NABC Chapter 2 Old men are more reliable than widows
Chapter 2 Old men are more reliable than widows
The damp, cold night air of the mountain forest felt like countless tiny ice needles, shamelessly piercing Yang Jin's exposed skin and wounds.
He staggered and stumbled, relying on his memory of the path through Black Mountain Pass, and by the moonlight, he walked step by step toward Widow Li's house.
He had even prepared his explanation and the possibility of being forced into a situation against his will.
Every step he took aggravated his injuries, especially the deepest wound on his left arm.
Those were cuts from sharp rocks when I fell off the cliff. Although I don't know how long I was in the stone coffin, and the blood that flowed out had congealed into a dark red scab, every time I moved my arm, it would cause a tearing pain, and warm blood would seep out.
The superpower "Weak Rock Skin" given to him by the Earth-Walking Marmoset Spirit seems to only slightly enhance the toughness of the skin's surface, and has little effect on healing wounds on the body.
The warm current that had helped him in the stone coffin became extremely weak after he broke free of it; it was barely enough to keep him unconscious.
"It hurts so much... Sun Yaozu... I'll pay you back...!"
"Hurry to Widow Li's house to treat your wound, otherwise it will get infected, and if they don't find out and beat you to death, you'll die of the disease..."
Yang Jin walked for a while longer, but he was so tired and in pain that he leaned against an old pine tree trunk, panting and cursing Sun Yaozu. Cold sweat mixed with freshly seeping blood slid down his forehead.
He struggled to tear off another piece of relatively clean undergarment fabric, intending to tighten it around his left arm wound to slow the bleeding, but the tear pulled at the wound, causing him to wince in pain.
The mountains and forests are nothing but darkness and the sounds of birds and the fragrance of flowers.
The moonlight, fragmented into dappled patches by the dense canopy of trees, could not obscure his greetings to the ancestors of the Sun family for eighteen generations…
Just as he gritted his teeth and prepared to continue walking, a dim, flickering light suddenly appeared at the bend in the forest path ahead!
It's a lantern!
anyone? !
Are they here to arrest me?
No, nobody knows I'm still alive. Don't scare yourself.
Yang Jin forced himself to remain calm. After thinking for a moment, he hid behind a clump of dense ferns by the roadside. He held his breath and peeked through the gaps in the leaves.
The figure carrying the lantern quickly approached.
It was an old man with a hunched back, wearing a faded old coat, carrying a lantern in one hand and leaning on an old vine cane in the other.
The lamplight illuminated his deeply lined face and graying beard, and his eyes appeared cloudy in the dim light.
Memories surfaced... It was the old hunter, Shi Jian!
In the original owner's memories, Shi Jian was one of the oldest hunters in Heishan'ao Village. He was aloof and taciturn, and lived alone in an old house at the foot of the mountain for many years. It was said that he was an extremely skilled hunter when he was young. Although he was old now, he still had prestige, and even the Sun family treated him with some respect.
When the original owner's father, Yang Sanmu, was alive, he had some acquaintance with Shi Jian.
Damn memories... I didn't think of Shi Jian right away, I was just thinking about Widow Li, wasn't I?!
However, why would Shi Jian appear on a mountain road far from the village in the middle of the night?
And judging from the direction he went, it seems he was heading towards the hanging burial cliff.
Yang Jin was filled with doubt and apprehension, and dared not make a sound.
His current appearance, as if he had "come back to life" and covered in blood, would startle anyone who saw him.
If you were mistaken for a "zombie" monster, you would definitely be beaten to death.
Shi Jian's cane could also kill someone.
However, what you fear most often comes to pass; fate never lets anyone have an easy time.
Shi Jian's steps suddenly stopped when he was less than three zhang away from where Yang Jin was hiding.
The old man suddenly raised his cloudy eyes and aimed precisely at the ferns where Yang Jin was hiding!
His nostrils twitched slightly, as if he had caught a whiff of something in the air.
"Who's there?"
Shi Jian's voice was hoarse and deep, carrying the keen senses of an old hunter.
Yang Jin was so frightened that his muscles tensed up and he even stopped breathing.
"How did they manage to spot me?! They must have X-ray vision!"
"Come out." Shi Jian's voice turned colder, and he slightly raised his cane. "This old man's eyes are failing, but my nose is still working. The smell of blood, fresh, mixed with... the smell of mud and ash from the Hanging Burial Cliff."
"Such a sensitive nose?!"
Yang Jin's mind raced. Since he had been discovered, he might as well meet him.
Perhaps, given Yang Sanmu's friendship with Shi Jian, he might not need to go to Widow Li's house.
He took a deep breath, slowly parted the fern leaves in front of him, and stepped out of the shadows.
The dim light shone on him, revealing his tattered, blood-stained clothes, pale and haggard face, scabbed wounds, and eyes that shone exceptionally bright in the darkness...
The moment Shi Jian saw Yang Jin's face clearly, his pupils suddenly contracted, his hand holding the lantern trembled violently, and the light shook wildly.
His face first showed extreme shock, then disbelief, and finally a complex expression that mixed fear, vigilance, and some deeper meaning.
"Yang... Yang Jin, kid?" Shi Jian's voice trembled noticeably. "You... you weren't already..."
"Master Shi," Yang Jin began, "if I said... I'm not dead... would you believe me?"
Shi Jian stared intently at him, his gaze as sharp as a hawk's, as if trying to see right through him.
The atmosphere between the two became strange, with only the rustling of the night wind through the treetops and the faint howls of beasts in the distance.
Yang Jin was terrified that Shi Jian might suddenly attack and kill him with that cane. In the past, he would have beaten the old man to a pulp in no time, but now it was truly a 50/50 chance.
After a long silence, Shi Jian exhaled a long breath of white air, his cloudy eyes darting around as he scanned the surrounding mountains and forests again. Then, lowering his voice, he said urgently, "Boy, this isn't the place to talk! Come with me!"
After saying that, he didn't look at Yang Jin, turned around and strode back the way he came. His steps were a little unsteady, but very firm.
Yang Jin hesitated for a moment.
I decided to follow them anyway.
It wasn't that he didn't want to go to Widow Li's house, but in his current state, going to Shi Jian's house would be faster.
Moreover, Yang Jin could sense that Shi Jian had no hostility towards him, but rather a certain eager concern. Thinking back to Shi Jian's character in the original owner's memories... the old man is more reliable than the widow!
Shi Jian didn't look back the whole way, but simply raised the lantern in his hand slightly to light the way for Yang Jin behind him.
Yang Jin: "That old man has a good eye."
The two walked one after the other through the mountains and forests, avoiding the main road and choosing secluded and difficult paths.
After walking for about half an hour, a solitary, old stone house appeared ahead, half-buried in the mountainside.
The front of the house is a low wall made of stones, and old hunting tools such as animal traps and bows and arrows are scattered in the yard.
Shi Jian pushed open the creaking wooden door and went in first.
Yang Jin followed closely behind.
The furnishings inside were simple but clean: a wooden bed, a rough wooden table, a few stools, and some animal hides and firewood piled in the corner.
The air was filled with the mixed smells of firewood, herbs, and animal hides.
Inside the niche carved into the stone wall, an oil lamp emitted a faint light.
Shi Jian hung the lantern by the door, turned around and bolted the door, then walked to the window and drew the heavy linen curtains tightly shut.
After doing all this, he sat down at the table and gestured for Yang Jin to sit down as well.
Yang Jin obediently sat down. He was truly exhausted, even more so than Li... well, never mind.
Shi Jian stared at Yang Jin for a long while before slowly speaking, his voice low: "Tell me, what exactly happened? Three days ago, the Sun family found your body at the bottom of Eagle Sorrow Gorge. When they brought it back, I saw it with my own eyes. There was no breath, several broken bones, and your face was covered in blood. You were definitely gone. The village followed the rules, washed you clean, changed you into your burial clothes, and yesterday afternoon, they placed your coffin in the cliffside burial area."
"Now, you're sitting right here, alive." Shi Jian's gaze was sharp as a knife, sending a chill down Yang Jin's spine. "Tell me, are you a human or a ghost? Or... are you possessed by some unclean spirit from the mountains?"
Yang Jin thought to himself, "As expected, the old man is shrewd with age; he really guessed right."
He's truly possessed!
However, in our area, this thing isn't called possession, it's called time travel! That's really something.
His mind raced, and the lies began to flow.
"Master Shi, I am Yang Jin, a living person." Facing Shi Jian's scrutinizing gaze, his voice was a little weak, but it had a shameless confidence. "That day at Eagle Beak Rock, Sun Yaozu falsely accused me of stealing his ginseng. I argued with him... He suddenly attacked me, ordered his men to beat me up, and even pushed me off the cliff."
"I was lucky. I landed on the cliffside amidst vines and rocks, and was knocked unconscious, but not quite dead. The Sun family came down to look for me, thinking I was dead... They didn't even look closely." Yang Jin's eyes flashed with hatred as he said this. "I was actually still breathing... Then they carried me up the cliff and sealed me in a stone coffin. It was dark and stuffy inside, and I... I don't know what happened, but suddenly I had a burst of strength, and I desperately smashed the coffin lid and climbed out."
He omitted the parts about the mountain cauldron and its spirit, only saying that he had never died and that he was lying to Sun Yaozu.
Although this explanation is full of doubts, it is at least more acceptable to Shi Jian than "corpse resurrection" or "possession by a ghost".
After listening, Shi Jian remained silent for a long time.
He stood up, walked to Yang Jin, stretched out his withered hand, and pinched Yang Jin's shoulder and arm, then checked his pulse and forehead.
The skin was warm, though a little cool, it did have body temperature.
The pulse was a little weak, but it was really beating.
Although his breathing was shallow, it was barely even.
"He's alive..." Shi Jian muttered to himself, sitting back down on the stool, his expression shifting. "He's really tough... In Eagle's Sorrow Gorge, ten people would die if they fell in. You actually survived, and even climbed out of the stone coffin on the cliff..."
He suddenly looked up, staring at Yang Jin: "When you climbed out, did you encounter anything... strange? Did you hear any strange noises? The Hanging Burial Cliff is a very eerie place!"
Yang Jin was stunned for a moment, not expecting anything so sinister.
But the glowing moss in the underground cave and the escaped mountain foxes... you know what, you really have to admit, they're actually a bit eerie!
However, Yang Jin didn't say any of this, and shook his head, saying:
"No, it was already dark when I climbed out. I only saw a lot of coffins. I was scared, so I found an old stone staircase and ran down as fast as I could. I rested for a while in a cave with water, and then I made my way down the mountain."
Shi Jian nodded slightly, letting out a sigh of relief, but his eyes remained grave: "Consider yourself lucky you didn't run into 'those things'."
He paused, his tone becoming extremely serious, "Yang Jin, listen carefully. Your 'resurrection' must absolutely, positively, not be known to anyone!"
Why?
Yang Jin asked knowingly, "Is there any need to explain?! Even a dog knows why."
"Why?" Shi Jian sneered. "First, the rules of the Hanging Burial Cliff are that the coffin is sealed for three days to allow the soul to rest in peace. Now that you've climbed out, in the eyes of the villagers, you've become a 'zombie,' an evil spirit! At best, they'll tie you up and burn talismans to exorcise the evil; at worst... they'll just kill you as a monster, or capture you again and seal you up!"
"Secondly, the Sun family!" Shi Jian lowered his voice, a hint of disgust flashing in his eyes. "That brat Sun Yaozu is ruthless and heartless, and his father, Sun Mancang, is an even bigger smiling tiger. Since they tried to kill you and framed you for theft, they wanted to ruin your reputation, making you die with the name of a thief. Now that you're alive, do you think they'll let you go? They'll probably send someone to finish you off immediately, then tell everyone you've become a zombie and are harming people, and they're ridding the world of a scourge!"
Yang Jin strongly agreed with Shi Jian's words.
It was exactly what he thought.
What Shi Jian said was his biggest worry.
"The Sun family is now all-powerful in Black Mountain Valley," Shi Jian sighed. "They've monopolized the routes into the mountains to gather herbs, and they're connected to 'Hundred Herbs Hall' in town. They're rich and powerful. When your father was alive, he could still hold his own with his hunting skills, but now... sigh."
"So, Master Shi, you went there late at night because..." Yang Jin asked tentatively.
Shi Jian glanced at him and said, "I was once saved by your father. I'm uneasy about what happened to you. The Hanging Burial Cliff... I always felt something was off about it. I was planning to go down to the cliff and take a look from a distance under the cover of night, but I didn't expect to run into you on the way."
He paused, took a drag of his cigarette, and said, "This can be considered as your father's spirit in heaven allowing you to meet me."
Yang Jin felt a warmth in his heart, never expecting that someone still remembered that guy from the past.
He rose and bowed deeply to Shi Jian, as if to repay a debt on behalf of his predecessor, saying, "Thank you for your concern, Master Shi!"
"Alright, enough with the formalities." Shi Jian waved his hand. "What are you planning to do now? You definitely can't stay in Black Mountain Pass any longer."
What should I do? How would I know what to do?
Before meeting Shi Jian, he was thinking of finding Widow Li to perform and sell his body.
However, judging from Shi Gong's tone and his current public image, he must have something to say.
"I want revenge."
Yes, I want revenge!
If I don't take revenge, I'll be letting down my extraordinary master!
Yang Jin raised his head, his eyes filled with hatred and resentment. "Sun Yaozu killed me. If I don't avenge him, I've lived in vain!"
Shi Jian wasn't surprised, but he frowned and said, "Revenge? Easier said than done. Several of the Sun family's guards are skilled in martial arts, and Sun Mancang himself is said to have learned martial arts in his youth; three or five ordinary men can't get close to him. That kid Sun Yaozu has also learned a few moves. What do you have to take revenge with? With your frail body that could be blown away by a gust of wind?"
Yang Jin felt a little guilty, but he couldn't let his momentum falter; that was a matter of pride.
"So what... Just because I can't now doesn't mean I can't in the future."
"Thirty years is a river... never mind, saying that gives me goosebumps!"
However, there is a key issue that must be addressed.
Yang Jin said, "Master Shi, I need a place to hide and time to heal my injuries and become stronger."
He has some kind of magic touch; maybe he really can turn fortunes around in thirty years. Don't underestimate a young man's potential.
Shi Jian pondered for a moment, his gaze sweeping over the simple stone house before finally settling on a corner: "Underneath this old house of mine is a cellar, which was used to store meat to avoid bandits in the old days; very few people know about it. You can hide there for now. I'll find a way to get you food and drink."
"I will never forget Lord Shi's great kindness in my life!" Yang Jin bowed again.
"Don't thank me yet," Shi Jian said solemnly. "Below the cellar is an old mine tunnel, abandoned many years ago. It's very dark in there, and there might be collapses or other things. Stay in there and don't wander around. Also, you absolutely cannot come out during the day, don't make any noise, and don't let anyone know you're here!"
"I understand," Yang Jin replied solemnly.
Shi Jian then got up, walked to the corner of the wall, and laboriously moved a heavy old wooden cabinet.
Behind the wooden cabinet, an inconspicuous stone slab was visible.
He gripped the groove on the edge of the stone slab, pulled hard, and the slab was lifted up, revealing a dark, downward-pointing hole. A cool breeze mixed with the smell of mildew and earth blew out of the hole.
"Don't rush down yet."
Shi Jian stopped Yang Jin, who was about to go down into the cave, and turned around to walk to the broken wooden box in the corner of the room and began to rummage through it.
"With all your wounds, so dirty and raw, if you crawled into a damp cellar, your wounds would definitely fester. Come and sit down."
Yang Jin thought to himself, "The old hunter is the most experienced. This is what they mean by 'having an elder in the family is like having a treasure.'"
Shi Jian quickly found a rough earthenware jar and a roll of relatively clean gray cloth. He also poured half a bowl of turbid liquid from an earthenware jar, which smelled faintly of wine.
"This is homemade liquor, it's very strong, and the sterilization process is excellent. Just bear with it."
He first used a small knife to carefully remove the tattered strips of cloth and dirt stuck around Yang Jin's wound by the light of the oil lamp.
Next, I used a gray cloth dipped in local liquor to clean the wound.
The icy liquor touched the torn flesh, bringing a burning pain. Yang Jin shuddered, his jaw clenched, and the veins on his forehead bulged, but he didn't utter a sound.
Time traveler! Don't embarrass your family back home!
"He's a tough guy." Shi Jian glanced at him, his hands still moving, a hint of approval in his voice. "He's no worse than your father was back then."
After cleaning the wounds, especially the longest cut on his left arm, Shi Jian opened the earthenware jar. Inside was a dark, paste-like substance that emitted a strong herbal smell.
"This is 'black plaster,' which I mixed myself. It's the most effective for treating external injuries and preventing ulcers. The old folks in the mountains all use this."
He used a piece of wood to carve out the plaster and applied it evenly to Yang Jin's wound.
The ointment felt cool at first, but soon a slight warming sensation followed, as if it were really effective.
Finally, Shi Jian carefully bandaged the wound with a strip of gray cloth.
"Alright, the bleeding has stopped, and the medicine has been applied. Don't get it wet for the next couple of days, and don't exert yourself." Shi Jian tidied up the things, then took two dark, coarse grain cakes from the earthenware pot by the stove and handed them to Yang Jin. "Eat something first to fill your stomach. It's cold and damp in the cellar, so you'll have to eat your fill to stay warm. You can go downstairs after the musty smell has dissipated a bit."
The flatbread was hard and rough, but in Yang Jin's mouth, it was better than any delicacy... better than... well, that's all in the past.
He wolfed down his food, finishing it in a few bites. He then drank a few mouthfuls of cold water from a broken bowl that Shi Jian handed him, finally feeling a touch of warmth in his icy body and lessening his weakness.
"Go down now." Shi Jian handed Yang Jin an oil lamp and an old cotton quilt that was patched but still quite thick. "There's an old wooden bed downstairs. Remember my words, never come out during the day, and hide if there's any noise. I'll bring you food and water."
Yang Jin accepted the gifts, a warm feeling of gratitude welling up inside him. He solemnly said again, "I can never repay Master Shi's great kindness in this lifetime!"
"Stop talking nonsense. Just stay alive, heal your injuries, and don't embarrass your father. That's all you need to repay his kindness." Shi Jian waved his hand, signaling him to leave.
Yang Jin stopped making empty promises, holding the quilt in one hand and protecting the oil lamp with the other, and stepped into the cellar, walking step by step down the rough stone steps.
The stone steps are not long, only a dozen or so.
Below was a small cellar, about ten feet square, with some dry grass piled up in the corner and a tattered straw mat on top.
The air is damp and chilly, but its advantage lies in its safety and secrecy.
Who would have thought that Yang Jin would come back from the dead and hide in the old man's cellar?!
Normal people would go to Widow Li, right?
He had just put the oil lamp aside when he heard a muffled thud as the stone slabs closed above him, and the scraping sound of a wooden cabinet being moved back to its original place.
The cellar fell silent again, with only the flickering oil lamp casting his shadow on the earthen wall.
Yang Jin sat down on the haystack and exhaled a long breath.
We're safe for now.
Wearing these clothes is... so stifling.
The Sun family was like a guillotine hanging over his head, ready to fall and take his life at any moment.
The mountain cauldron and the earth-walking takin spirit in his mind have become his only hope for turning the tide in this adversity.
He closed his eyes, concentrated, and once again communicated with the illusory image of the mountain cauldron in his mind.
[Master of the Cauldron: Yang Jin]
[Refining the Cauldron Spirit: Earth-Walking Marmoset (Gray) (Fusion Rate: 3.2%)]
[Earth's Essence: None]
[Mountain Favorability: None]
[Spiritual Talents: Weak Rock Skin (damage reduction), Basic Vibration Perception (3 zhang), Weak Stone Control (can affect the structure of rocks within 30 jin)]
[Evaluation: The Mountain-Walking Cauldron originates from the spirit of ancient mountains and can grant a glimmer of hope to the humblest of children.]
The integration rate increased from 3% to 3.2%. Was this due to the natural increase caused by the bumpy ride?
Yang Jin thought to himself, and tried to actively activate his vibration perception.
hum...
The familiar vibration outline reappeared.
The earthen wall structure of the cellar, the thickness of the stone slab above, the density of the ground beneath his feet... In fact, he sensed that behind the earthen wall on one side of the cellar, there was an even larger irregular cavity, and an extremely faint, flowing-like vibration.
That's the abandoned mine tunnel that Master Shi mentioned?
Yang Jin opened his eyes and his gaze fell on the earthen wall.
Perhaps the cellar is not just a hiding place, but also... an opportunity?
What do you think?
Given my physical condition, even the greatest opportunities would turn into calamities for me!
You should focus on recovering from your injury as soon as possible.
He suppressed his impulse to act recklessly.
The old man's warning was still ringing in my ears; now the most important thing was to recover my strength and heal my injuries.
He lay down on the haystack, overwhelmed by exhaustion.
In the darkness, he seemed to see Sun Yaozu's grinning face again, hear the villagers' sighs as they carried him up the cliff as a "violent victim," feel the suffocating despair in the stone coffin, and the glimmer of hope brought by the mountain cauldron when he broke out of the coffin.
"Sun Yaozu... the Sun family... I'll @#you!￥" He silently blessed Sun Yaozu and his descendants for eighteen generations, each word imbued with the fragrance of birdsong and flowers, "Just wait. When I rise up, I'll kill you all..."
The flame of the oil lamp flickered slightly, casting a dim light in his eyes.
Above the cellar, one could faintly hear Shi Jian's low cough, along with the howling of the night wind in the mountain forest.