"Chi, good wine~!"
The fur on the monkey's chin was wet with wine. It was no immortal brew, merely cloudy homemade liquor from a riverside village.
To the monkey, the most important thing about drinking was the mood. There were sour, sweet, bitter, astringent, and feelings as bland as water—tasting the myriad faces of the world, savoring the flavors within one's heart.
Monkeys had a different mindset and did not care about rank, quality, nobility, or lowliness. For instance, when drinking tea with Old Hui Xian at Bamboo Spring Temple, they would boil a pot of water, toss in a handful of coarse tea, and chat and laugh with great animation. Drinking from big bowls to quench their thirst was the most satisfying. That nest of oddballs did not much like sipping slowly from little cups.
The riverside air was heavy with moisture, and the monkey's fur was steeped in the fishy smell of River Water.
Its ears twitched slightly. Footsteps came from the mountain path behind it. From the sound, they should belong to a woman. Her martial skills were ordinary and sparse; she was likely a wandering swordsman of the martial world.
Morning dew covered the blades of grass, easily soaking one's shoes and trouser hems while walking through it.
She wore light, fitted clothes, with a bamboo hat on her back, a waterskin at her waist, and an ordinary iron sword in hand. She was an utterly ordinary wandering swordsman, a nobody.
The female wandering swordsman seemed surprised to find a ferry crossing by the river.
After a slight hesitation, she walked toward the small dock.
"Boatman, when did this place get a ferry dock?"
"Chi, I just built it. Does the heroine wish to cross the river? I guarantee the boat will be fast and steady."