chsdbacks Chapter 2 Viewing the Mountains
Chapter 2 Viewing the Mountains
As dawn broke, Lin Yan shouldered a bamboo basket, tucked a wood-chopping knife into his pocket, and left the cave dwelling, heading towards the mountains.
The mountain wind was strong, and it stung when it hit people's faces.
The woods grew denser, and the light dimmed.
Lin Yan, familiar with the place, parted a bush and groped around to pick up a few bones.
Most of them were left by wild dogs or deer.
A touch of the finger evoked a feeling deep within: [Old bone, loose texture, suitable for making coarse skewers, inexpensive.]
After a whole morning, Lin Yan's basket only had a little more than half a basket of ordinary bone meal.
At this rate, I can only exchange a dozen or so coins in three days at most.
Lin Yan squatted down by the stream, scooped up some icy water to wash his face, and his fingers went numb from the cold.
【Skill: Bone Identification (Beginner) (192/500)】
My proficiency has increased, but that's still far from enough.
Lin Yan sighed and shook his head, then stood up and looked into the deep forest.
Even hunters rarely go there. Rumors circulate among the refugees that the place has been haunted by bears and that many dead people have been buried there.
Danger, on the other hand, also means more opportunities.
Lin Yan gritted his teeth, tightened the tattered rope around his waist, gripped his wood-chopping knife, and walked step by step deeper into the forest.
As we went deeper, the light became dimmer, and the decaying leaves underfoot were thick and soft.
The woods were eerily quiet, deathly still, with only the occasional bird calls from afar adding to the eerie atmosphere.
Just then, the withered grass not far away rustled.
Lin Yanxin's heart leaped into her throat, and she held her breath, only to see a gray shadow dart out.
It's a plump wild rabbit!
Lin Yan's eyes narrowed, and he quickly reacted. Almost instinctively, he lunged forward, and at the same time, the wood-chopping knife flew out of his hand, pinning the rabbit to the ground with a thud!
He himself fell hard and got a mouthful of mud.
The rabbit struggled twice, then stopped moving.
Lin Yan got up, panting heavily, his heart pounding.
He quickly drew his machete, picked up the warm rabbit, and felt its heavy weight in his hand.
Meat, it's been so long since I've had a decent meat dish.
This is not a bad harvest... Lin Yan grinned, and was about to pack up when his vision blurred, and then a strange feeling welled up in his heart.
The surrounding trees, rocks, and even the sound of the wind seemed to become particularly clear in my perception at this moment.
【Skill: Mountain Viewing (First Glimpse) (1/100)】
[Function: Enhances environmental awareness, enabling faster identification of paths and potential dangers in complex mountainous terrain (perception range and accuracy increase with proficiency)]
The second skill!
Looking at the new information on the panel, Lin Yan was greatly surprised, but then he let out a heavy sigh of relief.
He composed himself and suppressed his overwhelming joy.
Then carefully tie the rabbit up with dry grass and put it in the basket.
The meat was just a small gain; the unexpected skill of "observing the mountains" was the key, and it was subtly taking effect as well.
Lin Yan immediately focused his mind and spirit, observing his surroundings and listening to his surroundings, and began to continue walking in the deep mountains.
And instead of blindly searching as before, I followed the contours of the mountain, letting nature guide my way, step by step.
Not only did the competition go more smoothly, but it also yielded better results.
In several dry crevices where animal tracks were scarce, he indeed found something better.
It was the spine of an unknown animal, half-buried in the soil, its color like jade and its texture dense.
[Feedback: Excellent quality, suitable for carving the main body of exquisite objects.]
"This is as good as several regular bone skewers!"
Having made a discovery, Lin Yan focused intently and continued his arduous search.
Soon after, under another low cliff, they found several bones that had been smoothed by flowing water.
Some have cracks, but the texture is unique, making them suitable for crafting into beads or small natural ornaments.
Even under an old tree, relying on the perception of the ground through [Viewing the Mountain], they dug out a broken little pottery jar.
There weren't any particularly valuable items inside, but there were a few copper coins pressed at the bottom of the jar. The inscriptions were blurry and illegible, so they might be relics from a previous dynasty. They could be exchanged for some scrap copper.
As dusk approached, it became necessary to head back.
Lin Yan's basket was heavier than ever before, the largest harvest he had ever made.
Therefore, even after a day of tiring walking in the deep mountains and a day of high mental stress, Lin Yan still felt full of energy.
On the way down the mountain, the "observation" technique can also help Lin Yan avoid slippery or potentially dangerous crevices.
Until the town, on West Street, at the old bone shop.
The shopkeeper was an old man surnamed Hu. When he saw what Lin Yan took out, he raised his eyebrows, and he especially looked at the fine spine and several pieces of unusual bone.
As he fiddled with his abacus, Manager Hu casually remarked, "Young man, what a lucky day! Where did you find it?"
Lin Yan didn't say much, only saying, "I got it by chance in the deep mountains."
Manager Hu wasn't one to meddle; he simply calculated every meal.
"The spine... I'll give you fifteen coins. These unusual pieces will cost eight coins. These old coins are so rusted they're hard to read, I'll give you two coins as scrap copper."
Manager Hu then proceeded to do another quick calculation.
"Plus these ordinary aggregates... a total of forty-nine coins, rounded up to fifty large coins for you."
Fifty coins! That's almost half a month's income normally... Lin Yan was overjoyed, hiding the excitement on his face.
"Thank you for your trouble, shopkeeper."
Shopkeeper Hu nodded, put away the materials, and then counted out fifty copper coins and handed them to Lin Yan.
Lin Yan hid most of them close to his body, leaving only a few on the outside.
He turned and left the bone shop, heading straight for the pharmacy at the alley entrance.
I got two cheap but effective cough medicines for my mother, which cost twelve coins.
As Lin Yan walked out of the pharmacy and headed out of town, he paused when he passed an old sugar figurine stall on a street corner.
Seeing the various sugar figurines stuck on the straw bundles, glistening in the afterglow of the setting sun.
One of them, shaped like a rabbit, is particularly lifelike.
Lin Yan pictured her younger sister's sallow face and her big, always sensible and longing eyes.
She probably never ate sugar figurines growing up, and even regular maltose was a rare sight for her.
Lin Yan couldn't bear it any longer, so he took out two more copper coins from his pocket and bought the little rabbit sugar figurine.
The stall owner wrapped it in a small piece of clean oil paper and handed it to him.
Clutching the medicine packet and the sugar figurine in his hand, he only had thirty copper coins left in his pocket.
Lin Yan calculated that if he could have this kind of harvest every day, or even if it wasn't every day, but every three to five days, he could still raise that crucial donation amount.
The skill of "viewing the mountains" needs improvement; it's practically a divine skill for making a living in the mountains.
As he was deep in thought, a commotion came from not far away, and Lin Yan looked up curiously.
I saw several muscular men following a middle-aged man with an impressive bearing as they walked from the other end of the street.
They stopped in front of the only decent-looking inn in town, seemingly waiting for someone.
"Manager Zhao, the martial arts master we've hired this time is said to be a retired guard from the prefectural city. He's quite skilled."
"Hmph, without some real skills, how could you protect our goods on the mountain roads? Those bandits are not to be trifled with."
"I heard that once a martial artist reaches a certain level, their strength and skill are... wow... they could kill a bull with a single punch!"
"Martial arts training requires talent and money; ordinary people can't afford it. I've heard that just the cost of training one's muscles and bones..."
The voices reached Lin Yan's ears intermittently.
The words "martial artist" and "entering the ranks" in particular stirred up ripples in Lin Yan's heart.
Musha?
What if I could also practice martial arts?
Even if it's just basic skills, there's no need to risk your life like this now, just for a little bit of money to survive.
He glanced at the panel in front of him instinctively.
【Skill: Bone Identification (Beginner) (199/500)】
【Skill: Mountain Viewing (First Glimpse) (6/100)】
Since the panel corresponds to skills, then,
Is practicing martial arts also a kind of skill?
If you can learn martial arts, even the most basic fist and foot techniques, as long as it can strengthen your body, you will have more ability to protect yourself in this chaotic world.
The thought, once it arose, began to grow wildly in Lin Yan's mind.
But he quickly suppressed it again.
Practicing martial arts is so easy; without connections, resources, or even knowing what martial arts look like, one can succeed.
The most important thing right now is to raise enough money as soon as possible to save our dilapidated kiln.
As for learning martial arts, that's still a long way off, as far off as getting rid of one's citizenship.
Lin Yan tightened his grip on the medicine and sugar figurine in his hands, stopped listening to the men's idle chatter, and strode towards the edge of town.
On the way back to Black Wind Ridge, it was almost dusk.
As Lin Yan passed by several more dilapidated refugee settlements, his heart grew even colder.
I saw a crowd gathered in front of a shanty, and an old woman who was so thin she was skin and bones was wailing.
Her last small bag of chaff was stolen by the constables, simply because they couldn't collect the head tax; even that meager ration was considered as collateral to pay the debt.
Elsewhere, a man was bound hand and foot to a tree, his body covered in wounds.
It is said that he secretly went to town to find work, but was recognized as a fugitive from the county government and was waiting to be taken away by the county officials.
The people around him were mostly indifferent and numb; no one dared to step forward. They couldn't even protect themselves, let alone care about others.
This is a microcosm of the cruel world.
Lin Yan also walked past with her head down.
Having been here for so long, he had seen everything he needed to see, and the little bit of pity he once had had been worn away by life.
By the roadside, there were several unburied thin coffins, some even just straw mats, emitting a faint odor.
Those were displaced people who couldn't afford the cremation fee or the burial fee.
Even a proper burial after death becomes a luxury; they can only remain by the edge of their settlements, left to decay.
When the wind blows, the air is filled with the despairing scent of withered grass.
Lin Yan strode quickly through this scene that resembled a living hell.
At the same time, a strong thought took root in his heart.
We must get out of here as soon as possible; we can't let ourselves rot here!
Not only did they need to raise enough money for the donation, but they also had to work hard to free themselves, their mothers, and their sisters from this precarious, lowly life where they could be crushed at any moment.
As night deepened, Lin Yan finally saw the scattered lights in his own cave dwelling area.
Pushing open the dilapidated wooden door, a familiar scent wafted out, bringing Lin Yan a sense of warmth.
"Brother! You're back!"
When his younger sister, Lin Xiu, saw him, she jumped up from the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), her eyes filled with joy and worry.
When Lin Yan handed the medicine to her mother and then placed the little rabbit candy figurine wrapped in oil paper into her younger sister's hand, the cave remained quiet for a long time.
Lin Xiu's eyes widened in disbelief as she stared at the golden, adorable little creature.
Then she suddenly looked up at her brother, then at her mother, her little mouth pursed, wanting to smile, but her eyes welled up with tears first. She clutched the sugar figurine tightly and whispered:
"Thank you, brother..."
Looking at the medicine her son had brought back, then at the sugar figurine in her daughter's hand, and then at her son's travel-worn but still gentle and smiling face, Madam Chen's lips moved, but in the end she only sighed softly:
"It's good that you're back... This candy... Ugh, what a waste of money."
The woman's tone held little blame, only weary tenderness.
"Mother, please take your medicine on time. Xiuer, eat the candy slowly, don't let it dissolve."
As Lin Yan spoke, he took the plump wild rabbit out of the basket.
"Look, we're having an extra meal tonight."
The atmosphere inside the cave dwelling felt even more vibrant and warm.
......
The next day, as soon as the rooster crowed, Lin Yan went into the mountains again.
With the aid of [Mountain Observation], he followed the ridgeline, sensed the terrain, and proceeded cautiously.
His skills were still raw, but enough to allow him to avoid the slippery, steep slope.
Later, in a sunny rock hollow, a small patch of soil that had been dug up by animals was discovered.
Digging away the topsoil, several half-buried animal bones were revealed.
One of them was a wild boar tusk, broken in half, but fortunately the base was thick and hard.
There are also two wing bones resembling those of some large bird, hollow and light, yet with exceptionally strong walls.
[Identifying Bones]: Fangs can be used to make dagger handles, while bird bones are suitable for making whistles or fine inlays.
They are all good materials.
Lin Yan put the food away, feeling a slight sense of relief.
There's no need to take risks today; we've already gotten off to a good start.
He continued along the easier route, occasionally bending down to check.
They found more decent bone fragments, and also discovered several smooth, oddly colored pebbles on a pebble beach.
Although it's not aggregate, its mottled and unique color might fetch a penny or two.
As noon approached, the sky unexpectedly darkened.
A muffled rumble of thunder came from the distant mountains, and the rolling clouds pressed down on the mountaintops.
Lin Yan looked up, her heart tightening.
The mountain rain is coming quickly, so we need to find a place to take shelter first.
His perception of the mountains became clear at that moment, and he immediately turned to the left front to a steep mountain wall.
After walking briskly for several dozen steps, parting a thick clump of vines, a narrow opening, barely wide enough for one person to bend over and enter, suddenly appeared.
The cave was dark and smelled of earth, but thankfully it was dry and there was no unpleasant odor like that of a wild animal's den.
Lin Yan slipped inside, and just as he put down his basket, large raindrops began to pelt down.
In the blink of an eye, the rain formed a curtain, and the world was filled with a chaotic mist.
The cave wasn't deep; with the dim light from the entrance, one could see roughly what it was like.
It was just an ordinary rocky crevice with some broken stones and withered branches on the ground.
Lin Yan sat down against the wall, listening to the rumbling rain outside, and took out a hard biscuit from his pocket. He ate it in small bites with his water pouch, calculating his harvest for the day.
If fangs and bird bones can fetch a good price, along with other odds and ends, they can bring in forty or fifty coins.
If things can be like this for two days, the pressure will be less.
As I was thinking, my gaze inadvertently swept over a slightly recessed shadow in the corner of the cave wall.
There were a few loose stones there, as if they had been turned over.
Driven by curiosity, Lin Yan got up, walked over, and moved the stones aside.
There was nothing else below, only damp soil.
But just as he was about to retreat, his fingers touched something hard that was different from the soil.
Digging away the topsoil, a palm-sized cloth bag covered in mud was revealed.
The cloth bag is made of thick material and should have been dark blue in color.
It is now filthy, but you can still see that the edges are embroidered with fine cloud patterns, although most of the lines are dim and broken.
It feels heavy in the hand, and there seems to be something hard inside.
Lin Yan's heart skipped a beat.
This is definitely not something belonging to mountain refugees or ordinary hunters.
Even in its broken state, the golden cloud pattern exudes a refined elegance that seems out of place in this desolate and harsh landscape, along with... trouble.
Lin Yan subconsciously wanted to open it to take a look, but stopped when he reached for the rope.
The rain poured outside the cave, but the cave was silent inside.
A strange sense of foreboding arose.
This thing has an unknown origin; if it's involved in something I shouldn't touch...
After a moment's hesitation, Lin Yan simply wiped the mud off the outside of the brocade pouch and stuffed it into the innermost pocket of his body, placing it separately from the copper coins.
Whatever it is, now is not the time to investigate.
Taking rash action is more likely to bring trouble.
Let's hide for now and see what happens.