Chapter 55: Mountain Cultivation (1)

“San Wa Er, in our lineage, the Master is the closest person to us. My master, your grandmaster, was a lone cultivator. I do not know how his Dao inheritance came about or from whom it was passed down, but he once said that our lineage was founded by him alone. So he is the founding patriarch of our lineage.” While speaking, Old Man Jiang slowly unrolled the scroll in his hands and hung it beneath the Three Pure Ones portraits.

“San Wa Er, your grandmaster in life did not like being worshipped, but as disciples and descendants of disciples, we must still express our sincerity. My master is the person I respect the most. You are my disciple, so you must respect him even more. This is your grandmaster’s portrait. Come and perform the full three bows and nine kowtows to honor him.” Old Man Jiang’s voice was filled with emotion and even carried a slight tremor.

Hearing this, I was also moved. Holding three lit incense sticks, I knelt down with a Thud. and for the first time looked directly at my grandmaster’s portrait.

The grandmaster in the painting was a very ordinary middle-aged man, around his forties or fifties. His hair was simply tied into a Daoist topknot, though it looked rather messy no matter how you looked at it, probably to match his overall style. The clothes he wore were also... well, extremely casual.

An ordinary gray short robe, loosely tied with a black cloth belt, with several crooked patches on it. He wore simple cloth shoes, and his toes were actually exposed.

What was even more striking was his posture. His hands were tucked into his sleeves, and he was squatting. There was no background in the painting, just him alone, yet no matter how you looked at it, he resembled a rural old farmer squatting by a wall basking in the sun.

I did not know who painted it, but it was incredibly lifelike. Although the grandmaster’s appearance was ordinary, the lazy and indifferent temperament was fully captured, and within his gaze there was a clear and penetrating brightness that made people instinctively trust him.

He felt like a contradictory existence. On the surface, he looked like a downcast, lazy man, yet deep within he exuded an unusual charm.

At that time, I was still young and did not understand what this kind of charm truly meant. I only felt that this grandmaster was extraordinary, but I had no idea where that extraordinariness came from.

“Why are you still not bowing?” Old Man Jiang glared.

Hearing this, I quickly and respectfully held up the incense and performed another full three bows and nine kowtows. This time, I was even more sincere than when I had bowed to the Three Pure Ones. The Three Pure Ones felt too distant and unattainable to me, but this grandmaster in the painting felt as if he was truly right in front of me, truly extraordinary in a very real way.

After finishing the bows to the grandmaster, I placed the incense properly into the burner. Then I looked at Old Man Jiang, not knowing what to do next, but at such a serious moment of apprenticeship, I did not dare to act mischievously and stood obediently in front of him.

Old Man Jiang ignored me. He simply stood up himself, gazed at the grandmaster’s portrait for a long time, then carefully rolled it up before saying to me, “This portrait was painted by me, and it is the only portrait of your grandmaster, my master. I only painted it after his permission. Unfortunately, my skill was limited at the time, and I did not capture his true spirit well enough. Compared to the real person, it falls far short.”

After speaking, Old Man Jiang sighed. Seeing how nostalgic he was for my grandmaster, I could not help but ask, “Master, where is my grandmaster now?”

Old Man Jiang turned his head to look at me, and the expression in his eyes was something I had never seen before. He actually looked somewhat confused.

Now this was new. My master could feel confusion too?

But unexpectedly, in the next moment, Old Man Jiang became fierce again and shouted at me, “You think the apprenticeship ceremony is over? I have not even had my master tea yet. Go boil water and make tea. I am waiting for your master tea. If the tea you brew does not satisfy me, you will be boiling tea all night!”

This is just bullying a child!

In the end, I experienced my first ever fire lighting, my first water carrying, and my first boiling of water... After an hour, I still respectfully and carefully handed Old Man Jiang a cup of master tea.

Life on the mountain was hard. Although Old Man Jiang’s bamboo house had a refined and peaceful scenery, for a child, living there for long simply became ordinary.

In the blink of an eye, three months passed, and winter came again.

In Sichuan, winter was not extremely cold, but there was a damp chill that seeped into the bones and was hard to endure. The mountain was even colder, which meant my life became even harder.

“Everything must be self-sufficient.” This was the first rule Old Man Jiang gave me after I formally became his disciple.

Because of this, I had to take care of everything myself, including washing and cooking. The worst part was that I was indeed self-sufficient, but Old Man Jiang acted as if it was perfectly natural and pushed all chores onto me with that excuse.

“Anyway, cooking for one person is cooking, washing one person’s clothes is washing, so just combine them.”

“Master, wasn’t it supposed to be self-sufficiency?”

“Nonsense, only the disciple is self-sufficient. I am your master, this is your filial duty!”

And so, I, an eight-year-old child, had to painfully take on the chores of two people.

Even worse, I could not even cook rice properly at first, nor wash clothes well. Old Man Jiang did not allow my family, who came up the mountain occasionally, to help. If the rice was undercooked, then so be it, just eat it. After all, he ate it too. If the clothes were not clean, then so be it, just wear them. He did not care at all, and he was just as dirty himself anyway.

So I had to go to school, do homework, handle chores, and complete the tasks Old Man Jiang assigned me. He said this was the first step in learning his skills.

As for him, he lived leisurely every day. Aside from a few fixed daily practices, he spent his time brewing tea, enjoying the scenery, and occasionally “teaching San Wa Er.” From time to time, he would carry rice and supplies up the mountain, and occasionally he would hunt wild game.

This was our life on the mountain.

Winter days were especially difficult mainly because cooking and washing required water, and the water in the mountain pond in winter was so cold that I did not even want to touch it.

Compared to life on the mountain, going to school every day actually became the easiest part. In the past, I would get bored in class and fall asleep on the desk, but now I did not know what Old Man Jiang had done. After finishing his morning tasks, I became energetic like a monkey, my mind unusually clear, and listening in class became effortless. Even memorizing texts that were usually difficult became easy.

Of course, how could schoolwork compare to that obscure and difficult Dao De Jing?

I will always remember that after the master tea ceremony, Old Man Jiang threw a tattered book at me from his so called secret room and said, “This Dao De Jing is the sacred scripture for cultivating the mind among our kind. From today on, you must recite it once every day and copy it once every day. Start reading now. Ask me if you do not recognize any characters.”

I was only a first grade student at the time.

So how could school be considered easy? The journey to and from school was practically heaven for me.

“San Wa Er, why are you walking so fast?” Su Rou panted as he ran behind me. Poor guy, just like me, he was one year older now. I had grown taller, but he had grown both taller and fatter.

I really did not feel like I was walking fast, so I said, “I am not walking fast at all. If I could, I would rather just stand here and not move. But I still have homework at night, I still have to copy that Dao De Jing, and before sleeping I still have to practice some kind of fist technique. I am miserable. If I do not hurry, I will not even get enough sleep.”

“What fist technique? Teach me!” Su Rou looked like a martial arts master in the making.

“Go ask my master. I have not even learned it all yet.” Thinking about that fist technique made me frustrated. It was the Five Animal Frolics, and I had not even mastered a single form yet. Old Man Jiang even mocked me: “I said you look like a monkey, so I will teach you the ape form first, but you cannot even learn that properly. You probably can only learn the monkey form.”

It really made me furious. What kind of master talks like that?

“Forget it, I am not going to find Old Jiang. If I go ask him for a fist set, he will make me copy the Dao De Jing a hundred times. Forget it, forget it,” Su Rou said while shaking his fat body.

I gave him a disdainful look. With that attitude, even without being forced to copy the Dao De Jing, he probably would not last an hour before crying anyway.

I walked back full of thoughts, sighing at how miserable my life was, when Su Rou suddenly spoke again, “San Wa Er, are you trying to fight someone recently? Why are you clenching your fist all the time?”

I rolled my eyes and raised my fist in front of him, saying, “Look carefully. It is clench, relax, then clench again with more force. There is a method to it, like holding it for a few breaths. My master says this is called ‘grip training,’ and it helps improve one’s vitality and spirit.”

At first I was not used to it, but now, under Old Man Jiang’s careful teaching, I had developed the habit. I would clench and release my fist while sitting in class, and even while walking I would keep it hanging at my side. My classmates did not even dare to approach me anymore, and even Liu Chunyan would avoid me when she saw me. They probably thought I was trying to pick fights.

“Your master is really capable. I do not understand his methods, but I will come up the mountain this weekend to play with you. Make sure you come pick me up. If Old Jiang can also cook a wild rabbit again, that would be great,” Su Rou said, practically drooling at the thought of wild game.

This was exactly what annoyed me about Old Man Jiang. I could not cook well at first, so bad food was expected. I was just grateful if it was even cooked. He ate with me, but after finishing, he would go fish in the pond or hunt in the forest for a private meal. He would not even share, saying I could learn those skills from him.

But when my family came, or when Su Rou came, he would prepare wild game to entertain them, and I would only get to eat by tagging along.

After becoming a disciple, winter life became even harsher. Mainly because cooking and washing required water, and the mountain spring water in winter was unbearably cold.

Life on the mountain was difficult. In comparison, going to school became the easiest part of the day. I used to fall asleep just by lying on my desk when classes were boring, but now I became unusually energetic after finishing my morning tasks assigned by Old Man Jiang. My mind was sharp, and even memorizing texts was no longer difficult.

Nonsense. Of course school texts were nothing. Could they compare to the obscure Dao De Jing?

I still clearly remember that after the apprenticeship tea ceremony, Old Man Jiang took out a tattered book from his so called secret room and threw it to me, saying, “This Dao De Jing is the sacred scripture for cultivating the mind among our people. From today on, you must recite it once a day and copy it once a day. Start reading now. Ask me if you do not understand any characters.”

I was only a first grade student at the time.