Volume Six: The Moon Sets and the Crows Cry
The bright light on the ground shot straight down into the earth like a pillar of light, enveloping the courtyard and the vibrant immortal peach tree, creating a truly unique atmosphere.
The peaches on the tree had been picked several months ago, plucked on the very same day they first appeared.
Outsiders might mistake the growth of the peach tree for an optical illusion, but leaving the peaches hanging there would be unacceptable and far too conspicuous, so everyone picked and ate them, finding the taste of the fresh peaches to be quite delightful.
A deckchair was placed beside the peach tree, where Mu Aotie lay, occasionally opening his eyes to look at the blue sky and white clouds outside, and sometimes closing them while vigorously shaking his head from side to side to exercise his cervical spine.
Misfortune never comes singly. After Nanzhu finally recovered from an attack of his own cervical spine condition, it flared up again a few days ago, forcing him to endure that same painful torment.
He had only just managed to recover and was now lying there to rest comfortably.
If they could be free from worries about food and clothing, living such a comfortable life forever would be quite nice, and everyone at Miao Qing Hall, except for Xiao Hei, probably hoped for exactly that.
However, hope can never represent reality, or at least the rules of Youjiao Port do not allow it. They do not provide free security or let you lounge about here for nothing, meaning merchants doing business here must make a contribution, otherwise they must vacate their spot and leave.
In a nearby pavilion, Yu Qing and the others were discussing reopening the business of offering tours to view the immortal peach tree.
Having been closed for several months, they estimated that outsiders would now be confused about the actual size of the immortal peach tree. The main point was that they could not delay opening any longer, as Miao Qing Hall had no other source of income besides this peach tree tour business.
Not even counting the consumption of cultivation resources, the daily expenses for such a large group at Youjiao Port were not low, since the cost of living there was exceptionally high.
Unlike their time in the mountain hollow of Linglong Temple, where they could survive by growing their own vegetables and chopping their own firewood, burning firewood here was practically the same as burning silver. There was not a single tree on the surface and every piece of firewood had to be transported over mountains and rivers from far away, making it far from cheap.
They seemed to have a few valuable treasures on hand, but unfortunately none of them could be directly put up for sale, so they still needed to carefully figure out how to turn them into cash.
After all the trouble, the method of offering peach tree tours that Gao Laoer had come up with initially had unexpectedly become the true long term business of Miao Qing Hall.
They had originally thought it would only trick a few people looking for novelty out of their money at the start, but who knew that people would continually be willing to pay to see what the immortal peach tree looked like. Although the business was not booming and fluctuated between good and bad, it averaged out to a few customers every day, and given that the admission fee was not low, this was something no one had anticipated at the beginning.
They had previously worried that without a stable business, Miao Qing Hall would not be able to establish itself permanently according to the rules of Youjiao Port, but now this problem seemed to have been adequately solved by this single peach tree.
If things continued like this, the shop would not make them rich, but it would not starve anyone either, and it seemed it would not go bankrupt, remaining poor but stable.
The current Miao Qing Hall was no longer called Miao Qing Hall and had changed its name, since there were people who did not want to be affected by this place, and considering they had even collected money against their conscience here, the old signboard could no longer be used.
Regardless of what the former Miao Qing Hall had experienced, it had now become a thing of the past.
The signboard was replaced, and the name was changed to Peach Blossom Residence.
This name was inextricably linked to the credit of that peach tree, and it was also chosen to make the signboard more conspicuous, hoping to attract more inexperienced people to pay and come inside for a look.
Just as the group was saying they would tidy up today and open for business tomorrow, Mu Aotie, lying on the deckchair, suddenly widened his eyes, his gaze following a firefly notice flying overhead, and he urgently waved his hand, saying, “Come and look quickly.”
The few people in the pavilion walked over upon hearing this and looked up at the sky, but saw nothing unusual. Nanzhu folded his hands over his stomach and asked, “Old Nine, what are you looking at?”
Mu Aotie pointed at the distant sky and then waved his hand, saying, “I cannot see it clearly now, wait for it to fly back.”
The others did not know what he had discovered, as he was acting as if it were a very serious matter.
Nanzhu could not hold his tongue and immediately nagged, “When did you learn to keep people in suspense and speak in riddles? Hurry up and tell us what it is.”
Mu Aotie replied, “A three legged crow, someone is selling a three legged crow!”
As soon as these words were spoken, the expressions of the group shook, and they all widened their eyes to carefully scan the sky, looking everywhere.
Regarding the so called three legged crow, they already had a general understanding thanks to the investigations of Gao Laoer.
It was rare in the sense that it was seldom seen, but it was also not entirely rare because they were occasionally put up for sale here at Youjiao Port.
However, this thing could only fool those who did not understand the trade, because a captured three legged crow had a fierce temper and would not obey its tamer, eventually starving itself to death, making it a complete trap that anyone who bought it would fall into.
Besides the investigations of Gao Laoer, they had also found some records about the three legged crow in ancient texts.
It had black feathers and three golden feet, and it was said that it rarely sang, but when it did, the sound was astonishing and like heavenly music. Exactly what this heavenly music sounded like, no one could say clearly, nor was it known if anyone had truly ever heard it. Because of this, many people wanted to catch one just to hear its voice, yet the three legged crow had an aloof and proud nature, making it very difficult to make it sing.
Whenever they appeared, they were always alone, and no one had ever seen a pair. Their flying speed was extremely fast, coming without a shadow and leaving without a trace, and no one knew where they built their nests, making their method of reproduction a mystery.
The ancient texts simply referred to it as the three legged crow, and there was no mention of the so called blue bird that Wu Hei talked about.
Looking at the pictures handed down in the ancient texts, they were actually very similar to the pattern carved on the plaque of Nanzhu.
“It is coming.”
Mu Aotie, who had been staring intently at the direction of the firefly notice, suddenly shouted and raised his hand to point at it.
The group looked in that direction and gradually saw the firefly notice he was pointing at, which read, selling one rare bird, three legged crow, for one million taels.
It was concise and comprehensive.
After watching the firefly notice depart, everyone looked at each other, realising that the trade of three legged crows really did occasionally happen here at Youjiao Port.
In the past, no one would have paid attention to this, as such a useless so called rare bird would only be bought at a high price by wealthy and powerful families for amusement, and they would not have cared at all, but their current interest was entirely because of that plaque.
“It seems it really is not too rare after all,” Yu Qing muttered while picking at his small moustache, “coming without a shadow and leaving without a trace, where did it come from?”
Gao Laoer, full of sudden energy, said with an obviously excited expression, “I will go find the buyer and investigate the situation.”
No one objected, and Yu Qing meant the same thing, since Gao Laoer, as the shopkeeper, already spent a long time wandering around Youjiao Port, so it was normal for him to ask questions here and there, whereas if the rest of them asked about anything, they would easily be targeted.
They had tasted the feeling of being targeted at every turn time and time again, so much so that they hardly dared to show their faces casually even in Youjiao Port.
Mu Aotie could no longer lie still and also stood up.
Wu Hei, on the other hand, walked back into the pavilion and sat down, silently observing the group for a moment before letting out a soft sigh and shaking his head slightly.
He knew these fellows were probably up to something again, and even though it was clearly very dangerous and they had narrowly escaped death every time, were they really going to go and smash their heads against a brick wall once more?
He could also understand their feelings, having seen the painful state they had endured.
Today it was just a problem with a cervical vertebra, but who could know what kind of problems would arise tomorrow? That uneasy panic was probably constantly lingering in their minds.
Knowing that Gao Laoer would not be back anytime soon after going to gather information, they wandered around the courtyard for a while before each returning to their own quarters.
The group had just settled down for less than half an hour when the shrill scream of Xiao Hei suddenly rang out, “It moved, it moved, come and look quickly.”
People from the various small courtyards gradually appeared, Xiao Dong and Xiao Xi poked their heads over the courtyard walls, and even Baili Xin was startled into coming out.
Xiao Hei, carrying a large club on his back, was standing under the peach tree, pointing at the branches and cheering happily, though no one knew what he meant.
Everyone successively walked up to him and looked up at the tree, but saw nothing unusual. Nanzhu patted the head of Xiao Hei and asked, “What is wrong?”
Xiao Hei repeatedly pointed at a branch and said, “It moved, the peach tree moved, I just saw it move.”
The peach tree moved? Everyone was stunned into silence, and staring closely at the branch he was pointing at, they saw no movement whatsoever.
Wu Hei frowned and said, “What nonsense are you talking? I think you just want to cause trouble and run out again, right?”
Xiao Hei widened his eyes and said, “Father, I am not lying, it really moved.”
He turned back and pulled at the arm of Nanzhu, shaking it, “Fat Uncle, I really saw the peach tree move.”
Seeing that he did not look like he was lying, Nanzhu immediately asked, “How did it move?”
Xiao Hei scratched his head, then stood there to represent the peach tree, and stretched out one hand to represent a branch. The branch began to sway slowly from side to side, then up and down, and even curled upwards and bent into a coil.
After finishing these movements, he let go and said, “It moved just like this.”
Nanzhu let out an acknowledging sound, thinking that with such a range of motion, it should not be a trick of the eye. He opened his magical eye to take a look, then took out the Blue Enchantress and smeared it on his eyelids for enhancement, beginning to walk in circles around the peach tree to inspect it, showing that he somewhat believed the words of Xiao Hei.
Except for Baili Xin, everyone understood his meaning, as the mutation caused to the immortal peach tree by that drop of green glowing liquid was obvious to all, and it might very well bring about other strange conditions.
One by one, they also smeared the Blue Enchantress on their eyelids for enhancement.
A perfectly normal tree could not possibly move, and if it did, it meant it had become a spirit, which should breed demonic energy.
However, no matter how much the group looked, they could not detect a single trace of demonic energy, although the malevolent energy contained within the peach tree was still there.
Nanzhu reached out and broke off a peach branch to inspect it, but found nothing unusual either. He could not help but cast a sideways glance at Xiao Hei, looking at him a couple more times, but ultimately smiled happily and said, “Alright, we know now, remember to tell us if it moves again next time.”
Xiao Hei nodded vigorously, “Okay, Fat Uncle, remember to buy me some delicious food.”
Was it just for food? The group did not know whether to laugh or cry, and then they each dispersed.
The face of Wu Hei gradually darkened, and he stepped forward to grab the ear of Xiao Hei, dragging him straight back to the study. Then a burst of angry scolding was heard, ordering him to copy something a hundred times.
Yu Qing shook his head and returned to his room. Seeing Big Head on the stone pier nearby, he could not help but lean over to take a look.
He saw Big Head with its wings spread open, lying quietly on the stone pier, with an orange red light flowing continuously over the cracks on its body surface.
He did not know what was wrong with Big Head either, but it had been like this ever since they returned from Kunling Mountain, and it had almost set the house on fire, so he had to find a stone pier for it to use.