Of Mountains and Rivers 15
This Clumsy Act of Consideration Fell Into Chu Huan’s Eyes, Softening the Bottom Tip of His Heart
Discovering a triangular-headed venomous snake crouching by his home entrance in the darkness caused Chu Huan to experience an indescribable feeling. He never had any fateful encounters with small animals; as long as the animals were alive, they’d pretty much spontaneously avoid him. At last, one had willingly chased after him, yet it was a cold, venomous snake.
He won’t ask for anything else – only, couldn’t he have gotten a warm-blooded animal?
His voice and footsteps had paused at the same time. Nanshan immediately followed his gaze and looked over. Chu Huan wasn’t sure if it was just his imagination, but when the snake momentarily looked back into Nanshan’s eyes, it was as if it couldn’t resist cowering a little.
The little venomous snake, washed over with unforeseen fright, shook the tips of its tail as if wanting to escape with it between its legs, but then realised it was born with the inherent shortage restricting it from doing so. It could only coil around itself tighter, flick out its tongue over and over and move its head up and down repeatedly – as if nodding its head and bowing.
Chu Huan held his glasses numbly and thought – the snake has become a spiritual being.
Not a moment later, his powerful rationality jumped out to refute – no, it’s I who became crazier.
Although it was slightly difficult for him to accept that, Chu Huan’s rationality still attempted to prevail.
Firstly, snakes are near-sighted, which makes it impossible for them to recognise people, he thought with reason. Secondly, it already has such a delicate head. Moreover, most of it is taken up by the venom glands. Is it possible for any IQ to be left up there?
At this moment, Nanshan raised his hands and positioned Chu Huan behind him; he stooped down and, with his bare hands, seized the gifted venomous snake. He watched as the Patriarch’s handsome face turned into a scowl. As if he was carrying a hemp rope, he mercilessly swung it around, not paying any mind to the venomous snake’s dignity.
The little cyan snake’s attempts for escape failed; it listlessly drooped in its captor’s hands, unexpectedly having no intentions to attack.
Nanshan gently warned, “If I see you disturbing him again, I’ll chop you into three.”
He spoke in the Liyi Clan language. Although his tone was gentle, his manner was extremely harsh. When the venomous snake heard this, it promptly stretched its body into a straight long stick. It was extremely dedicated to its play-dead act, even taking into consideration the level of a corpse’s stiffness.
Chu Huan finally couldn’t help but blurt out, “Are you talking to it?”
Nanshan casually threw the venomous snake into the bushes beside him. As if the snake had received a pardon, it drilled itself into the bushes with lightning speed. After a while, its head emerged from the bush again and, only after seeing how Nanshan had no intention to chase after it, did it finally wander away, trembling with fear.
Nanshan: “It can understand – doesn’t bite people.”
In other words, that was a pet snake raised by someone in the clan? Then all the things it did just then were from training?
This wasn’t impossible; after all, it’s a big world filled with extraordinary things.
Chu Huan was extremely amazed and even a little relieved because Nanshan’s words proved he just wasn’t knowledgeable enough, not that he’d been imagining things.
•·················•·················•
Straight after Chu Huan repaired the Patriarch's sceptre for Nanshan, he sent him off. Usually, if Nanshan had the opportunity, he’d definitely stay with him longer; he was filled with curiosity about the other side of the river. Even a strange question like ‘are trains or cars faster?’ could be exhilaratingly studied for an entire afternoon; he was just the living version of ‘I Wonder Why1’.
But on this day, Nanshan seemed to be in a hurry as he came and left. When Chu Huan sent him to the front door, he saw many of Liyi Clan’s young men in the distance intensively inspecting the village and several well-built women bent over on the roofs, fiddling with something. Under the abnormally bright moonlight, Chu Huan saw they were setting up different-sized crossbows.
Chu Huan had a barren imagination; towards the Liyi Clan’s undercurrent surge of heavy defence, his first reaction was ‘will there be a beast-caused catastrophe?’
But then Chu Huan immediately remembered the scene where Flower Bud and her little attendant slaughtered the wild boar and rejected this perception.
Then could it be a territorial dispute with another clan?
Logically speaking, it shouldn’t be – at least, whenever Chu Huan stood tall and viewed far during this period, he never found any traces of other clans living nearby.
It couldn’t be foreigners illegally entering the country through here, right?
If this was true, then it shouldn’t be something the clan should be worried about.
Chu Huan brought all kinds of unreasonable guesses to his bed. From a small box by the head of his bed, he took out his gun and placed it beside his pillow. He wasn’t guarding himself against anything; it’s just, Chu Huan was a bit psychasthenic. To him, the gun could hypnotise him into soothing his nerves, similar to the effects teddy bears had on children when they hugged them to sleep.
In the middle of the night, the Liyi Clan’s village was very quiet – only the occasional one or two owls would cry out from the nearby mountainous forest. Suddenly, there was a squeak – Chu Huan’s courtyard firewood door had been gently pushed open. This movement immediately awakened the lightly sleeping master of the house.
Who?
Members of the Liyi Clan looked down on imitating dogs and stealing chickens2. They worked together and shared the fruits of their labour together; the natural conditions in this region were first-rate – at the very least, nobody could starve as long they worked – and the Patriarch’s prestige was sufficient enough for the people’s obedience. Just like distribution according to need, to some degree, this was like an advanced achievement of communism.
Who would break into someone else’s home in the middle of the night?
Chu Huan quietly turned over and faced the door. His eyes opened a crack and he kept his breathing long and even, sounding as if he wasn’t awake yet. His fingers tightened around his pistol.
Under the abnormally bright moonlight, Chu Huan saw his door latch move.
The latch on his door was old-fashioned, with a wooden block wedged in a groove. Now, the wooden block was slowly moving in thin air as if an invisible person was opening the door from within the house.
With a clatter, the latch fell and the door was pushed open. The night breeze, mixed with a slight scent of fishiness, gusted in. Chu Huan saw, standing by the door with their back to the light, a ‘person’.
As tall as a five-year-old, their head was very small… No, that wasn’t right, this wasn’t a person.
That thing suddenly spread open its arms – under them were translucent webs connected to its body. It raised its head. Exposed under the moonlight was a face covered in fur. It seemed to crane its neck and howl, yet Chu Huan couldn’t hear a sound.
But then, the bell hung on the big tree by his front door tinkled as if it’d been toggled by something.
The bell was, after he’d arrived, hung up by someone whilst he was away – Chu Huan thought it was by a mischievous child. Usually, whenever there was a breeze, the bell would jingle; it sounded nice, so he never minded it.
Now, the bell was vibrating at a high frequency, issuing a hasty, almost piercing, trill that sounded like a string of warnings.
The thing by the door suddenly unfolded the web on its back and pounced towards Chu Huan. Right at this moment, a black shadow suddenly flashed past and directly obstructed it. It raised its hand and seized it, pressing it to the ground.
Chu Huan’s ears involuntarily moved a little and he heard a ‘ka-la’.
Something’s neck had been twisted and broken.
Everything happened in a flash. Chu Huan half-sat up on the bed, the fingers under his quilt resting against the trigger. At first, they were tight, but then they loosened again. Other than that, his entire being displayed a still, mountain-like calmness.
The black shadow that’d just twisted a neck raised its head – it was Nanshan.
Chu Huan nonchalantly released the fingers fastened around his gun as he smelt a putrid, bloody scent.
The air was cold and humid.
This couldn’t have been his imagination – even a figment of one’s imagination could only proceed gradually and not in such a realistic manner.
Chu Huan slowly stretched out his hand for the portable flashlight placed by his bedside, but Nanshan gripped his wrist.
Nanshan’s palms emitted a human warmth. He said, “Don’t look. Already dead.”
Chu Huan: “What was that thing?”
Nanshan was silent for a while before he replied, “A beast that broke in. Wait, I’ll clean it up for you.”
After he finished speaking, he dragged away the thing on the floor with long strides.
Chu Huan draped a piece of clothing over himself as he half-sat on the bed. Although Chu Huan didn’t have the ability to turn off the lights and read in the middle of the night, his night vision definitely wasn’t lacking. Even with the minimal amount of moonlight, he’d seen the creature that'd laid on the ground.
It was something he’d never seen before; humanoid, but with a fur-covered face – the kind of fur similar to the steel-like bristles of a wild boar. Its body had shining scales and a protruding breastbone, and the translucent webs under its arms were like hang-gliders – it most likely could fly.
When Nanshan dragged it away, its nails made metallic clangs as they hung above the floor, clearly demonstrating how hardened they were.
Chu Huan didn’t lack field experience and he'd visited the zoo before; however, this animal completely exceeded his cognition.
Unknown animals, unknown plants, and strangely powerful children.
Chu Huan’s gaze turned to his door latch – and, at that time, how did the latch fall?
At this moment, he heard Nanshan whisper something to someone outside, followed by the sound of water coming from the courtyard as if someone was washing something. They washed for a long time before Nanshan gently pushed open the door and came in again.
This time, Nanshan didn’t say anything. He just silently walked in towards Chu Huan’s bedside.
His hands and face had been washed. His body carried icy vapour and the tips of his hair were a little wet; he stood by the head of Chu Huan’s bed for a while before he choked out two words: “Sleep now.”
After he finished speaking, Nanshan sat with his back facing Chu Huan’s bed and his front facing the door.
Nanshan wasn’t bad at being rhetorical. However, if one wanted him to organise a phrase of brilliant Chinese, it’d always be just slightly out of his abilities.
To Chu Huan, he’d originally intended to say ‘don’t be afraid, I’m here to guard’, but when the words arrived at his lips, he swallowed it back again. Because Nanshan made consecutive oral mistakes in the late afternoon, this time before he spoke, he couldn’t help but meticulously think over his wording; thus, he successfully sensed the impropriety in his words.
Yes, although Chu Huan was ‘fragile’, he wasn’t a child; if he said ‘don’t be afraid’, he’d appear disrespectful.
Since he couldn’t say it, then he’d express himself through his actions.
This clumsy act of consideration fell into Chu Huan’s eyes, softening the bottom tip of his heart.
Chu Huan moved in a little and patted the stiff bed. “Come up.”
Nanshan didn’t refuse – he turned over and laid on it. There were several osmanthus trees near the Patriarch’s residence; Nanshan would often gather the tribe there for discussion meetings, so a light and gentle floral fragrance naturally stuck onto his body. It made its way into Chu Huan’s nostrils, causing him to feel slightly hyperactive.
To protect his jeopardised integrity, Chu Huan stirred up a topic.
“Hey,” he poked Nanshan’s shoulder, “That big fellow from just then, can its meat be eaten?”
Nanshan: “…”
He seriously considered it for a good while before he answered, “No, the skin’s too thick.”
Facing Chu Huan’s fearless foodie spirit, Nanshan remembered Chu Huan’s silent appearance when he applied medicine for him. He felt he was too anxious just then, so he generously gave Chu Huan a sincere compliment. “You really are a ferocious mammoth.”
This time, he learned to express himself using Chinese.
Chu Huan felt it even more indigestible. “Sh – let’s call it ‘brave’, okay? Thank you. And, there’s no need to call me a mammoth – I’m not fierce enough to that degree. Actually, calling me ‘handsome guy’ is good enough.”
In the Liyi Clan’s vocabulary, there was actually no distinction between ‘ferocious’ and ‘brave’ – both were commendatory terms. It can be seen that although this clan was warm and friendly, it had a wild aesthetic for devouring raw meat and fowl.
So Nanshan asked with extreme puzzlement, “Ferocious and brave aren’t the same?”
Chu Huan thought about it. “…’Brave’ makes someone sound more handsome.”
This sentence contained complex synesthesia beyond Nanshan’s understanding, but this time he didn’t entangle in it too much; he just turned over to face Chu Huan and said, “Winter is almost here; we have to make one last trip across the river to sell things. Each time, I’d be the one to take people there, but there are matters to deal with in the clan right now, so I can’t leave. Can you do it for me this one time?”
This request was abruptly put forward. Maybe it was to send him away or maybe it was to protect him. Chu Huan thought about it – as the Patriarch, Nanshan probably had his own considerations. As an outsider, he should try his best to not cause any trouble, so he happily agreed. “Alright. At the same time, I’ll check if there are any small musical instruments for sale. I’ll bring one back for you.”
Since he readily agreed, Nanshan immediately sighed in relief and found the mood to chat idly with him. “Giving me something again? Why don’t you accept the things I give you?”
“The things you give are too expensive – the things I give you to play with are all small things.” Chu Huan thought back to that big gemstone; there was still a lingering fear in his heart. “If that stone of yours really is jade, it could make up my entire lifetime’s salary worth. If this was outside and I accepted it, it’d be seen as corruption and acceptance of bribery, and I’d definitely suffer from punishment.”
Nanshan couldn’t understand what ‘corruption and acceptance of bribery’ or ‘suffer from punishment’ was, so he methodically explained, “From where we’re from, things are different to here. Whatever we send to each other is all the same.”
The Liyi Clan lived like they were in Shangri-la – there were no concepts of wealth. Chu Huan just finished thinking about organising his words in an explanation before he heard Nanshan add, “If you were my friend and you came from afar, I’d invite you to a jar of wine. If you ever needed me to, I’d give my life to you. The things you say that are ‘expensive’ and ‘inexpensive’ are no different in my eyes.”
