Chapter 26: Worshiping the Mountain God
In October, the weather grew colder and colder.
At night, when Ying Kongtu slept, he could hear the wind blowing against the doors and windows.
Sometimes, when he lay in the courtyard after eating to digest, he could also feel the wind rolling over his head.
The feeling of a great mass of wind tumbling and rumbling, as though even the wind had come alive.
He liked that feeling very much.
It was a wind unique to autumn.
Now that autumn had come, everything in the mountains had become different.
And as time passed, the young saker falcons in the falcon nest finally left the nest.
When Ying Kongtu went to Baogu Mountain to patrol, he could see six plump little saker falcons crowded inside the nest.
Perhaps because they had been fed by the mountain god, these young saker falcons had grown extremely well, even better than ordinary young saker falcons.
The little falcons grew very quickly. Their bodies were not much smaller than their parents’. With eight plump saker falcons crowded together in the nest, the nest looked very small.
Ying Kongtu watched from afar and could distinguish the young falcons from their parents.
The young falcons’ feathers were darker, a mixture of dark gray and white, making them look speckled.
The feathers of the falcon parents leaned more toward light gray and white.
Judging by body size, Ying Kongtu discovered that among the six young falcons, four were female and two were male.
At this moment, they were all following their father to learn how to fly.
Their mother stayed nearby, her sharp eyes fixed on them, ready to rescue them at any moment.
The young falcons had only just started learning, and their movements were still very clumsy.
Some timid young falcons clung tightly to the branches and did not dare move for a long time.
The father falcon had no choice but to lure them forward with food.
The mother falcon could not help herself either. She flew short distances between branches, patiently demonstrating for the young falcons.
Watching the behavior of the falcon family from afar, Ying Kongtu could not help smiling.
He had previously worried that as the weather gradually turned cold, the young falcons still in the nest might freeze.
Now that they had grown most of their feathers, even if a cold wave came, it should not pose a threat to them.
After watching for a while, Ying Kongtu continued patrolling the mountain.
The young falcons were about to grow up and leave the nest. It seemed that in the next few days, he had to hurry and make a few more bird nests to put in the trees.
Today, he would have to collect branches along the way.
Saker falcons living in high-latitude regions migrated south in winter.
The saker falcons here did not.
The winters here did not reach the point of severe cold, and food remained plentiful. The falcons usually stayed here all year round.
This year’s nest of young falcons had been born a little late, so he had to make them a warmer nest.
Thinking this, whenever Ying Kongtu saw grass fluff along the road, he collected it casually.
Grass fluff, cotton, down, and other materials combined would make a very warm and comfortable bird nest.
Since the weather had turned cold, aside from the young falcons that had been born not long ago and needed extra care, the pigs Ying Kongtu kept on Wuchuan Mountain also needed some extra attention.
This group of pigs had already grown halfway to adulthood.
They mainly ate all kinds of wild vegetables, wild fruits, and nuts on the mountain, so they did not grow as quickly as large white pigs.
But pigs raised slowly like this would taste far better than ordinary pigs.
Looking at them, Ying Kongtu was already looking forward to next winter, the season of harvest.
Among the six mountains under Ying Kongtu’s name, only Wuchuan Mountain and Bibai Mountain had elevations below one thousand meters.
Pigs were raised on Wuchuan Mountain, and he could raise more next year.
There were no livestock on Bibai Mountain yet. When the weather warmed next year, he could raise a flock of free-range mountain chickens there.
By then, when the weather was warm, the plants on the mountain should have grown a little larger too.
Otherwise, the newly sprouted seedlings would be easily pecked clean by the chicks.
Chicks did not look very fierce, but in reality, they were particularly destructive. No seedling could escape their sharp beaks.
Even if he wanted to raise them next year, he would probably only be able to start with a small number.
Ying Kongtu took out his phone and recorded all kinds of ideas in his memo.
There were many things to do now. Recording them would make it easier for him to draw up various plans later.
Ying Kongtu patrolled the mountain until dusk before returning home.
In autumn, the sky darkened early. By the time he got home, it was almost dark.
From afar, he saw warm yellow light glowing in his courtyard, tearing through the dark purple night curtain.
Ying Kongtu quickened his steps and walked back.
As soon as he pushed open the gate, a warm, fragrant smell drifted out.
Dart and the wolf cub were playing in the courtyard. Ying Kongtu glanced over the food bowls, saw food crumbs at the bottom, and knew that they had already been fed.
“You’re back?” Wen Zhongshan, who was sitting in the courtyard teasing Dart and the wolf cub, raised his head.
“What smell is this? It’s so fragrant.”
“Stir-fried chicken sent by a friend. The portion was too big, so I brought it over to share with you.”
“It really smells delicious. Is it the legendary frontier-style stir-fried chicken?”
“Yes, authentic frontier-style stir-fried chicken. I ate it once before. Recently, a friend went there on a business trip, so I asked him to send some over.”
Wen Zhongshan had taken out a small induction cooker. The stir-fried chicken was now bubbling away on it.
Ying Kongtu went to wash some greens, planning to blanch them in the pot later.
Tonight’s dinner was settled simply like this.
Ying Kongtu had wandered through the mountains for the whole day, and at night, he also ate delicious stir-fried chicken, so he slept very deeply.
His sleep quality had always been good. Even when the wolf cub was still small and needed him to get up every few hours at night to take care of it, he could still fall asleep quickly.
Today, however, was an exception.
Clearly, when he had first fallen asleep, he had slept very deeply, as though he could sleep straight until dawn. But in the middle of the night, he opened his eyes without warning.
“Hm.” Ying Kongtu turned on the bedside lamp and frowned.
The wolf cub sleeping at the foot of the bed was startled by his movement. Its thick little ears twitched. “Yingying?”
“Sleep.” Ying Kongtu stretched out his hand and patted the wolf cub’s back.
Ying Kongtu had a vague premonition in his heart. He could sense that something had happened.
Because his divine power was weak, even after sensing for a long while, he did not receive a concrete impression.
However, he could feel that it was not a major matter.
He sat on the bed for a while, completely clueless. He had no choice but to turn off the bedside lamp again and lie back down.
This time, he still fell asleep quickly.
Only, his sleep was not as peaceful.
He had only just fallen asleep when he began dreaming. He dreamed that someone was in the dark wilderness, shivering and trembling.
He woke with a start again. The wolf cub at the foot of the bed was also awakened. “Yingying.”
The wolf cub stood up uneasily, climbed across the quilt, and stumbled to Ying Kongtu’s side.
Ying Kongtu casually picked it up and stroked its little head.
At the same time, Ying Kongtu recalled the contents of the dream.
When he dreamed of the person in the wilderness, the light had been very dim, but he could still roughly see the surroundings.
After recalling it briefly, Ying Kongtu quickly confirmed the exact location in the dream.
It was Tiaozhu Mountain.
Someone had gotten lost on Tiaozhu Mountain.
Ying Kongtu held the wolf cub with one hand and took his phone from the bedside cabinet.
2:07 a.m.
No wonder the person lost on Tiaozhu Mountain was shivering with cold.
Tiaozhu Mountain’s elevation reached more than three thousand meters, and now it was October. At night, the temperature in the mountain was only around ten degrees Celsius. If it was on a windy shaded slope, it could even be only a few degrees.
If someone really had gotten lost on Tiaozhu Mountain, something might happen.
Ying Kongtu opened his messaging app and wanted to contact Pei Lejiu to ask.
Looking at the time at the top of his phone, he felt it was too late. Pei Lejiu was probably already asleep.
Besides, even if he asked, Tiaozhu Mountain was so large. Unless Pei Lejiu had received a report in advance, he probably would not know someone had gotten lost there.
Thinking this, Ying Kongtu simply got up, changed clothes, put on a coat, and planned to go see for himself.
The wolf cub was startled by his movement and followed behind him on its little short legs.
This little fellow was very clingy and followed people very closely. If Ying Kongtu was not careful, he could step on it.
Seeing this, Ying Kongtu simply scooped it up and casually placed it into the wolf bed in the living room.
The bed was placed outside, making it convenient for it to go out and relieve itself.
Ying Kongtu quickly went to the courtyard and pushed out his motorcycle.
He put on his helmet, swung his long leg over the bike, and left home in the dark night.
He deliberately took a detour through the county.
After riding to the mountain god temple by the river, he stopped, got off, walked to the side of the mountain god temple, and lightly knocked on the stone tablet inside.
The little mountain gods could rest inside any empty mountain god shrine. At night, Tiaozhu usually came to rest inside the county’s mountain god temple.
For attendants that had already been transformed into little mountain gods, only shrines could let them rest completely.
“Meow-ow.” Tiaozhu’s figure leapt out from the faintly glowing stone tablet.
“Humans have gotten lost on Tiaozhu Mountain.” Although Tiaozhu could not really understand human speech, Ying Kongtu still roughly explained and communicated with it using divine power.
Tiaozhu lifted its right front paw and tilted its head, thinking in place.
Ying Kongtu got onto the motorcycle and patted the spot in front of him.
This time, Tiaozhu understood. With a light jump, it leapt in front of Ying Kongtu.
Ying Kongtu unzipped his coat, wrapped Tiaozhu against his chest and abdomen, zipped the coat back up, and rode toward Tiaozhu Mountain.
Several hundred years ago, Ying Kongtu often guided humans who had lost their way in the mountains.
At that time, the mountains were full of large fierce beasts and far more dangerous than now.
The little mountain gods under him all knew how to guide people. When they saw lost humans, they would lead them out.
Tiaozhu Mountain was too large. Ying Kongtu’s divine power was now weak, and it would be difficult for him to find the humans lost in the mountain immediately.
Tiaozhu had been born on Tiaozhu Mountain and was very familiar with the situation there.
Bringing Tiaozhu was the best choice.
Ying Kongtu rode the motorcycle for nearly an hour in one breath and parked it beneath the relatively steep northern slope.
He did not often climb the mountain from this side, but it was faster to go up from here.
Climbing Tiaozhu Mountain still required starting from other mountains.
Like an agile leopard, Ying Kongtu carried Tiaozhu and climbed toward the mountain.
His speed was much faster than when he usually went up the mountain with Wen Zhongshan.
After more than half an hour, they reached the foot of Tiaozhu Mountain.
“This way.” Ying Kongtu sensed the general direction and lowered his head to say to Tiaozhu, “You lead the way.”
Tiaozhu understood him. Its whiskers twitched, and it began leading the way in front.
One man and one golden cat walked forward, correcting their direction as they went.
After walking for more than half an hour, Ying Kongtu suddenly sensed “human presence” ahead.
The scent of humans was always very obvious in the mountains.
At night, with all things silent, the human scent became even more obvious.
From afar, Ying Kongtu heard human voices carried by the wind.
The conversation in the wind was intermittent, and in the darkness, it sounded rather frightening.
Ying Kongtu focused and listened for a while. Very soon, he confirmed that the two lost people were not poachers.
They were only tourists who had come into the mountains to play. Because they were unfamiliar with the mountain forest, they had taken what looked like a path but was actually just a gap where vegetation grew sparsely, and thus gotten lost.
During the day, after realizing they were lost, the two anxiously searched for a path.
The more they tried to find the path, the less they could find it. Instead, they gradually walked deeper into the mountains.
They wanted to call for help, but unfortunately, there was no signal in the mountains. Because they had held up their phones looking for signal for a long time, their phone batteries had nearly been drained.
If Ying Kongtu had not sensed their presence today and come out to find them, by the time someone discovered that they were missing in a few days and reported it to the police, it might have been far too late.
Facing an unfamiliar mountain forest, the two lost people were in enormous fear and had no intention of sleeping.
Ying Kongtu listened as the two blamed each other, then encouraged each other.
After listening for a while and confirming they were not criminals, Ying Kongtu lightly stroked Tiaozhu’s neck, pointed ahead, and signaled for it to go guide them.
When Tiaozhu handled proper business, it never dropped the ball.
After turning back to look at Ying Kongtu, the sturdy golden cat ran out from the woods to guide the way.
“Ah!” The two lost people were in the middle of talking when they suddenly saw two points of light appear in the forest. They were so frightened that their souls nearly flew away.
Those were Tiaozhu’s eyes reflecting light, glowing green.
Tiaozhu did not care about timid humans. It only walked forward a few steps, then stopped and looked back at the two humans, indicating for them to follow.
“Kitty?”
“This cat is so big. Is it a cat?”
“It seems to be leading us.”
“It is leading the way! Hurry, follow it!”
Tiaozhu only weighed about twenty jin, not even as heavy as some large cats.
The two were unfamiliar with the mountain forest and did not recognize it as a golden cat. They only thought it was some kind of tabby cat.
If there was a cat, there was very likely a household nearby.
The two were energized and tentatively followed Tiaozhu.
As Tiaozhu walked in front, it kept looking back at them.
When the two walked slowly, Tiaozhu would even stop and wait.
The two quickly discovered that Tiaozhu truly was leading the way. They no longer had time to be afraid and hurriedly followed behind.
Seeing that they were following Tiaozhu, Ying Kongtu followed them from far behind to avoid any accidents.
That night, in truth, one big and one small mountain god were escorting the two lost travelers.
Only they did not know it.
Naturally, when leading humans along a night road, one could not take a steep route.
Under Ying Kongtu’s instruction, Tiaozhu took a slight detour and led the two humans to the roadside.
The road Tiaozhu led them to was only a provincial road, and there were no streetlights nearby.
But by the faint starlight, when they saw the familiar concrete road, the two were so happy they nearly cried.
After Tiaozhu finished leading the way, it quickly returned to the mountain forest.
The two travelers turned back and found that it was gone. They were frightened, but also somewhat excited.
Tonight, they seemed to have encountered a supernatural event!
Ying Kongtu did not leave. He stood deep in the forest and accompanied them from afar.
Only when a car passed by, and the two travelers asked the passing vehicle for help and successfully got in, did Ying Kongtu photograph the license plate, leave Xing Chang a message roughly explaining the matter, ask him to pay attention to the follow-up, and then take Tiaozhu back.
Tiaozhu had gotten up in the middle of the night and climbed half a mountain, huffing and puffing. Now it was exhausted.
After walking a few steps, it stopped by the roadside to rest and refused to move.
It looked up at Ying Kongtu without making a sound.
Ying Kongtu smiled, bent down to pick it up, unzipped his coat, tucked it into his warm arms, and then held it as he slowly returned to where the motorcycle was parked.
Tiaozhu obediently curled against his chest, unusually not resisting.
Rescuing lost people belonged to a mountain god’s duties. Ying Kongtu did not take this matter to heart.
The next afternoon, Ying Kongtu was watering flowers in the courtyard when his expression suddenly became a little strange.
“What’s wrong?” Wen Zhongshan, who captured his expression immediately, asked.
Ying Kongtu reached out and touched his chest. “It seems someone is worshiping at the mountain god temple.”
Wen Zhongshan was stunned for a moment, then immediately said, “Let’s go take a look.”
Wen Zhongshan drove Ying Kongtu to the main street.
From inside the car, Ying Kongtu saw the mountain god temple from afar.
He himself often came to the mountain god temple. When he saw it dirty, he would clean and wipe it down in passing, so the mountain god temple had always remained relatively clean.
Perhaps because the mountain god temple was different from before, the aunties and uncles who danced in the square had also moved their spot and no longer made noise nearby.
The mountain god temple had thus become even cleaner.
Today, the neat and tidy mountain god temple was somewhat different.
Someone had brought incense, candles, and offerings to worship. Incense smoke curled before the mountain god temple, carrying a human warmth.
Ying Kongtu looked from afar. After several hundred years, he once again received proper worship.
This made his feelings very complicated.
Wen Zhongshan looked at Ying Kongtu’s complicated expression and gently patted his back.
“It’s the people who got lost yesterday,” Ying Kongtu said softly.
Ying Kongtu had been busy outside for half the night last night. Today, he had unusually woken up late and had not gone up the mountain.
When Wen Zhongshan came to find him, he had been somewhat surprised, so Ying Kongtu had told Wen Zhongshan about what had happened the previous night.
This proper incense offering almost instantly nourished Ying Kongtu’s dried-up divine power.
The incense offering was very faint, but very pure.
This kind of worship was different from ordinary worship.
It contained the power of faith.
Most worship was only people following custom and casually bowing, not truly believing in their hearts.
That kind of incense, even if burned every day, contained no power of faith.
Ying Kongtu looked toward the mountain forest in the distance.
The autumn wind blew, the trees swayed, and the mountain forest seemed to echo from far away.
His connection with these mountain forests had deepened.
Ying Kongtu touched his chest, his heart full.
For all these years, the mountain god had never forgotten his duties and had never given up protecting this land.
Now, at last, someone had offered formal worship for the first time, and he had once again formed a hidden connection with the people on this land.
Sitting in the car, Ying Kongtu watched the two lost travelers finish their worship and said nothing.
His lashes lowered, covering those beautiful eyes tinged faintly gray-blue.
Looking at the silent Ying Kongtu, Wen Zhongshan’s feelings were also complicated.
At this moment, Wen Zhongshan could do nothing but silently keep him company.
In the end, it was Xing Chang’s phone call that broke their silence.
Xing Chang’s voice came through. “Kongtu, I checked. The two travelers who got lost last night have returned safely. Don’t worry.”
Ying Kongtu said, “I know. I saw them.”
“Huh? Where did you see them?”
“In front of the mountain god temple.”
“They really went to worship at the mountain god temple?” Xing Chang sounded a little excited. “This afternoon, I saw someone tell them they could go worship at the mountain god temple. I didn’t know whether they would really go, and I didn’t feel comfortable telling you.”
“They really came. Thank you.”
“What are you thanking me for? I should be the one thanking you.” Xing Chang lowered his voice and said a little embarrassedly, “Thank you for saving humans, and thank you for always taking care of the local mountain forests. We should be thanking you.”
Ying Kongtu smiled. “Thank you and your mother for speaking up for me.”
Xing Chang froze, then became even more embarrassed. “You know about that too?”
As a staff member of the Abnormality Management Bureau and also Ying Kongtu’s liaison, Xing Chang knew very clearly that he truly was a mountain god.
Their local area had a mountain god.
Xing Chang’s belief was so firm. Although his mother did not know the secret behind it, she was influenced by her son’s attitude and also firmly believed that the local area had a mountain god and that worshiping the mountain god was useful.
Mother Xing was extremely well-informed and had also spread plenty of information.
It was precisely because she often talked about this with her friends, and because Ying Kongtu often worshiped at the mountain god temple, that everyone had developed this idea.
In the end, after hearing about the mysterious incident encountered by the lost outsiders, the locals could enthusiastically give them directions and tell them they could go worship at the mountain god temple.
Only then did Ying Kongtu receive his first formal incense offering.
The turning point was hidden in everyday life.
And the reason this turning point existed was because they had been earnestly living their lives.
Thinking of this, Ying Kongtu smiled with ease.
He said to Wen Zhongshan, who had been by his side all this time, “Let’s go. We’re going back.”
“Back? Not watching anymore?”
“No more watching. Let’s go back and drink.” Ying Kongtu said happily.
