Chapter 42: The Gap Between Legend and Reality

After offering tributes to the mountain gods, Qi Wu hurriedly gathered everyone together.

Drenched, the cold wind made them shiver.

“We’ll get sick if this continues.”

The old hunter went to a corner, brought out a handful of firewood, and with a toothy grin said, “We hunters sometimes take shelter here from the rain, so we’ve left some firewood in advance for times like this.”

Qi Wu was overjoyed: “Then we’re much obliged.”

The hunter waved it off: “It’s nothing. Living in the mountains is all about helping each other. Once the rain stops tomorrow, we’ll just gather some more firewood to replace it.”

Everyone quickly piled the firewood on the ground where a fire had been made before. Qi Wu lit a twig with a fire talisman and gently blew on it until the dry wood caught fire.

Watching the flames rise and feeling its warmth, someone sighed deeply.

“Finally, I feel alive again.”

“Qi Brother, would you like a yellow or white rice cake?”

“One of each?”

As someone distributed the dry food, they all toasted their rations by the fire. After bringing out the fragrance, Ah Yue produced a jar of pickles, spreading it on the cakes. Biting into it, the salty and savory taste filled their mouths.

“Ah Yue, your pickle-making skills are excellent. You should consider opening a pickle shop instead of following us merchants.”

Ah Yue just smiled, saying nothing.

Recalling the previous incident, Qi Wu asked, “Old Sun, why did you ask Ah Yue if someone pushed him down?”Vissit novelbin(.)c.om for updates

Qi Wu and the others were first-time mountain trekkers aiming to cross to sell goods in Qinghuai County. After a long search, they finally found a local old hunter to guide them.

The hunter’s expression turned serious: “Have you ever heard of a vengeful ghost?”

With each question Ah Yue asked, question marks popped up over everyone’s heads, including the old hunter’s.

Feeling embarrassed by the reaction, Ah Yue scratched his head: “I’ve read such stories in novels, like ‘A Chinese Ghost Story,’ where the love between a human and a ghost remains unfulfilled.”

After a moment of silence, Qi Wu patted Ah Yue’s shoulder: “Maybe read a little less.”

Then Qi Wu asked, “Old Sun, why not report this to the Five Great Immortal Sects? They uphold justice and surely wouldn’t ignore this.”

“The Five Great Immortal Sects?” The hunter looked puzzled, unfamiliar with the term.

“It refers to Dao Seeking Sect, Xuankong Temple, and three other major righteous sects, the most powerful on the continent.”

“I might have heard the name,” the hunter said uncertainly, unsure if it was from a teahouse at the mountain’s base, a passing traveler, or something he heard when younger or older.

He couldn’t remember.

In reality, the common folk knew little about cultivators, only finding the topic intriguing.

And stories passed down orally often distort easily, becoming quite different from the truth by the time they reach the common people, making them unreliable.

For instance, Qi Wu heard that Dao Seeking Sect’s name, meaning “inquiring about the Dao,” implies the vast and obscure path to immortality, where cultivation is also about cultivating the heart, constantly questioning one’s path, whether it’s righteous or demonic, and not losing one’s true self.

Once Qi Wu met a disciple from Dao Seeking Sect, named Dai Bufan, and asked him why it was called Dao Seeking Sect. Dai’s response is still clear in his memory.

“You ask about that? It involves our founding ancestor, Xiantian Daoist. To find a feng shui treasure land, he paid a hefty sum for someone from Heaven’s Mysteries Sect to calculate and locate it, finding a land blessed by all directions’ feng shui. He was told to establish the sect at a specific time and place for it to prosper.”

“However, our ancestor had a poor sense of direction. Despite markers, he got lost and had to ask a local farmer for directions, which led him to the sect’s location without delay.”

“To thank the farmer, he named the sect Dao Seeking Sect.” (TL Note: 道 or Dao The word for this concept, dao, indicates a “way” in the sense of a road or a path in cultivation. However, in this context, he was seeking the way to go to the sect’s location.)

(End of the chapter)