Chapter 16

The Kunlun Mountains stretch for thousands of miles and are known as the ancestor of all mountains. At the far western end, there are two peaks standing side by side: one is called Xianyun, and the other is called Tiandu. The Xiandu Sect is located here, hence its name.

On the 19th of July that year, Qi Yunhe returned to the foot of Tiandu Peak with five trial disciples. It had been exactly eleven days since he set out from Hu Yang Ferry.

As dusk deepened, Xianyun and Tiandu Peaks loomed like towering giants, supporting the wobbling starry sky. The mountain wind moaned, and the cold pierced to the bone. The surroundings were desolate and empty, with only five pale stone rooms leaning against the steep cliff, silent and still.

Qi Yunhe pointed to the first stone room on the east and said, "That one is the kitchen. Rice, flour, and vegetables are delivered monthly. You can start a fire and cook in front of the stove, and stack firewood behind it. There's a water tank in the corner behind the door. Take as much firewood and water as you need. If you want meat, there's plenty of game in the mountains, but you must remember one thing: do not step into Xianyun Peak."

"The remaining four stone rooms are arranged in the order of Yang, Ming, Cang, and Ying. The one next to the kitchen is Yang, which has been empty for several years, so you can ignore it. Ming and Cang are occupied by disciples from the other two lineages, who will arrive in a few days. Our lineage always stays in Ying, the westernmost room. Settle in first, and once all the trial disciples are here, I'll welcome you all together."

Song Ji thought to himself, "It's neither in the order of Heaven, Earth, Mystery, and Yellow, nor in the order of Yuan, Heng, Li, and Zheng. What is the origin of Yang, Ming, Cang, and Ying?" He nudged Song Qi and whispered, "Brother, why Yang, Ming, Cang, and Ying?" Song Qi, who had entered school at the same time and read the same books, thought for a moment and also shook his head.

Qi Yunhe looked at each of his disciples and instructed, "You've all been through a lot on this journey. Go rest now. Zhi Lan and Shi Qi, you are the oldest, so take care of the others. If anything happens, deal with it first, and wait for me to come and handle it."

The two agreed, and Qi Yunhe, satisfied, waved his hand. With a flick of his sleeve, he headed toward Xianyun Peak.

As they watched his figure disappear into the vast night, everyone felt a sense of abandonment. Yue Zhi Lan took on the role of the eldest brother, calling the younger disciples to rest in the stone rooms.

Pushing open the heavy wooden door, the stone room was pitch black. Wei Shiqi found some dry branches, tied them into a torch, and lit it with a flint. The torch revealed that the stone room was divided into two sections. The outer room had a rough wooden table and chairs, and a wooden ladder leaned against the wall. The inner room was a hollowed-out cave, with straw spread on the ground and a few neatly folded blankets in the corner.

Yue Zhi Lan muttered, "It's a dormitory." He glanced at Qin Zhen, feeling a bit uneasy. Although the youngest sister was young, she couldn't be made to share a room with the boys.

Wei Shiqi, holding the torch, walked to the deepest part of the cave and looked up. He saw a dark opening in the ceiling, large enough for a person to pass through. He moved the wooden ladder to the opening, climbed up with the torch, and found another smaller cave, also with straw and blankets.

He called out, "Qin Zhen, come up here."

Qin Zhen, being short, struggled to climb the ladder and walked to Wei Shiqi's side. She looked around and asked, "Is this where people sleep too?"

"Yes. Will you be afraid sleeping up here alone?"

Qin Zhen shook her head. Wei Shiqi said, "Good. We'll all be below. If anything happens, just call out."

He climbed down the ladder, watching the light on the stone wall gradually fade. Qin Zhen suddenly felt a bit worried. She knelt beside the ladder, cautiously peering down, and saw Wei Shiqi holding the torch looking up at her. She felt a bit shy and quickly retreated, lying down with her clothes on.

Yue Zhi Lan looked around and frowned. "This place doesn't even have a window, it's completely airtight. The torch makes it stuffy, so let's go to sleep early."

He piled more straw inside and let the Song brothers sleep first. Wei Shiqi extinguished the torch, and the two of them lay down on either side, looking at the dim moonlight through the door crack, neither of them speaking.

The night passed without incident.

The next morning, Wei Shiqi woke Yue Zhi Lan. The two of them quietly left the Ying stone room, stretched their limbs in the morning light, and went to the kitchen to check the supplies. The kitchen was also divided into two sections. The outer room had a clay stove with two burners, each with a large and small iron pot. Behind the door was a seven-stone water tank, with a bucket beside it. The inner room had a wooden rack for bowls, chopsticks, and pots, but unlike what Qi Yunhe had said, the tank was empty, there was no firewood behind the stove, and the rack had no rice, flour, or vegetables.

The two discussed and decided that Yue Zhi Lan would gather firewood and water, while Wei Shiqi would go hunting.

At the top of Tiandu Peak, there was a bitter spring that never dried up. The spring water flowed down the mountain, forming a clear, crescent-shaped pond at the foot, called the Crescent Moon Pond. The surrounding forest was lush, making it a good place to gather firewood and water.

Yue Zhi Lan made several trips, filling half the tank with water and gathering two bundles of firewood. He washed the iron pots and returned to the stone room to wake the younger disciples. Wei Shiqi, carrying a bow and arrows, returned to the kitchen with two mountain chickens and a wild rabbit. He took a clay pot from the rack, scooped some water from the tank, cleaned and prepared the game, and tore it into pieces, throwing it into the pot to cook a large pot of soup. The aroma was rich and mouth-watering.

They had been trekking through the Kunlun Mountains for eleven days, eating dry rations and roasted meat, and were already tired of it. This pot of mountain chicken and wild rabbit soup, seasoned only with coarse salt, had an incredibly long-lasting flavor.