Ancient Book

Liu Xianyang soon came running back with a wicker basket on his back. Chen Ping'an was watching the well-diggers haul up earth beside the well when Liu Xianyang planted a kick right in his backside, nearly sending the straw-sandaled youth sprawling face-first like a dog eating dirt. Seeing it was the tall youth, Chen Ping'an did not hold it against him. Liu Xianyang said carelessly, "It's settled. Master Ruan said I'm to stay here obediently these next few days and not run around. I'll dig wells by day and forge iron by night. In fifteen days, I'll count as his first disciple in town—what was it called again, a Founding Disciple. I brought you a basket. I'll help you feel around for stones, starting from the blacksmith's shop and going all the way to the Covered Bridge. But let's be clear beforehand: I can't help you with that pool by Green Ox's back. Master Ruan said that if I dared step even half a pace across the Covered Bridge, north or west, these next few days, he'd break my legs."

Liu Xianyang hooked an arm around the straw-sandaled youth's neck and whispered, "Master Ruan said nothing gets stolen in town. He also said those Outsiders follow a very strange rule: they can be merchants making fair deals, swindlers cheating people blind, even beggars picking through scraps, but they absolutely cannot be sneaky thieves. He said that here, Heaven never dozes off or closes its eyes—it's staring right at us. Creepy, isn't it? Anyway, it gives me the chills."

Liu Xianyang suddenly threatened, "The one surnamed Chen, you can keep living in my house, but don't let me come back and find that you've sold my family's Treasure Armor!"

Chen Ping'an punched Liu Xianyang in the chest, making the tall youth hurriedly release him. Liu Xianyang rubbed the spot hard several times before catching his breath, then cursed, "You little monkey built like a skinny bamboo pole—where did you get such strength? Could it be that walking a hundred li of mountain roads with Old Man Yao every few days, or chopping wood and burning charcoal deep in the mountains for a few months, can make your strength shoot up like mad?"

Chen Ping'an smiled. "Anyway, even with a basket full of stones on my back, I can still run back to town before you."

Liu Xianyang shot him a sidelong glance. "Then how about we compete to see who can hold their breath underwater longer?"

As they neared the stream, Chen Ping'an bent down and rolled up his trouser legs. "I'm not doing something that only compares a single breath."

Before entering the water, Chen Ping'an pulled a great deal of spring grass from the bank and laid it in the basket. He even nagged that after every twenty stones, they had to add another layer of grass. Liu Xianyang was so annoyed he nearly flung the basket from his back at Chen Ping'an. Chen Ping'an refused, saying that if he carried the basket, then with Liu Xianyang's impatient temperament, he would surely toss the stones straight in, and that would hurt Chen Ping'an's heart. Liu Xianyang nearly quit on the spot. These gaudy stones had been worthless for thousands of years—how had they suddenly become precious and delicate with Chen Ping'an? And he even dared complain that Old Master Liu's hands were not gentle enough?

Yet in the end, the tall youth still entered the water unwillingly to feel for stones. Chen Ping'an worked to one side and he to the other, intending to sweep this entire stream clean. The water here was still mostly knee-deep, reaching the waist only in a few higher places. Now and then there were small pools as deep as a person was tall, mostly where huge boulders had gathered together. At such places, it was time for Liu Xianyang to show his prowess. He would first take off the basket and hand it to the straw-sandaled youth crouching atop a boulder, then dive straight to the bottom in one breath, pulling out the Snake Gallstones he wanted from the cracks between those enormous rocks, even from heaps of stones piled layer upon layer.

Chen Ping'an could do it too, of course, but it would be exhausting, taking far more time and effort than it did for Liu Xianyang.

Before they even reached the Covered Bridge, the basket was already seven or eight tenths full. Among the stones was a dark green Snake Gallstone that Liu Xianyang had felt for three times at the bottom of a deep pool before finally retrieving. It was as large as a palm, flecked with tiny golden specks and rippled with watery patterns. Its texture was dense and fine, yet astonishingly heavy in the hand. When Chen Ping'an rubbed it with his fingers, it somehow gave off the sensation of glittering sharpness splashing forth.

Anyone who was not blind could tell that this stone was extraordinary.

At last, the two youths sat shoulder to shoulder atop a huge boulder in the stream. Liu Xianyang braced both hands against the stone and watched the slowly flowing water. "Chen Ping'an, have you ever thought about leaving town someday?"

Chen Ping'an answered, "Not for now. Going far away requires money, doesn't it? And if I leave, what will happen to the house? No one will help tidy it up. What if it collapses one day? Besides, I need to go pull weeds from my parents' graves often."

Liu Xianyang said helplessly, "Why do you always think about so many useless things? It's no fun. No wonder Song Jixin said you were fated to walk into a Ghost Wall—circling and circling in a place this tiny for your whole life, never able to walk out."

Chen Ping'an turned and asked with a smile, "Do you remember what I told you last time? About that tree."

Liu Xianyang said irritably, "A tree grew on a grave, and that's worth making such a fuss over? Besides, that was the grave of an Old Ancestor from another branch of the Chen clan. It has nothing to do with you, Chen Ping'an—not even half a copper coin's worth!"

Sitting cross-legged, Chen Ping'an sighed softly. "I wonder whether there are many people surnamed Chen outside town."

Liu Xianyang punctured his fantasy. "I don't know about outside town, but I do know that in town there are only a few cats and dogs surnamed Chen. And aside from you, they all seem to be household-born servants of the Four Clans and Ten Tribes, slaves generation after generation. The funny thing is, inside those estates they're treated like oxen and horses, bowing and scraping, but the moment they step out of those grand houses, they put on another face when they see anyone. They love nothing more than looking down on people through dog eyes. So Old Man Yao was right: if you, Chen Ping'an, ever go work as their servant too, then the Chen branch that never moved out of town will be wiped out to the last man."

According to Old Man Yao, there had originally been two Chen branches in town. One had moved away long ago. Chen Ping'an's branch had once flourished too, but that "once" had been far too long ago. Even Old Man Yao could not say whether it had been several hundred years, five hundred, eight hundred, or a thousand. Later, it split into several more branches, its descendants growing fewer and fewer. Perhaps all its luck had gone with the branch that moved away. Its line of incense often went out, until many graves gradually had no one left to tend them. On top of that, most of the mountains where those graves lay had, one after another, been declared forbidden mountains by Supervising Officials sent by the imperial court.

The last time Old Man Yao took Chen Ping'an into the mountains, they passed one of those peaks, and he pointed out a spot, saying that another branch's Old Ancestor of the Chen clan had been buried there. The grave was on that mountain, with excellent feng shui. As for Chen Ping'an's own branch, Old Man Yao said that not even immortals could find it anymore. Over the past several centuries, the Chen descendants of this branch had amounted to nothing but ruined households. Apart from stubbornly refusing to become servants and maids for the Four Clans and Ten Tribes, they had nothing to show for themselves.

Once, Chen Ping'an secretly went looking for that Chen ancestor's grave. When he reached the place, he found only weeds and many foxes and rabbits, but no grave mound. Among them stood a tree the straw-sandaled youth did not recognize. It was not tall, much shorter than the Old Scholar Tree in town.

Weeds ran wild, foxes and rabbits came and went; lonely and forlorn, one tree alone flourished.

Chen Ping'an shook his head. "Before my mother died, she made me swear that I could be a beggar—even starve to death—but I must never become a servant for those wealthy households."

Liu Xianyang blurted out, "But before she died, didn't your mother also make you swear that you absolutely could not become an apprentice at the Dragon Kiln?"

The straw-sandaled youth's face darkened. He did not argue, nor did he fly into shame and anger after having his sore spot exposed.

Liu Xianyang felt somewhat guilty, but he was not the sort to say the words "I'm sorry" after doing something wrong. He could only pretend that nothing had happened. Rising to his feet, he said, "Come on, come on, let's dig wells. Oh, right, I'll pester Master Ruan a bit more and try to get you a short-term apprentice position here. Then it'll be easy for you to feel around for stones too."

Chen Ping'an said, "No rush. Let's wait until those two groups give up and leave town. I'll watch your house for you in the meantime."

Liu Xianyang asked curiously, "Why do you think I could escape this calamity just by becoming Master Ruan's disciple?"

Chen Ping'an thought for a moment, then said uncertainly, "It's like when it suddenly rains. You have to find an eave to shelter under, right?"

Liu Xianyang turned toward the sword-furnace blacksmith's shop. "Who exactly is Master Ruan? He doesn't look all that impressive. Can he keep those two groups under control?"

Chen Ping'an comforted him, "You can't judge a person by appearances."

Liu Xianyang turned back. "You, Chen Ping'an, look poor. So are you poor?"

Chen Ping'an bared his teeth, left speechless.

Liu Xianyang rose and asked, "Want me to carry it for you to the Covered Bridge?"

Chen Ping'an shook his head. "No need. It isn't heavy."

"Remember to return my basket next time."

After saying that, Liu Xianyang jumped straight down from the boulder and strode quickly through the stream, splashing up countless droplets.

Chen Ping'an hoisted the basket onto his back, carefully climbed down from the boulder, and after reaching the bank, slowly headed toward the Covered Bridge.

After Chen Ping'an had walked some distance, he heard footsteps behind him. Turning around, he saw Liu Xianyang.

Under the warm early-spring sunlight, the tall youth snatched away the straw-sandaled youth's basket and carried it himself. Turning his head, he mocked, "Watching you carry that basket from afar, you looked like a little grasshopper carrying a huge stone. So pitiful. I'll be kind and carry it to the Covered Bridge for you."

In the spring breeze, the two youths walked together.

"The one surnamed Chen, if I ever master my craft, I'm definitely going out to see the world. I'll marry a wife prettier than Zhi Gui, drink the finest and most expensive wine, live in the biggest house, and ride the fastest horse!"

"I'm going to see mountains as high as the sky, and rivers countless times larger than our little stream."

"In any case, I, Liu Xianyang, will absolutely not stay here and wait to die for the rest of my life."

In the spring breeze, the tall youth dreamed of the future while the straw-sandaled youth chewed thoughtfully on a grass root. One spoke, and one listened.

Chen Ping'an carried the basket of stones back to Liu Xianyang's courtyard. As before, he selected several stones that pleased his eye the most and took them to the side room, leaving the rest in the kitchen. After locking the room and courtyard gates, he ran toward Mud Bottle Alley. When he reached his own courtyard, he saw the black-clothed girl sitting in the yard, basking in the sun. After greeting her, Chen Ping'an began brewing medicine.

The neighboring courtyard kept ringing with chopping sounds. This was strange. Though Song Jixin lived a life that outsiders saw as fatherless and motherless, he had never lacked food or clothing all these years, and his purse had always been generous. He might not have lived better than the young masters in the Four Clans' estates, but he was certainly no worse off than the direct descendants of the Ten Tribes. The Four Treasures of the Study, refined desk ornaments, scholarly offerings for the study—many luxurious objects that Chen Ping'an had never seen or heard of were carried into Song Jixin's house one by one every few days. In truth, Song Jixin had never had any genuinely filthy, exhausting, or physically demanding work to do. Pickling vegetables smelled too bad, so Song Jixin would not let his maidservant Zhi Gui do it. Chopping firewood was too tiring, so every year Song Jixin simply bought bundles upon bundles of firewood and sacks upon sacks of the finest charcoal.

When Chen Ping'an brought the bowl of medicine to the black-clothed girl, the neighboring courtyard was still chopping wood on and off. While Miss Ning drank her medicine, Chen Ping'an could not help walking to the wall and standing on tiptoe to peer over. He discovered that Zhi Gui was holding a kitchen knife and hacking at "a person." It was a wooden blank. Chen Ping'an had fired porcelain for many years, had seen quite a few good things, and had chopped more trees than he could count, so he immediately saw its worth. The wood was jade-colored and had to be a very old piece. Furthermore, the wooden doll was covered in densely packed red and black dots. Zhi Gui had hacked and chopped it into many pieces.

The girl suddenly turned and spotted Chen Ping'an. Her face was covered in sweat and grime. She raised an arm to wipe her face and forced a smile. "You're back. Earlier, I wanted to borrow a woodcutter's axe from you, but the guest at your house wouldn't open the door for me."

Chen Ping'an froze for a moment. "I'll get you the axe right away. Don't use too much force at first. A woodcutter's axe isn't like a kitchen knife—it slips easily. Don't hurt yourself."

The girl sat on a small stool, utterly exhausted, and waved her hand. "I know. Hurry up and get it."

When Chen Ping'an returned with the axe, the girl was already standing by the courtyard wall. Smiling, she asked, "Do you know what that thing is?"

Chen Ping'an shook his head. "No."

Zhi Gui did not give him an answer. She turned around, sat back down on the little stool, and continued hacking with all her strength.

Her unfamiliar, stiff movements and all sorts of laborious but ineffective wrong postures made Chen Ping'an anxious just watching her. But since she had not asked for help, he did not force his goodwill upon her. When he turned his head, he found that Miss Ning was no longer in the courtyard. Remembering something, Chen Ping'an hurried into the house and placed an object on the table, across from the black-clothed girl.

It was a Snake Gallstone, just the right size to fit within one hand, like a lump of frozen, solidified honey. Its grain was delicate, its color perfectly pure.

Ning Yao found this somewhat strange.

Chen Ping'an smiled. "Miss Ning, this is for you."

The black-clothed girl, whose blade never left her side, suddenly asked, "Is this your favorite one?"

Chen Ping'an was a little embarrassed. "This one... probably ranks fourth. I've already hidden the three best ones."

Only then did she accept the stone. Pinching it between two fingers, she raised it over her head as light streamed through the window and shone upon it.

She tilted back her head, narrowed her eyes, and carefully studied the stone's subtle grain.

She looked at the stone.

The youth looked at her.

In the dead of night, a youth secretly slipped into Mud Bottle Alley, moving like a wildcat at night, soundless and unseen. He quietly came to Gu Can's courtyard and found the large water vat sitting in a corner. Crouching down, he saw that the Snake Gallstones which had once been stacked neatly had already been rifled through into a disorderly mess. It seemed that someone had learned the stones' value even earlier than Chen Ping'an. Gu Can was the only oddball in town who liked collecting Snake Gallstones. No matter how many he found in the stream, he took home just one each time, choosing only the stone most pleasing to his eye. Over time, he had accumulated fifty or sixty, using them to cover the gaps at the bottom of the water vat.

After moving aside many Snake Gallstones whose colors had already dried out, Chen Ping'an saw no signs of digging at the vat's bottom. Only then did he let out a breath of relief.

He began digging through the soil bit by bit with his right hand. Finally, when he touched oilpaper, his heart jolted and he slowed down.

At last, he pulled out an object wrapped in oilpaper. By the look of it, it was a book.

After tucking it into his clothes, Chen Ping'an refilled the hole with dirt. He then carefully examined those Snake Gallstones again. The remaining stones had all "died." Compared with the stones Chen Ping'an had newly picked from the stream on his last two trips, their color, grain, and weight were completely different. These stones before him were like old men steeped in Death Qi, while the ones Chen Ping'an had gathered were like newborn infants, brimming with vigor.

Chen Ping'an thought it over and decided to leave Mud Bottle Alley by way of his own house.

When he reached the gate of Song Jixin's courtyard, he heard a creak as the door opened. Chen Ping'an had no choice but to put on an act, knocking on his own gate and calling, "Miss Ning, are you asleep? I came back to get something."

A light quickly came on inside, and the black-clothed girl opened the courtyard gate for Chen Ping'an.

Next door, the maidservant Zhi Gui slowly emerged from the house. Upon reaching the courtyard, she saw the shadowy figures on Chen Ping'an's side. Hugging a thick, yellowed book to her chest, she shook her head and clicked her tongue, as though she had happened to catch an adulterous pair.

She skipped down Mud Bottle Alley alone.

Her golden double pupils looked especially cold and sacred in the dark alley.

They made the slender, graceful girl resemble a Flood Dragon winding through narrow cracks between stones, as if the moment she left that alley, she would take to the rivers and transform into a dragon.

Though Ning Yao had let Chen Ping'an enter the courtyard, and even the house, her expression was very unpleasant. Sitting at the table, she rested one arm against her scabbard, her fingers lightly tapping the hilt.

Only after confirming that Zhi Gui had entered the alley did Chen Ping'an awkwardly explain, "I went to Gu Can's house to get something, but she happened to be going out just then. I had no choice but to hide here. Miss Ning, please don't misunderstand."

She asked, "What thing?"

Chen Ping'an hesitated, then took out the oilpaper package. "I don't know yet either."

She turned away. "Open it yourself first, then decide whether you want me to know."

Chen Ping'an nodded. Sitting across from her at the table, he unwrapped layer after layer of oilpaper. Bits of dirt continuously rolled onto the tabletop, until an ancient book was truly revealed.

There were only two characters on the book's cover. Chen Ping'an recognized only one of them: mountain.

He placed the ancient book on the table, turned it around, and pushed it toward the black-clothed girl. Curious, he asked, "Miss Ning, how do you read this character?"

The girl turned back around, lowered her head for a glance, and said, "Shakes."

The book was titled Shakes Mountains.