Chapter 55 Green Lake

In fact, before leaving the boat, Li Fuyao knew that the couple were not ordinary people, not common people at least, but he didn’t need to investigate their identity. Since the couple didn’t intend to harm him, in some words unpleasant to hear, even if they were unforgivable and evil people, Li Fuyao might not take actions. He was not that kind of hero who would like to handle everything unfair with his sword.

As a matter of fact, the biggest problem he faced now was not that he didn’t want to be that kind of hero, but he didn’t have the ability.

Sword Mountain which was regarded as a sacred place by the swordsmen all over the world was at the border of Dayu, but it was hard to describe its location. At least, it was not marked on the map of Dayu bought by Li Fuyao. Although it was the last place to pass down the swordsmanship and was famous in Dayu, not many people had been there, and fewer people could reach the mountaintop.

Li Fuyao with a half machete on his back walked at the border of Dayu for several days and asked many common people. Although they were unclear about Sword Mountain’s exact location, at last, all of them said that he would know after climbing Menchen Mountain.

Menchen Mountain was a high mountain at the border of Dayu, and the reason why it had this name couldn’t be found, as even the common people in Dayu who lived at the border generation after generation didn’t know. But undoubtfully, Menchen Mountain had a longer history even than Sword Mountain.

If he wanted to go to Sword Mountain, he had to climb Menchen Mountain first. While before reaching the foot of Menchen Mountain, he needed to pass a lake, Green Lake. When Li Fuyao got to the ferry, nobody was there although he saw some boats. He stood for a while and then walked to a nearby village, as he thought that the boatmen shouldn’t go far away.

As soon as he reached the village, he saw many peasants talking with dirty words under a thatched pavilion. Seeing Li Fuyao who was obviously on a trip show up, a strong middle-aged man stood up in the pavilion.

Since this man stood up, the voices became lower gradually in the pavilion. After the man walked out, everybody stopped talking.

The man came to Li Fuyao and asked with a smile directly, “Sir, do you want to take a boat?”

Li Fuyao stopped and nodded. “I do want to, but I didn’t see anybody at the ferry, so I had to come here.”

The man apologized, “Few people would come to Menchen Mountain, and there is no passenger at the ferry for a few days. We don’t want to wait there, so we come to this village. If some people want us to help them do farm work, we can make money, so we neglected you, sir. Where are you going? I will tell somebody to take you there by boat.”

Li Fuyao smiled. “Can you take me to Menchen Mountain?”

When the words “Menchen Mountain” came out of Li Fuyao’s mouth, it could be seen that the man in front of him stiffened and then looked unnatural. After a long while, the man asked, “Are you a swordsman, sir? Do you want to learn swordsmanship on Sword Mountain?”

Li Fuyao didn’t hide the news that spread all over the border of Dayu. “I do want to go to Sword Mountain, but I have heard that I need to climb Menchen Mountain before knowing where Sword Mountain is, so I have to go to Menchen Mountain first.”

The man smiled bitterly and responded in a low voice, “That’s true. Sir, you don’t know that Menchen Mountain is indeed the key to climb Sword Mountain, and in the past, many swordsmen and heroes wanted to come to have a look, but I am sorry, hero. Now my men don’t dare to go to Menchen Mountain.”

The man who changed his form of address shook his head with a bitter smile, thinking, “I will ruin this deal and miss the chance to make money, which is insignificant. If this boy is really a swordsman who can fly on the eave and walk on the wall, and he is stubborn and insists on dragging us to that mountain to court death, we will suffer a great loss.” So he paused for a while and soon explained, “I didn’t mean that there is something unusual in that place. In fact, nobody can be seen on Menchen Mountain all year round, and it’s not weird. It’s just that there is a water demon in Green Lake, and it has eaten many people. Menchen Mountain happens to be behind that lake, which is the only way that must be passed. In the past few years, many heroes who didn’t believe that lost their lives in the lake. Otherwise, the ferry wouldn’t be so cheerless. Since the heroes with martial skills couldn’t go there, the boatmen like us can’t go. Now not only me, but all the men in that pavilion also don’t dare to take you there, hero.”

Li Fuyao frowned. When he was in Yanling, he met a demonic cultivator in the tavern near the border. That injured shopkeeper at the Fundamental Stage was cautious and didn’t hurt anybody, but she was still found by a cultivator in the army from the North Military Government. However, in Dayu, was the rule so loose? Nobody came to discipline a water demon who had eaten many people?

“The government didn’t capture it?”

Li Fuyao asked casually.

The man shook his head. “It’s complicated at the border. Moreover, the government in Dayu can’t afford to discipline the water demon. I have heard that if they want to tame it, they need to go to the capital city and ask the cultivators to take actions, and it is inconvenient to go and come back. What’s more, those cultivators pursue a big road and few of them care about our life and death.”

Li Fuyao nodded. Apart from the cultivator officials employed by the imperial court of Dayu, it was hard to discipline the other cultivators. None of the three religious sects was behind Dayu, and there were always good and bad people mixed up. Many cultivators at higher stages were regarded to be rebellious by the three religious sects or the evil people in the human world or some cultivators who wanted to cultivate quietly because there was no force of the three religious sects in Dayu. Nobody was willing to get involved in such a matter. Only if the water demon became like a person and had demon cores, some people would probably take actions because they coveted it. However, if the water demon had demon cores, it wouldn’t eat people. Such a demonic cultivator who had intelligence didn’t cultivate quietly to promote his strength but was so showy. Wasn’t he afraid that he would be a target?

Li Fuyao kept silent for a while and asked in a low voice, “Fifty taels of silver. You find a boatman and I will try my best to protect his life. Okay?”

As the man heard the words “fifty taels of silver”, his eyes lit up, but soon he returned to normal and shook his head. “Although it’s a big amount of money, it’s not enough to buy a life.”

“But I think this price is reasonable. I won’t kill him, nor do I insist on asking him to do something. And I will even try to protect his life.”

Li Fuyao added patiently, “I just need a boatman and won’t take his life. How about I ask them?”

The man nodded and didn’t stop him, but obviously he didn’t believe that Li Fuyao’s fifty taels of silver would make a man who was not afraid of death follow him to court death.

After all, money was nice, but if he could make money yet couldn’t spend it before death, it would be pointless.

However, a moment later, when Li Fuyao came back from the pavilion, a thin man followed him. This man was not tall or old, and he grabbed a bank note of fifty taels of silver in his hand.

No matter if they were in Yanling or Dayu, or another empire Liangxi, the bank note was in circulation, and the note from Yanling could be used in Dayu.

The first man saw him and got furious at once. “Liu Yuanlu, you don’t want to stay alive because of so little money?”

The man named Liu Yuanlu looked calm and seemed not to hear what the man was saying. After taking two steps, he put the bank note of fifty taels of silver in the man’s pocket and expressed peacefully, “We are even.”

He said that casually.

The man opened his eyes wide and was about to take out the bank note when Liu Yuanlu stated gently, “Your wife is in poor health, and your baby will be born these days. You need to buy some good food for them. Without the fifty taels of silver, how would you live?”

The man’s hand stopped in the midair. A short while later, he still took out the bank note and stated at last, “If somebody should go with him, it must be me. Is fifty taels of silver enough to buy your life?”

He spoke in a softer tone obviously.

“Isn’t it enough? I am willing to do it. Why can’t I?”

The man’s face darkened, and he whispered, “Yuanlu, I never blame you for that thing, and even my sister doesn’t blame you. Don’t go with him. You can make money in the future, but you can only live once.”

Liu Yuanlu seemed to disdain it and shook his head. “I never owe anybody. Just wait and see. I will go to Green Lake and then come back to make your chin drop.”

Then before that man replied, Liu Yuanlu turned to Li Fuyao with a smile. “Sir, let’s go.”

He was afraid that he would lose his courage easily after he finally nerved himself.

Li Fuyao nodded and didn’t look at that man. Then he left the village with Liu Yuanlu.

He could naturally protect this man.

They walked to that ferry.

Before going board, Li Fuyao sat randomly at the ferry and said with a smile, “How about we have a chat? Otherwise, if we meet the water demon later, we won’t be able to leave our last words. Don’t you think it is a pity? Unfortunately, I have finished the rice wine I stole. If I had known it, I should have brought more, but I don’t have something to put it in. If I bring too many things, it would be weird. Now I finally find that those swordsmen who just want to bring their swords only might be really unrestrained or be so poor that they don’t have a magic tool to store things.”

Liu Yuanlu glanced at this teenage boy in surprise who spoke the language of Yanling and said something that he didn’t understand. Earlier he was worried that this generous boy might be bad-tempered, but now he thought that there was a great chance that they would die later, so he didn’t need to care about the boy’s identity. Then he felt relieved and sat next to the teenager, saying with a bitter smile, “I have nothing to say. I owed him a favor and can’t afford to pay back, so I have to give him some money.”

Li Fuyao responded peacefully, “In fact, it’s simple as a favor can be returned with money.”

Liu Yuanlu sighed and then told him about that issue. “Half a year ago, I almost rowed to Green Lake last time, taking a hero to Menchen Mountain. I don’t know why all of you people who learn swordsmanship want to go to that Sword Mountain. Isn’t it the same no matter where you practice swordsmanship? That time, the hero paid ten taels of silver. Nobody went there in the past few months, and I thought the water demon wouldn’t wait all the time for people to come. And I needed money to buy medicine for my mother, so I took the job. But at last, I ate some food that went bad and suffered from diarrhea, so I couldn’t go and needed somebody to replace me. I didn’t want anybody to court death for me, but Zhuzi’s younger brother knew that I needed the money, so he did it for me. However, he didn’t come back after going. After that happened, Zhuzi didn’t blame me for this matter but still treated me like before. He is afraid that I would feel guilty, and he never mentions his brother in front of me. But as he did so, I feel more and more depressed. I love Zhuzi’s younger sister, but I don’t dare to see her now. If I can stay alive this time, as I won’t owe him anymore, I will ask him to marry his sister to me.”

Li Fuyao raised his head and didn’t speak. He didn’t think that Liu Yuanlu had paid off in this way, but he was at a loss what to say.

Liu Yuanlu looked at Li Fuyao for several times and expressed in astonishment, “Sir, you are so young, but you insist on courting death. Zhuzi didn’t lie to you. Moreover, even if you find Sword Mountain, few people went to the top and we have never seen anybody who has learnt the unique swordsmanship.”

Li Fuyao smiled. “Maybe I will be the next one. No matter if I can reach the top, I need to have a look. What’s more, I have promised a girl. I will learn a presentable capability and promise that others don’t dare to bully her if she mentions my name when she is in the human world.”

Liu Yuanlu responded sincerely, “Great.”

Li Fuyao burst into laughter. Then he took out a thousand-mile ring from his pocket and put it in this guy’s hand, explaining, “As long as you crush this thing, even thousands of cavalrymen on horseback can’t hurt you, let alone the water demon, but you need to bother to walk back home from afar. If we meet the water demon when we are on the way to Menchen Mountain after going into the boat, don’t hurry to crush it. What if I kill it with my sword? Then you will be safe when you go back to this ferry, and you need to give it back to me. If we don’t meet it on the way to the mountain, I have to give it to you, and you just need to crush it when you meet the water demon on your way back. I repeat it. If we go there and meet it, don’t hurry to crush it, and you need to do it after the water demon swallows me. This stuff is priceless. Moreover, it was given by that girl.”

Liu Yuanlu was at a loss whether to cry or to laugh and looked at the protection in his hand. For no reason, he kind of believed this boy’s words.

But next second, when they walked into the boat, Li Fuyao took off the broken machete covered with cloths from his back and showed that half of machete, while Liu Yuanlu was confused.

Why didn’t the swordsman nowadays bring a sword when he went out?

A teenage girl dressed in black clothes crossed Dayu and came to Liangxi. This girl with an extraordinary background walked from Yanling to its border for almost two months, but it took her only several days to cross Dayu.

After she reached Liangxi, the girl didn’t slow down but went to that Taoist temple. On the way, she flew over the great rivers without a stop.

Only at midnight occasionally, this girl would sit in a big tree and look at the moon with a calm expression.

The Daoist assembly in Liangxi which was held once every ten years would start within the next few days, and more cultivators rushed to that Taoist temple. The Liangxi Taoist Temple was as important to Daoism as the Yanling Confucian Temple to Confucianism and had a history of six thousand years in the Liangxi Empire. In the past six thousand years, many talented people showed up, and there were countless powerful cultivators besides three sages from this Taoist temple, a lot of them at the Revelation Stage and Ascending Stage. An outstanding young girl, almost the top one among the young generation in the human world was the gifted Dao cultivator, Ye Shengge in this Taoist temple.

The saying that she was the top one of the young people was not confirmed because the news that this gifted Dao cultivator had entered the Sanctification Stage hadn’t spread in the human world. If the news spread, she was the top one absolutely. In fact, theoretically, the other geniuses might fight with this gifted Dao cultivator, but they couldn’t defeat her and become the top one.

So at this Daoist assembly, all the cultivators wanted to see if that young gifted Dao cultivator who had stayed secluded for several years had finished the Fundamental Stage and entered the Sanctification Stage.

Since the Liangxi Daoist assembly had existed for so many years, it was the first time that the public’s attention was focused on a young disciple.

It had never happened before.

After Qing Huai entered Liangxi’s territory, she heard much more rumors about that gifted Dao cultivator. All people seemed interested in everything about that cultivator, and the cultivators here said that the gifted Dao cultivator had an extraordinary background and was a child of the principal in the Taoist temple who almost became a sage. Although nobody knew if it was true, some cultivators thought this couldn’t be false. The reason was simple. Only a child of such a cultivator at a high stage like the principal could have such great talent. Otherwise, how could she be the top one of the young generation?

Qing Huai wasn’t interested in these at all. This teenage girl from the demonic land who also had an extraordinary background never thought that she would be inferior to anybody in the background, even if that one was Ye Shengge.

When she was on the trip these days, Qing Huai didn’t even think much about Ye Shengge, but she thought about Li Fuyao who was on the way to Sword Mountain alone.

Sometimes, when she found that the guy was not around her, Qing Huai would feel bored with a sense of loss. After all, nobody would nod with a smile when she sneered at him.

When she was on the demonic land, many people wanted to hear her sarcasm.

But she didn’t want to speak.

There were many idiots in the world, but only Li Fuyao could bring a stick to cause trouble to a swordsman at the Dawning Stage.

So who could she sneer at except for him?

Qing Huai thought about Li Fuyao’s merits for the first time. Apart from anything else, that guy was really good-tempered and was willing to risk his life to save his friend. Even though he was not bold but a little timid, Qing Huai somehow thought that there was a great chance that he could climb Sword Mountain and would become a famous swordsman in only a few years.

Although her thought was groundless, she just believed that it was possible.

This girl sat on a big tree’s branch and stated peacefully, “Li Fuyao, have you climbed that Sword Mountain? If you can’t, don’t say in the future that you are my only friend in the human world!”

After they went into the boat and moved on the surface of Green Lake, Li Fuyao suddenly mumbled, “It’s almost the same.”