CH 15

Chapter 15 – Go Up The Mountain

The people were gone and the house was empty.

He should feel angry about this but did not know if it was because he was too angry or if he had turned foolish after being duped, instead, he started to laugh softly.  Then his laughter started to become louder and louder until the echoes rang throughout the house.

“Smart!  She used the trick of luring the tiger away from the mountain!”

He had fought countless major and minor battles but did not expect the person beside him would use tricks to deal with him.

If he had fallen into a trap set by the enemy in a battle, he would not know whether he would be able to keep his life.

However, he did not feel bitter about it.  Who told him to underestimate the enemy?  If he is not guarded against his people, he will only be caught.

He had been away from home for more than a year and wondered how his mother had abused his wife and daughter, so much so, that his wife would rather avoid him than enter the Xiao Family again.

Feeling lonely, Xiao Jingfeng could not help but recall the wedding day when his bride married into the family.  At that time, her shyness and gentleness drilled into his heart and she was blushing as she drank the nuptial wine with him.  She peeked at him from under her eyelashes and her face was flushed with happiness and embarrassment.  With trembling lips, she said she would be a good daughter-in-law so that her parents-in-law would never dislike her.

His heart swelled and he was reluctant to separate from her.  When the time eventually arrived, he was unwilling to part with her and she promised that no matter what happens, she would wait for his return.

Until death do us part.

Haha……..until death do us part………  Sure enough, she waited until news of his death arrived and it could be considered as she had at least kept her promise.

It was just that his heart throbbed with pain.  She left too decisively without leaving any room for regrets.  It seemed as though the Xiao Family eats people and if she does not leave immediately, she fears it will be too late.

“Madam Li’s man, did your wife return to the mountain again?”

As soon as the door of the neighbor’s house opened, an old wrinkled face appeared and displayed a row of front teeth with two missing.

What?  Up the mountain?

Xiao Jingfeng then responded calmly without any change in his expression.

“That’s right!  She said something like the crops needs to be harvested.  She has to hurry back and asked me to buy some meat buns for the neighbors to thank everyone for taking care of her during her stay in the village………”

While he spoke, he distributed the meat buns to everyone present and tried his best to leave a deep impression that he is Madam Li’s man so that everyone will remember who he belongs to the moment they set eyes on him.

Although his wife played a trick on him, he could still strategize his plan.  In the future, if she still insists that she doesn’t have a man, no one would believe her.  Everyone would only believe in facts and assume that her refusal to admit is due to shyness.

Can she give birth to three children without a man?

“Aiya, why so courteous?  Why give me so many gifts?  A few days ago, Madam Li even gave me half a rabbit!  She told me she caught it.  No other woman in the village is comparable to her.”

Food softens the mouth, gifts weaken the hand*.  Old Grandmother Hu chose to speak well of his wife.

(Food softens the mouth, gifts weaken the hand means after receiving benefits from others, one should reciprocate by helping them and putting in a good word for them.)

“It’s alright, there’re many rabbits in the mountain, one more stupid than the other, so it doesn’t take a lot of effort to catch them.”

It seemed like she would not go hungry since she catches rabbits as well.

“Catching rabbits is good enough, tell her not to catch snakes anymore.  All of them are poisonous.  This old woman feels fearful looking at them but Madam Li said that she has to feed the children.   In the coming year, the children will have to study, so she has to earn more, just in case she runs out of money when the time comes.”

It is very hard for a woman to raise three children especially when they are still so young. Even if she finds a proper job, she cannot take up the job and can only think of ways to make money.

Catch snakes?!

Xiao Jingfeng suddenly remembered that when they met at the medical hall, she was there to sell medicinal herbs.

Can it be that she was also selling poisonous snakes that she caught to make money?

This thought made him feel anguished again.

She doesn’t know to hunt, can’t farm without any land, and ventures into dangerous places alone.  How is it possible for her to have enough food and clothing?

At this moment, while Xiao Jingfeng was worried about his wife’s safety, Li Jing’er who did not seem to be affected at all was walking up the mountain like a happy bird.  She was carrying her two daughters on her back and holding the hand of her son who was munching on wild fruits.  She found wild fruits and vegetables along the way and simply picked them as additional side dishes when they reach home.

“Oh yes, I heard that she is going to catch centipedes and scorpions to sell for money.  When you see her, talk to her and persuade her not to risk her life.  She still has to take care of the children, so she shouldn’t fool around.”

Madam Li was not afraid at all and had become fearless.  In contrast, she, this old woman is so frightened that her limbs had turned soft and weak.

Those are all poisonous!

Centipedes, scorpions………Xiao Jingfeng’s face sank.

“Granny…….Jing Niang, she……..I mean did Madam Li leave the house key with you?  She left in a hurry and did not leave any instructions.  She only told me to buy the meat buns but my things are still inside the house.”

“No!  At most, she will come down the mountain twice a month and each time, she will bring her children along.  She seldom spends the night in the village.  Follow this path up the mountain and when you reach the valley at the halfway point, you can just give her a shout.  She should answer you.”

In actual fact, Grandmother Hu did not know where exactly Madam Li lives.  Everyone said that it was up in the mountain but no one was so free to go up and take a look.  Although a lot of people in the village loved to gossip and she was one of them, they were not nosy.  Usually, they would only spend time sweeping the snow in front of their doors and would never take the initiative.

“I’ve been up there once but the mountain paths were too difficult to remember.  All the trees looked the same and after going around the place and searching for a long time, I finally found the place.”  She muttered.

“But that was not easy.  Look at that mountain, take it as a guide and keep to the left when you go up.  When you come to the forked path, take the left one.  As long as you can distinguish between the paths that animals take and humans take, you’ll be alright.”

It was just a blind guess and she carelessly gave him some directions since she had taken ten big meat buns from him.  How can she not return the favor?  She squinted her eyes and showed a wide toothless smile.

However, sometimes a blind cat can also encounter a dead mouse.

Xiao Jingfeng who was unfamiliar with the terrain entered the mountain.  He kept the huge snow-capped mountain in his view according to Grandmother Hu’s instruction and kept to the left as he walked up the mountain.

However, the further he walked, the more he felt something was wrong.  As he walked and walked, the path disappeared and the land suddenly dropped sharply to the bottom of the valley.

There was a river with strange rocks lining the riverbed.  Since it was the dry season, there was very little river water and the deepest part of the water only reached up to the waist.  The water was gurgling and flowing and there were groups of small bright red fishes swimming in the river.

I encountered a river, now what should I do?  Should I wade through it?

Then he thought about Li Jing’er walking with the children.  It would be impossible for her to cross a river that even adults find difficult to cross, so he turned back and saw a path that looked like a path but not a path.

He suspected the path to be an animal path.

Suddenly, a ‘crunch’ sounded under his feet.

He lowered his head and saw a fruit core that had just been bitten that had yet to rot.  The mark left behind resembled the entire row of a child’s small teeth.

Ha, finally there is some progress!

Xiao Jingfeng thought he was about to catch up with the mother and children and stretched out his leg to step over a tortoise that was crawling slowly on the path.  Suddenly, a snake fell from the tree and he quickly waved it away with a branch.

He did not meet with any dangers along the way but there were frequent accidents.  As a result, he dared not underestimate this seemingly peaceful mountain forest which was in fact full of hidden dangers.

But he was still careless and his foot hooked on the string.

“Huh, why is there a string here?…….”

While he was still wondering about it, a tree trunk as thick as a man’s waist came rushing towards him and he dodged just in time.  If the tree trunk had crashed into him, even if he did not die, he would still be seriously injured.  He flipped backward on his strong waist and felt the rushing force of the tree brush over the tip of his nose.

“Why is there a tree trunk?………”

Can it be left by Jing Niang?

After that, Xiao Jingfeng became very, very careful but he still fell into the muddy hole and finally managed to crawl out after a long struggle.  Then he encountered a row of sharp bamboo, the animal carcasses that fell from the sky, a group of monkeys that threw stones at him, and ant nests that suddenly emerged from the ground……..

In the end, he was finally defeated by the yellow-striped hornets when the swarm of bees started to pour out.  There were thousands of them and out of the corner of his eyes, he caught sight of a dozen large and small beehives hanging on the surrounding trees.  The tops of the beehives were fixed in place with bamboo.

This trap was too ruthless.  Who would have noticed that there were beehives amongst the dense leaves with a thin bamboo stick stuck between the beehives?

In other words, as long as one of the beehives moves, the other beehives would also move one by one and the bees in the other hives would be alerted.

The unfortunate thing was that he had unwittingly stepped on something and a rock that was slightly bigger than his fist shot out and struck the biggest beehive.  The heavy force shook it and caused a large hole to appear.  As a result, the enraged hornets flew to the only moving human in an instant.

He is the enemy!  He is the enemy!  Eliminate!

Xiao Jingfeng was chased for a full 20 miles and only managed to escape when he jumped into the water.

***☆☆☆***

“Ha, ha, ha…….Xiao Erlang, you finally have such a miserable day!  Looking at your big pig head, I can eat two more bowls of rice!”

The misery of others accentuated his auspicious lucky star.

Unable to stop laughing, Chen Dasheng, rocked back and forth with laughter while hugging his stomach.

“I’m glad that I can help to increase the appetite of Lord Zhenfu*.  Be careful when you laugh.  There’s no medicine to treat you if your belly bursts from laughing.”

(Lord Zhenfu – Chen Dasheng is Lord Zhenfu.  He is the chief of the Zhenfu Division.)

Xiao Jingfeng whose head had sprouted several swollen lumps slurred his speech as he spoke.

“Ha, ha, Divine Doctor Zhou is here!  This Lord Zhenfu is very at ease and not worried…….”

Looking at that deformed face again, he could not help but burst into laughter again.

A person who can be called a divine doctor is usually over half a century old with a long beard hanging over his chest that is as white as snow and drooping eyebrows that exude an immortal aura.  While showing a smile he seems to be fluttering like a divine spirit.

However, the divine doctor that Chen Dasheng mentioned has the surname Zhou and is called Jingyu.  He is about 27 years old with long eyebrows, narrow eyes, red lips, and white teeth.  His face is as delicate as a goddess in a Buddhist cave with a teary mole under his eye that attracted a feeling of pity.  With just a light sweep of his eyes, it would instantly give rise to amorous feelings.