Chapter 6

However, Chu Huan could tell that the cat was not fond of him and was even a bit afraid of him

Chu Huan planned to disembark at the first county seat, and after getting off, he would casually find a place to settle himself down before contacting someone to pick him up. He intended to disguise himself as someone who, despite having gone through a fierce battle, still appeared to be composed and unruffled.

The driver turned his head awkwardly, no longer daring to ask, and silently drove the car out.

His previous audacity in frightening the young men during the day was instantly obliterated, and he cautiously asked, "How is it that you have taken an interest in us here?"

It was not until dusk fell that the long-distance bus finally arrived at its destination

Chu Huan simply did not know how to explain this matter to others in the future—did he fall down, or did he jump down by himself

Blood loss left him feeling cold all over, and in a state of inexplicable melancholy, Chu Huan fell asleep in the back seat of the bus, which was drafty and leaking air.

After a while, he whispered to the driver, "Master, isn't it quite inconvenient for the people living in the mountains to come out?"

He knew that he was already at the end of his rope and it was unwise to continue entangling himself with this brother from a minority ethnic group. Thus, he forced out a somewhat awkward smile, pointed at the cardboard, then pointed at himself, and shook his head with his hand—You have mistaken me for someone else

Driver: "Oh dear, in a county town, one does not know how many townships there are below, and under each township, one does not know how many villages there are. It's just like sheep dung, everywhere. Generally, there are no vehicles to take from the village to the county town, so one has to drive a donkey cart or climb the mountain. If one does not climb well and slips, bang, one could fall to their death!"

Chu Huan did not know how long he had been lying in place before he regained some strength. He sorrowfully hung on to his ankle joint and hastily tended to his wound

Still no answer

He looked up and saw a building near the station with the words "Guesthouse" hanging on it, which could be considered one of the higher-end establishments in the area. The three characters were adorned with a somewhat retro neon light, most of which was broken, leaving only the two characters "Zhao Si" visible from a distance, as if it were a place for incense offerings

The young man turned pale upon hearing the brutal onomatopoeia "gā bēng".

Another person, however, was quite young and stood a little farther away. Due to Chu Huan's somewhat unclear vision, he could not see the person's features clearly; he only noticed that the young man had long hair that resembled a black banner, gently swaying in the wind, evoking a sense of daze in those who looked at him

He secured his leg with a wooden board, dragged his punctured shoulder, and took a puff from a cigarette to invigorate himself. Following the scattered sheep droppings that amusingly contrasted with the illustrations, he trekked several kilometers along the mountain path and finally found a place with people.

The driver scratched his head and said, "Ah, I can't remember what it's called, but it's a tourist attraction. Many city folks go there in droves, and there are quite a lot of people."

The driver, indeed, is accustomed to driving on mountain roads, and he speaks without restraint: "Not to mention walking, just consider the journey from here to the nearby county town. If it rains a little, who would dare to go? If a rock falls from the mountain and hits us, bang, we would all die together. Or if there’s a patch of mud left somewhere, the road is slippery and no one is there to clear it. If we’re not careful and the front of the car goes off the cliff, bang, we would all die together again..."

Chu Huan rolled down from the cliff, sustaining numerous bruises and dislocations in the process, including a dislocated ankle.

Chu Huan has come to terms with it; for him now, any county town is the same, just passing through is enough

Amidst the sharp pain, his will to survive and mental state finally wavered back to a normal level

He compared and contrasted, believing that either of the two statements was quite embarrassing. This matter truly represented a significant and dark chapter in his life. Chu Huan decided to take this secret to the grave, and therefore did not rush to contact Lao Wang and the others

However, this person's expression was quite tense, and their gaze was not very friendly, resembling that of a small-time robber who has changed professions.

This brother from a minority ethnic group has excellent night vision; in such a pitch-dark place, he was able to accurately discern that the subtle stain on Chu Huan's dark outer garment was a large patch of blood. He immediately whispered something to his companion behind him

The driver said in a casual manner: "We are not going to the countryside, we are going to the county town. The county town, of course, is quite good. There is a mountain over there, have you heard of it? It has a cave..."

"You must have slept so deeply that your limbs have gone numb," the experienced driver observed his appearance and thought he looked quite decent, rather refined, not resembling a bad person at all. Thus, he felt relieved and began to shout while checking the luggage rack, "Hey, where is your luggage? Is it below? Or has someone accidentally taken it away from here?"

This passenger is Chu Huan, who unfortunately suffered from a mental lapse while hanging from a tree. Somehow, he lost his grip and thus took the first step towards becoming an unparalleled master in a martial arts novel—gloriously falling off a cliff

The driver hesitated greatly before starting the car, still attempting to engage in conversation with the person in the back seat: "Are you visiting relatives, young man?"

The driver tentatively patted his shoulder: "Young man? Young man, you've reached your stop... You're sleeping quite soundly."

In the moment of losing control on the cliff, Chu Huan finally had to admit that he might indeed have encountered some issues

The driver got out of the car for a moment, then returned and shouted in a thick accent to the two people inside the vehicle: "Hey, those who want to get off can do so here. We're about to enter the mountains, and it will take over seven hours to reach the next stop. If you miss your stop, there will be no place for you to get off."

The passenger in the last row struggled to sit up straight, laboriously unfastened his seatbelt, and moved slightly. He looked around, and his gaze suddenly became somewhat bewildered, wearing an expression of not knowing what time it was, as if he had just woken from a deep sleep

It may be that the osmanthus flowers have bloomed he said

His wound cracked during the jolting, and in a daze, he slept until the terminal station deep in the mountains, without knowing how many stops he had passed.

The experienced driver keenly detected a smell of blood emanating from him, and this time his expression truly changed, even causing him to stutter: "M-Master, w-what is that fragrance?"

My cat died, and before it passed away, it acknowledged me once. Chu Huan suddenly had this thought while on the bumpy bus.

Chu Huan fabricated a few nonsensical tales about encountering an unexpected accident, successfully gaining the trust and sympathy of the local farmers. He stayed overnight, cleaned himself up from the dirt and grime, and took out a small, simple first aid kit he carried with him to treat his wounds one by one. After making some minor adjustments, he inquired about the transportation options from the locals and took a fellow villager's ox cart, traveling through several villages for about ten miles, before finally boarding a bus heading to the nearest county.

In his three years of retirement, Chu Huan lived as if he were serving a prison sentence, having virtually no private friends. His only contacts were Lao Wang, Chu Aiguo, and a caregiver. With no living beings around for ten days or half a month, he would go ten days or half a month without speaking—perhaps the cat he lived with could barely be considered a companion.

Unfortunately, there was not a single reclusive master with the surname Gongyang waiting at the foot of the mountain to pass on his lifelong skills to him; instead, a group of real goats, frightened, bleated and galloped away, one of which callously trampled on his wound with its iron hooves

He spoke two words that were almost out of tune, and only after clearing his throat properly did he continue.

For a moment, the passenger took off the glasses from the bridge of his nose, lowered his head to wipe them with the corner of his clothing, and his gaze finally became clear. The hand he used to support himself on the backrest of the front seat revealed sinewy bones, as if he had exhausted all his strength just to stand up, while simultaneously trying to suppress his breathing as much as possible, not allowing his breath to appear too heavy

He is like a person who is slow to react; several days have passed, and he has only just begun to recall what happened to the small body he buried.

Driver: "... ..."

Unfortunately, it still does not work; after all, he has never seen anyone keep pets in a manner more distinct than that of his roommate.

The driver chuckled to himself: "This pretty boy from the city runs even faster than a rabbit—hey, I’m talking to you, young man in the back. You must be heading to that county town in the ditch, right? If you don’t get off, we’re leaving!"

In the haze, it seemed that something had nudged him, and in his final glimpse, Chu Huan caught sight of a long strand of hair

The driver should have known that the other party was joking, but after the passenger finished speaking, he turned his head and smiled at him. The driver saw that the young man's face was pale and haggard, his cheeks gaunt, and the reflection from his glasses made him look like a ghost. When he smiled slowly, it instantly became eerie, sending shivers down the driver's spine, and he almost believed the other party's ghostly words

"You’re awake, we’ve arrived at the station." The experienced driver shouted in his ear, "Hurry up and get off the car, or we’ll starve to death."

The experienced driver, weary like an old bus, drove the vehicle into the parking lot and parked it steadily. Only then did he muster the courage to walk to the last row to call upon the peculiar passenger who remained motionless.

Uncertain of which remote area he hails from, his Mandarin is at a level akin to that of an extraterrestrial—upon speaking at length, Chu Huan only understood the initial glare.

He got off the vehicle feeling light-headed and unsteady on his feet. The mountain breeze in the early autumn night made him shiver. Looking around, he saw that this so-called "bus station" was merely a larger open space, with a signpost that was already illegible, and a few other tour buses parked nearby

The man who called out to him was around 40 years old, holding a hard cardboard sign in his hand. His eyes were large like a cow's, and his hair was tangled like weeds, braided into a long plait that hung down to his chest. If one were to overlook his face, which was as hairy as Li Kui's, just his appearance reminded Chu Huan of a line from a song— "There is a girl in the village named Xiao Fang, beautiful and kind, with a pair of lovely big eyes, and a braid that is thick and long"

The passenger turned sideways and brushed past the experienced driver, speaking in a low and ethereal tone: "The mountains are clear and the waters are beautiful... Hmm, it has a bit of fragrance"

Suddenly, Chu Huan heard someone calling out to him.

Suddenly, "Xiao Fang Xiong" remembered something, handed the cardboard in his hand to Chu Huan, and with a face like he was collecting a debt, glared at him, tapping the letters on the card with his knuckles

It is said that there is a moderately sized scenic spot nearby, but the development progress is poor and transportation is inconvenient, requiring a transfer within this county. As a result, this small and remote county, despite its poverty, surprisingly attracts some tourists, creating a unique atmosphere of its own

He was wearing a dark trench coat, the collar raised high, almost obscuring his entire face, making it difficult to discern his features. He had a tall and slender build, with one hand exposed, adorned with a platinum ring on his middle finger. His fingers were long, yet very pale. Whether describing his appearance or his attire, he did not resemble a person from the mountains

The passenger turned around, and the driver was terrified that he might say something like "I haven't eaten such delicious human flesh in five hundred years," which frightened him to the core.

In the night, a distant and faint fragrance of osmanthus wafts through the air

The bus in motion passed through several county towns and small villages, and the passengers, in a flurry, gradually disembarked.

Fortunately, like all aspiring heroes in the world, he was tough-skinned and resilient, able to withstand blows, and did not die

The passenger merely glanced at him, smiled gently, slightly lowered their head, and tucked their chin into the collar of their windbreaker

Chu Huan blinked his tired eyes with effort, feeling as if he recognized the characters, but the characters did not recognize him

Both individuals are standing at the edge of the platform, presumably waiting to pick someone up. However, it is already quite late, and the station has become less crowded. Just a moment ago, only one train arrived, and the sole passenger on that train was Chu Huan himself

The passenger fell silent for a moment and then said in a very weak voice: "To be honest, I have cultivated for a full two hundred and fifty years, and I came out specifically to undergo tribulation. If I do not become an immortal, I will become a ghost, so I did not bring any luggage"

After regaining his ability to move, Chu Huan's first action was to slap himself—what a joke, not keeping his word.

The passenger spoke in a hushed voice: "I didn't bring... cough, the luggage."

At that moment, Chu Huan suddenly stumbled, and he could no longer hold on, falling headlong to the ground

The driver was indeed eloquent; in just a few short sentences, he had brought the young man back to life three times over. Finally, the young man was driven to the brink by this barrage of words, picked up his large suitcase, and fled the vehicle in a panic.

Despite the fact that the seasoned driver is a smooth operator who has been driving long distances for years, he cannot help but feel a sense of unease when he encounters a lone young man or a group of young men hitching a ride, especially on a long journey with no other passengers present

At this moment, his vision was somewhat blurred. Upon hearing a sound, he turned his head and saw two tall men standing next to the bus stop.

Chu Huan pressed his dry lips together and walked towards the guesthouse, feeling an urgent need for a large cup of lightly salted water

By the time they passed the last small town, only two passengers remained in the vehicle: a bespectacled young man who appeared quite studious, and a man who had boarded the vehicle and remained motionless, sleeping in the last row.

The man initially showed no reaction, and after being shoved several times, his hand, which was hanging at his side, twitched as if in a spasm.

The two stood staring at each other, caught in an awkward situation of being unable to communicate

Chu Huan did not understand what was so terrifying about himself. Although he did not have the habit of sitting with the cat to share insights about life, he had never abused it either. He fed it the same food that its previous owner had provided. When it first arrived, it was very anxious in the unfamiliar environment and spent a period of time running around the house, breaking things in the process. Chu Huan simply cleaned up silently and never scolded it—he thought of it as an old cat, and since it was of an advanced age, he felt it was necessary to give it some dignity.

"Xiao Fang's brother" was the first to approach him. This person was robust and sturdy, with a face as broad as a basin, making him an ideal figure for home protection.

The meaning of that glare is approximately: "Damn it, how could you make me wait for so long? Why didn't you die on the way?"

A young man sat at the door, gripping a dusty, large suitcase with both hands. He appeared somewhat uneasy, as if he wanted to get off the vehicle but was also hesitant. His anxious demeanor resembled someone standing at the crossroads of his own life.

The man in the last row remained silent, as if he were already in a deep sleep

The young man shook his head absentmindedly

There were several sections of poor road conditions in the middle, extremely bumpy, causing the passenger to be thrown up and hit his head against the window, and then he was pulled back into his seat by the seatbelt. He merely let out a low groan, but the noise during the drive was too loud for the driver to hear.

The winding mountain road journey lasted for several hours, from dawn until dusk, and the passengers in the last row neither got up nor requested to disembark for a restroom break

The young man asked hesitantly, "What about the village?"

Xiaofang was taken aback. Seeing that he ignored her and walked ahead, she was just about to raise her hand to tap his shoulder when her gaze suddenly froze.

The experienced driver exclaimed in surprise, "Why didn't you bring anything? How could you run such a long distance all by yourself without any luggage?"