Chapter 6

In the morning mist that gently spread over the valley, the peak of Immortal Top was also thinly veiled as if draped in a light gauze.

For some reason, Master didn’t call him today. Xiao Yi didn’t pay much attention to it, drew his sword, and ran outside the courtyard, performing the eight forms of the Profound Yuan Sword Technique. Still feeling unsatisfied, he wanted to try the last five forms of the sword technique. However, these five forms lacked any footwork, making them impossible to execute. He could only memorize the intricate diagrams of these five forms in his mind, and with a reluctant heart, he gave up.

After practicing the sword, Xiao Yi went to the kitchen, splashed his face with clear water, and ran into his small room, rehanging the sword on the wall. He moved the large chest beside his bed. Under the chest was a small hole about a foot square that Xiao Yi had dug, containing a few books and a small bundle.

All the valuable possessions of the master and apprentice were stored here. Since Xiao Yi turned thirteen, Master had entrusted these items to him for safekeeping. However, they couldn’t carry these things around all the time for fear of losing them, so Xiao Yi had the idea to dig this small hole. Even if someone came to the mountain, no one would notice that there was a hidden secret under the shabby and simple small house. For this, Xiao Yi felt secretly pleased for a long time.

Xiao Yi took about twenty taels of silver and put it in his pocket, then covered the hole with the wooden chest. He patted the dust off his hands and returned to the courtyard. Seeing that Master still showed no sign of movement, he ran down the mountain.

From the peak of Immortal Top to the foot of the mountain, there was a path about three miles long. Xiao Yi, with his nimble legs, quickly reached the foot of the mountain, turned through the already tilted mountain gate, and headed straight to the back of the mountain.

The trees in the back of the mountain were tall and dense, with huge canopies that blocked out the sky, tightly enveloping the valley. Following the small path, it was a different world. At the entrance to the valley, there were two small paths: the left one led to the depths of the valley through the foot of Immortal Top, and the right one led to a small hill not far from Immortal Top, where Old Lu lived.

Old Lu was now over fifty years old. His ancestors were also disciples of Profound Yuan Temple. After the temple gradually declined, Old Lu’s ancestors couldn’t bear to abandon the mountain gate and decided to live here. Since then, Old Lu’s ancestors, up to Old Lu himself, became hunters of Peaceful Mountain. He had a son who was unwilling to die in the mountains like his ancestors. After Old Lu’s wife passed away, his son went to the outside world to become a blacksmith, leaving Old Lu to live alone.

Old Lu often took care of Xiao Yi and his master by hunting and preserving wild game. When the master and apprentice left the mountain, Old Lu would go up to check on things. The two of them got along very well with Old Lu.

Although Old Lu lived a carefree life in the mountains, his life was also quite poor. Therefore, when the master and apprentice had some silver, it was only right to help and support Old Lu.

Taking two steps as one, Xiao Yi ran up the hill and approached a wooden house.

The wooden house was built next to several towering trees, with the morning mist still lingering nearby. At this time of year, the area under the trees was cool, and occasionally, the tree canopies would sway, allowing the morning light to penetrate the gaps and scatter onto the wooden house and the open ground in the forest, creating a dappled pattern.

It was a quiet and secluded place.

“Uncle Lu! Uncle Lu, are you there?”

Xiao Yi shouted at the top of his lungs, then rubbed his nose and smiled mischievously, looking around.

“It’s Xiao Yi!”

With a slightly hoarse voice, a somewhat aged man walked out of the small house. He had short, mixed black and gray beard, a chestnut-red face full of wrinkles, was not tall, and had a slightly hunched back, but his shoulders were broad. He held an axe in his large, veined hands and smiled at Xiao Yi.

“What are you doing, Uncle Lu? My master sent me to check on you!” Xiao Yi also smiled, but his eyes were curiously fixed on Old Lu’s axe, which had a clear streak of blood on it.

“Is the Daoist well? I haven’t seen the old Daoist for some time!”

Old Lu laughed and waved his axe, then said, “Ha, you’re in for a treat today! Uncle I caught a wild mountain goat this morning. I’ll send half of it to your master. Xiao Yi, come in and take a look!”

Xiao Yi followed Old Lu into the wooden house, which was a bit dark inside. By the back door, a headless wild mountain goat was placed on a piece of green stone. When Xiao Yi arrived, Old Lu was just about to skin the goat.

Xiao Yi didn’t like the bloody scene, so he looked around the house. He saw a small crossbow hanging on the wall, took it down, and started to play with it.

Old Lu continued to skin and debone the goat. Seeing the crossbow in Xiao Yi’s hand, he smiled and said, “This crossbow was made by my brother using the sinew from the deer I hunted. He gave it to me a few days ago. But I’m old and my eyesight isn’t good. If you like it, I’ll give it to you.”

Xiao Yi held the crossbow, feeling a bit reluctant to let it go, showing his childish nature. Hearing Old Lu’s words, he happily replied, “Ha! Thank you, Uncle Lu! And thank you, Uncle Brother!”

He then happily examined the small crossbow again. The crossbow was made of hard red wood and was very small and exquisite. Xiao Yi noticed a steel ring at the front of the crossbow, tried the sinew, and found it very resilient. He stepped on the ring and pulled the bowstring with his arm, easily attaching it. Old Lu, seeing this, said, “There are a few arrows in the leather bag on the wooden stool. You can try shooting them.”

Xiao Yi couldn’t wait any longer, picked up the equally exquisite leather bag, saw ten arrows inside, and quickly hung it around his neck. He then remembered something, placed the silver he had in his pocket on the stool, and said to Old Lu, “Uncle Lu, I’m going for a walk. The silver on the stool is from my master.”

Saying this, he ran out.

Old Lu, hearing this, saw a small pile of silver and quickly stood up, saying, “This won’t do!”

His son, working as a blacksmith outside for a year, could only earn a few taels of silver. For a poor family, twenty taels of silver was a significant amount of wealth. Knowing the situation of Daoist Qingyun and his apprentice, Old Lu couldn’t accept such a large sum of money.

“No problem! My master has made some money, so you can take it, Uncle Lu! Just drink more wine with my master.”

Xiao Yi didn’t look back as he ran down the hill.

Old Lu shouted, “Don’t hurt yourself! Remember to come back for the mountain goat meat!”

Xiao Yi couldn’t hear him, and in a blink, he was already far away.

Old Lu helplessly smiled and shook his head, watching Xiao Yi’s retreating figure.

Xiao Yi ran to the fork in the road.

Looking at the path leading to the depths of the valley, he thought, the valley was uninhabited and full of birds and beasts, making it a good place to practice with the crossbow.

Xiao Yi took an arrow from the leather bag and placed it in the arrow slot. The steel arrowhead gleamed with a silver light, extremely sharp. He chuckled, “Uncle Lu is really nice! I wonder how powerful this crossbow is.”

He raised the crossbow and aimed at a tree trunk about forty to fifty steps away in the depths of the valley, pulling the trigger. He heard a “pong” as the bowstring snapped, and the arrow shot out with a “whoosh,” embedding itself deeply into the tree trunk with a “ding.”

Ha! It shot so far! Xiao Yi jumped and ran to the tree trunk, seeing that the arrowhead had penetrated the wood. He marveled at the power of the crossbow but was a bit disappointed with his aim. He pulled out the arrowhead and walked into the valley, which he rarely ventured into.