Old Fogey Goes Down The Mountain

Wei Xi raised his eyebrows and sized up the offering he was presented with.

The corpse's appearance was very strange with tattered clothing all over. The outer garment was missing half a sleeve and the lower pants were missing half a trouser leg, clearly reaching here with much difficulty, dressed in nothing but rags. The exposed scarred arm and leg were both white and tender, as if having enjoyed high position and lived in comfort throughout the years.

A fresh soul was weakly hugging his leg and sitting on the head of his body that could not be more dead. He heard the external movement, yet his reaction was extremely slow, sluggishly lifting his head up after a long time.

Wei Xi saw his appearance, suddenly dumbfounded, even believing that he was looking into a mirror.

He couldn’t help taking two steps, turning over the corpse, carefully taking a look, just finding out that this body was really eight-nine parts similar to himself. But, missing that 1 or 2 parts, there was already a world of difference. Although this corpse was similarly handsome like himself, nevertheless it looks weak and feeble, without any opinions usually, and easily influenced and shaken by the outside world. His brows were shallow, his mother should have died early and his relationship with his father was incompatible. The cheek bone symbolising marriage was ill-fated, even if a suitable partner were to be found, the other will be unfaithful in relationship. The forehead was shrouded in black air, both a person prone to small mistakes and walking into misfortune, added to liking to evade the opposite sex, this was clearly a sign of hanging oneself.

Wei Xi raised his head to look at the sky-high mountain wall in front of him. This person should have committed sucide by jumping off the cliff above, accidentally falling into the boundary, but the ghost messengers never came to this place to look for souls. He died here, doomed to be unable to reincarnate. This unlucky ghost’s bad luck really went all the way home, in the end, even becoming his, the mountain king’s, provision.

The fresh-out-of-oven unlucky ghost, who still didn’t understand his situation, was scared by Wei Xi’s movements into falling from his own corpse’s head to between his two legs, burying his head into the crotch of his pants, curling up into a ball, shivering like a soon to be executed little rooster. Wei Xi picked him up and shook him. This little ghost had rich yin qi, but looked different from those pitch-black from head to toe trapped ghosts Wei Xi had eaten before. The entire body was crystal clear, a sign that he had never done evil.

Wei Dedao would also not allow him to eat this type.

Wei Xi stared blankly, suddenly completely without appetite.

He sneered, throwing the little ghost who had already been shaken into a sieve chaff away. In order to avoid his willpower from being shaken, he simply made a decision to release the soul from suffering on the spot.

While reciting the rebirth incantation, he thought that it seems that his head was deficient from hunger to be doing this arduous but fruitless thing. The little ghost that escaped misfortune seems to realise that the other was helping him, the weak shadow kneeled on the ground and kowtow several times. Before disappearing, he actually fumbled out something from his corpse, respectfully presenting it to Wei Xi.

After Wei Xi released the little ghost, he picked up the thing for a look and discovered that it was a flat bag made of cowhide. The bag had no cover, folded in half from the middle, with many grooves inside. Inserted in the grooves were many hard, rectangular sheets whose uses are unknown. The innermost groove was filled with piles of colourful paper, on which were lifelike patterns.

Wei Xi pulled a red one out, on which was drawn with an old man he had never seen before.

Not drawing beauties but drawing old men on the paper, what an awful mess is this? He wrinkled his brows and put this pile of useless things aside.

The fearful weasel who was unable to offer a treasure shrink by the corpse. Wei Xi shot a glance at the corpse, this thing is also what Wei Dedao did not allow him to eat!

Why is that dead old man so damn meddlesome!

“Dig a hole and bury him!” Wei Xi irritably opened his mouth, and upon completing his instructions, he then added earnestly, “If you dare to sneakily eat, I’ll eat you.”

The weasel ran away till its figure appeared to be a blur.

Wei Xi sat down by the mountain wall that regained its peace, the distinct sensation of hunger almost swallowing him. However, he did not feel like moving, merely staring blankly at the sea of clouds in the distance.

A worriless freedom lingered by the feet, he was so tired that he only wanted to sleep eternally for a period.

***

Half-awake and half-asleep, Wei Xi felt something fall into his mouth.

He just happened to be hungry, so he conveniently chewed. Immediately stopping his movements, he inclined his head and spit it out.

Pei, pei, pei, spitting out a bunch of dirt.

Wei Xi: “............?”

He angrily sat up, wanting to take a look at who was so audacious, only to discover that he was unexpectedly lying inside a dirt hole.

The dirt hole was very shallow, the digging and filling were both done not very carefully. He subconsciously went to pry open the meagre dirt covering his body, gaze suddenly condensing to a stop.

Black trousers missing half a trouser leg, a pair of fair, clean and thin legs that bent upwards, that hand that was lightly pushing the dirt, and the exposed arm that was not covered with a sleeve.

A threatening noise suddenly sounded and he turned around to look. A weasel stood upright by the dirt hole, the cunning eyes that were both shocked and coveting stared at him.

This time, Wei Xi was truly silent.

The weasel vigilantly stared at that corpse that suddenly came to life, sat up and began to stare blankly, inattentive of the surroundings.

Wild animals did not have many rules and ethics. Although the boss instructed that he couldn’t eat, as luck will have it, the easy to find, dainty and lovely prey, merely looking, won’t that be a pity? It originally wanted to first pretend to bury the corpse for several days before sneakily eating it, not expecting that the duck that was cooked thoroughly would inexplicably come alive again.

The weasel narrowed its eyes, its small and narrow pupils filled with ferociousness. It drew back two steps, suddenly pouncing forward.

A live duck could fly, anyways, the boss was not nearby, how can a trifling mortal be its match. It would be better to handle it first……

???????????

Being quickly and ruthlessly clutched by the neck and lifted up, the whole weasel was very much bewildered.

The next second, a familiar fist and the sound of a sneer came one after another—

“Dare to feign compliance to my instructions. Little beast, sick of living ba?”

***

Wei Xi threw the weasel who was beaten into a trance under the tree and after getting revenge, his mood turned better.

For no reason at all, he had entered an unfortunate mortal body. He was not really happy, but he was unable to get out and sitting like this is of no use.

He slowly stood up, staring at his leg muscles which appeared constantly with slight changes with his movements, his mood complicated and hard to distinguish. Speaking of strange, this mortal body had been dead for so long, yet no signs of rot can be seen. After he woke up in the body, the original wounds on the body had disappeared completely. He could walk, sit and lie down as usual, and can feel hunger and unwell the same as before. Only the dizziness he had never felt before let him confirm that he had truly possessed a body.

Wei Xi returned to the thatched shed. All the wild animals had already left, and the offerings on the ground and the braised pork in the pot were left untouched.

The little yard was completely emptied and Wei Dedao slept serenely, no longer calling out “disciple” unexpectedly like he used to, then making an uproar begging for food.

He would never wake up again.

The huge emptiness made it hard for Wei Xi to digest, what should he be doing in the upcoming days?

His line of sight suddenly came to a stop, pausing at Wei Dedao’s chest. There lay the jade pendant he had put on the other in the morning. Merely only not seeing it for a while, it seemed as if it had sustained heavy losses, the condensed white surface like fat already becoming dim and lustreless.

Wei Xi looked at it for a while, then bowed his head and picked it up, and pushed the pile of soil by the hole inside, until Wei Dedao’s annoying face was covered.

Then he said: “I’m leaving.”

***

A human shadow quickly passed through the mountain forest.

He ran extremely vigorously with a light bearing. In the forest centre, the knotted roots of trees, the mud and the dead branches that had been accumulated for who knows how many years was like nonexistent under his foot. He carried a huge bamboo basket on his back, the sleeves and the lower hem of Taoist robe on his body dancing in the wind.

Sure enough, that boundary had no effect on the human body.

Nevertheless, the dense forest was filled with formations. Wei Xi’s journey could not be said to be easy.

What’s more, he was still carrying a mended basket of baggage, such as the silver Wei Dedao had saved for many years.

He smoothly caught a bold, poisonous snake that tried to attack him and bite off its head directly, stuffing it in his mouth. While pleasantly eating, he stopped and looked around the path, straightening out the robe that was blown disorderly by the mountain breeze.

The clothing of this original body really makes one confused. The material was obviously first-class, smooth and supple to the touch.Yet, contrary to expectations, it was short of its weight, made so that the chest and legs were bare. Wei Xi doesn’t reject dressing like that, afterall, in the mountain, there was a time when he didn’t wear anything at all for convenience. However, there will be human presence after leaving and he could not draw people’s attention. Therefore, he still changed back into his own clothes.

Another strange thing was, after leaving the boundary, the further out he went, the less mountain prey there were. Several days later, except for a few pheasants and hares, and the snake from before, any slightly bigger provisions, he similarly could not meet.

Not mentioning jackals, wolves, tigers and panthers, how can there be no wild boars?

Wei Xi raised his head to look into the distance. Past the top will be a mountain peak. The mist winded around there and its position was taller than the mountain peak he lived in. After finishing eating the poisonous snake, he decided to sleep there in the open tonight and in passing, grab something to fill the stomach.

He climbed the tree trunk and sprung up, having climbed half-way when his ears suddenly heard a little obscure movement, like the sound of a heavy object stepping on the ground.

Food!

Wei Xi suddenly picked up his speed, thinking that this was more like it. Wei Dedao said before, this mountain is steep and desolate, difficult for mortals to climb, so it was very difficult to find villages in this area within dozens of miles. Those years, the old fogey was blind in the eyes and had to endure hardship for almost 2 months before finding a safe shelter. This kind of place, how can there not be vicious beasts?

Sure enough, as the footsteps came closer, the sounds became clearer. Those steps, both regular and heavy, came one after another. Wei Xi had never seen any wild beasts that had such big movements before and could not help but guess about the size of the other in his heart, this must have the weight of a mountain ba?

The mountain king who was used to tearing the throat by the hand finally put up his guard and pulled out the kitchen knife tied to his belt.

It’s right in front, it’s right in front.

He gripped the last rock, deliberating the pattern of the steps, and then sprung to his feet at the right moment—

Like piercing through an intangible protective screen, the huge bustle of the world poured in within a split second.

“Move over a little, move over a little. Help take a picture of me by Yingzui peak!”

“What are you squeezing for? Sick ah? Don’t you see that there’s a cliff below?

“F*ck your mother! How do you talk as a person!”

“Now, the place we are at is Fengyang's famous mountain, Yingsui Peak. Everyone, look here, doesn’t the shape of this steep cliff look exactly like that of an eagle's mouth? However, beauty is beauty, the mountain range at the bottom of this steep cliff is an area that has not been developed, extremely dangerous. Many specialised personnel do not dare easily enter. Everybody must not leave the group and explore without authorization! So, back to our story. On Yingzui Peak, the most famous thing is, without a doubt, Fengyang mountain’s religious temple. Later, after everyone finishes burning incense, you may come to me to buy protective amulets together……”

Wei Xi: “???”

His two feet were standing on solid ground, dazed, one hand still touching the handle of the kitchen knife, yet his mind had already lost the idea of taking out his weapon because he finally saw the prey with steps as loud as thunder—

A few steps over, out of the crowd, two scantily clad young men each held the handle of a wooden mallet, struggling to beat the stone pestle in front of them. On one side, a similarly scantily dressed woman, discovering Wei Xi’s gaze, smiled and opened her mouth: “Young person, do you want cake? Ten yuan per bowl.”

Just as her voice fell to the ground, she noticed Wei Xi’s different style of dressing and the corner of her eye suddenly twitched.

Almost at the same time, the other tourists traveling during the Golden Week also discovered this strange person who came from who knows where, immediately triggering a wave of onlookers.

“You all look at that child, isn’t it hot wearing so much during this hot weather?”

“What do you understand, this is cosplay, young people have good bodies.”

“Dressing up as a Taoist priest on Fengyang mountain? Smashing the place ba? And also, aren’t his clothes a little too original? Dirty, worn and patchy, what, still dressed up as a poor Taoist priest?”

“Aiyo, when you say that like that, the face is also grey!”

Jijizhazha, blah, blah, blah. In an instant, Wei Xi turned into the brightest star in the night sky, attracting the attention of a multitude of people.

↵

- Sound of spitting ↵

- Something that was already at hand ↵

- Something/someone that you want and have already gotten might be gone if you are not careful ↵

- 阳奉阴违: to overtly agree but covertly oppose; to comply in public but oppose in private ↵

- Eagle mouth. It sounds weird in English so I left it in pinyin. ↵

- 打糕, something like this:

↵

- Originally in English ↵

- 叽叽喳喳: Sound of people talking rapidly and indistinctly ↵

Leafy: Hello! Sorry, the chapter took so long to come out. I got a little lazy in the middle, hehe. I'll try to get the next chapter out within week this time. Jiayou, me! ٩(˃̶͈̀௰˂̶͈́)و Meanwhile, I hope you all enjoy the chapter~ Feel free to leave comments and likes! Don't be shy, ah. All comments are appreciated! ~\(≧▽≦)/~