nyslfriends Chapter 4 Fallen Immortal Mountain
Chapter 4 Fallen Immortal Mountain
After bidding farewell to the old man with the stone statue, Song Quyou returned to the temple with a heavy basket on his back and began preparing the meal.
Rinse off the mud and rotten leaves, and tear the mushrooms into small pieces. Pour a little oil into a pan, heat it up, and stir-fry the mushrooms. Sprinkle with a little salt. Once the mushrooms are somewhat dry, add a little more oil and stir-fry quickly before removing from the pan. This way, you can taste the original flavor of the mushrooms.
This was something Song Quyou came up with in his spare time. In this mountainous region where resources were scarce, the food was quite good. Therefore, every year at this time, people would get up early to search for mushrooms in the forest.
After preparing several more dishes and serving them piping hot, Song Quyou walked into the courtyard and shouted, "Senior brothers and sisters, dinner's ready!"
Three people, seemingly appearing out of nowhere, yawned and flicked their clothes as they appeared simultaneously in the cafeteria.
The fourth senior brother sniffed, feeling more alert after smelling the fragrance.
"Fifth Junior Brother, every time I can eat your cooking, it's the time when my Daoist heart is at its most at ease in these mountains and forests."
As he spoke, his voice trailed off, and the fourth senior brother whispered in Song Quyou's ear, "The eldest senior brother and second senior sister only know how to make pancakes..."
"Fourth Junior Brother, gossiping behind people's backs is not good for cultivating thunder magic. Be careful that heavenly lightning strikes you because of your evil intentions." Second Senior Sister stood coldly behind Fourth Senior Brother, her face expressionless, a far cry from her usual gentle demeanor.
The fourth senior brother was so frightened that he looked as if he had seen a vengeful ghost, his face turned as white as paper, and sweat poured from his forehead.
Over the past three years, Song Quyou has grown accustomed to interacting with his fellow students.
The three of them went into the cafeteria and picked up rice cakes to eat casually.
The fourth senior brother picked up a piece of mushroom, put it in his mouth, and said with relish, "This is the taste! It's like meat but not quite, it's incredibly delicious. May I have this mushroom again tomorrow?"
Song Quyou pursed his lips, suppressing a laugh, and remained silent, knowing that his fourth senior brother was just teasing him about wanting to slack off.
Second Senior Sister put down her chopsticks, stood up, and gently tugged at Fourth Senior Brother's ear, saying, "Practicing thunder magic is cultivation, and cooking is also cultivation. Do you think you can escape cooking tomorrow?"
The fourth senior brother immediately wilted, stuffed a mouthful of rice cake into his mouth, and looked timid.
"I just have a sweet tooth and want to eat another meal cooked by my junior brother."
"No excuses allowed. Thunder magic hasn't improved at all in three years."
The four people, having finished their meal, parted ways and found places to rest as the sun began to set.
With nothing to do, Song Quyou sat at the entrance of the temple, looking at the majestic mountain peaks that were always hidden in the clouds and mist in the distance. For some reason, he suddenly had the idea of going to see them.
"What are you thinking about, Fifth Junior Brother?"
Song Quyou looked up at the person who had come in. It turned out to be his second senior sister, who was holding the black charcoal and had been standing behind him at some point.
"I wasn't thinking about any senior sister. I just saw that mountain across the way. It's always shrouded in mist and looks very mysterious. I wanted to go and investigate it."
Second Senior Sister's hand, which was gently stroking the cat in her arms, suddenly stopped, causing Little Black Charcoal, who was squinting and enjoying himself, to let out a dissatisfied squeak.
"My master said that the mountain is called Luoxian Mountain. Legend has it that there are immortals who have fallen to the mortal world on the mountain, but no one has ever seen them."
"Has Senior Sister been to that mountain?"
"Like you, I've only been a member of the temple for a few years. I just wanted to go and see the mountain by chance, but there wasn't much to see after I climbed up."
Song Quyou's eyes sparkled, and he got up and ran to the canteen to grab two rice cakes. He stuffed them into his pocket, then hurriedly ran out of the temple gate and waved to his senior sister at the door, saying, "Senior sister, your junior brother won't be coming back tonight. I plan to watch the sunrise at Luoxian Mountain tomorrow morning."
Watching Song Quyou's departing figure, Su Tang shook her head and sighed softly, "Junior Brother seems composed, but he's still like a child at heart. However, there are many mountain spirits there, so follow carefully behind him and don't let the spirits make things difficult for him."
Blackie, who had been dozing in Song Quyou's arms, opened his eyes, stretched, yawned, and licked the unruly fur on his paws. Freed from his restraints, he leaped down and leisurely followed behind Song Quyou.
……
Luoxian Mountain is uninhabited and shrouded in mist year-round, with no established mountain paths. To ascend, one must climb rocks and swing from branches.
Once inside the mountains, Song Quyou didn't venture into the clouds and mist, relying solely on the faint light filtering through the blazing sun to orient himself.
With his head down, looking at the undulating mountain terrain beneath his feet, he pushed aside the branches that blocked his way, stepped on the bluestone, and pulled himself up the crevices in the rocks, climbing one cliff after another.
Perhaps because I was walking too fast, I was panting heavily and felt suffocated by the surrounding clouds.
Song Quyou leaned against the old tree, hands on his hips, panting heavily. He looked up at the sky, watching the birds frolicking on the branches not far away, and listened to the roaring sound that his ears had long been accustomed to—the sound of a waterfall in the clouds.
After resting for a while, we continued uphill. The vegetation became shorter and shorter, mostly pines and some unnamed shrubs. They took root in the cracks of the rocks, on the cliffs, or split open the bluestone to carve out their own foothold.
The weather was hot and humid, and my clothes were already soaked with sweat and mist, but thankfully the rice cakes I was carrying didn't turn into mush.
Continuing to climb, we finally broke through the clouds and mist, feeling like we had made it through the ordeal. We could smell the fresh mountain breeze, which whistled away the frustrations and lingering mist in our hair, taking away all the unpleasantness we had endured.
We haven't reached the summit yet, but it's right in front of us.
Song Quyou used both his hands and feet to scavenge through the loose rocks and quickly reached the top of the mountain.
I stood up and was momentarily stunned by the sight before me.
This mountain soars high, with clouds swirling around its waist. The churning sea of clouds obscures everything below, leaving the exposed peaks resembling solitary islands of countless shapes. The summer sun is setting in the west, like a drop of vermilion ink falling onto white silk, leaving behind a crimson afterglow.
Sitting atop the mountain, feeling the howling wind and gazing at the sea of clouds churning like giant waves below, Song Quyou felt it was all worthwhile. After all, such scenery was only found in remote, deep mountains, rarely seen by many.
As the sun gradually disappeared, the crimson afterglow turned dark blue. Song Quyou got up, patted the dust and pebbles off his backside, and planned to find a sheltered place to spend the night, and then go down the mountain to watch the sunrise the next day.
As darkness fell, in the mountain valley, Song Quyou ate the salty rice cake soaked with sweat, gazing at the starry sky, his thoughts drifting far away.
This mountain is called Luoxian Mountain. If I were to actually encounter a deity, and that deity were kind enough to impart immortal techniques to me, or bestow upon me a golden elixir that would grant me immortality, wouldn't that be wonderful?
As he pondered this, a smile involuntarily crept onto his lips, completely unaware of the pair of tiny black eyes staring at him from in front of him.
Chirp chirp~
Coming to his senses, Song Quyou heard the sound and looked down, only to see a small, bright red sparrow looking at him pitifully.
Song Quyou, feeling kind-hearted, thought that food was scarce in the mountains and that the little sparrow was probably hungry, so he broke off a piece of rice cake and put it in front of the little sparrow.
The little sparrow looked down at the rice cake in front of it, symbolically pecked at it twice, and then stopped eating, but still refused to leave. It boldly stepped forward and tugged at Song Quyou's clothes, pulling him away.
Song Quyou did not understand the meaning behind it, thinking that the little sparrow was just being naughty, so he stopped paying attention to it.
But this sparrow was very clever. Seeing that Song Quyou was unmoved, it jumped onto his shoulder, pecked him hard with its sharp little beak, and then flew angrily out of the mountain hollow. It landed on the ground, spread its wings and pointed into the distance, and kept looking back.
Even if Song Quyou was foolish, he could see through the bird's intentions. He got up and followed the little sparrow, wanting to see what the bird was up to.