Mountain Silently Moves Itself

After a few more horizontal slashes and vertical chops, he swung his blade wildly without stopping. The other Strange Monkey, whose foot had been tripped, was hacked all over and completely lost its ability to move, left twitching on the ground.

Only then did Lin Jue let out a slight breath of relief.

But when he glanced to the side, he was startled.

The Martial Artist surnamed Luo faced a far greater number of Strange Monkeys than Lin Jue had, including their leader. The monkeys were not only quite adept at attacking in a group, but were also hurling stones at him. Yet he remained completely unharmed, and two Strange Monkey corpses already lay on the ground.

These Strange Monkeys were not human. Instinct gave them the upper hand, but they had no taste for risking their lives. Seeing this, they were already so frightened they wanted to run.

Unfortunately for them, the man had earlier led Lin Jue to this perilous spot. At first, the monkeys had cornered the two of them where the stream met the river. Now their positions had switched, and the man alone was blocking the entire troop.

None of them could escape while his blade was in the way.

Whenever they threw stones, he dodged them with ease. Before long, there were no more stones to be found by the riverbank.

He stepped forward with steady strides and brought his blade down in a mighty cleaving strike. What ape could withstand such a fearsome swing? The monkeys cried out and fled in panic. Just as one dodged the downward slash, the Martial Artist turned and swept his blade horizontally at waist height. The strike looked light, yet two Strange Monkeys were immediately cut in half.

Their guts spilled across the ground.

The Strange Monkeys were not only powerless to fight back; by now, they had lost all desire to resist.

It had all happened in a very short time.

Only then did the Strange Monkey leader widen its eyes and shriek without pause, at a loss for what to do. After a moment's thought, it suddenly leaped backward, eyes bulging, and opened its mouth to draw in a breath.

"Hss..."

"Ptooey!"

It spat out a mouthful of dense green smoke.

Though the wind was against the Strange Monkey leader where it stood, it had ample strength. When it exhaled, only a small portion of the smoke was scattered by the wind. The rest, green as grass, still surged toward the Martial Artist surnamed Luo, spreading wider and wider as it traveled.

Lin Jue's gaze sharpened.

What a thing. It really could exhale Qi.

At the same time, he felt the wind blowing toward him.

Lin Jue knew that most of the Qi exhaled by spirits and ghosts was Yin Qi, which was often overcome by Yang Qi and fire. Without hesitation, he opened his mouth too.

"Whoosh..."

A burst of flame shot out and collided with the smoke.

The green smoke struck the fire and vanished with a sharp hiss, leaving only a foul stench drifting over.

"Huh?"

The result was beyond Lin Jue's expectations.

No wonder that thing could exhale Qi and was still so afraid of fire.

It was completely countered.

The Martial Artist surnamed Luo had just dodged with his footwork. As he twisted and shifted, he heard the explosive roar of flames and their sharp hiss. By the time he landed and turned to look, both the fire and the green smoke had disappeared.

Beside him stood the startled Strange Monkey leader, while Lin Jue was recovering after exhaling all his Qi.

A wave of scorching heat had just washed over him.

The Martial Artist surnamed Luo naturally understood what had happened. He glanced at Lin Jue, but did not pause in his movements. With a forceful turn of his steps, he swept his long blade in a great arc, like a full moon.

With a crunching slash, he killed two Strange Monkeys, then quickly stepped forward and raised his blade in an upward cut. Even if the Strange Monkey leader could spit out demonic mist, it was still made of flesh. How could it stand against this battle-forged steel blade?

The cut split it in two from bottom to top.

The scene was so bloody that Lin Jue could hardly bear to look.

Without their leader to restrain them, the few remaining Strange Monkeys revealed their beastly nature completely and did nothing but run. The Martial Artist cut down two of them as they fled, one after another. In the end, only one got away.

The Martial Artist remained unhurried. He took out his bow and nocked an arrow.

"Whoosh!"

"..."

"Whoosh!"

His aim was truly poor. It took two arrows to hit the mark.

"Hmph..."

The Martial Artist gave a cold snort, calmly put away his bow, shook the blood from his long blade, then took out a dry cloth to wipe it clean.

As he wiped the blade, he looked toward Lin Jue.

"I was wondering how a frail scholar like you dared travel this road alone and face this whole pack of beasts by yourself. Turns out you had this trick up your sleeve."

"A paltry trick, not worth mentioning. It's nothing compared to your skill, hero."

Lin Jue was not being modest. He imagined the old man who had mastered the Fire-Repelling Technique must have thought the same.

As things stood, he knew very well that his little bit of Performance Art was no match for these beasts, let alone this Martial Artist. Without him, Lin Jue would not even have been able to avenge himself for the monkeys' torment. Compared with the myriad uses of magical arts, what this Martial Artist had mastered was pure skill at killing.

"The Martial Arts I practice are meant for fighting people. They don't come into their own when I'm hacking these beasts apart," the Martial Artist surnamed Luo said gravely.

"Your Martial Arts are really that formidable...?"

"I heard these beasts used to live deep in this mountain. Somehow, they've come out recently. This one must have lived a long time, or eaten people and nearly become a spirit." The Martial Artist surnamed Luo continued wiping his long blade, his gaze lowered to the largest and oldest Strange Monkey, their leader. His tone held a note of regret, and worry creased his brow. He could not help sighing. "In recent years, there've been more and more spirits and ghosts on the roads."

"Would these count as spirits and ghosts?"

"Not quite. They should be unusual beasts from the mountains. Ancient Books still have some records of them, but they've become increasingly rare."

"Then what did you mean by saying there are more and more spirits and ghosts on the roads?" Lin Jue could not help being curious. Back in the village, he had heard the village elder lament something similar, and some of his own experiences seemed to confirm it—

In the peaceful years of the past, many people might go half their lives without seeing a spirit or ghost. Only when they grew old, their Qi and Blood waned, and their eyesight grew dim did they have a better chance of seeing one, and even then, they could hardly tell whether they had truly seen anything or had simply mistaken it for a trick of the eye or a hazy hallucination.

But in the past few years, even burly men in the prime of life often encountered Demonic Ghosts while traveling at night.

"What else could I mean? Haven't you heard about what happened a few years ago?"

"What happened?"

"A great mountain inexplicably moved from the southwest to the southeast."

"What?"

Lin Jue's eyes widened. "That really happened?"

"You truly haven't heard?"

"I was studying in my village until recently, and paid no attention to the world beyond my window. I really hadn't heard."

Lin Jue was astonished. This world was strange, but was it truly strange enough for something like that?

"Can't blame you. The matter caused quite a stir, but the Imperial Court also made an effort to suppress the news. They say that less than a thousand li from here, a mountain suddenly appeared where there had been none. The locals were all astonished. Only when a man who loved traveling the world and seeing its mountains and rivers passed through did he recognize, from the mountain's shape, that it had originally stood in the southwest. Later, someone went to the southwest to ask around, and sure enough, one mountain was missing."

Perhaps because they had fought side by side, the man did not begrudge him a few words. He chatted casually, voicing his worries in terms so shocking they seemed to defy belief:

"The ancients said: 'When a mountain moves of its own accord in silence, war will ravage the realm and the state will fall.'

"Another book says: 'When a mountain shifts, the ruler does not follow the Way, worthy men are not promoted, or their salaries are taken away; the ruling house's rewards and punishments are no longer decided by the ruler, and private factions form. If no one intervenes, a new age and reign title will come.'

"The realm has already been far from peaceful these past few years, beset by troubles within and threats without. Even traveling the roads means worrying about bandits and thieves. If things go on like this, I fear a great calamity is truly coming, one that will turn the world upside down."

Lin Jue was astonished. He listened intently, and pondered just as carefully.

A great mountain moving for no reason was already enough to shock the world. Yet there were old sayings in this world that recorded such events and even explained in detail what they foretold.

No wonder the Martial Artist knew of such a startling event, yet his worry outweighed his surprise.

Perhaps, to people in this world, such a thing was rare and astounding, but not entirely impossible. At least, it had already been recorded in Ancient Books. So when it really happened, they were not as astonished as Lin Jue.

This was yet another glimpse into this world and the way its people thought.

Then he noticed something else—

This Martial Artist seemed to be not only highly skilled in Martial Arts, but well versed in literature too. He also worried for his country and its people, and cared about the affairs of the realm.

"May I ask who you are, hero...?"

"What is it?"

"You're not an ordinary wandering hero, are you?"

"There's not much to say. My ancestors were a family of military officers, but we've fallen into decline. Since I felt the realm was at a turning point, I left home and came to the Capital City. I want to join the army again and make a name for myself in the world with my Martial Arts, winning honor for my Luo family amid life and death."

Young and spirited, with ambitions that reached to the clouds.

Lin Jue could not help feeling respect.

"Forgive my earlier discourtesy."

"Enough of that."

The Martial Artist surnamed Luo gave a sharp hiss, sheathed his long blade, then took the Firewood Knife from Lin Jue. "I killed two of these Strange Monkeys, and you lent a crucial hand. I'll split two more with you."

"That wouldn't be right!" Lin Jue said. "We agreed earlier that all the reward for these Strange Monkeys would go to you. I've already had my fill of revenge. That's enough for me!"

"Enough of that."

"..."

"And what about you? What brings you out here? Are you headed for the Gathering Immortals Mansion in the Capital City too, hoping to win a little fame and fortune?" The Martial Artist took Lin Jue's Firewood Knife and began chopping off the monkeys' heads as he asked casually.

"The Gathering Immortals Mansion? What is that?"

"You don't know?"

"I don't."

"Never mind, then."

"Brother Luo, please enlighten me."

Lin Jue naturally switched to a more familiar form of address.

"...It's a place in the Capital City... something like a government office. It gathers extraordinary people and unusual talents from across the realm, as well as masters of Buddhism and Daoism. Once you join, you become a guest retainer. You could say you're on the government payroll. Anyway, the Imperial Court supports you."

"I see." Lin Jue committed this to memory. It was useful information. "I only know a little Performance Art. How could I possibly join a place like that?"

"That's true enough."

The Martial Artist did not bother to soften his words.

"Then where do you want to go?"

He immediately followed with another question.

"I just want to find a famous mountain or Daoist temple first, seek the Way of the Immortals, and learn some proper Spiritual Methods and magical arts."

"Which famous mountain?"

"Have you heard of Mount Qi Yun?"

"Of course. I passed by it on my way here."

"What about Mount Yi?"

"Which mountain?"

"I heard it's an Immortal Mountain too."

As they chatted, the Martial Artist had already cut off all the Strange Monkeys' heads and drained their blood. He packed them into several Cloth Bags and hung them from the horse's back.

"Let's go to the county yamen."

"Good!"

Lin Jue shouldered his book case and followed him toward the county yamen.

On the way, he would ask how to get to Mount Qi Yun.

The two entered the city that afternoon and crossed straight through it. The blood-soaked Cloth Bags hanging from the horse drew countless stares. Some people recoiled in fear, while others boldly came over to ask questions. Once they learned the heads belonged to Strange Monkeys they had encountered on the road, every merchant or traveler with cause to venture out clapped their hands in approval.

The process of claiming the reward went smoothly too.

The Martial Artist really was carefree. He tossed Lin Jue eight taels of silver, said, "Until we meet again," then went out, mounted his horse, and rode away. He said he was going to see the mountain that had moved of its own accord in silence.

That left Lin Jue alone in the city.

With another eight taels of silver, he now had nearly eighteen taels. Lin Jue felt increasingly secure and confident. Compared with his poverty and confusion when he had first left Shu Village, he now felt almost lightheaded, as if there were nowhere in this vast world he could not go.

"It feels so good to have money!"

He needed to find an inn and take a hot bath.

He needed to return the saber.

This experience had also given him plenty to think about:

In this world, Martial Arts were every bit as useful as magical arts. Most monsters feared blades. He did not know Martial Arts, but he could still buy a blade. Traveling these days, a small knife was not enough.

Of course—

The most urgent thing was to repair his book case.