Chapter 45: Mountain God Shrine Enshrining the Snake Statue

After preparing the meals, Hu Xiaocao started cleaning again; when she had finished everything, it was already daylight, she picked up her enamel cup, took her basket, and was ready to set off.

Mom, I'm heading out; there's porridge on the stove, remember to eat it later.

The woman nodded and gently urged: 'Be careful yourself; from now on don't go up the mountain, it's too dangerous for a little child like you to go into the mountains.'

I'm not scared at all; Mountain God Grandfather is protecting me.

Hu Xiaocao muttered a few words, but her voice was too soft and the woman didn't hear clearly.

A day seemed long, but Hu Xiaocao had so much to do that she was like a spinning top, turning nonstop from the moment she opened her eyes.

As usual, after cutting the pigweed and finishing all her chores, Hu Xiaocao gathered plenty of wild fruit and headed up the mountain path, where she happened to meet several villagers returning from field work.

Hey, little Hu Xiaocao, where are you off to in such high spirits?

Hu Xiaocao replied, hopping and skipping: 'I'm going to pay respects to Mountain God Grandfather.'

Watching Hu Xiaocao's retreating figure, the other villagers exchanged glances: 'Mountain God? Where did this Mountain God come from? How can a little girl believe in such things?'

They chatted a bit about it but didn't take it to heart.

Hu Xiaocao arrived at the place where she had encountered the Mountain God the previous night.

Unfortunately, she didn't see the Mountain God; everything here had returned to normal, ordinary, as if yesterday's events were merely Hu Xiaocao's hallucination.

But she knew it wasn't a hallucination; the Mountain God was real, the moon was real, and even the evening primrose was something the Mountain God had blessed her to find.

After a moment of thought, Hu Xiaocao clapped her hands and said, 'Surely Mountain God Grandfather is just sleeping deeply.'

She placed the gathered wild fruit on the ground, then devoutly bowed and kowtowed a few times before leaving.

As the days passed, Hu Xiaocao continued to make offerings at regular intervals, yet each time she saw no sign of the Mountain God.

Hu Xiaocao wasn't discouraged; she believed that sooner or later, Mountain God Grandfather would be moved by her sincerity and agree to meet her.

Although she didn't go often, she was spotted several times, and the other villagers came to know of her practice of worshipping the Mountain God.

Although the woman had been worried and didn't want her to go into the mountains, she couldn't withstand Hu Xiaocao's persistent pleading; besides, Hu Xiaocao only went during the day and wouldn't stay long, so the woman reluctantly agreed.

She merely warned Hu Xiaocao to stay in the outskirts and not venture inside, where wild beasts might be encountered.

That day, after finishing her usual offerings, Hu Xiaocao didn't leave but fell into thought: 'Why won't Mountain God Grandfather show himself? Could it be that I'm not sincere enough? It feels like I'm asking him to bless my mother.'

Hu Xiaocao recalled seeing temples when she used to follow her mother to market in town.

'Those deities are enshrined in temples, along with all kinds of delicious pastries and fruit.'

Hu Xiaocao glanced at the small wild fruit laid out on the ground, a guilty look crossing her face; compared to that, her offering was truly shabby.

No wonder Mountain God Grandfather hasn't appeared again; he must think she's just fooling him.

How could she possibly ask Mountain God Grandfather to bless her mother like this?

Hu Xiaocao's eyes darted, a flash of inspiration crossing them; she slapped her forehead as if she'd hit upon a good idea: 'Got it!'

She hurried down the mountain, but didn't notice a snake tail flicking past behind her.

A faint rustling sound arose, not very noticeable, like the kind of disturbance made when serpent scales scrape over grass.

Ye Qin watched Hu Xiaocao's retreating figure and said, 'I've been wondering why wild fruit keeps appearing around here lately; turns out it's this girl's doing—is she treating me as the Mountain God to worship?'

Because he needed to contemplate the moon for his cultivation to reach the Second Stage, he rarely appeared during the day; but lately he'd noticed fresh wild fruit showing up here at regular intervals.

Ye Qin couldn't help but feel curious, so he went over to look, only to unexpectedly stumble upon Hu Xiaocao's scene of worshipping him.

It seems this girl really does take me for the Mountain God.

Meanwhile, Hu Xiaocao still had no idea that the Mountain God Grandfather she had been longing for had already appeared.

At the mountain's base, she picked up leftover bricks from others' work, mixed mud with straw, and laid brick upon brick.

A villager passing by couldn't help but tease, seeing Hu Xiaocao earnestly at work: 'Hey Hu Xiaocao, are you playing with mud here?'

Hu Xiaocao, small in stature, squatted on the ground, immersed in her mudbrick work without raising her head, and replied earnestly: 'No, I'm building a house for Mountain God Grandfather.'

The other villagers hearing this could barely keep from laughing.

Yet Hu Xiaocao, step by step, actually built it; a tiny shrine less than half a meter tall took shape, crude but without any other flaw.

Hu Xiaocao scratched her head, looking at the little shrine, and muttered: 'I feel like something's missing, but what could it be?'

Her eyes lit up: 'A Mountain God shrine without a Mountain God inside just won't do.'

Hu Xiaocao then pinched a lump of mud from the side; soon a thin, elongated creature appeared in her hand, resembling an earthworm.

She carefully and devoutly placed it inside the shrine, as if it were the Mountain God himself.

Thus a tiny Mountain God shrine was formed.

The Mountain God presides, while the wild fruit serves as offerings.

Though the sparrow is small, it possesses all five viscera.

Then Hu Xiaocao knelt respectfully before the small shrine, kowtowed three times, murmuring as if praying, and only rose after a long while.

Those villagers saw it and couldn't resist teasing again: 'Hu Xiaocao, you said this is a Mountain God shrine, so why is there an earthworm inside?'

Hu Xiaocao stamped her feet in anger, nearly on the verge of tears: 'What earthworm? That's a snake! It's the almighty Mountain God Grandfather!'

The villagers scratched their heads, not understanding the connection between the Mountain God and a snake, but seeing Hu Xiaocao on the verge of crying, they felt it wasn't right to keep teasing her.

They could only respond in agreement: 'Yes, yes, yes, that's Mountain God Grandfather.'

Hu Xiaocao didn't take the villagers' earlier remarks to heart, but fearing they might offend the Mountain God, she again devoutly kowtowed a few times.

'Mountain God Grandfather, please don't listen to those people's nonsense; my work is lifelike, so don't despise it. When I earn big money someday, I'll build you a grand house and cast a golden statue for you.'

Having done all that, Hu Xiaocao left feeling satisfied.

As evening approached, Ye Qin appeared, gazing thoughtfully at the tiny Mountain God shrine before him, and fell into silence.

This certainly isn't a trick aimed at me, is it?

What met his eyes was a twisted, indistinct creature.

Coiled inside the shrine, calling it an earthworm would still be a compliment; if he truly looked like that, he'd be so ugly he'd cry.

Ye Qin glanced and saw three stalks of dog-tail grass blowing in the wind before the shrine; evidently Hu Xiaocao had no incense, so she'd pulled a few blades of grass to serve as a makeshift substitute.

Barely managing, it actually seems to be that way; of course, there are many things inside that cannot be examined closely.

Although everything looks rather crude, all simple versions, it is Hu Xiaocao's intention, and she built it all herself.

"This little girl is quite interesting."

Ye Qin shook his head, did not linger here any longer, and then continued back to his own cave.

It's not that he is indifferent; he simply cannot help in this matter. This girl hopes her mother will recover soon, but Ye Qin does not know how to heal.

He is still just a snake, has not yet reached the Realm of turning the heavens and earth, nor has he learned the skill of alchemy, so for now he can only feel powerless to help.

(End of chapter)