Chapter 34: Departure from Caohe Village

The funeral was held the next day. Most of the villagers came; the old village head was well-liked.

Since he had no blood relatives, the funeral arrangements had to be simple. The body was kept for only a day and a half.

That day, a few old friends managed the funeral feast. They were busy from early morning.

The old man took the travel pass from the young girl and placed it on the deceased’s body inside the old village head’s coffin. The coffin was half-covered, not yet sealed.

Some people wanted to see the old village head one last time.

All of this was unfamiliar social custom to the young girl. She still didn’t understand why people held such funeral feasts when someone died.

She didn’t understand why so many people would attend such an unlucky gathering.

Even more confusing was why several old men who weren’t relatives cared so much about the old village head, even personally handling the funeral affairs.

The social nuances were too complicated for her to grasp.

The old man wanted to ask the young girl for a favor: to perform a ritual.

What was a ritual?

She of course didn’t know.

She thought of the Daoist priest she met in Tianqiao Village, who was doing a strange ceremony. Was that a ritual?

She shook her head and refused. Not only did she not know how to perform a ritual, she hadn’t even remembered how the Tianqiao Village Daoist priest had done it.

The few old men still didn’t give up. They chattered about various legends: how to grant blessings, how to pray, how to perform requiems.

In the end, they concluded there was something even someone who knew nothing could do.

Rumor had it that cultivators absorbed the essence of heaven and earth, built their path to immortality, seized the heavenly Dao, being both immortal and not, called earthly immortals or half-immortals in the mortal world.

It was said that the breath of gods could revive all things, and the words of gods could make everything come true.

As half-immortals, cultivators’ bodies should also be treasures.

After discussion, the old men reached a rather embarrassing decision…

It had been a long time since she took off that white feathered coat outside of rest time. This place was called Caohe Village, named after the river, meaning there was a river nearby.

She slowly entered the river. The water temperature was alright, a bit cool in the hot July weather.

She stayed in the river for a few breaths, then got ashore and put back on the feathered coat she was accustomed to.

Back in the village, after the old man saw her return, he went to the river and fetched a small bottle of river water.

This bottle of water actually had nothing to do with her anymore.

Both she and they knew it clearly.

The old man took the water to the coffin, poured it into a bowl, and then sprinkled some fine droplets toward the corpse.

The villagers had not seen this custom before. They asked, and the old men told them it was immortal water bestowed by an immortal.

That was a bit exaggerated, nine-tenths of it was exaggeration.

Everyone probably guessed it was just for fun, but they still wanted to get a bit of immortal spirit. So the old man kept half a bottle, slowly poured it into his hand, and flicked it toward the sky, then sprinkled the remaining half over the villagers.

A funeral that should have been sad turned lively.

Villagers returning home from the feast told their families about receiving the immortal’s blessing, making others envious for a time.

The old village head’s body was not yet buried that day. They kept vigil for another night.

The next morning, the coffin was sealed. Many villagers carried it to the grave that had been dug earlier, and the burial was formally conducted.

The old men who had been busy for days took a short afternoon nap. After waking, they cleaned up, and while doing so, they chatted with the young girl about the old village head’s son.

Mostly the old men talked, recounting some amusing stories from when the village head’s son was young, but they didn’t laugh at those stories.

Once the house was mostly tidied, the old man wanted to hand the keys to the young girl, letting her stay as long as she wanted.

But the young girl shook her head and refused.

Only then did the old man realize that she, too, was leaving the village to go elsewhere.

Perhaps knowing that this farewell might be forever, the old man finally asked about cultivation: Could ordinary villagers in the village enter the immortal path? Was there a way to live a long and healthy life?

The young girl shook her head, but she took out a few fruits and gave one to each old man.

The old man didn’t press further. He thanked her and left.

The young girl stayed one last night and set off the next morning.

As if the villagers had learned she was leaving, they came to see her off early in the morning. Almost the entire village was there, except for those who couldn’t move.

The villagers gave her many gifts. The children gave handmade wreaths.

The other villagers mostly gave food, knowing she liked to eat.

Those old men also came and gave her a sachet. The bag was woven by one old man, the string by another, and the spices prepared by the remaining one.

The young girl accepted it and hung it on herself. Everything else that was inconvenient to carry went into her storage space.

She walked away from the village where she had lived for several months.

After walking for over an hour, someone from another village driving an oxcart passed by on a side road. The young girl stopped it and hitched a ride.

The other person mentioned a destination, and the young girl nodded. She didn’t care where they were going.

Along the way, the driver didn’t dare speak, acting as if she wasn’t on the cart.

In the afternoon, the cart arrived at a place called Ansu, a very small town.

It turned out that today was the town’s market day. Villagers from many surrounding villages gathered here to trade. Some bartered, others bought mountain goods and game not usually available, but most were trading grain.

July was a harvest season, making the market lively and joyful.

The young girl got off the cart, politely waved goodbye.

She walked through the bustling crowd and found the town’s only inn, small and shabby.

After checking in, taking advantage of the market day, she also went to buy some things.

Because her silver coins were too large, many people couldn’t make change. Several vendors didn’t accept her money, calling it a karmic connection with an immortal. A merchant who couldn’t stand it kindly exchanged her silver for copper coins.

Using copper coins made transactions with the peddlers very convenient.

She was lucky and even bought something she would need for the next day.

Back at the inn, she locked herself in her room. She took out two peaches and put them on the table, staring at them for a long time, almost drooling.

After thinking for a while, she still didn’t eat them. These were for the next day.

She tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep.

A few more rolls, still couldn’t sleep.

She closed her eyes and counted numbers, finally managing to fall asleep.

When she opened her eyes, it was dim outside.

She quickly got up and went downstairs to find the innkeeper, but he wasn’t up yet.

She had to go back to her room and play with her axe. She endured until the sun came out, then went downstairs again to find the innkeeper, pointing at the almanac.

The innkeeper replied, “The twenty-third of July.”

The young girl seemed happy and went back upstairs. She took out a set of coarse cloth clothes from her storage space and put them on. They were quite loose and didn’t fit well.

So she only wore the top, not the whole set.

Then she took out a peach from her storage space and ate it. It was a bit sour, sour enough to make her squint.

After eating, she had nothing to do.

She left the inn and went out for a stroll. In stark contrast to the bustling crowd yesterday, today the town had almost no one.

It was very quiet.

She entered a noodle shop. There was no one inside.

The shopkeeper was chatting with someone. When he saw a customer, he quickly came over.

He asked what she wanted to eat.

Seeing the young girl hesitating, the shopkeeper introduced the items one by one.

“Yangchun noodles, egg noodles, lamb noodles, longevity noodles…”

The young girl quickly nodded.

“How many liang of lamb, miss?” the shopkeeper asked again.

The young girl shook her head.

The shopkeeper asked doubtfully, “So you want… longevity noodles?”

The young girl nodded.

“This…” Feeling it was a bit odd, the shopkeeper still complied. “Okay, miss, please have a seat. It’ll be ready soon.”

After a while, the noodles came.

On top of the noodles was a whole, beautifully fried egg and some greens.

…

The day passed happily. She played around the town all day, though there wasn’t much to do.

In the evening, she returned to the inn and made a simple plan.

Only a few months had passed. She felt that the blacksmith in Baoding hadn’t finished the axe.

Since she had given him a year, and he even thought that was too short, going back to Baoding now would be pointless.

The travel pass issue was also resolved. It was time to go back.

That was, to Weiyuan Fort, to resolve the trouble she couldn’t handle before.

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