Who Let Him Cultivate?! (WX)-Chapter 42: Legends Often Deviate From Reality

After offering tribute to the mountain gods, Qi Wu quickly joined the others who were gathered together. Drenched from head to toe, everyone shuddered as a cold breeze blew past.

“We’ll get sick at this rate.” The old hunter walked to a corner and carried a bundle of firewood, flashing his large teeth as he smiled. “Us hunters will occasionally seek shelter from the rain here, so we left some firewood here in case of unexpected weather like today.”

Qi Wu was elated. “That is much appreciated.”

The old hunter waved it off, “It’s nothing. Life in the mountains is about you helping me and me helping you. When the rain stops tomorrow, we just have to collect some firewood and put it back.”

Everyone swiftly piled up the firewood on the ground where traces of a fire remained. Qi Wu lit up a stick with a fire talisman and placed it within the dry firewood. He gently blew and fanned it until a fire slowly ignited.

Watching the flames dance and feeling its warmth, someone heaved out a sigh of relief. “We’re finally alive again.”

“Big Brother Qi, do you want a yellow rice biscuit or a white rice biscuit?”

“What about one of each?”

One person distributed the rations. After everyone received their portion, they placed it near the fire to roast. As the aroma wafted into the air, A’yue took out a can of soy sauce pickles so that everyone could spread it on their biscuits. One bite filled their mouths with a salty fragrance.

“A’yue, your skills in preparing soy sauce pickles are really decent. Why not set up a soy sauce pickles store? You don’t have to join us as traveling merchants then.”

A’yue simply smiled and didn’t make any comment.

Reminded of the incident earlier, Qi Wu asked, “Old Sun, why did you ask whether A’yue was pushed by someone?”

It was the first time for Qi Wu’s group to be entering the mountains. They wanted to cross the mountain range and reach Qinghuai Commandery on the other side to sell their goods. After searching for a long time, they finally found a local old hunter as their guide.

The old hunter’s expression turned grave. “Have you heard of tiger-henchman ghosts[1]?”

Qi Wu and the others similarly became solemn. Having traveled extensively, they naturally knew of some supernatural stories. Someone even exclaimed, “Are you referring to the tiger-henchman ghosts from the saying ‘acting as a henchman to a tiger’?” [2]

The old hunter nodded, lowering his voice, “This mountain is called Pine Mountain. Around ten years ago, a hunter came into the mountain to hunt but vanished subsequently, leaving only a shoe behind. At that time, some people claimed that a tiger demon had come to the mountain and eaten that hunter.

“Initially, the people were unwilling to believe that. They had been living here for generations, so how could it be possible for a tiger demon to appear? However, as time passed, someone mentioned that their hunter dog would bark in a certain direction when hunting. When he looked in the same direction, he was frightened until his body went stiff.

“There was a brightly colored fierce tiger, at least four meters long. The fierce tiger pounced toward the hunter dog, and he fled for his life right away. Fortunately, that fierce tiger didn’t chase him!

“Some people also noticed that people would go missing from time to time, so they reported the situation to Qinghuai Commandery. After the officials learned of the matter, they asked me to look for Yanjiang Commandery, saying that Pine Mountain was close to Yanjiang Commandery and that this should be under their jurisdiction since we would be sending our game to Yanjiang Commandery.

“However, upon arriving in Yanjiang Commandery, the officials there said that Pine Mountain was part of Qinghuai Commandery and should be under Qinghuai Commandery’s jurisdiction.

“After going back and forth multiple times, both parties sent two cultivators to search for traces of the tiger demon in Pine Mountain. However, they didn't even find a single tiger hair in ten days. Those two cultivators thought that we were playing with them and wasting their time, so we explained that the tiger demon could be purposely hiding from them and didn't dare to come out. They didn't listen to our explanations and left in a huff.

“We then went to look for the authorities again, but they no longer bothered with us. Left with no choice, most people left Pine Mountain to seek another way out. Only a few of us old folks who know nothing else but hunting stayed behind.

“Afterward, we realized that we would encounter those missing travelers when we went hunting. These travelers would suddenly disappear in one moment and appear in another, even pushing you. Sometimes, when I take people into the mountains, those travelers would pretend to bump into us by coincidence and ask whether they can tag along since we're all going in the same direction. How could I possibly dare? I quickly led my group away.

“The older generations mentioned that there was something called tiger-henchman ghosts. After a tiger demon kills a person, they would become a tiger-henchman ghost and help the tiger demon find their prey by tricking people to some place where they are turned into new tiger-henchman ghosts.

“However, dealing with tiger henchman ghosts is still manageable. As long as you reject their requests, they won't do anything to you.”

Realization dawned upon Qi Wu. With how big this mountain forest is, there should be many hunters, yet we only found a few after such a long time, and these hunters are even staying together.

So, it's because of the tiger demon.

Noticing A’yue’s hesitation, Qi Wu prompted him, “A’yue, just speak your mind.”

A’yue was originally embarrassed to ask, but since his boss had spoken, he decided not to hold back anymore. “I have a question. Are there female tiger-henchman ghosts? Are they beautiful? Can they seduce? Will they suck a man’s yang energy? Is it possible that she and I begin a forbidden romance and run away from the tiger demon’s murderous pursuit and roam the jianghu?”

With every question that left Ayue’s mouth, a question mark would pop up above everyone else’s heads.

A’yue scratched his head abashedly upon seeing everyone’s reactions. “This is how it’s always written in the novels I read and Chinese ghost stories[3], something about a beautiful female ghost and a human’s romantic entanglements and the likes.”

Qi Wu fell silent for a moment before patting A’yue’s shoulder. “You should read fewer books.” He then turned to the old hunter. “Old Sun, why didn’t you report this matter to the Five Great Immortal Sects? As upholders of the righteous path, they wouldn’t turn a blind eye.”

“Five Great Immortal Sects?” The old hunter was bemused. I have never heard of this term.

“They include righteous sects such as the Dao-Seeking Sect and the Hanging Monastery, and they are the five strongest sects on the continent.”

“I seem to have heard of this name before,” said the old hunter with uncertainty. I’m not sure where I’ve heard it before. It could’ve been in the teahouse below the mountains, the travelers who entered the mountains, when I was younger or after I got old.

I can’t remember clearly anymore.

In fact, the common folk barely knew anything about cultivators, only joining in for the gossip and fun. Moreover, it was too easy for a story to become warped after being passed on by word of mouth. By the time it reached the civilians’ ears, it would have become poles apart from the true story and no longer credible.

For example, Qi Wu once heard that the Dao-Seeking Sect’s name was an allusion to the boundless path to an immortal and asking the heavens for seeking the Dao. Cultivation was also about cultivating one’s heart and mind. It required one to constantly question themselves which path they were pursuing, whether it was the righteous or diabolic path, so that they do not forget their true self and original aspirations.

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When Qi Wu encountered a Dao-Seeking Sect disciple who seemed to go by the name of Dai Bufan, he asked the latter how the Dao-Seeking Sect got its name. Qi Wu still remembered Dai Bufan’s answer even until now.

“Oh, this question? Well, I’ll have to start with our sect’s founding ancestor, Innate Daoist. In order to find an area with favorable feng shui, he spent a large sum to invite someone from the Heaven Strategy Sect to calculate the position. Finally, he located a prime land that accumulated feng shui in all eight directions. He even said that to ensure the sect’s longevity, it needed to be established at a specific place and time.

“However, our founder was someone with no sense of direction. Despite the clear markers, he still got lost, so he could only seek the way from an old farmer. Only then did he find the sect’s location in time.

“To thank the old farmer, our founder named the sect the ‘Dao-Seeking Sect.’”[4]

1. Changgui are ghosts in Chinese folklore that were humans originally eaten by the tigers and but are now the tiger’s servants helping them to devour humans. This is how the saying in the next paragraph came about. ☜

2. This expression refers to people who serve as accomplice to those doing evil deeds. ☜

3. The romantic comedic-horror film “A Chinese Ghost Story” is referenced here. ☜

4. ”Dao” can also be roughly understood as the “way” and a “path.” ☜