On the day when Chen Chuanyang, one of the Yellow River’s Three Heroes, visited the Renwang Sect’s leader, Bai Jinshu was taking Ye Lihen on a tour of the back mountain of Renwang Mountain.
For the past couple of days, Bai Jinshu had sensed that Ye Lihen’s mood had been somewhat low. Perhaps it had something to do with their conversation about the bandits in Fengcheng a few days earlier. However, Ye Lihen never dampened Bai Jinshu’s spirits. Every time Bai Jinshu suggested going somewhere, Ye Lihen never refused. Bai Jinshu thought that if Ye Lihen could have had a childhood like his or his junior brothers and sisters, his temperament might be warmer and more cheerful. Since Ye Lihen was still young, Bai Jinshu treated their outings like playtime, as if he were reliving his own childhood with his junior brothers.
“Speaking of which, when I first came up the mountain at the age of five, Master hadn’t taken in any other disciples yet. There were no children my age on the mountain, so I was quite lonely for a while. During that time, I would come here every day.”
At that moment, Bai Jinshu was taking Ye Lihen around the bamboo forest on the back mountain. His words made Ye Lihen look around in slight confusion at the rather desolate surroundings, which didn’t seem to offer much in terms of scenery.
“What did you do here?” Ye Lihen asked.
Bai Jinshu pointed with interest toward the other side of the bamboo forest at the mountainside. “Do you see those caves over there?”
On the mountainside, there was a row of caves lined up almost perfectly. Though not exactly a work of art, there seemed to be a certain sense of fate in how these eight caves aligned in a straight line.
“Do you know what I thought of the first time I saw these eight caves?” Bai Jinshu asked with a smile.
Without hesitation, Ye Lihen replied, “A flute.”
The answer made Bai Jinshu laugh. “What kind of giant mouth would blow into a flute that big?”
Ye Lihen gave him a sidelong glance. “Then what did you think of?”
“The eight trigrams.”
Ye Lihen retorted without missing a beat, “What kind of eight trigrams looks like a flatfish?”
Bai Jinshu immediately realized his mistake and laughed. “You’re right, it does look more like a flute.”
Ye Lihen nodded. “So, why did you like coming here?”
“The reason the caves made me think of the eight trigrams is that I used to suspect that they were part of a formation, something like eight doors with a life gate and a death gate. When I was bored, I would come here every day to explore the caves.” Bai Jinshu said, reminiscing with a touch of nostalgia.
Ye Lihen glanced at him. “Weren’t you afraid of getting lost in the caves?”
Bai Jinshu pretended to shudder. “Some of these caves are really complex. I actually got trapped in one of them for two days. At the time, I cried and swore that if I made it out alive, I would never come to this cursed place again.”
“And then you came back after a few days?”
“Three days.” Bai Jinshu admitted, feeling a bit embarrassed as he rubbed his nose. “The main thing was that, back then, Renwang Mountain felt like an even scarier place to me.”
“Did you ever get trapped again?”
Bai Jinshu chuckled. “Why do you seem like you’re hoping I did?”
Ye Lihen stared at Bai Jinshu thoughtfully. “You’re avoiding the question, which means you did get trapped again, and probably more than once.”
“… Just twice.” No matter how righteously he tried to argue, Bai Jinshu eventually sighed in defeat. “Alright, go ahead and laugh.”
Ye Lihen shook his head, his expression serious. “I’m just wondering, was it your Master who always found you and rescued you?”
“Yeah.”
“Why didn’t he scold you to death?”
“… It shows that I’m resilient and lucky to have survived.”
Ye Lihen finally smiled. “That just shows you have thick skin, so you weren’t ashamed to death by his scolding.”
“You should be grateful for my thick skin.” Bai Jinshu said seriously. “Otherwise, I’d probably be too ashamed right now and would have to kill you to keep it a secret.”
Ye Lihen didn’t take it seriously. “Killing me won’t help. I’m sure everyone in the Renwang Sect knows about your story. Maybe every time a new disciple joins, your Master points at you and says, ‘Don’t be like your Da Shixiong and get trapped in the caves on the back mountain several times.’”
This time, Bai Jinshu let out a genuine sigh. “It must have been my fifth junior brother who told you, right?”
Recently, Ye Lihen had strangely been getting along well with Mo FeiXiao*. Whenever Bai Jinshu wasn’t paying attention, he would find those two chatting together, though he had no idea what they were talking about. Normally, this wouldn’t be something to worry about, but for some reason, the camaraderie between Ye Lihen and Mo FeiXiao* always left Bai Jinshu feeling a faint sense of melancholy.
In response to Bai Jinshu’s question, Ye Lihen shook his head. “Your fifth junior brother only told me about the time he bet you couldn’t draw cat whiskers on your Master’s face. In the end, not only did you lose the bet, but you were also punished. You had to train with your junior brothers while sporting cat whiskers on your face.”
“Now I’m sure that Mo FeiXiao* is going to be in big trouble.” Bai Jinshu said, gritting his teeth on purpose.
Ye Lihen couldn’t help but smile. “How do you plan to deal with him? I can help you lure him over.”
Bai Jinshu shot a curious glance at the person beside him, feeling like he was seeing them in a new light. “Since when did you become someone who enjoys stirring up trouble?” Despite the teasing tone, Bai Jinshu was genuinely pleased to see that Ye Lihen seemed a little more cheerful than before.
Ye Lihen remained serious as he explained, “I’m just worried you won’t be able to trick your fifth junior brother.”
Having been thoroughly embarrassed today, Bai Jinshu quickly tried to redeem himself. “Don’t underestimate me. Just like how you can laugh at me for getting lost in the caves several times, only I discovered that one of the caves leads all the way to the foot of the mountain. You should know that Renwang Mountain is quite treacherous, with only one main path in and out. Our Master keeps a strict watch, so the junior brothers can’t sneak out. But I found a secret tunnel in the caves that lets me sneak down the mountain to have fun—something those who don’t dare enter the caves can’t even imagine.”
Hearing this, Ye Lihen turned his gaze toward the caves with a thoughtful expression. “So, these caves really do have a solution, like an eight trigrams formation.”
“That’s why I once thought they might have been arranged by someone skilled in Qimen Dunjia. But seeing how natural and unrefined the caves are, it’s probably just a coincidence.”
“Or maybe someone made some adjustments to the natural caves.” Ye Lihen mused.
Bai Jinshu glanced at Ye Lihen, noticing how the latter seemed to be following a specific line of thought as he observed the caves. A thought crossed his mind. “You wouldn’t happen to know anything about the Five Elements or the eight trigrams, would you?”
Still focused on the caves, Ye Lihen answered casually, “I’ve read a book or two.”
“Your house really must have a lot of books and paintings.” Bai Jinshu laughed.
After a moment, Ye Lihen seemed to snap back to reality. He pointed confidently to the third cave. “If you’d spent less time playing around and more time reading, you wouldn’t have gotten lost three times. That cave is the life gate.”
Bai Jinshu hadn’t expected these caves to actually contain Qimen Dunjia techniques. If it wasn’t a coincidence, then it had to be true, because Ye Lihen had accurately identified the right cave.
Of course, Bai Jinshu wasn’t going to admit it so easily. He shook his head on purpose. “The second cave is the only one that leads to the foot of the mountain. So now, you’ve technically gotten lost in the caves once.”
Ye Lihen didn’t argue but instead pointed out, “Everyone knows that the second hole on a flute is for placing the membrane. Logically, it shouldn’t be the one that’s passable.”
Bai Jinshu couldn’t help but laugh. “So you’ve been staring at it as a flute this whole time?”
Ye Lihen remained serious as he responded, “Ji, You, Kai, Xiu, Sheng, Si, Jing, Shang, Du; when it comes to Chong, there are only three categories: Jia Zi Wu falling to Jia Wu Xin, Jia Xu Ji falling to Jia Chen Ren, Jia Shen Geng falling to Jia Yin Gui. Knowing these basics is enough to play the flute.”
Bai Jinshu burst out laughing. “Your teaching method would require a genius to learn the flute. I think it’d be easier if I taught you how to play the Xiao* instead.”
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