Chapter 8: Borrowing a Touch of Twilight Glow
In a low thatched cottage with earthen walls at the foot of the mountain, an old woman was making homemade incense.
Similar to Song You when he was in his temple, she had a wooden incense table that was about the size of a single-person desk. On it lay a wooden board about a chi[1] wide. A stack of red paper strips about the width of three fingers and a little over a chi long was pierced with an awl to the board. They were used for rolling incense. Below was an incense trough filled with incense ingredients. Upon closer inspection, he could vaguely discern several kinds of familiar materials. They had been crushed into greenish-yellow corn kernel-sized granules.
The old woman scooped up the incense ingredients with a sliver of bamboo about the same length as the red paper and poured them onto the paper in a neat line. Then she took a bamboo stick and folded the top of the red paper a few times to seal it. Rubbing it with her hands, she skillfully rolled up the entire incense stick.
After gluing the bottom of the incense, an incense stick was completed.
It only took about ten seconds to roll an incense stick. The old woman's movements were smooth, with just the right amount of force applied. It was truly enjoyable to watch.
Song You stood quietly at the side.
The old silver-haired woman was fully absorbed in her work.
The room was filled with the fragrant scent of herbs. Light shone in from the window at a slant, illuminating fine particles of incense floating in the air.
Even the calico cat felt very calm.
Thirty sticks of incense were quickly rolled.
The old woman carefully counted them and tied them up with straw. She handed them to Song You. “Here you are.”
“Thank you, madam.” Song You accepted them deferentially.
This kind of incense stick was as thick as a finger; much thicker than the slender incense sticks in the city. A handful of them were not easy to hold. However, thirty sticks only cost six wen, and the most expensive ingredient was actually the rough, inferior red paper.
Song You paid the old woman a little extra in return for her telling him earlier about the ingredients used for the incense. Then he thanked her and left.
Despite the cheap price, many Daoist priests in the temples Song You had dealt with liked to use this kind of homemade incense. Amongst them, most of them especially loved to blend and roll their own incense sticks by hand.
One could only achieve true understanding of supernatural beings by making an effort.
Song You returned to the main road after leaving the village. Then he returned to the village temple. He only kept three sticks of incense for himself, and left the rest of the thirty sticks in front of the statue of Virtuous Duke Wang.
One must repay what one borrows and give back when one takes.
Feeling relieved, he continued on his journey.
Now he was no longer alone, but accompanied by a cat.
Lady Calico was quite well-behaved at first. Perhaps it was because she felt shy with Song You. She just followed behind him obediently, maintaining a reasonable distance. However, her true nature came out very soon. She started darting ahead from time to time, then turning back to look at Song You. Occasionally, she would stand still and lower her head to sniff at the wild grass by the roadside. Sometimes, she would be attracted by flying butterflies or birds and stop walking. Once Song You had walked far away, she would quickly run after him in order to catch up.
With her antics, the journey was no longer boring.
Not long after, they encountered a checkpoint. Song You presented his ordination certificate and successfully passed through.
As mentioned before, traveling merchants and jianghu people had their own ways. People like Song You also had their own special travel pass.
Religions were also under imperial control in this world. Each dynasty was different but Great Yan was especially strict in its management of religions. The greatest difference from the previous dynasty was that it reduced the special privileges of ordinary temples.
For example, various taxes were no longer exempted.
However, skilled master cultivators still had to be respected in a world with supernatural beings.
Thus, Great Yan had two grades of ordination certificates.
The ordinary certificate was just a piece of paper stamped with a great seal. It had symbols drawn on it as well as the issuing organization, Daoist temple and other personal information written down. It needed to be kept in a case in order to prevent damage. Any legitimate monk or Daoist could obtain this kind of certificate.
The other type was a booklet.
Obtaining this booklet meant that you had some ability, or that former sect seniors had some ability. It granted tax exemption to a certain extent. Demons and ghosts frequently appeared in this world, and some cultivators needed to travel the world to debate scriptures and discuss Daoism. Thus this ordination certificate also served as a travel pass. It also allowed the owner to bring up to five disciples or attendants along with him.
It was considered a favor to master cultivators.
However, as the years went by, this kind of ordination certificates became increasingly widespread. Nowadays, they didn't really prove anything.
After passing the checkpoint, the scenery along the road changed significantly. The gentle mountains on the left became steep, towering mountains. The right side remained the same with the road winding through the mountains along the stream. Lady Calico had to crane her neck every time she wanted to look at the mountain tops.
“So high!” said Lady Calico.
“Have you ever seen such high mountains before?” Song You asked as he sat on a rock eating a steamed pancake.
“No.” The calico cat turned to look at him.
Song You suddenly remembered. He hurriedly broke off a small piece from the part of the steamed pancake he hadn't bitten into. He bent down to offer it to the calico cat.
But she just stared at him blankly.
At that moment, a buzzing insect flew past in front of her. The calico cat lifted her front paw and caught the flying insect firmly. Then she brought her paw to her mouth. By the time Song You got a good look, he could only see the translucent wings of the insect sticking out of her mouth.
The calico cat ate while glancing at Song You.
I should have known better. Song You silently withdrew the hand holding the steamed pancake.
“Do you want to eat any?” The calico cat asked him, “I can help you catch two more.”
“No need, I don't eat bugs.”
“They're delicious.”
“I appreciate your kindness.”
“How about mice?”
“I don’t eat them either, thank you.”
“Oh…”
Song You asked as he ate the steamed pancake, “Have you heard of a place ahead called Hand-Crawling Cliff? It’s extremely steep but the scenery is magnificent.”
“What is Hand-Crawling Cliff?”
“It refers to a narrow trail carved into the cliff that you have to crawl on your hands to get through.”
“How do you know about it?”
“I heard those jianghu people talk about it in the temple a few days ago.”
“I rarely listen to them talk.”
“Their talk was quite interesting.”
“Are we going there?”
“I wish to go.”
“Oh…” The calico cat suddenly jumped up again, and caught another insect with precision. Song You saw clearly this time that it was a locust. She only said to Song You, “Anyway, I will go with you.”
Song You nodded.
The sun was slanting west.
By the time Song You asked the third local household, they had finally arrived below Hand-Crawling Cliff.
An old man who made lanterns stood at his doorstep, wearing a bamboo hat. He pointed up the high cloud-covered mountain cliff to the left and told Song You, “That's Hand-Crawling Cliff.”
Both Song You and the cat looked up.
It seemed as if the thousand-chi cliff was right in front of them. It was too close. For a moment, they could only see this towering cliff and nothing else.
“Hand-Crawling Cliff is indeed a shortcut, but not many people take it nowadays. This trail is very dangerous, slippery and wet. Demons and ghosts often cause trouble in the mountains. They cry and howl every night. People often go up to have fun during the day, but they all come back before nightfall. No one dares to spend the night up there.” The old man kindly advised the young Daoist priest, “It's too late now. If you want to enjoy the scenery, it's better to go up tomorrow. If you go up there, you must come back before dark.”
“May I ask how long it takes to climb up?”
“It takes two hours to climb up and two hours to come back. If you walk down from over there all the way to the bottom, it will take four hours.”
“Two hours...” Song You calculated. He still had time.
The old man glared disapprovingly at him. “You want to go up tonight? You'll have to walk in the dark. There really are ghosts on this mountain.”
“It will be fine.”
Humans become ghosts when they die. Ghosts are naturally weaker than humans.
“Even if you're not afraid of ghosts, walking in the dark is very dangerous.” The old man continued, “For more than a thousand years, countless people have fallen to their deaths from up there.”
“Please sell me a lantern.”
“I only have lanterns here and no candles.”
“No matter.”
“You're not listening to my advice!”
Song You just smiled and spent sixteen wen buying a simple lantern from the old man. It was a common shape, with a delicate and lightweight frame woven from bamboo. A layer of off-white paper was pasted on top and there were no other decorations.
One man and one cat walked along the path up the mountains.
“The sky is overcast with rain, ghosts cry in the night...” Song You murmured with a smile.
This was how people described Hand-Crawling Cliff.
After climbing through the mountain forest, and following the two-chi wide path along the steep cliff winding to the top, one would arrive at the famous Hand-Crawling Cliff.
This section of cliff is perpendicular to the ground. The trail was carved out by human hand and also made use of natural cracks in the cliff. It was narrower than a human's height, maybe three or four chi at its widest. At its narrowest, it was just wide enough for one person to perilously go past while hugging the cliff. One had to bend over all the way or use both hands and feet.
Lady Calico found it easy, and seemed unaffected. However, Song You found it much more challenging.
Not only did he have to move forward while bent over, he also had to worry about slipping and falling.
Trekkers who were not afraid of the high mountains and the long journey were rewarded with the most spectacular scenery by the mountains and rivers.
From this angle, the valley below was covered with greenery like a dark blanket. Unknown trees occasionally clung tenaciously to the cliffs, seemingly rooted in nowhere. Weathered by years of mountain winds, they leaned in one direction as if welcoming brave climbers.
It was surprising that not only did forebears carve out this trail in such a perilous place, they also carved countless stone inscriptions on top and into the cliff walls.
There were scriptures for the salvation of souls as well as deity images to quell evil spirits. Many of them had begun to blur with the passage of time. For more than a thousand years, they had witnessed generations of people passing by here. It was uncertain if they could persist for another thousand years.
Song You walked very slowly, not just out of caution but also to slowly appreciate the steep scenery below or to look up at the deities carved into these stone cliffs.
These stone cliff carvings span a wide period of time, so they had different artistic styles. Some deities were carved in a strange way while some were carved in a soft, feminine style. Some deities were carved in a way that deliberately emphasized their strong physiques. All these reflected the fantasies of the people about what deities looked like at the time. They reflected the social trends and folk preferences of different periods. From the style, it was probably possible to determine which dynasty each cliff carving came from.
The oldest ones were probably over a thousand years old.
Song You looked carefully, not only at the art style and craftsmanship but also at the appearances of these deities. He seemed to be able to see a glimpse of those bygone eras through them.
Perhaps in some era when people often walked on this trail before it was abandoned, there really were countless demons and ghosts making use of the terrain to block travelers and take their lives. Maybe these deities carved into the stone cliffs with the blessing of people's prayers truly intimidated the demons and spirits in these mountains.
He thought suddenly that perhaps having to move forward while bent over and using one’s hands and feet was not just due to the difficulty of carving out a trail. It was also to make passer-bys bend down in front of these deity images that quell demons and evil spirits so they can show some respect.
The sky was getting darker and darker.
Song You stopped at the highest point. He sat on the edge of the cliff, letting his legs hang down naturally. Enjoying the mountain breeze, he made up his mind to spend the night here.
There was no overcast sky with rain today. Instead the sunset was red as blood and crimson clouds filled the sky.
In this era, many people loved traveling. Many scholar-officials and writers were passionate about natural landscapes. According to the old man at the foot of the mountain, people were often attracted by the inaccessible scenery of Hand-Crawling Cliff. They climbed it fearlessly for sight-seeing, but very few dared to spend the night up there.
In Song You's view, they had missed out on a lot.
Even more beautiful than the sunset were the dreamy colors that appeared in the horizon after the last rays of the setting sun had faded and the sky above had darkened.
The gentle twilight glow had gradations that were bluish but not blue, purple tinged with red and pinkish-white.
As the sky darkened, the beauty on the horizon intensified.
Song You stared blankly, mesmerized.
Natural landscapes, gods, ghosts and magic were the few things that attracted him in this world. Only these few things made this world not dull and boring compared to the other world in his heart.
“Daoist priest, are we not going down?”
“No, we're not going down.”
“It's gotten dark.”
“Yes.”
He was somewhat chilled by the mountain wind.
Song You continued to sit on the edge of the cliff, admiring the colors in the horizon and the outline of the mountain range beneath his feet. Suddenly, as if remembering something, he reached out and picked up the lantern he had just bought. He lifted it with one hand and he reached out towards the distant horizon with the other. He pinched a bit of nothingness and pitched it into the lantern.
Instantly, the lantern lit up with a dreamy glow like the sky at that moment.
He had borrowed a touch of twilight glow to dispel the endless cold night.
1. Traditional Chinese unit of length. Approximately one-third of a meter. ☜
Comments
Top