Chapter 8: The Immortal in the Lute

  There's a saying that men and women working together won't get tired, which also applies to hiking. Especially Muhe was very lively, her happy voice could be heard all the way.

  In this case, as long as it's not too dull or inhumane for a man to do so, he will definitely support the beautiful woman. Among the four men, Su You and Du Ying are both enthusiastic and polite, Jing Sheng is good at handling interpersonal relationships, leaving only Jiang Siqi with an unhappy mood...

  That made him even more unhappy.

  Let's talk about it, why can they still meet fellow travelers in such a big mountain?

  It's okay if they just met, but why are they walking together?

  If walking together isn't a big deal, then why do Mulian and Muhuo seem to like his brother so much?

  It has to be said that Jiang Siqi's idea is absolutely a case of misplaced anger. Because the two sisters haven't actually done anything out of line, it's just that he himself discovered that Su You's previous praise for them was indeed true and deeply felt that he would be surpassed by them.

  Jing Sheng is a big old man, what's there to worry about? Love rivals are naturally more frightening when they're beautiful and excellent girls! Especially since he reckoned that both Muli and Mulan were quite skilled, it was even more frightening.

  Heaven knows, Su You's reason for not finding a girlfriend is about to collapse in front of the Mu sisters!

  Jiang Siqi deeply felt that he had been lacking a sense of crisis before, otherwise he would have started exercising and whatnot earlier; if not directly confessing, at least now he wouldn't be so passive!

  This trip back home will start implementing pre-war warning plans, and it's decided so happily!

  Su You didn't know that Jiang Siqi's mind had already started ringing alarm bells. He was more practical, and after learning that the Mu sisters were from nearby Yangcheng, he gave up on the idea of setting them up with Jiang Siqi.

  Joking, knowing each other for a week, and then living in different parts of the world, is this how people date?

  It has to be said that the two people's reasons are worlds apart, but strangely, the final result is surprisingly consistent. If Jing Sheng knew this, he would have to feel like vomiting blood at how their vastly different thought processes ended up with the same outcome. But from another perspective, he might feel a little relieved...

  It serves you right to be brothers for life!

  That noon, the group arrived at a supply point on the mountain waist, just as Du Ying had expected - a small wooden house. The tourist center at the foot of the mountain was guarded by an old woman, while the mountain waist here was slightly better, with a big brother in his thirties.

  "Song Ge!" Du Ying called out warmly. "Where's Nan Ge?"

  "Oh, today he's at the top of the mountain." The man called Song Ge was originally squatting in front of the door smoking a homemade pipe, and stood up with a rustling sound when he saw someone. He wasn't very tall, but was sturdy, with hands like old tree roots, with bulging veins. "Five people today? That's a bit too many!"

  "There were originally three of us, but we met two more on the road and walked together." Du Ying explained.

  "Oh, okay," Song Ge rubbed his hands together and flicked off the cigarette ash. "You guys wait, I'll go cook."

  In front of the wooden house was a small piece of flat land, just like the open space in the center of the village. Several old tree stumps were arranged neatly and irregularly, with several people each choosing one to sit on.

  The wooden house sisters huddled together whispering, Jiang Siqi was so tired that he only wanted to sleep, while Du Ying went to the kitchen next to the wooden house to help out. As for Jing Sheng, today he didn't bother with his camera, but instead went with Su You through a small patch of forest to look at the view on a nearby cliff.

  Have to say, they are quite lucky. Today this location is just facing a waterfall in the opposite mountain valley, splashing jade and falling pearls, extremely beautiful.

  "This cloud really won't disperse!"

  Su You covered her eyes with her hand and sighed. The mid-July sun was scorching, but the sea of clouds below still lingered, showing no signs of completely disappearing.

  Jing Sheng had already heard the legend of San Chong Yun, but just like Su You, he didn't pay attention to it. "I finally have a chance to talk to you alone," he said in a low voice, "don't you think there's something wrong with us after we entered the mountain?"

  "What did you want to say? Mulian and Muhuo?" Su You guessed a little. "No one said that donkey friends can't be so beautiful, right?"

  "The key is not that they are pretty!" emphasized Zhang Sheng, "I always feel that something is off."

  In fact, he also wanted to say that when he was in the village, he felt that the little boy was also very strange - obviously hiding from Su You, but there was no reason at all - but saying it out without evidence would only make people think he was being paranoid.

  "Two girls as beautiful as flowers and jade, you're just an old man, what can you do?" Su You didn't take it to heart. "To be honest, even if they were stronger than you, wouldn't that still be a gain for you?"

  Jing Sheng glared at Su You, and after a while, he let out a breath of air. "Fine, just think I'm overthinking then!"

  "I know," Su You said sympathetically, patting her best friend on the back, "you're stimulated! If I were you, I wouldn't have a good impression of a girl who thought I was a rascal at first sight either, no matter how pretty she is!"

  "Go ahead and be poor!" Zhang Sheng said with a bad tone. How could he think of warning Su You to be more careful? It's simply a waste of breath! He'd better be careful himself!

  Apart from this little episode, there was only one other thing worth mentioning at noon, which was Shi Song's culinary skills - the person Du Ying called "Song Ge". Almost everyone in Shouyang Village is a top-notch chef, and they can make even wild vegetables and river fish taste extremely delicious. Even Jiang Siqi, who didn't have much appetite, ate half a bowl more of rice, which shows how others felt.

  "It's all done, after staying on the mountain for a week, I reckon I really won't want to leave!" Su You stroked his round belly and sighed, what level of craftsmanship are these people?! "If you guys go down the mountain, any chef will have to kneel!"

  Shi Song was a simple-minded fellow, and upon hearing this, he shook his head repeatedly. "There's no mountain freshness in the city, it can't be done!"

  Su Youyi thought so too. But before he could continue asking, Jing Sheng interrupted and asked: "Do we still have half the way to go to reach the top of the mountain?"

  "Almost." Ishizuki gestured with his hand to indicate the height, "From here you can climb to a higher place than the south slope on the other side! It's very beautiful!"

  Such a person can't be asked anything, so Jing Sheng had to give up. For now, it feels wrong, but it's not abnormal either... forget it, maybe he's just overthinking!

  After lunch, the group continued to climb upwards in the afternoon. As they were full and had adapted to the environment, they climbed over a slope that was much longer than the previous day's, according to Du Ying's words, they would be able to reach the summit in another half day.

  After filling her stomach again, Su You suddenly remembered what Jing Sheng said at noon and couldn't help but turn her head to ask Du Ying, "Didn't you say there's a temple on the mountain top? The Mountain God Temple?"

  Du Ying was adding firewood to the bonfire and replied: "No, it's a person who is being offered."

  "Who is it?" Jiang Siqi asked curiously.

  Du Ying looked up and glanced at Jiang Siqi. "It's said to be the Qinxian. The legend of ascending to heaven is about him - his zither music moves heaven, three layers of clouds open," he spread his hands, "then he ascended from a cloud-made ladder and became a saint in heaven."

  "It sounds like it's got some meaning." Mu He added enthusiastically, "What's the name of this immortal? I don't think I've ever heard of him?"

  "We all call him Qin Sheng, but it's said his original surname was Ying."

  "Ying Zheng's Ying? That's a bit exaggerated, isn't it?" said Jing Sheng, who was well-informed and skeptical. "Who doesn't know that Qin State is in the northwest of Xianyang?" Even if Qin State unified the Jiangshan region in the end, running all the way to this southern place is still too implausible, right?

  "I don't know either," Du Ying said honestly, "I've just been told that since I was a kid."

  Su You didn't care about geographical knowledge, he only cared about other things. "The temple is dedicated to this qin saint, so there must be a statue? Maybe even a stone tablet with his biography?"

  Du Ying shook his head. "That temple is on a very high cliff, and it's hard to climb up, let alone repair it. I've climbed up several times when picking herbs, the carvings inside were already destroyed, only a stone piano was left."

  "Gu Zheng? The seven-stringed one?" Su You suddenly remembered something and nudged Jiang Siqi with her elbow, "You have to go take a look, maybe you can play it!"

  "Huh, you can play the piano?" Mulan was clearly more interested in this.

  "Brother, how many times have I said it? The guqin and the guzheng are not the same thing!" Jiang Siqi, who was mentioned, was quite annoyed. "And those were all things from when we were kids, can't you just forget about them already?" If his mother hadn't suddenly gotten a whim and forced him to practice an instrument back then, he wouldn't have been ridiculed until now - old men playing the piano with such sentimentality, what a sight!

  This contradictory tone was too obvious, and Du Ying also heard it. "Having many skills doesn't burden one's body," he advised, "Anyway, there's plenty of time, let's take a look tomorrow and we'll know!"

  Everyone had no objection to this, so they each went about their personal hygiene and prepared to get into their sleeping bags. The night's arrangements were the same as the previous day, so Su You, who was assigned to start the fire early in the morning, quickly fell asleep.

  But he didn't know if it was daydreaming or night dreaming, but that night he not only had a dream, but also a very timely one.

  Still the Cloud Dispelling Mountain, still the precipitous stone platform jutting out, still the sea of clouds that would never disperse. But on the platform, there was an additional person, dressed in white, sitting cross-legged.

  Su Yu in his dream was very clear that he was dreaming, and felt that if this dream continued, it would definitely not end well. However, he couldn't wake up, and could only stare at the back of that person.

  The man in white didn't turn around, he just slightly moved. The elegant sound of the guqin rose up - at first it was just a faint note, then it drifted and spread into almost visible melodies, until finally it echoed throughout the entire deep valley.

  As the music played, a magical thing happened - the trees on the mountain seemed to hear the sound and danced with fluttering leaves; the rolling clouds surged and flowed like they had their own consciousness, separating and recombining to form a long, wide staircase.

  The sound of the guqin stopped, and the man in white stood up with the guqin in his arms, walking towards the cloud ladder. Before stepping onto the last step, he turned back to look in Su You's direction, flashing a bright smile.

  "Come find me, Ziyu, I've been waiting for you."

  Su You was frightened awake. The reason was none other than that this piano god still had a face that looked exactly like Jiang Siqi's!