Chapter 76: Chapter 76 Unexpected Chapter 76: Chapter 76 Unexpected The foot of Bai Gu Mountain in front of her was planted with a large expanse of trees. She didn’t know what kind of trees they were, but their trunks were straight, branches lush, leaves sparse and translucent, and their fresh greenness gave them an elegant bearing.
In the vast woods, wildflowers spread everywhere in reds, pinks, blues, and yellows, drawing flitting butterflies.
Amidst it all, there was a narrow path that weaved through the meadow and woods, and one could faintly see stone steps climbing upward, like a passage leading into a secret scenic wonderland.
The morning sunshine cascaded down, warm and tranquil.
Chiang Xiao gazed at the beautiful scene, only wishing she had a sketchbook, a few sheets of paper, and a chair, so she could sit here and paint for an entire day!
What Chiang Xiao regretted most in her previous life was not traveling and seeing more of the beautiful world.
She could almost say she was painting in seclusion.
During her school days, her time was very tight. Apart from attending classes and working part-time to pay for tuition, she had no time for traveling or plein air painting.
And after graduation, the workload Deng Qingjiang gave her was heavy; she spent each day in the studio.
If she suggested wanting to see scenery and paint en plein air, Deng Qingjiang would find her a pile of photos, many of which were downloaded and printed from the internet.
Looking back, it was quite ridiculous that as an elite student from an art academy, most of the scenery she saw was in photographs.
But while photos can capture the beauty of a scene, they cannot convey the soul of it. Seeing with one’s own eyes and being in the midst of it is an entirely different matter.
Therefore, Chiang Xiao always felt that her landscape paintings lacked a certain spiritual energy in her previous life.
Late on, as a Lonely Spirit, she had seen many beautiful scenes, but at that time, being muddled and numb, she just looked and that was it; she did not paint them, naturally rendering the experiences ineffective.
After such a trip down memory lane, it turned out that this was the first time Chiang Xiao had the chance to truly appreciate such natural beauty up close, in both her lives.
Being in the middle of it, she could feel the sunlight, the breeze, smell the fragrance of flowers, hear the birds chirping. How could this possibly compare to looking at photos?
Chiang Xiao decided then and there that once she earned enough money to buy a sketchbook and paper, she would come here to paint en plein air!
Chiang Songhai watched her as she looked around wide-eyed and couldn’t help but laugh, “What’s the matter? Is my little girl too tired to walk now?”
“Grandpa, I’m not tired at all right now!” Chiang Xiao beamed, in great spirits, “I just didn’t expect it to be this beautiful here!”
Chiang Songhai, on the other hand, didn’t feel much about it.
“It’s just some flowers and grass, nothing worth using as medicine,” he said as he walked with Chiang Xiao along the narrow path through the woods.
“Grandpa, isn’t this place deserted? So why is there a path?”
Paths are made by the many who walk them.
Yet, the people of Siyang Village were so superstitious about Bai Gu Mountain that, other than her grandpa, nobody would come here. So why was there a path?
When Chiang Xiao raised the question, Chiang Songhai explained, “The villagers might be afraid of Bai Gu Mountain, but the soldiers back then weren’t. For a while, Bai Gu Mountain even served as a base for guerrilla troops. During those years of chaos, there were quite a few people who fled their villages and crossed the mountain to escape their troubles.”
“However, I’ve only gone as far as the middle of the mountain, and that too only on the side closer to the village – I’ve never ventured further inside,” Chiang Songhai looked back and cautioned Chiang Xiao with concern, “Little one, you must follow me closely, you cannot run off on your own.”
He was somewhat confident about the areas he had traversed, but Chiang Songhai did not dare to wander haphazardly in other parts.
He also carried a bamboo basket on his back, which contained two sacks and two small spades.
This time, Chiang Songhai was determined to dig up more medicinal herbs, as there was a market the day after tomorrow, and selling more would earn them money.