6: Chapter 6 Sangyin Small Market

When the rain stopped, the sky was not yet completely dark.

A thin mist rose on Duansang Ridge, crawling up from the bottom of the slope and covering half the mountain.

Jiang Xingchuan sat on the edge of the kang in the east wing, tightening the cloth on his shoulder again.

This time, he didn't try to be a hero.

He went through the line he had coaxed out of the family genealogy, "First bind the Jianjing, then guide to the left rib," two more times, and the Awakening of Insects inside him finally stopped thrashing around like a mad dog.

It still hurt, but at least he could suppress it.

He pressed his hand to his shoulder, staring at the thickening mist outside the window paper, and suddenly spoke: "Mother, I'm going to Niubei Hollow."

Lin Suwen was serving bamboo shoot soup by the stove without looking up.

"If you are going to throw your life away, go now, don't wait until the soup gets cold."

Jiang Xingchuan was choked by her words; he didn't talk back, just turned his gaze to Jiang Chengning.

Jiang Chengning sat by the table with the "Lesser Start of Spring Guide" spread out, and a few pages of handwritten notes left by Jiang Chengpu pressed under his hand.

The corners of the paper were curled, the handwriting was untidy; it was clearly not a formal copy, but miscellaneous notes that Jiang Chengpu had jotted down while listening while he was alive.

He looked up at his eldest son.

"You can go," he said, "but tell me where first."

"Sangyin Small Market."

Jiang Xingchuan said: "Liu Zhaoquan says that the 'Spring Sound' behind the grave was heard by more than just him in Niubei Hollow."

"The Old Grave Slope is usually guarded by an old man, so it's not easy to just break in. I'll go to the small market to ask around first and see if anyone has been there recently, so I won't be going in blind."

The Zhou Family established a small market halfway up Duansang Ridge called the Sangyin Small Market.

It couldn't compare to the market in the county seat or the big shops on the Main Peak itself; it was just a place for the Cold Households, mountain patrollers, and occasional passing Loose Cultivators in the mountains to trade for medicinal herbs, talisman paper, Spiritual Artifacts, and mountain goods.

The more such places there were, the more mixed the rumors, so it wasn't hard to get information.

Jiang Shoushan also lifted his eyes.

"I'll go too."

"No need," Jiang Chengning shook his head, "you guard the house tonight."

Jiang Shoushan was silent for a moment and didn't argue further.

With two new Cultivators just starting out in the house and the outside world being unstable, the ancestral house really couldn't be left unattended.

Lin Suwen then brought over the bamboo shoot soup, placed a bowl for Jiang Yuhe, and picked up the small clay pot that Liu Sanniang had sent earlier, pouring out half a cup of well water.

There was a faint coolness in the water.

She dipped her fingertips in it and applied it to Jiang Yuhe's wrist.

"Is it still heavy?"

Jiang Yuhe closed her eyes and tested it.

"Heavy, but better than before."

Lin Suwen nodded.

"Back-Dew Moss isn't necessarily that effective, it just smooths the fine meridians and is suitable for your Grain Rain. It only grows a little bit by the old well in Niubei Hollow every year; I'll go scrape some more tomorrow morning."

Jiang Chengning listened to her finish before looking back at Jiang Xingchuan.

"Go. Don't be sharp-tongued, and don't cause trouble. If you really hear or see anything, just make a note of it and tell us when you get back."

Jiang Xingchuan responded, got off the kang, and put on his boots. When he walked to the table, his gaze fell on those pages of handwritten notes by Jiang Chengpu, and he glanced at them.

There was a line of small characters on the paper, squeezed into the corner, the ink slightly smudged:

Ten levels of Qi Refining: the first three to nourish breath, the middle three to nourish meridians, the last three to knock on the apertures; only when the ten levels reach Perfection can one dare to hope for Foundation Establishment.

Below that was another even smaller line:

Cultivation Technique is the main path, and spells are the side branches. If the main path is unstable, the side branches are hard to master. If the side branches are not practiced, one easily dies in battle.

Jiang Xingchuan paused.

"Uncle recorded these too?"

Jiang Chengning flipped the paper over.

"Heard, and copied messily," he said, "but the words are correct."

"Ten levels of Qi Refining are the same for everyone. Whether the path is straight depends on the Cultivation Technique. Whether one is strong in fighting depends on spells. Small families mostly just focus on grinding up their Realm, with little spare money or items to practice spells. But spells are not completely useless."

"The further you go, the more useful they are."

"Some Cultivation Techniques come with spells. Better techniques, when practiced to the third or fourth level, will naturally bring out the first companion spell; by the seventh or eighth level, if the path hasn't gone astray, one can usually see a second one. As for other spells, they must be bought, learned, and practiced separately."

He said this and glanced at the "Lesser Start of Spring Guide".

"The Inheriting Spring Guide is only enough for you to get started. Later, if you really want to walk steadily, you must understand what needs to be learned. But don't think too much; take it one step at a time."

Jiang Xingchuan listened, didn't ask further, and just responded softly.

Zhou Wang, hiding in the clan history, also remembered those two lines.

One must first stay alive and walk the path steadily before talking about what to use to fight people, compete for land, or guard the mountain.

When Jiang Xingchuan went out, the mist had already spread over the courtyard wall.

Liu Zhaoquan was waiting for him at the bottom of the slope, carrying a cloth bag slung over his shoulder. Seeing him come out, he first glanced at his shoulder.

"Can you really walk?"

"If you talk nonsense again, I'm going back."

Liu Zhaoquan laughed, stopped talking, and led him toward the small mountain path in the southwest.

Sangyin Small Market was not at the foot of the Main Peak, but on a depression between Duansang Ridge and Qingsang Main Peak.

There were originally a few century-old mulberry trees there, their branches and leaves joined together, keeping the ground shaded year-round; it was cool in summer and didn't accumulate much snow in winter, so the Zhou Family simply built a dozen wooden sheds and stone houses there for the mountain people to trade goods.

When the two arrived, it was already dusk.

There weren't many lights in the small market; at a glance, there were only five or six flickering here and there.

Sellers of medicine, talismans, mountain goods, and a blacksmith. There weren't many people, and they all came and went in a hurry.

After all, in this kind of weather, there were few people with spare money to stroll around the small market.

Liu Zhaoquan, familiar with the place, led Jiang Xingchuan into a medicine shop first.

The medicine shop wasn't big; behind the counter stood a thin, withered old man with hair as white as ash, but his eyelids were sharp. He was bowing his head, weighing some herbs on a scale.

"Shopkeeper Xie," Liu Zhaoquan called out.

The old man looked up.

"Oh, from Niubei Hollow. What are you buying today?"

"First, let me see two types of medicine to suppress Qi," Liu Zhaoquan said, "and then I want to ask about something."

Shopkeeper Xie snorted as soon as he heard "ask about something".

"You youngsters, you come in saying you want to buy medicine, but nine times out of ten, you're here to fish for information."

Liu Zhaoquan smiled and didn't answer.

Jiang Xingchuan stood by the counter, but his gaze was drawn to someone in another corner of the medicine shop.

A man was standing there, wearing a coarse linen short jacket with white-worn cuffs; at first glance, he looked like a laborer following a cart on the road.

He was slightly hunched, with a wet bundle at his feet, holding a small piece of paper with medicine names written on it, asking naively: "Shopkeeper, is there any medicine for stopping bleeding, knitting bones, and suppressing Evil Qi that works quickly?"

He didn't speak in a hurry, and his accent wasn't heavy; he seemed like an ordinary outsider.

Jiang Xingchuan looked twice more but didn't speak.

Shopkeeper Xie finished listening without even lifting his eyelids much.

"I have it, but the price is also 'fast'."

The man smiled: "The price is easy to discuss."

Shopkeeper Xie then turned his head and shouted to the back: "A-Yao, get two packs of Bone-Knitting Powder and one sheet of Evil-Suppressing Talisman."

There was a response from inside.

A half-grown medicine boy crawled out from behind the curtain, aged only twelve or thirteen; he looked dull, but his hands and feet were fast, and he wasn't shy.

He hugged the medicine paper and walked to the counter, handing the things to the man, seemingly asking casually: "Did you go to the Old Grave Slope in the mountains? There's a scent of yin soil on you."

The man was stunned for a moment, then smiled bitterly.

"Don't mention it. I was traveling at night and saw white fire behind the grave from afar. I got scared, took a big detour, and ended up falling instead."

The medicine boy heard this and tilted his chin toward the west.

"If you really fear the white fire, take the small path at Shuimozi and go around the back of the Old Grave Slope. Recently, Old Uncle Chen who guards the graves is sick, so he likely won't come out after the third watch at night."

The man thanked the shopkeeper, took the medicine and the talisman paper, and turned to leave. The medicine boy was neither humble nor arrogant, said "go slowly," and turned back behind the curtain.

Jiang Xingchuan's eye twitched.

Shopkeeper Xie had already collected the money and looked up at them.

"Have you two looked enough?"

Liu Zhaoquan then smiled and took over the conversation.

"Shopkeeper, I really want to ask you something. Is it not very clean behind the Old Grave Slope lately?"

Shopkeeper Xie was organizing the medicine drawers while saying: "Which year has it ever been clean?"

"Not that kind of 'not clean'," Liu Zhaoquan said, "it's... 'Spring Sound'."

As soon as these three words fell, the medicine scoop in Shopkeeper Xie's hand stopped slightly.

After two breaths, he put the medicine scoop back, lifted his eyelids, and scanned the two.

"Who told you to ask about this?"

"No one," Jiang Xingchuan interjected, "just heard an old person in the mountains mention it, and I was curious."

Shopkeeper Xie stared at him for a moment and suddenly laughed.

"Great curiosity is not a good thing."

He paused, but ultimately said a few more words.

"Over at the Old Grave Slope, there are many graves, the dampness is heavy, and white fire often appears after rain. You Mortals find it scary to look at, but actually, it's just that. If you really want to talk about something else, people from the Main Peak have indeed gone there recently. If you two feel like your lives are too long, you are welcome to go listen for the 'Spring Sound' at night."

He said this, bowed his head, and fished out two thin yellow talismans from the counter.

"Mind-Calming Talismans, one for each. If you really bump into something, it might not be able to stop it, but at least it will keep your legs from going soft first."

Liu Zhaoquan was stunned.

"Shopkeeper, why are you so kind today?"

"Your mother sent me a basket of bamboo shoots last month," Shopkeeper Xie said indifferently, "I remember."

Liu Zhaoquan chuckled and took the talismans.

Jiang Xingchuan, however, was not in a hurry to take them, only asking: "Shopkeeper, can a Qi Refining Cultivator really be burned by that white fire?"

Shopkeeper Xie glanced at him.

"It depends on what you practice," he said. "Spring Cultivators encountering clear fire are usually fine. If it's someone from 'other paths', it's hard to say."

"Other paths?"

Shopkeeper Xie pushed the counter door shut and tapped his fingers on the counter.

"The world doesn't only have Spring. Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter are the four seasons, and there are many side paths in each season."

"In Spring, there is growth, competition, and storage; in Winter, there is naturally sealing, silence, and death. It's just that the Cultivators on our mountain mainly practice Spring, so we are not familiar with the spells of Cultivators from 'other paths', which are often very strange."

Hearing this, Jiang Xingchuan recalled the man's dry trouser cuffs and the strange-shaped items in his bundle, and the unease in his heart deepened.

Liu Zhaoquan also fell silent for a moment.

Shopkeeper Xie saw they weren't speaking and added: "Also, don't always keep your eyes only on Cultivation Techniques. The technique is the path, and the spell is the hand."

"Small families are often too poor, focusing only on grinding up their Realm, and when the time comes to actually use spells, their hands are empty. If you truly become Qi Refining, you should first hone a companion spell well in the first few levels."

Jiang Xingchuan asked: "Then what about Foundation Establishment?"

Shopkeeper Xie glanced at him.

"Foundation Establishment? Think about that only after you live to that step."

"But remember this," he said, "spells should be practiced early. If you practice them well during Qi Refining, when you finally touch the threshold of Foundation Establishment, and the timing is right, you will be different."

"But most people in this world can't touch Foundation Establishment before sixty, and each year gets harder than the last, so naturally, no one is willing to spend too much on spells."

After these few sentences, the medicine shop became quiet.

Only the wind blowing the shop sign outside made a crackling sound.

Liu Zhaoquan tucked the two talismans into his sleeves and bowed to Shopkeeper Xie.

"Thanks."

Shopkeeper Xie waved his hand as if finding them in the way, and bowed his head to organize the medicine again.

The two left the medicine shop and stood under the eaves of the small market, not leaving yet.

Liu Zhaoquan whispered: "Did you see that person just now?"

Jiang Xingchuan nodded.

"His shoes were not wet."

Shoulders didn't sway, eyes didn't wander.

More importantly, his trouser cuffs were stained with mud, but the edges of his shoes were not wet at all.

In the spring, the mountain is full of mud; with shoes like that, unless he didn't step on the ground the whole way.

"Do you also think he was heading for the Old Grave Slope?"

"Most likely."

The two looked at each other; neither said "let's follow him" out loud, but both stepped out in unison.

Liu Zhaoquan glanced in that direction and lowered his voice: "That person is not from Duansang Ridge."

Jiang Xingchuan didn't respond, just stared at the small path ahead leading to the Old Grave Slope.

The mist had already begun to press in that direction.

The man wasn't walking fast, his back appearing and disappearing in the mist.

After a while, Jiang Xingchuan tucked the Mind-Calming Talisman from his sleeve into his chest.

"Let's go."

"Really follow?"

"We're already here," Jiang Xingchuan said, "can we go back to sleep?"

Liu Zhaoquan grinned and followed.

Meanwhile, in the ancestral house, Jiang Yuhe was sitting under the lamp, hands flat on her knees, slowly breathing.

Zhou Wang, hiding in the clan history, had two things spread out before him—the First Grade "Inheriting Spring Guide" and the Second Grade "Lesser Start of Spring Guide" left by Jiang Chengpu.

Rain Water crawled down the window paper, and the house was so quiet that only the sound of breathing remained.

He had previously just followed the clan genealogy to force out the two marginal notes originally hidden in the "Lesser Start of Spring Guide".

But at this moment, somehow, he actually understood a little.

He understood how the words in the book and the Grain Rain inside Jiang Yuhe's body connected.

Although the "Inheriting Spring Guide" was broad and could be used by all Spring Cultivators, it was only First Grade.

It was enough for Cold Households to cultivate First or Second Grade Spring Qi.

But to really nourish Jiang Yuhe's Fourth Grade Grain Rain, it was too shallow.

Zhou Wang followed the Grain Rain note and searched for a long time before finding a deeper ink mark in the seam of the clan history page.

A sentence, half a sentence, a line, three or five words, slowly emerged from the Jiang family genealogy and landed on the blank margin of the "Inheriting Spring Guide".

It was as if someone was holding a pen, patiently continuing to write for it bit by bit.

Grain Rain is heavy, do not compete for priority.

First nourish the wood meridians, then sink the kidney water.

Store Qi in the body, do not take it by force.

Jiang Yuhe closed her eyes, but sweat gently broke out on her forehead.

It was just the beginning.

But if these few sentences could really be connected, perhaps the two Start of Spring Cultivation Techniques in the Jiang Family's hands could be slowly changed into a work that could truly nourish Fourth Grade Grain Rain.

The lamp was small, but the night was getting deeper.

Under the lamp in the ancestral house, the Grain Rain was slowly being polished.

On the mountain path in the mist, two youths stepped through the mud, following someone.