Chapter 8: 8

Chapter 8: Grass

Chen Pingan returned to his yard and sat at the doorstep. He began to imagine himself molding clay, both his hands moving in the air. The boy entered a flow state, diligent and hard-working. Chen Pingan had developed a habit of practicing molding in his mind.

The most important aspect of pottery was fate. During the firing process, before the kiln was opened no one knew whether the glaze color or shape of the pottery would turn out to be satisfactory. They left it up to fate.

However, before the firing process, molding was undoubtedly very important. Yao thought Chen Pingan did not have any talent in pottery and did not bother properly teaching him. Chen Pingan could only observe how Yao molded and practice molding by himself. 

The creaking sound of a gate being pushed open next door entered Chen Pingan’s ear. Song Jixin and Zhi Gui had returned from the town school. Song Jixin rushed forward, stepped atop of the short wall, and crouched down. He opened his hand. Stones the size of fingernails filled his hand. They were in various colors: white, green, etc. These stones were a common sight near the streams and banks of the small town. Among these stones, a bright red stone was the most sought-after.

Sir Qi had carved a sigil for his disciple Zhao Yao. It caught Song Jixin’s eyes, and he offered to trade for it several times. However, Zhao Yao refused every time, as if he would rather die than give up the sigil.

Song Jixin threw a stone, not using much force, and the stone hit Chen Pingan in the chest. Chen Pingan did not move, still immersed.

He threw another stone. This time it hit Chen Pingan’s forehead. Chen Pingan still did not move.

Unsurprised, Song Jixin threw a handful of stones at the boy. Plop. Plop. The stones hit Chen Pingan one after another. 

Although Song Jixin wanted to wake Chen Pingan up from his molding fantasy through pain, he did not throw stones at Chen Pingan’s arms or fingers, which were doing the molding. To Song Jixin, that wouldn’t be a fair win.

After he threw all the stones, Song Jixin began clapping. Chen Pingan let out a deep breath and shook his wrists, completely ignoring Song Jixin. He lowered his head and began imagining that his left hand held a carving knife.

The switchblade art was by no means special or unique to the potters in this town. However, Yao’s switchblade technique was considered exceptional.

Yao had accepted a few apprentices in the past, but none of them could satisfy him. That was until he met Liu Xianyang. Yao felt like he finally found someone who could take his mantle. When Liu Xianyang practiced the art, Chen Pingan would be beside him. He would observe how Liu Xianyang performed it.

Liu Xianyang liked to show off to others. Since he knew Chen Ping could keep a secret, he would often talk about Yao’s secret techniques to Chen Pingan to show off. He would say stuff like this, “If you want your blade to cut a steady line, your hand mustn’t be stiff or rigid. The essence of carving is to have a steady heart.”

However, when Chen Pingan asked him what exactly a steady heart was, Liu Xianyang had no clue.

Song Jixin watched for a bit. Bored, he jumped off the wall and entered his house.

Zhi Gui stood by the wall. She did not stand on her tippy toes, so only the top half of her beautiful face could be seen above the wall. 

After thinking for a bit, she stood up on her tippy toes and looked around Chen Pingan. She found two pretty stones on the ground, one was a transparent scarlet stone and the other was a shining snow-white stone. She wanted them. Her master had thrown those pretty things away. What a waste.

After hesitating for a moment, she said in a timid voice, “Chen Pingan, can you pick up those two stones for me? They’re very pretty. I like them.”

Chen Pingan raised his head, his hands not stopping. He signaled at her with his eyes to wait a moment.

Zhi Gui smiled, her smile like a blossoming flower, beautiful.

Chen Pingan’s head was lowered when she smiled, so he missed her smile.

Brilliant light sparkled in her eyes, which were full of life. It seemed like tiny living creatures were flowing within them.

When Chen Pingan stopped what he was doing and asked where the two stones were, Zhi Gui had returned to normal, plain yet pretty.

Chen Pingan picked up the two stones, walked to the wall, and placed the two stones on top of the wall. Zhi Gui raised her hand and picked up the two stones. She held them tightly.

If one had their heart set on finding these precious things, they would be looking for a needle in a haystack. It would be almost impossible.

But, as fate would have it, in a place like this, they were considered trash and were thrown on the streets. To think this was how one would stumble across them.

Chen Pingan smiled and asked, “That snot-boy, he’s going to cuss you two out again. Afraid?”

Zhi Gui smiled shyly and did not speak. Although she did not admit that her master stole other people’s things, she didn’t have the cheek to deny it.

There was a mother-son pair in Muddyrun. Together, they were invincible in arguments. No one but Song Jixin could match the sheer amount of verbal abuse they dished out. Among the two, the child was particularly naughty. Snot dangling from his nose regularly, the boy liked to go to the edge of the stream to fish and pick up small stones. All the fish he caught was stored in a large water tank, and all the stones he collected would be placed beside the water tank. 

Song Jixin had a penchant for making the boy angry. He would occasionally steal a couple of stones. The boy hated Song Jixin for touching his things. The moment he found stones missing, he would throw a temper. He would act like a cat who just had its tail stepped on. It was common for him to rush to Song Jixin’s house and holler insults at Song Jixin for two hours straight.

His mother never tried to calm the boy down. In fact, she would fan the flames, joining her son. She would touch on his nerves by talking about Song Jixin being the illegitimate son of the former overseer. Several times, Song Jixin was on the cusp of throwing hands with the pair, but Zhi Gui would say some stuff to calm him down.

Suddenly, a childish voice entered Chen Pingan’s ear. “Song Jixin, oh Song Jixin, you’re being cucked! Your maid and Chen Pingan are flirting with each other again. Looks like they’re about to hook up! If you don’t do something now, she’ll probably be in Chen Pingan’s bed by tonight. Hurry and get the fuck out. Tsk, tsk, Chen Pingan is touching her face with a naughty look. Ooh, Chen Pingan, you bad boy…”

Song Jixin did not bother coming out. In his house, he shouted, “That’s nothing, I saw Chen Pingan fucking your mother last night. Chen Pingan was being rough with her and groping her. Alas, your mother is the one to blame here. She’s just too busty and lively. Poor Chen Pingan, he was sweating from exhaustion…”

The boy kicked the gate of Song Jixin’s yard and said angrily, “Song Jixin, come out this instant! Let’s have a one-on-one fight! If you lose, give me Zhi Gui. If I lose, you can have Chen Pingan. Don’t chicken out. You, me, fight!”

Inside his house, Song Jixin said lazily, “Play elsewhere, I’m busy, Gu Can. Thank your lucky stars I’m not in the mood to beat you up today!”

The boy called Gu Can slammed Song Jixin’s door. “Zhi Gui, you’re following a chicken master, a literal bastard. Just elope with Liu Xianyang already. That big dumb idiot looks like he wants to eat you up.”

Zhi Gui turned around and walked towards the house.

Song Jixin was wiping a green gourd with great care. This ancient relic was a product of what Sir Song left behind. Song Jixin originally ignored it until he found something strange. During stormy days, it would shake. When Song Jixin took off its cap, no matter how much he shook it, nothing would come out. He poured water and sand into it. He played with the amount he put in it too. However, nothing happened, and Song Jixin ran out of ideas. 

One time, when he was attacked by Gu Can’s feisty mother about being a bastard, Song Jixin tried to break the gourd in rage. He slashed at it with a knife. The end result left the boy tongue-tied. The knife rolled away and the gourd remained intact with not a scratch on it.

A letter, which had long since been burned by Song Jixin, read:

All the gold, silver, and copper will be transferred from my residence to this small yard. This will guarantee you and your maid will live comfortably. In your leisure time, you can try collecting antiques and getting in touch with the arts. This town is small, but there is grain to satisfy the stomach, books to satisfy the mind, landscape to satisfy the eyes, and peace to satisfy the heart. There will be highs and lows but that is life. Don’t be discouraged. From today onwards, look forward and follow your destiny.

Best wishes, Sir Song

Although Song Jixin resented this man, he still accepted and spent the money. Money unspent was money wasted. 

In a small town with a simple lifestyle, it was hard to spend money extravagantly. Over the years, Song Jixin liked collecting weird, seemingly useless objects. He had a big red box full of weird things. The green gourd was one of them. Song Jixin had a weird sort of intuition that out of the large box filled with thirty objects this gourd was the most precious. Next in line would be a rusty purple-gold bell. When one shook it, although the bell’s clapper would clearly hit the interior of the bell, the bell would make no sound. This spooked Song Jixin. The final object that caught his eye was a rustic teapot with the words “Monster” inscribed. Song Jixin did not pay much attention to the other stuff.

Gu Can stood outside Song Jixin’s house, still cursing at him. 

After a long time, the cursing finally stopped.

Chen Pingan watched as the boy suddenly pushed open the door to his yard. After locking the door, the boy crouched by the door and signaled to Chen Pingan to come over. The boy looked anxious.

Chen Pingan was not sure what was going on but still crouched down and ran to the boy’s side. He asked softly, “Gu Can, what are you doing? Is your mother angry at you again?”

The boy sniffed and lowered his voice, “Chen Pingan, I met a strange person. He had a bowel that seemed to have an endless amount of water in it. It was only about this size. He poured water from the bowel in front of me for like two hours. I think he’s looking for me now.”

The boy used both his hands to show how large the bowel was to Chen Pingan before placing his hand on his chest and murmuring, “This is all too scary…”

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Chen Pingan asked, “You’re talking about the storyteller under the locust tree?”

The child bobbed his head up and down. “Yeah, that old man is weak and can’t even lift me, but that bowel he has is hella creepy!” The boy grabbed onto Chen Pingan’s arm. “You gotta believe me, Chen Pingan! I’m not lying. I’ll even swear it on Song Jixin’s life!”

Chen Pingan raised a finger and put it to his lips.

The boy shut up.

The sound of footsteps. 

The once fearless Gu Can put his hands on his face, his face pale in fear. He was petrified. He asked, his voice shaky, “Chen Pingan, that fellow’s going to my house, right? What should I do?”

Chen Pingan said, “How about going back to your house and see what’s happening? Come, I’ll go with you.”

The boy was waiting for those words. He got up but then collapsed onto the ground. Tears in his eyes, he said, “Chen Pingan, my legs feel weak. I can’t get up.”

Chen Pingan stood up, bent down, and grabbed the boy’s nape. He carried the boy in one hand and unlocked the door with the other hand. He began walking out of the yard.

The boy’s house was not from here, only a couple hundred steps away. When they arrived, Gu Can saw the old man in his house’s front yard. His mother had even brought a stool for the old man. He felt the world was crumbling down and quickly hid behind Chen Pingan, using him as a shield. 

With Chen Pingan in front of him, the boy’s confidence began to grow.

The old man did not take the boy’s antics seriously. Sitting on a stool, he thought for a bit and then the white bowel in his hand vanished. Gu Can’s legs began to buckle. His body, which was behind Chen Pingan, began to shake in fear.

The old man glanced at the oddly calm woman, frowned at Chen Pingan, and finally said to the terrified boy, “Little child, do you know what’s inside your water tank?”

Behind Chen Pingan, the boy shouted, “What else can it have? Just some fish, shrimp, crabs that I collected from the stream! There are also some eels and loaches I caught in the field too! If you want it, just take it. You’re welco…”

The boy’s voice grew fainter and fainter, his confidence waning.

The woman stroked her cheek and looked at Chen Pingan. She said softly, “Pingan.”

Chen Pingan understood what she wanted. He rubbed Gu Can’s head, turned around, and left.

Traces of guilt were in the woman’s eyes, as she looked at Chen Pingan. She discarded these thoughts, turned her head to the old man, and asked, “Immortal from afar, for this opportunity, will you buy or steal?”

The old man shook his head and smiled. “Buy? I can’t afford it. Steal? I can’t escape with it.”

The woman shook her head. “That was the case before, but things have changed.”

When he heard this news, the calm old man acted like he had been struck by lightning. He flicked his sleeve, calculating, before letting out a deep sigh. “How could it get to this point?”

The woman watched coldly. She made a mocking smile. “How many suitable people does Immortal think are in this town?”

The old man stood up and looked at the dumbfounded child seriously, as if he had made a big decision. He flicked his wrist and the white bowel reappeared. The old man walked to a large water tank and scooped out some water with his bowel.

Although the woman acted calm, her palms were sweaty.

The old man sat back on the stool and waved to Gu Can. “Little child, come, have a look.”

The child looked at his mother. She nodded at him, her eyes full of encouragement. When the child approached, the old man blew on the surface of the bowel, causing ripples of water. He smiled and said, “Open wide.”

At the same time, the old man rubbed his fingers. He felt a locust leaf somewhere on the child’s body. He made a grasping motion and “caught” the leaf, the leaf hovering in the old man’s hands.

The child awed at the sight.

The old man then curled his finger, and the locust leaf entered the child’s mouth.

The child stood there dumbfounded. 

Not giving the child a chance to ask questions, the old man pointed at the bowel in his hands. “Look.”

Gu Can’s eyes widened His pupils constricted. A tiny black dot filled his sight. This dot gradually turned into a bold black streak. This streak grew bigger and bigger. Eventually, the streak could be made out to be a small yellowish-brown loach. The loach splashed around in the bowel.

Suddenly, Gu Can’s eyes brightened. He yelled, “I’ve seen that before! It’s from when Chen Pingan…”

The mother slapped her son across the face. “Shut up!”

The old man looked at the scene placidly. “For us cultivators, one must defy Dao to attain the path of immortality. This little matter is nothing. No need to be nervous. Your son is destined to get it, while that boy is destined to lose it.”

Gu Can only weighed 24 kilograms, yet the weight of his “bone essence” was incredible. The mystical old man decided to make an exception for this exceptional boy and perform a secret technique. His attempt to lift the child was to ascertain his bone weight. He showed the child the bowel in preparation for taking him as a disciple.

The old man let out a warm smile, but his eyes were ice cold. He said slowly, “Of course, even if it was originally that boy’s, so what? Now that this old man is here, it’s no longer his.”

Gu Can stayed silent, his teeth chattering.

The mother let out a sigh like a heavy burden had been lifted from her shoulders.

The old man let out another warm smile and said, “This bowel holds a river and now a small flood dragon, my dear child. From now on, you are my direct disciple. I am a true monarch, a sliver away from being a sect originator… You will understand the weight behind these ranks in due time.”

The child suddenly cried, “This isn’t right! It belongs to Chen Pingan!

The mother, angry and embarrassed, raised up her hands, about to give her son another slap.

The old man waved off the mother and smiled. In a soft voice, he said, “Such a way of thinking isn’t all that bad.”

The child lowered his head and wiped away the snot and tears on his face with his hand.

The mother gazed at the old man in silence.

The old man smiled back and nodded.

Birds of a feather flock together. They were in silent agreement.

The child raised his head and noticed that his mother and his now “master” were all smiles. He turned his head. It seemed Chen Pingan did not forget to close the door to the yard.

…

This small town was like a farm in harvest season. Among the flourishing crops, there was grass. Some people were just like grass, not spared a single glance. And a certain lonely boy in straw sandals walking in Muddyrun was the epitome of grass.

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