Ancient Books

Liu Xianyang quickly ran back with a basket on his back. Chen Ping'an was watching the scene of digging a well and moving earth by the well. Liu Xianyang kicked Chen Ping'an's butt, almost making the straw-sandaled youth fall face-first. He didn't bother when he saw it was the tall youth. Liu Xianyang said casually, "It's done. Master Ruan told me to stay put and not run around these days. I'll dig wells during the day and forge iron at night. In half a moon cycle, I'll be his first disciple in this small town, called the founding disciple. I got you a basket to help you pick up stones, starting from the blacksmith shop all the way to the covered bridge. I'm telling you now, I can't help you with that puddle on Green Ox Ridge. Master Ruan said if I dare to step half a step north or west of the covered bridge these days, he'll break my legs."

Liu Xianyang put his arm around the straw-sandaled youth's neck and whispered, "Master Ruan said that nothing gets lost in this small town. He also said that outsiders follow a strange rule. Merchants who can make fair deals can also be swindlers, and even beggars who pick up trash can do anything, but they can't be sneaky thieves. He said that here, heaven never slumbers or closes its eyes; it's always watching us. Do you find that creepy or not? I certainly do."

Liu Xianyang suddenly threatened, "Chen, you can keep living in my house, but don't you dare sell my Treasure Armor before I get back!"

Chen Ping'an punched Liu Xianyang in the chest, making the tall youth let go and rub his chest for a while before recovering. He cursed, "You skinny little monkey, where did you get so much strength! Do you gain strength by walking a hundred miles with Old Man Yao every few days, or by chopping wood and making charcoal in the deep mountains for months?"

Chen Ping'an laughed, "Even with a basket of stones on my back, I can still run back to the small town faster than you."

Liu Xianyang squinted, "Then let's see who can hold their breath longer underwater."

Near the stream, Chen Ping'an bent down and rolled up his pant legs, saying casually, "I'm not doing it if it's just about holding my breath."

Before going into the water, Chen Ping'an put a lot of spring grass from the bank into the basket. He also muttered that he would add more grass after picking up every twenty stones. Liu Xianyang was so annoyed that he wanted to throw the basket off his back and give it to Chen Ping'an. However, Chen Ping'an refused, saying that if he carried the basket, with Liu Xianyang's impatient nature, he would definitely just throw the stones into the basket, and he would feel heartbroken. Liu Xianyang almost gave up on the spot. These colorful stones had been worthless for thousands of years, so why had they become so precious and delicate in Chen Ping'an's hands? He even dared to complain that Liu's technique wasn't gentle enough.

In the end, the tall youth reluctantly went into the water to feel for stones. Chen Ping'an, one on each side, planned to thoroughly scour the stream. The water here was mostly knee-deep. Only in some higher spots did it reach their waists. Occasionally, there were small pools as tall as a person, mostly where large rocks gathered, serving as footholds. It was here that Liu Xianyang would show his skills. He would take off the basket and hand it to the straw-sandaled youth squatting on a large rock, then dive to the bottom in one go, retrieving the Snake Gallstones he wanted from the crevices of the massive rocks or even from the piles of stones.

Of course, Chen Ping'an could also do it, but it would be very difficult, consuming much more time and effort than Liu Xianyang.

Before they even reached the covered bridge, the basket was already seven-eighths full. One of the stones was a dark green Snake Gallstone. Liu Xianyang had to dive three times to the bottom of a deep pool to retrieve it. It was as large as a palm, with scattered golden specks, wavy patterns, and a fine, dense texture. It felt extremely heavy in the hand. When Chen Ping'an rubbed it with his hand, it actually gave off a sharp glint.

Anyone with eyes could tell this stone was extraordinary.

Finally, the two youths sat shoulder to shoulder on a large rock in the stream. Liu Xianyang rested his hands on the rock's surface and looked at the slowly flowing water, asking, "Chen Ping'an, have you ever thought about leaving this small town?"

Chen Ping'an replied, "Not for now. You need money to travel far, and what about the house after I leave? No one will help me tidy it up. What if it collapses one day? Also, I need to go to my parents' graves often to pull weeds."

Liu Xianyang sighed, "Why do you always think about so many useless things? It's boring. No wonder Song Jixin said you're destined to be stuck in a loop, going around and around in such a tiny place your whole life."

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 growing on a grave is worth making a fuss about? Besides, that's the grave of an Old Ancestor from another branch of the Chen family. It has nothing to do with you, Chen Ping'an!"

Chen Ping'an sat down cross-legged and murmured, "I wonder if there are many people surnamed Chen outside this small town."

Liu Xianyang chimed in, "I don't know about outside the small town, but I know that within the small town, there are only a handful of people surnamed Chen. And besides you, they all seem to be descendants of the Four Clans and Ten Tribes, servants for generations. What's funny is that these people act like servants in the houses, bowing and scraping, but as soon as they step outside those big houses, they put on a different face. They love to look down on others. So Old Man Yao is right. If you, Chen Ping'an, ever become their servant, then your branch of the Chen family that hasn't moved out of the small town will be completely wiped out."

According to Old Man Yao, there were originally two branches of people surnamed Chen in the small town. However, one branch had moved out very early. Chen Ping'an's branch had also flourished in the past, but that "past" was so long ago that even Old Man Yao couldn't say exactly when—a few hundred years, five hundred years, eight hundred years? Or even a thousand years? Later, it split into several smaller families, and the population became increasingly sparse. Their luck had probably all gone with the branch that moved out. The incense offerings were often interrupted, leading to many graves being neglected. Furthermore, most of the mountains where the graves were located were successively declared forbidden mountains by the Supervising Officials sent by the court.

The last time Old Man Yao took Chen Ping'an into the mountains, as they passed one of the mountains, he pointed to a spot and told him that it was the burial place of an Old Ancestor from another branch of the Chen family. The grave was on that mountain, and the feng shui was very good. As for Chen Ping'an's branch, Old Man Yao said even Immortals couldn't find them. In the past few hundred years, the descendants of this branch of the Chen family had been unaccomplished, all fallen into ruin. Apart from stubbornly refusing to become servants to the Four Clans and Ten Tribes, they were useless.

Chen Ping'an had secretly gone to find the grave of that Old Ancestor of the Chen family once. When he got there, there was only overgrown grass, and he saw many foxes and rabbits, but no grave. There was a tree that the straw-sandaled youth didn't recognize. It wasn't tall, much shorter than the Old Scholar Tree in town.

Overgrown with weeds, inhabited by foxes and rabbits, lonely and desolate, with a single tree flourishing.

Chen Ping'an shook his head and said, "Before my mother passed away, she made me swear that I could beg for food, and even starve to death, but I was not allowed to become a servant to those wealthy families."

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

The straw-sandaled youth's face darkened. He didn't retort, nor did he get angry at being exposed.

Liu Xianyang felt a bit guilty, but he wasn't the type to say "sorry" after making a mistake. He pretended nothing had happened and got up, saying, "Let's go, let's go, time to dig the well. Oh, right, I'll plead with Master Ruan again to see if I can get you a temporary apprenticeship here. Then it'll be easier for you to pick up stones."

Chen Ping'an said, "No rush. Let's wait until those two groups of people give up and leave the small town. I'll help you watch the house during this time."

Liu Xianyang asked curiously, "Why do you think I can escape disaster by apprenticing with Master Ruan?"

Chen Ping'an thought for a moment, uncertainly, "It's like when it suddenly rains, you have to find an eave to hide under, right?"

Liu Xianyang looked towards the sword furnace blacksmith shop. "Who exactly is Master Ruan? He doesn't look like a very powerful person. Can he suppress those two groups?"

Chen Ping'an comforted him, "You can't judge a book by its cover."

Liu Xianyang turned and said, "You, Chen Ping'an, look like a poor person. Are you a poor person then?"

Chen Ping'an grinned, speechless.

Liu Xianyang stood up and asked, "Do you want me to carry it to the covered bridge for you?"

Chen Ping'an shook his head, "No need, it's not heavy."

"Remember to return the basket to me next time."

After saying that, Liu Xianyang jumped off the large rock and walked quickly through the stream, splashing water everywhere.

Chen Ping'an picked up the basket, carefully got off the large rock, and after reaching the shore, slowly walked towards the covered bridge.

After walking for a while, Chen Ping'an heard footsteps behind him. He turned and saw Liu Xianyang.

Under the gentle spring sunlight, the tall youth snatched the basket from the straw-sandaled youth and carried it himself. He turned and mocked, "Seeing you carrying that basket from afar, you looked like a little grasshopper carrying a big rock. It's pitiful. I'll take pity on you and help you carry it to the covered bridge."

The two youths walked together in the spring breeze.

"Chen, if I achieve great things in the future, I must go out and see the world. I'll marry a wife even more beautiful than Zhi Gui, drink the most expensive wine, live in the biggest house, and ride the fastest horse!"

"I want to see mountains as high as the sky, and rivers much larger than our stream."

"In short, I, Liu Xianyang, will never stay here and wait to die my whole life."

In the spring breeze, the tall youth yearned for the future, while the straw-sandaled youth chewed on a blade of grass, one speaking, the other listening.

Chen Ping'an carried the basket of stones back to Liu Xianyang's courtyard. He still picked out a few stones that he particularly liked and took them to the side room, leaving the rest in the kitchen. After locking the house and courtyard gates, he ran to Mud Bottle Alley. Upon reaching his own courtyard, he saw the black-clothed girl sitting in the yard basking in the sun. Chen Ping'an greeted her and then began to prepare medicine.

Chopping sounds kept coming from the neighboring courtyard. This was strange. Although Song Jixin lived a life without parents in the eyes of outsiders, he had been well-provided for all these years, even having plenty of money. He couldn't say he lived better than the young masters in the houses of the Four Clans, but he was certainly not worse off than the direct descendants of the Ten Tribes. He had writing brushes and inkstones, desk ornaments, and study supplies—many luxurious items that Chen Ping'an had never seen or heard of were moved into Song Jixin's room every few days. In fact, Song Jixin's place never had any truly dirty, tiring, or physically demanding chores. Pickling vegetables was too smelly, so Song Jixin wouldn't let the maidservant Zhi Gui do it. Chopping wood was too tiring, so Song Jixin directly bought bundles of firewood and bags of high-quality charcoal every year.

When Chen Ping'an brought the medicinal soup to the black-clothed girl, the neighboring courtyard was still intermittently chopping wood. While Miss Ning was drinking her medicine, Chen Ping'an couldn't help but walk to the courtyard wall, stand on tiptoe, and look over. He saw Zhi Gui holding a cleaver, hacking at a "person." It was a wooden effigy. Chen Ping'an had been firing porcelain for many years and had seen many good things, and had chopped countless trees. Therefore, he could tell at a glance the general quality. The wood was jade-like in color, definitely an old object. Moreover, the wooden puppet was covered with dense red and black spots. Zhi Gui had already chopped and hacked the puppet into many pieces.

The young girl suddenly turned her head and spotted Chen Ping'an. With a face covered in sweat and dirt, she raised her arm, wiped her face, and forced a smile. "You're back. I wanted to borrow a cleaver from you earlier, but the guest at your place wouldn't open the door for me."

Chen Ping'an was taken aback. "I'll get you a cleaver right away. Don't use too much force at first. A cleaver isn't like a kitchen knife; it's easy to slip. Don't hurt yourself."

The young 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 cleaver, the young girl was already standing by the courtyard wall, smiling as she asked, "Do you know what that thing is?"

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

Zhi Gui didn't offer an answer either and turned to sit back on the small stool, chopping vigorously.

Her clumsy, stiff movements and all sorts of awkward, inefficient postures made Chen Ping'an anxious. However, since she hadn't asked for help, Chen Ping'an didn't want to impose. He turned and saw that Miss Ning was no longer in the courtyard. Chen Ping'an remembered something and quickly walked into the house, placing an object on the table opposite the black-clothed girl.

It was a Snake Gallstone, small enough to fit in the palm of his hand, like frozen honey, with fine texture and a pure color.

Ning Yao looked a bit surprised.

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

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

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

Only then did she accept the stone. She held it between two fingers and raised it above her head. Light streamed through the window into the room, illuminating the stone.

She tilted her head back, squinting her eyes, and carefully examined the stone's subtle patterns.

She looked at the stone.

The young man looked at her.

Late at night, a young man sneaked into Mud Bottle Alley, moving like a wild cat in the night, silent and unseen. He quietly approached Gu Can's courtyard and found the large water vat placed in the corner of the yard. Squatting down, he discovered that the neatly stacked Snake Gallstones had been rummaged through and scattered everywhere, as if this person knew the value of the stones even earlier than Chen Ping'an. Gu Can was the only oddity in the small town who liked collecting Snake Gallstones. No matter how many he found in the stream, he only brought one home each time. The child would only pick the most pleasing stone. Over time, he had accumulated fifty or sixty stones, which he used to fill the gaps at the bottom of the water vat.

After Chen Ping'an moved aside many of the dried-out Snake Gallstones, he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw no signs of digging at the bottom of the water vat.

He began to dig the soil with his right hand, bit by bit. Finally, when he touched the yellow oiled paper, his heart leaped, and he slowed down.

He finally took out the object wrapped in yellow oiled paper. It looked like a book.

After hiding it in his embrace, Chen Ping'an refilled the soil and carefully examined the Snake Gallstones again. The remaining stones were "dead." Compared to the stones Chen Ping'an had picked up from the stream twice recently, they were completely different in color, texture, and weight. The stones before him were like lifeless old people, while the ones Chen Ping'an had retrieved were like newborn infants, full of vitality.

Chen Ping'an thought for a moment and decided to leave Mud Bottle Alley from the direction of his own house.

When he reached the entrance of Song Jixin's house, he heard a creak as the door opened. Chen Ping'an had no choice but to pretend to knock on his own door and call out, "Miss Ning, are you asleep? I'm back to get something."

The lights inside quickly turned on, and the black-clothed girl opened the courtyard gate for Chen Ping'an.

Next door, the maidservant Zhi Gui slowly walked out of her house. Upon reaching the courtyard, she saw the shadowy figure of Chen Ping'an holding a large, yellowed book in his arms. She shook her head, making a tutting sound, as if she had caught a pair of illicit lovers.

She walked alone in Mud Bottle Alley, skipping and hopping.

Her golden double pupils seemed exceptionally cold and sacred in the dark alley.

They made the slender and graceful young girl appear like a flood dragon swimming through narrow rock crevices, as if she would transform into a dragon once she left the alley and entered the river.

Although Ning Yao let Chen Ping'an into the courtyard and even into the house, her expression was not pleasant. She sat by the table, one arm resting on her scabbard, her fingers tapping lightly on the hilt of her sword.

Only after Chen Ping'an confirmed that Zhi Gui had entered the alley did he awkwardly explain, "I went to Gu Can's house to get something, and she happened to be leaving, so I had to come here to hide. Miss Ning, please don't overthink it."

She asked, "What thing?"

Chen Ping'an hesitated for a moment, then took out the yellow oiled paper package. "I don't know yet."

She turned around and said, "You can open it yourself first and then decide if you want to tell me."

Chen Ping'an nodded, sat opposite her at the table, and unwrapped the layers of yellow oiled paper. Dirt fell onto the tabletop, and finally, a very old book was revealed.

The cover of the ancient book had only two characters. Chen Ping'an only recognized one of them: "山" (Shān - Mountain).

He placed the ancient book on the table, turned it around, and pushed it towards the black-clothed girl, asking curiously, "Miss Ning, what is this character called?"

The young girl turned back, glanced down, and said, "Shake."

The book title was "Shake Mountain."