Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 96 - 95 Discovery - Part 1

Chapter 96: Chapter 95 Discovery - Part 1

Yin Mountain Lake is located in a desolate mountain range on the edge of leaving the Yang membrane in the territory of Yuefu.

The area is shrouded in white fog all year long, and one can’t see their own fingers when they stretch out their hands. Even the most seasoned fishermen are unwilling to come here to fish.

When Lin Xin and his party arrived at Yin Mountain Lake, it was already dusk.

Around them were desolate mountains with white fog swirling between, contouring into distant undulating ranges until they faded from sight.

Several horse-drawn carriages were arranged in a square formation, surrounded by several bonfires burning brightly.

Lin Xin stood beside a carriage, gazing out over the road ahead towards Yin Mountain Lake.

As far as the eye could see, everything was immersed in a monochrome world of white mist, devoid of any other color.

"Villa Master, won’t you have something to eat?" Gongsun Li approached from behind and spoke in a low voice.

"No need, I’ve already eaten with Lingling," Lin Xin turned and replied, "The area around Yin Mountain Lake is covered in thick fog; there must be bandits and fierce beasts hiding, right?"

"There are, but they wouldn’t dare to attack such a large group of people. Besides, with the few of us here, even if there were any, they would be easily dealt with," Gongsun Li said dismissively.

Lin Xin then joined them for a bit to eat along with the three retainers. Afterwards, he stood up to return to the carriage to accompany Xiao Lingling, as she was still weak and had not fully recovered.

"From the depths of the mountains, bring wine here~~~" Suddenly, a prolonged folk song drifted through the mist, sung by a man who seemed to be of some age.

"Drink a bowl and you’ll never forget~~~"

The voice grew closer and louder, repeating several times before approaching near the square formation.

"Could it be someone selling wine?" called a lookout from the team.

"Yes, yes." Two figures carrying jars of wine emerged from the mist, each with tan earthen jars sealed with white cloth. A faint scent of wine wafted from them.

"How fragrant!"

The skilled workers from the manor were tempted, given the chilly, damp weather and the heavy mist, and soon two of them ran to ask the Taoist Lu Suo, who managed the team.

After hearing what the two men had to say, Lu Suo turned to ask Lin Xin.

"Villa Master, the men below want to buy some wine to sate their cravings; I wonder if..."

Lin Xin fixed his gaze on the two men carrying the wine. They were two rough, swarthy men with grey cloth headbands, wearing ordinary peasant clothes that had faded from washing.

"The fog is heavy; drinking some wine might be good," he nodded. "However, first bring those two wine sellers over to inquire about their situation. It’s dangerous in the wilderness, with fierce beasts rampant, and yet they dare to come out selling wine with just the two of them..."

"I also find it a bit suspicious," Sanyuan Zen Master nodded. "How about I go on behalf of the Villa Master and ask?"

"That would be good, thank you, Zen Master."

"It’s no trouble." Sanyuan Zen Master took two men with him and stood at a distance to speak with the two wine sellers.

Lin Xin couldn’t hear very clearly and seeing Xiao Lingling peeking out from the carriage, he walked towards the carriage, preparing to explain the situation to her.

Before he got very far, a loud shout erupted from over there.

"Take this!"

Then there was a booming roar from Sanyuan Zen Master, thunderous and resonant.

Bang bang!

The two wine sellers were sent flying like rag dolls, each wielding a dagger and clearly attacking by surprise. They were fiercely sent flying by Sanyuan Zen Master.

Before they could even whimper, both sides of their heads were caved in.

"Attack!"

Suddenly, a large group of figures surged in from all around, wielding farm implements like hoes, sickles, and axes through the mist, assaulting the formation.

"Indeed, they are bandits and robbers," Lin Xin remarked as he helped Xiao Lingling down from the carriage.

"I’m not so delicate," Xiao Lingling protested coquettishly.

"It’s not a problem; I just wanted to do this," Lin Xin said with a certain tenderness for the girl. He knew from his sister Qi Huang that Xiao Lingling was still a virgin. Moreover, because she had overdrawn her strength using a secret technique, her life expectancy might have been affected.

Hence, her once lively energy was gone, replaced by a daily display of frailty and coyness—clear signs of a foundation damage.

Every time he thought about it, he felt more apologetic and sympathetic towards Xiao Lingling.

Supporting Xiao Lingling down from the carriage, he surveyed the surroundings. By now, Sanyuan Zen Master and several skilled warriors from the manor had charged into the middle of the bandits, plowing through them, with each blow felling a bandit.

Though the bandits numbered in the dozens, they seemed numerous; however, led by the Zen Master with his Horizontal Kung Fu, the group rampaged through, and the bandit gang began to crumble.

The weapons of the bandits couldn’t even leave a mark on the Zen Master’s body.

In a few moments, the entire group of bandits was decimated, retreating in disarray.

"Capture some of them to work as serfs in the manor," Lin Xin commanded.

The Zen Master agreed, and Lu Suo on the other side dispatched several more people, coordinating from both ends to round up the fleeing bandits.

In just a short time, more than a dozen bandits were captured.

Lin Xin walked over to see the captured bandits bound tightly. He then glanced at the toppled wine jars; the aroma of the spilled wine was alluring. His heart was suddenly moved.

"Where did this wine come from?" he asked.

"Sir! Sir, please have mercy! My elderly mother relies on me at home, and my three-year-old son needs to be fed; without me, the mainstay of the family..."

Bang. His plea was cut short by a kick.

The ramblings of the captive apparently borrowed from storytelling, matching rhymes in his desperate plea.

Lin Xin hadn’t expected to encounter such a character and was surprised to hear such stylized begging in real life.

"Less nonsense!" another man kicked over and cursed, "The Villa Master is asking you something, so answer! How did you get this wine? Speak!"

"Yes, yes, yes... The wine was brewed by a lowly one... by me!" The man had a thieving look to him, with beady eyes, sallow skin, a long gaunt face, and a messy mop of hair that looked like it hadn’t been washed in a long time. He gave off the vibe of being not much different from a monkey spirit.

"You made this wine?" Lin Xin asked in surprise, "With such a skill, how did you end up as a bandit in the mountains?"

The man immediately started bawling and calling out for his parents again, snot and tears mixing as he began to recount his tale.

It turned out that this fellow had, because his newlywed wife had an affair, killed her and her lover in a fit of rage with a pair of scissors. To avoid capture by the Government, he fled into the deep mountains, never expecting that during his frantic wanderings, he would actually encounter a well that could talk.

"A talking well?" Lin Xin was taken aback, and the others beside him were equally stunned.

"Can the well speak?" Sanyuan Zen Master asked in amazement.

"I think this scoundrel is just fabricating stories! Villa Master, why not just kill him with one stroke and be done with it!" said the roughneck who had kicked the man earlier, spitting out the words disdainfully.

As soon as these words were spoken, the man began bawling and calling out for his parents, begging for mercy.

"Not so fast..." Lin Xin’s mind raced. In a world filled with mysteries and oddities, it was possible that such a wonder could truly exist.

Seeing Lin Xin speak, the man didn’t dare to delay any further and quickly spilled the crucial details.

"The gentleman is wise! The gentleman is brilliant! I was scared out of my wits at that time and fainted. When I woke up, the well was gone, and all that was left in its place was a small, violet-red stone. I picked up the stone and later discovered that if it was placed in water overnight, it could produce an endless supply of delightful wine!"

"Is that so?" Lin Xin was intrigued. "So where is this stone now?"

"It’s... it’s here..." The man said timidly, fishing out a thin violet-red stone from within his clothes.

No sooner had he brought it out than someone snatched it away and presented it to Lin Xin.

Lin Xin took the stone and scrutinized it carefully.

"This is clearly just an ordinary stone..." Xiao Lingling said, equally intrigued, as she leaned in to examine it closer.

"No..." Lin Xin slowly shook his head.

The stone was spindle-shaped, somewhat irregular, with many small holes like those of a honeycomb, similar to volcanic rock. Its entire surface was a deep purple-red, with veins running over it like blood vessels.

"I once discussed this object with Dongyue," Lin Xin said slowly.

"The Villa Master is truly knowledgeable, recognizing such a rare object!" Gongsun Li quickly offered a flattery.

The surrounding crowd echoed with agreement, all eager for him to explain the origins of the stone. Even the captured man was no exception.

"Villa Master, can this thing really turn water into wine?" Taoist Lu Suo was somewhat skeptical.

Lin Xin wasn’t certain himself.

"My friend mentioned that there is a kind of stone known as the ’wine stone’ that can turn water into wine, but doing so comes with a price."

"What price?" Xiao Lingling curiously asked.

Lin Xin shook his head slightly.

"The price is... a human corpse."

As soon as these words were spoken, the captured man went pale, his expression dumbfounded.

The onlooking crowd around them also began to change color.

"A single corpse can sustain the use of the wine stone for a certain number of occasions. Despite its macabre nature, the wine it produces is a treasured beverage that can extend life and improve health," Lin Xin said, shaking his head.

"Whatever it is, this is an evil treasure," the Sanyuan Zen Master intoned a Buddhist chant.

"Indeed," Lin Xin nodded. "However, aside from this effect, it doesn’t necessarily need to be used with a corpse..." he said with a smile, "Of course, the prerequisite is that the item must truly be a wine stone. Bring me some water."

He had someone cut a bowl of water and placed the stone into it to soak, then set it on the carriage and disregarded it.

"Leave these people here and have a few watch over them. We will take them back to the manor when we return," Lin Xin instructed nonchalantly.

He was not worried about these bandits being rescued. With such little fighting power, they weren’t much different from armed peasants. They could overcome ordinary caravans, but Jianghu experts would be a different story.

The caravan rested overnight, and early the next morning, Xiao Lingling rose early to check the bowl of water with the wine stone in it.

"It’s really wine!"

She said, somewhat excited.

"Of course," Lin Xin said softly. He picked up the bowl of wine stone water from the table in the middle of the carriage and gently swirled it, smelling a rich fragrance of alcohol wafting through the air.

"This liquor is also called ’dead man’s wine’, made from the essence of human corpses. It’s naturally rich and mellow. However, only humans enjoy drinking it because, according to my friend, if other creatures were to see this liquor, they would be extremely repulsed. What they smell is not a fragrance but a foul stench."

"It’s truly amazing..." Xiao Lingling nodded, looking at the wine with a mix of emotion and disgust.

The caravan continued onward and soon arrived at the banks of Yin Mountain Lake.

The lakeside was shrouded in thick fog, so dense that one could not see their own hand before them. It was impossible to search for the peculiar individuals of Yin Mountain, and people were scarcely visible even at a distance of three or four meters.

The caravan had to link people and vehicles with a thick rope to prevent anyone from getting lost.

After walking along the lakeside for a while, a simple thatched cottage suddenly came into sight through the fog ahead.

(To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please cast your vote on Qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)