Mo Sang – CH 186

Chapter 186. Mountain Gate

Li Sangrou, accompanied by Hei Ma, Datou, and Mazha, each with a donkey, followed Grand Master Wu and Blind Mi out of Nanzhao City, along the great river, heading into the mountains.

Around noon, the group entered a village.

Li Sangrou surveyed her surroundings.

A clear, rushing mountain stream flowed through the middle of the village. The stream was wide, spanned by two arched bridges—one stone arch and the other a wooden covered bridge.

The houses on both sides of the stream were neatly arranged, spaced apart, and some were surrounded by fences. Clean, tidy flagstone paths led between the houses, and flowers and trees flourished around them. Compared to a real village, this place was far more orderly and cleaner.

The village was surrounded by mountains on three sides, with a cliff on one side. Stone steps on the other two sides led to houses and courtyards built into the mountainside. The highest house and courtyard were shrouded in white clouds.

“This is truly a paradise,” Li Sangrou exclaimed after carefully looking around.

“You flatter me, Boss,” Grand Master Wu replied with a smile, leading his donkey through the stone gate separating the village from the outside world, and calling out, “Mingshan, is there any food left?”

“The Grand Master is back!

No, we just ate; we are all done. Our Uncle said you would not be back for dinner.”

A boy of about twelve or thirteen came out of the house, greeted Grand Master Wu and Blind Mi, and curiously looked at Li Sangrou and the others.

“We missed mealtime. Come on, I will make some noodles for you.” Grand Master Wu handed the donkey to Mingshan and gestured to Li Sangrou.

“Give them all to me.” Mingshan reached out, took the reins, and led the five donkeys to the nearby livestock shed.

Li Sangrou followed behind Grand Master Wu, looking at Blind Mi and asking, “How’s your senior brother’s cooking?”

“Edible,” Blind Mi replied with a word.

Li Sangrou raised an eyebrow slightly.

“Heh heh. He can eat!”

“A blind person is not picky.”

Grand Master Wu, who was in front, pretended not to hear.

Li Sangrou followed Grand Master Wu into the kitchen.

The kitchen was a five-room combined space with large windows covered with fine cotton paper, making the room very bright.

Along the east wall, there was a row of four or five large stoves. Against the north wall was a cutting board, next to which was a large basin for washing vegetables. There was a drain leading outside. Next to the sink was a well platform about two feet high, with a windlass on top.

Along the west wall were two long tables, with long benches on either side.

Grand Master Wu washed his hands, then, while kneading dough in a basin, instructed Blind Mi, “Go find Senior Brother Cao and ask him to catch a chicken. We have guests today, so this is a special case.”

Blind Mi went out to kill the chicken. Grand Master Wu, still kneading the dough, explained to Li Sangrou, “Our sect is austere. Except for the children, everyone else eats meat on the fifth day of the month.”

Li Sangrou said, “Oh,” and seeing a sealed charcoal stove nearby, she poked it to boil water.

She was a little thirsty.

With the two hosts, Grand Master Wu holding the dough and Blind Mi killing the chicken, she had to boil water and make her own drink. If there were tea leaves, she would have some; otherwise, she would drink plain water.

“The tea leaves are in the basket at the far west end,” Grand Master Wu pointed out. “We grow our own tea; last year’s tea was very good.”

Li Sangrou took the tea leaves and found the teapot and cups, and the water on the charcoal stove was boiling. She made tea, took a cup, and stood at the kitchen doorway.

Blind Mi, carrying a bloodied little rooster, came running over, and Li Sangrou quickly stepped aside to let him pass.

Hei Ma, Datou, and Mazha each had a cup of tea. Li Sangrou stood to the right of the kitchen door, while the three of them stood huddled to the left, drinking their tea and craning their necks to look at the river.

“This water is really nice!” Mazha praised, looking at the clear, transparent mountain stream.

“If Chuantiao were here, he’d definitely want to jump into the river,” Datou added.

“It’s so cold, why would you jump? Are you crazy?” Hei Ma glared at Datou.

“I wonder if there are any fish in the river. If there are, their meat must be sweet and delicious!” Mazha continued.

“The water is too clear; there might not be any,” Datou said, standing on tiptoe.

“Where there’s water, there are fish. Why do we not go take a look? Boss?” Hei Ma had just called out when Li Sangrou waved her hand, indicating that they could go if they wanted.

“Blind Man, can you catch fish in this river?” Li Sangrou called out.

“Yes, the fish in the river are very cunning and not easy to catch.” Blind Mi picked up the copper kettle, poured the boiling water into a basin, and skillfully scalded a small rooster that weighed no more than half a jin.

“Then let’s catch a few!” The three men, including Hei Ma, squeezed into the house, put down their cups, and rushed towards the mountain stream.

Li Sangrou finished a cup of tea, returned to the house, poured another cup, and sat down next to Blind Mi, drinking her tea and watching him prepare the skinny chicken.

“Children eat meat every day? How old is considered a child? Back in your sect, was it the same? You only got meat on the fifth day of the month?” Li Sangrou asked casually.

“Once you are sixteen, you are no longer a child. It’s not every day, but on odd-numbered days, we get meat, alternating between large and small meat dishes. It’s always been like this.” Blind Mi quickly plucked the chicken’s feathers.

“What counts as a large meat dish, and what counts as a small meat dish?” Li Sangrou continued to ask. “A big meat dish gets you meat, a small meat dish gets you the taste of meat.” Blind Mi’s comment was as concise and sarcastic as ever.

“No wonder you ran away.” Li Sangrou glanced at Grand Master Wu, who was vigorously kneading dough.

“I did not lack meat back then. There were plenty of wild animals in the mountains behind.”

“You? You can catch wild animals? A slightly fat pheasant could knock you unconscious.

Your Senior Sister Lin caught it for you, right?” Li Sangrou asked with a smile.

“Yeah,” Blind Mi grunted without looking up.

“Where does your Senior Sister Lin live? Is this the front or back of the mountain?” Li Sangrou asked, sipping her tea.

“This is the front mountain. The back is just over there.” Blind Mi plucked the chicken feathers and took a large pair of scissors to cut it open from the back.

“Where do you live?” Li Sangrou continued.

“Next door.” Blind Mi was not in a good mood.

Ever since he heard that Li Sangrou was coming to Nanzhao County, his mood had not been good.

“Are all the children on the front mountain? Are they all eating together?” Li Sangrou turned to look at the kitchen again.

These two long tables could not seat many people. Judging from the number of houses around, if they were all inhabited, this room would not be big enough.

“Yes, whoever wants to eat, write their name on the board outside an hour before mealtime, and the person on duty will cook for them.” Without looking up, Blind Mi peeled the chicken gizzard, washed it, and placed it on the windowsill to dry.

“If you do not eat here, where do you eat? Are there any other places to eat?”

“No, if we do not come here, we cook for ourselves.”

“That’s good. Who usually cooks here? The Grand Master?” Li Sangrou glanced at Grand Master Wu, who was vigorously rolling out dough.

“We take turns.” Blind Mi washed the chicken, carried it to the cutting board, and chopped it with a knife.

“Cooking by yourselves? What about the vegetables? Buy them yourselves? Where can you buy them? Do you have to go to the city?” Li Sangrou thought carefully.

There seemed to be a vegetable garden next to the village; she could hear chickens clucking and ducks.

“Ask Senior Brother Cao for it, or you can buy it from the city, but you have to cook for yourself and follow the rule of only eating meat on the fifth day of the month.” Blind Mi chopped the chicken pieces neatly, but the pieces varied considerably in size.

“You also eat meat on the fifth day? I did not notice that. Whenever we have meat, you’ve always eaten your fill.” Li Sangrou frowned, actually thinking about it. He seemed to eat meat every day.

“I’ve never followed it in the mountains.” Blind Mi glanced sideways at Li Sangrou.

“You were expelled from the sect a long time ago, were you not? According to the Great Master, this is called being sent back to the world.” Li Sangrou smiled.

“Being sent back to the world is not being expelled from the sect.” Grand Master Wu rolled out the dough vigorously, replying without looking up.

“The sect rules do not forbid hunting, as long as you follow the rules. Anything the sect rules do not forbid is permissible.” Blind Mi finished chopping the chicken, put it in a large bowl, and picked up the cutting board to wash it.

“Boss! Boss! Look at these fish in the river! So fat!

These fish are really stupid; they must have come from the back mountain.” Hei Ma, carrying three or four foot-long, thin-scaled fish, rushed up to Li Sangrou, beaming as he held them up.

Blind Mi had long since mastered the art of ignoring Hei Ma, and Grand Master Wu also seemed oblivious, rolling out the dough, folding it neatly, and starting to cut noodles.

Blind Mi scooped water into a large pot, then dumped the bowl of chicken in with a clatter, grabbed a handful of salt, sprinkled it into the pot, and squatted down to heat it.

Li Sangrou was watching Blind Mi cook for the first time, her eyes wide with astonishment. Then she looked at Grand Master Wu, who had finished cutting the noodles, sighed deeply, and looked like he was waiting for the water to boil. She sighed.

So, he was going to boil chicken and make plain noodles?

Oh well, she’d better cook it herself.

“Give us half the noodles, more than half; there are many of us.”

Datou, turn the fire down a bit. Hei Ma, give me the fish. Mazha, fetch a bucket of water.” Li Sangrou took a fish, quickly scaled it, and gutted it.

Hei Ma also took a knife and started cleaning the other fish.

“Hei Ma, take an extra handful of noodles; I will eat with you,” Blind Mi said, then looked at Grand Master Wu. “Senior Brother, you eat by yourself.”

Li Sangrou finished washing a fish, while Datou had already heated the pan.

Li Sangrou poured oil into the pan, held the fish by the tail, and slid it into the pan. She fried one side until golden brown, then flipped it over to fry the other side.

After frying the fish, she took it out and handed it to Mazha. “Skin the fish meat.”

Hei Ma washed the fish, took a pair of chopsticks, and together with Mazha, skinned the fish.

Li Sangrou was frying the fish. From a small box half-filled with sand, she took a handful of scallions, peeled, washed, and chopped them, then added them to the pan to infuse the scallion flavor, along with water.

Next, she took a handful of green garlic, peeled it, and chopped it.

Once the water boiled, Li Sangrou tossed noodles into the pot. After the noodles had cooked for a while, she added the fish and sprinkled the green garlic on top before turning off the heat.

Hei Ma rummaged through all the bottles and jars in the kitchen, found half a jar of pickled cabbage, took half a head with chopsticks, chopped it finely, and put it in a large bowl.

Li Sangrou sprinkled the remaining chopped green garlic on the pickled cabbage and drizzled a layer of sesame oil over it.

The four of them, plus Blind Mi, each ate a large bowl of fish and noodles with the pickled cabbage, enjoying it immensely.

Grand Master Wu had added too much water, so he had to scoop some out and cook a bowl of noodles—a large bowl of plain noodles with more chicken than noodles. He then took a large mouthful of pickled cabbage and ate it with great relish.

After dinner, Blind Mi cleared the dishes and squatted by the well, washing the pot and bowls.

Hei Ma, Datou, and Mazha squatted in a circle around Blind Mi, staring wide-eyed at him as he washed the pot.

They had known Uncle Blind for over ten years and had never seen him wash anything, including himself. Uncle Blind would pool his money and go to Perfume Alley to have someone wash him.

This was truly an eye-opener!

“Uncle Blind’s clothes are clean now,” Mazha said, looking at Blind Mi’s hands as he washed the dishes, then at his sleeves, then his clothes, lifting the hem to examine them, clicking his tongue in admiration.

“Wow, he does not smell anymore,” Hei Ma said, sniffing the clothes.

“Uncle Blind is so pitiful,” Datou said with sympathy.

Blind Mi seemed not to hear them.

Li Sangrou brewed a new cup of tea and handed it to Grand Master Wu.

“I will have Junior Brother Mi show you around in a bit. There are places to stay on the front and back of the mountain; the Boss can stay wherever she likes,” Grand Master Wu said in a gentle tone.

“Thank you,” Li Sangrou said with a smile.

Grand Master Wu did not speak. The two sat facing each other, drank two or three cups of tea, and then Grand Master Wu stood up. “I have some things to attend to. Boss, please feel free to do as you please.”

“Alright,” Li Sangrou stood up, watching Grand Master Wu leave the kitchen before sitting down again.

“Where to first?” Blind Mi poured water, turning the bowl upright to drain.

“Let’s go see your Senior Sister Lin first,” Li Sangrou said with a smile.

“Perfect timing; I brought a gift for Sister Lin.” Hei Ma quickly picked up the large bag of pastries he had carried all the way.

“She’s not in charge of the Xia Division,” Blind Mi said to Li Sangrou as he walked out, ignoring Hei Ma.

“Is your sect leader planning to have the village head and all those other officials try to persuade me?” Li Sangrou asked, walking alongside Blind Mi.

“You came all this way hoping to persuade those officials, did you not?” Blind Mi glanced at Li Sangrou.

“Not at all. I am not that confident or arrogant. I could not even persuade you, let alone your senior brothers.

I came here just to take a look; that’s all.

After all, this is a sect that has existed for nearly a thousand years.” Li Sangrou walked, looking around.

Blind Mi hummed in agreement.

He ignored the first part of her statement, but the second part was her true feeling; she genuinely loved observing this and that.

Back in Jiangdu City, she had spent two or three days loitering in the house of Wu Huaiguo’s mother, risking great danger, just to see how a noblewoman like Wu Huaiguo’s mother lived.

“Originally, the mountain gate was in Qingzhou. It moved several times, finally settling here over two hundred years ago.

At first, it settled in the back mountain, which was very secluded. Later, the front mountain was added,” Blind Mi explained dryly.

“Both the Gezhi and Xia Divisions are in the back mountain?” Li Sangrou looked up at the houses shrouded in mist on the cliff.

“Yes, there’s only one front mountain. The back mountain is where the Gezhi and Xia Divisions are located. The Gezhi Division has the most people, followed by the front mountain, and the Xia Division has the fewest.” Blind Mi kept his head down and continued walking.

“Your Senior Sister Lin is very skilled in martial arts?” Li Sangrou followed Blind Mi onto the covered bridge.

“Yes, she’s an instructor in the Xia Division.” Blind Mi paused before continuing, “Xia Division also needs to go down the mountain for training.

Her first time down the mountain was in Nanzhao City, where she stood up for the wronged party.

Her master summoned her back and had her stay on the front mountain for six months.

Then she went down the mountain again, this time to Nanyang City, where her luggage and horse were stolen. She returned with great difficulty and refused to go down the mountain again for training.

She has a talent for martial arts and is extremely skilled, but she’s afraid to kill. When she was little, when we went hunting in the back mountains, she would knock out pheasants and roe deer, and I would kill them. Even when I was killing them, she would not dare watch.”

Li Sangrou let out a loud “Uh.”

So this fierce-looking Sister Lin was actually a useless great heroine!