The old man waived the delivery fee for Song You, and further gave him a hundred cash for the letter fee, saying that upon delivery, his son would give another two hundred cash.
Altogether, he could earn three hundred cash.
Letter deliveries were generally paid in two halves.
As for the letter, it was rolled up and tucked into a small bamboo tube, which Song You casually thrust into his bedding sack. He had already agreed with the old man that, since he was touring the mountains and waters and walking slowly, the old man should not mind him delivering it late.
Thus Song You led the horse and set out once more.
Turning back to look, he saw the old man bowing and scraping again before a group of pugilists, as if he still had more letters to hand out.
This was normal.
In this day and age, anyone entrusted with delivering letters would certainly never carry just a single one. If it were an important letter, feared lost or late, carrying several duplicates was quite normal.
"Xuzhou, Long Commandery, north of Lingbo County, Ganzao Lane, Chen Han..."
Song You muttered to himself.
There was no real need to memorize it, as it was already written on the bamboo tube.
Judging by the address, it should be easy to find.
Yet it was still several hundred miles away to Xuzhou, and from the old man's account, this Lingbo County in Long Commandery was exceptionally remote within Xuzhou, with difficult roads. No wonder so many merchants and pugilists refused to go or take the job.
Fortunately, this Chen Han at least lived right inside the county town.
In this era without map navigation, if a delivery address were rather remote, going from one prefecture to a commandery, and then to a county, only to lose one's bearings upon arrival, the courier would have to patiently ask around. Once given a direction, they would have to grope their way through intricate, winding paths, wasting who knew how much effort, how much time, and taking how many wrong turns along the way.
Thus this thin family letter was as heavy as ten thousand pieces of gold.
Thinking carefully, today was already the fifth day. Reckoning by past years, the Daoist priests of Fuqing Palace were probably already on their way to Fulong Temple by now. If they walked early, Master had likely already seen his letter.
He wondered what she would think when she read it.
That lazy, gluttonous old female Daoist priest who indulged excessively in sleep—with him gone, she would probably starve for nine meals out of every three days!
"Daoist, what are you thinking about again?"
The Three Flower Cat ran ahead, stopped, and turned around to wait for him.
Song You smiled, merely following at a slow pace.
The Red date horse still quietly trailed behind him.
Then came more traversing of mountains and crossing of waters. They set out at sunrise, stopped at dusk, and occasionally, when the mood struck, traveled through the night by the light of the stars and moon. Whenever laziness or sleepiness struck, they would find a comfortable spot to lie down, basking in the sun for an afternoon nap.
A Daoist's heart was tranquil, and his footsteps were ever consistent.
The horse was honest, remaining silent and reliable throughout.
As for that Three Flower Cat, she was the liveliest of all, constantly darting back and forth around the man and the horse. When passing through a forest she was human; walking by the riverside she turned back into a cat; resting together with Song You at noon she was a cat; and sitting astride the horse's back, laughing heartily while patting the animal and urging it to run fast, she transformed into human form once more, shifting shapes constantly.
Seven or eight days passed, who could tell.
In the distance, the green mountains looked like painted eyebrows. Their ridges were flat, meeting the sky in a clear, blue-and-white demarcation line. Along this gently curving mountain ridge, a man and a horse could be seen from afar, walking slowly. Viewed from this angle, the pair seemed to be walking in the heavens, their origin unknown, their destination equally a mystery. For a moment, between heaven and earth, it seemed as if only this man and horse existed.
This was not actually an official road, but the mountain summit.
The official road lay down below on the mountainside.
Song You had taken a sudden whim to climb up here. At first he failed to find the path and spent a great deal of effort doing so.
The Three Flower Cat did not quite understand this, feeling that walking down below was also quite nice—there were trees to climb, bugs to catch, and quite a few bird nests in the branches. Not only had climbing this mountain taken a huge amount of effort, but the top was also much more barren than the mid-slope, lacking the same fun, and mostly covered in grass taller than she was, making it terribly hard to walk.
Moreover, they would have to take the trouble to climb back down later.
The Three Flower Cat had no end of questions and had asked why more than once.
Yet she was only a cat after all, and since she had set out to travel with this Daoist, she had no choice but to follow him.
There was simply no other way.
Before long, another day drew to a close.
As she grew accustomed to taking human form, the Three Flower Cat had naturally developed the magical ability to exhale breath. She could spit black smoke to obscure vision or white smoke to induce deep slumber—common magical arts among spirits. However, having stayed with Song You for so long, she mostly used her black smoke-exhaling skill just to change clothes when transforming. Thus she once more used the black smoke to take on human form, and industriously went about gathering a large pile of firewood.
It was cold at night; they needed to make a fire.
Making a fire was the most comfortable thing in the world.
Song You faced westward, sitting cross-legged and motionless. Rather than trying to comprehend the spiritual essence of this landscape, he simply watched the sun sink slowly below the horizon.
He admired the sunset, and then the Rosy Cloud Light.
Only when darkness fell did he turn around.
He saw that Three Flower Lady had piled up a stack of firewood behind her. The bedding sack was set upon the withered grass, and the Red date horse, looking exceptionally at ease, was also lying prone on the ground, chewing on nearby dry grass and glancing sideways at the young girl.
The young girl squatted beside the stack of wood, leaning in very close.
"Hoo... hoo...
"Cough, cough!
"Hoo..."
Song You could tell she was trying to imitate the fire-breathing technique he had taught her, actually wishing to rely on her own strength to start a fire. Yet despite using all her might, she only managed to cough up a puff of grey-white smoke, occasionally choking herself into coughing fits.
"You're still lacking a bit of cultivation..."
Song You said softly to her, but after a slight pause, his eyes narrowed slightly, a smile crept onto his face, and he continued, "Still, you're only lacking just a tiny bit. Put a bit more effort into your next breath, and you'll definitely succeed."
The young girl looked up at him, placing absolute faith in his words. Her heart settled at once, and she took a deep, full breath, inflating her chest to the fullest.
"Hoo!"
A cluster of bright yellow flames spewed from her mouth.
Yet the fire she spat at this moment was merely mortal fire, devoid of any other miraculous properties. She blew a small puff of it toward the firewood stack, but it merely singed the wood, not even hot enough to scald someone, let alone ignite it.
"Congratulations."
Song You smiled and said to the young girl, "Three Flower Lady is naturally endowed with extraordinary talent. In just a few months, she has already mastered the fire-breathing technique."
The young girl ignored him, focusing entirely on breathing out smoke.
The grey-white smoke mixed with numerous sparks.
After a moment, she turned her head away in disappointment.
"It won't burn..."
"It's already very impressive."
"Daoist, how long did you study it before?"
"..."
"Why aren't you talking?"
"Being able to spit open flame means Three Flower Lady has already set foot on this path. Just comprehend it more and practice more from now on. Remember, every time you cast the spell, you must firmly believe in success."
"Then how long did you study it before?"
"..."
"Daoist, how long did you study it before?"
"Two days."
Song You answered while extending a hand and pointing.
"Poof!"
The firewood instantly burst into flames.
The young girl sat flat on her backside, staring blankly at the fire before her, and didn't say another word.
Song You used the fire to toast two steamed buns, similar to the mantou of his past life, though what they called mantou here actually had fillings inside, much like what his past life often called baozi. He originally wanted to roast some dried meat for Three Flower Lady, but she said she didn't want to eat right then, nor did she want dried meat, claiming there were mice on this mountain and she would go catch fresh ones to eat once they came out at night.
This little cat ate better than he did.
It was only early spring and the weather was still cold, but she already had no worries about food. Catching bugs by the roadside, hunting birds during the day, and preying on mice at night were all matters of course for her. If the season weren't wrong, it felt like she could manage Song You's meals along with her own all the way on this journey.
After finishing dinner and feeling the chill of the night, Song You found a flat patch of ground, burned it over with the fire, and then spread out the wool felt gifted by Prefect Yu, covered himself with a blanket, and lay down.
Three Flower Lady lay beside her beloved horse.
Lying down and opening her eyes, she saw the Cosmic Stars, densely packed, as if the entire sky could no longer hold them all, spilling over and descending along the curtain of night down to the earth.
"Three Flower Lady, look at the sky."
"Three Flower Lady is looking at the sky."
"Stars fill the sky."
"Saw them."
"Does Three Flower Lady know? Every star in the sky is a world just like ours, except some have people and some don't. Perhaps while we are looking at the stars, someone up there on a star is also raising their head and staring in our direction."
"Are there cats in places where there are people?"
"Most likely."
"What about places without people?"
"Perhaps."
Song You answered softly, his heart growing calmer and calmer.
Three Flower Lady possessed a mindset transcending ordinary mortals. Whenever he spoke with her, her replies or questions always struck him as wonderfully peculiar, yet exceptionally relaxing.
Song You asked softly, "Are the stars pretty?"
"Pretty."
"There are too many trees down the mountain, so we couldn't see the stars."
"We can see them here."
"This is the meaning of us climbing up."
"Oh yeah."
Three Flower Lady tilted her head back, gazing eagerly at the stars.
She felt the stars were truly lovely, bright and sparkling.
Making her wish she could reach out and catch them.
And indeed she did stretch out her hand, waving and beckoning in the empty air before her.
If they had climbed up just to see the stars, arduous though it was, and even though she couldn't climb trees to catch birds anymore, it seemed it was worth it after all.
At that moment, the Daoist's voice sounded once more:
"Three Flower Lady."
"Hmm?"
Feeling something, Three Flower Lady suddenly lowered her hand and turned her head.
She saw that the Daoist had inexplicably let out a long breath:
"I didn't use to like this world."
"Why?"
"There are many reasons."
"Why?"
"Because this world is backward and primitive. There are no brightly lit cities, no convenient transportation, no wonderful internet. You can't know the affairs of the entire world without stepping outside your door, you can't taste the cuisine of most regions within a single city, and most of the food doesn't taste good. The cities stink during the day with feces everywhere, and pedestrians' clothes are mostly filthy and ragged. Come nightfall, if you have no money for a candle, it's pitch black; even with a candle, it only casts a bean-sized dim glow in the dark. The world is just like this, dark and gloomy. Aside from ghosts, deities, magic, and natural scenery, I don't know what exciting parts it has."
"It's not dark at night! You can still play with mice!"
"See? Even delivering a letter is this difficult."
"Delivering letters is just this difficult."
"It's also because this world is unfamiliar and ignorant. When I first came here, I had no relatives or friends, and the people were ignorant. Even scholars, even sages, their thoughts were trapped within this era. The overwhelming majority of people either loved trampling on others or were accustomed to being trampled upon—or both. Most of the time, I actually didn't want to talk to them at all."
Song You lay looking at the stars, yet no arrogance was visible on his face—only his habitual detachment.
This time, Three Flower Lady answered honestly:
"Don't understand."
Hearing this, Song You merely smiled.
This was precisely why he would say such things to her.
Before long, Three Flower Lady turned back into a cat, crawling over from Song You's side, scrambling across his body and making his upper torso tickle, before running to the other side to stroke his face with her little paws.
Her paws were ice-cold, still carrying the texture of mud and sand.
"Daoist, you're not happy."
"You could hardly call it that."
"Then what is it?"
"Just feeling a bit emotional."
"Then you tell me--"
"Hmm?"
"Do the stars think we look good too?"
"Perhaps."
Three Flower Lady was healing him.
Her eyes could not hold the boundless twinkling stars, the bonfire beside them burned on with a crackling sound, and not far away the Red date horse lay resting and chewing the grass. That rhythmic chewing sound actually sounded quite comforting.
The sound of the wind, the low whispers—all of it made one's heart tranquil.
Master used to say that beneath his gentle and detached exterior lay a hidden arrogance toward the entire world.
In truth, this was inevitable.
Song You never argued the point and worked hard to restrain it.
Yet that was already the past. After coming to this world, as time passed and he grew older, he gradually came to understand.
Since this lifetime was already destined to offer little chance of return, he would strive to blend in here, force his heart open to accept this world, broaden his horizons, and strive to look and experience the unique, other kinds of beauty this world possessed.
If he didn't know what exciting parts it had, he would go look for them. If he couldn't imagine what wonderful qualities it held, he would go see them.
Setting out to travel down the mountain this way, across thousands of mountains and rivers, through human affairs and worldly sentiments—nothing else mattered; he only hoped this lifetime could be lived more brilliantly, more interestingly, and truly do justice to this life.
Fortunate of the fortunate—
Having only just set out, he had already reaped no small harvest.
Thanks to the patron "Renxing Feicai" for becoming a League Leader, bowing and baring my chest!
Before you continue