Chapter 43: How Can Daoist Classics Compare to This?
“Mister, you're leaving already? Isn't this too hasty? Did I not treat you well enough?”
“Mr. Liu, what are you saying? Over these past two days, you've treated me with great hospitality. I've been eating and living well. Yesterday in particular, your warmth as well as the villagers' simplicity and honesty, were things I've rarely seen in my life. Honestly, I'd love to stay a few more days.” Song You sincerely told Old Official Liu, “However, I have to go to Long Commandery to deliver a family letter on behalf of an old man. I've already stayed for two days, and it's really inappropriate to stay longer.”
To prevent any misunderstanding, Song You showed him the letter sealed in a bamboo tube.
“Even so...” Old Official Liu couldn't help but sigh, tapping his cane on the ground. However, delivering a letter was an important task involving a matter of trust, so he couldn't insist on making him stay. Instead, he just instructed someone to fetch silver money and dry rations.
“You've driven away the vicious tiger in our village, saving us a lot of assets. Even without your help, I would have had to spend money to hire someone from the county to do it. It’s only right and proper to offer you some remuneration.” Mr. Liu said, standing up with the help of his cane and offering a plate of silver money to Song You, “Giving just some dry rations wouldn't be proper, so I prepared some silver money for you to cover your travel expenses.”
Song You looked down and saw a plate of loose silver pieces, possibly totaling twenty to thirty taels.
In this era, most people would never see so much silver at once, and hiring someone from the county to drive away a tiger would cost nowhere near this much. This amount included a substantial premium for a “master.”
But Song You couldn't possibly accept this money.
Not only did he have an invaluable epiphany yesterday, but the good food and warm reception over the past two days were more than enough to repay the favor of driving away the tiger.
Such is the way of the world. One side does it casually, and the other responds with generosity. No more is needed. Even if they parted now, neither side would feel any guilt in their hearts.
Thus, he took only the dry rations, refusing the silver.
Mr. Liu was helpless, but he felt even more impressed by this young Daoist priest, recognizing that he was unlike jianghu people who had some unusual abilities or folk masters. Therefore, he leaned on his cane and personally escorted Song You out the door.
“Mister, if you follow the main road to the right, it will take about half a day to reach the county if you have good stamina. The county is called Nianping County. If you need to rest or seek assistance in the city, feel free to go to the county yamen and look for Official Registrar Liu Hong, also known as Liu Yangsheng, my second son. If you prefer not to go there, you can take the water route to Long Commandery, which is easier than the land route. Just prepare enough rations and fodder, the boat would be able to carry horses as well.”
“Water route?”
“The water route is smoother and more comfortable. Though you may have descended the mountain to travel, you might not know that Xuzhou is full of mountains and rivers. The journey to Long Commandery is picturesque, and going downstream is quite comfortable.”
“What's the name of the river?”
“Liujiang River, it flows all the way to Long Commandery.”
“Picturesque scenery...”
“Absolutely! Others may not know, but I'm telling you, the water route is the best way to go to Long Commandery!”
“How do I take the water route?” Song You gradually became interested.
In this era when it came to long journeys, if there was a water route, it was certainly a better option than traveling by land. He initially intended to experience the local scenery and customs more intimately, so he hadn't sought out the water route. However, hearing the old official's recommendation now, he considered taking the water route to Long Commandery.
The old official then explained the details.
How to find the route, where the ferry crossing was, how to board a boat, the approximate costs, and how to avoid being cheated…all explained in great detail.
“Farewell, Mr. Liu!”
“Take care, Mister.” The old man shouted as he stood at the doorway, leaning on his cane.
However, the Daoist, the cat, and the horse had already gradually walked far away.
***
After half a day’s journey, they reached Nianping County.
Another place in his heart was illuminated.
Song You had heard a saying that for most people, the world or the realm, was just a concept. A concept that was possibly very inaccurate. Even if they've seen maps or pictures, or heard detailed descriptions of a place, it was still dull, flat, and unreal. Only when you visited a place and truly arrived there, did it become substantial, illuminated and turned into a three-dimensional, real place in your mind.
The more places you illuminated, the more complete the world in your heart became.
This was also Song You's first long journey.
The landscape here was beautiful, the waterfalls picturesque, the rice-flour noodles delicious, and the temperature warmer than Yidu and Lingquan County, where his Daoist temple was located.
After eating the rice noodles, Song You passed through Nianping County, no longer following the original main road. Following Old Official Liu's directions, he walked about twenty li, then took a left path towards the Nianping ferry crossing. When he reached the top of a gentle hillside, the view below suddenly opened up.
Below lay a shallow river bay and a stone beach with an ancient ferry crossing. A few small boats floated on the river. Larger boats were pulled by ropes with countless short, dark barge haulers on the other end who leaned forward with all their might, looking like shadows cast by the west-slanting afternoon sun from a distance.
Faint voices drifted through the air.
“Oh ho oh...”
“Hey hey...”
“Yo ho oh...”
Mostly unintelligible syllables, as if there were no real words. Countless mouths were shouting, merging into a chorus that seemed to come from the distant river beach below but also seemed to come from distant ancient times. Mixed with the wind over the river crossing, it was more ancient and mysterious than Daoist classics.
It struck the heart.
Song You stood in the wind at the hill pass, momentarily dazed.
He felt it was an ancient echo of history, the work chant that had reverberated at this Liujiang ferry crossing for centuries, an imprint of the era. Just hearing a little, it already reverberated endlessly in his mind. Listening longer, he also felt it seemed like a lament under intense labor, filling the human heart with dejection and sorrow.
“Daoist, what are you doing?”
“Nothing.”
“Why aren't you walking?”
“I'm walking now.”
“What are they shouting?”
“I can't make it out either.”
Song You continued walking down.
The jujube-red horse and the cat followed behind.
Yesterday, he had just witnessed the simple and honest joys of this era, and today he saw that it was also an era full of hardships. Perhaps these two aspects were not contradictory from the beginning. The farmers who were joyfully unrestrained at the banquet yesterday belonged to the same group of people as the hard-working and exhausted barge haulers at the ancient ferry crossing today. Or maybe contradiction was the norm in the real world.
This was a scene he wouldn’t be able to witness on Yin-Yang Mountain.
Watching as he walked, he gradually reached the ferry crossing.
Song You just felt that his cloth shoes had thin soles and that stones were hurting his feet.
“Is there a boat to Long Commandery?”
“I'm going to Long Commandery.”
“Can you take a horse?”
“My small boat can't take a horse.”
“I can take it!”
Song You followed the voice.
It came from a boat with a roofed top, neither too small nor too big, but just right for the shallow beach. An old man wearing a conical bamboo hat and a woven rush raincoat stood at the bow. There were already a few people sitting in the boat.
“How much?”
“Where are you going?”
“Lingbo County.”
“Lingbo County is too far. You can only disembark at the nearest ferry crossing. From there, there is still almost a hundred li of mountain road,” the old man sang out, his voice like a song. “It will take six days. Two hundred wen per person, and a horse counts as two people. You need to bring your own fodder. As for you, if you don’t mind the fishy smell of river fish, I can provide meals on board.”
The calico cat at his feet looked up at Song You.
Song You met her gaze and understood tacitly.
“Do you charge for cats?”
“Why would I charge for a cat?”
“Altogether five hundred wen, how about this price?”
“Five hundred and fifty, board the boat and we’ll set off immediately.”
“I’m giving only coins.”
“Sir, please board the boat.”
Song You led his horse and the cat onto the boat.
Wen were the commonly-seen small copper coins.
A few years ago, the government had issued some larger denominations, worth five or ten wen each. However, these new coins didn’t weigh five or ten times as much as the regular coins. Even though they were recently issued, and hadn’t depreciated much yet under the currently flourishing Great Yan dynasty, the public’s acceptance was gradually declining. A large coin worth ten regular wen couldn’t actually be used as ten regular wen in everyday life as a discount was always expected.
So the boatman agreed readily.
“Let the horse stay at the bow. It won't be afraid of water, will it?”
“No.”
“That's good. As for its waste, I'll take care of it.”
“It will try to do its business in the river. If you are willing to dock along the way, it will go ashore to relieve itself.”
“Your horse is obedient and your words are refined, ha ha...”
“When do we set off?”
“Right now!”
The boat easily drifted away from the shore, lightly and gently.
Song You looked back, seeing four other people on the boat.
A scholar clasping a book and a family of three consisting of a couple with a young daughter. He wondered why they were traveling long journeys.
He also had no time to pay attention to this. He just stood at the bow watching the ancient ferry crossing at the shallow beach recede. Listening to that desolate, mysterious ancient chanting, his mind seemed full of thoughts, yet empty.
The scholar behind him saw he was wearing a Daoist robe and struck up a conversation. “Are you a Daoist priest?”
“I grew up in a Daoist temple.”
“Have you never seen a ferry crossing before?”
“This is my first time.”
“Haha, it's novel the first time, but it becomes mundane after a while!” The scholar was chatty and warmly invited, “The wind is strong outside. Why not come sit in the cabin? To be honest, I am also fond of Daoist classics and magic. I even brought a Daoist classic along on this journey. There are still several days’ journey to Long Commandery. Let's drink wine and chat, wouldn’t it be delightful?”
Song You remained at the bow, smiling.
The barge haulers’ chanting was further and further away, but strangely, the further away they were, the more charm and power it possessed.
The scholar didn't know what he was thinking…
How can Daoist classics compare to this?
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