The highest peak of Jue Mountain is the Zhan Xian Tai.
On Zhan Xian Tai, there is a tree.
** Literal name "Deity Executing Stage"
It's not strange to have trees on high mountains. However, it's eerie that there's only one single half-dead ancient tree on such a large mountain, which is otherwise barren.
The villagers of Juefeng Village at the foot of the peak are used to it, although it was lush green here twenty years ago, as far as the eyes could see.
The old people in the village often say that it's called the "Lone Mountain Nurturing Immortal Tree." The ancient tree has become a spirit and ascended to immortality. As an immortal tree, how could it coexist with ordinary grass and trees? Naturally, it occupies a mountain peak alone.
There's a solid reason to call that half-dead, nameless wilted tree a divine tree. Twenty years ago, many disciples from many unknown sects came to Jue Mountain to investigate.
According to the elders, they came with the intention to destroy that old tree. Unfortunately even those mighty and powerful, ended up fleeing with serious injuries. Since then, no one has dared to attempt to destroy that tree.
After that Jue Mountain became spookier, perpetually covered in fog. Villagers occasionally get lost in the barren mountain, wandering at the foot of the mountain for hours.
Such a sinister place deters people.
However, lately there seems to be a group of people who are undeterred and come every year. Although they can't ascend the mountain, they would hire some villagers to bury black iron boxes they bring at the foot of the mountain.
Those boxes are extremely strange, like iron but not iron, with a surface covered in sticky black ooze that moves slowly, as if it would melt into a puddle of black water at any moment.
When these were being buried, the men in black prohibit villagers from touching the boxes with their hands, and they can only use specially made iron forks to push the boxes into the pit. Wu Lao San from the east of the village once accidentally touched one of those boxes with his hand, and his entire palm was eroded away, earning him the nickname "Wu One-Hand."
This job is fraught with endless danger, and even though the pay is generous, villagers are unwilling to do it.
But there was always some people who seem like their souls had been snatched, being driven up the mountain in a daze.
The villagers suspect they are under some sort of spell. Whenever this happens, people hide in their homes, afraid to go to the fields to work, lest their strong men be caught by these evil forces.
Even so, some unsuspecting travelers from other places are still captured to carry the boxes.
As a result, the divine tree's reputation couldn't help but be tainted, and people started to call it an ominous object that caused Jue Mountain to become a land of evil spirits.
If children misbehaved, they can be threatened with " If you throw any more tantrums, will leave you on Jue Mountain!" Upon hearing this, even the most stubborn children are frightened into silence, hiding under their blankets.
Although the village is somewhat poor, everyone is strong and healthy, with many elderly. In contrast, the sickly girl from Carpenter Xue's family in the east of the village seems out of place compared to children her age.
The Xue couple had been married for many years without any children and finally had a daughter fifteen years ago. She turned out to be a sickly child who seemed like a slightly strong wind might break her waist.
The couple cherished this only daughter like the apple of their eye, reluctant to let her go outside.
Xue's wife, Qiao Lian, is making pickled radishes. She looks up to see her daughter, Ran Ran, standing on tiptoe looking over the courtyard wall, seemingly watching the rowdy children. She goes over and says, "Good girl, those are just a bunch of wild boys outside and may knock into you…if you want to go out to play, how about we get your dad to take you by the river?"
Xue Ran Ran reluctantly withdrew her gaze, swallowed silently, and obediently replied with a pair of eyes clear as an autumn lake, "Mother, I'm not a child anymore. I don't want to go out and play."
Qiao Lian looked over the short wall and immediately understood once she saw the chubby boy from the Ding family holding a Flower Jujube Puff in his hand.
Her Ran Ran is well-behaved and obedient, just born with a fondness for food. She is always munching on snacks. If she sees some seasonal delicacies, her big eyes can stare at them for hours on end.
That chubby boy is holding the delicate pastry that only rich families have, and Ran Ran was craving for it.
Qiao Lian felt a little sorry and could only say, "Good girl, that pastry is only sold in the county town. When your father finishes his work for Mr. Ding and earns some money, he will buy for you to eat."
By this time, Ran Ran had already sat back down on her stool. She tugged on her hair bun she just combed and sensibly said, "Mother, isn't that very expensive? I already caught the scent just now, they added cotton sugar to jujubes, wrapped in pork lard kneaded dough, baked with a medium fire for six minutes. When autumn comes and we harvest the jujubes, Mother can buy a small packet of cotton sugar, and I can make it too."
Qiao Lian smiled and pinched her face: "Do you really have a puppy's nose? You can tell how its made just by smelling it? Who told you the recipe, are you trying to fool your mother?"
Seeing that her mother did not believe her, Ran ran didn't speak anymore. She smiled and went to help her mother pack the radishes into the jar. She pinched a piece of radish and said while biting into it, "Didn't Father cut a piece of smoked duck meat yesterday? Let's have radish stewed with smoked duck tonight?"
Qiao Lian snatched the piece of radish from her hand and said, "You can't be greedy and eat it raw. You have a weak stomach. Be careful not to upset your stomach, or you won't be able to eat the duck meat tonight."
People wonder why this couple, who are strong and healthy, gave birth to a sick child. Only Qiao Lian knows the truth, that Ran Ran was found by her under the withered tree in Jue Mountain sixteen years ago.
That day, she didn't know why, but she had woken from her afternoon nap with a tightness in her chest, so she went up the mountain for a walk. In the rolling fog, she somehow reached the top of the mountain and heard a baby's cry from afar.
A small white bundle was huddled under the tree, with big eyes half open, filled with tears, crying pitifully. Qiao Lian's heart was broken by its cries.
She didn't know who could be so cruel to abandon such a cute and round little baby under the divine tree. But Qiao Lian felt it was a blessing from the heavens, who took pity on the childless couple and gifted them with a daughter.
Xue Lian Gui also agreed with his wife and was overjoyed with the baby girl his wife brought home. Only later did they discover that the baby was born with a frail constitution, frequently falling ill or falling into deep sleep, unable to open her eyes. The couple sought help from many doctors nearby and spent a lot of money on medicine, but there was no improvement.
As time went by, the couple became experienced in caring for a sick child and managed to raise the frail Ran Ran to her current age. Their delicate seedling finally managed to grow this big.
When the baby was found, there was a red birthmark on the palm of her right hand. Xue the carpenter asked the village scholar and learned that the pattern looked like the character "Ran," so they simply named her Xue Ran Ran.
However, when Ran Ran turned one year old, the birthmark on her palm slowly faded away and disappeared.
Many children's birthmarks fade as they grow older. The carpenter couple didn't pay much attention to it and focused on earning money to raise their daughter. Their modest life was still filled with lots of joy.
While the mother and daughter were talking, someone shouted from outside the low wall: "Auntie, I bought some pastries specially, can Ran Ran try a piece??"
Qiao Lian turned her head and saw that it was the elder brother of the chubby boy who was eating the pastry, the second son of Ding family.
The Ding family is a wealthy family in the village. Their second son is studying in the town's academy, soon to take the imperial exam, with a promising future. He is also engaged to the daughter of a successful exam graduate in the county, but he frequently returns to the village to flirt with her Ran Ran.
Qiao Lian knew that her daughter, although frail, had a beautiful face with delicate eyebrows and snow-white skin, standing out among the fifteen or sixteen-year-old girls in the village.
Unfortunately, her frail and delicate figure was not appealing to the traditional rural families. If a farming family in the village were looking for a daughter-in-law, they probably wouldn't choose Ran Ran, who couldn't do heavy work.
However, Young Master Ding, having read a few books, had a different perspective from the farmers. Like an annoying fly that won't leave, he had been watching Ran Ran closely for the past year.
He even asked the village matchmaker to convey his intentions, implying that after he got married, he would bring Ran Ran into his home as a concubine.
Qiao Lian immediately refused, telling the matchmaker to pass the message to Young Master Ding that her daughter Ran Ran had no desire to marry into a wealthy family and asked him to choose someone else.
But this Young Master Ding would always bring food back to the village to tempt Ran Ran.
Fortunately, although her daughter was fond of food, she was not a shallow girl and would keep her distance from him.
So when Young Master Ding called out from across the wall, he only received a cold stare from Auntie Xue and saw Qiao Lian taking Ran Ran back into the house, to cook their meal.
Young Master Ding left in disappointment, carrying his cakes.
That day, Xue the carpenter, who had gone out to make furniture for someone, came back very late. As soon as he entered, he anxiously closed and bolted the courtyard door, then pulled Qiao Lian, who had opened the door for him, into the house. After checking on their daughter sleeping in the small room, he pulled his wife into their own room and asked in a low voice, "Do you remember what day it was when we brought Ran Ran back?"
Qiao Lian blinked and hesitated, "You said you wanted to treat her as your own daughter, so to avoid the villagers gossiping and the child feeling sad about her origins in the future, you had me return to my parents' home to pretend to be pregnant. Then, more than a year later, we brought the girl back to the village and reduced her age by a full year. So the day we found Ran Ran… should be her birthday pushed back sixteen years and ten months, which is the ninth day of the ninth month in the Qinggeng year."
Hearing this, Xue the carpenter slapped his thigh and lowered his voice even more, "I had a vague feeling it should be this month… Do you know? The black-robed men who came this time went from village to village nearby, asking if anyone had seen a child on Xiantai Mountain in the Qinggeng year in September."
Qiao Lian's eyes widened in alarm, and she couldn't help but pace anxiously, "Is this… is this Ran Ran's biological parents or relatives coming to take her away?"
Xue the carpenter was also worried about this, so when he heard the news while working as a carpenter at the wealthy Master Ding's house, he rushed back home without even settling his wages.
When it comes to their children, mothers are usually more decisive.
Qiao Lian quickly calmed down and said firmly, "She's not a cat or a dog. They think they can abandon her and then take her back whenever they want? How cold is it on the mountain in September! Such a small child, without even a swaddle, was just abandoned under the tree. I think only animals could do such a thing! Our family may not be rich or noble, but we love our daughter like a treasure. She is my life! If anyone wants her, they'll have to kill me first!"
Earlier, Carpenter Xue's mind was in turmoil, the kind-hearted man that he was, he thought that if the child's biological parents really came to claim her, wouldn't it be cutting off Ran Ran's ties with her relatives if he didn't give her up?
But now, hearing his wife's words, he also felt there was reason in them. The couple had struggled for sixteen years to raise their daughter, how could they just give her up because someone else demanded it? Just thinking about his daughter getting married in a few years made Carpenter Xue's heart ache and his eyes tear up.
After this, the couple returned to the small room and looked at their daughter sleeping on the bed.
In a few days, she would be seventeen years old. Her delicate face was sleeping sweetly, and they didn't know what she was dreaming about, but she was smiling with the corners of her mouth curled up…