Another moonlit night, after the surroundings fell silent, Ah Li and I quietly slipped out of the cellar and into the village chief's house.
The village chief, after washing his feet in the living room, went to his room and lay down on the bed. Ah Li and I hid under the bed, unsure of what to do.
As soon as the village chief lay down, his wife pushed the door open and said, "Old man, I have to go to Sister-in-law Liu's for a while tonight. You sleep first."
The village chief waved his hand listlessly, "Go, go, come back early."
"Got it," she replied, and then closed the door and went out. I looked at the quiet little house and whispered to Ah Li, "When do we go out?"
Ah Li replied, "In a little while."
However, this faint sound was heard by the sharp-eared village chief. He hurriedly got up, his bright eyes scanning everywhere, then he pricked up his ears to listen carefully. After listening for a while and hearing no movement, he thought he had misheard and went back to bed.
I muttered, "Good thing we weren't discovered."
However, even this whisper, as faint as a fly's buzz, was heard by the village chief. He hurriedly got up, his rolling eyes searching carefully around again.
Then, with suspicion in his heart, he pretended to lie down and sleep.
Ah Li said helplessly, "When did the village chief become so sensitive?"
This remark was also heard by the village chief. He suddenly got up, threw off the quilt, grabbed a pillow, then went to the wardrobe, opened it, and rummaged through everything inside. Puzzled, he walked to the desk by the bed, pulled open a drawer, and looked carefully, but still found nothing.
Finally, he suddenly remembered the space under the bed. He opened the door, went out to get a long stick, and came back in. He looked under the bed, but still found nothing.
At this point, he seemed utterly bewildered. He slowly got up, turned his head, and saw two living people standing behind him, softly calling out, "Village Chief."
The village chief's suddenly calm heart leaped out of his chest. He himself let out a terrified yell, "Ah!!!" Then he sat down on the bed. When he came to his senses, he saw that it was Mu Ye and Ah Li.
The village chief angrily grabbed the stick and started hitting us. Ah Li and I scrambled around the room in a panic. As I ran, I tried to explain, "Village Chief, Village Chief, don't hit, ow, don't hit, we have something to tell you."
Ah Li, running slower, took a solid hit on his backside. He cried out in pain, "Ouch!" and immediately ran ahead of me. The village chief, ignoring our pleas, chased after us and hit me on the backside with the stick.
I jumped up a foot high in pain, crying, "It hurts, it hurts, it hurts!"
Finally, with no other choice, we had to run towards the main door. Seeing us out of the door, the village chief stood behind it and slammed the door shut with a bang.
Ah Li rubbed his backside, which was likely red, and said with a pained expression, "Maybe we should come back tomorrow. My backside is probably all red from that hit."
I also said indignantly, "I got hit too. Why did you run so fast? You made me take a hard hit."
Ah Li said helplessly, "I got hit too. If I didn't run, I would have taken two hits. One hit for you and one for me, and it would have balanced out."
Looking at him clutching his backside with such a pained expression, I couldn't help but burst into laughter. I unconsciously sat down near the door, but as soon as I touched the wooden board, I jumped up in pain, crying, "It hurts so much!"
Ah Li laughed mercilessly, "Hahaha, it seems you're worse off than me."
I looked at him disdainfully, then turned back to the tightly shut door. My chaotic heart suddenly firmed up, and I said to him, "No matter what, we have to explain our purpose to the village chief today. It's a matter of great importance."
Ah Li said worriedly, "What if we get hit twice again?"
I said firmly, "No matter how many hits, we have to say it."
Saying this, I stepped forward and knocked on the door, calling out, "Village Chief! Village Chief! We have something very important to tell you. Open the door, open the door!"
The village chief impatiently opened the door, his face cold, and asked, "What is it?"
"It's about..." Before I could finish, he slammed the door shut with a bang. Fortunately, my face was far from the door, or it would have been flattened like a pancake. I sighed helplessly and had to knock on the door again with all my might, calling out, "Village Chief! Village Chief! This is a major matter concerning the Tanuki tribe, you have to listen!"
Hearing this, the village chief slowly opened the door, his expression blank, and called us both in, "Come in."
So Ah Li and I walked into the house happily. The village chief was by the fire, smoking his pipe, with his legs crossed, saying, "How can you two sneak under someone's bed to scare them?"
Ah Li quickly apologized, "We were wrong, we won't dare to do it again."
The village chief glanced at us, seeing us still standing rigidly, and said, "Sit down, let's talk after you sit."
I quickly waved my hands, "No, no, we don't really want to sit."
The village chief saw at a glance that those two hits were indeed a bit excessive. He slowly got up, went into the house, and handed Ah Li a bottle of medicinal wine.
"This is medicinal wine for healing and pain relief. Take it back and apply it once in the morning, noon, and evening. You'll be fine in a few days."
Ah Li took the medicinal wine, tucked it into his chest, and thanked him excitedly, "Thank you, Village Chief."
After that, I started telling the village chief the purpose of Ah Li and my visit.
"Village Chief, we've come to discuss an important matter with you. The Mountain God has been oppressing the Tanuki tribe for so many years, committing murder and arson, and acting outrageously. Even you, Village Chief, must have had enough of this humiliation. It's time to stand up and resist his tyranny."
I explained to him righteously.
However, the village chief seemed to have some reservations and pointed the finger at Ah Li, accusing him, "If Ah Li hadn't broken the divine bowl, where would all this trouble have come from?"
I said with some indignation, "The Mountain God's actions are not just about a bowl; it's merely to establish his authority for his pathetic self-esteem."
Although I said this, the village chief still didn't trust us much. He waved his hand, "I can't make decisions on this matter. You find someone else."
"Village Chief, listen to me."
"I won't listen."
"This is really important, it concerns all the Tanukis."
"I can't make decisions."
"But..."
He still didn't let me finish. He cruelly dragged Ah Li and me out of the door and slammed it shut. As expected, he still had no confidence in his heart.
"What do we do now?" I asked Ah Li.
Ah Li replied confidently, "Besides the village chief, there's one more person."
"Who?"
"The Elder."
"Will it work?" I was a bit discouraged.
"The Elder is a reasonable person, so it will definitely work. Follow me."
So I followed him out of the village chief's house and headed east. We saw a tall house built of thatch. Ah Li said the Elder lived there.
I walked up and knocked hard on the door. After knocking for a long time, the door slowly opened. A little old man, similar to the village chief, came out. However, he had a long, white beard and leaned on a carved walking stick, from which hung six colorful cloth bags.
Before we could speak, he already knew our purpose, "I know why you've come to see me. Come in first."
It was rumored that those who became Elders were generally powerful reclusive masters. Seeing him today, he indeed lived up to his reputation.
Entering the house, we saw a fire pit in the center of the room. Beside the fire pit were several straw mats. We sat around the fire pit, and the kind Elder's wife brought us a cup of hot tea.
"Tell me your thoughts," since the Elder already knew our purpose, he knew our thoughts.
So I boldly spoke, "Instead of being enslaved by the Mountain God, it's better to overthrow him. I have a good plan here where the snipe and the clam fight, and the fisherman benefits." At this point, I paused, needing to first tell him about the situation I had witnessed.
"Two days ago, I was captured by the Mountain God and learned some of the situation. The Mountain God's residence is a cave, and there are hundreds of small monsters living in the cave. Their strength is evident. I also suspect that the entrance to the cave is the Mountain God Temple. On the day I escaped, the Mountain God was fighting with Jin Peng, so he must have been injured. This is a good opportunity for us to strike. However, to completely eliminate the Mountain God, we still need a complete plan."
So I explained my plan to the Elder in detail.
"The Mountain God is cruel and inhumane. Now that he is injured, it is time for us to rise up and resist."
Ah Li chimed in, "First, we can leak the Mountain God's situation to Jin Peng, then lure Jin Peng to attack the Mountain God. When they are both weakened, we can rush in and catch them off guard."
I said, "Ah Li is right. This way, we can defeat the Mountain God and severely injure Jin Peng. It's killing two birds with one stone."
The Elder listened carefully as Ah Li and I finished explaining the plan. He stroked his white beard and nodded slowly, "It's feasible."
Then he agreed to help us persuade the villagers to join this plan.
We chatted until late at night before returning to the cellar with our tired bodies, lying on the sweet potatoes and sleeping soundly.
The next morning, a disciple named Zhai Dao Hu was sent down from the mountain, going directly to the village chief to state his purpose.
"A few days ago, because the Mountain God from the opposite mountain came to our territory to cause trouble, the Lord fought with Jin Peng for three days and three nights, finally driving them back to their lair. Therefore, the Mountain God also suffered some injuries and needs a large amount of food to replenish his strength."
The village chief remembered the Mountain God's past misdeeds and the houses that were still not fully repaired. He couldn't help but feel a surge of anger, "The Mountain God previously sent Black Bears down to almost destroy the village and also destroyed a large amount of farmland. The houses are still not repaired, and many Tanukis have no place to live, let alone food. We ourselves are not even eating enough."
Hearing this, Zhai Dao Hu was very displeased and spat on the village chief's face. Then he took a foxtail grass from his pocket, put it in his mouth, and put on an air of arrogance, "Brother, I advise you not to refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit. If you displease the Mountain God, you know how powerful he is. Then it won't be just about destroying houses, it might cost you your lives. I advise you to be sensible. Oh, and one more thing, there's a young girl from out of town. Bring her here to be handed over to the Mountain God. If you don't comply with the Mountain God's wishes, you old man will taste hardship."
After a round of threats, he casually threw a list to the village chief, which read: ten baskets of grain, ten baskets of fruit, and fifty jin of mountain wine to be delivered within three days.
After handing the list to the village chief, Zhai Dao Hu led his men and turned back up the mountain.
The village chief looked at this unreasonable ultimatum and almost got sick from anger. In a daze, he felt his vision darken and stumbled forward. Fortunately, someone caught him in time. He looked up and saw the Elder standing before him, so he tremblingly handed him the list.
The Elder took the list, looked at it carefully, and then returned it to the village chief. He slowly said, "Now I am just an old man who tells fortunes. The one who can truly decide problems, decide who should do what, and how to do it, is you. Two paths are now laid out before you, it just depends on your choice." After saying this, he sighed slightly and slowly turned back to his residence.
The village chief seemed to understand the Elder's hidden meaning. He remembered that Ah Li and I had visited him before, and thought: perhaps those two children can be relied upon. So he secretly made a decision.
After nightfall, he sent someone to find us, saying there was an important matter to discuss.
Upon meeting, the village chief first asked, "You said last time you had something important to discuss with me, was it about how to defeat the Mountain God?"
"Precisely," I replied.
"Then what's your confidence level in defeating the Mountain God?"
"Ninety percent."
Upon hearing the reply, a glimmer of hope flashed in his eyes. He then asked me to explain our plan. I generously told him, and the village chief also felt that the plan was feasible.
"If that's the case, I agree with this approach. However, this concerns the survival of the Tanuki tribe, so I can't be the only one to agree. We also need the consent of the past Elders."
Hearing this, Ah Li seemed to understand something and asked, "Do we need to enter the Guiyue Cave?"
"That's right, that's the final decision-making place."
"What is Guiyue Cave?" I asked, completely bewildered.
Ah Li took on the role of narrator and explained: Guiyue Cave is the secret base of the Tanuki tribe. Legend has it that after all the Elders finish their divination of the three misfortunes and three blessings, they must enter Guiyue Cave to meditate until their souls depart.
Furthermore, all major matters of the Tanuki tribe are held in Guiyue Cave. As far as I know, 150 years ago, Nanshan was originally under the jurisdiction of Xiziguo.
Then, due to the civil war in Xiziguo, Nanshan was plundered by monsters who took advantage of the chaos. Later, it returned to Nanhai City. It is said that at that time, the decision of whether the Tanuki tribe should stay or leave was also made in Guiyue Cave.
After hearing his explanation, I felt more confident and agreed, "If that's the case, let's go and ask them. They might agree."
I asked the village chief, "Then when do we go to Guiyue Cave?"
"I'll have someone notify you after I've thought about it, so you just wait for my news."
"That would be good."
The village chief looked out at the dark night and the cold wind blowing slightly. Knowing that it was late, he said to us, "I think it's getting late, you should go back first."
Ah Li and I said goodbye to the village chief, "Then we'll be going back."
"Mm."
As soon as we left, the village chief's wife came forward and advised him, "I think it's better to get this done as soon as possible."
The village chief turned back and muttered, "We can't rush things like this. I still need to think about it tonight."
"You think about it, but try not to think for too long."
"I know, wife. It's not me saying this, but why have you been talking so much lately?"
"Alright, alright, I won't say anything more. You think at your own pace."
After Ah Li and I returned to the cellar, we suddenly heard earth-shattering snores coming from the cellar.
We looked around in alarm and saw a fat Tanuki lying on the pile of sweet potatoes, snoring loudly. Ah Li breathed a sigh of relief and explained to me, "His name is Da Pang. He's my friend."
I asked doubtfully, "Why haven't I seen him before?"
"When the Mountain God was causing trouble, he went to the mountain to pick fruits. He just got back these past few days."
I suspected, "What kind of fruit takes so long to pick?"
Ah Li pointed to several large baskets of apples in the corner, "These are probably all found by Da Pang."
I looked closely and indeed saw several more baskets of apples. I was immediately delighted, "(⊙o⊙) Wow, you're right. Can I have one?"
As I reached out to grab one, Ah Li grabbed my hand and stopped me, "These were all found by Da Pang. Let's ask him before taking one."
I said aggrievedly, "But he's asleep."
"Then let's wait until tomorrow. We'll ask him when he wakes up."
I sighed helplessly, "Alright."
"Okay, okay, let's go to sleep quickly, or we won't be able to get up tomorrow."
I helplessly walked to the pile of sweet potatoes and leaned against it, slowly falling asleep. However, shortly after falling asleep, the thunderous snores struck like a thunderclap.
I quickly covered my ears. Ah Li was also disturbed and couldn't sleep. So we sat together, guarding the baskets of apples.