SWDnovel Chapter 86 Yunyang
Chapter 86 Yunyang
"My son hugs it now, even more than he hugs his own wife..."
Watching the shopkeeper talk endlessly about the painting, Mr. Wu shook his head and sighed softly:
"Shopkeeper, take my advice, you should sell this painting!"
The shopkeeper was taken aback, his smile froze, and he cautiously asked, "Please explain, sir, why are you selling this perfectly good painting?"
Mr. Wu shook his head and sighed: "The Kitchen God is originally a deity who inspects the cooking fires in the kitchen. Now that the shopkeeper has invited him into the main hall and made him a god of wealth, people have already set their sights on him."
The shopkeeper's smile froze; he knew exactly what it meant, but his lips trembled slightly as he said:
"Does the gentleman mean... that this painting will bring misfortune?"
"Shopkeeper, we are just ordinary people, not powerful or influential. If we have good things and don't keep them to ourselves, but instead show them off, won't that make people hate us?"
Having said that, the shopkeeper can make his own decision.
Song Quyou didn't say much, but just picked up the salted peanuts that the waiter brought over, peeled them one by one and put them in his mouth.
The shopkeeper remained silent for a long time, his hands trembling slightly, and his face was no longer smug, only pale.
With a final sigh, he turned and silently took the painting off the wall, carefully rolled it up, and tucked it into the bottom drawer of the cabinet.
……
Two jugs of green-brewed wine and braised meat wrapped in oil paper were quickly served. Mr. Wu took the items, bowed to the shopkeeper, and left with Song Quyou, leaving the wine shopkeeper looking dejected.
On the way, Song Quyou peeled peanuts and turned to look at Mr. Wu, who was eating meat, and said, "I thought you were just a carefree and unrestrained painter, but I didn't expect you to be so understanding and persuasive, advising the shopkeeper to sell the painting."
Mr. Wu glanced at Song Quyou and said, "Although I disdained these things when I was in the palace, after walking around the city, I suddenly realized that I could understand why that person wanted to kill me. Someone with my unparalleled painting skills would be envied and glaringly obvious to any fellow artist."
Moreover, I'm so flamboyant.
Song Quyou shook his head and smiled, without saying much. He walked through the bustling streets and soon arrived at the south gate of the county town.
……
After leaving the city, we traveled south for more than ten miles, where the mountains gradually rose and the forests became denser.
Mr. Wu skillfully parted the weeds and led Song Quyou along a winding path, clearly not his first time taking this route.
Big Yellow followed behind, occasionally darting into the grass to sniff around, sprinkling some water, and then happily catching up again.
Song Quyou looked at the mountain path he was on. This path bypassed Yihou Mountain and led further south into the Lingnan region.
The path narrowed as we walked, and the bushes on both sides grew thicker. After walking for about half an hour, the view suddenly opened up before us. A precipice stretched out in front of us, with clouds surging below and birds disappearing like swimming fish, resembling a vast, white ocean.
"We've arrived at the unique sea of clouds spectacle of Xiongli Mountain."
The mountain wind howled, and the warm sun shone brightly in the sky.
Mr. Wu spread the oil paper package on the ground, and the aroma of the braised meat immediately wafted far away on the cliffside.
Big Yellow, standing to the side, watched with longing eyes.
He didn't care about formalities. He sat down on the ground, broke the mud seal, took a sip, and smacked his lips.
Song Quyou gazed at the cliff. Below the precipice, a vast expanse of white waves stretched from the valley floor to the horizon, while in the distance, several dark green mountain peaks pierced the clouds, like lonely islands floating on the ocean.
A sudden mountain wind arose, and the clouds surged and crashed against the isolated islands, turning into shreds of cloth that were carried away by the startled birds on the islands. It was indeed a beautiful sight.
Mr. Wu took a swig of wine, wiped his mouth with his sleeve, gazed at the sea of clouds, and suddenly asked, "Taoist Master, do you know what lies beneath this sea of clouds?"
"What is it?"
"Inside is the lair of mountain bandits."
I heard it from the old clerk in the government office.
Twenty years ago, the government tried to wipe out the bandits in the mountains three times, but failed. Later, the bandit leader invited a master from somewhere to set up some kind of formation below, which he said could use the clouds to cover the mountain stronghold.
As a result, the formation was not successfully set up, but instead attracted all the clouds on the mountain, and this sea of clouds has never dispersed since.
Twenty years have passed, and beneath this sea of clouds, there still stands Xiongjia Village. However, the village no longer causes trouble; instead, it has opened a market beneath the clouds, specializing in rare items that are forbidden to be sold outside the mountains. The government has since neglected to investigate.
Song Quyou frowned slightly: "Mr. Wu has only been in Qiantang for a short time, yet he already knows this?"
Mr. Wu tore off a piece of braised meat and stuffed it into his mouth, saying smugly, "I don't have any other skills, but I have a lot of people who know me and I hear all sorts of things. These people are always willing to tell me when they see me."
Upon hearing this, Song Quyou took a sip of wine and said:
"Mr. Wu, you brought me here today for more than just to see the sea of clouds, didn't you?"
Mr. Wu tilted his head back and took a swig of wine, the liquid running down his chin and into his collar. He didn't wipe it away, just chuckled.
"The Taoist priest is indeed insightful."
He pointed his greasy finger towards the depths of the sea of clouds.
"Three days ago, a middle-aged man in a blue robe came to Lingfo Temple and told me that his master wanted me to paint a picture of a bear and a sea of clouds, and he was willing to pay this much..."
Mr. Wu held up five fingers.
Song Quyou bent down, picked up a piece of braised meat, and tossed it to Da Huang, who was practically drooling beside him, deliberately saying:
"Five taels?"
"What?! Five taels?! It's five thousand taels! And half of it is a deposit upfront!"
Song Quyou's brow twitched slightly. Five thousand taels of silver—enough for an ordinary family to live on for several lifetimes—just for a painting?
"I didn't agree." Mr. Wu looked at the surging clouds, his tone unusually serious.
Song Quyou was not very surprised:
"That's true. After all, Mr. Wu said he wouldn't serve the powerful and wealthy. He made a big promise, and it would be quite shameful if he didn't keep it."
……
Suddenly, Big Yellow turned around, bared its teeth, and growled.
Noticing something amiss, Song Quyou looked in the direction of the strangeness.
There was a rustling sound in the woods behind them, and they could faintly hear people talking.
"Brother, can your fishing rod really catch that Yunyang? After all, it's a big guy that even the village's ancestral golden net can't catch."
"Fourth Sister, you don't know, this fishing rod was custom-made by me at the Lingnan Woodworker. It can hold up the big stone mill in the village without bending, and it's more than enough for fishing in Yunyang."
Song Quyou took a sip of wine and looked in the direction of the sound. He saw a bear-like man and a cat-like woman, one carrying a green bamboo pole and the other carrying a bamboo basket, walking towards the cliff.
These two were the same two petty thieves who stole from Lingfo Temple.
"Brother Xiong Hai, it's been a long time since I've seen Miss Fang Li."
Hearing the sound, Xiong Hai and Fang Li looked over and recognized Song Quyou standing on the cliff edge. Fang Li blinked her bright eyes, quickly stepped forward, and said with a smile, "Master Song, it's been a long time."
Xiong Hai tossed the incredibly green bamboo pole on his shoulder to the ground and immediately rushed forward to hug Song Quyou tightly. His round belly was squeezed and deformed, causing several peanuts to fall from Song Quyou's hand.
Following the principle that anything dropped on the ground belongs to the big dog, Da Huang got up, bent down, picked it up, and crunched it down.
"Brother Song, you've finally arrived! I've been waiting and waiting for your news since we last parted. I was even wondering if I'd given you the wrong address..."
……
Xiong Hai spoke fluently and eloquently.
After exchanging pleasantries for a while.
The group sat down on the cliff and chatted. When Mr. Wu saw that a new drinking buddy had arrived, he didn't stand on ceremony. He stuffed the wine jar into Xiong Hai's arms and tore off two pieces of braised meat and handed them over.
Xiong Hai didn't stand on ceremony and tilted his head back to gulp down a large mouthful.
Looking at the emerald green bamboo pole on the ground, Song Quyou asked, "I just heard Brother Xiong Hai say that he wanted to fish for Yunyang?"
Xiong Hai wiped his mouth and pointed his large hand into the sea of clouds: "Brother Song, you may not know this, but there is a Great Cloud Yang hidden in this sea of clouds. It is the essence of the clouds that my ancestor created after he asked a master to set up an array. The clouds condensed and did not disperse."
That thing is constantly spitting out clouds and mist in this sea of clouds, and it's getting bigger and bigger.
"Right now, Xiao Yunyang can't compete with him and is about to be bullied to death, which will ruin the village's business. Brother, I plan to use this fishing rod to catch him."
Song Quyou looked at the emerald green bamboo pole. The pole was as clear as jade, with distinct sections. A silvery-white silk thread was tied to the tip of the pole. There was no hook on the thread, but only a bright white square stone attached to it. It looked like a stone called mica.
"I've heard that mica can generate clouds; could this be used to fish for clouds in the sky?"
Xiong Hai grinned: "Brother Song has a good eye, it is indeed mica. This stuff can't be bought in ordinary shops, it's the mineral marrow from the mica mine, and Yunyang loves to eat it. There's also some powder on it to make Yunyang weak."
"I'll lower the line down in a bit, wait for it to ingest it, and once the medicine takes effect, no matter how many clouds it can gather, it will be powerless to resist."
At this moment, Fang Li opened the lid of the bamboo basket. Inside the basket was a layer of damp moss, and on the moss lay seven or eight tiny, fluffy, snow-white cotton balls, each about the size of a thumb.
Song Quyou bent down to take a closer look. The little Yunyangs sensed the presence of a living person and immediately shrank into the depths of the basket. Some of them even tried to bury themselves in the moss.
"These are Xiao Yunyang."
"Yes, these are the last few we have in the village. We plan to catch the big Yunyang and then release the smaller ones back into the sea of clouds. We'll catch them again when they've grown up."
"What use is Yunyang?"
Upon hearing this, Fang Li reached into the basket and scooped out a small cloud-like creature. The fluffy white thing trembled slightly in her palm, like a glutinous rice ball fresh out of the steamer.
"Taoist Master, look."
With a gentle flick of her fingers, Fang Li caused the little cloud to release a wisp of fine white cloud. The cloud wisp did not dissipate after leaving its body; instead, it wrapped around Fang Li's fingers and soon became a ball.
Fang Li then took out a white silk handkerchief from her bosom. It was extremely light and transparent, and floated in front of the group.
Song Quyou reached out to touch it, his fingertips gliding over the white silk. The touch was cool and soft, like holding a handful of morning mist.
"This stuff is lighter than silk and warmer than cotton."
Mr. Wu, who was standing nearby, looked over and exclaimed in surprise, "This thing is really so amazing?"
Xiong Hai picked up the conversation: "The silk produced by Yunyang is called Flowing Cloud Silk. I heard from merchants that it can be used to make paper. The cloth woven from this silk is called Yunyang Gauze. It was woven by my little sister herself when she had nothing to do. It is not sold outside. My little sister also named it."
In the old days, to collect wispy clouds, the villagers had to climb high mountains and stir the clouds with soaked camphor branches to obtain even a few faint wispy clouds. Now, with the formation of this sea of clouds in Yunyang, the wispy clouds have gradually become more abundant.
Fang Li's big eyes crinkled as she looked at Song Quyou with sparkling eyes and said, "Does the Daoist Master like it? This Yunyang gauze is for you."
Song Quyou looked at the Yunyang gauze in his hand, smiled faintly and shook his head, saying, "Miss Fang Li, I am a rough man and am not suited to this at all."
……
Xiong Hai ate a few more mouthfuls of wine and meat, picked up the emerald green bamboo pole, walked to the edge of the cliff, and with a flick of his arms, the mica stone at the tip of the pole drew an arc of light and fell into the surging sea of clouds.
The silvery-white threads were released in a rustling sound, and in the blink of an eye they disappeared into the vast white waves.
Xiong Hai sat cross-legged on the cliff, his thick arms as steady as a rock, and said to himself, "Mica produces clouds, and Yunyang eats clouds. If it smells the scent of mica, it will come."
Russian.
Deep within the sea of clouds, something enormous could be vaguely seen rolling and swirling.
Those who noticed the unusual situation fell silent.
suddenly.
Bai Tao was stirred into a huge vortex, and a deep, dark blue-black slit was revealed in the center of the vortex. The blue color grew deeper and larger, as if the entire sea of clouds was collapsing towards that spot.
Song Quyou's pupils contracted slightly as he could see clearly that it was not a vortex at all, but a giant mouth that was slowly opening.
The gaping mouth was formed from wisps of cloud, semi-transparent like gauze, with fine cloud strands constantly swirling around its edges, resembling a whale's snout but much larger.
It slowly rose from the depths of the sea of clouds, drawing in all the mist and fog in its path. The people on the cliff felt a strong suction coming from their feet, causing their robes to flutter.
Suddenly, the silver line taut, and the fishing rod gleamed.
Xiong Hai's expression changed, and he left two white marks on the cliff with his feet. He leaned back, bending the fishing rod into a full bow.
"Damn it, they've taken the bait!" he muttered.
Below the cliff, amidst a sea of clouds, a colossal creature bursts forth from the clouds.
The creature was pure white, shaped like a giant whale, but without scales or fins. It was surrounded by swirling clouds and was tightly gripping the silver fishing line.
The burly Xiong Hai was dragged half a step towards the edge of the cliff.
Xiong Hai smiled contemptuously: "I could lift a stone roller when I was five, wrestle with an ox when I was eight, and learn martial arts when I was eighteen. My strength is comparable to that of a giant elephant. Today, I'm going to take you on."
After saying that, he was dragged half a step towards the cliff and almost fell off.
Fang Li, standing nearby, exclaimed and leaped forward to hug her brother's waist. Mr. Wu also dropped his wine jar, grabbed Xiong Hai by the back of his belt, and kicked wildly at the ground.
Song Quyou was about to step forward to help.
Suddenly, Xiong Hai roared, his voice like muffled thunder. His muscles bulged, and a savage force burst forth from his body. His feet pounded two cracks in the cliff, and the bamboo pole creaked under the weight.
They actually managed to pull him back two steps.
As if provoked, the Great Cloud Sun seemed to be enraged. It suddenly whipped its tail, and a cloud wave several meters high rose up in the sea of clouds, crashing down on the cliff.
A giant wave crashed in, and the group was immediately enveloped in a white light, their faces stifled by the damp, cold water.
When the clouds dispersed, the cliffside was a mess. The wine jars were overturned, the braised meat was covered in water droplets, and Big Yellow was shaking water off its wet fur.
Xiong Hai's eyes widened, veins bulging on his arms, as he gripped the fishing rod tightly.
"Big brother, hold on!" Fang Li clung tightly to her brother's waist, her feet slipping on the wet, slippery rocks.
Song Quyou stepped forward, pressing his left hand against Xiong Hai's back and his right hand onto the bamboo pole.
Focus your energy in your dantian and exert force together to gradually pull the line back inch by inch.
……
The massive creature beneath the cliff remained trapped, emitting a low, mournful wail.
The sound wasn't like a beast's roar, but rather like a mountain wind blowing through caves and echoing through countless ravines, rolling up from the depths of the sea of clouds, making one's chest feel heavy.
Da Yunyang suddenly swung its body, and its semi-transparent giant tail rose from the sea of clouds, bringing with it a white waterfall of clouds that crashed heavily against the cliff.
However, it was just clouds and fog after all. Although it was powerful, apart from the strong wind and the thick fog, it was not harmful at all.
Xiong Hai's eyes were bloodshot, and his veins were bulging. He shouted in a muffled voice, "Brother Song, you can control the wind. Quickly use the wind to separate Yunyang from the surrounding sea of clouds."
……