Hunter Meets an Immortal

The Banquet of Ghosts and Gods continued until just before the fifth watch.

When they saw the eastern sky turning white, the guests began to depart.

It was rare to have such a feast. The Earth Deity and Mountain Gods, Snake Pythons and Fierce Tigers, Jackal Wolves and Red Foxes, Monkey Spirits and Dwarf Deer all drank themselves into a frenzy, singing wildly. When the Mountain Ghosts were thoroughly drunk, they raised their cups and sang wild songs of the wilderness, their clear, lilting voices plaintive and haunting, leaving listeners dazed.

Before leaving, the Spirit Demons kept glancing toward the seat of honor.

The immortal seated there seemed a little drunk. With his eyes closed, he listened to the music, the singing, and the guests' cheerful chatter.

Old Deer Mountain God asked, "Sir, did you enjoy such lively revelry?"

Jiang She opened his eyes and looked down at the demons dancing wildly and the guests clutching their wine cups, dead drunk. Li Bai, in particular, had emptied who knew how many cups of Three-Day Drunk. His robe hung open at the collar as he leaned against a Fierce Tiger, cup in hand, singing loudly and laughing.

"To live as though facing death, utterly fearless."

Jiang She praised them:

"Excellent."

The Earth Deity was also watching the Fierce Tiger. It was this very tiger who had just spoken those words, whose meaning the immortal had found so wondrously good.

After the three had spoken, Jiang She was about to leave.

Suddenly, he heard hurried footsteps outside, along with someone muttering, "Second Uncle, let's hurry down the mountain. Something about this mountain feels wrong to me. It seemed especially dark last night."

"We shouldn't have chased that wild boar. It made us spend the night in the mountains. I kept hearing people singing and laughing, and people eating meat. I barely slept... And now look, we didn't even catch the pig."

"I know. We'll go down once it's fully light."

"Eh?"

"What was that noise? Second Uncle! Second Uncle! Someone really is singing! Listen—"

"Don't talk nonsense. How could there be anyone in these mountains... Could this place really be haunted?"

The Earth Deity was taken aback.

The ghosts, gods, and Spirit Demons had gathered here for a feast, so naturally they had sealed off the surrounding area. They had chosen the night because the mountains were quieter then, not because their magic could only be used at night.

Ordinary mortals weren't supposed to see tonight's feast.

Those two...

He extended a hand and performed a divination. The Earth Deity apologized. "It seems that Monkey Spirit poked a hole in the barrier, letting those outside hear us. This humble deity failed to consider everything."

"No matter."

Jiang She beckoned Li Bai over, then nodded slightly to the Mountain God and the Earth Deity. Under the gazes of the guests, Mountain Ghosts, and Spirit Demons, he walked out.

Chen Erniu had gone hunting in the mountains with his elder brother's son. He hoped to bring home a little extra money and let the children taste some meat, so they wouldn't all drool whenever they smelled the neighbors cooking it.

He knew the mountains near Xiangyang well. He'd been wandering them since he was twelve or thirteen, gathering wild produce to sell in the county and bringing mushrooms home to cook.

That afternoon, he had come across a wild boar in the mountains and chased it for a long time. He had no idea what the thing had been eating, but it was thick and solid. Even with an arrow in its back, it had managed to run off.

For some reason, night had fallen early.

Worried they might run into wolves on the way down in the dark, Chen Erniu found a bamboo grove and spent the night there with his nephew.

Strangely enough, his nephew said he'd dreamed of people talking, singing, and eating. Chen Erniu had dreamed of vague noises too, as if they were attending a banquet with Landlord Chen from Chen Family Village.

When the two of them woke, his nephew had spent the whole night sleeping outdoors. His stomach was rumbling with hunger, and he kept grumbling about it.

Suddenly,

the sounds grew much louder.

Chen Erniu would have sworn there really were people in the mountains. If not, then the place was haunted. He could hear plates clinking together and even smell the wine.

Good heavens...

In an instant, the hairs on his body stood on end.

Chen Erniu held his breath and stared for several seconds, trembling all over. It took a long while before he felt he could move again. He kicked his nephew in the leg, then steeled himself and lowered his voice.

"In a moment, you run straight out of the woods. Got it?"

"Second Uncle..."

Chen Erniu began carefully backing away with his nephew, moving lightly and fighting down his fear as he tried to make as little sound as possible stepping on the dead leaves.

Just then, he saw someone suddenly emerge from the woods. The first faint light of dawn had appeared, though it wasn't fully bright yet. Through the bamboo leaves, he saw a handsome man dressed in blue. Another man wore white and smelled of wine.

In that instant, Chen Erniu's heart nearly leaped into his throat.

Good heavens, there hadn't been anyone in those woods before, and now two men had suddenly appeared.

Fortunately, neither of them seemed to be coming their way. They headed north, toward Xiangyang County; Chen Family Village lay to the west.

Chen Erniu knew he'd escaped with his life.

The two of them ran off as fast as they could, as if a Fierce Tiger were chasing them.

The boy ran along beside him, gasping for breath and gulping down air. He was still saying, "Second Uncle, did you hear that? There was a tiger's roar too. That man can subdue Fierce Tigers. Could he be an immortal?"

Chen Erniu's heart pounded. "How would I know?"

They encountered two hunters on the road.

Jiang She paid them no mind.

He soon returned to the residence. Yuan Danqiu was fast asleep, snoring softly from time to time, and hadn't noticed a thing. Li Bai had also collapsed into bed and fallen sound asleep the moment his head touched the bamboo pillow.

Jiang She sat quietly at the table for a while, savoring what he had gained that night. He pushed open the window and saw the eastern sky turning pale, like a fish's belly.

The Mountain Ghosts' tales and observations that night had been quite interesting.

He had helped the Earth Deity and the Spirit Demons fulfill their wishes. Why shouldn't they, in turn, have helped him?

With that thought, he lay down fully clothed and drifted off to sleep.

By the time Yuan Danqiu woke, it was already broad daylight. The servants had swept the fallen leaves from the courtyard and piled them in the garden behind the house, where they could rot and help the plants grow better.

Yuan Danqiu yawned, then practiced a set of punches in the courtyard. He had learned it from a Taoist priest at Pure Void Temple. Practicing each morning helped get his blood flowing and dispelled the grogginess of waking up.

It also helped him stay more alert during the day.

Afterward, he went to the apothecary himself to ask whether the Zengqing and Cinnabar he had ordered had arrived.

Half an hour later, Yuan Danqiu returned with two small paper packets and saw Jiang She sitting beneath a tree, writing.

"Young Master Jiang, you're back."

Jiang She answered.

Yuan Danqiu wondered aloud, "Taibai still hasn't woken up?"

"He drank a little."

It was almost noon. Even a pig ought to have woken up by now. No matter how much Taibai had drunk, he should have been up by the time the sun was high. Yuan Danqiu frowned, set the packets on the table, and turned to open the door to the main room—

A particularly fragrant smell of wine wafted from inside.

It stirred Yuan Danqiu's own thirst for wine.

He looked toward the bed and saw that Li Bai was still asleep, deeply so. He gave him a couple of shakes, but he didn't wake. Was he really sleeping that soundly?

Yuan Danqiu hesitated, then put a finger beneath Li Bai's nose.

Thankfully, he was breathing.

He wasn't dead.

Yuan Danqiu decided to leave him alone, went out of the main room, and sat across from Jiang She, muttering, "How can he sleep so much..."

Jiang She smiled.

He took the notebook he always carried from his sleeve, intending to record the previous night's Banquet of Ghosts and Gods.

He opened it.

But found words already written inside.

"To the west of Xiangyang County lies Chen Village. One day, two hunters chased a wild boar and spent the night in the woods. In a dream, they heard the sounds of a feast, cups clinking as ghosts and gods discoursed on the Dao. When they awoke, the smell of wine and meat still lingered, and the tiger's roar had not yet faded from their ears. They were sorely afraid.

"Soon afterward, they encountered a divine man who had just finished feasting and subdued a Fierce Tiger.

"When they returned home and told of this strange encounter, the villagers heard and exclaimed enviously, 'You met an immortal!'"