Chapter 32

"The Spirit Cave Goddess's husband?"

Chu Tianshu looked at Cai Shanjun with curiosity, discovering that Old Yu and Little Huo also had an irrepressible look of inquiry on their faces.

Clearly, although the two of them were Cai Shanjun's guards, they were not aware of the matters within.

Cai Shanjun climbed down from the donkey's back, a look of helplessness appearing on his face as he explained.

More than a decade ago, he and a group of friends accidentally wandered into this Wu Family Village, discovering that the people here were warm and hospitable, simple and forthright; they had been trekking through the mountains and were truly hungry and tired, so they rested here.

As it turned out, the festival celebration they thought they were witnessing during those few days was actually the Spirit Cave's husband-selection ceremony being held in the village.

Because of a friend's recklessness, they had no choice but to put on wooden painted masks and, making the best of the situation, participate in the ceremony.

After a series of procedures, it turned out that Cai Shanjun, this outsider, was chosen as the Spirit Cave Goddess's husband.

However, this was not a good thing.

The Spirit Cave's husband-selection ceremony was born out of a purpose of praying for blessings and averting disasters.

Every dozen or several decades, the waterfall not far from Wu Family Village would cease to flow, revealing the cave beneath the cliff, from which colorful clouds would spray.

At this time, Wu Family Village had to hold the ceremony, select the Spirit Cave Goddess's husband, and send him into the cave; otherwise, even if they migrated elsewhere, the entire clan would suffer disasters and face all kinds of omens.

Cai Shanjun's friends refused to accept this, but they were detained; at the time, Cai Shanjun could be said to have been forced into the cave.

However, after two days and two nights, he successfully walked out of the intricate and complex cave, and even brought out the Colorful Cloud Flute that the ancestors of Wu Family Village had left in the depths of the cave.

He claimed it was the guidance of the Spirit Cave Goddess that allowed him to escape unscathed, and he returned the Colorful Cloud Flute to Wu Family Village.

The people of Wu Family Village therefore believed he had received exceptional favor from the Spirit Cave Goddess, bestowed generous gifts upon him, and ceremoniously sent them all away from the village.

"... At that time, I was just about to trade the pen for the sword, but the connections in officialdom and the military were also tangled and quite treacherous; these generous gifts helped me quite a bit when I was just starting out."

When Cai Shanjun said this, Chu Tianshu's expression was a bit subtle.

This didn't sound like a situation where no grudges were formed; it could only be said that they had been resolved.

Chu Tianshu looked at the waterfall on the mountain over there: "Since they were able to send you into the cave back then, what if you come back this time and the waterfall on the mountain stops flowing again?"

"That won't happen."

Cai Shanjun smiled mysteriously, then sighed, "After I left here, I actually collected a lot of local historical materials and folk legends, and thus learned that in the distant past, the rumor circulating here was of the Spirit Cave taking a wife."

"Whenever the waterfall stopped flowing and colorful clouds flew out, the most spiritual and beautiful girl in the village would be selected, holding the most precious cursed insect of the village, and sent into the cave amidst music and fanfare."

"Later, I don't know which year it was, when the girl could no longer appease the anomaly of the Spirit Cave, it changed to selecting warriors from the village, evolving from the Spirit Cave taking a wife to the Spirit Cave selecting a husband, but the result was the same: they all went and never returned."

"If they could work together when the colorful clouds spray, gathering more warriors and insect-mistresses to break in together, perhaps appeasing the disaster once wouldn't require anyone to die."

Chu Tianshu was thoughtful and said: "But doing that might also kill more people; they wouldn't dare to change the established rules. What... exactly is inside the cave?"

Cai Shanjun pondered and said: "I am not very clear either; the cave is filled with stone pillars, hanging upside down, connecting all the way to the underground, immeasurably large."

"Given our current situation, it is better not to easily explore the things inside the cave; at least for these few years, the waterfall will not stop flowing, and everyone still has time."

When he said this, that Miao girl had already poled the bamboo raft back to the village side.

Immediately, continuous drum sounds came from within the village.

In those stilt houses on the mountainside, almost every household had young men coming out.

Hundreds of people surged toward the foot of the mountain in a grand procession, beating drums on the opposite bank to welcome them.

Looking at those women, they basically all wore headscarves and embroidered aprons; the men's attire included animal skins and cloth garments, and most looked quite simple.

Outsiders think that Miao mountain villages have a lot of silver ornaments, but in fact, except for when they attend festivals in their finest attire, they don't dress very exquisitely in daily life.

Silver easily tarnishes; if worn constantly during daily labor and stained with all kinds of grime, even with cleaning and wiping, it is difficult to restore it to its original appearance.

From the hundreds of people, more than ten separated, poling five or six bamboo rafts across the river; they were all sturdy men with bare hands and feet.

One of them was particularly eye-catching, looking to be a full two meters twenty or thirty tall.

He had only a layer of stubble on his head, a hemp rope tied around his forehead, a square face, and long arms and legs.

Poling the bamboo pole across the river seemed to him like just rowing left and right three or four times, and the bamboo raft reached this bank like an arrow.

"Brother Shanjun!"

"Wu Tugu!"

Cai Shanjun laughed, "If it weren't for me back then, the people in the village would have thought that he was the one who should have been sent into the cave."

Wu Tugu snorted, his voice sounding like it was muffled in a large wooden barrel, vibrating and echoing: "You stole my glory, but you walked out of the cave; I admire you!"

He suddenly sniffed with the tip of his nose, revealing a strange expression, "Why have you become so weak?"

Cai Shanjun said helplessly: "I should have been much stronger than I was back then."

Wu Tugu's gaze swept over the crowd, his nose wrinkled again, and he smiled: "The people around you, however, are more dangerous than the people from that time."

Chu Tianshu asked curiously: "Old brother, did you see that, or smell it? Can scent really distinguish strength?"

"Bears can smell the scent of crocodiles, but foolish people cannot smell it."

Wu Tugu patted his own chest and said proudly, "There are no more than five people in the village with a nose like this, and only I stand the highest and smell the farthest."

The other bamboo rafts had also reached the bank.

A man with narrow eyes, thick whiskers, dark skin, and a short knife tucked into his waist shouted out.

"You don't stand the highest; you just grew the tallest. If it comes to climbing to a high place, you can't beat me."

The man with the short knife stepped forward and performed a mountain village greeting, "Wu Zewa, here by the order of the clan leader to welcome our benefactor."

The title of benefactor was not because Cai Shanjun had replaced someone from their village in the cave back then, but because Cai Shanjun had recovered the ancestors' Colorful Cloud Flute for them.

That was a treasure in legend that could once be ranked alongside the Barbarian King Drum and the Zhuge Zither, but later generations, whether the direct line or the side branches of Wu Family Village, had all lost the method of making it.

The group was welcomed onto the bamboo rafts, and not even that donkey was left behind.

Chu Tianshu looked back in the direction they had come from.

He saw only vast jungles, boundless, and distant mountains, like one giant bowl after another, pressing down on the earth.

The foot of the mountain was a deep green, almost black color, while from the mountainside upwards, it gradually turned white, the peaks unknown to be snow or clouds.

Looking at it this way, one simply couldn't tell where there was a path to travel.

That Cai Shanjun was so familiar with the way when guiding them here, I fear his impression of this village is also very deep, and he has secretly pondered it many times.

"It has been raining for several days, and to be able to see the sunset glow in the village today must mean the Spirit Cave Goddess also feels happy today."

The crowd waiting on the bank clearly took an old man as their backbone.

His hair and beard were gray, his eye pouches were slightly swollen, his belly was slightly fat, and a brown-red cloak hung to his knees behind him; his voice was resonant, appearing very dignified and also very enthusiastic.

"Today, the benefactor who recovered our ancestors' lost treasure has come, and the husband chosen by the Spirit Cave Goddess has come."

"Light the bonfires, bring out the fine wine, and let everyone sing and dance to their heart's content tonight."

The crowd guarding the bank let out cheers.

A delicate girl stepped forward and placed a wreath woven from flexible branches on the clan leader's head, and another wreath was given to Cai Shanjun.

The wild flowers with yellow stamens and white petals added a bit of rustic charm to both of them, adding a sense of intimacy.

The relationship between everyone seemed to have suddenly become closer, and Chu Tianshu and his group were all surrounded by the people who had gathered around and were being led up the mountain.

Although the clan leader and the others were all speaking Han Chinese, when he was truly surrounded by the crowd walking up the mountain, Chu Tianshu realized that there were many people whose words he could not understand.

But he could understand that lively and happy feeling.

"Is the impression the Governor left on them so deep?"

Little Huo was a bit flattered, "It's been more than ten years, and he's still so popular."

Zhong Jinqiu said indifferently: "That little girl at the beginning could recognize Governor Cai at a glance; that is a truly deep impression. As for these people now, most are probably happier for the singing, dancing, and wine tonight."

Chu Tianshu felt the same way.

But he liked this lively and happy atmosphere, so he also had a bright smile on his face, not as tense as Uncle Zhong.

But when they truly got close to those stilt houses, the crowd suddenly dispersed.

Wu Zewa explained: "They are all going to prepare the firewood for the bonfire tonight, the fish to be grilled, as well as insect tea, flower tea, fragrant bamboo, and pickled vegetables."

"To spend a happy night, a lot of preparation is needed."

Chu Tianshu nodded, seeing that the group had already been led to a place with higher terrain; it looked like it should be the council hall for the entire village.

Other stilt houses were bamboo and wood structures, while the hall before them was built with nanmu wood and bricks and tiles.

Inside the hall were more than ten chairs, and in the middle of the floor was a six-legged black iron pot, inside which was stacked unlit firewood.

Just as the group sat down, the girl who had first discovered Cai Shanjun came up, holding a wooden tray in each hand.

"Would the guests like to drink insect tea, oil tea, or flower tea?"

The girl smiled, her eyes sparkling, and first brought a tray to Cai Shanjun, "I remember that the Spirit Cave Goddess's husband is only used to drinking flower tea."

The clan leader said: "This is A Bang; you helped her drill a flute back then."

Cai Shanjun suddenly realized, smiling as he took a cup of flower tea.

The girl walked past everyone in turn, and each person took a cup.

Chu Tianshu looked at the many bowls of tea left on the two trays and couldn't help but ask: "Can I have one of each?"

A Bang smiled: "Of course you can."

Chu Tianshu took three bowls; the oil tea looked like noodle soup and smelled a bit salty and fragrant.

In the flower tea, it looked like some winter melon sugar or something similar had been soaked.

The insect tea looked the most normal, just like water soaked with ordinary tea leaves.

Chu Tianshu had originally thought he would be able to see insects like centipedes, and actually wanted to experience it.

Zhong Jinqiu, sitting next to him, turned his head and reminded him in a low voice: "Insect tea is something that is excreted after an insect eats tea leaves, then dried to become tea."

Chu Tianshu's expression changed slightly; if it were eating centipedes, he would be willing to try, but this kind of tea, he'd better forget it.

He asked Uncle Zhong two more questions.

Oil tea uses things like broad beans, glutinous rice, and wheat flour, which are stir-fried and then mixed with camellia seed oil; it can be stored for a long time, and when brewed, it is indeed very fragrant.

Flower tea is made from things like winter melon and green pomelo peel, cut into finger-sized pieces, either strips or slices, carved with some auspicious flower patterns, processed through various soaking methods to remove bitterness, and then pickled with sugar.

Chu Tianshu silently picked up the flower tea and took two gulps, then drank two gulps of oil tea; they were indeed both very good, and he couldn't help but glance at the insect tea, thinking he should look away.

After a while, he saw Uncle Ma drinking the insect tea quite happily and couldn't help but glance at it again.

Just as he was studying these teas, Cai Shanjun had already exchanged a few pleasantries with the clan leader and cut to the chase.

"I came this time because I want to borrow the Colorful Cloud Flute."

The smiling, heroic-voiced clan leader suddenly lost his voice.

"So, you came for this."

The clan leader still retained some smile on his face, but his voice became deep and slow, as if he was deliberating with great difficulty.

"Although that Colorful Cloud Flute was brought out of the cave by you, the generous gifts we bestowed back then were also taken by you."

"Moreover, that Colorful Cloud Flute was dim back then; it was only after we enshrined it in the ancestral hall for these ten-plus years that it seems to have recovered somewhat..."

(End of chapter)