Chapter 425: You’ve Met My Dad?
Chapter 425: Chapter 425: You’ve Met My Dad?
Before Su Qing could speak, terror flashed in the man’s eyes again as he struggled to shrink back. "Don’t... don’t grab me. I... I want to go home."
"Don’t worry, no one’s here to grab you." Seeing his reaction, Su Qing knew he must have had a terrible experience. She immediately comforted him in a soft voice, "Relax. You’re safe now."
Hearing the man speak, Su Qing became even more certain that he was speaking the local dialect.
"Really?" The man looked at Su Qing hesitantly, then his eyes fell on the gray squirrel on her shoulder. He took a closer look and said uncertainly, "Xiao Hui?"
"This is the gray squirrel that led me to you," Su Qing said when she saw him notice it.
Xiao Hui, perched on Su Qing’s shoulder, saw that the man was awake. It brushed its large tail against Su Qing’s face and chittered a few times, but neither Su Qing nor the man understood what it meant.
When Xiao Hui saw Su Qing wasn’t reacting, it grew anxious. It leaped down from her shoulder, hopped over to the man’s side, and grabbed the Pine Stone Necklace around his neck with its paws. Then it started chittering at Su Qing again.
"You want this?" Seeing Xiao Hui clutching his necklace, the man asked softly. He struggled to raise his hand, trying to take it off.
Su Qing quickly stopped him. "I fed this little guy some nuts earlier, and it brought me a ring and a pendant in return. I didn’t take them, so it led me here to you. I’m guessing you’re the one who taught it to trade for food, right?"
"Yes." Realizing Su Qing had been led here by Xiao Hui, the man was no longer afraid. He nodded and began to speak more clearly. "I was injured in this cave and couldn’t move. I happened to see this little squirrel wander in, so I tried to offer it the ring and pendant in exchange for food. I didn’t think it would understand, but it actually brought me something to eat. I’m lucky it did, or I would have starved to death in here."
The man recalled how he had first encountered Xiao Hui, using both gestures and words to explain the trade. A wave of relief washed over him. ’Thank goodness I ran into this little squirrel,’ he thought.
As he thought this, the man suddenly realized his body felt much better than it had before he lost consciousness. His injuries were so severe that he’d passed out several times already. Just before fainting this last time, he had distinctly felt his life force slipping away. He honestly didn’t think he would ever wake up again. Yet now, his condition felt significantly better than before.
"You saved me, didn’t you?" the man asked, looking at Su Qing with conviction. "I really didn’t think I was going to wake up."
Su Qing didn’t deny it. "Yes. I had some healing pills, so I gave you one."
"Thank you," the man said, deeply grateful for her help.
"Let me tend to your wounds," Su Qing said, and proceeded to treat his injuries. The wounds were primarily on his leg and abdomen, and they were not light. Su Qing was impressed by his endurance, having survived for so many days in this state.
After treating his wounds, Su Qing gave him some food. Only then did she ask, "Can you tell me where you’re from? Are you a villager from the foot of Xiqing Mountain?"
"Yes." The man nodded. Grateful to Su Qing, he didn’t hide anything when she asked. "My name is Jiamu. I live in Xiuma Village at the foot of Xiqing Mountain."
"What!" Su Qing’s eyes widened. What a coincidence! "You said your name is Jiamu?"
"Yes." Jiamu was puzzled by her shocked expression, wondering why she had such a strong reaction to his name.
Then he heard Su Qing ask, "Are you the second son of the chief of Xiuma Village?"
Now it was Jiamu’s turn to be stunned. "You know me? Have you been to Xiuma Village? You’ve seen my father? How is he? Is his illness cured?"
Jiamu had been trapped in the mountains for three years, but his father’s illness was still at the forefront of his mind. He had thought his father wouldn’t last much longer, since even the doctors at the hospital had been helpless. But hearing this girl, it seemed she had met his father. Did that mean his father was cured?
A sliver of hope sparked in Jiamu’s heart. The whole reason he had entered the mountains in the first place was to find a cure, unable to accept that his father would just waste away and die.
"Your father’s illness is much better now, but he’s still not in the best of health. He’s been heartbroken over your disappearance for the last three years," Su Qing said softly.
"I’ve made my father worry." Jiamu felt a rush of relief knowing his father was still alive, but it was mixed with sorrow. He hadn’t returned in three years; his family must have thought he was dead. The thought of them grieving for him filled him with guilt. ’If only I’d been a little smarter back then,’ he wondered, ’would I still have been trapped in these mountains for three years?’
"What happened three years ago? Did you get lost?" Su Qing asked. "To come this deep into the mountains all alone... Uncle Sangji told me that none of the villagers ever venture this far in."
Jiamu was speechless. ’You’re one to talk,’ he thought. ’Aren’t you a girl who’s also come this deep into the mountains all by herself?’
’Then again,’ he reasoned, ’if she hadn’t ventured deep into the mountains, I’d be dead for sure. She’s my savior. So, I can’t complain. I can’t complain!’
"Three years ago, I was captured by a band of tomb raiders," Jiamu said, recalling the events with regret. "It’s all my fault for naively believing them."
"Tomb raiders!" Su Qing exclaimed in surprise. "There are tomb raiders in these mountains?"
"Yes!" Jiamu said firmly. "They’re searching for the tomb of Qi Bo’s disciple. They’ve been combing the mountains for the past few years, but I guess Xiqing Mountain is just too vast, because they still haven’t found it."
"Qi Bo’s disciple?" Su Qing asked. "Who was that?"
The legends about Qi Bo have been passed down orally from one generation to the next among the villagers at the foot of Xiqing Mountain. As children, they all learn of this epic tale from their elders through storytelling.
Since Su Qing had asked, Jiamu gave her a rough account of the story of Qi Bo’s disciple as he knew it. The tale Jiamu told was quite similar to what Mr. Li knew. However, Jiamu was more certain about one detail: that Qi Bo’s disciple and his people had indeed changed their names to escape persecution. But as for what they changed their names to, no one knew. The supposed tomb in Xiqing Mountain and the accompanying book, the *Xiqing Miscellaneous Treatises*, were all part of that same legend—a legend that no one could confirm was true.
So, whether the tomb of Qi Bo’s disciple was truly in Xiqing Mountain remained a mystery.