Chapter 5: Down the Mountain

Seeing that Liu Xiaolou knew, Dai Shenggao didn't say much more, nodding: "Correct. The First Arrow of Xiangnan. He failed his seclusion and didn't come out alive, so Wang Laoda is summoning the heroes, preparing to enter the manor. I am ordered to issue the invitation. Are you going or not?"

Liu Xiaolou pondered for a long time and said: "I heard from my teacher before that Zhang Xianbai was the pride of the outer sect disciples of Dongyang Mountain..."

Dai Shenggao said: "So we must act before Dongyang Mountain sends people to pay their respects. Time is very tight; it will be tomorrow night. In the past, your teacher always accepted the invitation. This time..."

Liu Xiaolou didn't answer, looking at the grave and lost in thought. His teacher, Three Mystical Master, had accepted the Heroic Invitation six months ago, and afterwards, he lay in this grave. His body was sent back by Dai Shenggao, who was before him.

Dai Shenggao added: "Once you accept the Heroic Invitation, you are responsible for your own life and death... You decide."

Shaking his head and taking a deep breath, Liu Xiaolou still went up to accept the invitation, holding it tightly in his palm. This invitation was made of a piece of square wood, the wood color purple-tinged yellow, engraved with the three characters "Heroic Invitation," the handwriting appearing and disappearing, which was Wang Laoda's unique technique, difficult for outsiders to imitate.

"Enter the field with the invitation?"

"Correct. Keep it on your person, do not lose it. Only with the invitation will you be allowed into the mountain." Pausing, he sighed again: "I don't know if giving you the invitation is right or wrong..."

Liu Xiaolou smiled reluctantly: "Junior has had no progress for half a year."

Dai Shenggao nodded, said no more, rose to his full height, and walked quickly down the mountain.

Liu Xiaolou watched Dai Shenggao leave, sat blankly before the grave for a moment, and kowtowed respectfully three times: "Please, Master, protect me so that this trip goes smoothly."

After kowtowing, Liu Xiaolou returned to the thatched cottage, tied the Three Mystical Sword passed down by his master to his back, rummaged out the last tael or so of scattered silver from the cabinet under the bed, put on his bamboo hat, and went straight out the door.

This trip to Jinping Mountain was no less than three hundred miles, but he had to arrive before tomorrow night, so he couldn't afford any delays.

Outside the courtyard, he saw the big white goose standing by the side of the path, its wings slightly spread, looking up at him. Liu Xiaolou reached out and touched its head: "If I don't come back, there will be no Three Mystical Sect in the world. You can find your own way then."

When he came down from Gan Zhu Ling, a torrential rain began to fall, and the water in the Wuchao River rose very quickly, roaring like a dragon, surging downstream.

The small bamboo hat couldn't block the rain at all, and Liu Xiaolou was soaked through. At Qi Refinement Stage 2, he didn't fear this bit of wind and rain, but his pace slowed down a lot.

Walking along the Wuchao River for more than two hours, he finally left Wulong Mountain. Before him were fields crisscrossed with paths, and the raindrops gradually became smaller, but it had been raining the whole time.

Liu Xiaolou had followed his teacher up the mountain at the age of eight, and had cultivated in the mountain for ten years, so he was very familiar with the surrounding roads. He quickened his pace, walking south along the field ridges. At this time, the sky was dim, and his stomach was hungry. He arrived at a house surrounded by an earthen wall and knocked on the door: "Uncle Tian!"

An old farmer opened the door and welcomed him into the house: "Is the little immortal master going out of the mountain?"

"Yes, passing by this place, asking Uncle Tian for a meal."

"There is, there is."

Uncle Tian went to the kitchen and brought out a bowl of millet rice and a piece of old pickled vegetables, accompanying Liu Xiaolou for the meal. While watching him eat, he asked: "Haven't seen Master Three Mystical for a long time. Is he well?"

Liu Xiaolou stirred his chopsticks in the bowl for a long time and said softly: "The Honored Master has ascended."

Uncle Tian gave an "Ah," said no more, and silently accompanied Liu Xiaolou until he finished eating. At one point, he suddenly grinned, revealing a smile: "Around the New Year, Fairy Jingzhen of Xiushan took a fancy to our Ah Zhen and took her away to cultivate."

Liu Xiaolou froze and said: "Xiushan... Fairy Jingzhen... Ah Zhen has good fortune."

Uncle Tian smiled: "Thanks to the little immortal master's blessing. If the little immortal master hadn't saved her back then, Ah Zhen would have been washed away by the flood long ago..."

Liu Xiaolou shook his head: "Uncle Tian, it was just a helping hand, don't mention it. Xiushan is a good place, and Fairy Jingzhen is also a master, um, I heard my teacher say, a very, very high one... Then after she left, how is Uncle Tian living? Why didn't you follow her to Xiushan?"

Uncle Tian waved his hand: "It doesn't matter, living alone is very good, saves worry! Besides, Xiushan is five hundred miles away from home, why should an old man follow? Who will take care of these fields? My surname is Tian, destined to never leave the fields in this life... By the way, when she left, Fairy Jingzhen said that Ah Zhen can come home once a year."

Another silence.

Liu Xiaolou nodded slowly, put down the tael or so of scattered silver: "Uncle Tian, I'm in a hurry, I'm leaving first."

Uncle Tian chased after him: "You gave too much, where is so much needed?"

Liu Xiaolou didn't look back, waving his hand behind him: "I won't give money when I come next time."

Leaving Wulong Mountain, Liu Xiaolou traveled day and night. At Qi Refinement Stage 2, he didn't necessarily run faster than the martial arts guards of ordinary wealthy families, but he won because there was true qi flowing in his dantian, and his breath was long. By the time it was dark the next day, he finally entered Jinping Mountain in Xiangnan.

At the mountain entrance, an old man with blind eyes stopped the approaching Liu Xiaolou and asked: "Where is the young man going?"

Liu Xiaolou aimed at the old man's chest, saw that he was also hanging a Heroic Invitation, and quickly took out his own Heroic Invitation, shaking it in front of the old man: "Junior came from Wulong Mountain to attend the Heroic Assembly."

The old man sniffed and asked again: "Who issued the invitation?"

Liu Xiaolou answered: "Dai Sanren."

The old man nodded, pointing to the high mountain on the right: "Enter the mountain from here, see the jagged rocks, climb the North Mountain, to the North Cliff."

Liu Xiaolou cupped his hands, entered the mountain according to the directions, walked for a few miles, and sure enough, saw a mountain path with jagged rocks beside it. He climbed to the top accompanied by the rising moon, and ahead was a cliff.

At a glance, he saw Dai Shenggao at the edge of the cliff. He was hiding behind a giant rock, looking down the cliff from time to time. Seeing Liu Xiaolou, Dai Shenggao beckoned him over.

Arriving at the edge of the cliff, below was a pitch-black mountain hollow, almost impossible to distinguish the terrain, only the undulating mountain peaks around outlined mountain shadows in the moonlight.

In that mountain hollow, there was a patch of lights. Dai Shenggao said: "This is the Jinping Mountain Manor of the Zhang family."

Liu Xiaolou looked into the distance for a moment and asked: "Senior, which heroes have responded?"

Dai Shenggao pointed to the mountains: "In the mountain to the east are the heroes of Mengdong River, in the valley to the south is the Seventh Branch of the Raft Sect, on the West Mountain is the Yunshan Gang, and the southeast and southwest gaps are guarded by local magnates Gao Feiyan and Wan Jianxin. On the North Cliff side, are the brothers from the north."

Liu Xiaolou asked: "Who from Wulong Mountain has come?"

Dai Shenggao replied: "The time was too tight, so I didn't invite many. Only you and Longshan Sanren... You are the first to arrive."

Liu Xiaolou looked at the mountains, unable to distinguish how many cultivation masters were in each place, but the Zhang family members in the manor obviously didn't know that disaster was imminent. The manor was still brightly lit, shrouded in the heavy night, like a feast set on a dining table, waiting to be divided.

That night, heroes from the north gathered on the North Cliff, no less than thirty people, which showed Dai Shenggao's wide social circle.

In the second half of the night, Longshan Sanren also arrived. This gentleman had a full beard, almost impossible to distinguish his face, claiming to be the "Dragon Head" appearance formed by cultivating profound arts to a deep level, not knowing if it was true or false. Although he and Liu Xiaolou were both rogue cultivators from Wulong Mountain, they had never met. Hearing that Liu Xiaolou was a disciple of Three Mystical Master, he nodded to him: "Three Mystical Daoist brother... a good person."

Liu Xiaolou cupped his hands to thank him.