Of Mountains and Rivers 34
Chapter 34 – Why Did the Sacred Spring Choose Me?
T/L: Hey guys, it’s been a while. I’ve been working on keeping my translations consistent, so hopefully I’ll be able to apply that to this novel too. Enjoy reading!
In the long course of history, every ethnicity would’ve created its own unique culture and ideologies. When outsiders interact with them, they may feel a resonance of emotional stirring that some may not completely understand. And that’s okay. But when people name something ‘sacred’, it usually means they won’t tolerate it being tarnished.
Hence, Chu Huan’s first reaction was to hastily apologise. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I truly didn’t mean to…”
But before he could finish his sentence, his voice died away. The moment the drop of blood dripped into the spring water, snow-white foam surged like a jet and spread from a single point as if a mini-explosion had occurred. After the disturbance died down, a pale figure slowly floated to the surface.
Chu Huan was so anxious his heart was convulsing – he had no idea what bizarre thing was going to appear.
Then, the figure completely surfaced, a drop of blood set between his brows. When he opened his eyes and saw Chu Huan, his expression looked as if he was facing an enemy.
As if struck by lightning, Chu Huan momentarily forgot how to speak.
It was a supposedly familiar face, but… Because of irreversible time and the insurmountable reality of life and death, the face appeared foreign instead. With the spring water’s dense steam gently drifting around them, seeing the person before him made him feel as if he was in a realistic dream.
The figure stood in the water. First, he looked at the mountain cave, spring, and down at himself with shock; then, his wary eyes roamed around before they landed on Chu Huan. After a moment of staring, he frowned and stiffly asked, “It’s you?”
Chu Huan felt as if his throat was blocked by something. Still in a daze, he didn't respond.
Seeing his grave expression, the figure must’ve felt a little disheartened so, with a vigorous tone, he said, “Hey, who are you showing your mournful expression to?”
Chu Huan didn’t even think. His hoarse voice uncontrollably blurted, “It wasn’t like I cried at your funeral, so who are you to care?”
The two were like a pair of flammable substances – with just a few words, sparks were flying everywhere from a flame of dispute.
Chu Huan’s words hadn’t even settled yet before a punch landed on his lower abdomen. Caught off guard, he almost couldn’t catch his breath. He stumbled back a few steps and his back viciously crashed against the cave wall. This was a very fierce collision, causing both Chu Huan’s chest and back to tense. A cluster of sand from between the mountain rocks fell with a rustle around him.
A surge of indescribable fire suddenly flared within him. He whirled his fist and greeted the other’s face with it.
The other groaned stuffily as the fist landed, his face cracking to the side. He lowered his head and covered his face. Then, he spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva. He glared ferociously at Chu Huan, inexplicable hatred burning vividly in his eyes. With an imposing expression reserved only for an irreconcilable foe, he snarled, “A brat like you dares to hit my face?! Did I fucking touch your face? Did I?! Chu-brat, I’m not letting you go today!”
Chu Huan immediately followed up with an insult, as if belittling the other was an instinct that would never degenerate. “Punching your shoehorn face is a form of cosmetic surgery.”
This remark was like a sounding horn marking the beginning of a war. Uncaring of his nakedness, he jumped out to fight him, demonstrating how one’s face was more important than their sense of shame.
However, his fist was stopped halfway by a hand.
Nanshan’s brows were furrowed as he stood in front of Chu Huan. He squeezed the fist so hard it was unable to move.
From his perspective, Nanshan noticed that this strange newborn Gatekeeper had thick brows and big eyes, and although his skin was as pale as the other Gatekeepers, he oddly didn’t have a Gatekeeper’s standard water-ghost manner. With a pair of raised eyebrows and glowering eyes, he appeared extremely arrogant and punchable.
The newborn Gatekeeper stared at Nanshan. “Bro, who are you?”
Astonishment flashed across Nanshan’s face. He’d been a Patriarch for many years, yet never had he come across such an unconventional Gatekeeper. With the hand he was using to block the other’s fist, he pushed him back and lightly said, “It doesn’t matter who I am. Hitting him is the same as hitting me.”
“Hey you, do you still have some fucking face? Even finding a helper…”
The newborn Gatekeeper cursed with glaring eyes. However, when he carefully sized up the ‘helper’ Nanshan, his expression suddenly turned bewildered. He gradually put away his hedgehog-like animosity and, as if uncertain, whispered, “You are a… Mountain Keeper?”
The last thing he blurted out was accurately spoken in the Liyi Clan’s language. Chu Huan was instantly taken aback.
Nanshan once said that no matter how similar in appearance they may seem to the people of the past, those who walked out of the Sacred Spring were still different people.
Like a bucket of cold water was poured onto his head, his mind froze – only then did he feel the burning pain in his lower abdomen.
Chu Huan lowered his head and, with his back against the cold and damp cave wall, bent his waist until it was like a shrimp.
Luger walked over. He glanced at Chu Huan with a complicated look before asking the newborn Gatekeeper, “What is your name?”
“…Yuan Ping.”
Luger held out a hand toward him.
The newborn Gatekeeper was dazed for a moment before he clasped onto that hand. As if he was slowly coming back to his senses, he whispered, “You are the Patriarch.”
Luger nodded his head. “Let’s go and find you some clothes.”
The newborn Gatekeeper followed Luger out. Suddenly, Chu Huan called out his name as if he was sleep-talking. “Yuan Ping…”
Yuan Ping’s footsteps paused and he glanced back at him. The strands of hair that were always prepared to raise in anger seemed to have fallen back to his head. He felt he should respond with the habitual ‘grandson, why are you calling for grandpa?’, but for a moment, he was unable to find his voice.
In fact, he even felt a bit muddleheaded. He was supposed to be someone but, at the same time, he wasn’t. The world seemed to be the same as before but, at the same time, it wasn’t.
Speaking of which, which was the world from ‘before’?
He was taken away by Luger in this confused state. Chu Huan heard the Mountain and Gatekeepers around him murmur to themselves – he even thought he heard them mention a ‘Text’, but they were using too many unfamiliar words for him to be certain. First of all, he couldn’t understand them; secondly, he wasn’t in the mood to listen.
It was just a punch – should he really be hurting this much?
For Chu Huan, this clearly wasn’t the case.
Yet, he still leaned against the wall and coughed unceasingly, as if his entire five viscera and six bowels had been overturned.
Worried, Nanshan held his shoulders and helped him up. “Are you okay?”
Chu Huan grabbed Nanshan’s hand. “Didn’t you say the people who come out from the water are Gatekeepers? Don’t Gatekeepers need the spring water’s memories? What are the spring water’s memories? What are Gatekeepers? I don’t believe Gatekeepers can just be limitlessly produced at will, I- Cough, cough…”
His words were interrupted by his coughing. After a while, Chu Huan slowly released his hand. An obvious red mark was left around Nanshan’s wrist. Seeing this, Chu Huan was taken aback; then, he gently waved his hand. “I’m sorry, my mind isn’t very clear right now.”
Nanshan hesitated for a moment. Then, he tentatively reached out and gently lifted the hem of Chu Huan’s shirt. Seeing how the other didn’t object, he rolled it up completely.
A bruise was left behind by Yuan Ping’s punch above Chu Huan’s lower abdomen. After only one glance, Nanshan felt unhappy; even his voice cooled. “Who is he?”
Chu Huan: “A…”
He couldn’t help but pause. A what?
A friend? Ridiculous, considering how every time they met they’d give each other black eyes.
A rival? Alas, that was already an eight-hundred-year-old almanac – the female lead had already become a mother.
Then… A colleague?
Nanshan perhaps wouldn’t understand what a ‘colleague’ was.
Before he had the chance to answer, Nanshan was suddenly taken over by wisdom and asked, “Is he that… Ferocious Mammoth1?”
Only then did Chu Huan remember the nickname he came up for him. He didn’t expect Nanshan to remember it this clearly after so long, especially since he’d said it so casually. He had no choice but to nod, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
Nanshan’s brows furrowed tighter.
He felt extremely restless, as if there was a strain somewhere in his heart that made his entire body feel uneasy; however, he couldn’t find the crux of the issue. Nanshan couldn’t help but think, Chu Huan has never fought anyone from the clan. The Elder is so blunt with him, yet he never lost his temper. Why is that person alone so special?
He perceptively noticed that in their state of mutual hostility, there was something different between the two – Chu Huan must’ve had a deep entanglement with that person; an entanglement deeper than with anyone else. Something must’ve happened between them that nobody else knew about – a past like a secret agreement between them.
Nanshan suddenly understood the feeling of jealousy.
Growing up, he’d never felt jealous of other people, so this was his first time. It felt as if his heart was on fire, the scorch irritating him beyond belief and leaving him with a dry mouth.
He lowered his eyes and gently touched his fingers against the bruise above Chu Huan’s lower abdomen. The warmth of the other’s skin suddenly leapt onto his fingertips, but before he could fully savour it, Chu Huan had already reacted and avoided him.
“Don’t touch, it itches… Hiss… It hurts and itches.”
Nanshan’s fingers retracted as if startled, his heart feeling stuffier.
Fortunately, the Elder came over at this moment. The drag of his footsteps brought Nanshan back to his senses.
The Elder looked at Chu Huan with a mysterious expression and said, “The Gatekeepers have remained as they are for generations. It’s been a long time since a new Gatekeeper joined them.”
Then, he turned to Nanshan, the two corners of his lips drooping in a picky ‘your Boss isn’t happy’ expression. “Could the person written in the Sacred Texts truly be him? The Sacred Texts must be muddled with age.”
“Elder.” Chu Huan tidied his attire and, with a grim expression, asked, “Wasn’t it said that those who come out from the Sacred Spring must have its memories? Then how does it remember Yuan Ping? He’s the same as me – an outsider. How could he have come here?”
The Elder glanced at him with a distant look. He lightly rapped his crude wooden cane against the ground, causing an echoing ‘da-da’ to resonate throughout the cave. He slowly answered, “I’ve lived for so long, but have never seen that person before.”
As he spoke, he strenuously squatted and cupped the Sacred Spring water with his hands. The surface had calmed by now and, in the gentle fluorescent light, the water was so clear one could see the bottom. The water flowed down the Elder’s aged fingertips. “Have you noticed? The clans-people have been dripping their own blood into the water. Only you were chosen by the Sacred Spring.”
After Chu Huan’s brief moment of shock and inner turmoil, he’d calmed down completely. He tilted his head towards the pool of water. Hearing the Elder’s words, he suddenly felt a terrifying panic – it was as if the water was alive and could see through his heart.
Chu Huan: “Why did the Sacred Spring choose me?”
The Elder side-eyed him as if he was acting a little disrespectful.
Nanshan suddenly spoke up. “There is a legend in my clan. It is said that, on this mountain, was a piece of stone from the Heavens; written on it are our clan’s Sacred Texts. It describes how we’ll walk from a state of changelessness to deterioration before a person who can ‘communicate to the past and future, and link the present to the end’ will cross the river and bring us change… In the past, the Elders all believed my A-ba was that person.”
Chu Huan wasn’t following – he couldn’t understand what this had to do with his question.
Nanshan added, “You might not know, but in the eyes of Gatekeepers and us Mountain Keepers, the Sacred Spring is what’s holding together the ‘past and future’.”
Chu Huan was taken aback. He immediately understood the unspoken implications of the other’s words and pointed to himself with astonishment. “You aren’t saying that person is me, right? I can communicate with the Sacred Spring? But- but I haven’t even said anything to it.”
“The person on your mind must’ve been someone you would’ve sacrificed your life for,” the Elder said, unable to read the room, “If the Sacred Spring heard your longing, then it’s considered to have ‘memories’ of them.”
Chu Huan’s expression was strange whilst the dark clouds on Nanshan’s face almost thundered.
After another moment, Chu Huan asked in perplexity, “Change? What can I change?”
The Elder: “Who knows?”
Chu Huan turned to look at Nanshan again, but the good-tempered Nanshan seemed to have taken the wrong medicine2; he stiffly avoided his gaze before leaving without a single word.
Chu Huan whispered to the Elder, “What’s wrong with the Patriarch?”
The Elder: “Who knows?”
He snorted. Wearing a disdainful expression on his mountain goat face, that old yet vigorous elder also left.
Chu Huan sat quietly beside the Sacred Spring. The Mountain and Gatekeepers were too big-hearted – they left an outsider like him alone before their ‘past and present’ without even leaving someone to watch over him. Weren’t they afraid he’d do something drastic like piss in it?
“Someone who can communicate with the past and present?” Chu Huan leaned against the stone wall. He turned up his head and closed his eyes, silently listening to the murmur of water beside him in hopes of receiving some brain waves; instead, the more he listened, the more calloused his ears felt. He couldn’t feel any desire for communication from the pool of serene ripples.
Ultimately, Chu Huan still couldn’t believe anything that happened before his eyes.
He was still trying to use his science-based common knowledge to explain everything that’d happened, but it was always for naught. Even if he was to think until he became muddled, his brain remained a paste.
Outside, the Mountain Keepers and newborn Gatekeepers were cleaning up the battlefield.
Inside, Chu Huan sat by the Sacred Spring with his eyes closed to rest his mind.
Suddenly, he heard a rustling noise. When Chu Huan opened his eyes, he saw that the little venomous snake had swum in at some point. It erected its triangular head to look at him. Then, it slithered to the Sacred Spring. It swayed side to side as it admired its own reflection before bending down to drink.
With sharp eyes and nimble fingers, Chu Huan lifted it away. “Don’t randomly drink it. What if you get pregnant?”
The little venomous snake circled around his wrist and spat out its tongue gloomily.
Only then did Chu Huan remember. He lifted the little snake and asked, “Are you male or female?”
The little snake spat out its tongue again. A pair of big eyes stared into small ones. Chu Huan decided to flip its tail and check himself.
Unfortunately, his knowledge of biology was limited. After he flipped its tail, he realised he didn’t know the difference between male and female snakes.
If even this was tolerated, who knew what this big hooligan would do next?! The little venomous snake was finally enraged. It opened its mouth and exposed its fangs. With a ‘ha’, it twisted into a biting stance. Taking advantage of Chu Huan’s instinct to dodge, it strenuously broke free of his evil clutches and slithered away in shame and resentment.
Chu Huan finally smiled. He stood up and walked out of the cave. As soon as he exited, he saw someone leaning against the stone wall as if waiting for him.
Yuan Ping.
Chu Huan’s footsteps paused.
Yuan Ping raised his head and glanced at him. “Hey, got a smoke?”
Chu Huan examined him and noticed he had a pair of pants on. If it was from behind, he’d look like a genuine Gatekeeper. “You can still smoke like this?”
Yuan Ping’s brows furrowed, at a loss for a second, before he snappishly said, “Who cares? Bring it here.”
Chu Huan: “Oh, I don’t have any.”
Yuan Ping: “…”
Even if he and Chu Huan weren’t the same people from the past, the Gatekeeper fresh from the oven firmly believed that nobody in this world but Chu was the embodiment of a bitch.
Chu Huan walked to his side and leaned against the stone wall an arm’s length away from Yuan Ping. “How are you feeling right now?”
Yuan Ping was silent for a short while. Then, he lowered his head and combed his fingers through his hair – he was the only Gatekeeper with short hair, so it made him look a bit out of place. “I’m not sure. I feel like I’m supposed to be someone dead or a whole ‘nother person. There are some things from the past I remember and some that are a little fuzzy. Yet, I clearly remember the history behind these ‘Mountain Keepers’ and ‘Gatekeepers’ and can somehow speak another language.”
Chu Huan responded with a hum. He felt unexpectedly calm as he thought, the dead cannot revive. He isn’t him.
Yuan Ping asked, “Have you dealt with the two Ghosts?”
Chu Huan: “They got away the first time. I only finished dealing with them quite recently.”
Yuan Ping’s eyebrows lifted. “You good-for-nothing.”
Chu Huan chuckled, not bothered to argue with the likes of him.
Yuan Ping paused for a moment before asking again, “How about Lulu?”
Chu Huan: “She’s someone’s wife already, stop calling her so affectionately.”
Yuan Ping: “Fuck.”
Chu Huan looked up and glanced at him. “Why so agitated? It wasn’t me she married.”
Yuan Ping was left stunned at first. Then, he immediately blew up and turned to grab Chu Huan’s collar. He shouted, “I died, yet you still let someone take away your chance?! You rice bucket3, what else can you do?”
Chu Huan was silent for a moment. Suddenly, he forcefully pushed Yuan Ping away and shouted back in a louder voice, “You clearly know who she had in her heart! You died – if I took that opportunity to chase her, can I still be called a human?”
Yuan Ping was pushed back a few steps before he fell to his bottom. With a somewhat alarmed expression, he looked up at Chu Huan.
Chu Huan pulled the collar the other had wrinkled and conclusively evaluated Yuan Ping, “You bastard.”
