Chapter 20

As the day of the exam approached, Huayu Hall suddenly bustled with traffic.
Every day brought a steady stream of outer disciples in all manner of garb, ages, and backgrounds climbing the mountain path.
Some arrived in Daoist robes; all ethereal calm. Others strode up with the swagger of seasoned wanderers, decked out like martial artists from the jianghu. A few were young, radiant with promise; others silver-haired, with the weary grace of twilight years.
A burly man, dusty and travel-worn, entered Huayu Hall balancing a bamboo pole across his shoulders. Spying Mu Xue and her friends, he called out, “Junior sisters, could I trouble you? I’m here for the big exam, where’s roll-call being held this time?”
Mu Xue pointed out the way.
The big man grinned, thanked her, and shouldered his pile of battered life supplies off toward check-in. His wild beard, patched-up clothes, Mu Xue would never have guessed he was a Guiyuan Sect disciple, except only those with entry talismans could get up the mountain.
Then came a rotund, pale-faced man, decked in silks and gold-studded boots, sweat pouring down as he climbed. He spotted Xia Tong’s group and beamed, bowing deeply. “I’m here for this session’s entrance exam. Would you kind juniors be so kind as to show me the way?”
From the look of him, this guy was no mere rich kid. He was from royalty, one of those true bluebloods from the highest echelon. Usually such people would never show this much courtesy to someone like Mu Xue.
But on the mountain, no matter what titles they held outside, everyone was simply sect brothers and sisters now. Politeness was expected, especially toward promising new disciples.
“What if…what if we end up like this, too?” Yuanzi nervously burped. “Gray-haired and still outside the inner sect?”
“Even if I never make it in, I’ll stay up here forever. No way I’m going home,” Xia Tong said, gazing at the busy courtyard with the sadness of someone much older. “I’ll live on the mountain my whole life, never marrying. As long as I’m here, my family back home will be proud. And maybe my mom…will have a better life.”
Xia Tong’s mother had been sold to her husband’s family as a child bride. Her mother-in-law was vicious; the husband a brute, with a horde of younger brothers. It had always been a struggle just to scrape by.
“Zhang Er Ya, Xia Tong, your families are here. They’re waiting for you down at Chongxu Pavilion. Go on, hurry!” A senior sister arrived, breathless, bearing word for Mu Xue and Xia Tong.
With the big exam coming up, families from every corner of the land made the journey to visit and encourage their children.
These past few days, the mountain path had been a non-stop parade of travelers.
Xia Tong’s face broke into pure excitement. She grabbed Mu Xue by the hand and dashed towards the foot of the mountain.
“Hurry up, Xiao Xue! My mom must have come to see me!”
She flew down the stone steps as fast as her legs could take her, cheeks flushed and eyes sparkling bright.
Just moments ago, she’d insisted she’d never go home, yet her heart always belonged to her family.
Mu Xue was pulled along, a flutter of hope blooming in her chest too.
Mu Xue’s visitors: her father, mother, and her older brother, Da Zhu.
In these times, ordinary folk rarely traveled far. Spiritual transport arrays could bring you to Jiulian Mountain in an instant, but for her parents and brother, the journey meant days of hiking, bumping along in crowded wagons, over a month round trip. They’d have to guard against thieves and sleep rough along the way. Not easy at all.
Home life had clearly improved. Her father, who’d been poor his whole life, now wore new silk clothes, and her weary mother flashed a gold ring she’d put on to look presentable.
Parents who’d never even left their little village sat stiffly in the tea room, unsure what to do with their hands or feet, nervously tugging at unfamiliar new clothes.
But as soon as her mother spotted her little girl, all the anxiety vanished. She pulled Mu Xue in, looked her over from head to toe, and hugged her tightly.
“I missed you so much. Let me get a good look at you, so thin, my heart aches.”
Her father, in a low voice, chided, “Hush. Our Er Ya lives at an immortal’s place now, how could she possibly be thin?”
Before they’d set out, the clan chief and local officials had come in person to see them off, rattling off all sorts of rules and etiquette. Mu Xue’s father, a timid, honest farmer, had memorized every word.
Her mother quickly wiped her eyes and managed a sheepish smile for the cultivator minding the tea room.
She tugged her six-year-old daughter to her side, scanning her from head to toe, her heart aching. Her second daughter had always been delicate and fair, never leaving her side for a single day. After only a few months away, her little chin was sharper, clearly, life atop that mountain was no picnic.
It was certainly something to bring honor to the family, but thinking of her cherished little girl, so young, already sent off as someone’s disciple, her heart just couldn’t let go. Da Zhu went to the city to become an apprentice and had to endure his master’s scoldings and beatings; her daughter must be struggling, too.
Mu Xue found herself wrapped in her mother’s strong arms, an intimacy she wasn’t quite used to.
She managed to wriggle her head from under her mother’s steel embrace, about to explain that she’d just been sick recently, that’s all, nothing to worry about; the weight loss was from that.
Looking up, she could clearly see, from this angle, a pair of work-worn, callused hands dabbing the corners of teary eyes. The wrinkles there were scrunched tight, and in them, glistened tears, cloudy with age.
When she first entered this world, it was these big rough hands that had carried her, piggybacked her through the fields, giving her a childhood of leisure and peace, with nothing much to trouble her.
Back then, those hands weren’t this thick. Back then, those eyes held far fewer wrinkles.
Suddenly, a pang of guilt crept up in Mu Xue’s heart.
“I’m really all right. We eat well on the mountain, chicken drumsticks every day. Master never hits us.” She clumsily tried to reassure them.
Once, when she was raising Xiao Shan close by, every time the kid was badly hurt, he’d try to avoid her even more, didn’t want her to find out.
So this is how that feels.
A well-loved child can’t help wanting to give something back to the person who protected them.
To ease their worries, to never make them sad again.
Mu Xue buried herself again in her mother’s arms, letting her mother’s hand pat gently on her shoulder.
It wasn’t until her mother had calmed herself and let Mu Xue go that she forced a smile, reaching into the bags they’d brought to lay out one jar after another on the table.
“All your childhood favorites, I was worried you wouldn’t get them on the mountain. Pickled cucumbers, salted duck eggs, marinated bamboo shoots, and fresh pickled ginger…”
Her father chimed in nearby, “Er Ya is going to be an immortal, she doesn’t need these snacks. I told you not to bring so much, you’re just making a scene.”
Mu Xue accepted the jars. “Thank you, Mom. I still think about the flavors of home.”
She never spoke much, but even this simple line made her father, mother, and older brother’s faces instantly light up with joy.
“If you like it, that’s all that matters. Next time, I’ll bring more for you,” her mother promised.
Soon enough, it was time for everyone to say goodbye.
Mu Xue walked them all the way out of Chongxu Hall, down to the big road at the base of the mountain.
Before boarding the carriage, her mother took her little hand with endless reluctance, sobbing as she said, “Sweetheart, if your master is ever too harsh, if he ever goes too far…you, you just come home, okay? Your father and I can take care of you.”
“Don’t put nonsense in her head,” her father scolded, pulling his wife into the carriage, visibly annoyed. In a serious voice, he admonished Mu Xue, “Don’t listen to your mother. On that mountain, you must respect your master, study hard, don’t cause trouble. The whole clan, the whole village, we’re all counting on you to bring us honor.”
Mu Xue understood both parents’ perspectives. She nodded, waving them onto the carriage.
Her big brother Da Zhu lingered outside, glanced around, then quietly lifted his shirt to fish out a small bundle tied at his waist. He stuffed it into Mu Xue’s hands.
“Sis, after you got chosen, lots of folks came, bringing fancy gifts. I heard that when you become a disciple, you have to prepare a gift for your master. What if everyone else has something and you don’t? Mom picked this out and told me to sneak it to you. Save it for when you need it.” He darted nervous glances around before leaning in to whisper,
“Don’t listen to Dad, okay? You’ve still got your brother. If mountain living ever gets too hard, just come home, I’ve got you.”
Standing at the foot of the green mountain, Mu Xue watched the carriage vanish in a swirling cloud of red dust. Covered in all that road dust herself, she turned and walked back up the mountain path.
Xia Tong was just returning from saying goodbye to her own family, clutching the bundle from her parents, eyes and nose both red from crying.
“I saw my mom,” she sniffed. “Back then, my dad was always hitting her, and grandma was so mean to her. But now Mom has nice clothes, and no scars on her face, she looks so much better than before.”
Mu Xue took her hand and started back up the path. Xia Tong sniffled all the way, wiping her nose on her sleeve,
“Xiao Xue, I’m actually really happy. Honest.”
Laughing and crying at the same time, is she happy or sad?
Mu Xue gave her a helpless look. “So, what did your mom bring you to eat?”
“Oh, right, chicken feet in pickled pepper, snowflake cakes, and plum candy. They’re so good. I’ll share with you in a bit. What about you?”
“Pickled cucumbers, salted eggs, marinated bamboo, and fresh pickled ginger. I’ll give you some to try, too.”
Among all the Immortal Spirit Realm sects, regardless of their hidden locations, most of them maintained their own temples or halls within the surrounding kingdoms. That way, they could boost their reputation, attract disciples, and seek out outstanding new recruits among ordinary folk.
Even though the Immortal Spirit Realm had far fewer spirit veins than the Demon Spirit Realm, the tradition of cultivation still flourished and wasn’t markedly weaker than the rivalland’s abundance of spiritual power.
The Guiyuan Sect’s earthly establishment was called Chongxu Hall, and the one on the mountainside of Jiulian Mountain was especially grand and imposing.
Although the main hall was built halfway up the mountain, at its base were guest courtyards, tea houses, and plenty of food stalls and taverns for all the pilgrims coming to offer incense, a place to take a break.
Running these facilities was the responsibility of both inner and outer sect disciples, who took turns on duty.
Passing a noodle stand, Mu Xue and Xia Tong were surprised to find that the chef was an old acquaintance. His surname was Yang; his given name, Jun. He was the same senior brother from Tiezhu Peak who’d welcomed them through the mountain gates their first night at the sect.
“Senior Brother Yang? What are you doing here?” Mu Xue greeted him.
“It’s Xiao Xue! Of course I’m here, I’m on rotation this week.” Yang Jun had often seen Mu Xue practicing martial arts in the square and remembered her. “You two hungry? Let your senior brother make you a bowl of noodles before you head back.”
Mu Xue and Xia Tong took their seats at the table.
Behind the stove, Yang Jun was a picture of practiced ease, boiling noodles, fishing them out, drizzling fragrant sesame oil, stirring in thick peanut sauce, and scattering a handful of freshly chopped scallions on top.
Two plates of steaming, peanut-infused noodles soon landed before them, accompanied by hearty bowls of bone broth simmered for hours.
Mu Xue took her first bite, the noodles were springy, the sauce was rich and aromatic, and it was simply addictive.
Xia Tong didn’t even bother to talk, inhaling the noodles with gusto and tossing Mu Xue a big thumbs-up.
“But, Senior Brother, doesn’t this kind of thing get in the way of cultivation?” Mu Xue asked, confused.
Yang Jun burst out laughing. “You girls think cultivation is just hiding out in the mountains meditating all day and night?”
“Isn’t it...?” Xia Tong looked up, muttering through a mouthful of noodles.
“You haven’t officially joined yet, no one’s explained the real deal to you.” Yang Jun wiped down the table briskly with a rag. “We’re born in the mortal world, so our cultivation happens here too. You can’t cut yourself off from it.”
“If you’ve never seen the wider world, never tasted temptation and hardship, and just bury your head in the mountains grinding away, good luck surviving when you hit those human and heavenly tribulations on your path.”
“It’s like you girls, right? You climbed up this mountain as kids, never even brushed against the sweet-talking guys out there. Then one day you head down the mountain, meet a silver-tongued prince charming who lavishes you with attention and romance... When you get back and try to meditate, all you see is his face. Bam, you hit your love tribulation and get stuck.”
Mu Xue and Xia Tong burst out laughing.
“Go ahead and laugh,” Yang Jun said, failing to hide his own grin. “You’ll see, only a heart that’s faced enough storms will resist demons, love tribulations, and inner devils when they come knocking. Cross that bridge smoothly, and cultivation gets a whole lot easier.”
“So does that mean we’ll be cooking noodles and playing host for guests too?” Mu Xue quipped.
“Not necessarily. Once you join the inner sect, your master will give you tasks that match your temperament. Maybe some errands in town, or helping people somewhere, or even training in a safe secret realm. Who knows?”
He scratched his head with a sigh. “Honestly, I don’t get it, my master always has me looking after junior brothers and sisters, fussing over the little stuff. Never throws me anything exciting.”