Chapter 6 (1/2)
Proud
Within a few days, Wei Wuxian found that he might have made the wrong decision.
This conveniently led along flower donkey, was very high maintenance.
It was obviously just a regular donkey, however it would only eat fresh tender gra.s.s. If the gra.s.s was even a little yellow it would refuse to eat.
Pa.s.sing by a farmhouse, Wei Wuxian stole a little bit of barley straw to feed it. After a few chews, it spit it out. Almost like a person, its att.i.tude was loud and clear.
If the food wasn’t acceptable, it would refuse to walk. It would get angry and kick with its back hooves. Wei Wuxian several times narrowly escaped being kicked.
Moreover, its braying was extremely unpleasant.
No matter as a horse or as a pet, it didn’t have a single good point!
Wei Wuxian couldn’t help but to miss his sword (1).
Presently that sword’s most likely location was hanging on display on the wall of a big clan master, treated as the spoils of war.
Forcibly dragging the donkey down the road, he pa.s.sed through a wide expanse of village fields.
The scorching sun burned down. On the edge of the path between the paddies there was a single large locust tree. (2) The locust tree’s shade was very dense, furthermore there was a convenient old well. Villagers had placed at the well’s edge a single bucket with a ladle, to allow pa.s.sersby to quench their thirst.
The flower donkey ran over, not willing to walk. Wei Wuxian jumped down and slapped it on its rump saying: “You still have a rich life. You’re much more high maintenance than I am.”
The donkey sprayed him with water.
As he was scolding the donkey, he saw walking over on the path leading north and south a party of people.
These people were burdened with woven bamboo baskets. They wore cloth garments and straw sandals. They all shared an unsophisticated countryside villager look from head to foot.
There with them was a young girl with a round face. Her appearance reluctantly could be regarded as delicate and pretty. Perhaps she had been walking in the scorching sun for a long time and had also thought to come over and cool off in the shade and drink water. However, seeing below the tree on one side a flailing hooves braying flower donkey and on the other side a madman with a red painted smeared white face and disheveled hair, she didn’t dare come over.
Wei Wuxian had always presented himself as a person having protective feelings towards women. Upon seeing this move he shuffled over and tossed aside the flower crowned donkey.
The crowd, seeing he was harmless, felt relieved and walked over.
Each one’s brow was beaded with sweat. Having very red cheeks, they fanned themselves. Drawing water, the girl sat at the edge of the well. Seeming to realize he had deliberately yielded his position, she smiled faintly at Wei Wuxian.
Among them, a villager holding a compa.s.s, gazed into the distance and bowed his head in a bewildered fas.h.i.+on: “We’ve almost reached the foot of Dafan mountain. Why is this pointer is still motionless?”
The compa.s.s’s markings and pointer were all extremely strange. It clearly wasn’t an ordinary compa.s.s.
It was not used to indicate NSEW, but rather was used to indicate evils, demons, and fiends. It was a “Fengxie board”. (3)
Wei Wuxian knew he had met up with a whole family of down and out hard, pressed for money, peasants.
Other than the highbrow rich aristocratic families, there were also many such hunter groups. They were small self study families.
Wei Wuxian thought: ‘Can’t say for sure. They could be from the countryside rus.h.i.+ng over to seek shelter and the advantage of a large family clan, or possibly they’re going night hunting.’
The leading middle age man on the side called out as he pa.s.sed by to drink water: “Is your compa.s.s broken? Later I’ll exchange it for a new one. It’s still less than 10 li (4) to Dafan mountain, we cannot rest for long. Although everyone’s tired, if we relax here we’ll fall behind the people ahead of us. If we allow someone else to s.n.a.t.c.h it first we’ll have wasted our time.”
Sure enough they were night hunting.
Many xianmen (5) aristocratic families preferred to do things in an elegant manner. They took pleasure in travelling in all directions to get rid of devils and subdue monsters. These “hunting expeditions”, owing to the fact that these people were always coming and going at night, became known as “night hunting”.
There were many cultivator clans such that. However to become famous enough to rise to that level, of the great number that came and went, only a few managed to succeed.
In the xuanmen, (6) if one did not have ancestors to acc.u.mulate abundant riches, ordinary clans who wished to be included in the top ranks and to rise as a famous clan, had to obtain results or true merits.
If a clan was able to bring down savage demonic beasts or clear a disaster area of a malicious fiend, they then would be able to speak with weight.
This was originally Wei Wuxian’s forte. These days he was rus.h.i.+ng about on the road, robbing tombs and hunting small ghosts.
In hand he had his ability to ride roughshod over ghosts and so he determined that he should go to Dafan mountain to try his luck.
If things went well, afterwards he could s.n.a.t.c.h up some funds to relieve his expenses.
Those travelers after sufficiently resting their feet, prepared to resume their journey.
Before leaving, the round faced girl took out a single semi ripe small apple from the box she carried on her back and held it out towards him: “This is for you”.
Wei Wuxian smiled happily and reached out to receive the apple. However the flower donkey raised its head to bite with ivory teeth.
Wei Wuxian hurriedly s.n.a.t.c.hed the apple up.
Seeing the donkey drooling endlessly at the small apple, his thoughts turned towards his good fortune. He picked up a single long branch, tied string at the end, and hung the apple in front of the flower donkey’s head.
The flower donkey, smelling the sweet scent of the apple in front and desperately wanting a bite, chased after the hanging apple in front of its face. With a raised head it vigorously dashed forward. Surprisingly, as Wei Wuxian compared it to all the horses he has seen, it much faster. It left them in the dust!
Under the power of the donkey’s incessant hooves, Wei Wuxian hurried to Dafan mountain before it could get dark.
Once he reached the foot of the mountain, he then discovered that it used fàn(梵-Buddha) not the other fàn(饭-food) as the spelling of its name.
Seen from afar, the mountain’s form was similar to to a big hearted and serene short Buddha. Therefore this was the origin of its name.
Just under the mountain there was a small town called Fujiao.
Far many more cultivators had a.s.sembled in this place than he had imagined. Like fish and dragons mixed together, going back and forth on the street people were wearing the uniform colors of every clan and school leaving onlookers feeling dazzled.
It was unclear why, but everyone wore anxious expressions. Seeing this he understood that even with his ghost-like appearance, they were not at leisure to mock him.
Speaking seriously in the middle of the main street, there was a variety of cultivators gathered.
It seemed that they were not able to come to a consensus. Wei Wuxian at a distance conveniently eavesdropped on their discussion. Originally it was not too interesting but after a moment his interest sharpened:
“…I think that there absolutely aren’t any soul eating beasts or soul eating fiends here. Clearly all the fengxie boards indicator’s have had no reactions.”
“If they don’t exist, then how would these seven townspeople have lost their souls? Where else would this soul sickness come from? It’s very unlikely for so many people to get the same kind of illness, OK? I have never heard of this kind of illness!”
“The fengxie board hasn’t reacted so that means nothing is there? It’s only capable of indicating the general direction. Because the accuracy is poor you cannot solely rely on it. Perhaps in the vicinity there is something capable of thwarting its abilities.”
“Do you not believe in the creator of the fengxie board? I have never heard of anything that could block its abilities.”
“What kind of strange idea are you spouting? I’m well aware that the fengxie board is Wei Ying’s creation. What, are you saying it’s impossible for him to make something imperfect? Don’t tell me you don’t allow other people to bring up any flaws?”
“I haven’t said that you aren’t allowed to question its abilities. I never said that the thing he made was perfect. You don’t need to keep making unfounded accusations!”
As a result they began to quarrel with each other. Wei Wuxian riding the flower donkey laughed as he pa.s.sed by.
Unexpectedly after so many years have gone by he was still seeing cultivators fight about the subject. It didn’t fail to inspire awe inside of him. The so called “encounter Wei will quarrel”. If there had been a vote that of the many families, who’s popularity would be the most enduring, who would have thought it would be his own that would win?
To be fair, what this cultivator was saying was actually correct. At present the common fengxie board was the result of his first attempt to create such a thing. Indeed, the accuracy was insufficient.
He originally at that time had set out to improve it, but before he could finish, his old lair was attacked. So afterwards without any better options but to endure its deficiencies everyone continued to use the flawed first edition.