Unsheathed

As the mountain god of Downtrodden Mountain, Song Yuzhang naturally bowed and paid his respects to the future formal god of the Northern Mountain. “This small god pays his respects to this esteemed god.”

Wei Bo couldn’t help but chuckle. He stepped to the side and waved his hand before saying, “There’s no need to do this, Mr. Song.”

However, Song Yuzhang turned around to face Wei Bo while maintaining his respectful posture, and he replied, “The rules are such, so we can’t make any exceptions.”

Wei Bo had no option but to fully accept Song Yuzhang’s bow. “You scholars are truly foolish people, and it’s the same regardless of whether you’re alive or dead,” he said in exasperation.

Song Yuzhang straightened his back and smiled calmly.

Wei Bo chuckled and asked, “Has anyone in the Ministry of Rites or Ministry of Astronomy told you about the things to be aware of after becoming a mountain god?”

“They didn’t dare to say anything to me,” Song Yuzhang replied in a self-ridiculing manner. “After the apotheosis ceremony concluded, all of them left the mountain as quickly as they could. They didn’t treat me as a mountain god, but they did indeed treat me as a plague god. I’ll need to trouble the esteemed formal god of the Northern Mountain to explain this to me.”

Wei Bo nodded and told Song Yuzhang to stand beside him. With a forceful wave of his sleeve, mountain mist instantly rose in the main hall and suffused into the surroundings.

Before long, the complete map of Downtrodden Mountain appeared on the floor. Mountains and waters couldn’t be separated, so even though a mountain god was fundamentally responsible for governing their mountain, they did indeed have varying degrees of control over the streams or rivers that originated from their mountain or flowed past the foothills. Because of this, deities of waterways — especially lower-ranked river guardians — often didn’t enjoy as much power and status as mountain gods. It was also because of this that deities of waterways often had to actively try to build relationships with mountain gods.

Wei Bo pointed at the mountain god temple on the map of Downtrodden Mountain and said, “Let me get the unpleasant things out of the way first. In reality, there isn’t much purpose for us deities of mountains and rivers. Our names are simply lying inside a book of merits, and this allows us to enjoy benefits and accept incense and offerings. We don’t need to cultivate our strength, nor do we need to cultivate our mind. We simply need to accumulate hidden virtue and help the empire maintain the fortunes of its land.

“The current situation is compared to the previous 10 years, and we look at whether the number of natural and manmade disasters have increased or decreased, whether the population has risen or fallen, whether scholars have been promoted, whether cultivators have moved over and settled down, and whether any auspicious omens have appeared. This is how a deity gains merit, and this is how an official measures political achievement.”

Song Yuzhang had the background of an official, so now that Wei Bo was using his language to explain things relating to deities, it wasn’t long before he came to a sudden realization. This was very easy to understand.

Wei Bo smiled and continued, “In short, all of our merits and demerits are clearly recorded by the imperial court of the empire. So, don’t think that you only need to deal with me after becoming a mountain god. In reality, the party that you need to truly deal with is still the imperial court of the Great Li Empire. There are three mountain god temples in Dragon Spring Prefecture, with me owning the temple in Cloud Drape Mountain, you owning the temple in Downtrodden Mountain, and another mountain god owning the temple in the north.

“This is a very uncommon situation, and it can be viewed as having too many monks but not enough gruel. You’ll definitely get a massive headache in the future, and that’s because you’ll need to fight for the incense and offerings of the people. Of course, you won’t be able to compete with me…”

“I wouldn’t dare to,” Song Yuzhang said in a joking manner. “This is called offending one’s superior. When I was alive, I could still tell myself that I’d simply pat my backside and retire from officialdom if things really came to it. If worse came to worst, I would simply accept death. However, things are a little different now. Even dying will be difficult to achieve.”

After saying this, Song Yuzhang bowed again to apologize. There was a faint smile on his face, and he said, “Esteemed mountain god, you’ve blessed Downtrodden Mountain with your presence many times, yet this small god has always been too embarrassed to show himself. I’m truly terrified by this thought. It should have been me who traveled over to visit you in Cloud Drape Mountain.”

This was a low-level official who had lived in the small town for many years, and he was also someone who had liked to do things by himself and get his hands dirty. He had spent most of his time in the 30-odd dragon kilns. Because of this, Song Yuzhang’s aura as an official had been worn away very early on. To say nothing of joking around, he was even familiar with many curses and swear words.

“Alright then, Mr. Song has immediately fused himself from one officialdom into another. How very understanding and intelligent,” Wei Bo remarked.

Song Yuzhang smiled and asked, “The mountain god in the north is…?”

Two tigers couldn’t share a single mountain, and even Buddha had to fight for incense and offerings. Thus, this was naturally even more the case for deities like them who relied on incense and offerings to survive.

The schemes and dirty ploys that went on behind the scenes were no lesser than what occurred in the imperial courts of mortal empires.

Wei Bo pondered for a moment before replying in a soft voice, “He’s not an easy person to deal with. When he was alive, he was a ferocious general with many great achievements. He has a very bad temper, though I’ve heard that he has an extremely good relationship with the gods honored in the Wenchang pavilion and the martial sage temple.”

“An official can’t harbor such an attitude,” Song Yuzhang said in a teasing manner. “To visit a heretical god instead of a formal god, and to enter the wrong temple and offer incense to the wrong deity… Such actions will definitely lead to challenges and hardships.”

Wei Bo laughed heartily and raised a thumb. “Haha, hearing this relieves some of my anger.”

He then extended a finger and raised it up slightly, causing the projection of Downtrodden Mountain in the mist to rise higher and higher. In the end, an extremely detailed image of someplace appeared before them.

This was the image of a river, and a person dragged a string across it and tied the two ends to two different trees on opposite sides of the stream. Afterward, the person uncapped a small bottle and hung it on the string.

On one of the trees, there was a little girl in pink who would occasionally jump up and down and shake the string, causing the bottle above the river to also bob up and down.

“This is a Reverberating Bottle of decent quality,” Wei Bo explained. “It can collect many beautiful sounds of the world, and the bottle here requires someone to lightly shake the string that it’s attached to so that it can absorb the sound of the water. Otherwise, it will take an extremely long time for it to fill up.”

“Does this bottle belong to Mountain Master Chen Ping’an?” Song Yuzhang asked.

“It does,” Wei Bo replied with a nod. “What’s your impression of Chen Ping’an?”

“Because of Song Jixin… Because of my relationship with the prince, I know everything about how Chen Ping’an grew up. As such, I have a very good impression of him. I think it’s very good that I’ve been able to become the mountain god of Downtrodden Mountain,” Song Yuzhang replied without hesitation.

Wei Bo suddenly turned around to stare at the mountain god who was under his jurisdiction. He referred to him as Master Song for the first time, and he squinted his eyes and said with a smile, “Don’t tell me that you haven’t thought of a possibility. What if the Great Li Empire has appointed you to this position to monitor Chen Ping’an? One day, they might even tell you to commit some lowly act that goes against your conscience again.”

A carefree smile appeared on Song Yuzhang’s face, and he replied, “Of course I have some speculations. My Great Li Empire has sacrificed so much blood and effort for this, and just constructing that covered bridge alone resulted in the deaths of many members of the imperial family. I’m sure that you already know about this. Thus, how can my Great Li Empire not have plans in place to prevent unforeseen circumstances now that Chen Ping’an has turned his fortunes around?”

My Great Li Empire!

He had taken great pride in this while alive, and he was still taking great pride in this now that he had died and become a mountain god. Perhaps this was the very definition of remaining unrepentant even after death?

Wei Bo fell silent for a long time. He gathered the mist back into his sleeves, and it was as if the mist were a flock of exhausted birds returning home to the forest after a long day flying around. Song Yuzhang could surprisingly sense the happiness of the mist.

Wei Bo smiled and said, “Alright, I understand.”

He then vanished from sight.

Song Yuzhang sat by himself in the main hall of the temple and sighed. Perhaps he was truly unsuited to working as an official? He encountered obstacles and bumps everywhere, and this was the same both before and after death.

Wei Bo, the mountain god in white, was taking the young boy Chen Ping’an on a journey all around the mountains. Who didn’t understand his intention?

Song Yuzhang naturally understood, and the mountain god of the mountain to the north obviously understood as well. Meanwhile, which of the immortal forces that had purchased mountains in the surrounding area wasn’t extremely observant and intelligent? They were well aware of Wei Bo’s intention.

By purposely bringing the young boy around to all of the large mountains, Wei Bo was undoubtedly highlighting a fact to all of them.

Chen Ping’an was being protected by him, so regardless of what background these outsiders had, they needed to consider the might of this new formal god of the Northern Mountain if they still wanted to obtain any benefits in his territory. This was because Wei Bo wasn’t some ordinary mountain god. Instead, it was very likely that he would become the most powerful formal god of a Northern Mountain[1] to the north of Lake View Academy in the future. In other words, he would become the most powerful formal god of a Northern Mountain in terms of strength, territory, and influence in the northern half of Eastern Treasured Vial Continent!

————

On the third day of the new year, someone was already going out to travel around the mountains and rivers.

In the group of mountains to the west of the small town, there was a young man in Confucian robes who had brought with him a young boy who looked like a scholarly attendant. They were each holding a bamboo hiking pole, and they were traversing mountains and crossing rivers together as they hiked toward Downtrodden Mountain.

The young scholar was carrying a bookcase of books on his back.

The young scholarly attendant was stunningly beautiful, and his flawless appearance wasn’t any inferior to that of a beautiful woman.

The young man he was following was a local of the small town, and right now, he was working as an assistant teacher in the new private school founded by the Dragon Tail County Chen Clan. He had little reputation to speak of, and he was far inferior to those great Confucian scholars and knowledgeable literati who were extremely famous around the area. Because of this, he still didn’t have the right to enjoy the title of teacher or master.

However, the children in the private school liked him the most. They loved listening to him tell those spectacular and wonderful stories, for example, those enchanting and moving stories about how fox spirits were attracted to scholars. The young scholarly attendant was one of these children, and he had taken things even further by continually nagging the young man until he eventually agreed to become his teacher.

The young boy was innately curious, and he lived by himself in the Yuan Clan’s ancestral residence in the small town. As he walked, he asked, “Teacher, a Daoist sage once remarked that life is limited, while knowledge is unlimited. To pursue that which is unlimited with that which is limited, such is a tiresome task[2]. That being the case, what should we do?”

The young man in Confucian robes was pondering something, so he didn’t immediately answer the young boy’s question.

The young boy was already accustomed to his teacher’s wandering mind, so he continued to ask, “That sage also said that the span of human life is as short as the time taken for a majestic white horse to gallop across a crevice[3]. This clearly supports the other statement. So, what should we do?”

The young man came to his senses, and he replied with a faint smile, “And this is why we need to cultivate! Each time we overcome a barrier, we’ll be able to extend our lifespan by tens or hundreds of years. That way, we’ll also be able to read more books.”

The young boy felt like this didn’t answer his question completely. “But even though we Confucians also promote cultivation, the more important goal of studying is for the sake of collective salvation. Our goal is to make the world a better place. We’re not like Daoists, who only seek to achieve individual salvation and attain individual Dao. So, what should we do?”

“One lacking purity and sincerity cannot move others[4].”

The young man smiled and replied with eight words. Standing still and gazing afar at the beautiful mountains and clear water, he added another eight words, saying, “Be down to earth, do what is natural.”

Upon hearing the final four words, the young boy naturally recalled the Daoist Sect that was flourishing in the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent. He sighed and said, “I read in a book that when the world is chaotic, Daoists will leave their mountains and enter the mortal world to save people, while Buddhists will shut their doors and tap their wooden fish[5]. When the world is peaceful, Daoists will enter their mountains to cultivate in peace, while Buddhists will open their doors to accept silver from others. Teacher, it seems like Daoist priests are fairly good people, whereas Buddhist monks don’t seem very good. No wonder they’re not popular in our continent. It makes sense that Buddhism isn’t flourishing.”

The young man shook his head and explained with a smile, “These are merely angry and extreme opinions from some scholars. It’s not completely without basis, but the amount of reasoning is lacking, and it’s a case of using an extreme example to generalize a whole. This is a bad take, and it’s better to say nothing than to say something like this. Since the three teachings were all able to establish themselves, it’s only natural that each has their own unique strength.

“Moreover, the orthodoxies of these three teachings are also extremely complicated, with many branches extending from them and thus increasing the complexity of the situation. So, if you want to properly understand the tenets of the three teachings, then you must trace these teachings back to their roots. Only then will you have the right to offer your comments. Otherwise, it’s very bad for you to make sweeping remarks with only a shallow understanding of the matters. You shouldn’t generalize an entire teaching after only seeing one bad Daoist priest or a few ill-intentioned monks.”

The young man in Confucian robes gazed at the peak of a distant mountain and continued, “The three teachings hold debates with each other, and the representative from each teaching will expound the fundamental principles of their teaching. The profound nature of this is unimaginable, so this can be regarded as a most dangerous event.”

The young boy was baffled, and he asked, “Teacher, this is only three people debating with each other, so why is it regarded as dangerous?”

The man retracted his gaze from the lofty mountain in the distance. He gazed straight ahead, and he replied with a faint smile, “Since this is a debate, one needs to understand not only the strengths and weaknesses of one’s own teaching, but one also needs to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the two other teachings. Only by achieving this will one have the chance to successfully convince the others. “Thus, when studying the philosophies and principles of the other teachings, there are times when one can attain sudden enlightenment or receive a sudden wake-up call. Before the debate even begins, one might have already switched their allegiance and joined another teaching.”

The exquisitely beautiful young boy was slightly confused, and he only half-understood what his teacher was saying.

The young man smiled and said, “There’s no need to dwell on these things right now. Let’s continue forward.”

The young boy nodded in earnest.

His name was Cui Ci, and this was a name that he had given himself. Even though he lived in the Yuan Clan’s ancestral residence in the small town, he wasn’t actually a descendant of the Yuan Clan.

The young man in Confucian robes walking in front of him was none other than Li Xisheng. Apart from the bamboo hiking pole in his hand, there was also a peach talisman composed of two pieces of wood hanging by his waist. The talisman was simple and elegant.

Hanging by his waist, the talisman looked as natural as could be.

Cui Ci couldn’t help but ask another question. “Teacher, why are we entering the mountains? What’s our goal?”

“Because I feel like some people have done something very wrong,” Li Xisheng replied. “Since they’ve done wrong, they naturally shouldn’t be allowed to continue down this incorrect path. I need to do everything in my power to rectify this.”

A dazzling smile appeared on Cui Ci’s face, and he declared, “Teacher is always correct!”

Li Xisheng shook his head and said, “Regardless of which teaching or which school of thought it’s from, the precious principles that have been passed down for many years in the books shouldn’t be ignored.”

The young boy was extremely hesitant.

“You can still ask one final question today,” Li Xisheng said in a teasing manner.

Cui Ci was overjoyed, and he asked, “When reading the notes of a literati, I saw that he mentioned the existence of nine Mighty Suppressing Pagoda in the world. But why does the final pagoda have a different number of characters in its name?”

Li Xisheng thought for a moment before replying, “Are you talking about the Mighty Suppressing Pagoda that’s called the Bai Ze Suppressing Pagoda[6]? This is because Bai Ze… is someone’s name. If it’s called the Bai Suppressing Pagoda or Ze Suppressing Pagoda, just how unsuitable would that be?”

The young boy had a long face, and he was itching all over to ask another question. However, he didn’t dare to ask.

Li Xisheng couldn’t help but chuckle, and he said, “Go ahead and ask. The weather is very good today, and both the mountains and the water are very beautiful. You can ask a few more questions.”

Cui Ci was delighted, and he jumped up and down in joy beside his teacher. “Is the Bai Ze suppressed under that Mighty Suppressing Pagoda related to the ‘Bai Ze Album’[7] that almost every cultivator has a copy of?”

Li Xisheng nodded and replied, “Yes, there is a relation. And that’s the fact that they both have the exact same name.”

The young boy clicked his tongue in wonder. “Teacher, there’s definitely a more profound explanation to this, right?”

Li Xisheng subtly raised his head and smiled apologetically in some direction. He then warned the young boy, “The Confucian sages teach us that one should avoid mentioning characters or symbols that may represent an esteemed elder. This is relevant not only in terms of the sages honored in the Confucian temples, but also relevant in terms of the sages of the three teachings and hundred schools of thought.”

“Bai Ze?” Cui Ci asked in puzzlement.

Li Xisheng chuckled and lightly smacked him on the back of the head. “What do you think?!”

The young boy laughed loudly, and he didn’t think much of this.

The two of them continued to travel across mountains and rivers, heading toward Downtrodden Mountain.

Somewhere near the western seashore of Eastern Treasured Vial Continent, there was a man wearing a mink fur coat standing above a cliff. His mind was tugged lightly, and he furrowed his brows as he turned around to look toward the east.

There was a woman dressed in palace attire and wearing a veiled hat standing beside him, and she was none other than the fox spirit who had fallen down the cliff near the plank road during that snowy and windy night.

“Is some sage in Eastern Treasured Vial Continent speaking badly of Master? Do you need this maidservant to go over and teach them a lesson?” she asked carefully.

The man retracted his gaze and replied calmly, “It’s only a sixth tier Qi refiner from the Great Li Empire. Heh, the world has yet to fall into chaos, yet Eastern Treasured Vial Continent is already showing signs of unrest.”

The woman was dumbstruck, and she obediently shut her mouth. She hurriedly warned herself that speaking less would be better.

1. Reminder that each empire has its own Five Mountains. ☜

2. An extract from Zhuangzi’s ‘Nourishing the Lord of Life’. Zhuangzi was an influential Chinese philosopher who lived around the 4th century BCE during the Warring States period. ☜

3. An extract from Zhuangzi’s ‘Outer Chapters – Knowledge Rambling in the North’. ☜

4. An extract from Zhuangzi’s ‘Miscellaneous Chapters – The Old Fisherman’. ☜

5. A wooden fish is a Buddhist religious instrument. ☜

6. The Bai Ze is an auspicious mythical beast in ancient China. It can speak, understand the feelings of all matter, and know the affairs of ghosts and gods. It only appears when the ruler has virtue, and it can ward off all evil spirits in the world. However, it is unclear whether this beast is being used in an explicit or symbolic sense here. ☜

7. It was said that the Bai Ze knew of all spirits and fiends in the world, of which there were 11,520 types. The ‘Bai Ze Album’ is an album that records the names, illustrations, and methods of repelling these creatures. ☜