When waking up from sleep in the early morning, the outside was exceptionally chilly.
Song You borrowed a pole from the boatman, wore the Lotus Seed Pod Robe given by Prefect Yu, and sat in the spot where the boatman had sat last night. The river water in front of him surged with cold vapor, misty waves were silent, and the surroundings were quiet. The fishing line stretched deep into the water, occasionally stirring up a small ripple that was hard to perceive in the water mist.
Looking around, his eyes met rolling green mountains.
The other boat passengers either stayed inside the cabin or were still sleeping. Only Three Flower Lady sat upright and quietly beside his legs, her dual eyes fixed intently on the intersection of the fishing line and the water surface.
As for the boatman, he had already begun cooking breakfast.
"What should we do if we catch nothing?"
Song You turned his head and softly asked the cat.
Hearing this, Three Flower Lady raised her head with a very calm gaze, lowering it a moment later to lift her paw and lick it.
Song You did not understand her meaning.
A thumping sound rang out from behind—it was the boatman chopping fish bones.
Hearing the sound, Three Flower Lady's ears twitched. Only then did she raise her head and tell him in a very small voice:
"If we catch nothing, never mind."
Hearing this, Song You's expression remained very bland.
Yet he suddenly thought of a problem—
Three Flower Lady usually only managed to catch rats at night. Before meeting him, if she hadn't caught birds, insects, or similar things during the day, and if no one had come to make offerings to her, what did she eat? At any rate, he had never heard Three Flower Lady complain of hunger. Previously, he had simply assumed that he cooked in time and that she could procure food from elsewhere. Now it seemed that was likely not the case.
"What should Three Flower Lady do if she starves?"
"Three Flower Lady is used to being hungry."
"Mm..."
Song You raised his fishing rod, and a streak of silver-white left the water surface in tow, pulled by the line to land precisely into his palm.
"Caught one."
This fish was Three Flower Lady's breakfast.
At the same time, a voice came from behind.
"Sir has fine refined tastes."
Without needing to say, he knew it was that scholar surnamed Fu.
Footsteps quickly arrived from behind.
"Fishing in the cold river, taking in mountains and rivers with the eyes, conversing with a cat—I wonder how many people wish to have Sir's mood, yet lack this frame of mind." The footsteps stopped behind Song You, and seeing him pull up the line, the scholar felt some curiosity. "Sir only just caught this single tiny minnow, why stop fishing?"
"It is already enough for the cat to eat."
"How marvelous!"
The scholar brought another folding stool over and sat beside Song You. "Since Sir came from Lingquan County, did you pass through Yidu on the way?"
"Yidu is prosperous, naturally I had to go take a look."
"That is indeed true. Having traveled the rivers and lakes for many years, I have rarely seen a city as prosperous and open-minded as Yidu." The scholar paused. "Except for Yangcheng, while Changjing has yet to be visited."
"What is Yangcheng like?"
"Ten li of spring breeze, ten thousand homes with lamplight, prosperity like a dream."
"Then one must go see it."
Song You put away the fishing rod and returned it to its original place.
The scholar stood up, turned to look at him, and asked: "I haven't asked yet, where is Sir headed on this trip?"
"Traveling the realm, with no fixed place for now."
"Haha! Life ought to be just like this!"
The scholar's eyebrows involuntarily rose and he clapped in applause, simply feeling that this gentleman suited his intentions all too well.
"Yet why go to Lingbo then?"
"To deliver a letter for an old man who sold tea halfway."
"Just to deliver a letter?"
"I have nowhere in particular to go anyway."
"Marvelous! Marvelous!"
The scholar could not help but pat his hands in praise, then shook his head. "It's a pity I have been out for a long time this trip, otherwise I should travel a stretch in company with Sir!"
"Perhaps we will have affinity in the future."
"Ah, right—"
The scholar seemed to remember just now: "Since Sir passed through Yidu, have you heard about the earth-burrowing thief who caused such a great commotion in Yidu last year? And also the matter of the Dharma Master from Taian Temple that has been spreading wildly among the common folk?"
Song You lowered his gaze to watch Three Flower Lady eat her fish, still replying blandly:
"I have heard of it."
"I wonder if you might recount it for me to hear."
"Hasn't your honor already heard it?"
"I have indeed heard it." The scholar sighed. "However, after listening to people in the teahouse jabbering on about bits and pieces, even though I paid extra tea money, I still didn't hear it completely. Truly a regretful matter."
"..."
Song You could not help raising his eyes to glance at him. "Your honor is truly enchanted by these kinds of stories..."
"I won't conceal it from Sir, this is my number one hobby in life. Aside from this, I am also preparing a book, currently without a title, which will in short encompass all marvelous matters of gods and metaphysics across the realm. Hm, preferably true and interesting. That is why I am so eager to collect these kinds of matters."
"So that's how it is."
"Haha, and I'm not afraid of Sir laughing at me!" The scholar even chuckled as he said this. "Since childhood, I've had little interest in classical texts and political discourse, and studying up till now, I am also exceedingly dull-witted. Wishing to pass the imperial examinations is probably hopeless in this lifetime. If this book can be successfully compiled, firstly it will be considered completing a matter I've always wanted to do. And secondly, hehe, although it's not any work worthy of pride and is even hard to enter refined company, relying on this book, who is to say I, Fu, cannot leave my name in history just like ministers of past dynasties?"
After listening, Song You thought about it seriously and realized it really was possible.
Just as this scholar said, books of this type were only considered miscellaneous works in this era, difficult to enter refined company, and would even be spurned by some old Confucian scholars. Some people wrote books and didn't even dare leave their names, fearing they would lose face. Yet books of this kind were also wildly popular nowadays, and their circulation far exceeded that of famous classical masterpieces.
And there weren't many similar books on the market.
A Taoli Suishi Ji was not written particularly well, and even sandwiched a large amount of content between stories that only people of the Xuanmen could understand, yet it still swept across the north and south of the river at an extremely fast pace.
Why?
All people in the world were interested in stories of this sort, but those who wrote such books—those who could write them well—were far too few.
If this scholar wrote well, it really might be passed down.
Naturally, Song You did not harbor the decadent mindset of this era and did not look down on these miscellaneous books. Upon careful thought, being able to participate in the composition of a book passed down for a thousand years was actually quite interesting. Even when it circulated to later generations, he would long since be a pile of white bones and yellow sand, with nothing left at all.
By sheer coincidence, right before leaving, he had listened to Old Mr. Zhang recount a segment in detail right there in the North Tile Yard, inside the Cloud Talk Shed.
"I have quite a few stories of this sort."
"What a coincidence, the road ahead is still long."
"Speaking of which, the road is indeed long."
"I shall pour wine for Sir!"
"There is one condition."
"Sir, please speak."
"I shall tell a story, and your honor must tell one as well. Thus we are even and owe each other nothing."
"It's a deal!"
"I shall tell of that earth-burrowing thief first."
"I am all ears."
"This goes back several years ago. That thief originally surnamed Mo had a household outside Yidu City, in Lianhua Village. He was originally a down-and-out scholar..."
Song You's voice was not loud as he narrated with fine detail.
Overall, it referenced Old Mr. Zhang's story structure. Retelling it drawn from memory naturally carried his own flavor. At the same time, he omitted Old Mr. Zhang's storytelling techniques and particle exclamations, making it sound more like ordinary neighborhood folk sitting at the village entrance under the banyan tree at dusk, telling you a story that had happened right beside them not long ago.
The scholar listened with rapt attention, completely enthralled.
Even the remaining family of three could not help sitting inside the cabin to listen. The little girl opened her dark, glossy eyes—surely she now had a world filled with marvels blossoming in her heart, right?
As soon as the story finished, the fragrance of porridge wafted over, and they ate breakfast first.
The thin porridge was bland, yet happened to suit this cold morning on the river.
After the meal, it was the scholar's turn to return a story.
"When I was traveling in Yangzhou, I once heard a story from a high-mountain hermit."
"Please speak."
"It is said that several hundred years ago, Yangzhou was far from as prosperous as it is now. There were even great yao entrenched there, and all mountain ridges away from the roads were hunting grounds for great yao. Mountain yao would also frequently come down the mountains to harm people. It happened to coincide with the end of the previous dynasty, when political order was chaotic and the people could not make a living. At that time, a Daoist priest passed through this place, carrying a Green Jade Sword on his back, and tangled with that fiend on Black Solitary Mountain for a full half-year, slaying it beneath his sword. Only after that did Yangzhou finally gain peace."
Because it lacked details, the scholar's story was much shorter. "As for that Daoist priest, I heard he came from Fulong Temple. As for where Fulong Temple actually is, the story doesn't say, and no one knows. I only heard the name of Fulong Temple of Yinshan Mountain from another story, and thus boldly guessed it might be the same Daoist temple."
"Good."
Song You revealed a helpless expression.
He instinctively tried to recall, but did not discover any patriarch from several hundred years ago who was skilled at wielding a sword.
Still, it did not matter.
Perhaps story rumors had experienced deviations, perhaps some patriarch had learned to use a sword for a time after descending the mountain, or perhaps he himself simply didn't remember clearly. In short, these were all common occurrences.
The main thing was that he actually wasn't very willing to listen.
Successive abbots of Fulong Temple rarely left behind records concerning their own travels. Even Song You's master rarely spoke to him about the things he had seen, heard, and gained in his youth, all out of fear of exerting an influence on later generations. Everyone ought to have a path that belonged uniquely to themselves. As for patriarchs from too long ago whom he had never met, in Song You's heart they were actually no different from strangers.
"How does Sir find this story?"
"Though the story is grand, it is not interesting."
"Ha! I never imagined Sir's view and mine would coincide without prior consultation!" the scholar laughed. "I have a younger cousin who usually loves to beg me for stories, and he partials specifically to this kind. The grander the story, the more deities and Buddhas, the higher the magical power possessed by the characters in the story—ignoring everything else, he still finds it interesting. However, I myself rather dislike it."
After pondering slightly, Song You already understood. This scholar must have figured that since he himself was from Lingquan County, he must have also heard of Fulong Temple, and thus purposely told a story related to Fulong Temple.
"Your honor need not tell stories related to Fulong Temple anymore."
"Which kind does Sir love to hear?"
"Those with marvelous wit."
"Then what I told just now was in vain. Let me compensate Sir with another!"
"There's no need to go that far."
"Sir need not stand on ceremony. Since I am going to compile these into a book, how could I lack one or two stories? When out traveling in the world, meeting one another makes us all strangers, so it's better to be more carefree."
"That is reasonable."
Song You then stopped trying to hold him back, simply turning his gaze toward the little female child beside them.
While playing with the water by the boat's edge and listening to their story, the female child had suddenly seemed attracted by a bright glint in the water. She leaned over the side of the gunwale, wanting to get closer to look.
Yet beneath the water, a massive dark shadow was faintly swimming about.
Song You tapped the gunwale with his finger, and after drawing the little female child's attention, he smiled and reminded her not to play in the water. Only after she sat back down properly did he feel at ease, then glanced back toward the river—that dark shadow had already vanished without a trace.
Amidst the conversation, the light boat had already passed ten thousand heavy mountains.
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