As the crow flies, the distance from Luzhou to Yingzhou was roughly the same as from Xuancheng to Luzhou, but traveling the route on foot or horseback was an entirely different story.
Between these two prefectures lay numerous towns, counties, and villages, crisscrossed by mountains, rivers, and lakes, making the roads exceedingly winding.
If one chose to take the official road, safe and steady travel was guaranteed, but it meant endless detours and substantial delays.
Even though Sun Yixie and Huang Donglai still had plenty of time to reach Luoyang before the Mid-Autumn Festival, Sun Yixie was, by nature, a man who loved cutting corners.
And so... after traveling for a few days, when they arrived at the foot of Qingfeng Peak, Sun Yixie pitched an idea: "Let's cut across the mountain. It'll shave off at least two and a half days!"
As for Huang Donglai, though he grumbled a bit, he offered no fierce objection.
This was another of his character flaws: in major life decisions, Huang Donglai usually made the right call, but when it came to minor matters, he was prone to hesitation, overthinking, and indecision. In such moments, if someone like Sun Yixie—who loved stirring the pot and throwing out half-baked schemes—was beside him, Huang would easily be swayed, following his sworn brother straight into a ditch.
Thus, into the mountains they went.
The mountain path was gentle at first; otherwise, Sun Yixie would never have thought crossing it was such a bright idea. But after half a day's trek, the gentle slope gave way to steep inclines. Riding horses soon turned into dragging horses. At this rate, if it grew any steeper, the men would have to carry the horses on their backs.
Naturally, Huang Donglai's hindsight complaints began in earnest.
Of course, Sun Yixie was well used to this. Armed with his brazen hide and a simple retort—"Didn't you fail to stop me back then?"—he could instantly deflect thirty percent of the blame onto his brother.
And if he followed that up with a moral guilt trip like "Aren't we brothers of one heart?", the blame would essentially be split fifty-fifty.
Just like that, trading barbs and venting their grievances like squabbling fishwives, they eased their fatigue and foul moods, pressing stubbornly onward.
Before they knew it, night had fallen.
In the desolate wilderness, the men were exhausted and the horses spent... but that went without saying.
For Sun and Huang, who were about to spend the night out in the wild, the real trouble was that these mountains almost certainly teemed with wild beasts.
Never mind tigers or bears; even an ordinary wild boar crossing their path right now would be more than a handful.
Huang Donglai's martial arts were decent, but when all was said and done, those techniques were human-on-human combat skills, not meant for fighting animals. Unless he possessed over twenty years of internal force and could shatter mountain boulders with a single fist, he had little hope of besting a predator larger than himself with bare hands and feet.
Take Wu Erlang, for example. Did Wu Song beat a tiger to death because his martial techniques were exquisitely refined? Obviously not... He won because his strength, speed, and reflexes were sufficient to overpower a feline larger than himself. Which is to say, on paper alone, Wu Song was every bit as formidable as Captain America, if not more so—though that was beside the point...
Had Huang Donglai trained with longer weapons or bladed arms, he might have stood a fighting chance against wolves, leopards, and tigers; after all, tools were humanity's greatest physical advantage against beasts. Unfortunately, he specialized in hidden weapons. In an encounter with a wild predator, such tricks might fail to kill it and only enrage it further. Even if he coated his darts with poison, the brew was designed for humans; whether it would work on a beast, or how long it would take to take effect, was anyone's guess.
As for Sun Yixie... he possessed a handy weapon, but his stamina and martial skill were sorely lacking.
In short, spending the night deep in the mountains was extraordinarily dangerous for the two of them.
They had even discussed and agreed beforehand: if a large carnivore attacked, they would sacrifice the horses at the critical moment and save their own skins.
Naturally, their horses thought precisely the same thing: if a large carnivore attacked, they would ditch these two useless bastards and bolt.
Rumble—
As the saying goes, when it rains, it pours.
Just as they were looking for a sturdy tree to lean against and make do for the night, heavy, muffled thunder rolled across the dark, cloud-choked sky.
Now they were truly in trouble. On top of being devoured by wild beasts, they now faced the added risks of being struck by lightning or falling sick from a drenching rain.
Left with no alternative, the two forced themselves to rally, leading their horses forward in the hope of finding a cave or ravine to shelter from the downpour.
Just as the rain hung on the verge of bursting forth, and their physical and mental endurance neared its breaking point, all of a sudden...
A flash of lightning ripped across the pitch-black sky, illuminating the earth for a fleeting second.
In that brief burst of brilliance, Sun Yixie narrowed his small eyes and caught sight of an upturned silhouette tucked behind the trees several dozen paces away.
Crack—boom!
Seconds later, as the thunder crashed, Sun Yixie had already confirmed what he had seen: the corner of an overhanging roof.
"Brother Huang, looks like there's a building over there!" Sun Yixie shouted in the very next breath.
Hearing this, Huang Donglai turned his head toward the direction Sun pointed, muttering, "For real? Brother Sun, you're not hallucinating, are you?"
Sun Yixie was not hallucinating. After walking a short distance toward that direction, a dilapidated temple indeed appeared nestled within the mountain forest.
One leaf of the front gate was missing, but the aged plaque hanging above it remained. Carved upon it were three large characters: Mountain God Temple.
In Da Ming, small shrines bearing the name "Mountain God Temple" were far too numerous to count on eight pairs of hands; nearly every mountain across the land had one. Neither of them cared to wonder what might be unique about the mountain god of Qingfeng Peak.
Sun Yixie and Huang Donglai only knew that rain was already cascading down like a waterfall, and if they didn't duck inside immediately, they would both be soaked through like drowned rats.
Having finally found a roof overhead, renewed strength surged through them. Dragging their horses, they broke into a trot and hurried through the temple gates.
The outer gate was built flush with the boundary walls, enclosing a very narrow courtyard. Beyond it stood a Buddhist prayer hall. Though the temple was small, the prayer hall's roof was quite elaborately crafted, with gracefully upturned eaves and ridges extending outward. At each end of the main ridge sat a carved ridge beast shaped like a pair of facing fish, quite pleasing to the eye.
Of course, Sun and Huang were in no mood to admire architecture. They tied the two horses to the pillars outside the prayer hall, ensuring the beasts were safely under the eaves, and hastily stepped inside.
Then, like two dogs that had just frolicked in the rain, they slapped at their clothes and shook their heads vigorously, shaking off the surface water.
At that moment, the prayer hall was pitch-black, save for the faint light filtering in through the doorway. What with the deafening thunder and pouring rain outside, Sun Yixie and Huang Donglai naturally assumed the hall was empty before their arrival.
Yet just as they produced a fire striker and began looking for a candle to shed some light...
Suddenly, a voice drifted out from the darkness deep within the prayer hall:
"Who said you could come in?"
Chapter 19