Qingyan Village was only a dozen li away from where we were, and with the Secret Art of Swift Travel, we could reach it before dark.

Qingyan Village could already be considered the outer edge of the Burial God Snow Mountain. If we didn't mind the obstacles, we could go straight into the Burial God Snow Mountain from the back of Qingyan Village.

The route Liu Laoshi drew for me, however, was to land in Qingyan Village and then go around the border of the snow mountain to the next place. This was equivalent to having me go around most of the border of the snow mountain before entering it.

I didn't understand what Liu Laoshi wanted to do, but he repeatedly told me to be sure to land in these specific places, so I had no choice but to go there first.

The further we went into the mountains, the more uneasy we felt.

Feng Ruohang couldn't help but say, "I heard ganshan people say that there are places in the mountains where dead people live. Are we going to a village of the dead?"

I had also heard such legends:

In addition to the Chuma Xian (shamanic tradition) in the Northeast, there were also several hidden and powerful professions, and ganshan people were one of them.

Among the ganshan people were術士(shushi) (sorcerers), but they didn't take business from the术道(shudao) (sorcery world). They relied on their skills to dig ginseng and collect herbs in the deep mountains and old forests where few people went. Only in special circumstances would they help acquaintances find people in the mountains, or send the dead down the mountain.

In the legends of the ganshan people, there were many stories of accidentally entering ghost villages.

The so-called ghost village might be a village spontaneously formed by ghosts trapped in the mountains.

It might be a small village that was trapped and died by evil spirits, disappearing into the deep mountains.

Or perhaps, a desolate graveyard in the mountains.

It might even be that mountain spirits were building villages and living like humans.

In short, it was a place where the living could enter, but never leave.

The way for a ganshan person to judge whether they were heading towards a village of the dead was to look at the road.

In places difficult for people to reach, there was usually no road to speak of. The so-called mountain road on the ground was just a place eroded by mountain streams.

On those small paths eroded by mountain streams, some plants would grow unless it was the rainy season. However, places where ghosts often walked were barren, because the陰氣(yin qi) (the energy of the underworld) carried by the ghosts had permeated the ground, and wild grass couldn't grow.

The mountain road beneath our feet was exactly like that!

Feng Ruohang said as he walked, "Did Liu Laoshi say what kind of place Qingyan Village was?"

I replied, "According to the information Liu Laoshi gave me, it should be a ghost village that disappeared overnight."

"A long time ago, Qingyan Village relied on ganshan to trade with the outside world. Every month, at a fixed time, they would hand over the goods to the laoke (regular merchant)."

The term laoke in the Northeast doesn't mean a regular customer or a familiar customer. It refers to people who collect ginseng and furs outside the mountains all year round. These people had unique vision, wide connections, and a close relationship with the ganshan people.

Some laoke with closer relationships would even pay a deposit in advance to reserve old mountain ginseng.

This kind of transaction might take several years before the ganshan person could obtain aged old mountain ginseng. The transaction between the two parties relied on trust.

In the mountain business, ganshan people and laoke were indispensable.

The legend of Qingyan Village began with a laoke.

One year, a laoke from outside the mountains came to Qingyan Village specifically to discuss a deal with them.

At first, the village chief didn't agree to take the laoke's business. The laoke wasn't in a hurry, and stayed in Qingyan Village, trying to get close to the people of Qingyan Village.

If a family lacked something, or didn't have enough money, he could provide it in time.

The mountain people were all simple-minded. As time went on, they all felt embarrassed, feeling that they owed him a favor, but the village chief refused the laoke's deal no matter what.

The villagers could only give mountain goods to the laoke as compensation. The laoke didn't decline, and accepted everything. Then, he would cook the mountain goods and invite the villagers to dinner with wine.

As time went on, the laoke became more and more familiar with the villagers. Because he had traveled all over and seen a lot, the villagers would ask him for advice when they encountered difficulties. The laoke's prestige in the village became higher and higher, and he was almost the second village chief.

The village chief saw all of this, but didn't say a word, and didn't even meet with the laoke.

Until one day, the village chief's son accidentally killed someone down the mountain. The laoke went down the mountain to bail him out without saying a word, spending money like water, and finally managed to get the village chief's son out.

A great favor was hard to repay!

Just when everyone thought that the village chief would definitely accept the laoke's business, they didn't expect the village chief to kill the laoke, and take his head to the yamen (government office) to surrender himself.

Just when everyone thought that the village chief would never come back, a friend of the laoke ran to the yamen and gave the magistrate a letter written by the laoke himself.

The magistrate released the village chief that day!

The people in the yamen said that the letter was only half, and the other half was given to the magistrate by the laoke before he entered the mountain. When the two halves of the letter were put together, the content was: the laoke himself instructed the village chief to kill himself, and not to pursue anyone or any responsibility.

When Feng Ruohang heard me say this, he couldn't help but ask, "So, the laoke had everything planned out? A great favor is hard to repay, and a great revenge is written off. With these two things combined, the village chief would have to help him no matter what!"