Seeking the Tao in the Mortal World

2 months later, the Autumn was cool and dry.

Dusk.

In a small village at the foot of a mountain, a few wisps of cooking smoke floated slowly. 3 young children were running and playing in the village. There were farmers cutting paddy in the fields by the roadside. The big yellow dog was lying lazily outside the house, sniffing the rice fragrance in the house in the setting sun.

The sound of horseshoes approaching from far away broke the tranquility of the small village. The big yellow dog stood up in fright, arched its body and watched the smoke and dust in the distance vigilantly.

2 horses, 1 black and 1 white, were galloping in. When they arrived at the entrance of the village, they slowed down their horses and looked up at the mountain not far away.

The sunset glow was reflected in the misty and cloudy mountain. It was dyed in crimson. There were jagged rocks towering in the sky as if an immortal land amidst the red clouds.

At the foot of the mountain, there was a shepherd boy leisurely riding a cow with a reed flute. This made the rural scene more peaceful.

“It’s really like what they said. This place really looks like an immortal land.” A 15-year-old boy with red lips and white teeth rode on a white horse. His long black hair was neatly tied in a samurai bun with a silver hair band and the ends were draped like black satin. He looked frolic and elegant. The bright eyes stared at the mountains with hope in the eyes.

On the black horse was a young man in a brocade robe. He looked 5 years older than him. The faces of the 2 were somewhat similar, and it was easy to think that they were brothers. The difference was that this young man’s facial features were more sharp-edged, which made him look a lot more serious.

Long oilcloth bags were hung on the 2 horses. The cold tips of the spears were visible on the mouth of the bags.

Hearing the young boy’s words, the young man didn’t respond. He just quietly looked at the shepherd boy in the distance without saying a word for a while.

“What’s wrong?” The young boy turned around and asked.

“It’s nothing.” The young man came back to his senses and smiled, “I just feel that the tune is unheard of. Novel and distant yet refreshing.”

The young boy nodded in agreement. If the environment only had about 50% immortal vibe, with this leisurely reed flute, it would shoot up to 80%.

He didn’t think much about it, and said with a smile, “We don’t know all the good tunes in the world. Could it be that brother suddenly falls in love with the tune of silk and bamboo?”

The young man laughed and shook his head, then the 2 rode their horses into the village slowly.

On the side of the road was a paddy field. The farmer was sweating profusely to cut the paddy. The young man passed by slowly, but his eyes were fixed on the paddy field as his expression became more and more serious.

The boy looked left and right for a while. Some of the rice in the rice field had been cut while some were still growing. At first glance, it looked messy and there was nothing to see. Seeing his elder brother’s serious appearance, he couldn’t help wondering, “What are you looking at...” ｂｅ𝚍ｎｏ𝚟𝚎ｌ.𝚌𝚘ｍ

“Look a little farther away.”

.

The young boy took a serious look. He zoomed out and looked at the paddy field. He seemed to feel that the part of the paddy field that was cut short formed the shape of a Tai Chi Yin Yang diagram. Although it was not too accurate, the shape was really Tai Chi!

Is it an illusion?

The young man suppressed the surprise in his mind as he reined in his horse and said, “Mister...”

The farmer raised his head. When he saw the obvious nobleness of the 2 of them, his face beamed with a smile, “Are you 2 going to the mountain to find immortals? It’s getting late. How about staying at my house for 1 night? It’s very cheap... “

“...” The image of a master was instantly shattered. The young man’s eyes moved, and he still introduced himself politely, “I am Li Qinglin. This is my younger brother Qingjun... May I ask, the paddy is cut in such a shape... Is there a mystery to it?”

“A mystery?” The farmer scratched his head in puzzlement, making his hair full of mud, “This is the abbreviated number 6 and 9 that Little Qin taught me. What did he call it together? I don’t understand either. While remembering how to write the numbers, I cut them like this...”

Is that so? The 2 brothers looked at each other and sighed amusedly. Although this writing style of 6 and 9 is unheard of, it is much more acceptable than the Tai Chi Yin Yang diagram created by a rural farmer in the paddy field.

The farmer said again, “My accommodation is the most comfortable with heated floor and hot milk. It’s only 3 copper coins...”

“No thanks.” The 2 smiled as they reined in their horses and walked away.

“Hey...” The farmer shouted behind him, “Don’t go into the mountains so late. There are poisonous miasma and strange tiger in the mountains recently. It’s very dangerous!”

The young boy, Li Qingjun, patted his spear pouch, turned his head and smiled, “Only when you overcome difficulties can you show your sincerity. Why don’t we help you get rid of the tiger?”

The farmer looked at their spears, hesitated for a moment, and said, “Then, be careful.”

As they approached the end of the village and reached the foot of the mountain, the cloud and mist enveloped them even more. They couldn’t see the courtyards at the end of the village clearly. A woodcutter came here leisurely as if he was traveling through the clouds and mists. He sang a song casually,

“Everyone in the world knows that being immortals are good, but they just can’t forget fame and glory. Where are the ancient and present generals? Covered with the pile of grass in the barren mound.

Everyone in the world knows that being immortals are good, but they just can’t forget gold and silver. They always lament not accumulating enough. When they accumulated enough, they have closed their eyes...”

The 2 brothers watched and listened in a daze. The horses slowed down more and more and finally came to a complete stop.

When I come to this place, I feel that this place is different from other places. Even the song sung by a woodcutter is of such a level. No wonder people said that there are immortals in this mountain. There is indeed some truth.

“May I ask...” Li Qinglin stopped the woodcutter, “Who wrote this song?”

The woodcutter laughed, “This is the song by the Qin Family’s boy. Interesting, isn’t it?”

More than interesting. Where is this place? This is Immortal Track Mountain, where the immortal seekers of all ages flock in an endless stream. Hearing such a song in this kind of place is even more meaningful.

“May I ask where this Sir Qin lives?”

The woodcutter casually pointed to the depths of the cloud and mist, “It’s the last yard that is drying some medicinal herbs at the end of the village. You can recognize it once you are there.”

The small yard was really easy to recognize. It was densely covered with brackets. Several layers of dustpans were placed on the shelves, covered with all kinds of herbs. The scent of herbs was faintly lingering, which was very comfortable.

A young boy was sitting in the middle of the yard, holding a stick and pounding medicine into the mortar with a carefree manner. He was unaware that 2 guests were approaching.

The 2 looked at it for a while, but their original mood of meeting a master disappeared because this boy was too young. No matter how they looked at him, he looked about 16 years old, not much older than Li Qingjun. There was really no way to connect him with some wise person living in isolation. What’s more, from their experience in martial arts, this young boy was just a martial arts practitioner. His cultivation level was not as good as theirs.

But the young boy was pretty interesting too. He was dressed in rough clothes and grass shoes, and was a little thin. He looked very delicate and quiet in appearance, unlike a villager in the countryside, but like a scholar. While pounding medicine, he hummed an incomprehensible tune. The thumping sounds from pounding medicine drifted in this quiet evening with a relaxing rhythm. The feeling of leisure and tranquility in the countryside spontaneously arose.

From this appearance, his songs and numbers are probably from reading some miscellaneous books or some family learning? If it is a family learning, the farmer and woodcutter only say ‘Little Qin’ and ‘Qin Family’s boy’. I’m afraid that his elders are no longer around.

What was interesting was that his ‘medicine pestle’ was a mace, which looked thicker than his thigh. The ferocious mace glistened in the setting sun, forming an outrageous contrast with his handsome appearance.

This is his martial arts weapon?

“Hey!” Li Qingjun couldn’t help laughing after watching for a long time, “Can a mace pound medicine. Isn’t the front end sharp teeth?”

The young boy stopped and turned his head to look at them. He glanced at their spear pouches, and answered irrelevant questions, “It’s inconvenient to enter the mountain at night. You 2 should be careful. There is a strange tiger on the top of the mountain. Don’t approach it. If you accidentally provoke it, run immediately. It will not chase.”

Li Qinglin asked, “Little brother, is your surname Qin?”

The young boy replied casually, “Qin Yi.”

Li Qinglin introduced himself again and continued, “We brothers are going to the mountain to look for immortals. We heard the woodcutter singing. It is very meaningful. He said that Brother Qin composed it?”

“Oh, I listened to a wandering taoist sang it in the early years. It has nothing to do with me.”

“...” Li Qingjun had long thought that this young man who was about his own age could not be a wise scholar, so he said ‘Sorry for interrupting’ and wanted to go up the mountain.

But Li Qinglin suddenly said, “Is Brother Qin an apothecary? Are there antidotes of various kinds? We want to buy some pills.”

Li Qingjun looked at his elder brother strangely. We have all kinds of preparations in place. What kind of medicine does he want to buy at the last minute?

“There are no various kinds, just one pill will cure everything.” Qin Yi casually threw a cloth bag, “2 pills in it. 10 taels of silver.”

Li Qingjun took the cloth bag, looked at the 2 jujube-like pills inside, and laughed, “How can there be a pill that can cure all kinds of poisons? What kind of pill is this?”

His voice was clear and crisp. With such a laugh, the awe-inspiring heroic spirit was immediately diluted a lot. Instead, it felt a little cute.

Qin Yi stared at him for a while, then he suddenly grinned, “This is called eating jujube pills [1].”

[1] In Chinese, eating jujube pills sounds like ‘to be doomed one way or another’.