Xie Yilin falsely accused me, but I no longer want to pursue it. Right now, I just want to understand the situation of Mount Modu.
"I'm curious," Xie Yilin looked at me and said, "Actually, Mount Modu is quite famous. If you really care about this place so much, how could you not know where it is?"
I sighed helplessly and replied to her: "I have already searched for a lot of information and asked many people, but still haven't found out."
At this point, I suddenly remembered the old blind man who was hiding something. Could it be that he didn't tell me the location of Mount Modu because he had foreseen my fate?
But why would he do that? Would Xie Yilin bring me some kind of good fortune?
"You're right. After all, your location is too far from Mount Modu," Xie Yilin didn't notice my hesitation and continued speaking to me: "Let me give you a brief introduction about Mount Modu. But we made a deal - you promised not to back out."
I nodded without saying anything and felt inexplicably nervous.
"Mount Modu is located in Deqing County in western Huzhou City in Zhejiang Province. It's part of Tianmu Mountain Range and situated at the center of Shanghai-Nanjing-Hangzhou Golden Triangle area. It's a national-level tourist attraction and one of China's four major summer resorts." Xie Yilin told me.
"Although the peaks on Mount Modu are not as majestic as Taishan or as perilous as Huahuang Mountains, its lush forests resemble an ocean while its mountain springs are clear like sweet dew; ancient houses dotting around make it picturesque with various sceneries which can take one's breath away; therefore it has earned itself the reputation as 'the most beautiful mountain in Jiangnan'." Xie Yilin continued to introduce.
"That's strange," I listened a bit confused and couldn't help but furrow my brows: "According to what you said, Mount Modu is an absolutely good place. It doesn't seem quite right because as far as I know, it's not very peaceful up there." At this point, I paused for a moment before looking at Xie Yilin and asking her: "Are there any ghost stories about the mountain?"
Upon hearing my question, Xie Yilin blinked her eyes and looked somewhat absent-mindedly before continuing: "This is precisely the mystery of Mount Modu. It's also its most attractive feature."
I didn't say anything and gestured for her to continue speaking.
"Let me tell you about the legend of Mount Modu first," Xie Yilin tidied up her hair around her ears then spoke to me again: "Let's start with how it got its name. In the late Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC), King Helü of Wu ordered Ganjiang and Moye to forge swords on the mountain within three months. However, they spent three years without being able to make them into treasures until Moye had no choice but jumped into the furnace himself as a sacrifice so that he could finally create a pair of unparalleled male-female swords - Ganjiang-Moye Swords which were extremely sharp with their souls connected with gods; capable of controlling all spirits. Unfortunately, after presenting his sword-making achievement, Ganjiang was still killed by King Helü who was cruel and violent ruler thinking that forging swords too slowly was committing great crimes. That's why Mount Modu got its name.
I interrupted Xie Yilin and said, 'I learned this story from a book. Lu Xun wrote an article called "Casting Swords," which tells the same story. However, the content of that story seems to differ from the legend you just told.'
'Yes,' Xie Yilin looked at me and said, 'I have also read that article. The story in it is another version of the legend. I want to remind you that Lu Xun was only using this legend as inspiration for his satirical novel. He also embellished the legend, so what he told can only be seen as a joke rather than a true legend.'
'I'm curious about what the real legend looks like,' I asked.
'Mogandao's son was not called Mei Jianchi; that was just his nickname. His real name was Mogang,' Xie Yilin said before looking at me again with dreamy eyes and saying, 'Your forehead is wide too, your eyebrows are well-spaced apart; I feel like you have potential to be Mei Jianchi too if it weren't for your scar on your forehead - otherwise you would be quite handsome.'
'Please stick to the topic; I am still young so don't tease me,' I frowned.
Xie Yilin smiled slightly after my comment and looked at me again with coquettishness which gave me goosebumps.
'The real legend is that Mogandao did not sacrifice himself by jumping into molten metal while casting swords with his wife because she was pregnant at that time. Even if Ganjiang were an animal, he wouldn't let his wife jump into molten metal since it would mean death for both of them. So they threw their hair, nails, flesh and clothing into the furnace instead until they finally cast two swords - one male sword and one female sword known as Yin Yang Treasure Sword . However, Ganjiang was indeed killed by the King of Wu. The rest of the story is similar to what Lu Xun wrote: Mogandao's son, Mogang, found his father's sword hidden in a tree and embarked on a journey for revenge.'
Xie Yilin looked at me and asked, 'Do you remember what happened next?'
'Mei Jianchi met an old friend of his father who offered to help him with revenge but needed two things - Ganjiang's sword and Mei Jianchi's head,' I said before standing up feeling annoyed. 'This story is complete nonsense! Can you believe that Mei Jianchi actually trusted that person and gave him both his head and sword? Do you find this funny? I think real history would be that the man stole the sword, killed Mei Jianchi then went to see King Wu not to assassinate him but rather for reward because that is human nature.'
Hearing my words, Xie Yilin looked at me helplessly saying,'No one knows exactly how it happened since these are just legends from over 2000 years ago. But it is precisely because of these legends that Mount Modu has its name today; there are still attractions such as Casting Sword Pool , Sharpening Stone and Melting Gold Furnace on the mountain. Because of this reason, Mount Modu attracts tourists all year round making it very prosperous.'