Green Mountain

Old Ears sat in the mountain forest snow without any regard for his image, beneath the dark clouds, seeing Mrs. Lu off down the mountain.

He pulled Wu Yun into his arms, stroked its head, and sighed, "Mother and son both look very fierce, handle things decisively, but in truth, they are quite twisted people. They handle things in a twisted way, speak in a twisted manner, like they have a city gate with a thousand-pound lock in their mouths, like Chongli Pass. Whatever they want to say, they have to spin it around in their heads thousands of times before the gate opens and the words come out. Yet when the gate finally opens, the words can’t be spoken."

This time, Wu Yun listened quietly and did not interrupt.

Old Ears smiled, "But only people with a conscience will be twisted. Afraid of saying the wrong things and hurting others, afraid of doing the wrong things and implicating others, so they think twice before speaking, and thrice before doing anything."

Old Ears mimicked others’ voicing, "’Old man Jin An, could I trouble you to help me? It’s okay if you can’t, I’ll think of another way.’ You see, people with a conscience hate to trouble others, even before you’ve said you can help them, they retreat themselves. Heartless people don’t get twisted, they treat everyone as tools to hoe the field, and when one tool breaks, they simply get a new one. They won’t miss anyone... and naturally, no one will miss them either."

Wu Yun, half-understanding, meowed softly, "Does anyone miss you?"

Old Ears watched as Mr. Lu’s figure completely disappeared into the mountain forest, stroking Wu Yun’s head, "Thank you, I’m not hungry."

Wu Yun closed its eyes weakly.

...

...

Mrs. Lu arrived at the edge of the forest but didn’t rush into Jing City. She quietly hid behind a tree, watching the sky gradually darken until the sunset sank into the western mountains, and only then did she quietly move.

Outside Mirror City Port was a dense layer of low houses, with white walls and gray tiles, gabled roofs, similar to those of the Ning Dynasty.

These low houses seemed never to have been planned, haphazardly squeezed together. Mrs. Lu stuck to the shadows under the eaves, edging toward Berth Pier.

Inside the low houses, lights were on, and now and then came the clamor of drunk men and the coquettish complaints of the tavern proprietress.

Mrs. Lu suddenly stopped. Twenty steps away, a unit of Zhongwu Guards was storming into a tavern, interrogating the guests about their whereabouts last night. Those unable to answer or without two or more witnesses, or displaying panic, were taken away for questioning by the guards.

No matter where they came from, they couldn’t escape.

Only after the guards took the people away did Mrs. Lu continue forward, seeing the shop assistants and proprietress crying and tidying the mess when she passed by the tavern.

It was unclear what great promise the Temple of Martial Arts had made to the Shouyang Great Monarch, causing them to offend the ship merchants coming from the south and north. This uproar would likely take Jing City Port two or three years to recover from today’s prosperity.

Mrs. Lu suddenly looked up, seeing a middle-aged man in gray clothes standing on the ridge of Mirror City Port’s sentry tower, with a still long knife by his side.

Wu Kezhi.

Wu Kezhi’s gaze surveyed the entire port, watching the Zhongwu Guards moving in and out of each house. Suddenly, he turned to look at a corner, but there was no one there.

Mrs. Lu walked and stopped between the low houses, finally reaching the edge to peek at Berth Pier. However, at the mouth of the dock, more Zhongwu Guards were stationed, and there were more than twenty fire basins burning, lighting the pier as bright as day.

There was no way to sneak in, and even if she did, it was impossible to bring ginseng out.

She closed her eyes, committing the layout of the port to memory, then turned away, re-entering the forest. She took a long detour to the seashore far from the port, stood at the edge of the cliffs several meters high, and leapt off.

Mrs. Lu plunged into the cold, dark seawater, determined the direction of Mirror City Port, and swam toward the port with all her might. After a thirty minutes’ swim, she reached the berth pier, switched to breaststroke to slow her pace, and quietly approached the Anlan.

Feeling her way to the stern of the ship where the Zhongwu Guards couldn’t see, she climbed up the side onto the deck, with cold seawater dripping from her clothes onto the deck, making a ticking sound.

On the deck, the lamp workers of the Anlan were gathered to play dice. Hearing the sound, they turned to see Mrs. Lu in this state, stood up in silence, and some even went to seek weapons.

Old Li stepped up, glanced back at the shore, and quietly asked, "Landlord, what happened, are those Koreans searching for you? Let’s fight them!"

Mrs. Lu shook her head, "It’s none of your concern, don’t worry about it."

Old Li said with concern, "You’d better go inside and change your clothes, you might catch a cold in this freezing weather..."

Mrs. Lu calmly cut him off, "How is the ginseng you were instructed to collect?"

Old Li quickly replied, "Collected by weight, seventy-seven jins, with the worst weighing one tael, and the best is one tael one money old ginseng. I was going to collect more, but the Zhongwu Guards arrived in the evening, didn’t allow any business to be conducted, and made us wait on the ship for an inspection."

Mrs. Lu bowed her head, calculating in her mind: one jin is sixteen taels, seventy-seven jins is roughly a thousand plants. Would it be enough for Chen Ji?

She looked up at Old Li, "Bring them all, don’t worry about how they look, pack them tightly with oil paper, I need to take them away."

Old Li was astonished, "Take them away?"

He glanced at the seawater beneath the deck, "Are you taking the ginseng and swimming back? Why such urgency? The seawater is freezing..."

Mrs. Lu urged, "Hurry up!"

Old Li went into the cabin, emerging shortly after with a heavy bundle. He tossed it onto the deck, said, "Please wait, landlord," and went into the aft tower to fetch a sheepskin float.

He blew into the lambskin float for quite some time before tying it tightly with a leather cord and handing it to Mrs. Lu: "The old ginseng weighing over sixty jin is difficult even for a Seeking Dao Realm Official to swim with, but with the lambskin float, it will be easier for you."

Mrs. Lu picked up her bundle and turned to leave. As she reached the edge of the deck, she looked back: "We’re all seasoned Jianghu travelers. You don’t need me to tell you how to handle inspections. At midnight [3 AM], the Koreans shouldn’t be guarding here anymore. Then we’ll set sail directly for Japan. After staying in Japan for a while, we’ll return to the Ning Dynasty."

Old Li caught the implication in her words: "And what about you, landlord?"

Mrs. Lu threw a rope overboard from the deck, letting it dangle into the sea: "Don’t wait for me."

With that, she quietly slipped into the sea, holding her bundle and the lambskin float, sliding along the rope. Old Li came to the edge of the deck, watching as Mrs. Lu swam away, supported by the lambskin float.

...

...

In the forest, Old Ears sat cross-legged in the snow, muttering softly: "It should be fine to take a quick look, right? I’m just checking if he has any other injuries, not trying to peek at any secrets."

He reached out to lift Chen Ji’s clothes, only to have it pressed down by the paw of Cloud perched on Chen Ji.

Old Ears said helplessly: "Isn’t it okay for an old man to take a look?"

Cloud had a solemn expression, its ears flicked back, occasionally hissing at Old Ears.

Old Ears crossed his arms in front of his chest, trying to negotiate with Cloud: "Just let me have a peek, just one look. Otherwise, the old man will feel uneasy."

With that, he reached out again, and once more Cloud pressed his hand down with its paw.

Old Ears sighed: "Old man’s days are numbered, maybe tonight I’ll be riding a crane to the west. Can’t you fulfill an old man’s last wish..."

Before he finished speaking, Cloud suddenly perked up its ears, looking sharply towards the forest.

Old Ears followed Cloud’s gaze suspiciously: "That woman is back?"

It wasn’t Mrs. Lu.

Under the moonlight, he saw a robust tiger hiding behind a pine tree, a dozen steps away, showing half of its wary face. The red-yellow and black stripes on the tiger’s body interlocked like fangs. If not for the snow cover, Old Ears would not have noticed it.

The tiger realized Cloud and Old Ears were observing it, but instead of fleeing, it simply locked eyes with Cloud.

Old Ears stroked his beard thoughtfully: "Why does the old man feel that this big cat has a sly look in its eyes?"

Just then, sounds echoed from the forest. Many people were crunching through the snow, accompanied by flickering firelight and distant shouting voices: "Sasa, Sasa!"

Among the voices, there was the sound of hunting dogs. Hearing the commotion, the watching tiger turned and fled into the forest.

Cloud looked at Old Ears, who squinted at the torchlight in the forest and translated: "Search the mountain... we should go. We can’t wait for that woman, maybe she abandoned her son and ran."

Cloud furiously meowed: "Impossible."

But just as the words fell, a black figure arrived before the Zhongwu Guards. Mrs. Lu was back.

Mrs. Lu, breathless, threw the bundle to the ground: "I don’t know if a thousand old ginsengs will be enough, if not, I’ll have to ask the senior and Cloud to dig some more."

Old Ears pointed to the firelight at the foot of the mountain, chuckling: "Still thinking of digging ginseng? We’re about to be dug up like ginsengs ourselves."

Mrs. Lu didn’t respond, just crouched down and gently caressed Chen Ji’s forehead, staring at his tightly closed eyes. She couldn’t remember the last time she carefully watched her son sleep like this.

Mrs. Lu suddenly knelt in the snow and kowtowed to Old Ears: "I’ll lead away the searchers to the east. You go west, cross the mountain to the Jing Dynasty. As long as you find the Denghuo Inn in any city, have them relay a message to Hu Laosan, and someone will escort you back to the Ning Dynasty. Senior, I entrust this to you."

Old Ears said nothing, so she remained kneeling.

A moment later, Old Ears waved his hand with a wry smile: "Go, go then."

Mrs. Lu hesitated no longer, turned, and dashed eastward. Her movements caused a stir, immediately attracting the barking of hunting dogs. Someone below the mountain shouted: "Chapa!"

Old Ears slowly stood up, brushed the snow off his robes, and sighed as he watched Mrs. Lu’s departing figure: "Ah, the Jianghu."

He turned to look at Chen Ji, suddenly at a loss: "How should I take him?"

Old Ears and Cloud, crouching on Chen Ji, stared at each other, finally resigning: "What the hell is this? It’s been years since the old man endured such grievance."

With that, he bent down, pushed Cloud aside, and actually lifted Chen Ji onto his back, muttering softly: "After today, kid, you can brag about this for a lifetime."

Old Ears, with Chen Ji on his back and holding the bundle, walked into the depths of the forest. Cloud lightly jumped onto Old Ears’ head and settled.

Old Ears rolled his eyes, grumbled: "You too."