Vowing to March into the Mountains

Early the next morning, Chen Yulou and Luo Laowai gathered everyone on the parade ground to rally the troops.

Lu Yan had only just gotten up. He didn't approach, but nodded to them in greeting, then stood at a distance to watch Chen Yulou's performance.

Chen Yulou wore a white changshan and held a folding fan. With a pair of glasses on his face, he looked refined and scholarly, almost like a schoolteacher.

Luo Laowai, meanwhile, was still in his military uniform, collar open, standing with his feet planted at an odd angle. He looked every bit the bandit.

Standing on the platform, Chen Yulou surveyed the vast crowd of Xieling brothers below. He showed no trace of nervousness, paced a few steps, then turned to Luo Laowai, who was seated in a chair, and asked, "Commander Luo, would you like to say a few words first?"

Luo Laowai wasn't nervous, but he had little learning and didn't dare take him up on the offer. He shook his head with a grin. "Brother Head, you're the boss. You speak, and we'll listen."

Chen Yulou nodded and turned to face the men below.

"All right, then. I'll say a few words."

Chen Yulou snapped his folding fan shut and held it behind his back, standing tall with his chest out. "Brothers, our Xieling faction began with the Red Eyebrows. Since our ancestors' time, we've divided the treasures of emperors among the poor."

"These days, the people are suffering and their lives are in ruins. Most of our Xieling brothers come from humble backgrounds, so we ought to do what little we can to help in these troubled times."

"There's a treasure trove in Western Hunan, filled with gold and jade. It all came from the people's blood and sweat. We can follow the example of the Red Eyebrows and honor our ancestors' teachings."

"And by working with Commander Luo, we'll take the treasures from the mountains and help the people survive these troubled times."

The Xieling men below had all come from humble backgrounds and had little education. They were no match for Chen Yulou's silver tongue. His words set their blood racing, and they shouted in unison:

"Take the treasures, help the people!"

"Take the treasures, help the people!"

Seeing that he'd roused the crowd, Chen Yulou smiled with satisfaction. He turned and gave his orders. "Red Maiden, Kunlun, Hua Maguai, I'm planning to take the three of you to the nearby Miao villages to make inquiries. The main force will hold back for now and stay on standby."

"Sounds good, Brother Head. I'll go with you."

Luo Laowai was addicted to tomb-robbing and eager to make a fortune, so he planned to join them in scouting the mountains.

"Good. Brother Lu, come over and let's discuss our plans for entering the mountains."

Chen Yulou nodded and called Lu Yan over to plot with them.

After breakfast, Lu Yan, Chen Yulou, and the others disguised themselves as traveling merchants and peddlers.

The terrain around the Mengdong River in Western Hunan was complex, with steep, winding mountain paths. The area had been sparsely populated since ancient times, the government had little control over it, and banditry was rampant.

The local tribespeople were therefore very wary of outsiders. If they didn't disguise themselves as traders, they risked causing trouble.

Old Bear Ridge, by the Mengdong River, was a vast stretch of towering mountains, rising thousands of feet, with high peaks and dense forests. Lu Yan and Chen Yulou's party were all strong walkers, but the journey was still far from smooth.

After stopping to rest several times, they finally reached South Village, nestled in the mountains ahead.

The village lay among striking peaks and lush valleys, its surroundings as beautiful as a landscape painting.

As they entered, they saw rows of stilt houses. Beneath each one was a wooden carving of a mysterious bird, lending the village an eerie air.

The locals were simple and honest. Disguised as merchants and peddlers, Lu Yan and the others managed to pass themselves off without difficulty.

The mountain folk preferred to trade goods for goods. Now and then, some would come to Lu Yan and Chen Yulou's group with mountain produce, hoping to exchange it for salt, needles, thread, and other small necessities.

Chen Yulou had planned ahead. Everything they'd brought was something the villagers needed, and since they hadn't come to make a profit, they were generous with their trades. The group soon won the villagers' goodwill.

Taking advantage of that, Chen Yulou used the "asking" method, one of the four principles of tomb-robbing—"observing, smelling, asking, and feeling"—to sound out the locals. Sure enough, it didn't take much effort to get some useful clues from them.

Near Old Bear Ridge stood a strange peak called Bottle Mountain, shaped like a celestial bottle fallen to earth. The mountain was said to hold countless rare flowers and herbs.

Since the Qin and Han dynasties, emperors of various eras had sent alchemists to Bottle Mountain to make elixirs of immortality. They built temples and monasteries in its caves and filled them with rare treasures from every land, hoping to obtain medicine from the immortals.

After a thousand years, the caves in Bottle Mountain had become a maze of halls and chambers, their grand pavilions and palaces surpassing anything in the mortal world.

Unfortunately, when the Yuan dynasty conquered the Southern Song, the cave dwellers could no longer endure the tyranny and rose up in rebellion. Yuan troops and generals slaughtered the people of the caves throughout Old Bear Ridge, nearly wiping them all out.

But the mountains were hot and damp, teeming with poisonous insects and wild beasts. The Yuan troops suffered heavy losses, and even their commanding general died of illness in the mountains.

To keep the cave dwellers subdued and ensure they would never rebel again, the Yuan forces turned Bottle Mountain into a tomb for their fallen soldiers. They plundered the mountain's treasures to bury as grave goods, and slaughtered the surviving cave dwellers to bury them with the dead.

Hearing that the tomb was full of rare treasures, Luo Laowai was already itching to get inside. If Chen Yulou hadn't kept him in check, he would have given the game away in front of the villagers.

By the time Chen Yulou had learned everything he needed, darkness had fallen. In recent years, bandits and mounted raiders had been causing so much trouble that the village never put up outsiders for the night. Lu Yan, Chen Yulou, and the others had no choice but to leave in a hurry.

On the way, Luo Laowai kept grumbling. He'd never met villagers so disrespectful to him. If Chen Yulou hadn't stopped him, he would have drawn his gun already.

"Commander Luo, why get angry at a group of villagers? I heard there's a place up ahead where coffins are gathered. We can spend the night there."

"We'll head into the mountains early tomorrow and take a look at Bottle Mountain's terrain. Then we can see if that ancient tomb is worth digging."

Chen Yulou walked ahead. Seeing Luo Laowai still muttering away, he couldn't help finding it a little amusing and tried to soothe him.

Lu Yan had seen plenty of dead people in the Wizard World and the Naruto World, so he wasn't squeamish. Chen Yulou and the others often entered tombs, and they were all bold as brass. None of them minded spending the night at a funeral home.

The group settled on a plan and kept walking until it was completely dark. Only then did they find the funeral home.

The place seemed to have been converted from a mountain god temple. It was quite large but hadn't been repaired in ages, and the front hall had partly collapsed.

Under the cold moon and stars, bats wheeled through the air. The temple's peeling doors creaked whenever the mountain wind blew.

In the desolate temple, alone in the middle of the night, even Chen Yulou and the others—bold as brass—felt a little uneasy. Chen Yulou went over to Lu Yan and whispered, "Brother Lu, if any mountain spirits or ghosts show up, we'll be counting on you."

Luo Laowai came over from the other side and lowered his voice. "This place gives me the creeps. Brother Lu, if any ghosts show up, my life's in your hands."

Lu Yan smiled at them both and reassured them. "Don't worry. I've already checked. There's no ghostly or demonic aura in here. It's perfectly clean."

With that, Lu Yan pushed open the funeral home's doors and walked inside.