Lin Yue carried her bundle, picked up her long wooden staff, left Wu Family Village, and traveled through the night toward the town. Having answered emergency night calls over the past few years, she had walked mountain paths many times.
During these years, she had long since figured out the paths leading out of the mountains and what wild beasts might be along the way. They were nothing more than tigers, wild boars, bears, and the like, and attacks on humans were rare—occurring only three times in five years, during late autumn and winter when food was scarce.
Thinking back now, the plots in TV dramas where knights-errant rushed through mountain paths drenched in sweat only to encounter knock-out drugs at roadside tea stalls were probably due to this reason.
Knights-errant were picky about the seasons when traveling through the mountains, too.
It was now early August, mid-autumn—cool, with little rain, suitable for travel.
Reaching the county town took five days. This morning, an eight-person party would set off to transport wild goods gathered from the mountains out to sell.
When Lin Yue arrived in town, there was still an hour before dawn. She found a concealed spot to watch the intersection leading out of the mountains.
The economy here was relatively backward, and the common folk were poorly fed and underclothed. Most people, especially those from rural areas, had thin physiques and skin baked caramel-brown by the sun, with little flesh on their faces. As long as men and women didn't wear makeup, there was little difference in skin tone between them.
Lin Yue wore men's clothes. She had wheat-colored skin, moderately sized eyebrows, and a soft melon-seed face with a touch of heroic spirit. She refined her features slightly to make her facial lines sharper and more defined. Her hands were somewhat coarse from years of hard work, her frame was slender, and her shoulders were narrow, so she had sewn a few pieces of cotton cloth into her garments for padding. She also put effort into her outfit elsewhere; after all, as the weather turned cool, wearing extra layers was no issue.
With a bit of concealment, her hair tied in a topknot, her voice slightly cool and neutral—sounding like an adolescent boy whose voice hadn't broken when lowered—and combined with her cold, unsmiling demeanor and lack of the low-browed, obedient posture demanded of women in feudal society, one couldn't tell she was a girl without careful observation.
"Creak, creak~"
Dawn gradually broke. Seven or eight men in coarse hemp short-sleeved shirts pushed two carts of mountain goods toward the mountain exit.
The yellow dirt road had long been packed flat from heavy cart wheels, exposing a path about a zhang wide. On both sides stood waist-high green grass, beyond which grew trees taller than a person.
The small path wound circuitously, and after a few steps, the people ahead vanished into the mountains, leaving only the creaking sound of heavy carts echoing through the forest and startling birds and beasts. The farther forward one went, the narrower and more rugged the path became, ascending and descending slopes.
Lin Yue trailed far behind, neither drawing too close nor straying too far.
When the sounds ahead stopped, she stopped as well, hiding in a nearby patch of grass while eating dried vegetable cakes. When the cart noises resumed up ahead, she continued on her way. Whenever she spotted valuable herbs, she picked them, and at night, she curled up in a tree to nap.
Two days, four days...
Suddenly, a black snake darted out three chi ahead of her toward the other side of the path. Sometimes she saw forest birds startle from nearby bushes and fly into the trees; pushing the foliage aside revealed a few bird eggshells or shed snake skins left on the dry grass.
When encountering mountain streams surrounded by dense grass, she could occasionally see black-and-green snakes entwined together swimming forward across the water, or stopping to raise their forebodies, or darting left and right as if bustling through a market, lively as could be.
Crossing mountain after mountain, the road ahead gradually widened and merged into a main highway. Lin Yue began seeing other travelers carrying bundles on their backs, just like her.
Two guards stood at the county town gates. Lin Yue observed for a bit; entering required only a single wen and no household registration documents.
Stepping inside, the hustle and bustle washed over her, and Lin Yue finally felt the sensation of going to a market. Roadside vendors sold tea powder, noodles, steamed buns, umbrellas, thread, and the like, alongside buildings like tea houses, wine shops, and inns—all featuring white walls and black tiles.
Lin Yue walked forward, looking left and right like Granny Liu entering Prospect Garden. She paused before a small stall and reached out to pick up a fox mask.
"Young master, you certainly have great taste! This fox mask is our most popular item! Hey, hey—don't go, young master! Two wen! It's only two wen..."
Lin Yue left the mask stall, glanced at a rattle drum, passed a candied hawthorn vendor, and walked toward a noodle stall.
"Young fella, want a bowl of noodles? Plain's three wen, meat's five wen!"
The noodle stall owner spoke with a thick accent. It took Lin Yue a moment to catch his meaning, so she lowered her voice and said:
"Boss, give me a bowl with meat."
"Huh? Ain't got no salty! I only got plain for three wen, meat for five wen."
"Boss, I want a bowl with meat!"
"What're you saying? Plain's three wen, meat's five wen!" The owner held up three fingers with his left hand and five fingers with his right, thrusting them both right in front of her face.
Lin Yue went silent. She had learned standard speech from the people in town, thinking her accent couldn't be too bad, but it turned out her speech carried an accent as well—seemingly even thicker than the owner's.
Lin Yue reached out and pointed at the owner's right hand.
"Alright! One bowl with meat!"
Lin Yue lowered her dark eyes, looking at the table while murmuring under her breath, "'With meat'—'wiv meat'. 'Five wen'—'five ven'. 'I'—'oi'... Quite a mouthful."
"Pfft~"
"Ahahaha~ Ahahaha~"
A burst of wild laughter accompanied by table-thumping came from nearby. Lin Yue turned her head to look and saw a young man dressed in dark green vine-patterned robes leaning over a table, resting his forehead on his forearm while pounding the table with one fist.
Lin Yue turned back and ignored him. The chicken noodle bowl was brought over; she picked up her chopsticks, loosened the noodles, lifted a clump, and began eating.
"Hey, brother!"
"Don't copy his accent! What I speak is authentic standard speech—if you want to learn, learn from me!" The young man was torn between tears and laughter, watching her get further off track the more she tried to copy.
Lin Yue turned to look at him, seeing that he was laughing so hard his eyes were squeezed shut. She silently turned back and continued slurping her noodles.
Drinking the soup dry, she paid the money, grabbed her long staff, and walked forward. Spotting a medicine shop ahead, she turned and stepped inside.
The shopkeeper saw someone enter, scanned her up and down, and said, "Young brother, here to see a doctor?"
"To sell herbs." Lin Yue pulled out a ten-year-old green lingzhi she had gathered previously.
The shopkeeper's gaze paused. He held it up, examined it closely, and said, "Young brother, the age of this lingzhi is decent, but look here—it's been bitten by insects, and the color is a bit lacking—"
"Name a price, boss."
"At most, I can give you two taels!"
"Hey! Hey—young brother! Come back, the price is negotiable! How can you do business leaving without saying a word..." The shopkeeper hurriedly stopped her.
"Five taels!" Lin Yue thrust five fingers in front of his face.
The shopkeeper leaned back slightly, squinting his small eyes. "Five taels is too expensive, I won't make a profit! Your lingzhi... sigh, stop thrusting your fingers in my face! Four taels! Four taels at most!"
"Deal!"
Lin Yue handed him the green lingzhi, pulled another ten-year-old green lingzhi from her bundle, and held up five fingers once more.
The medicine shop owner: "..."
Having sold two green lingzhi mushrooms, Lin Yue stepped out of the medicine shop door carrying her shiny red half-zhang staff. Out of habit, she scanned the crowd, her gaze freezing as it passed over a certain figure. Lin Yue froze for a second.
In the crowd walked a handsome young man dressed in white, his hair tied up in a crown with two dragon-whisker strands of hair hanging down. High-spirited with a firm, breezy stride, he fluttered through the crowd, causing frequent turns of heads.
None of this was important. What mattered was that he held a precious sword: a scabbard carved from red-tremble wood with black-and-silver cloud-vine patterns, inlaid with white jade and adorned with a red tassel. The entire weapon looked elegant and noble, making its owner look quite like a knight-errant.
Perhaps because someone's gaze was overly intense, the young man turned his head to look over, paused his steps, took a turn, and walked in her direction.
"Young brother." The young man in white cupped his hands to deliver a martial salute toward Lin Yue.
Lin Yue glanced at his gesture and mimicked it pretend-saluting back.
The young man in white glanced at the redwood staff in Lin Yue's hands. "May I ask if you are a disciple of the Divine Staff Sect?"
Divine Staff? Lin Yue was stunned for a second. "No."
"I see. My sincere apologies, I mistook your identity."
"Wait a moment, knight-errant." Lin Yue called out to him.
"Is something the matter, young brother?" The young man in white stopped, bewildered.
Hearing the commotion, the medicine shopkeeper grabbed a handful of melon seeds and leaned against the doorway to watch the show.
"May I ask which sect you belong to, knight-errant?"
"I dare not accept such praise. My surname is He, and I am a disciple of the Myriad Swords Sect."
"Knight-errant He, does your esteemed sect accept handyman disciples?"
Hearing her words, the young man in white measured the handsome youth before him with a strange look, a flash of disgust crossing his face.
"Young brother, our sect is currently not accepting handyman disciples, and the recruitment period has already passed. You should come back next year."
"Farewell."
The young man in white departed after speaking. Seeing that the show was over, the surrounding crowd dispersed.
Just as Lin Yue turned to leave, a somewhat familiar voice sounded behind her.
"Hey, young brother!"
Lin Yue stopped and looked back at the shopkeeper. Having finished chewing the last melon seed in his hand, the shopkeeper smiled cheerfully and said:
"Nowadays, martial sects recruit formal disciples based on bone structure, age, and household registration. Age must be under twelve, household registration clean, and bone structure decent. Your age doesn't fit, young brother, though you're old enough to be a handyman. Young as you are, you're handsome too—looking more like a scholar than a martial artist. Why on earth would you want to be a handyman?"
"Exactly!" An onlooker nearby piped up. "Anyone can see there's something fishy about it."
"Handyman disciples these days have it dark! Hey! My neighbor Old Wang's son is as handsome as you are. He went to be a handyman too, doing well at first with hopes of becoming a formal disciple—everyone envied him! But now... it seems he's already... well, he can't do that anymore. Tsk! What a shame, Old Wang only had that one son."
Lin Yue knit her brows slightly.
"My eldest cousin's second cousin's grandson went to be a handyman disciple and gained the favor of an inner disciple. But after they played with him, they threw him away! That kind of thing happens all the time! Of course, some rely on their own hard work to climb up, but handyman disciples get little pay, endless work, and lousy techniques to learn. Sigh, every line of work is hard!"
"Young fella, your aunt here advises you to drop that idea! A sister of mine was a handyman disciple. She was pretty when she was young, wanting only to earn some money and learn a few things to get by. But one day, a manager forced her to drink with him, and she hanged herself afterward... ugh, my poor sister..."
Lin Yue's expression turned grave. She cupped her hands in a bow toward the onlookers. "Thank you all for letting me know. I'll keep it in mind."
"Sigh, just make sure you remember, young fella."
"Break it up, break it up."
Lin Yue pursed her lips and took a deep breath, looking up at the sky. It was three quarters past noon, not too late yet. She turned her feet toward the brokerage.
Rate on N.U.
