The Wonders and Oddities of This World

The night gradually grew deeper, and the oil lamp was moved into the room.

Song You sat at the desk, lowered his head, and wrote, while the three-flower cat lay on the windowsill, bringing her face close to the middle of the window and using that narrow crack to look at the sky outside.

As she looked, she spoke to the Taoist priest behind her without turning her head.

"Why do they set off those things during the New Year?"

"Fireworks?"

"That's right."

"They're pretty."

"Oh."

"They're very simple."

"Do they only celebrate the New Year once a year?"

"Of course."

"It would be great if they could celebrate it twice."

"How did Three Flower Lady spend the New Year in the past?"

"In the temple."

"How did you spend it?"

"Spent it in the temple."

Song You did not feel annoyed or helpless. He simply continued writing, his brush swaying, while patiently continuing to ask without raising his head, "How was it different from usual?"

"Eating a lot of meat, catching a lot of mice."

"Do you catch them even during the New Year?"

"That's right."

"Tough work."

"Just a little bit."

Song You could not help but look up at her.

The little cat's eyes were opened wide and perfectly round, aligned with that crack. The fireworks outside the window were very sparse, but they had already made her unwilling to blink.

What an honest and pitiful cat.

Yet this era was simply like this. Even in a time of peace and prosperity, the dazzling brilliance of fireworks belonged only to a few.

The New Year's Eve belonged only to a few, as well.

If you don't believe it, prick up your ears and listen—

The wind and rain grow deep and people have all dispersed, yet through the lamplight someone still calls out to sell sweet rice dumplings.

The second year of Mingde, the first day of the first lunar month.

After eating sweet rice dumplings, Song You walked along the street and arrived once again at the North Tile Yard and the Cloud Talk Shed.

Perhaps due to the first day of the first lunar month, even though Song You arrived early, the Cloud Talk Shed was already nearly filled. This time, paying the ordinary price meant he could only sit in an ordinary seat.

As per custom, he ordered a pot of tea and sat down to sip it slowly.

Hearing Old Mr. Zhang cough twice, the storytelling began once again.

"May all you gentlemen be blessed and auspicious in the new year!

"As mentioned earlier, Chen Ziyi used a surprise attack to circle around the rear and directly uprooted A Yanqi's lair. The northern border had no choice but to send envoys to sue for peace, ceding territory and paying reparations while submitting as a vassal to us. This battle ended with the victory of our Great Yan! To speak of this battle, aside from Marshal Ma deploying personnel wisely, who was the greatest contributor? Chen Ziyi is utterly without a rival in that honor!"

Song You sat with his tea, listening quietly.

Today was the final installment of the Battle of Lan Shui.

Just right, with both a beginning and an end.

Yet an installment lasted only two quarters of an hour, which was not enough to sustain an entire afternoon.

"We shall temporarily leave the story of General Chen Ziyi here. The general is still guarding the northern border at present, frightening the people of the northern border so that they dare not go south to graze their horses, and his legend continues! Tomorrow we shall tell the Romance of Gods and Ghosts. Old little old man here charges regardless of wind and rain, and the fees are not expensive—just enough to earn a living to support the household. If you gentlemen enjoy listening, I hope you will continue to patronize us!"

This story was thus considered finished.

Old Mr. Zhang picked up his teacup and took a leisurely sip of tea before casting his gaze toward the patrons below: "There is still some time left this afternoon, so I shall tell you gentlemen some miscellaneous short stories. If there is anything you gentlemen wish to hear, or perhaps stories you didn't hear earlier and wish to listen to again, you may speak up. As long as everyone is willing to listen, this old man will tell it."

Someone immediately shouted from below, saying they wanted to listen to the affair concerning Master Guanghong of Taian Temple last autumn.

As soon as the voice rang out, a chorus of agreement immediately followed.

"Good!

"Then this old man shall tell you gentlemen what I know of the matter. If there is anything incorrect, I ask that you kindly correct it.

"Ahem!"

The old man cleared his throat and began his tale once again.

The old man began with the Earth-Escaping Thief, starting from the experiences the thief had before he took up thieving and finally arriving at Master Guanghong. He spoke of how Master Guanghong met a young man by chance in the temple, how he repented and burned himself to death before the Buddha, how Constable Luo solved the case, and how the Yi Capital was subsequently thrown into an uproar.

Song You drank his tea below, still listening quietly.

Although he had been a key participant in Master Guanghong's case, what he knew was truly not as detailed as the old man's account. Coupled with the old man's remarkable skill, refined choice of words, wonderful sentence structures, and exuberant emotion, his narration of the items stolen by the Earth-Escaping Thief and the rare treasures unearthed from Taian Temple flowed forth in a string of rhythmic patter phrases without pause. When speaking of Master Guanghong begging for mercy in repentance, he imitated the tone with vivid realism. When speaking of the yamen runners pouring out in full force, he even used ventriloquism to simulate their footsteps, creating a sense of tension. The entire process was like a draft already written and practiced beforehand—smooth as flowing water and exceptionally wonderful.

This storyteller truly had a high level of skill.

Song You had listened to him for half a year, and every time he spoke it was for at least half a day. From beginning to end, his enunciation was clear, his breath was robust, and his voice was resonant. Even amidst the noise below, every word he spoke could be heard with absolute clarity.

In this day and age, pretense would not do; one had to rely on genuine hard work.

After finishing the story of Master Guanghong, everyone below was deeply captivated by the miraculous Taoism and the unfathomable story, and they began asking questions about this and that.

Someone asked who that young man was.

Someone asked where one could learn Taoism.

Someone asked where immortals could be found.

The old man was well-versed in this craft and possessed vast knowledge. He answered everything he knew one by one, gradually straying further and further away as he told more and more wondrous and miraculous stories and legends.

It was rumored that the Cloud Summit Immortal Mountain in Pingzhou was shrouded in clouds and mist all year round; the bottom of the mountain could not be seen from the peak, and the peak could not be seen from the base. It experienced all four seasons on a single mountain, and some people had once seen immortals at the peak.

It was rumored that north of Yuezhou there was a place filled with growing green phoenix-trees, every single one of which had a history of a thousand or ten thousand years, towering into the clouds. If one went during the summer solstice or winter solstice, one might chance to see phoenixes flying over to preen their feathers in the green phoenix-trees.

It was also said that at the southernmost tip of Cloudzhou there was an impassable towering mountain, and past the mountain lay a paradise on earth where someone had once seen a true dragon.

Speaking further of wandering martial arts anomalies, the imperial preceptor of the court, the household deities and wild spirits of the north, the witchcraft and gu poisons of the south, the world of demons in the deep mountains, the palaces of ghosts beneath one's feet, the illusory cities that frequently appeared and vanished, and the Earthfire Village where flames had burned for a thousand years without extinguishing—the profound wondrousness and fantasy of this world were already unveiled by a corner upon that lecturing platform within the span of a cup of tea.

Song You's interest grew increasingly intense.

Finally, the time came for the audience to disperse. The old man's mouth was also dry, so he held his teacup to drink water, yet he did not leave. Instead, he stood watching the patrons depart, never dropping the rules of a traditional artist even a fraction.

Song You sat for a moment before stepping forward to offer a bow.

"Oh my!"

The old man did not slight him because of his youth and hurriedly returned the bow, bending even lower than Song You by a few margins.

"Is the patron a regular guest?"

"Yes." Song You nodded and said, "Ever since coming to Yi Capital half a year ago, I have come every day to listen to Mr. Zhang lecture on books, rarely missing a session."

"I am flattered by the patron's favor."

"It is because Mr. Zhang tells the stories well."

"Might the patron be..."

"I am merely a hermit from Lingquan County in Humble Commandery. I came down the mountain to travel and roam, passing through Yi Capital to stay here for half a year. Now that spring has arrived and the weather is gradually growing warmer, it is time for me to leave." Song You bowed once again to the old man before him. "I have come specially to bid farewell to Mr. Zhang."

"I wouldn't dare, I wouldn't dare..."

The old man hurriedly lowered his waist as well, and only then cupped his hands toward him in salute. "I only hope the gentleman's journey goes smoothly with the wind and the water."

"Thank you very much, Mr. Zhang."

"I wouldn't dare, I wouldn't dare..."

"It's just that I don't know how much truth and how much falsehood there is in what Mr. Zhang previously mentioned about the Cloud Summit Immortal Mountain, the place where phoenixes roost and dragons soar?" Song You paused for a moment as he spoke. "This journey of mine will not last just a year or two. If it is on the way, Song wishes to go and take a look at the places Mr. Zhang spoke of to search for the traces of immortals."

"So that's how it is."

"I wonder if it would be convenient for Mr. Zhang to inform me."

"Haha! What could be inconvenient?"

"I ask Mr. Zhang to please tell me."

"The Cloud Summit Immortal Mountain is a long-standing rumor in Pingzhou, having been passed down for several hundred years, and quite a few people have said they saw immortals there. Actually, ah—heh, it makes you laugh—this old man has only heard of it and has never truly seen it. As for whether what those people say is true or false, and how much is true and how much is false, this old man dare not make reckless assertions." Old Mr. Zhang smiled with a trace of shame. "However, over the hundreds of years, there have often been famous scholars and elegant men who went to the Cloud Summit Immortal Mountain to search for immortal traces, or hermits yearning for this path, seeking either immortality or eternal life, or else seeking carefree freedom. Yet let the gentleman look: how many have attained immortality, how many have attained eternal life, and how many have achieved carefree freedom?"

"Thank you."

Song You nodded.

This Old Mr. Zhang had only heard of these things by hearsay. Yet judging from his decades of life experience and observation of worldly affairs, he did not believe them, only finding it impolite to state it bluntly.

"As for the matter of the phoenixes singing in the green phoenix-trees north of Yuezhou, that is something recorded in the Notes on Mountains and Waters by Marquis Chengan of the previous dynasty, and afterwards people often claimed they had seen it too, though this old man has never laid eyes on it."

"I see."

Old Mr. Zhang believed that this one had a relatively higher degree of credibility.

"And as for that region south of Cloudzhou, passing through Cloud-Aligning Mountain, that is the paradise on earth of which this old man spoke, where a true dragon resides for long periods, frequently coiling amidst the clouds and exhaling mist and vapor." Old Mr. Zhang paused. "Yet this was witnessed with his own eyes by this old man's father in his youth, and told to this old man with his own mouth—only now, with the vicissitudes of the world, I know not how it fares today."

"Witnessed with his own eyes..."

Song You was somewhat surprised for a moment.

There are dragons in this world, capable of a thousand transformations.

Actually, it was not that dragons could undergo a thousand transformations; rather, all sorts of creatures acquired cultivation and became spirits, and some of them came to be called dragons by people.

For example, when some people traveled deep into the mountains and saw a giant python grow horns and puff clouds and mists, feeling terror and shock in their hearts, they called it a dragon. When some people sailed boats on the water and saw a black shadow beneath the surface capable of stirring up towering waves at the slightest movement, they assumed it was a dragon. Even some animals in the water, due to their ferocious nature, were called dragons. There were even people who raised snakes in wells to observe the quality of the water, and after a long time, seeing that the snakes possessed considerable spiritual resonance, also praised them as dragons.

The Fulong Temple held that true dragons had long since vanished from the world.

If there truly were a true dragon, he would certainly have to go and witness it for himself.

"Haha."

Old Mr. Zhang raised his head to look at him and could not help laughing twice. "If the gentleman is interested, please sit right down, and this old man will recount it for the gentleman in detail."

"Sorry for the trouble, Mr. Zhang."

Song You ordered two more pots of tea.

The two of them found nearby seats and sat down, chatting like old friends of many years until late into the night.

Old Mr. Zhang related a succession of many interesting places, recounting them in even greater detail than when he was up on the platform. For the ones he understood clearly, he explained thoroughly how to travel there and how to find them. For the ones he did not understand clearly, he did his utmost to explain everything he knew, allowing Song You to decide for himself whether he wished to go, and if he decided to go, how he should explore on his own.

Late at night, the two bid farewell and parted ways.

Old Mr. Zhang stood at the alley entrance. By the light of the lantern, scattered stars could be seen in the sky, while he gazed fixedly at Song You's figure departing through the drizzle, a look of doubt in his eyes.

"Fulong Temple of Yinshan Mountain..."

He seemed to have heard that name before.

Though it must have been back in his youth when he had heard it.

Thanks to the patron Lord "Moutains Full of Pine Nuts" for the reward. Everyone go quickly and read Pine Nuts' book called It's Definitely Not a Monster; once you read it, you will know how diligently I update.