Chapter 675
Stealing the Sword
Looking at the radical on the paper, Madam Lu asked, "Is it enough to just write one radical?"
“This radical is my nickname, Old Ears,” Old Ears chuckled. “I still have some influence in Mirror City. Back when the Mirror City Governor was just a lowly tax collector, I got to know him. Give him this piece of paper, and no one in Mirror City will be able to make things difficult for you. Don’t worry, from now on, your Lanterns will be a distinguished guest in Mirror City Port.”
Lu remained calm: "The reputation that allows me to roam freely in Jingcheng Port is probably not as simple as the old man makes it out to be."
Old Ears waved his hand impatiently: "None of your business."
Madam Lu said solemnly, "Thank you."
At this time, before the Anlan ship had even docked, angry shouts such as "west Ba!", "Xiang Niang Yi!", and "Gai Sai Ge Ya!" could be heard from afar.
Chen Ji turned his head and saw a man on the port kicking over a fisherman's fish basket with a stick, talking incoherently.
Old Ears glanced in the direction of his gaze and sneered, "Korean tax collectors, they only care about money, not people."
The old man offered a word of advice: "Don't meddle in other people's business when you're on their turf."
Madam Lu nodded: "I understand."
The large ship slowly approached the dock, and the noise from the shore was a mixture of Korean, Japanese, and some other incomprehensible language.
Several dilapidated sampans weaved between boats of all sizes, with women on board carrying earthenware pots on their heads and hawking steaming hot rice sausages at the top of their lungs.
There were seventeen or eighteen ships moored at the dock, including a two-masted ship from the Ning Dynasty, a Japanese red-seal ship, and a Western ship with a high-raised bow and triangular sail. Several red-haired foreigners with high noses and deep-set eyes were standing on the deck, shouting as they unloaded cargo onto the shore.
The liveliest spot on the dock was the thatched hut on the embankment, where interpreters squatted, each with a wooden sign in front of them displaying their fluency in several languages.
Anlan slowly approached the pier. The boatmen threw down the mooring ropes, which were caught by several shirtless laborers on the dock, who then put them onto the stone pier.
As soon as it came to a stop, five or six people rushed up. The one in the lead was a middle-aged man wearing a floral satin robe with a protruding belly, followed by two porters.
He stood on the pier, bowing towards the ship, and spoke in fluent Mandarin: "May I ask who the owner is? I am Zhou Demao, and I have been a broker here for thirty-seven years, specializing in connecting ship owners from Ningchao with their clients. I am honest and fair to all, young and old..."
Just then, Old Ears poked his head out of the boat and sneered, "Skin-Peeling Mao, get out of here! You've tried to cheat me? Keep an eye on this crescent flag. If I find out you cheated this ship, I'll lock you in the water dungeon for another three years."
Zhou Demao was about to get angry, but upon closer inspection, he saw it was Old Ears and was immediately shocked: "Commander? What are you doing on the ship?"
Lu Shi and Chen Ji both looked at the old man, the Commander of Jingcheng Port.
Chen Ji hesitated and asked, "How did you become the Commander of Mirror City Port again?"
The old man slowly said, "I've traveled all over the country and want to try everything. I met the Great Lord of Shouyang before, and he owed me a favor, so he let me serve as the governor of Jingcheng Port for a few years. Speaking of which, the fact that Jingcheng Port is what it is today is all thanks to me."
The dark cloud meowed, "Fierce!"
Chen Ji asked again with doubt, "Can a Han Chinese also serve as a military governor in Goryeo?"
Old Ear glanced at him disdainfully: "Ignorant fool. Jang Jeong-pil, a man from the Gyeong Dynasty, was originally the Minister of Personnel in the Gyeong Dynasty. After being falsely accused, he fled to Goryeo and assisted the King of Goryeo in unifying the peninsula. He was appointed Grand Chancellor, second only to the King. Shuang Ji, a man from the Ning Dynasty, came to Goryeo with the envoys. He stayed due to illness and even established the civil service examination system in Goryeo. Jeong In-gyeong, a man from the Ning Dynasty, was given the title 'Great Rectifier of the Three Hans on the Wall, and a Meritorious Minister Who Established the State and Secured the Nation.'"
"Wait a minute," Chen Ji raised an eyebrow, "What is this thing?"
Old Ears explained, "Just think of him as a first-rank Grand General Protector of the Nation and Prime Minister of the Cabinet. See, following this old man will broaden your horizons, won't it?"
Suddenly, Madam Lu asked, "Then why did you give up the position of military governor?"
Old Ear casually remarked, "It's boring. It's all the same old, trivial matters all day long. I can't waste my whole life on this."
At this moment, he looked down at Zhou Demao on the pier: "Are you only doing brokerage business now...?"
Before he could finish speaking, Zhou Demao had already knelt on the pier: "I have reformed and now I do only legitimate business."
Old Ears gave a forced smile: "You know perfectly well what kind of business you're in. Go and inform the Great Lord of Shouyang that there's a boatload of cow horns and tendons here."
Zhou Demao's expression changed, and he got up and left.
Old Ears then looked at Madam Lu: "You all go into the city to find the military governor. This old man wants to stroll around the docks. It's been many years since I've been here. I want to see what changes have occurred."
Lu clasped his hands in thanks to the old man and said, "Thank you, senior."
She and Old Li took the paper and headed straight into the city to find the governor. Chen Ji watched her figure walk further and further away, and Old Ears said from the side, "Alright, the person has been sent away. This old man will take you to the Heartless Sword Path."
Chen Ji hummed in agreement. He took one last look at Lu Shi's back, beckoned Wu Yun to jump onto his shoulder, and followed Old Ears northward.
Before leaving, Old Ears retrieved a chair and a rope from the boat.
……
……
To the north of Jingcheng Port are layers upon layers of mountains. The snow begins to melt in May and snows again in July. The mountaintops are covered with bare, gray-white rocks and short, gnarled pines.
Old Ears stopped after taking only a few steps and handed the chair and rope to Chen Ji. Chen Ji was taken aback: "What are you doing?"
Old Ears sneered, "You were the one who said you'd carry this old man up the mountain. Are you going back on your word? You want to go to the Heartless Sword Path, not this old man. If you don't carry me..." Before he could finish speaking, Chen Ji had already squatted down, tied a few knots to the chair with a rope, and then carried the chair on his back: "Please sit down."
Old Ears grinned broadly: "That's more like it."
Chen Ji carried a chair on his back, and sat on it with his legs crossed, facing down the mountain. He then took out a handful of peanuts from his sleeve: "Go north, first cross Maoshan, then pass through Sanchiyuan, and then you will reach the gate of Wuji Mountain."
Chen Ji walked steadily on the mountain path. In the time it takes to eat a meal, the pebbles turned into jagged rocks, and the gentle slope became a steep cliff: "Why put the mountain gate in such a remote mountain?"
Chen Ji climbed up the protruding rocks, while Old Ears, sitting in his chair, was also busy, occasionally brushing away the branches that were scratching his face, muttering to himself: "What do you know? Hide the mountain gate deeper. If the enemy comes to attack, they'll be exhausted just climbing the mountain. The people inside can then wait in comfort and take their lives."
Chen Ji suddenly asked, "Besides being the God of Whispers and the Commander of Mirror City Port, what other identities do you hold?"
Old Ears chuckled: "Even I forgot. I only remember when I run into someone I know."
Chen Ji asked, puzzled, "What are you after?"
Old Ears leaned back in his chair, looking at the white clouds in the sky through the gaps in the pine branches: "Young man, what you did when you were young was hoarding hazelnuts. You had to keep carrying them into the tree hole like a squirrel. When you get old and can't walk anymore, when you're no longer full of vigor, when all your teeth have fallen out, when you can't eat anything, you can only live on the hazelnuts in the tree hole."
Old Ears chuckled and said, “When you sickly pick up a hazelnut from the tree hole and pop it into your mouth, you’ll taste it and exclaim, ‘Oh my, I was so awesome back then! This is delicious! One hazelnut will take you back to when you were eighteen. I’ve heard that the Queen Mother of the West’s Kunlun Mirror can see into the past. This old man’s hazelnut is no less useful than her Kunlun Mirror.”
Chen Ji seemed to be deep in thought.
Old Ears chuckled and said, "Kid, there aren't that many 'whys' in life. If you're going to die, die early. Be the first among all your friends to die, and they'll all remember you. If you're the second, it won't be so surprising. If you're going to live, you have to live to the end, outlive all your enemies before you die... Anyway, do whatever makes you happy."
Chen Ji smiled and said, "I understand."
He carried Old Ears on his back, traversing mountains and valleys. Old Ears sat in a chair, chatting idly, while Dark Clouds lay dozing off above his head.
The air in the mountains is getting cooler and cooler, and the rhododendrons are gradually disappearing. In their place are patches of alpine moss, which feels soft and spongy underfoot, like stepping on a thick felt.
Occasionally, an eagle would swoop overhead, its shadow gliding across the hillside and disappearing into the clouds in the blink of an eye.
Chen Ji suddenly asked, "Don't the people of the Heartless Sword Path patrol the mountains?"
Old Ear chewed on peanuts and mumbled, "They patrol. But they patrol the main roads, while we patrol the unpaved paths I trod back in the day. Don't worry, they don't know this path."
We arrived at Maoshan in the evening and didn't reach Samjiyeon until midnight. Old Ears, like a guide, said, "Legend has it that in ancient times, three fairies bathed in the lake of Samjiyeon. Later, they married King Taejo of Goryeo and gave birth to King Goryeo II. Of course, this is a story made up by the Goryeo people themselves and has nothing to do with us."
When we arrived, the mountain was covered in snow, and we could only walk on the tracks, sometimes sinking deep into the snow and sometimes sinking into the water.
Further ahead, Chen Ji could see a stone staircase leading to the mountain peak in the distance, with a stone tablet standing halfway up the mountain. He squinted but could not make out the words on the stone tablet.
The dark cloud had excellent eyesight and meowed, "Trespassers will be killed."
Upon reaching this point, Old Ears suddenly perked up and jumped off Chen Ji's back: "Throw away the chair and come with me."
He crouched low, trudging through the snow as he headed east, winding his way up a hidden mountain path, as if afraid of revealing his presence. Chen Ji tensed up, crouching low as he followed behind him: "Why do I feel like you know this place very well?"
Old Ears said, "I have a grudge against the Caoxi Sect. I've thought about going up the mountain to cause trouble before, but I've become familiar with it after coming here so many times."
Chen Ji looked suspicious, but being a newcomer, he couldn't pinpoint the source of his doubt.
Old Ears led him along, stopping frequently, until they finally came to a cave. He lowered his voice and said, "Wait here."
Chen Ji asked in confusion, "What are we waiting for? Aren't we almost at the top of the mountain?"
Old Ears said impatiently, "Of course you have to be aware of what you're doing when you steal. How can you just go up like that?"
Chen Ji and he hid at the edge of the cave until the sky gradually turned gray. Fog rose from the mountains, thick fog that seemed to come from nowhere, like a thick quilt, covering the entire valley completely.
Old Ears suddenly opened his eyes, which shone brightly in the darkness: "Now! Let's go!"
Now his back and legs no longer ached, and he rushed up the mountain like a monkey.
Chen Ji, unaware of what was going on, rushed upwards. He could barely see Old Ears in the thick fog, and could only tell where Old Ears was by the sound.
The two reached the mountaintop in just the time it takes for an incense stick to burn. As Chen Ji was rushing forward, he suddenly parted the thick fog and saw Old Ears standing in front of him. Before he could stop, Old Ears gave him a push as he passed by, with a meaningful smile on his face.
Only then did Chen Ji see clearly that Old Ears was standing on the edge of a cliff. He was pushed off the cliff and fell downwards!
Old Ears stood with his hands behind his back on the edge of the cliff and said meaningfully, "Go, there are still five swords at the bottom of this lake that no one can take. Steal them all."
Chen Ji struggled to throw the dark cloud back onto the cliff, then fell heavily into the thick fog.
A few breaths later, he plunged into a dark lake with a splash and sank to the bottom.
The thud sounded particularly abrupt in the silent night, followed by a low shout from further away: "Who dares to trespass on the gates of my Martial Temple!"
Hearing the sound, the old man quickly gathered up the dark clouds on the ground and hid in the thick fog: "Run!" (End of Chapter)