Thief Mountain 4

The door was suddenly knocked. Qi Yin walked over to open it, and a crowd of people noisily squeezed over the threshold. Qi Yin was startled; the arrivals were all his senior brothers and sisters.

Leading them was a young girl wearing a pale lotus-root colored bamboo-cloth skirt and blouse, holding a small black lacquered tray. On it rested two plates of vegetables with thick soup and two bowls of noodle soup. The girl placed the tray on the Eight Immortals table, turned around, and smiled, "My name is Sang Ruo, and I am your senior sister. Junior Brothers, you definitely haven't had time to eat dinner yet. Martial Uncle of Disciplines isn't here, so just make do with what we made for now. Just return the bowls and chopsticks to us tomorrow morning."

Qi Yin thanked her profusely and called Fu Lan over to greet them. After everyone exchanged pleasantries, Qi Yin learned that the Discipline Elder, Ye Qingming, had eight disciples, all of whom were male and had names starting with the character "Liu". The Alchemy Elder, Meng Qinghe, had six disciples, all of whom were female and took the character "Sang" as their title.

This desolate, ragtag sect had no more than twenty-one people from top to bottom, including the fat cat Fu Lan brought along. Even adding the Daoist boys who served the sect leader, the total was still only twenty-six people.

A little girl with her hair tied in double buns squeezed her way in. She looked about eight or nine years old. She clapped her hands and smiled, "Great! I'm finally not the latest to join. I am your Senior Sister Sang Ya, feel free to ask me if there's anything you don't understand." Her eyes lit up as she caught sight of the Black Cat. "And there's a cat! Can I pet it?"

Qi Yin was just about to say be careful, it might scratch people, but when he turned his head, the fat cat was already lying in Sang Ruo's arms with its eyes narrowed, looking completely intoxicated and lost in a dream, even showing a tendency to rub against her chest.

Qi Yin: "..."

"You guys are amazing," Sang Ruo said while scratching the Black Cat's chin. "Martial Uncle Sect Leader hasn't accepted any disciples for a long time. Senior Brother Yun Zhi has always been his only disciple. I didn't expect you to be accepted into Martial Uncle's tutelage as soon as you arrived."

Qi Yin thought with a wooden face, 'It's probably because we were quite straightforward and paid a tael of silver right from the start.'

"I heard you are Martial Uncle Qi's son. Now that we've snatched you away, Wufang Mountain must be fuming this time. Oh right, our mountain is quite poor, so please don't mind. If your clothes get torn or ruined, just find me and Sang Ya to mend them. Since you just joined, we'll give you a discount. Mending one piece of clothing only costs two copper coins," Sang Ruo said with a beaming smile.

Qi Yin laughed dryly, "Thank you for your concern, Senior Sister, but I know how to sew my own clothes, so I won't trouble you."

Sang Ruo let out a disappointed "Oh."

A group of senior brothers came over to pull Qi Yin aside and ask about his hometown. Hearing that Qi Yin was from Jiangnan, one who came from Cixi was deeply moved and dragged him into a long conversation. After chatting idly for a good while, Qi Yin realized he hadn't heard Fu Lan's voice at all. This kid was not good with words; if no one paid attention to him, he would stay as quiet as a girl. Worried that Fu Lan wouldn't be able to blend in with their senior brothers and sisters, Qi Yin turned his head to find him to talk. He searched for a long time without seeing his shadow. Looking more closely, this guy and the Black Cat were surrounded by a group of women. That little girl named Sang Ya was sitting directly on his lap, hugging his arm and talking.

"What did you do before? What business did your family run?" a senior sister asked.

Fu Lan shook his head. "I have no home. I wandered around everywhere with the cat."

Everyone's face showed a look of pity. Sang Ruo sighed and said, "Without parents, no wonder you went astray and entered the demonic path. Fortunately, you came to Fenghuan Mountain. Don't worry, from now on we will guide you on the righteous path. Junior Brother Lan, just send your clothes, shoes, and socks to us in the future. We'll mend them for you, free of charge."

They joined the sect together, so why was there such a huge gap in treatment? Qi Yin looked back at the pillar; his reflection showed in the black lacquer. Deep, handsome features—it was just that his skin was a bit dark. He considered himself not bad-looking, so why wasn't he as popular with women as Fu Lan? He stopped looking at Fu Lan and walked over to sit on the threshold. Several senior brothers stood or sat by his side, snickering, "Women, you know, they just like pretty boys. Not to mention, a pretty boy who brought a cat. Don't worry, your senior brothers will teach you how to woo girls."

One named Liu Bai sidled up next to him. He had a fair complexion, a pair of upturned amorous eyes, and a tear mole under his right eye. He propped his elbows on Qi Yin's shoulders and began to animatedly impart his wisdom, "You can ignore the other Daoist spells of our sect, but there are two things you absolutely must learn. The first is the Sword Flight Technique."

"Oh, why?" Qi Yin lacked interest, playing along with drooping eyelids.

"Once you learn how to fly on a sword, you can take girls out for a joyride." Liu Bai wiggled his eyebrows. "If you obtain a superb immortal sword that is one in a million, and then cultivate a Sword Flight Technique that travels a thousand miles a day without panting, why would you ever worry about girls not climbing onto your sword?"

"What about the second thing?"

Liu Bai stretched out his hand and, from who knows where, produced a cinnabar brush and a piece of yellow talisman paper. He swished the brush across the paper. "You bought Eldest Senior Brother's The Complete Guide to Talismans for Dummies, right? Turn to Volume Two, the fourth talisman, the Transformation Talisman. Watch!" He finished drawing the talisman in one stroke, pinched it between two fingers, and flicked it sharply. The cinnabar ink flashed with golden light, and a bouquet of bright red wild rhododendrons instantly materialized. Liu Bai winked at him. "See that? Last time, I gave a bouquet of flowers like this to Xiao Hui, the daughter of the herbal medicine shop at the foot of the mountain, and she was instantly mesmerized by me."

"Learned it yet?" a senior brother laughed. "Eldest Senior Brother Yun Zhi was the first to master sword flight and the Transformation Talisman. Except for that little girl Sang Ya, he has held the hands of all the other senior and junior sisters."

Qi Yin's heart felt like dead ashes. This ragtag mountain sect was corrupt from top to bottom; it was completely improper from beginning to end.

Oh well, he consoled himself. He was just here to idle his days away anyway. If he could really learn some flashy little immortal spells to trick a little wife into coming home with him, then this trip wouldn't be in vain.

"By the way, where does Eldest Senior Brother live?" Qi Yin asked. "Earlier, he led us here and then disappeared without a trace."

"Eldest Senior Brother doesn't live with us; he lives with Martial Uncle Sect Leader," Liu Bai said. "He always has nightmares at night. Martial Uncle worries he might succumb to his inner demons in his dreams, so he often has to dispel the nightmares for him."

"Nightmares?" Qi Yin was puzzled. Could it be that he abducted some decent woman from somewhere, felt guilty about it, and was afraid she would come into his dreams to collect the debt?

"That's right," a group of senior sisters walked over. Sang Ya, hugging the Black Cat, skipped to the threshold, sat down, and said, "Eldest Senior Brother is so pitiful. When he was seven years old, he watched with his own eyes as his parents were swallowed by a snake demon. That snake demon even kept Eldest Senior Brother as food rations, putting a rope loop around his neck and leading him around. Later, Martial Uncle Sect Leader happened to pass by and saw it, saving his life."

Qi Yin was stunned. The cynical, smiling face of that guy Yun Zhi appeared before his eyes. No matter how he looked at it, he didn't seem like someone who had suffered such a great disaster.

"After that, Eldest Senior Brother started having nightmares all the time. Martial Uncle even called us to take turns entering his dreams to dispel the nightmares. Martial Uncle said that if Eldest Senior Brother sees us beating the crap out of the snake demon in his dream, he won't be afraid anymore."

A guess suddenly formed in Qi Yin's mind, and he asked hesitantly, "What about you guys? Why did you think of coming here to cultivate the Dao?"

"We are all orphans," Liu Bai said. "I was abandoned by my parents when I was still a baby because I had a heart disease. When Master went down the mountain to collect scraps to sell for money, he found me in a broken basket and carried me up the mountain on his back."

"Sang Ya and I were unwanted by our parents because we are girls," Sang Ruo stroked Sang Ya's hair. "Master spent a string of cash to buy us back, and so we followed Master to cultivate the Dao."

An indescribable feeling welled up in Qi Yin's heart. The sun had already set, the last traces of the afterglow fading away. The curtain of night slowly descended, and the brilliant Milky Way flowed quietly across the vault of heaven. Everyone sat together below the threshold, gazing up at the night sky.

'It feels a bit like home,' Qi Yin thought.

"Wait," Qi Yin suddenly realized something. "Why did Brother Blockhead and I have to pay to join the sect?"

"Did you flash your wealth in front of Eldest Senior Brother?" Sang Ruo covered her mouth and laughed. "Eldest Senior Brother is very sly. He must have conspired with Martial Uncle at some point to split your tuition fees thirty-seventy."

Qi Yin: "..." As expected, he shouldn't set his expectations for them too high.

They still had classes tomorrow morning, so everyone went back to their rooms to sleep. Sang Ya gave them a few Light Talismans. Qi Yin stuck the talismans on the wall, and the room instantly lit up with a bright yellow glow. Fu Lan was even more detached from worldly desires than a monk; he neither ate nor drank, and didn't produce a single shit, piss, or fart. All the vegetables and noodles were finished off by the Black Cat and Qi Yin.

After eating his fill, Qi Yin wanted to relieve himself. Pushing the door open and taking a look, the tree shadows outside were swaying like ghosts. Recalling Yun Zhi's previous warning, he couldn't help but feel a chill in his heart. Could there be something like a Nine Heads Monster Bird inside the immortal mountain? However, the urge to pee was urgent, so Qi Yin dragged Fu Lan along to accompany him. The two of them walked along the dirt path with their hands tucked into their sleeves.

Ahead was the fence of their senior brothers. There were two people, one tall and one short, pushing each other back and forth in the middle of the road.

The man said, "I'll walk you back to your room. Once you're back, I'll go back."

The woman acted coy for a moment and said, "No, this time I'll walk you. You go first."

The man said again, "No, I have to walk you."

The woman said in a coquettish voice, "I don't want to..."

The two of them blocked the middle of the road. This dirt path was too narrow, so Qi Yin and Fu Lan couldn't get past and had to wait idly in the distance. After blowing in the night wind for a good while, those two finally moved their feet. The man walked the woman back to her room, then tucked his hands in his sleeves and returned to the tile-roofed house opposite hers.

Qi Yin: "..."

His grandpa's, these two idiots lived right opposite each other! Why were they dawdling for so long just now?

They walked a full circle around the village without finding an outhouse. Probably, people who cultivated the Dao practiced Bigu and didn't have that kind of need. Qi Yin had no choice but to pull Fu Lan into the woods. Before they even entered, Fu Lan pressed down on his shoulder and said, "There are many people inside."

"Huh? Where are the people?"

Qi Yin stared into the pitch-black woods. The dark silhouettes of the trees looked just like overlapping human figures.

Qi Yin suddenly reacted; the "people" Fu Lan mentioned might not necessarily be real "people". With a shudder, he quickly retreated a few steps, leaning closely against Fu Lan.