Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Little Deer at the Door

The old man had just reached the foot of the mountain, carrying a child on his back, when he stopped in front of him.

This time the blue ox was not led along behind him. The half-grown boy was also drowsy, eyes closed, curled up on the thick grass in the basket on his back.

“Little Daoist, you’re back?”

“Sir, it has been a long while. Are you well?”

“Hahaha, this old fellow is as hearty as ever. It’s you, Daoist—you look travel-stained, as though you’ve been far away?”

The old man came up and asked a question. It turned out that a few days earlier someone had come looking for Chen Yu, asking around in Cloud Valley Village. They only heard that he had not been seen at the temple. Today, the old man had gone to the river to lead the ox and was unexpectedly met by him, which was why he asked.

Someone was looking for me?

Chen Yu froze. Whether in his former self’s life or in his own, his circle of acquaintances was pitiably small. He had not known many people, and most of them had only seen him once at a ritual gathering. It would not have been so urgent that they chased after him on the very heels of his departure and even reached Green Terrace Mountain ahead of him.

After asking carefully, he finally understood.

It was the village they had rescued with Qian Xuanzhong a month ago. They had come seeking him, saying they had not been able to repay the kindness then. Later, the village elder prepared things and went to Cloud Valley Village based on their appearance, and there too Chen Yu had bought chicks and mentioned that he came from Cloud Crane Temple.

With the two sides compared, his identity became clear at once.

Both villages were very earnest about it. One had finally found one of the benefactors they had long sought; the other had heard that a Daoist had saved dozens, even hundreds of households from vicious bandits, and had grown more reverent for it.

According to the old man, someone in the village had already made him a memorial tablet and offered incense before it.

Chen Yu did not much care for that.

“This poor Daoist went beyond the county seat to attend a ritual assembly.”

“So that’s how it is. Oh, by the way, I heard from Old Li in the village that when the Daoist came last time, you had asked after me as well? I was probably by the river then, or I would certainly have asked you to rest a while.”

“It was nothing. Then I was only thinking that, with your help, I could find two farm households and buy some chicks to raise.”

“Buy chicks?” The old man’s eyes lit up. In the matter of cattle and chickens, he was an expert. He told Chen Yu to ask anything at all; he would speak without reserve.

Just so, Chen Yu was relying on nothing more than a little memory from his former life when it came to this, and mistakes were easy to make.

So the two of them sat on the edge of the field among the spring millet stalks a foot high, with a light breeze in their faces, and discussed all manner of things to watch for in raising chickens.

Only when it grew late, and the old man grew worried that the blue ox might break free of its tether, did he rise to leave. The child on his back stretched out his short, stout hands to bid the Daoist farewell.

Chen Yu returned up the mountain. When he had gone down, he had left with scarcely anything; when he came back, he was burdened with all sorts of things, his bundle bulging full.

These past few days had cleared up. Yesterday’s rain had failed to fall. The mountain path was dry, and he covered it quickly. By the time he reached an open stretch halfway up the slope, the temple was not far off, faintly visible beneath the shade of the trees.

Yet when he climbed up from the stone path, what met his eyes was a spotted deer lying on the ground beside the outer wall by the gate.

Its foolish, dazed manner was just as it had always been. Hearing the sound, it chewed as it looked toward Chen Yu.

It was filthy all over, its coat disheveled and caked with thick layers of mud and dust, as though it had gone rolling through a wallow.

When he stepped closer, a smell of mud mixed with blood reached his nose.

Injured?

Chen Yu crouched and reached out to find the wound. The gluttonous deer truly was not afraid of people; it neither fled nor dodged, only kept eating.

Perhaps because he had touched a ticklish spot, it even nudged him lightly with its head.

It left a huge muddy print on his robes.

Soon, on the side of its back near the spine, four gashes appeared before him: two long, two short.

The longest was about five inches, quite shocking to behold.

What surprised him, however, was that even with injuries like these, the gluttonous deer seemed to feel little of it and remained as carefree as ever. More than that, as far as he could see, several of the wounds had already begun to heal to varying degrees. Even the most terrifying one had scabbed over; once hidden beneath its fur, it was impossible to tell at all.

As he looked, Chen Yu only then noticed that what the creature held in its mouth was not fresh grass, but petal after petal of tender pink blossoms.

It had changed its taste?

Looking closer, he plucked one petal and held it before his eyes, only to find it somewhat familiar.

His gaze drifted, and finally settled on the two rows of peach trees nearby, heavy with blossoms.

The lower branches of several trees on the outer edge had been stripped bare, the fallen blossoms and leaves strewing the ground.

Chen Yu tapped the little deer’s forehead in exasperation. Whether because the mud had hardened or not, it felt hard under his fingers, not nearly as pleasant as before.

He did not trouble with it. Since the injuries were not serious, a little external application of medicinal herbs later would see it through.

“Were you set upon by a black bear or what?”

With a laugh, Chen Yu straightened and opened the gate. In the woods behind the mountain, he had previously found tracks and traces left by large beasts like bears and tigers. This gluttonous deer had likely run into one by misfortune and been left with a claw mark.

For some reason it had come back to the temple’s outer gate. Perhaps it was seeking help from him, a “familiar face”? Of course, it might also simply have fled about on instinct until it grew tired and came here to rest.

Only, he had not been here earlier, so he did not know what condition the little deer had been in when it first arrived. What puzzled him even more was that the wounds had seemed so deep and fearsome, yet now only a little remained, most of it already healed as though nothing had happened.

He glanced down. Could it be that this foolish deer had awakened to some secret power?

Thinking back carefully, it had only ever eaten the bowel-soothing herb in the medicine field. Could that herb also restore and heal wounds?

Chen Yu shook his head. He himself had eaten far more of it and had never noticed such a thing.

The bowel-soothing herb, cultivated from the jade insect robe, was indeed excellent for detoxifying and aiding digestion, but it did not do much for healing injuries.

He opened the gate and went inside. The spotted deer, which had been lying there all along, got up and followed him.

Looking back, it strutted in with great nonchalance, as though it were the true master of the temple grounds.

Chen Yu went to the sleeping quarters and put his things away. As for the medicinal field and vegetable garden, he was not worried. Before going down the mountain to enlarge the chicken coop, he had already set up a fence between the temple and the medicinal field. It was not low; even this foolish deer, no matter how gluttonous, should not get over it.

Sure enough, just after he set everything down, he heard the deer’s calls from beyond the courtyard, beyond the rear of the house, over and over again.

“...”

When he reached the edge of the vegetable garden, he saw the gluttonous deer wandering back and forth around the fence, its forehooves tapping the ground from time to time, but in the face of the tall barrier it could only stand down.

Smack!

“There’s nothing in the field except millet. You don’t seem to eat that stuff, and you’re no chicken brother.”

He lightly struck the deer’s head and drove it out beyond the yard. It kept bleating irritably, only setting his teeth on edge.

Whether the foolish deer understood or not, Chen Yu pushed its body out of the courtyard. “Wash yourself later. Just look at how filthy you are.”

He happened to need washing up himself, to rinse off the mud and dust. He was not some immortal from a tale who could cleanse himself with a single incantation; he still had to bathe obediently.

During these ten days, aside from washing once at Cheng Yu’s estate, he had not bathed again. Added to the journey and the bouts of combat, his whole body seemed to give off a faint odor.

The little deer had slipped back in again, crying out twice. Before it could make for the vegetable garden, Chen Yu drove it back out.

He went to the woodshed, found two handfuls of dry grass, and tossed them by the courtyard wall.

The spotted deer looked at the grass, then turned its black, glossy eyes on him.

Then it turned away, its furry little tail swaying, and went to the peach trees. Raising its neck, it bit off a cluster of peach blossoms in one mouthful.

“...”

Forget it. Let it eat. There was still plenty.

Only, for some reason, he kept feeling that the peach tree at the outer edge looked oddly familiar...