishing the work and its transcription, he rebuked the State Preceptor in court for abusing power. Prime Minister Yu even spoke out in his defense, going so far as to write poems and essays condemning the State Preceptor and hinting at the emperor’s faults. Both were charged with crimes… Lord Cui died in prison not long after.”0
“Alas…” The Daoist sighed upon hearing this.0
“In that case, please leave the encyclopedia here. I will take it back to the temple myself and safeguard it. If future generations can make use of it, it will be here for them. You may depart in peace.”0
The official hesitated briefly, but decided not to question the Daoist’s identity. He quickly turned to direct his men to unload the heavy crates from the wagons and place them on the ground.0
From their sheer number and weight, one could tell how vast this work was, and how much effort and heart had gone into it.0
“I will remain here for a time,” Song You told them. “Please see these common folk safely out of these wild mountains. It’s not far. If you no longer need to use carriages, you can take the Jinyang Road back to Changjing instead of returning by the same route, it’s much shorter.”0
“Farewell,” said Lord Cen, bowing respectfully.0
The young official then led the group of soldiers, yamen officers, and merchants away.0
After crossing one mountain, and then another, they could no longer see what lay behind them. Suddenly, they heard the rush of wind and the cry of a crane. Turning back, they saw a massive immortal crane beating its wings, soaring upward. In the blink of an eye, it rose from the mountains into the clouds, flying toward Yidu.0
“What a great crane…”0
“It seems that Daoist truly was the real thing!”0
“How can you be sure he really came from Yin-Yang Mountain in Lingquan County and wasn’t an impostor?”0
Everyone looked at the young official.0 Follow current ɴᴏᴠᴇʟs on novelꜰire.net
He only shook his head without answering.0
Lord Cui worked with him for several years, serving as both mentor and friend. Tianpin Diary was a book the two of them had read together. After Lord Cui entrusted this task to him, he had asked several times what was so special about that temple. Though Lord Cui had never described the Daoist there in detail, he had occasionally let slip a few hints, leaving a deep impression.0
Seeing this Daoist today and speaking with him, the official knew that this man was almost certainly the one Lord Cui had in mind.0