Green Mountain

Mrs. Lu looked at the radical on the paper: "Do I just write one radical?"

"This radical is my nickname, Old Ears," Old Ears chuckled: "In Jing City, I have some reputation. Back when this city governor was just a small tax and grain officer, I got to know him. Give him this paper, and no one in Jing City will dare to trouble you. Rest assured, in the future, your Lantern will be an honored guest at Mirror City Port."

Mrs. Lu remained unfazed: "I’m afraid the name that allows my Lantern to walk horizontally across Mirror City Port isn’t as simple as you make it sound."

Old Ears waved his hand impatiently: "Don’t worry about it."

Mrs. Lu earnestly said: "Thank you very much."

At this moment, the Anlan was not yet ashore, but from afar they could already hear shouts like "West Eight," "Xiang Niangyi," "Damn it."

Chen Ji turned his head to look, just in time to see a man at the port kicking over a fisherman’s fish basket and speaking incomprehensibly.

Old Ears glanced in that direction and sneered: "Goryeo tax collector, recognizes money not people."

Old Ears reminded: "When on someone else’s turf, don’t meddle unnecessarily."

Mrs. Lu nodded: "Understood."

The large ship slowly approached the dock, the noise mixed with sounds of Korean, Japanese, and some other indistinguishable language.

Several worn-out sampans navigated between the larger ships, with women on board balancing pots on their heads, shouting to sell steaming rice sausages.

Seventeen or eighteen ships docked at the port, including Ning Dynasty’s two-masted ships, Japanese vermilion seal ships, and a Western ship with a high protruding bow and triangle sails, with several red-haired barbarians on deck shouting as they unloaded goods onto the shore.

The busiest spot on the dock was the grass hut on the berth pier, where translators squatted inside, with a wooden sign in front indicating the languages they understood.

The Anlan slowly docked at the jetty, the crew tossed ropes down, and a few shirtless laborers on the pier caught them and looped them over stone pillars.

As soon as the ship steadied, five or six people crowded around, led by a middle-aged man in a floral satin robe, with a round belly, followed by two porters.

He stood on the jetty and bowed to the ship, speaking in Han official language: "May I ask which one is the landlord? My name is Zhou Demao, I’ve been a broker here for 37 years, dedicated to connecting ship owners from Ning Dynasty, dealing fairly with all..."

Just as he was speaking, Old Ears poked his head out from the ship, sneering: "Peel Skin Mao, scram to the side, you think you can swindle me? See this crescent flag, if I find out you’ve scammed this ship, I’ll have you locked in water prison for three years."

Zhou Demao was about to flare up but upon careful examination realized it was Old Ears, and was instantly shocked: "Governor? What are you doing on the ship?"

Mrs. Lu and Chen Ji looked at Old Ears together, Governor of Mirror City Port?

Chen Ji hesitantly asked: "How come you’re the governor of Mirror City Port now?"

Old Ears replied leisurely: "I’ve traveled the South and North, wanted to try everything. I befriended the Shouyang Great Monarch previously, he owed me a favor, so he let me play Governor for a few years at Mirror City Port. What you see now in Mirror City is all thanks to me."

Wu Yun meowed: "So fierce!"

Chen Ji was puzzled: "Can Han people be governors in Goryeo?"

Old Ears looked at him disdainfully: "Ignorant. Jing Dynasty’s Zhang Zhenbi was originally the Jing Dynasty’s Minister of Personnel, after being framed, he fled to Goryeo and helped King of Goryeo unite the peninsula, appointed as Grand Minister, a position under one but above thousands. Ning Dynasty’s Shuang Ji came with envoys to Goryeo and stayed due to illness; even the Goryeo’s Imperial Examination system was created by him. Ning Dynasty’s Zheng Renqing was bestowed the title ’Wall Three Han Three Great Hongs, True-hearted Advisor and Pillar of Society.’"

"Wait," Chen Ji raised an eyebrow: "What is this thing?"

Old Ears explained: "Just consider it as First-Grade Guardian General and Grand Secretary. You see, following me expands your horizons."

Mrs. Lu suddenly asked: "Why are you not the governor anymore?"

Old Ears casually replied: "It’s boring, all day long with trivial matters, I cannot waste my life on this."

He then looked down at Zhou Demao on the jetty: "You now only do broker business..."

Before he could finish speaking, Zhou Demao had already kneeled on the jetty: "I’ve mended my ways, I now only do legitimate business."

Old Ears smirked: "You know the true nature of your business. Go notify the Shouyang Great Monarch, there’s a ship full of cow horn and tendons here."

Zhou Demao’s face changed and he immediately left.

Old Ears looked at Mrs. Lu again: "You should go find the governor inside the city, I want to take a stroll at the dock, haven’t been here for many years, see what’s changed."

Mrs. Lu clasped her fists towards Old Ears: "Thank you, elder."

She and Old Li took the paper and headed straight into the city to find the governor, while Chen Ji watched her figure grow distant, Old Ears said beside him: "Alright, the person is gone, I’ll take you to Heartless Sword Dao."

Chen Ji nodded, took one last glance at Mrs. Lu’s receding figure, waved for Wu Yun to jump onto his shoulder, and followed Old Ears heading North.

Before leaving, Old Ears fetched a chair and a rope from the ship.

...

...

North of Mirror City Port are layers of mountains; May snow just melts, in July, it snows again, the mountain peaks are bare rocks gray-white, short pines twist around.

Old Ears stopped after a few steps, handed the chair and rope to Chen Ji, who was puzzled: "What’s this for?"

Old Ears sneered, "You’re the one who said you wanted to carry this old man up the mountain, are you going back on your word? You’re the one who wants to go to Heartless Sword Dao, not me. If you don’t carry me..."

Before he finished speaking, Chen Ji already squatted down, tied several knots with a rope on the chair, and then lifted it onto his back: "Please sit down."

Old Ears beamed, "That’s more like it."

Chen Ji carried the chair while Old Ears sat on it, crossing his legs and facing downhill, pulling out a handful of peanuts from his sleeve: "Head north, first cross Mao Mountain, then pass Sanchiyan, and then you’ll reach the Temple of Martial Arts’ Mountain Gate."

Chen Ji walked steadily along the mountain path, after the time it takes for a meal, the pebbles turned into rubble, the gentle slope became a steep cliff: "Why set the Mountain Gate in such a remote big mountain?"

Chen Ji climbed upwards on protruding rocks while Old Ears, sitting on the chair, kept busy now and then, reaching out to brush aside branches that scraped his face, muttering to himself: "What do you know? By hiding the Mountain Gate deep, if the enemy comes, just climbing the mountain will exhaust them half to death, giving those inside the gate the chance to wait and take their life."

Chen Ji suddenly asked, "Besides being Ear God and Mirror City Port governer, what other identities do you have?"

Old Ears chuckled, "This old man forgets too, only remembers when meeting acquaintances."

Chen Ji was puzzled, "What’s in it for you?"

Old Ears reclined on the chair, looking at the white clouds through the gaps in pine tree branches: "Young man, what you do when you’re young is like squirreling away hazelnuts. You have to keep gathering them like a squirrel to store in the tree hollow. When you’re old, unable to walk, and no longer adventurous, with all your teeth falling out, unable to eat anything, you can only survive on those hazelnuts in the hollow."

Old Ears laughed and said, "When you’re old and sickly, picking up a hazelnut from the tree hollow and popping it into your mouth, with a taste you’ll think, wow, I was so remarkable back then, how delicious, a single hazelnut brings you back to being eighteen. They say The Queen Mother of the West’s Kunlun Mirror can show the past, but this hazelnut offers the same nostalgia."

Chen Ji seemed thoughtful.

Old Ears sneered, "Young man, there’s not much ’why’ in life. If you’re going to die, do it early; be the first to die among your friends, so you won’t be forgotten. If you die second, it won’t be as special. If you live, live to the end, outlive all enemies before you die... Anyway, do what makes you happy."

Chen Ji chuckled, "Got it."

He carried Old Ears across mountains and valleys, while Old Ears sat in the chair chatting leisurely, with Wu Yun sleeping idly atop his head.

The air in the mountains grew cooler, the cuckoo flowers gradually disappeared, replaced by patches of alpine moss that felt soft and thick like walking on a dense carpet.

An eagle occasionally soared overhead, its shadow gliding across the mountain slope, vanishing into the mist with a blink of an eye.

Chen Ji suddenly asked, "Doesn’t Heartless Sword Dao have people patrolling the mountains?"

Old Ears munched peanuts, mumbling, "They patrol. But they patrol the main roads; we’re taking a wild path this old man used long ago. Rest assured, they don’t know this route."

As night fell at Mao Mountain, they reached Sanchiyan at midnight. Like a guide, Old Ears narrated, "Legend has it that in ancient times, three fairies bathed in the lake at Sanchiyan, later marrying Goryeo’s Grand Ancestor and giving birth to Goryeo Second Generation. Of course, that’s their story, nothing to do with us."

By this time, the mountain was covered in snow, Chen Ji could only plod along.

Further ahead, Chen Ji saw a stone stairway piercing the mountain peak from afar, a stone tablet stood midway, squinting to see but couldn’t make out the inscriptions.

Wu Yun, with sharp eyes, meowed, "Trespassers shall die."

At this point, Old Ears suddenly became energized, leaping down from Chen Ji’s back: "Throw away the chair, follow me."

He crouched, trekking east through the snow, sticking to an obscure path up the mountain, careful not to give away their whereabouts. Chen Ji grew tense, crouching to follow: "Why does it feel like you know this place well?"

Old Ears said, "This old man held grudges against Cao Xizong and tried to cause trouble on the mountain before. Came often enough to become familiar."

Chen Ji looked suspicious, but being new here, couldn’t point out the doubt.

Old Ears led him to a cave, halted, and whispered, "Wait here."

Chen Ji puzzled, "Wait for what? Aren’t we near the top?"

Old Ears impatiently retorted, "Stealing requires stealth; you can’t just go up."

Chen Ji and he hid by the cave until dawn’s first light revealed fog rising like a thick blanket, covering the entire valley tightly.

Old Ears suddenly opened wide eyes, gleaming in the night: "Now’s the time, go!"

His waist didn’t ache nor legs hurt as he dashed like a monkey up the mountain.

Chen Ji followed, bewildered, in the mist barely seeing Old Ears’ silhouette, relying on sounds to discern his direction.

Within thirty minutes, both rushed up the summit, Chen Ji charged, suddenly brushed aside mist and saw Old Ears standing ahead, barely braking, as he passed Old Ears, who surprisingly pushed him with a meaningful smile.

Only then did Chen Ji see Old Ears at a cliff’s edge, with the push sent him flying over the precipice, plummeting down!

Old Ears stood at the cliff edge, hands behind, meaningfully said: "Go, there are five swords in the lake that no one could retrieve, steal them all."

Chen Ji exerted force to toss Wu Yun back onto the cliff while he plunged into dense fog.

A few breaths later, he splashed into a dark lake, sinking towards the bottom.

The splash echoed in the silent night, a distant shout heard: "Who dares trespass Martial Temple Mountain Gate!"

Old Ears, hearing the voice, quickly snatched Wu Yun and fled into the fog: "Run fast!"