Chapter 13: Simple Folk Customs, Honest with Children and Elders

Wu Haishan cautiously retreated, then turned back and asked Ah Guang, "Is there really such a rule?"

"Yes, the village's rules are greater than the sky."

Xu Yuan sneered; if the village rules weren't so strict, could you have even entered? I would have closed the door early and blocked you outside.

Wu Haishan glared hatefully at Xu Yuan, gritted his teeth, and said, "Fine, we will follow the rules."

The old man nodded in satisfaction, hunched his back, held a pipe in his mouth, clasped his hands behind his back, and walked away: "Follow me. As long as there are empty rooms in the village, you can stay for one night, but you must pay."

"As for how much money, you negotiate with the host yourselves."

Wu Haishan and the others exchanged glances and followed Xu Yuan closely.

Wherever Xu Yuan stayed, they would stay there too. At the very least, they would stay next door to Xu Yuan; tomorrow, they absolutely could not let that little rascal run away again.

Xu Yuan took out a box of matches, stuffed them into the old man's hand, and said, "Uncle, trouble you to take me to Jiao Erbo's house."

Most villagers used flint and steel, which was far less convenient than matches.

Xu Yuan had bought a batch of goods from Grandma Ying, and matches were one of them.

The old lady had trouble with her legs and feet, so when buying things, she always liked to buy more at once to go out fewer times.

Her memory was also poor; often after buying things and taking them home, she would discover she hadn't finished the old ones yet, so she just kept accumulating more and more.

But ordinary people wanted them, and Grandma Ying wouldn't sell to them; I just kept them.

The old man immediately became smiling: "You young man are sensible; come with me."

The two groups Xu Yuan first brought into the mountain were genuine merchants.

Chatting idly with these people along the way, Xu Yuan learned that in Wangxiang Village, the best place for lodging was Jiao Erbo's house.

His house had fewer variables.

Jiao Erbo had only one son, who was also over twenty.

Jiao Erbo's wife had died, and his son hadn't married yet. As long as no women stayed in his house, there would be no danger.

The village was roughly circular; in the center stood a huge old camphor tree, but for some reason, it had already withered and died. The bark had been stripped clean, leaving it bare and ghastly white, standing there.

In the night, this dead tree looked like a huge evil monster baring its claws and fangs.

The old man led them around the dead camphor tree for not far, then pointed with his pipe bowl: "Right there."

Jiao Erbo's house was just two broken thatched huts; inside it was pitch black, too dark to light an oil lamp.

"Thank you, Uncle."

The old man waved his hand, held his pipe bowl in his mouth, clicked his tongue, and walked away.

Xu Yuan stepped forward, knocked on the door, and called out, "Jiao Erbo."

Someone inside replied, "Who is it?"

"I was introduced by Zhang Sanlang who came a few days ago. I'm entering the mountain to collect goods and want to stay here for one night; I will pay."

A sound of footsteps approached behind the door, then the door opened. A man in his forties scanned Xu Yuan up and down: "Fifteen large coins for one night."

Xu Yuan took out the money first: "I know the rules; pay first."

Jiao Erbo took the money, left the door open for Xu Yuan to enter himself, then turned back to the bed, rolled his clothes in his hands, and said, "You stay here; I'll squeeze into my son's room."

Jiao Erbo had neighbors on both sides. Wu Haishan gave a signal, and the others each knocked on doors, asked the price, and prepared to stay.

The house on the left opened its door; this family consisted only of a mother and daughter. The mother opened the door. She had an inverted triangular face, her eyes positioned high up, and her figure was thin and long, looking like a mantis.

"Fifty taels."

"What?!" Wu Xiu thought he had misheard.

The mother reached out to close the door. Wu Xiu hurriedly stopped her: "The people next door charge fifteen large coins; you want fifty taels of silver?"

"This is our price," the mother said very stubbornly.

Wu Xiu suppressed his anger: "You are being unreasonable. How about this? I'll give you one hundred coins, much higher than your neighbor next door."

The mother's eyes rolled as she sized up Wu Xiu: "Do you really want to bargain?"

If I don't bargain, I'm an idiot! Wu Xiu thought.

"Well then, one hundred coins is fine; come in." The mother suddenly became enthusiastic.

Wu Xiu muttered to himself, truly, harsh mountains and evil waters produce cunning people; he thought I was a fat sheep.

The other two stayed in the house next door on the right; one had a broken arm, so the two stayed together to look after each other.

This family was a couple raising six children; the eldest four were all six years old, and the youngest two were all four years old.

One litter of quadruplets, one litter of twins.

The couple both had round faces and round eyes, with only sharp mouths, looking like a pair of owls.

The couple opened with a price of "two pigs"; the two bargained down to one hundred fifty coins, and the deal was struck.

After settling his subordinates, Wu Haishan led Ah Guang toward the back of Jiao Erbo's house; there was another household there.

Wu Haishan couldn't help but ask Ah Guang in a low voice: "Do all the people in this village ask for sky-high prices?"

Ah Guang answered solemnly: "Wangxiang Village has simple folk customs and is honest with children and elders! The villagers do not ask for prices arbitrarily."

Wu Haishan was about to mock, but suddenly felt something was wrong. He turned sharply and saw a black figure squatting on the branch of that huge dead camphor tree; in the darkness, two eyes glowed yellow, the whole body covered in feathers, staring straight at him.

Wu Haishan stumbled with his foot, nearly tripping himself.

But looking again, he discovered it was actually a tall old man on the tree, wearing a great cloak made of various feathers, with a pair of yellow crystal lenses and old copper temples on his glasses.

Wu Haishan asked in a low voice again: "Is this a mountain runner from Wangxiang Village?"

"Yes," Ah Guang answered.

The old mountain runner squatted on the branch, staring fixedly at Wu Haishan, so he dared not speak ill of the village again.

Arriving at the door of that household, the other party immediately demanded thirty taels of silver. Wu Haishan didn't even dare to bargain—the gaze of the old mountain runner behind him seemed like two knives pressed against his heart—so Wu Haishan quickly gave the silver.

After entering the room, that feeling finally disappeared, and Wu Haishan let out a long sigh of relief.

After resting for a while and relaxing, Wu Haishan felt again that the blister burned on his arm was especially painful, so he took out a small silver knife, wanting to prick it open and treat it.

Before acting, Wu Haishan suddenly had a thought and asked Guang an extra question: "Can you pop it?"

Guang answered: "No, Zhang Sanba's blister contains consumption; if you pop it, the tuberculosis will infect you, and you'll die for sure within a month."

Although Wu Haishan felt his Rank Dan Xiu could cure illness, he thought again and decided not to take the risk.

"Then how should it be handled?"

"Prepare some gifts, go apologize to Zhang Sanba, and he'll take away the consumption."

Wu Haishan asked again: "Where does Zhang Sanba live?"

"I don't know." Guang truly didn't know. He was only a wine deliverer, familiar only with the old mountain runners, not with anyone else in the village.

In Ghost Wushan, this was the one advantage Xu Yuan had over Guang!

Xu Yuan had dealt with many merchants and was thus more familiar with the village.

Wu Haishan couldn't help cursing: "Why didn't you warn me when he was here… sigh, never mind." Wu Haishan took several deep breaths and couldn't help adding:

"This mountain is truly sinister!"

(End of Chapter)