Chapter 26: Downpour

By the third day of heavy rain, the river had already overflowed, submerging the large stones used for washing clothes.

Every day, as Zhao Mengcheng meditated and regulated his breathing, he felt the moisture in the air increasing without sign of stopping. After some thought, he went to find the Old Village Chief.

The Old Village Chief was fretting over the losses to the autumn harvest. Seeing him approach, he forced a smile. “Thanks to your reminder, the harvest wasn’t a total loss. Though it’s worse than previous years, we’ll still be able to get by.”

Their village was actually in good shape. Half the rice in the neighboring village had rotted in the fields, rendering a year’s hard work useless.

Every time he thought of this, the Old Village Chief felt lucky that he had listened to Zhao Mengcheng.

Zhao Mengcheng didn’t beat around the bush and brought up the water levels directly. “I’m afraid the river won’t hold if it keeps raining like this. Our village is on high ground, but it will still be dangerous if the upstream banks burst.”

The Old Village Chief frowned. “You mean we should head up the mountain?”

He was very hesitant. “There isn’t so much as a roof tile on the mountain, nowhere to take shelter from the wind and rain. I’m afraid the children and the elderly won’t be able to handle it.”

Furthermore, every household had just finished harvesting their rice. What would happen to the grain? What about their belongings and livestock? They couldn’t possibly move everything.

Zhao Mengcheng, however, had already made up his mind. “I feel deeply uneasy. I plan to take the children and leave today, and we’ll come back down once the rain stops.”

“Mengcheng, why don’t you think it over,” the Village Chief urged. “It won’t be too late to leave when the water reaches the foundations. Even if I told everyone to leave now, they wouldn’t agree to it.”

Zhao Mengcheng shook his head. “By then, we would have to wade through water. I have many children, and I’m worried about their safety.”

He stood up. “Uncle, you should also make a decision soon. If the village gets flooded, it will be too late to leave even if you want to.”

Having said his piece, he returned home and told the children to pack their things for the mountain.

The neighboring Wang family was also worried after hearing the news. Wang Ming wanted to follow them, but Uncle Wang and Auntie Wang couldn’t bear to leave their belongings. They also raised chickens and ducks; how could they bring all of those?

Besides, what about the grain? If they left it at home, they feared it would be flooded or stolen.

Wang Ming was anxious. “Dad, Mom, you both said that lives are more important than anything else. I’m just asking, what if a flood really comes?”

“Even if there’s a flood, it won’t reach our house,” Auntie Wang said with a frown. In her memory, the largest flood had only just crossed the threshold, and it certainly wasn’t life-threatening.

Uncle Wang added, “The Village Chief hasn’t left yet. If we go up the mountain now with nothing, wouldn’t that be even more dangerous?”

Wang Ming shouted, “Regardless, I trust Brother Mengcheng. He wouldn’t gamble with the lives of his three children.”

No matter what others thought, Zhao Mengcheng had already finished packing. He put straw raincoats on the three little ones and prepared to head out.

Aside from his money, Zhao Mengcheng only brought a month’s worth of rations for the family of four, wrapped in oilcloth¹ and placed on the donkey cart.

He placed Zhao Xin on the donkey cart while Zhao Chun and Zhao Mao helped push from the sides. Zhao Mengcheng set off.

The heavy rain continued to pour down, quickly soaking Zhao Mengcheng’s face. He remained unmoved, leading the donkey toward the mountain.

Seeing this, Wang Ming shouted, “Brother Mengcheng, I’ll catch up shortly!”

Zhao Mengcheng waved a hand at him.

Wang Ming ignored his parents’ objections and began packing. Finally, he asked, “Dad, Mom, I’m begging you. Let’s go to the mountain first. If I’m wrong this time, I’ll listen to everything you say from now on, alright?”

Seeing that he was nearly on his knees, Uncle Wang and Auntie Wang gritted their teeth. “Fine, we’ll go together.”

Auntie Wang hurriedly began packing. “We have to take everything valuable. I’m not afraid of the neighbors stealing, I’m afraid of it being washed away by the water.”

Then she began worrying about her eldest son in town. “I wonder how your brother is doing. He hasn’t come back lately.”

“The town is on high ground, he’ll definitely be fine,” Wang Ming comforted her.

In truth, he had gone to find his elder brother a few times, but Wang De insisted he was too busy to return.

A second cart quickly followed, catching the attention of the villagers.

The villagers who saw this were surprised. “Are you really going up the mountain? No matter how hard it rains, it won’t flood our whole village, will it? It’s such a hassle to go up there in this weather.”

“I’m a coward. Seeing this endless rain makes me scared,” was all Wang Ming said.

Uncle Wang added, “Those who were afraid of the trouble and didn’t go to the fields before are all regretting it now. I’m afraid that if I don’t go up the mountain, I’ll be regretting it tomorrow too.”

The villagers began to feel uneasy as well. They flocked to the Village Chief to ask, “Old Uncle, will our village be flooded?”

The Old Village Chief replied crossly, “How should I know? If I knew that, I’d be an immortal.”

“Zhao Mengcheng and the Wang family have already left. I wasn’t worried at first, but now they’ve made me feel anxious,” Liu Fengshou sighed.

“Sigh, I want to go up the mountain too, but it’s just too much trouble. What about all the grain in my house?”

The Old Village Chief was also feeling anxious and uncertain.

He walked to the riverbank three times a day, and every time he checked, the water level was higher.

After only half a day, the thresholds of the houses on lower ground were already soaking in water.

Yet the heavy rain still did not stop.

His heart pounding with dread, the Old Village Chief finally decided, “Go, we’re leaving too. Up the mountain.”

His two sons were stunned. “Are we really going? Our house is on such high ground. Even if half the village is flooded, our place will be fine.”

“Big Brother, Second Brother, Dad has more experience than us. When he said it would rain, it rained. If he says there will be a flood, he’s surely right,” Liu Bingkun said, persuading his brothers. “If Dad says go, we go. It’s never wrong to listen to him.”

In his heart, he felt that Zhao Mengcheng was quite mysterious. The Zhao family had been on the verge of collapse, yet they had revived solely because of him.

Before, when it was sunny, he said it would rain, and it did. Now that he said he was worried about a flood, it was likely one would truly happen.

Liu Bingkun’s level of trust in Zhao Mengcheng now exceeded even that of his own father.

The Old Village Chief glanced at his youngest son. “Go and notify the villagers. Tell them our family plans to go to the mountain for refuge. Let any family who wants to follow join us. Make sure every household knows.”

“Alright, we’ll go right now.” The three sons immediately put on their straw raincoats and headed out.

The Old Village Chief’s influence was far greater than Zhao Mengcheng’s. Once he said he was leaving, most families decided to follow. Those who couldn’t bring all their grain could only hang it in high places.

There were still a few households who thought nothing of it, relying on their high ground. The Old Village Chief could do nothing about them.

Soon, a line of carts appeared in Qingshan Village, all heading toward the mountain.

Zhao Mengcheng had thought his family was the earliest to leave, but he unexpectedly ran into Zhao Wencheng at the foot of the mountain.

Zhao Wencheng was pushing a cart, Zhao Dasao was carrying two large bundles on her back, and Zhao Xiaohua was walking on the other side.

The two families happened to run into each other at the foot of the mountain and instinctively stopped.

Zhao Xiaohua glanced at the Zhao family. Seeing Zhao Xin sitting cleanly on the donkey cart, she felt jealous and snorted, “Dad, let’s go quickly.”

Zhao Wencheng immediately rushed ahead, intentionally hogging the path.

Zhao Mengcheng had no intention of competing with him. The mountain path was difficult to traverse, especially since he was pulling a donkey cart and bringing children. He preferred to go slower.

To his surprise, after only a few steps, Zhao Xiaohua turned back and shouted, “Didn’t your family sever ties with ours? Why are you following us?”

Zhao Chun couldn’t stand this treatment and retorted loudly, “The mountain path doesn’t belong to your family! There’s only one road up the mountain. Just because your family is walking on it doesn’t mean mine can’t.”

“Hmph, I see some people claim to sever ties but are actually still looking to take advantage,” Zhao Xiaohua said, looking at Zhao Mengcheng out of the corner of her eye.

Zhao Mengcheng didn’t even give her a glance. He led the donkey cart toward a small side path, quickly parting ways with them.

Zhao Dasao looked over and said curiously, “The way up the mountain is this path. What are they doing over there? That’s just a rocky slope.”

Zhao Xiaohua craned her neck to look and sneered, “They’d rather suffer for the sake of their pride. Let them go over there and get soaked in the rain.”

“Dad, Mom, let’s follow the mountain path all the way to the summit. There’s a flat area at the top where we can set up a tent to stay.”

She still remembered that in the past, when the water rose to submerge people’s calves, the villagers had panicked and fled to the mountain. Back then, everyone had left in a frenzy and eventually settled at the summit.

This time they were leaving early, so they could claim a good spot for their tent.

Zhao Wencheng grew tired from pulling the cart and cursed, “It’s bad luck just running into him. You all help push the cart a bit, this mountain path is too hard to walk.”

On the other side, Zhao Chun was still fuming. “Dad, why did we have to give way to them? The mountain path isn’t theirs, we could have walked there too.”

Zhao Mengcheng chuckled. “You’ll find out in a moment.”

Zhao Chun’s cheeks remained puffed out in indignation.

Zhao Xin turned around and said, “Dad, I can get down and help.”

“Xin’er, stay seated. You’re still small, it would be more dangerous if you tripped or got hurt,” Zhao Mengcheng comforted her.

After walking for a while, they indeed reached the rocky slope. This was the place where Zhao Chun usually picked wild berries. It was full of exposed rocks and difficult to navigate.

Zhao Mengcheng did not go straight ahead but led the children around a certain section.

A moment later, the view suddenly opened up. Hidden behind the rocky slope was actually a mountain cave.

After clearing away the spiderwebs at the cave entrance, Zhao Mengcheng threw a fire starter inside. Seeing that the flame burned normally, he led the children in.

Because it was sheltered from the outside, the ground inside was actually dry and pleasant.

“There’s actually a cave here.” Zhao Chun was the most surprised. He was the child who came to the rocky slope most often, yet he had never discovered it.

“Dad, how did you find it?”

The three little ones all looked at Zhao Mengcheng. In their eyes, their dad could read, write, and sell tofu, but he rarely went up the mountain.

This was naturally thanks to his Mental Power. On the night it recovered, he had scanned the entire mountain. Forget a mountain cave, he even knew where every rabbit burrow on the mountain was.

Zhao Mengcheng said with a smile, “Take off your straw raincoats first and pack up our things.”

The entrance of the mountain cave slanted outward, which was excellent for keeping the water out. Upon closer inspection, it wasn’t hard to see traces of manual excavation inside.

It was just unknown why it had been abandoned. Over the years, even the elders in the village hadn’t known of the mountain cave’s existence.

Zhao Mengcheng walked a distance inside, using his Mental Power to sweep through the area. He only felt at ease after confirming there were no dangerous wild beasts.

Zhao Chun had already led his younger siblings in putting their things away. They had even set up a temporary table with a pot of red ginger tea on top.

“Dad, hurry and drink a cup to ward off the cold.”

Zhao Mengcheng had prepared this before leaving, fearing the children would catch a chill. It was still warm to the touch.

“You guys drink first. I’ll go outside and take a look. If anyone comes up the mountain, I’ll bring them over.”

The mountain cave was large enough that the space inside could accommodate everyone from their village.

When Zhao Mengcheng returned to the mountain path, he indeed spotted Wang Ming and a few others. They had already passed the fork and were heading toward the summit.

“Ah Ming, over here!”

Zhao Mengcheng quickly called out, “There’s a mountain cave over here. I’ll take you there.”

Hearing this, Wang Ming immediately turned around and followed.

Once they entered the mountain cave, Uncle Wang and Auntie Wang were also incredibly surprised. “To think there was such a place on our mountain. I’ve lived in the village for half my life and never knew.”

Wang Ming was quite happy. “I thought I was going to get soaked. This mountain cave is great, it’s so spacious.”

Seeing that they were all drenched, Zhao Mengcheng said, “Light a fire at the cave entrance to dry your clothes. There’s ginger tea inside, you should have some too.”

Auntie Wang immediately got to work. “I’ll do it. Ginger tea needs to be drunk hot to be effective. Let me light a fire and heat it up. I brought a clay pot that will work perfectly.”

Wang Ming said, “I’ll go wait by the junction. People will definitely be coming up the mountain in a bit. I’ll make sure they don’t head straight for the summit.”

After waiting for a good while, they indeed saw more people coming up. It was the Village Chief and his group.

The Old Village Chief sighed upon seeing Zhao Mengcheng. “The water level is rising too fast. It makes one’s heart race with worry. I should have listened to you sooner.”

“It’s not too late to come up the mountain now,” Zhao Mengcheng comforted him.

After sighing, the Old Village Chief looked at the mountain cave with wonder. “Who would have thought there was a mountain cave here.”

One elderly man thought for a long time before saying, “Perhaps our ancestors used it to escape disaster. Have you forgotten? When our ancestors fled here, they hid in the mountains at first. They only came down once the world was at peace. They likely hid in this very mountain cave.”

“That’s true. This mountain cave is very well hidden. You’d never find it without someone leading the way.”

As more people arrived, the mountain cave quickly became crowded, but seeing familiar faces brought a sense of security.

Whenever newcomers arrived, Auntie Wang would call them over to drink ginger soup. Once the hot ginger soup was down, the chill left their bodies. The children recovered their spirits and began playing around inside the mountain cave.

The Old Village Chief regained his composure, but as he watched the rain getting heavier outside, he grew worried. “When will the heavens let the sun out? If this continues, what will become of the village?”

“Since we’re here, let’s just stay settled. The rain will stop eventually,” Zhao Mengcheng consoled him.

The Old Village Chief wanted to smoke his pipe, but he realized that while he had brought the pipe, he had forgotten the tobacco. He could only set it down.

Liu Bingkun returned after counting heads. Seeing his father like this, he knew the old man’s craving had kicked in. “Dad, look what this is.”

He actually had a small bag of tobacco in his pocket.

The Old Village Chief was delighted. He packed his pipe and took a puff to satisfy his craving, thinking to himself that his eldest and second sons always complained he was biased, but they never looked at how thoughtful his youngest son was. Out of his three sons, only the youngest remembered his parents.

“How many families are missing?”

“There are still six families who haven’t come up. Their houses are on higher ground, so they probably aren’t worried about being flooded.”

After saying this, Liu Bingkun looked at Zhao Mengcheng. “Zhao Laoda’s family hasn’t come up either.”

He remembered that Zhao Laoda’s land wasn’t that high. By now, the water was likely up to their ankles.

Zhao Mengcheng chuckled. “They came up long ago. They headed for the summit before I did.”

The Old Village Chief was stunned, then frowned and cursed, “What a bunch of bastards. They didn’t even say a word to the village.”

Compared to his younger brother Zhao Mengcheng, Zhao Wencheng really didn’t know how to conduct himself. It wasn’t strange to be afraid and head up the mountain, but to leave secretly without even informing the neighbors or the Village Chief was disgraceful.

This petty behavior, born of a fear that others might benefit from them, made people despise them from the bottom of their hearts.

Liu Bingkun cursed even more, “Wasted my breath worrying about them.”

At the foot of the mountain, as more villagers left, the remaining few families grew anxious. Although their houses were on high ground, seeing the water level rise bit by bit and everyone else gone made them want to leave too.

Even more panicked than them was Monkey Face.

On that day, having received instructions from the steward, Monkey Face had gathered a few of his lowlife friends, planning to head to the countryside and kidnap the child.

A little girl from the countryside could be lured away with a piece of candy. Once he delivered her to the Wan Family, Zhao Mengcheng would never find her and could only weep in despair.

Monkey Face had planned it all out, but just as he led his men toward Qingshan Village, he discovered the water was rising.

Most of the road from Shanghe Town to Qingshan Village was submerged. They had to wade through water for the latter half of the journey.

His lowlife friends were unwilling. “How can we walk in such deep water? Let’s go back and come again in a few days.”

Monkey Face wouldn’t agree. “This was already decided. If we delay any longer, it’ll be too late.”

But his friends shouted, “We only had a few drinks with you. It’s not worth risking our lives. What if something happens in water this deep?”

Without caring about Monkey Face’s ugly expression, they turned and walked back with their arms around each other’s shoulders.

Monkey Face stomped his feet in frustration. They could go back, but he couldn’t. Third Young Master Wan’s words were clear. If he didn’t bring the person back, forget getting silver, he’d have to spit out everything he’d already taken.

Looking at the water that reached his calves, Monkey Face gritted his teeth and decided to go alone.

It was just up to his calves. He knew how to swim and wasn’t afraid at all. Once he caught that little girl, he’d hurry back to the city. It would be perfectly safe.

However, after he painstakingly waded to Qingshan Village, he was dumbfounded. Every household had their doors tightly shut, and there wasn’t a sound to be heard. It was an empty village.

By this time, the water level had risen further, starting to reach his knees.

Monkey Face also grew anxious. He gathered his courage and climbed over the wall of the Zhao Family home to look inside. As it turned out, forget the girl, there wasn’t even a boy.

“Damn it, where did they go?” Monkey Face cursed a few times. He kicked open the doors of several houses but found nothing.

Suddenly, he heard a noise.

Three more households had left one after another. Now, only the two families on the highest ground in Qingshan Village remained.

Their houses were built on high spots. Usually, it took them ages just to fetch water. Even during summer floods, they had never been submerged, so they were very calm at first and even mocked the other families for being cowardly.

Who would have thought that as they waited, the rain would only get heavier? Even their thresholds were now submerged, and their courtyards were full of water.

Fear finally set in. After a quick discussion, the two families decided to head up the mountain as well.

By now, there was water everywhere in the village. They couldn’t even push their handcarts, or everything on them would get soaked.

The two families immediately felt regret. “We should have listened to the Village Chief and left earlier.”

“Who knew this rain just wouldn’t stop.”

“Mengcheng is still the smartest. He was the first to leave. Back then, there wasn’t much water in the village, and the donkey cart could still be used.”

Monkey Face heard Zhao Mengcheng’s name and secretly followed them from a distance.

Soon, he followed the two families up the mountain.

Because he was worried about the villagers, the Village Chief had sent someone to keep watch at the fork in the road. Seeing them, the guard called out, “You’ve finally arrived. If you hadn’t come soon, I would have had to go down the mountain to call for you.”

“Why are you here? Where is everyone else? Did they go to the summit?”

“Mengcheng found a mountain cave that’s just big enough to hold everyone from our village. Come, I’ll take you there.”

A mountain cave?

Monkey Face’s eyes lit up. He followed from a distance and took a look, only to find that everyone from Qingshan Village was inside. There was no room for him to make a move.

In the next moment, Monkey Face realized he was stuck.

The foot of the mountain was flooded. As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but water. He didn’t dare wade back now.

But the mountain was full of people from Qingshan Village. He had been here once before, and if he was discovered, he might get another beating.

Monkey Face could only hide behind a tree, keeping a close eye on the mountain cave while waiting for an opportunity.

Once the two families entered the mountain cave, they quickly took off their wet clothes to dry by the fire, gasping for breath as they drank ginger soup.

“We should have listened to the Village Chief and come up sooner. This rain is too bizarre. In just a short while, our house was flooded.”

Others said in surprise, “Even your house is flooded despite being so high up? Then wouldn’t my house be completely submerged?”

“Oh no, my grain is all on the rafters. What am I going to do?”

“I didn’t even bring my bedding. It’s over, it’s over. It’ll definitely be ruined by the water this time.”

“The heavens are being cruel, just when will this rain stop?”

The Old Village Chief could only comfort them. “There’s no use worrying now. Their house just started flooding, so the grain on the rafters shouldn’t be submerged yet.”

Even so, everyone kept looking outside, praying for the rain to stop soon.

At the mountain peak, Zhao Xiaohua led her parents to the flattest spot they could find, and the three of them scrambled to set up a tent.

Calling it a tent was a stretch; the wind whistled through it from all sides and the ground was soaking wet. It barely offered any shelter from the rain.

Zhao Dasao complained incessantly, “What are we going to do? It’s too wet to even start a fire. If I’d known, we wouldn’t have come to this mountain. We should have just gone into town and stayed with the eldest for a few days.”

“How could we stay at the academy? Everything costs money in the city,” Zhao Laoda said with a grim expression.

Zhao Xiaohua interrupted them impatiently, “Dad, Mom, you have to believe me now, right?”

The couple looked at each other but remained silent.

Taking their silence as belief, Zhao Xiaohua continued, “The flood won’t last long. Once we head down the mountain, go to the Wan Family in town and find a Manager Ma. Sell me to him.”

“You can use the money from my sale to live well. Once I become the Empress, I’ll come back for you.”

Zhao Wencheng rolled his eyes and said nothing.

Zhao Dasao stammered, “Xiaohua, this plan of yours just doesn’t sound right.”

Seeing their hesitation, Zhao Xiaohua grew frantic. “Don’t you believe me? Our ancestors told me all this in a dream! It’s my destiny to be the Empress. If you keep standing in my way, a lifetime of wealth and honor will slip through your fingers.”

“Dad, Mom, don’t you want to be relatives of the imperial family? Don’t you want to live a life of luxury, draped in gold and silver? If you do, then help me this once. Sell me so I can use the Wan Family to reach a prince and become the Empress.”

Crack!

A massive boom of thunder and a flash of lightning illuminated Zhao Xiaohua’s twisted, crazed face.

Both Zhao Wencheng and Zhao Dasao shuddered, unable to find the words to refuse or dissuade her.

Inside the mountain cave, Zhao Xin was also startled, crying out as she burrowed into Zhao Mengcheng’s arms.

Zhao Mengcheng held the little girl soothingly. “Don’t be afraid. It’s just thunder. Daddy will protect you.”

“I’m not scared,” the little girl insisted, yet she refused to budge from his embrace.

Zhao Mengcheng simply sat there holding her and looked at his two sons. “Come over here. Since there’s nothing else to do, let’s rest for a while.”

Zhao Chun and Zhao Mao leaned against him on either side and began to doze off.

Seeing this, Auntie Wang smiled and praised him. “Mengcheng, you really have a knack for being a father. You’re so patient with all three children. You won’t find another like you in our whole village.”

“Since I brought them into this world, I have to be responsible for them,” Zhao Mengcheng replied with a smile.

The villagers, exhausted after a long day of turmoil, soon fell silent. The only sound in the mountain cave was the crackling of the bonfire.

Holding one child and with two leaning against him, Zhao Mengcheng eventually drifted off into a light sleep.

After a long time, Zhao Mao, who was leaning against him, suddenly opened his eyes.

They were filled with despair and the weight of years, eyes that no child should ever have.

Zhao Mao turned to look at the other three, a struggle flickering in the depths of his gaze. He stood up and cautiously walked out of the mountain cave.

Translator’s Notes