Chapter 11 Unfulfilled Wishes

  The mountain path winds its way up, the spring chill is sharp and biting. The sun rises slowly from the mountaintop, casting a glare on the remaining frost that covers the entire mountain.

  Wu Ming carried two rattan boxes and a bamboo basket full of mountain goods, silently following behind Xian Feng Dao Gu's Zheng Zhen Taoist priest and Cheng Zong. Xiao Cheng Yuan walked closely beside Wu Ming, constantly whispering: "This place is over 200 miles away from the Dragon Tiger Mountain ancestral hall, it takes three days by horse carriage to get there, whenever Brother Wu has time, he must come to play at Dragon Tiger Mountain, I'll definitely accompany Brother Wu to explore the entire sacred land..."

  More than half a time arrived at the foot of the mountain, the horse-drawn carriage that came to pick up Zhen Dao and his party had been waiting for a long time.

  Wu Ming thanked the coachman and personally put the two rattan boxes and baskets onto the carriage, stood aside, lowered his head, and quietly waited for Master Bingzhen to get on board.

  Cheng Zhen Dao sighed inwardly and came to Wu Ming's side, saying warmly: "In a few days, Cheng Yuan's senior brother Cheng Zhi will lead several people to preside over the Qi Zhen Temple. Cheng Zhi is over thirty years old, not much older than you, and is not an outsider. It would be troublesome for you to take care of him on the mountain."

  "Yes." Wu Ming's reply was low and brief.

  Cheng Dao shook his head: "Take care of yourself, and if you have a chance, go to Longshan ancestral hall to see Cheng Yuan, he likes you."

  "Yes." Wu Ming still kept his head down and didn't make eye contact with Master Bingzhen.

  Cheng Yuan stepped forward and patted Wu Ming's arm, saying in a low voice, "Big brother, take care." He also boarded the horse carriage. Only Cheng Yuan had tears in his eyes as he grasped Wu Ming's sleeve, speaking incoherently without stopping.

  Wu Ming lifted Cheng Yuan onto the carriage in one swift motion, then bowed deeply to Bing Zhen before watching as the carriage disappeared into the distance. Only after it was gone did he feel a pang of loss and begin his ascent up the mountain. When he returned to the massive boulder at the midpoint, Wu Ming leapt atop the roadside rock and gazed out into the distance, but the carriage's shadow had already vanished from sight. His mind, however, was filled with visions of Cheng Zong and Cheng Yuan's faces and laughter.

  The next morning, Wu Ming, who was still a bit hungover from the previous night's drinking, was about to start practicing his boxing moves in the Taoist temple when he heard a knock at the door. He put away his fists and feet, threw on his long gown, and went to open the door.

  On the steps in front of the gate, a young man with sweat all over his head respectfully saluted Wu Ming.

  Wu Ming looked at him and felt that his face was somewhat familiar, but for a moment he couldn't call out his name: "Are you from Tianjia Village under the mountain?"

  "Right! I'm afraid Master Wu won't remember me, my name is Tian Zhenggang, the fifth child in my family. The Tian Zhengkui you saved is my older brother. On the day you left, I was with several of my brothers toasting you." Tian Zhenggang replied loudly, looking like a straightforward man.

  "Remember, you have these..." Wu Ming pointed at two bamboo baskets beside Tian Zhenggang's feet.

  Tian Zhenggang hastily lifted the large leaves covering two bamboo baskets, revealing two salted wild rabbits, two knives of fresh pork, a bag of rice and a large wine jar: "This is what my parents and several brothers have prepared for you, Master Taoist. Please don't despise it."

  Wu Ming smiled and pointed to the large silver ginkgo tree at the bottom of the west stone wall: "I'll take it, trouble Zheng Gang brother to send it under that big tree, my house is there, walk along the small path for about 200 steps, turn over the bamboo forest and you can see it, I'll close the door and go."

  "Alright!" Zhang Tian, with a sturdy build, shouldered his pole and strode away.

  Wu Ming arrived just as Tian Zheng was curiously examining the small wooden house with its unique shape, his eyes full of surprise, it could be seen that he had never seen such a style of Western-style house before.

  Wu Ming stepped up to the threshold, pushed open the slightly ajar door, and politely invited Tian Zhenggang in. Tian Zhenggang followed with a large bamboo basket in one hand, standing in the middle of the room looking around uncertainly.

  "Just put it down and come have a drink of water."

  Wu Ming walked to the stone wall of the fireplace, picked up the copper kettle that was still emitting hot air and poured a bowl of water for Tian Zhenggang: "Don't be polite, come over and sit down, warm up."

  Tian Zhenggang hesitantly moved over, took the hot water handed to him by Wu Ming, and drank it in one gulp. He wiped his mouth and carefully placed the empty bowl on the low table in front of him.

  Wu Ming added another bowl for him, picked up the copper kettle to fetch water, and placed it on the stone at the edge of the hearth. He picked up a piece of firewood and slowly lit the fire: "Is your brother better?"

  "It's much better, after Daozhang saved him, he would come to our house every three to five days to change the dressing and prescribe medicine for my brother. The half-foot long wound has already scabbed over, but it still can't bear weight, I estimate that in another month he'll be able to get out of bed." Tian Zheng saw that Wu Ming didn't have any airs about him, so he slowly relaxed a bit.

  Wu Ming listened with great joy: "This is good, although the life is saved, but it's probably difficult to recover normal walking in the future. Zheng Gang, how old are you this year?"

  "After New Year's I'll be eighteen." Tian Zhenggang also smiled, with a silly expression on his face.

  "Then I'll just call you brother, are you hungry?"

  "I'm not hungry!"

  "Anyway, we have to eat. I'm glad to see you today. Several Taoist priests left and now I'm the only one taking care of the mountain. Keep me company for a couple of drinks, let's drink this jar of wine you brought. You rest by the fire, I'll go prepare some dishes."

  "I'll get it, you sit down."

  Wu Ming didn't wait and instead worked with Tian Zhengang to set up a charcoal fire rack in front of the fireplace.

  Pu Shigang, who had become more relaxed, proactively used a bamboo tube to scoop out wine from the large wine jar and filled two big bowls. The room was suddenly filled with the enticing aroma of wine.

  Wu Ming picked up his bowl and took a sip: "Good wine!"

  Tian Zhenggang was overjoyed: "This wine is brewed by my mother, and no one in the surrounding tens of miles can brew better wine than my mother. My second brother said you have a good capacity for liquor, so I guess you'll like our family's wine."

  After several bowls of wine, the relationship between the two warmed up.

  Wu Ming asked about the recent situation in the village, Tian Zhenggang said it was not good. Before the New Year, government soldiers were searching everywhere in and out of the city for the bandits who killed officials and stole guns, and also sent more than a dozen soldiers to the village to ask questions, making everyone in the village anxious and unable to rest easy. After the New Year, ten brothers from the clan were drafted into the army after drawing lots, and their families all cried together; A few nights ago, the cunning wolves on the mountain came into the village again, biting to death the mother pig of Village Elder Qian Shu's family, and dragging away a sheep. All the dogs in the village were so scared that they didn't dare bark.

  Wu Ming knew that the villagers were unarmed, so he asked why they didn't dig traps or set up ambushes to capture the wolves. Tian Zheng immediately launched into a lengthy explanation, saying that wolves were the most cunning of beasts and would avoid anything suspicious, making traps, ambushes, and wooden cages useless against them. His own older brother, who had been injured earlier, was a renowned hunter who could bring back wild boars, wild goats, roe deer, and other game, but had never managed to catch a wolf in his lifetime, unless he had a good gun in hand.

  Wu Ming, who had made up his mind to leave the place, thought for a moment and then leaned in close to Tian Zhenggang and asked, "Zhenggang, if you have a Han Yang rifle, would you dare go find the wolf?"

  Tian Zhenggang also drank with his chest open, revealing his sturdy muscles of a deep purple color, and met Wu Ming's eyes without any fear: "Brother Wu, if you can really get the Han Yang creation, I, Tian Zhenggang, guarantee to send you several good wolf skins!"

  "Good! However, just now, you also said that before the New Year, the government soldiers came to the village and searched everywhere. It can be seen that if you have a Han Yang rifle and let outsiders know, it's likely to bring disaster. So, big brother wants you to keep it a secret. Every word we brothers say today, anything you see, cannot be revealed to outsiders even half a word. Can you do it?" Wu Ming looked at Tian Zhengang with a hint of a smile.

  Tian Zhenggang was stunned for a moment, puffed out his chest and his expression became exceptionally solemn: "Brother Wu, you are the benefactor who saved my family, how could I possibly harm you? I swear, I will never speak of today's events again. If I break this oath, let me not die a good death!"

  "What you said, big brother believes in you, and you are just like your big brother, a good guy! I've heard from fellow villagers that you brothers are all men of great loyalty. If it wasn't for your big brother standing up for us that day, there would probably be more deaths and injuries in the village."

  Wu Ming stood up, walked to the head of the bed, moved a large wooden stump, lifted the thick wooden board on the floor, took out a brightly polished rifle and came to Tian Zhenggang's face: "Orthodox Han Yang made, at least 70% new, the rifling is not worn much, estimated that not many shots have been fired, you try it, don't worry, no bullets are loaded."

  Tian Zhenggang was stunned, stood up and rubbed his eyes in disbelief, staring at the long gun in Wu Ming's hand for a while before stretching out his trembling hands to take over the rifle: "Heavens! It's real..."

  Wu Ming looked at Tian Zhenggang, who was lost in thought, and said very seriously: "Zhenggang, every time I think of the brothers in the village who were hurt by wild boars, my heart aches. At that time, I thought that if you had a real gun in your hand, there would not have been such a disaster."

  "Really isn't it!" Tian Zhenggang exclaimed excitedly.

  Wu Ming put his hand on his shoulder: "Just now I heard you mention the old Qian Shu's family being attacked by wolves, and my heart feels even more uncomfortable. It's not easy for fellow villagers to raise big pigs and sheep, if we don't get rid of those wild wolves and boars that will bring disaster at any time, who knows when someone in the village will die again. I've been thinking about this for a while, before there were no real men, everyone could only watch as their families and fellow villagers suffered, now that there are, we should stand up and get rid of the harm for the people!"

  "Brother Wu......" Tian Zhenggang was so excited that he trembled slightly, his Adam's apple moved up and down as he struggled to speak, and a flush rose to his long, narrow eyes.

  "Wu Ming pulled him down: 'Don't be in a hurry, sit down and talk.'"

  The two sat down again, filled their cups with wine, clinked them together heavily and drained them in one gulp.

  "Wu Ming wiped his mouth and put down the bowl, saying to Tian Zhenggang, whose face was flushed: "Zhenggang, I'll be leaving this place soon for a long journey. Before I go, I want to do something for the villagers of Tianjia Village, so I can leave with a clear conscience. Originally, I thought I could do it alone, but I wasn't confident and felt uneasy in my heart. Now that you're here, I feel at ease. After I'm gone, I'll leave this gun with you, along with over a hundred rounds of ammunition. You can keep whatever's left. When the time comes, just hide the gun quietly. The world is getting more chaotic, and the future won't be peaceful. Having a gun for self-defense will give you more courage."

  "Wu Dage, why are you leaving? My whole family hasn't even had a chance to repay your kindness, don't go! I don't want the gun!" Tian Zhenggang exclaimed as he hastily stood up.

  "What's the hurry? Sit down and talk, I didn't say we're leaving right away." Wu Ming belched: "Exactly, as the saying goes, there's no banquet in the world that doesn't disperse. The favors I owe are far more than yours! You wouldn't understand even if I told you. Let's just say, a person's life is long, some things can be remembered and left at that."

  "I still don't understand." Tian Zhenggang looked puzzled.

  Wu Ming laughed and said: "It's okay if you don't understand now, I won't misjudge you, this brother of mine is settled, haha! Right, big brother, I've had too much to drink, the matter of hunting wolves can only be discussed tomorrow. Also, you should go back and tell your family, think of an excuse to slip out, and bring me along to explore the mountains for a few days. You're more familiar with this than I am, I've never gone hunting in my life, not even caught a bird, and I'm not familiar with the surrounding mountains either. I'll have to rely on you to help me fulfill this wish, so that when I leave, I can also leave with peace of mind."

  "Wu Dage, I'll head back now and will arrive here early tomorrow morning. We can enter the mountain together!" Although it's not a good season for hunting at the moment, Tian Zhengang, being simple-minded and trustworthy, agreed without hesitation.

  "Alright! I'll wait for you then." Wu Ming said as he got up slowly and walked to the bedside, flopping down onto the bed and falling asleep.

  Tian Zhenggang hurriedly went up to help Wu Ming take off his shoes, picked up his legs and put them on the bed, covered Wu Ming with a quilt, returned to the low table, picked up the long gun, looked at it again and again, touched it again and again, reluctantly put it back in its original place, covered it with a board, then moved the wooden stool back to its original position. Only then did he feel at ease cleaning up the table, finally filling the fireplace with firewood, quietly going out and carefully closing the door.

  An hour later, two women appeared in front of the quiet little cottage, hearing the even snoring sound coming from inside, the two whispered to each other for a while, plucked up their courage and walked up the steps, gently knocking on the slightly ajar door.