Chapter 17. May the mountain fruits bring you peace and safety year after year—these four words were familiar to him…
The midday sun was scorching, and the bamboo grove outside the fence, which had been lush and green in the morning, was now drooping and withered.
After tidying up the wooden house on the back mountain, Yu Nie was so exhausted that she felt like her soul was leaving her body. She casually tossed the rag aside and sprawled out on the bamboo bed, which creaked loudly under her weight.
Lang Xi was tidying up by the stove with his sleeves rolled up when he turned around and saw her lying listlessly on the couch. He couldn't help but laugh and said, "The room is almost done. If you're tired, Junior Sister, take a nap. After all that commotion last night, you probably didn't sleep well either."
Yu Nie was languid, even her voice carried a hint of weariness: "Junior Sister, you should also take a rest. You must be tired after running around all morning."
Langxi shook her head and chuckled: "I'm fine, this little bit of work isn't tiring. But you, you've been thinking about the peacock blue thing. This morning, before it was even light, you came to the back mountain to look for flowers and plants with blue pigment. You must be even more tired now."
A mountain breeze blew in through the back window. The cool mountain breeze gently penetrated to the bone, unlike the sweltering heat of the breeze down below that burned the cheeks. Yu Nie comfortably squinted his eyes, letting the cool breeze caress him.
"I'm not too tired." Feeling the pleasant cool breeze, she propped herself up on her arms and sat up from the bamboo couch. "But the peacock blue thing is really giving me a headache. I thought that I could just follow the instructions in the book, but who knew that there was a problem with the formula."
She spread her arms and lay back, saying, "It's truly making me so worried."
Langxi finished tidying up the small kitchen, turned around and saw her like this, walked to the bedside and sat down: "Junior sister, don't worry too much. You are so smart that you can make a soap dish from soap pods. In my opinion, you can definitely make this peacock blue soap dish too."
Hearing her family's comforting words, she smiled and said, "Then I'll take your kind words, Senior Sister."
Because Master Cui Miaochang went to Lingnan, it took more than a month for him to return to the temple. All the Buddhist rituals that had been piling up in the temple fell on Langxi's shoulders.
After tidying up the house, Langxi remembered that he still needed to go to Zhang the butcher's house to perform a ritual, so he went down the mountain alone to return to the temple to prepare the corresponding items.
Yu Nie, who remained inside the house, planned to doze off for another half an incense stick before getting up to continue searching for the flowers and plants.
She had just closed her eyes when she suddenly felt darkness before her, as if someone had blocked the sun. She opened her eyes and squinted to look up, wanting to see who had disturbed her moment of rest, but instead saw a nimble figure swaying in the tree branch.
The man was wearing a long, silver-gray robe with gold thread and animal patterns, over which he wore a black leather armor covering one shoulder, the same color as the wrist guards on his arms.
She looked closely and realized it wasn't someone she knew.
She rolled over, lay on the couch, and shouted to the person in the tree outside, "Didn't the captain go into the city? What's he doing here now?"
Less than an hour ago, she went to the temple to fetch a broom and happened to bump into him and Xie Cheng standing at the foot of the stone steps outside the temple. She had assumed they were heading into the city. But now she saw him picking fruit from a tree, as if he had never left the temple at all.
The boy casually parted the branches and leaves, picked up a mountain fruit, and looked it over from left to right: "Guard Xie is enough for one person. I'll take a break and wander around."
As he spoke, he flicked his finger and plucked two slightly green mountain fruits, leaping down from the treetop, which was about ten feet high. He walked a few steps to the window, leaned against the window frame, and sat down. He casually wiped one of the fruits on his sleeve, then tossed it to her: "Try it."
Yu Nie hurriedly reached out to catch it, but missed. The fruit rolled twice on the bamboo couch, but luckily it wasn't broken. She picked it up, took a big bite, and smiled at him, saying, "Thank you, sir."
The boy smiled calmly, and seeing that she didn't show any sourness, he took a bite of the mountain fruit in his hand, only to squint his eyes from the sourness.
He endured the sourness that tingled on his taste buds, turned to look at her, and saw that she was eating with great relish, finding it incredibly sweet, and she didn't find it sour at all.
Could this person have a problem with their sense of taste?
"Is it good?" he asked calmly after looking at it for a while.
Yu Nie nodded: "It's delicious. It might be a bit sour for most people, but I love sour things, so it's still very tasty."
As she finished speaking, she looked at the half-eaten mountain fruit in his hand: "Does the captain not like sour food?"
Upon hearing this, the boy thoughtfully stroked the fruit peel, then chuckled softly, "How could that be?" With that, he popped the sour fruit into his mouth in a few bites.
He looked around the wooden house. The interior was spacious and bright, and tastefully decorated. It was divided into three sections without any partitions.
To the right was a study, where writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones were neatly arranged on an old camphor wood table. The middle room was a small bedroom, with a bamboo bed next to the back window. Looking through the window, one could see the shimmering spring water flowing from the cracks in the rocks. To the left was a small kitchen, where people usually made tea and baked cakes in a very pleasant atmosphere. However, upon closer inspection, several charred marks remained on the walls of the small kitchen.
Zijing only thought it was caused by a fire, completely unaware that it was the "result" of the explosion by the person in front of him.
“This room is nice; it’s a good place for self-cultivation.” His words were still lingering in the air when he flipped through the window and entered. The silver hem of his robe brushed against the ribbon on her head, and in a flash, Yu Nie caught a faint scent of sandalwood.
But before he could even touch the bed, he landed steadily inside the room.
Zijing didn't stand on ceremony. He picked up the ceramic teapot on the table, poured himself a cup of tea, and drank it all in one gulp. After finishing the cup, he poured another one, casually tracing the rim with his fingertips, and began to carefully observe the wooden house again.
Stepping outside, he saw a wooden plaque hanging overhead, with the three characters "Jisizhai" written in powerful seal script. He read it aloud and said to the people inside, "Such a tender and sentimental name is not something you recluses would choose."
"Having been on the battlefield for many years, and also knowledgeable about Taoist matters." Yu Nie got off the couch and sat down at the round table, poured himself a cup of tea, and looked up at him: "Could it be that when there is no war, the captain also secretly studies some strange arts in the camp?"
Zijing sat back down at the table: "I wouldn't call it research, I just know a little bit from reading some books."
"The captain is too modest," she said with a smile. "The words on this plaque were not written by anyone from our temple. Not to mention the words, we didn't even build this wooden house."
"Was it built by a benefactor who helped the temple?" he guessed.
“No, that’s not it.” She recounted the story that Aunt Liu had told her: “Decades ago, a down-on-his-luck nobleman passed through this place and, seeing the beautiful scenery, he used his own money to build this wooden house. Every day, the nobleman would go to the temple to discuss scriptures and preach with the abbot.”
"Later, the noble person left and gave this room to our temple. He never returned and has been missing ever since." At this point, Yu Nie pondered for a moment: "Indeed, such an act of charity deserves the title of merit."
Upon hearing this, Zi Jing's eyes remained unmoved, but a smile appeared on his face: "That noble person has indeed done a good deed."
Yu Nie sighed, resting his chin on his hand, a faint worry on his brow: "I wonder if that important person is doing well right now?"
Zi Jing gave a barely perceptible scoff, toying with the teacup in his hand: "Young Taoist priest, you've never even seen him, so why are you worried about his safety?"
“Even though I’ve never met him, I can feel the sorrow of a lone crane crying in the frost from the poems he left behind.” She rarely showed such a serious expression: “He was a good person, and of course I hope he is well and safe and sound every year.”
She looked at him: "The captain too."
"What?" he asked, seemingly puzzled.
She smiled, her eyes crinkling: "May good people like the captain have peace and safety every year."
"May you have peace and safety every year"—these were four familiar phrases to him.
He sipped his tea, then looked up at her and said, "Tell me, how am I good?"
"Hmm..." She briefly recalled the good things he had done these past few days: "He can carry water and chop wood, he is both literate and martial, he treats people well, he doesn't have the airs of an official, and he looks up to our little temple."
"In recent years, the only people who have such prominent status and are willing to give alms and incense money to us are the Rong family and the Captain."
Having been in a position of power for so long, he'd heard plenty of flattery like this. It's become commonplace, even when she praised him as a "good person."
The fact that this word was used on him proves only one thing: he played the role of "Huan Zijing" rather than "Huan Xun" quite well.
When she mentioned Rong Dajia, he casually remarked, "Is this why you've gone to such lengths to help the Rong family?"
Yu Nie did not deny it, but she also mentioned another factor: "Besides that, I also want to earn some money and save it for later."
"Hiding money?" He assumed she wanted to save some for snacks or to buy cosmetics and other valuables, without considering anything further. Besides, weren't all women her age in Jian'an City like that?
“Yes.” She said solemnly, “Only with money can I do what I want to do.”
"What do you want to do?" He already had the answer and didn't intend to ask any further. However, since he was now a good person, it was appropriate to ask with concern, which could be considered as maintaining his public image.
He asked her that, but in his heart he was wondering how the pheasant he had caught was roasting.
Because of He Chenlao's matter, he kept it a secret for her and has remained silent ever since. Even today, the He family does not know that He Chenlao neither suffers from an incurable disease nor is he possessed by evil spirits; he has simply offended her.
Anyway, He Chenlao won't die; he'll just be in pain and itching all over his body for a while. She's just teaching such a filthy person a lesson.
After this experience, she felt that Zijing was a trustworthy person. She then told him about going to Longdao to buy saltpeter, but did not mention that she wanted to make gunpowder. She only said that she wanted to use saltpeter to refine elixirs.
She still kept her guard up.
After listening to her, Zijing gave a meaningful smile and replied, "Then I wish you success soon."
Unable to detect the underlying jest, Yu Nie assumed he was genuinely wishing her well and thanked him earnestly. She said that if she had the chance in the future, she would definitely give him a "pill" that could save his life on the battlefield.
He smiled and agreed, but his eyes remained calm. This perfunctory attitude clearly indicated that he didn't care about the matter.
On the battlefield, he only ever trusted himself and the sword in his hand. In his view, elixirs, which were more toxic than medicinal, were merely a way to deceive the ignorant and offer a false sense of comfort.
Having rested enough, Yu Nie got up, intending to continue his mission.
Unexpectedly, as she turned around, her sleeve swept across the table, knocking over a teacup. The lukewarm tea spilled all over her, soaking her outer garment. The dampness was unbearable, clinging to her skin and extremely uncomfortable.
She had no choice but to return to the Taoist temple and change into clean clothes.
Thinking of the roasted chicken hanging on the rack, Zijing went down the mountain with her.
After entering the temple gate, Yu Nie went back to his room to change his clothes. He took the robe that had just been wet to a wooden basin by the well in the backyard, intending to soak it first and wash it when he returned in the evening.
Seeing this, Aunt Liu offered to give it to her and helped her wash it as well.
She said thank you sweetly and put down her clothes.
As she turned to leave, she inadvertently noticed a faint stain on Ah Hui's white shirt in the basin of clean clothes.
Thinking that Aunt Liu hadn't noticed the marks and therefore hadn't washed them clean, she reminded her, "Aunt Liu, there seems to be something on Junior Brother's clothes."
Aunt Liu scrubbed the clothes in her hands, glanced at them, and replied, "Sigh, that's all sap from the indigo plant. It'll take several washes to get it clean."
Upon hearing the word "blue," Yu Nie was extremely excited: "What kind of grass?"
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