Chapter 21: The Search for Xiangshan

After leaving Shanhai Pass, to avoid starving, the carriage sped up and advanced toward Qinhuangdao.

Once they passed through the Great Wall of Liaodong and entered the pass, the road became much easier to travel.

There was no snow on the road. It was a drier dirt path. The people were happy, and the horses were happy too. Their pace picked up significantly.

They reached Qinhuangdao before dark, instead of going further to Funing.

Qinhuangdao was not an island, but a town connected to the mainland.

It was close to Shanhai Pass, handling some military affairs.

It was also near the sea, with fishing as a livelihood.

It was also a vital port.

Whether pushing the frontier out of the pass or defending Shanhai Pass, supplies needed to be transported, either by land or by sea.

Qinhuangdao became such a key location. Military supplies could first be stored here, then reach Shanhai Pass.

At the same time, merchants would stop here before leaving or entering the pass.

This allowed Qinhuangdao to develop fairly well.

The caravan rested here, quickly gathering supplies and replenishing food.

There was also a thriving business here: the salt trade.

The young girl experienced true commercial atmosphere for the first time. Buying salt here was much cheaper than elsewhere. Buying grain here was also a bit cheaper.

Even though a large amount of grain was needed here, because there were so many grain merchants, prices were lower.

The caravan leader went to the port, and the young girl followed.

She witnessed the vibrant commerce here. Fishing boats had just docked, and merchants rushed to buy fish.

All were fresh, still jumping seafood. No one dared claim it wasn’t fresh.

While the caravan leader was still buying dried fish suitable for long-term storage, a commoner dressed in ordinary clothes suddenly approached the young girl.

He exclaimed, “Are you… an immortal master… from Xiangshan?”

Ah?

The young girl was startled by the sudden interruption and didn’t react. She tilted her head and looked at him.

The other continued, “Are you an immortal master from Xiangshan… forty… forty li northwest of here?”

He asked again.

The caravan leader returned in time and noticed the young girl being accosted. He became nervous.

“You have the wrong person,” the caravan leader said, blocking between them.

This person looked too suspicious, and his tone was off.

The other scratched his head, as if thinking, then continued, “There’s a cultivation sect at Xiangshan, forty li northwest of here. Immortal master…”

The caravan leader put down the basket of dried fish he was holding, grabbed the man’s shoulder, and asked, “Who are you?”

His tone was harsh, like an interrogation.

The other seemed a bit scared but gathered courage to continue, “I’m an ordinary commoner from southeast of Xiangshan.”

Caravan leader: “What’s wrong with Xiangshan?”

The other replied, “Xiangshan is said to have a cultivation sect with the power to summon wind and rain, destroy heaven and earth, heal bones, and save ten thousand souls.”

“Huh?” The caravan leader was full of questions. He felt he couldn’t get through to this person; it was like talking past each other.

But the young girl seemed excited, staring at him as if she wanted to ask something.

Even though she didn’t speak, the commoner seemed to know what she wanted to ask.

The commoner continued, “Are you an immortal master from there? Please, save my father. My father has been dead for six days. Tomorrow is the seventh day…”

“Huh?” The caravan leader felt more and more wrong. Not only was the man’s speech odd, but his tone was also off. It sounded like recitation.

And if someone’s father had died, shouldn’t they be more upset?

But the young girl seemed to be listening, still wanting to ask something.

Then the commoner suddenly changed his tone, disappointed, and said, “Sorry, it seems you’re not the immortal master from Xiangshan, forty li northwest.”

After saying that, he ran off, weaving quickly through the crowd. The caravan leader chased for a while but couldn’t catch him. The other vanished without a trace.

Immediately after, the young girl perked up and started walking back, leaving the dock market.

The caravan leader quickly caught up and grabbed her hand.

But she shook him off and continued hurrying.

“That person has a problem!” the caravan leader shouted, calling out to the young girl.

She stopped and looked back.

The surrounding commoners were startled by his voice and turned their gazes.

The caravan leader quickly pulled the young girl to a less crowded place and tried to persuade her in a low voice.

“That person has a problem. He’s not a good person. He has some scheme,” the caravan leader tried to explain.

His explanation was too feeble. The young girl turned and walked away again.

The caravan leader thought for a moment, then just sighed. “I’ll go with you. Wait for me.”

He realized the young girl had something on her mind, something he couldn’t talk her out of with empty words.

The caravan leader briefly spoke to his caravan, telling them he had something to do and to rest here for a few days.

Then he went after the young girl, chasing out of the city.

The young girl walked fast, and the caravan leader chased even faster.

On the way, the caravan leader kept explaining. There was no Xiangshan, no cultivation sect. Those were all lies.

The person they met at the dock market had ulterior motives and wanted to harm her.

No matter how much the caravan leader explained, the young girl remained steadfast, heading northwest. On the road, they hitched a ride with other passing merchants for a stretch.

On the way, the young girl asked other merchants, pointing northwest.

The caravan leader had to patiently help translate, asking if there was a place called Xiangshan to the northwest.

Unfortunately, the merchant replied that there was indeed a place called Xiangshan.

He also talked about Xiangshan.

It was like a paradise on earth, with peaks towering into the clouds and an environment like the whispers of immortals. Because of the constant sounds of immortals, it was called Xiangshan (Resounding Mountain).

That was the merchant’s explanation.

It seemed more and more plausible. The young girl became even more determined. Even though the merchant also said he hadn’t heard of any cultivation sect there, she didn’t give up.

After dark, the young girl got off at a fork in the road.

The merchant continued traveling through the night and left.

The young girl also traveled through the night, walking north from the fork, straight toward Xiangshan.

The caravan leader persuaded her for a long time and finally convinced her to rest tonight and go up the mountain together tomorrow.

So they made a fire by the roadside and rested.

That night, both were freezing. The young girl was better off; she had magical power to protect her body, giving her some cold resistance. She curled up and endured. The caravan leader had a hard time. He had to keep adding firewood. Whenever the fire died down, he would wake up from the cold.

The next morning, he looked listless, but he still had to go up the mountain with the young girl.

The mountain was very difficult to climb. There was no path.

The caravan leader used his knife to clear the way, constantly cutting branches and weeds, forcing a path.

He brought the knife because he thought something was wrong. Based on his many years of experience as a traveling merchant, that kid at the dock market was definitely up to no good. He had seen all kinds of people, and that kid had ‘bad guy’ written all over his face. How could he not tell?

But such simple reasoning was impossible to get through to the young girl.

How could he make her understand that this came from human experience, from his years of meeting so many people?

Unfortunately, it didn’t work.

Was there really a cultivation sect on Xiangshan? The merchant who brought them said he didn’t know.

The caravan leader had traveled this route for so long and never heard of any cultivation sect near Xiangshan in Qinhuangdao.

If something this big were true, why would so few people know about it?

And this mountain had no traces of human passage. No one had gone up or down nearby.

That day, they covered half the mountain, from the foot to the desolate halfway point. Both of their clothes were torn in many places, and they had some scratches and scrapes.

That night, they continued to rest by a fire in a relatively open area.

They still slept, woke up from the cold, then slept again. Today they were too tired, and their sensitivity to the cold decreased. They woke up fewer times and barely got enough sleep until the next morning.

The caravan leader hopped around and exercised for a long time before finally recovering.

Today they had to continue searching the mountain.

Still nothing. To find a way to the top, they circled half the mountain’s waist and finally climbed a bit higher.

After resting another night, they neared the top on the third day. Only then did they discover there were continuous, higher peaks nearby. Maybe they had climbed the wrong mountain.

The young girl continued to traverse along the peaks, wanting to search another mountain.

The caravan leader no longer stopped her. He finally realized how serious she was. This was a determination that couldn’t be shaken by a few words.

It was like an outlet, or like a hope.

Perhaps the young girl vaguely knew it wasn’t true, but she just hoped it was.

On the fourth and fifth days, they continued traversing the ridges. They switched to another mountain and started climbing again.

When they reached the halfway point, the caravan leader suddenly froze, staring at the bluestone under his feet.

It was a man-made path, not natural bluestone.

He pushed aside the weeds, clearing the obstructions, then lay down to look closely at the moss-covered bluestone path.

At least a hundred years old, it seemed.

This bluestone path had probably been untended for a hundred years.

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