Sword from the Immortal Mountain

Chapter 9: No Effort
(First week of new book, please support us!)

Chenze Township is built on the hillside and beside the water. Many houses stretch out between the foothills. There are thousands of households there, making it a relatively large village in the suburbs.

As the name suggests, this township is where the Chen family lives. Most of the people there have the surname Chen, with only a small number of people having other surnames.

From a distance, the houses of different sizes appear uneven in height, and one can tell the rich from the poor by their shapes.

On a corner of a slope in the southeast direction, there is a low and narrow adobe courtyard, which seems to be secluded and out of place.

This is Chen Jin’s home.

The house was built when his parents were still alive. After it was passed to him, the scholar focused on studying hard and neglected to take care of it, causing the house to gradually fall into disrepair. The roof was damaged in many places and there were no tiles to repair it, so he had to lay some thatched grass to cover it.

The thatch was made with the help of his uncle.

In these matters, we cannot blame the scholar for being useless. Given his background, the only way for him to stand out and rise from the grassroots is to rely on studying and passing exams to gain fame.

This obsession has been rooted in my heart since childhood and has long been deeply rooted and cannot be shaken.

Walking along the country road, there are mostly fields on both sides, most of which have been harvested and look desolate.

Some farmers started burning rice stalks in the fields, with flames flickering and smoke rising.

"Hey, isn't that Chen Shuchi?"

"It's him. Why is he dressed so strangely?"

"I heard that he disappeared after entering the city. No one knows where he went. Abu was very worried."

"Isn't it? There are rumors that Chen Shuchi was raped, and some say he was eaten by a demon. Fortunately, he finally came back. But it seems that something is different."

Some farmers saw Chen Jin and started talking about him.

The scholar loves books as if they were his life. He never puts down his book while eating, walking, or going to the toilet, so he is nicknamed "bookworm".

As for "Abu", he is his uncle.

The "difference" that the farmers saw was Chen Jin's walking posture. In the past, he always walked with his head hunched, like a wilted leek, but now he has his head straight and his back straight, showing a positive and energetic spirit.

Faced with the villagers' discussions, he just laughed it off.

Crossing the fields, we came to a stream.

This is a small river, about ten feet wide, with gurgling water and no deeper than knees. A single-plank bridge is across the water, which has been there for many years and has become rotten.

Chen Jin walked across the bridge, quickly walked up the hillside and returned to his doorstep.

I pushed open the wooden door of the yard and walked in. I saw that it was empty inside and looked quite simple.

There was an old rusty lock on the wooden door of the inner room, but no key. After being beaten with a club, his body was searched, and the few remaining copper coins, the inkstone, and the key were all taken away.

However, it is not difficult to open such an old and shabby iron lock.

He reached out and grabbed it, twisted it hard, and it broke with a snap.

When I pushed the door open, I saw a bare-chested scene inside.

There are two bedrooms and one living room, and the place is cramped.

Chen Jin entered the room first and found his clothes from the old wardrobe and put them on.

Wearing the clothes of old writers always feels out of place.

Although his own clothes were also old and had many patches, at least they fit him well.

Just after I changed my clothes, I heard a hurried call from outside: "A Jin, A Jin, are you back?"

It was the voice of my uncle Chen Abu.

My uncle's house is not here, but in the village.

When the family was divided up that year, my uncle, as the eldest son, got the old house, while Chen Jin's father was moved out and built a new house.

Although the family was separated, the two brothers had a good relationship. Chen Abu also took good care of his nephew who had lost his parents, and helped him with food and daily necessities. Otherwise, with the lazy state of the scholar, he really couldn't have survived for so many years.

Chen Jin came out: "Uncle, it's me, I'm back."

Chen Abu was over 40 years old. Due to years of hard work, his skin was dark and his face was covered with wrinkles. He looked quite old. He grabbed Chen Jin's shoulders and asked excitedly, "Where have you been these days, kid?" Chen Jin didn't want him to worry, so he said, "After I came to the city, I happened to meet an old friend of the same age. He invited me to stay at his house for a while."

Chen Abu said "Oh", not surprised. Although his nephew did not pass the examination to become a scholar, he was still a student, so it was normal for him to have some friends.

But after taking a look, he found something wrong: "Why do you look so bad?"

Chen Jin added: "We live together and often talk by candlelight at night about articles. Maybe it's because I stayed up too late."

At this point, Chen Abu no longer had any doubts and sighed, "You, kid, have ruined your health just by studying. What can I do?"

After a pause, he asked again: "Have you had breakfast?"

"I ate it in the city."

"Oh, then I'll go back and ask your aunt to prepare lunch for you."

Chen Jin hurriedly said, "Uncle, no need."

He knew that his uncle's family was not well off either and that they also lived a tight life.

"You want what you want."

Chen Abu said this and turned away. He came here in a hurry, mainly to confirm whether his nephew had returned.

There wasn't much common topic for the two to talk about.

After his uncle left, Chen Jin began to walk around and observe, and found that this place was quite livable, isolated, quiet, and just right for his needs. But the house was not good, it was almost a dangerous building, if there was a strong wind or heavy rain, it would probably not be able to withstand it.

The house needs renovation.

The problem is that you need money.

In addition to "housing", "food" is also a big problem.

Refining essence into Qi, if there is no essence to refine, it will be like a tree without roots, or water without a source.

But soon, Chen Jin looked up at the rolling hills behind him and couldn't help laughing: "You are in a treasure mountain and don't know it. Isn't all the good meat in the mountains?"

So he found an axe in the house. The axe had not been used for a long time and had become rusty and blunt.

He didn't care and walked towards the back mountain with his knife.

……

"Brother, I saw it. I saw it."

On the other side of Chenze Township was a village market. In a small tavern, Liu Laoer was sitting inside, drinking alone.

After leaving Jia Dianli's house, he did not stop and took his two brothers out of the city early and ran to Chen Zexiang.

I was afraid that if I ran too slowly, I would be found by Ma Ben, which would be troublesome.

The conditions in the countryside are of course much worse than those in the city; even the drinks are very bland.

But there is no other way, I have to stay out of the spotlight for a while.

In addition, another important task was to have someone keep an eye on the hillside to see if Chen Jin had returned.

I unexpectedly discovered something while staring at it.

Liu Laoer jumped up and asked, "Are you sure it's him?"

"I saw him, indeed, cross the field and into the house."

"Well, it's easy to get."

Liu Laoer was about to go out, but suddenly he remembered that Jia Dianli had instructed him not to alert the enemy after discovering Chen Jin, but to report it first.

You must know that this matter cannot be made public.

He rolled his eyes and sat down again.

　Many thanks to book friends "The Newspaper Painter" and "No One Chopping Wood in the Mountain" for their generous rewards!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)