Sword from the Immortal Mountain

Chapter 10: There is a temple on the mountain, and there is a god in the temple
"Crack! Crack!"

In the valley, there is a wild bamboo forest.

Chen Jin came to the place, took a look, and then selected an old mangosteen, which was as thick as a bowl. He immediately picked up the axe and started chopping.

The blade was not good. Even though it had been sharpened on a stone beforehand, it was still not sharp enough.

After some effort, he finally cut down the bamboo. Then he started to trim it, cut it into several sections, and then took the best section for processing.

Break it in half and continue to cut it into slices.

He wants to make a bamboo sword.

Since I'm learning the "Sword Manual on the Mountain", I naturally need a sword in my hand. It's hard to get a real sword at the moment, so I'll just use local materials.

One end is sharpened and the other end is made into a handle.

It is about two and a half feet long and three fingers wide.

A bamboo sword was thus formed.

Go long for backup.

As the saying goes, "If you want to do your work well, you must first sharpen your tools." With a sword in hand, you can go up the mountain to hunt and practice swordsmanship at the same time, killing two birds with one stone.

After finishing it, he looked up at the sky, picked up the two bamboo swords, and took them back along with the remaining bamboos to use.

As expected, as soon as I returned to the gate of the courtyard, I saw my uncle Chen Abu holding a clay pot in his hand, waiting there anxiously: "A Jin, you just came home, where have you been?"

Soon he noticed the large bundle of bamboo in Chen Jin's hands and couldn't help showing a surprised look: "You went up the mountain to cut bamboo?"

Chen Jin nodded: "Well, get some to use."

Chen Abu said, "If you want bamboo, tell your uncle and I'll help you cut it down. It's not safe for you to go up the mountain alone. There are many snakes, insects and wild animals on the mountain."

Chen Jin smiled and said, "I'm almost an adult, I have to be self-reliant and can't rely on my uncle for everything."

Chen Abu opened his mouth wide in astonishment. He looked Chen Jin up and down again, and felt that his nephew had changed a lot after his trip, and he could even say the words "self-reliance".

Could it be that he finally got it?

He did not oppose Chen Jin's hard work in studying, and even strongly supported it. In his heart, he hoped that one of his sons and nephews could become a talented scholar, and he would be proud of it.

Chen Jin took the exam this year, and although he missed the title of scholar, he passed two levels and became a student, proving that he had a talent for study.

Chen Mingchengdu, the old private school teacher at the village clan school, said that as long as Chen Jin continued to review his lessons and took the exam again next year, he would have a great chance of being admitted.

Once you have achieved academic success, you can then go to the county school and prepare for the provincial examination.

If one could pass the imperial examination, it would be even more amazing, as it would bring absolute honor to the family. One could even have a separate family tree opened so that the ancestors could enjoy the incense in the ancestral temple.

It's good that Chen Jin can concentrate on studying hard, but his performance in terms of food, clothing, housing and transportation is relatively poor. He is so old, but he can't even wash his clothes clean.

Chen Abu didn't dare to expect his nephew to be both civil and military, but at the very least, he should be able to take care of himself.

Seeing Chen Jin's change, he was naturally happy and quickly handed over the earthenware pot: "Ah Jin, your aunt made you egg porridge, eat it while it's hot."

People in the countryside live a simple life and it is difficult for them to have a dry meal all day long.

It is quite rare to have egg porridge to eat.

Chen Jin took it and opened the can. The porridge inside was still steaming and fragrant. He was making bamboo swords and was also hungry, so he ate it all up immediately: "Thank you, uncle, thank you, aunt."

Seeing that he was enjoying his meal, Chen Abu smiled and said, "We are a family, why should we be polite? I'm leaving now."

He came here specifically to deliver porridge. Seeing that Chen Jin looked unhappy, he asked his wife to break two eggs laid by the hens at home and use them to make porridge.

The wife complained a lot about this, saying that her own daughter had nothing to eat and the whole family was biased towards Chen Jin.

Chen Abu and his wife have been married for many years, but they have no son, only a daughter who is just twelve years old this year.

But despite her complaints, the woman still cooked the porridge carefully, poured it all into the clay pot, and then asked Chen Abu to bring it over. When they got to the bottom of the hillside, Chen Abu suddenly thought of something: just now he saw Chen Jin coming back with a large bundle of bamboo, how did he have so much strength?

Although it was strange, it was a good thing that people had strength, so he didn't think much about it and went to work in the fields.

After his uncle left, Chen Jin broke open the bamboo tubes one by one and cut them into strips. Seeing that no one was around, he quickly climbed onto the roof using his hands and feet and patched up the damaged parts with bamboo strips and other things.

If there were other people present at this moment, they would surely be so shocked that their eyes would fall out when they saw this weak and bookworm climbing up to the roof to work.

After more than an hour of repairs, it was almost done.

So I got down and took a short rest. It was already dusk.

At this time, his uncle was afraid that he would not have dinner, so he sent him some food, dry food, fried beans and winter melon.

At the same time, he also brought a piece of news: "I heard from the old hunter in the village that an old wolf appeared in the mountains recently. It was probably driven out of the wolf pack and had to wander around the nearby mountains to find food. Although this wolf is old, it is very cunning. Ah Jin, you should close the door and go to bed early, and close the doors and windows tightly. No matter what noise you hear, don't open the door and come out."

Chen Jin responded "OK".

After repeated instructions, Chen Abu finally went back.

The sunset at dusk casts a red glow across the sky.

Chen Jin moved out a stool, sat in the yard, and looked out at the flaming sky in the west.

He is waiting.

But no one came until dusk fell.

This result is somewhat unexpected.

Do we have to wait until nightfall before we can take action?
He wanted to use himself as bait to lure the snake out of its hole, but he didn't know if the snake was too cunning or for some other reason, but there was no movement.

Chen Jin didn't care about it anymore.

In the case of "wrongful imprisonment and scapegoat", he did not care which high-ranking officials were involved behind the scenes.

Regardless of the size of their official rank, these people will all be doomed to death.

The first priority at the moment is to solve the food problem.

So he packed up, took a bamboo sword, and headed straight into the mountains as dusk fell.

The scholar had never been to the mountains before, especially at night, which was a very dangerous thing. Even the old hunters were very cautious.

Chen Jin walked lightly and took the opportunity to practice his walking skills in the mountains. He felt happy.

On the way, it startled birds and beasts, and they ran away in a flash and could not be caught up.

Hunting is not an easy task.

Especially for him now.

As the night gradually darkened, the view in the forest became dim, making it even more difficult to find and capture.

At this moment, he saw a temple appearing not far ahead, which should be the temple of the mountain god.

He walked over immediately and saw that the temple was in ruins, with a mottled appearance and entangled with vines. It had long lost the place for incense and sacrifices.

Standing outside the open door, Chen Jin asked politely, "Is anyone here? If not, I'll go in."

When I stepped in, I saw that the place was not big, but there were obvious signs of cleaning and a burnt fire. It seemed that some hunters and others had stayed here for the night.

Chen Jin looked around, then his eyes fell on the statue with a green face and red hair.

He was sure that the statue's eyes were closed before he came in.

Now, it opened.

(End of this chapter)