Chapter 8

From that day on, every one or two months, the old pavilion keeper's white-haired young man would come down the mountain, eat a free meal at the only restaurant at the foot of the mountain, and then return to the mountain with dozens of pounds of dry rations and meat. Until two years later, the old pavilion keeper, who had been waiting for three or four months, never saw the white-haired young man again.

Just as the old pavilion keeper thought the white-haired young man had died on the Yan Mountain, feeling both sighs and secret joy, Wu Mian had already appeared a thousand miles away in the Miao territory. Two months earlier, he had thoroughly mastered all the techniques recorded on the bamboo slips and decided to leave this place to find the next map. Before leaving, Wu Mian felt a bit uneasy and checked the cave again. He unexpectedly found a small porcelain bottle in the last stone cave where the bamboo slips were stored. Inside were four wax pills the size of pigeon eggs. After crushing one, a black pill was revealed inside.

Wu Mian immediately recognized it as the elixir of immortality. However, he did not understand why Xu Fu had left the elixir here. Since he had found it, there was no reason not to take it. Wu Mian searched the cave again but found nothing else of value. He then left with a few gold cakes and the elixir of immortality.

The location of the second map was in a forest in the area. Wu Mian had been wandering around for seven or eight days and still had not found the location marked on the map.

The area was often rainy, and some less-traveled paths had been covered by new shrubs, which did not match the map in Wu Mian's memory at all. The dry rations Wu Mian brought had already run out, and if he did not find the location marked on the map within a day or two, he would have to return to the nearby town to replenish his food and come back.

Thinking of this, Wu Mian became a bit restless and did not pay attention to his feet. After stepping over an exposed tree root, he suddenly felt something strange under his feet, followed by a "snap." A huge animal trap flipped up from the ground. Wu Mian, who was focused on finding the path marked on the map, was completely unprepared, and the iron teeth of the trap bit into his calf.

Although Wu Mian was now immortal, the pain from the injury did not diminish. His calf was already a bloody mess. As he endured the excruciating pain and prepared to pry open the iron trap, he heard footsteps behind him.

A thought suddenly struck Wu Mian: Could this be a trap set by bandits to rob and kill? As the footsteps grew closer, Wu Mian leaned against a tree trunk and sat on the ground, pretending to be at a loss after being injured. He secretly guarded himself to see what these people would do.

Three or four muscular men, bare-chested, ran over. The leader, a man in his forties, frowned when he saw Wu Mian's bloody calf caught in the animal trap. He immediately ran to Wu Mian, grabbed the ends of the iron trap with both hands, and forcefully pried open a gap large enough to pull out his calf.

The man first shouted a string of incomprehensible words at Wu Mian. Seeing that Wu Mian did not understand, he switched to a somewhat awkward Mandarin and said, "You, leg out."

Wu Mian shook his head and weakly said, "No feeling in the leg, can't move."

The man frowned again and shouted something Wu Mian did not understand to the others. Immediately, another man ran over and lifted Wu Mian's leg out of the animal trap.

After examining Wu Mian's wound, the leader said, "Severe injury, you, we take you to heal, better, then leave." Without waiting for Wu Mian's response, he carried him on his back. They were used to walking in the forest and took a winding path for about half an hour. They gradually heard the sound of flowing water, which grew louder as they moved forward. When they passed through a thicket, the scenery suddenly opened up, and a waterfall several dozen feet high appeared before Wu Mian.

At the bottom of the waterfall, the leader cleaned Wu Mian's wound. Wu Mian used a small illusion, making it appear to these people that his wound was not improving at all. They followed the stream upstream and, after a short walk, passed through a bamboo grove and arrived at a village.

When the men returned, the men and women of the village came out to greet them. They all looked surprised when they saw Wu Mian's wound.

After settling Wu Mian in a bamboo house, an old man in his sixties was brought in. He seemed to be the local doctor. After examining Wu Mian's wound, the old man said a long string of words Wu Mian did not understand to the leader. The leader responded and then said to Wu Mian, "Doctor says, no big deal, apply medicine, better in half a month."

While the leader was speaking, the old doctor rummaged through his bamboo basket and pulled out several herbs. He chewed them and applied the paste to Wu Mian's wound. The herbs were cool and did not cause any particular sensation.

After the old doctor left, the leader pointed to his chest and said to Wu Mian, "I, Lin Huo, you stay here, food, I bring."

Wu Mian looked at the leader and said, "You are called Lin Huo? The trap that injured me, was it set by your people?"

Although Lin Huo's Mandarin was not good, he could understand it well. He gestured as he spoke, "For wild boars, not for people, people don't use traps, just kill directly..."

Since he could not find the entrance marked on the map in the short term, Wu Mian decided to stay. The village he was in, along with several nearby villages, was inhabited by the Miao people. The Miao people's lives were simple. Besides farming, they organized the men in the village to hunt in the mountains. The captured game belonged to the entire village and was divided equally by the village elders, with a portion set aside for the gods and the rest distributed to each household.

The local Miao people were quite friendly to Wu Mian. They always included him in the distribution of game and crops. The village elders personally came to inquire about Wu Mian's background, but he only claimed to be a miner looking for minerals who had lost his way and ended up here, where he was injured by the animal trap set by Lin Huo and his men. Wu Mian, who had been trained as a fangshi since childhood, was well-versed in minerals and herbs, so there were no inconsistencies in his story.

While Wu Mian was recovering, Lin Huo almost visited him every day. Over time, the two became friends. Because he had accidentally injured Wu Mian, Lin Huo felt a sense of guilt and did not mind Wu Mian's occasional sharp and sarcastic remarks, which he did not fully understand.

Lin Huo had learned Mandarin from the Han merchants who came to the area, initially for bargaining. After spending time with Wu Mian, his Mandarin skills had significantly improved.

Wu Mian calculated his recovery time based on the principle of "a hundred days for a bone to heal." While teaching Lin Huo Mandarin, he also inquired about the location of the second map. To his surprise, not only did Lin Huo not know, but even the elderly villagers he asked had never heard of such a place.

Wu Mian was at a complete loss and could only stay in the Miao village. Since he had plenty of time, he could spend a few years exploring the area and might eventually find some clues.

Three months passed, and Wu Mian seemed to be almost fully recovered. Just as he was thinking of how to persuade Lin Huo to let him stay in the village a bit longer, Lin Huo rushed to Wu Mian's bamboo house and said, "Brother Wu, get ready. Tonight is the day when the thirteen Miao villages welcome the new Wu Zu. According to the rules, everyone in the Miao village, whether host or guest, must attend. You might even become the next Wu Zu!"

Wu Mian knew a little about the Wu Zu. It was a deity revered by the Miao people. Unlike the deities of the Central Plains religions, the Wu Zu was a living person who designated the next successor. Before the physical body died, the soul would merge with the designated successor, thus giving birth to the next Wu Zu. This was different from the soul-snatching of the Central Plains religions, as it involved the merging of two souls to create a new soul, which then continued to live in the successor's body.

Wu Mian was not interested in the ceremony, but Lin Huo was determined to take him. He even brought his nephew, a young man named Yang Xiao. Wu Mian, unable to resist, finally agreed to go with Lin Huo to see what the Wu Zu looked like.