Chapter 15: Calligraphy and Painting

Seeing that Ye Tian refused to admit it, Liao Haode fell silent. After walking another several dozen meters, he suddenly said, “Ye Tian, don’t you want to know what I found at the place six hundred steps from the village entrance?”

Ye Tian had been wondering about this matter all along. Upon hearing Liao Haode’s words, he blurted out, “What did you find?”

“Haha, still not willing to admit you were the one who said that?”

Liao Haode laughed loudly at Ye Tian’s response. But then he thought about himself, a man in his fifties or sixties, trying to outwit a child, and his old face flushed slightly with embarrassment.

“So what? A child’s words shouldn’t be taken seriously in the first place.” Ye Tian pursed his lips. Acting shamelessly was also a child’s privilege.

“Ah, you little rascal, you simply refuse to suffer any loss.”

Liao Haode shook his head helplessly and said, “After hearing your message passed on by Guo Xiaolong, I went home and asked the elders. The place six hundred steps from the village entrance was originally where the ancestral graves of our Liao family were located. However, when my mother passed away back then, no tombstone was erected, and the grave mound was leveled long ago. Even knowing my mother was buried there, I couldn’t find the exact spot. That’s why I came to ask for your help, little immortal.”

After returning from the market, Liao Haode specially invited several elders from the village to go with him to the village entrance to investigate. One old man remembered right then that this piece of land, now overgrown with corn, was where the Liao family ancestral graves used to be.

Since the main lineage of the Liao family was no longer in the country, and collateral relatives in those turbulent times didn’t dare come to burn paper offerings or tend the graves, decades had passed and the place was gradually forgotten.

Finding his family’s ancestral graves excited Liao Haode for a while, but then he became troubled again. Merely knowing this much was not enough. It must be known that dozens of generations of Liao ancestors were buried there, including even Liao Haode’s grandfather.

Without the precise burial location of his mother, Liao Haode did not dare to excavate recklessly. If, for the sake of having his parents buried together, he accidentally dug up the bones of his ancestors, even his deceased father would be unable to account for it to the ancestors.

So after pacing around that land for two days, Liao Haode finally thought of Ye Tian again. Since that little fellow could know the purpose of his return to the country and had pointed out the location of the ancestral graves, finding his mother’s coffin shouldn’t be difficult either, right?

After thinking it over carefully, Liao Haode found Guo Xiaolong. But Guo Xiaolong didn’t know where Ye Tian lived either. That led to the earlier incident where comrades from the United Front Work Department found Yu Haoran to go to Ye Tian’s home.

After understanding the whole story, Ye Tian tilted his little head and thought for a moment, then said, “Grandpa Liao, from your physiognomy, I could only see that much. If you still can’t find it, I have no other way.”

“This… You could deduce my purpose just from my physiognomy. Now, without even asking for my mother’s name and birth details, you say you can’t find her grave. Little fellow, you’re lying again.”

Liao Haode wasn’t so easily fooled, nor did he dismiss Ye Tian because of his young age. There were many strange people and unusual things in this world, and Ye Tian had already demonstrated his remarkable abilities.

“Grandpa Liao, I injured my Primordial Qi yesterday. I really can’t help you.”

Ye Tian shook his head. Seeing the look of disappointment appear on Liao Haode’s face this time, he secretly smiled and then said, “I can’t help you, but my Master can. He is the direct-line descendant of the contemporary Hemp Robe Lineage. In Fengshui Geomancy, Divination, and Physiognomy, no one in the country can surpass him.”

“Really?” Liao Haode’s spirits lifted. If the young one was so skilled, the old one must be even more remarkable.

“Of course. My Master is over a hundred years old.”

“Let’s go, let’s walk faster. Let me go pay a visit to the old immortal…” Although somewhat skeptical of Ye Tian’s claim about being over a hundred, Liao Haode still quickened his pace, his heart filled with anticipation.

In summer, Maoshan was covered with flowers, the trees were lush and leafy, and the scenery was quite enchanting. The few children walked and stopped along the way. The mountain path that should have taken half an hour wasn’t completed until noon when they finally reached the Taoist temple at the mid-levels.

And the Old Taoist with snow-white hair and beard, yet skin like a young man’s, certainly did not disappoint Liao Haode. Although they hadn’t yet talked deeply, just based on his appearance and bearing, he absolutely looked like a man of profound Daoist attainment.

“You brat, you’re not fully recovered yet. What are you running around for? Give me your hand…”

The Old Taoist was also somewhat surprised by Ye Tian’s sudden arrival. Although he saw his disciple looked well in complexion, he still checked Ye Tian’s pulse. Feeling the pulse was steady and beating strongly, he then set his mind at ease.

“Master, it’s Grandpa Liao here looking for you. He came back from the United States, you know. He said he wants to donate a sum of money to our Taoist temple…”

Ye Tian’s words left Liao Haode somewhat torn between laughter and tears, but he didn’t refute them. If the Old Taoist before him could truly help him fulfill his father’s wish, then donating eight or ten thousand wouldn’t be much considering his current wealth.

“Long have I heard of the Old Immortal’s great reputation. I specially came today to pay my respects. I hope you won’t mind…” Liao Haode certainly knew how to say pleasant things, but whether he would donate money depended on whether the other party had the skill to earn it.

After exchanging courtesies with the Old Taoist, Liao Haode said to his nephew, “Feng Kuang, you kids go play over there. Little friend Ye Tian will stay here for now…”

Children back then were quite obedient to adults. Upon hearing Liao Haode’s words, they all followed the young man named Feng Kuang to watch the craftsmen repair the Taoist temple.

“Master, what are in these big boxes? How come I’ve never seen them before?”

Ye Tian noticed three large lacquered red wooden boxes beside the Old Taoist. Each was over half a meter tall. The color on them was slightly dull, and the lacquer had peeled off in many places. They seemed to be items from some years past.

But Ye Tian’s curiosity lay precisely here. This Taoist temple wasn’t large; he had explored every corner of it long ago, but he had never seen these boxes before.

“You sleep on top of them every day, and you say you’ve never seen them?”

The Old Taoist laughed upon hearing this. He had placed these boxes side by side against the wall and built a layer of bricks outside them. That was how he had preserved the items inside them intact. If not for this major renovation of the Taoist temple, he might not have taken them out at all.

“What things are these?”

Ye Tian reached out and lifted the lid of one box. Seeing the objects inside, he couldn’t help but pause. “Master, what are you doing keeping these rolls of paper inside?”

The box Ye Tian opened had a small cloth bag in each of its four corners, sewn with dry lime inside for moisture protection. In the middle of the box were scrolls of varying lengths, rolled up together.

Picking up the topmost scroll and unrolling it, Ye Tian immediately exclaimed, “This… this is a painting!”

The painting wasn’t large, about forty centimeters long and only thirty centimeters wide. On this strip of paper just over a foot long, there were only one crab and two shrimp. It seemed sketched with rough strokes, yet the crab and shrimp were depicted vividly and exceptionally lifelike.

In the lower left corner of the painting was a line of seal script writing, with the characters “For Brother Shanyuan.” Though only a few characters, the brushstrokes were bold and free, concise and seasoned, solid inside yet expansive outside, structurally natural, imposing and vigorous yet still lively, much like the crab in the painting, fully displaying the skill of brush and ink.

The signature area of this small hanging scroll read, “Painted by Baishi in the Ninth Year of the Republic.” Below that was a bright red seal carved with three small seal characters: “Baishi Weng.”

“Master, who is this Baishi? He paints so well…”

Ye Tian was somewhat entranced. He was very familiar with fish and shrimp. This painting was almost like a photograph, completely capturing the spirit and charm of the crab and shrimp, as if seeing the real things.

Upon hearing Ye Tian’s words, the Old Taoist leaned over to look at the painting, pursed his lips, and said, “Qi Baishi? Just a down-and-out painter. That guy isn’t honest. I calculated a hexagram for him, and the old fellow refused to pay the divination fee, offering a few shabby paintings as collateral instead.”

Although his words made Qi Baishi sound worthless, the Old Taoist’s expression held a hint of pride. Qi Baishi did leave behind many paintings, but those inscribed to a specific person while that person was still alive were extremely rare.

However, it was clear the Old Taoist had misdirected his sentiment. Ye Tian had no idea who Qi Baishi was. Upon hearing his words, Ye Tian casually rolled up the painting and tossed it back into the box. He then rummaged from the bottom and pulled out a gray cloth folded into a square shape.

“Iron Mouth Direct Judgment, One Hexagram Worth a Thousand in Gold?! Written by Zhang Daqian? Haha, Master, you still keep the gear from your Jianghu days?”

When Ye Tian unfolded this piece of cloth, it was a cloth banner about 1.2 meters long and 60 centimeters wide, also inscribed with a few characters. But as soon as Ye Tian saw the characters, he couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

Whether reading physiognomy, feeling bones, fortune-telling, or character divination, those traveling the Jianghu always needed some gear. This kind of cloth banner supported by a wooden stick and held in the hand was called a fortune-telling streamer, also known as “Ping Jin” by some. It was an essential piece of gear for fortune-tellers going door-to-door in the old days.

A few days earlier at the market, Ye Tian had seen a fortune-teller with a stall who also had such gear in front of his spot. It said “Hemp Robe Divine Calculations,” serving the same purpose as this object, only the calligraphy on it wasn’t as good as this one.

“You brat, what do you know? If you took this thing out, you could immediately trade it for a house in the County Town. You infuriate me, Old Taoist!”

Hearing Ye Tian’s words and seeing his smug look, the Old Taoist was so angry he almost couldn’t catch his breath. The items he had painstakingly preserved were actually worthless in his disciple’s eyes?

“Pfft, Master, who are you trying to fool? I can write with a brush too, not necessarily worse than these characters…”

Ye Tian pursed his lips upon hearing this. A house in the County Town cost over a thousand dollars. Trade this foot-binding cloth for it? Only a fool would do such a thing.

“Old… Old Sir, this… this piece of calligraphy of yours, is… is it by Zhang Daqian?”

Before Ye Tian’s voice faded, the cloth banner in his hand was snatched away by Liao Haode beside him. Liao Haode held it carefully and began examining it closely.

Liao Haode’s father was a scholar by background, coming from a family with some cultural heritage. The reputations of Qi Baishi and Zhang Daqian, these two famous modern figures, were like thunder to his ears.

Upon seeing Qi Baishi’s painting earlier, Liao Haode hadn’t fully registered it. But now, seeing Zhang Daqian’s calligraphy, he even forgot his original purpose for coming to find the Old Taoist.