Chapter 4: The God in the Village Temple
During the Great Yan Dynasty, commerce flourished like never before. As Jade Cloud Corridor was a major road, there were many teahouses and inns along the way, especially teahouses.
Teahouses were essential necessities along official roads.
The number of teahouses increased as one headed toward Yidu.
These teahouses not only provided a place to rest and quench one’s thirst but some even offered simple meals which were far better than the dry rations carried by travelers. The quality of tea provided had various grades; from plain salted water to a better brew with a hint of tea flavor. For those willing to pay extra, one could drink tea as brewed in the city. As for the taste, it depended on the skill and conscience of the teahouse owner.
Song You had not walked far when he spotted a crowded teahouse ahead. The steam rising from stacked bamboo trays was no small temptation for travelers in the wilderness. He walked over and sat down. Then he ordered a bowl of tea and two steamed pancakes. Only then, did he open the money pouch given to him by the merchants.
Inside lay pieces of silver, their weights unknown.
Roughly estimated, they seemed to be around ten or so taels in total.
Silver had only become a common currency in this world during the current dynasty. This was convenient for long distance travelers like Song You. Before this, the people seldom used silver for business. At present, people still mainly used the Great Yan common currency, the copper coin known as "wen." When silver was used, it was converted into the equivalent amount of copper coins in terms of value. During his previous descent from the mountain, one tael of silver was worth nearly a thousand two hundred wen.
When he left yesterday, he had nearly emptied the temple’s savings. He carried a total of nineteen taels of silver as well as a string of copper coins. His old Daoist master wouldn’t be able to descend the mountain and buy meat for some time.
All added up, it seemed like a substantial sum of money.
However, in the prosperous Great Yan, there were countless things to buy and places to spend money. Wealthy individuals and jobs abounded, and even average wages were higher. Beyond the mountain of the Daoist temple as well as the small villages and towns below, this money wouldn’t last long.
Song You hadn’t brought much with him when he left. Everything had to be procured on the journey. Once he has a lot of things, he’d likely need to purchase a horse or a mule.
He only planned to buy one upon reaching Yidu.
The tea-horse trade in Yizhou was officially controlled by the authorities and private transactions were legally banned. However, purchasing horses or mules in Yidu was a better bargain than elsewhere. A decent Southwest horse reportedly only cost around twenty thousand wen, and mules were even cheaper.
Buying a mule wouldn’t be a bad idea either…
While he was thinking, the tea arrived.
The bowl contained the finest tea the teahouse offered, a chaotic mix of all kinds of tea inside. The two steamed pancakes were each larger than a fist and their plain light yellow dough emitted steam.
Song You alternated between bites of pancake and sips of tea while observing the other patrons.
Most of the people sitting here were travelers and merchants as well as some jianghu people. They might be silent while hurrying on the road but they became chatty once they sat down.
Conversations ranged from recent tea-horse markets to the upcoming autumn provincial exams, from temple miracles to mountain paths haunted by demons. Some spoke of temple fairs, while jianghu people discussed grand events in the martial arts world. A chaotic mix like his bowl of tea, these conversations delineated a corner of the world.
Song You ate and drank slowly, listening quietly.
The tea table was glossy with wear and reflected speckles of sunlight.
This tea was thick and not a clear brew. With the two steamed pancakes added, Song You was more or less full. After finishing, he called the teahouse owner over to settle the bill.
The total came to a little over ten wen, with the tea being more expensive than the pancakes.
As Song You counted the coins, he asked the shop owner in passing, “Sir, how far is Yidu from here?”
“Nearly four hundred li, passing through four counties.”
“Four hundred li…” Song You muttered to himself.
From Song You's point of view, one li in Great Yan had always felt shorter than its equivalent in his previous life. It felt at most four hundred meters[1]. With good stamina, walking a hundred and eighty li[2] in a day wouldn’t be a problem.
He asked the owner, “Are there any inns ahead?”
“Keep heading toward Yidu, and the nearest inn is about sixty li away. If you walk fast, you’ll make it,” the owner said, taking the money from Song You’s hand. He had watched as Song You counted so he pocketed the coins without counting. “However, there are two temples along the way and both are empty. Personally, I’d say the inn isn’t necessarily more comfortable to sleep in than the temples.”
“Ah, I see.” In this era, many temples offered lodgings, especially Buddhist ones. Their functions extend beyond simple worship of the Buddha and the offering of incense.
However, when it comes to empty roadside temples...
Song You glanced at the two tables of jianghu people at the side.
Perhaps these would be their first choice?
After thanking the owner, Song You continued on his journey.
It slowly grew late. The weather remained as fine as the previous day. Under the sunshine, the Jade Cloud Corridor was unreasonably gorgeous.
In a leisurely mood, walking on it was actually a kind of enjoyment.
Song You followed a couple of porters for a while, matching their pace. With someone leading the way, he was able to save mental energy and strength while walking.
Occasionally, he followed them in seeking small brooks or mountain springs by the ancient road. Seeing them drinking water from cupped hands, he would also do so. Seeing them stop and rest, he sometimes would engage in brief conversations with them as a Daoist priest. He would ask about the length of the journey and hear about the customs and dialects of other places, all of which counted as valuable experiences.
The afternoon sunshine continued to be scorching and the cicadas were noisy. It was completely impossible to tell that there was heavy rain and great fog yesterday, with spirits even lurking within the great fog.
When Song You stopped to rest, he couldn't resist dozing off for a while.
Upon waking, that group of tanned, lean porters had vanished. Only the empty ancient stone road remained, dotted with sunlight filtering through the trees. The string of small pits in the middle of the stone slabs extended all the way into the deep end of the ancient road shaded by trees. That was the porters' path which disappeared into the distance.
Song You could only resume his solitary journey following these little pits with his belongings in tow.
He had observed something earlier…
Those porters leaned on their bamboo and wood staves and poked them precisely into these pits, as if continuing a legacy. They were not only walking on the same road as their porter predecessors from a thousand years ago, even their steps were identical.
The water dripping on stone over the past thousand years had left indelible marks on this road. Wasn’t this also a kind of legacy?
As he walked, he felt each stone slab under his feet and each ancient cypress seemed to bear witness to time. As Song You's gaze wandered, he remembered his master's words the day before yesterday.
She had said, “Do you think sitting in meditation, doing breathing exercises, reading books, and practicing here in the mountains constitutes true cultivation?”
Song You instantly knew what she meant. She wanted him to descend the mountain.
This old Daoist had once traveled across great rivers and the four seas in her youth, thus accumulating considerable cultivation skills. She had never believed that sitting still equated to cultivation. Besides, Song You was long aware that generation after generation of disciples from Hidden Dragon Temple had to descend the mountain to travel. Some journeys were long and some short but there was no exception.
As expected, he quickly heard her continue. “You should descend the mountain, explore mountains, rivers, lakes, and seas. Go witness the world's affairs and human lives. You can visit famous mountains and immortal masters, perhaps encounter demons and spirits. Experience the real world that you can’t experience on the mountain. During that thousands of li journey, you'll find both your cultivation and perhaps also something that piques your interest.”
So she knew all along.
Song You didn’t mind descending the mountain. He also wanted to go and see how many interesting things there were in this world besides monsters and spirits.
Before he had noticed, dusk approached.
Song You stopped in front of a temple by the roadside. Dusting off his traveling bag, he looked up at the couplet on both sides of the temple entrance. He couldn’t help reading them aloud quietly.
“Who hasn't walked this road?”
“I advise you not to do that!”
This village temple was a single building built by a nearby village housing all kinds of deities in great numbers, both Buddhist and Daoist. Local deities who were mostly virtuous and popular individuals from the past were also enshrined. Each deity statue bore inscriptions behind with names and sometimes lifetime deeds.
The village temple wasn't far from Jade Cloud Corridor, and travelers often spent the night here.
Song You had already decided to spend the night here too.
When he stepped inside, incense was still burning. First of all, he bowed to each deity and apologized for disturbing them. Then he found a corner far away from the entrance. He stooped over and blew away the dust on the ground. After that, he sat down cross-legged, leaning against the wall.
The floor was icy cold but gradually warmed beneath him.
Later, seven or eight people arrived one after another. As Song You guessed, they were mostly jianghu people armed with swords and knives.
They were seeking shelter here because they had no choice.
Throughout history, common people were normally not allowed to travel freely in order to restrict population flow. However, only honest common people followed these rules. Businesspeople, jianghu people and Daoist cultivators like Song You all had their own ways.
Traveling merchants had legitimate needs so they had travel passes and followed officially approved paths.
Some jianghu people had travel passes, while others did not though they all had their own ways. However, it was not easy for them to stay in inns along the way, so they had to think of solutions themselves.
Fortunately, there were many temples in Great Yan. Most of them could offer shelter, regardless of whether they were empty or not. One just had to avoid those unauthorized and nefarious temples. Of course, there were bold and skilled jianghu martial artists who dared to spend a night even in dilapidated temples haunted by ghosts.
This temple was besides the official road so it was naturally legitimate.
When these jianghu people meet, they will greet one another and quickly start chatting regardless of whether they know or have heard of one another. Perhaps it was because they were all disliked by the authorities, or perhaps because they really value social relationships. Even those with quiet personalities will immediately offer a proper greeting when someone greets them. They feared the slightest neglect would tarnish their reputations.
These people were noisy and continued chatting late into the night.
Some came over to disturb Song You, but after realizing that Song You was not one of them, they stopped caring about him.
Actually, Song You felt no fear.
Although these jianghu people might seem fierce, they were actually quite particular about their conduct. In this world, even if mountain bandits encounter monks and Daoists, most won’t cause them any trouble.
Moreover, if Song You passed by a tea shop during the day and really had no money, he was very likely to be successful in asking for a cup of coarse tea just based on the way he was dressed. These jianghu people particularly valued their reputations and face. If he encountered them and said a few nice words, they would likely give him a steamed pancake to eat if asked.
After such disturbances until midnight, Song You finally fell asleep.
Nights in the mountains were extremely quiet. There was only the sound of the wind blowing at the door panels and the snoring of nearby jianghu travelers from other places.
Unwittingly, Song You fell into a dream.
In the dream, he was still in this temple with roughly the same deity statues and layout. However, there were no jianghu people sprawled out besides him. Upon closer inspection, one statue on the altar was missing. It was one representing a local deity from the periphery.
Instead, there was an additional person in front.
This person was dressed like a merchant, but in garish colors. He had an honest face as red as a jujube. His figure seemed clear but also blurry. His appearance and dress was somewhat similar to the missing statue.
Before going to sleep, Song You had carefully examined these deity statues, especially those local deities. He knew that this one, named “Virtuous Duke Wang”, was considered a local netherworld deity.
Virtuous Duke Wang had originally been a person from the previous dynasty who was born into a wealthy family. During a nationwide famine, when starving people were everywhere, he opened up his storehouse to distribute food widely to the refugees. Ultimately, perhaps due to misjudging the severity of the famine, his own food supplies ran out, and he died of starvation. Later, the local people, grateful for his benevolence, erected statues and temples in his honor. After the imperial court became aware of his deeds, he was officially recognized, and now he became a legitimate deity.
Before Song You could think more, Virtuous Duke Wang bowed to him.
“Apologies for disturbing you, greetings.”
“Greetings, Virtuous Duke. Why did you come to me late at night?”
1. 400 li in ancient China is 200 kilometers. ☜
2. 180 li would be 90km. Did a search of whether humans can walk 90km in a day and the first website that pops up said it would take 18+ hours so this checks out. ☜
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