Chapter Seventy-Eight: Living in the Mountains (Vote Request)

Consciousness flickered between clarity and confusion in the darkness.

Vaguely, it seemed that Lu Hongti had carried him on her back, rushing through the mountain forest with the wind howling past. The soft sensation lingered—“How did you find me…”

“You thought I’d have trouble finding your home? I put some powder on you. My little Qing can track you. If you betray me… but this time you went too far…”

“If I’d known, I wouldn’t have fought so hard…”

“What?”

Flames burned with yellow light, illuminating the filthy surroundings. Above him, the roof tiles were broken, a collapsed idol lay in ruins. Lu Hongti crouched beside him, quickly unwrapping the bandages from his left hand, then taking out medicine and a gourd of water, tending swiftly to the burn on his left arm. The glow shone upon her focused profile.

“I... I need brush, ink, and paper. I must write a letter... Send it to Jiangning. My family... otherwise they’ll start looking for me. Best if they don’t search…”

“You’re thinking about that at a time like this.”

“There’s a friend, Nie Yunzhu, lives... there’s a two-story building, she and her maid stay there, looks like... need to check if she’s alright…”

“Got it.”

“There are two people, two people who must be killed, near Xinlinpu, in a courtyard, one called Little Four…”

“Good or bad people?”

“They want to kidnap my friend…”

“You’re really full of trouble.”

Consciousness dimmed again. When he awoke, Lu Hongti had brought the writing materials, and his left hand was already bandaged. She seemed not to want to disturb him, but seeing him awake, she helped him sit up, placing the brush in his right hand.

“Can you still write?”

“Barely... yes.”

“I really underestimated you before...”

“I just had to do it... Is my left hand ruined?”

“If you hadn’t met me, it truly would have been.”

“Oh... Thank you…”

“What on earth did you do before…”

“...Ran into a lunatic.”

“Sleep now, wait for my return.”

Her figure vanished into the night.

The rest of the night was a blur. The worries he carried had been voiced, and then exhaustion swept over him like a collapsing mountain, crushing everything.

He finally awoke the next morning, body still aching, so weary he could barely rise. Birdsong echoed outside, and morning light spilled slantwise through a gap in the roof.

He struggled to his feet; his chest, shoulder, and left hand were freshly bandaged, and his clothes had been changed. The ones he wore now were actually rummaged from the boat house, not bloodied, but much too large. This was a ruined temple in the mountain forest. When he stepped outside, Lu Hongti was practicing boxing amidst the trees ahead. She wore a black skirt, her sleeves fluttering in the morning light, but each strike carried the iron-blooded force of battlefield killing—a blend of strength and grace, fists and palms whistling through the air. This was no ordinary martial art of the pugilistic world; it was a martial skill forged in the crucible of battle.

The morning light also angled through the woods.

Ning Yi sat quietly on the steps of the ruined temple, watching. After a while, Lu Hongti stood still and caught her breath, her gaze turning toward him, lingering for a long moment.

“All right, I’ve changed my mind.”

“Hm?”

“You really seem to have use for martial skills, and your temperament is strong enough.”

Ning Yi smiled, “That’s the best news I’ve heard these days.”

“There’s a set I can teach you. It won’t make you first-rate, but second-rate is enough for self-defense. I interrogated Little Four and his accomplice, then traced your path...”

She shook her head, smiling. “It startled me.”

“A cornered rabbit bites.”

“I’ve taken care of everything you mentioned. Your family was worried last night. That little maid was so anxious she was nearly jumping, but she’s good—even worried, she didn’t cry. She just instructed the servants to search for you. I slipped the note where she’d find it; she immediately burst into tears, then ran to your wife to report you were safe, crying all the way and even taking a tumble. That Nie Yunzhu girl was fine too—she was sleeping when I arrived.”

Ning Yi had written on the note that he’d left for a few days due to a friend’s troubles. With the note delivered, Xiao Chan and the others wouldn’t worry too much, and Nie Yunzhu was unharmed. As for Little Three and Little Four, their fate was of little concern now.

They sat together on the steps for a while. Lu Hongti said, “I’ll cook some porridge for you.”

Lu Hongti had likely stayed in this ruined temple before. There was a battered pot, and she had a travel bundle, probably stored somewhere in Jiangning and brought out this time. After breakfast, Lu Hongti said, “Once you truly learn martial arts, sometimes you can’t help but use them to solve problems. When it becomes your solution, you unconsciously develop hostility. We had no other choice where I come from, but you’re different. Unless you face an enemy, it’s best not to use force. You’re learned and resilient. Promise me you’ll understand when it’s truly necessary to use violence.”

Ning Yi thought it over, “I dislike resolving issues with brute force. I promise.”

Lu Hongti nodded, “Good. We’ll start soon.”

Ning Yi lifted his left hand, “Can I even learn like this? And I have no strength at all—I’m badly wounded.”

Lu Hongti burst out laughing, “I’ll teach you the basics first. Remember them in your mind, write them down if you’re able. You’ll only start practicing after you recover.”

“Do I need to kneel and formally become your disciple?”

“No, I’m only teaching you second-rate skills.” Lu Hongti paused, “This afternoon, let’s continue with that story—‘The Eight Dragons’—it’d be best to finish it while we have time.”

“Ha, all right.”

In the days that followed, the two settled into life in the ruined temple.

In the mornings, Lu Hongti taught him the methods for cultivating second-rate martial arts, occasionally demonstrating, discussing various scenarios. In the afternoons and evenings, Ning Yi recounted ‘The Eight Dragons,’ or they chatted about all sorts of random things. The days were growing hotter, nearing the peak of summer; heat lingered day and night, mosquitoes swarmed. In the evenings, Lu Hongti burned strange leaves to drive away mosquitoes, sending Ning Yi scurrying about, laughing and cursing.

If one wished to be ambiguous, it felt like a destitute couple settling in this ruined temple. They had little, the battered pot served for cooking, boiling water, and making meals. On the second day, Lu Hongti went out and brought back more bowls and pots, but aside from a bundle, there was nothing else. At night, Lu Hongti applied medicine to Ning Yi’s wounds—his left hand, chest, and shoulder; Ning Yi couldn’t manage the latter single-handed, but Lu Hongti was unconcerned.

“I’ve seen all the men on the mountain. You’re not much to look at—just sturdier than the average scholar.”

She always wore a look of disdain.

After a year of training, Ning Yi was sturdier, though not muscular—certainly no match for true warriors. Still, he felt he was quite well proportioned. He was tempted to ask if she meant she’d seen men from above or below, but in this era such jokes would earn a beating, so he could only silently acknowledge her worldly experience, which left him somewhat awkward each time.

Bandaging and medicating wounds on the battlefield differed from doing so in these quiet circumstances. Occasionally, Ning Yi pondered this, but soon dismissed the thought.

Not far behind the ruined temple was a mountain spring; during the day, they fetched water in gourds or bamboo tubes. Lu Hongti kept a green little bird that favored a peculiar fruit. She ground it into powder and sprinkled it on someone—its scent would linger for several days, which was how she’d managed to track him outside the city that night.

On the third day, a thunderstorm arrived. The ruined temple, battered by pouring rain, resembled a sinking boat. Lu Hongti gathered dense branches to reinforce the roof, then sat with Ning Yi in the temple’s sole dry corner, chatting and listening to his tales, as if they were the last two people guarding a world on the verge of collapse.

Lu Hongti sometimes spoke of Luliang Mountain—not in a complaining tone, but if the Liao army invaded, life would be hard, and Ning Yi could guess at the difficulties. She now led one faction of the Luliang bandits, perhaps not very large. Her master was also a woman, clever and skilled, but had taken a risk to assassinate a Liao general; after succeeding, she was surrounded, fought to exhaustion, and took her own life rather than be captured. Lu Hongti’s reluctance to teach martial arts likely stemmed from this.

“My master was talented and formidable. If not for her martial prowess, she might not have attempted the assassination. With cunning, perhaps she could have succeeded, and if not, at least survived. If she’d lived, guiding us, perhaps more of us could have survived… So don’t place blind faith in martial arts. You value investigation and understanding—wise people shouldn’t risk themselves. Staying alive is more useful…”

Those who had skirted death valued life all the more. Perhaps, after her master’s death, the burden had fallen on Lu Hongti’s shoulders, and she felt its weight. Leading a small group required more than bravery; the challenges of organization and coordination were immense, and the keenest minds sensed this most acutely. Though Lu Hongti hadn’t read books, she was clever, and her master had likely taught her these things. It was no surprise she now spoke of them.

By the seventh day, Lu Hongti had finished teaching the martial arts, though Ning Yi’s story of ‘The Eight Dragons’ was still unfinished. When she complained, Ning Yi replied, “I’d like to teach you something too. It might be useful. Originally, I wanted to exchange it for your martial arts.”

“Hm?” Lu Hongti’s eyes brightened. “Is it another of your strange methods?”

She’d often called Ning Yi’s ideas unorthodox, but she knew his character—reliable in some ways. If he was so confident, it might be useful. Ning Yi nodded, “Perhaps in part. There’s a lot—very scattered. I wasn’t clear about your situation before, so I haven’t fully organized it into a system, and I’m not sure how useful it’ll be for you. First, though, I do know a few sets of martial arts; you can use them for reference.”

Lu Hongti frowned, thinking he was joking. Ning Yi smiled, “Just take a look. Maybe something from elsewhere can be used to hone your skills. Whether it helps is up to you. Some things—like vital points, joint techniques—are fairly systematic.”

Lu Hongti sighed, “...I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

But she was already used to it, just as with molecules, atoms, chemistry, physics, and all his other oddities—she often didn’t understand his madness. Now he wanted to teach her martial arts… Apparently, yes…!