Cave

That night, snow finally began to fall, and it snowed through the entire night.

The next morning, Liu Yuanzhou got up and pushed open the door to find the whole world outside blanketed in white. Stepping into the courtyard, he saw that the snow lay so thick on the ground it nearly reached his calves.

Liu Yuanzhou took a broom down from the wall and began sweeping the snow from the courtyard. Before long, Liu Da and Liu Yuanbo got up as well and joined him.

After the three had cleared their own courtyard, they also swept the narrow path leading from it to the main road. By the time they finished, breakfast was ready.

After breakfast, Liu Yuanzhou trudged through the snow to Third Master's home and cleared the snow from the courtyard and path there as well.

Once he was done, he opened the door, lit the stove, and boiled water in the pot. He rested beside the stove's firebox, warming himself by the fire. Before long, the water boiled. He first steeped a pot of hot tea, then warmed some leftover beef and steamed buns from yesterday in the pot.

After drinking several sips of hot tea, Liu Yuanzhou went to the training ground in the courtyard, assumed the posture of the Limitless Stance, and began standing his stance. Afterward, he practiced several rounds of Plum Blossom Fist, stopping only after he had worked up a full-body sweat.

After finishing his boxing, he went into the cave dwelling and sat on the heated brick bed. Looking at the empty, desolate cave dwelling, he could not help thinking of Miss Qin again. I wonder how far she has gotten by now? She has been gone nearly ten days. I only hope she can make it home before the New Year.

After sitting on the bed for a while, he climbed down and ate all the meat and steamed buns warming in the pot, then drank another pot of hot tea. Only then did he leave contentedly, lock the door, and stroll slowly home, leisurely admiring the snowy scenery along the way.

After rounding a hillock, Liu Yuanzhou spotted Liu Chuang walking ahead of him. He called out, "Hu Wa, where are you going?"

Liu Chuang turned around. Seeing Liu Yuanzhou, his face lit up, and he ran over. When he reached him, he said between gasps, "I was just about to come find you."

"What do you need me for?" Liu Yuanzhou asked.

"To take you somewhere." As Liu Chuang spoke, he grabbed Liu Yuanzhou and started pulling him along.

"Don't tear my clothes. I'll come with you." Liu Yuanzhou hurriedly shook off his hand.

Liu Chuang released him, and the two walked side by side.

"Do you know what I saw yesterday?" Liu Chuang asked mysteriously.

"Don't want to know." Liu Yuanzhou rolled his eyes.

"After we watched the ritual yesterday and went our separate ways, I went back to Li Laocai's house," Liu Chuang said, scratching his head with an embarrassed grin. "I wanted to wait for the ritual master to come out and ask whether he was still taking disciples. I really wanted to learn that sword-wielding skill of his."

Liu Yuanzhou was speechless for a moment.

Liu Chuang continued, "I hadn't waited long when Li Laocai's family—four or five of them—and that ritual master all came out. I quickly hid."

"I saw their group head toward the back of the village. I was so curious that I secretly followed them."

"Guess where they went? They went to Thousand Buddha Cave."

Liu Yuanzhou was startled as well. Thousand Buddha Cave lay in a small mountain ravine seven or eight li from the village. Everyone in the village knew it was a stone cave carved into a mountainside, filled with Buddha statues large and small, hence its name. When they were children, they often climbed up there to play.

Because more than ten mu of land below the stone cave belonged to Li Laocai's family, he later built several tiled houses beneath it for some unknown reason, erected a wall, and enclosed the cave within. Anyone who wanted to enter the cave had to pass through his family's gate. The villagers dared to be angry but dared not speak, and fewer and fewer people went there afterward.

"What were they doing at Thousand Buddha Cave?" Liu Yuanzhou asked. A flash of insight crossed his mind, as though he had grasped something.

"They went into the cave and looked around for a while. After they came out, they talked at the entrance for a bit, but I was too far away to hear what they said." Liu Chuang answered, then added excitedly, "Early this morning, I went to Thousand Buddha Cave. I thought nobody would be there so early and I could go in to see what was going on. But when I got there, I found that someone had sealed the entrance with stones. Isn't that strange?"

Liu Yuanzhou fell into thought after hearing this. Hauntings, rituals, sealing Thousand Buddha Cave—there seemed to be some connection between them. But without any further details, he could not guess the reason.

Since no one had cleared the snow from the road to Thousand Buddha Cave, the two had to trudge through it, spending considerable effort before reaching the cliff where the cave was located. The wall prevented them from getting closer, so they could only look from afar over it. Sure enough, the once pitch-black entrance had been sealed with stones and wooden planks.

"Shall we climb over the wall?" Liu Chuang asked.

"Alright." After thinking it over, Liu Yuanzhou agreed. He was also very curious why the cave had been sealed.

Just as they approached the wall, the courtyard gate creaked open, and an old man emerged with a stick in his hand. He shouted, "Brats, what are you doing? Go play somewhere else." As he spoke, he swung the stick in his hand.

The two were startled. "It's Tu Ye. We want to take a look at Thousand Buddha Cave. Could you let us through?" Liu Yuanzhou quickly said. No one knew Tu Ye's real name. He was something of a clan cousin to Li Laocai, had remained a lifelong bachelor, and had always worked as a hired hand for Li Laocai's family.

"Can't you see the cave has been sealed? Get lost. Are you tired of living?" Tu Ye remained unmoved and began driving them away again.

"We're going in for a look. Does this cave belong to your family?" Liu Chuang stepped forward and shouted.

Tu Ye raised his stick and bellowed with his cloudy eyes wide open, "Come over here if you've got the guts. See if I don't break your legs!"

Liu Yuanzhou hurriedly pulled Liu Chuang back. "Tu Ye, you're formidable. Hu Wa, let's go." With that, he dragged Liu Chuang away.

"Why did you hold me back? You think I'm afraid of that old bachelor?" Liu Chuang said unhappily, looking at Liu Yuanzhou.

"If he hit you, would you really dare hit back? What if something happened to him and he latched onto you? Would you support him and see him through his final years?" Liu Yuanzhou snapped.

Liu Chuang fell silent. Once they returned to the village, Liu Yuanzhou instructed him again, "Hu Wa, stop thinking about this. It has nothing to do with us anyway." Liu Chuang nodded reluctantly.

The two parted ways and returned to their respective homes.

Over the next ten or so days, aside from helping his family with chores such as chopping firewood and carrying water, Liu Yuanzhou spent all his remaining time at Third Master's house, wholeheartedly practicing martial arts. He no longer paid attention to Li Laocai or Thousand Buddha Cave. Every morning, noon, and evening, he stood his stance once; the rest of the time, he practiced Plum Blossom Fist.

Time quickly reached the twenty-third day of the twelfth lunar month, commonly known as Little New Year. On this day, every household in the village made offerings to the Kitchen God and swept away the dust.

Early that morning, after Liu Yuanzhou finished his stance and practiced a round of Plum Blossom Fist, he felt completely invigorated. He could now hold his stance for eleven sections. Aside from growing stronger, other changes in his body had gradually begun to show as well—he could jump higher and farther, his hands and feet had become more nimble, and his body reacted more quickly. Compared with himself a month ago, he was stronger by far more than a single notch.

After breakfast, Zhang Shi directed everyone to begin the great cleaning of the house.

They moved everything that could be carried out of the cave dwelling and into the courtyard, then swept the dust from the walls, plugged the mouse holes at the base of the walls with stones, and filled in and tamped down all the uneven pits in the floor with earth. Finally, they scraped away all the window paper and pasted up fresh hemp paper.

After the cave dwelling had been thoroughly tidied, it looked completely renewed. Zhang Shi sighed. "At last, it looks like a home."

Finally, they carried all the household things back into the cave dwelling and arranged them neatly. The great cleaning was complete. By then, it was already evening, and the sun had set.