Chapter 61: Life hanging on a grass rope

第六十一节：草绳上的人生

Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

The bright morning sun shone on Qing Mao Mountain.

耀眼的朝阳，照亮了青茅山。

In the academy, the elder spoke about important details. “Tomorrow, we are choosing the second Gu worm for refinement. Everyone here has experience in successfully refining Gu worms, and this time you can solidify your experiences. For the selection of the second Gu worm, consider it carefully. With the experience of cultivating these few days and understanding of your own body, consider it as a whole. Normally, it is best if you pair the second Gu well with your vital Gu.”

学堂中，家老在详细讲述着要点：“明天，我们就要选择第二只蛊虫进行炼化。大家都有炼化蛊虫的成功经验，这一次可以进行巩固。对于第二头蛊虫的选择，大家要仔细思考。结合这些天的修行心得，以及对自身的了解，进行综合考虑。一般而言，最好是能和本命蛊搭配使用。”

A Gu Master’s first Gu was known as the vital Gu, and once it was chosen it would be the footing stone of their development. After that, the second and third Gu worm would be nurtured upon this footing stone and decide the Gu Master’s cultivating direction.

蛊师的第一只蛊虫，称之为本命蛊，一经选择，无疑就确立了发展的基石。随后的第二头蛊虫，第三头蛊虫等等，都是在这基石上确定蛊师修行的具体方向。

After hearing the academy elder’s words, the youngsters began to ponder, and only Fang Yuan was sleeping soundly on the table.

听了学堂家老的话，少年们都不由地沉思起来。唯有方源一人趴在桌上呼呼大睡。

He had worked hard for half the night yesterday, and after returning to the hostel, he still continued in his Gu Master cultivation, nurturing his aperture. When the sun had risen, only then did he sleep.

他昨天辛苦了半夜，回到宿舍后，仍旧进行蛊师修行，温养空窍。天刚亮，这才开始入眠。

The academy elder looked at Fang Yuan and frowned, but did not say anything.

学堂家老扫了方源一眼，微微皱起眉头，却没有多说什么。

Ever since the clan leader spoke to him, he had adopted a ‘let Fang Yuan do as he wishes, I am not going to give a care’ attitude.

自从族长古月博对他讲了那番话后，他就对方源采取了听之任之，放任不管的态度。

“Which Gu worm should I choose?” As the students thought about it, they subconsciously looked towards Fang Yuan.

“我该选择什么蛊虫呢？”许多学员思考的时候，都不由自主地看向方源。

“Speaking of which, Fang Yuan already has his second Gu worm.”

“说起来，方源早已经有了第二只蛊虫了。”

“Yeah, that is but a Liquor worm; to actually get a Liquor worm out of gambling rocks, his luck is off the charts!”

“是啊，那可是酒虫啊，居然解石能解出酒虫，这运气真是太好了！”

“If I had the Liquor worm, I would advance to middle stage first too huh?”

“要是我有酒虫，也能率先晋升中阶吧？”

The students’ thoughts varied, having admirers and jealous people among them.

学员们心中的想法此起彼伏，羡慕者有之，嫉妒者更有之。

Ever since that day after the interrogation, Fang Yuan’s Liquor worm was successfully exposed. The origins of the liquor worm did not raise suspicion. The clansmen were both enlightened and also exasperated at Fang Yuan’s luck.

自从那天，通过审讯之后，方源的酒虫也顺利曝光了。酒虫的来历，没有引起怀疑。族人们释然的同时，也对方源的运气很是感慨。

“Why don’t I have such luck, sigh!” Gu Yue Chi Cheng who was also a C grade talent sighed deeply in his heart.

“我怎么就没有这么好的运气呢，唉！”实质同为丙等资质的古月赤城，心中叹息着。

Quite a while ago, his grandfather had asked around and tried to procure a Liquor worm for him. To think that even as a family branch’s inheritor, he was not able to have one; to think Fang Yuan managed to get the Liquor worm before him.

很早之前，他的爷爷就四处托人，为他采购酒虫。没有想到，他身为一个分脉的继承人都没有得到，古月方源却优先得到了。

Compared to Chi Cheng’s envy and depression, vice chairman Fang Zheng was full of spirit.

相比较赤城的哀叹嫉妒，同为副班头的方正却精神奕奕。

“Brother, I will definitely surpass you.” He looked at Fang Yuan and said in his heart before looking away.

“哥哥，我一定会超越你的。”他看了一眼方源，在心中说了一句，就收回了视线。

These days his eyes were shining with light, and he felt a sort of excitement towards life. His face was flushing red and his forehead was glowing, even his steps were quicker and lighter.

这些天他的眼睛都闪着光，对生活充满了一种澎湃的激情。他的脸颊红润，额头泛光，甚至走路的步伐都是轻快的。

The academy elder saw all of it, and immediately understood that the Gu Yue clan leader had started secretly teaching Fang Zheng.

学堂家老把这些看在眼里，立即明白这是古月族长已经开始暗中教导方正。

These underhand methods were obviously not for the public to know.

这种开小灶的事情，当然不能明说。

The academy elder turned a blind eye to this.

学堂家老对此睁一只眼闭一只眼。

Soon it was night once more.

又到了晚上。

Fang Yuan entered the secret cave again.

方源再次挤进了石缝秘洞。

Ring ring ring……

叮铃铃……

In his hand, a wild rabbit was struggling, and there was a bell was on its neck.

在他的手中，一只野兔剧烈地挣扎着，在野兔的脖子上系着一只铃铛。

This was a wild rabbit that Fang Yuan caught on the mountain, the bell was naturally attached by him.

这是方源在山上捕捉的野兔，铃铛自然也是他系上去的。

After a day, the stuffy smell in the secret cave has dissipated, and the air was fresh.

经过一天，秘洞中的闷气已经完全散去，空气很清新。

The cave’s passage entrance was open; it was silent inside. Fang Yuan half-kneeled on the floor as he inspected the floor. Yesterday he had sprayed rock powder all over the area, and this thin layer of powder was inconspicuous.

甬道的洞口敞开着，里面静寂无声。方源半蹲在地上，先是仔细地查看了一下地面。他昨晚在两处地面都洒了石粉，这层薄薄的石粉，并不惹人瞩目。

“The passage entrance’s rock powder is intact, thus it seems that during my absence, nothing strange has crawled out of it. The rock crack entrance does have a footprint, but that’s mine, so evidently no one else had come here.” Fang Yuan felt at ease after his inspection.

“甬道入口处的石粉，保持原状，看来我离开的这段时间，甬道中没有爬出什么不干净的东西。秘洞的石缝入口处，倒是有一个脚印，但这是我刚刚踩上去的。可见并没有外人来过这里。”方源观察了一下，就放下心来。

He stood up, using his hands to pull the dead vines from the wall. Next he sat on the ground and his leg was used to hold the wild rabbit in place, leaving his two hands free to weave the vines.

他站起身，伸手用力，将墙壁上的枯藤死蔓扯下一把来，然后他坐在地上，用腿弯将野兔压制住，空出双掌搓动这些藤蔓。

This was work that normal Gu Masters wouldn’t know, but Fang Yuan had too much life experience. In his past life, many a time was he so poor that he couldn’t afford to feed his Gu worms, leaving them to starve to death one by one.

这活计一般的蛊师都不会，但方源有着太多丰富的人生经验，前世有好几次穷困潦倒的时候，连蛊虫都喂养不起，纷纷饿死。

For a time, he had primeval essence but no Gu worms; he became just like a mortal person, even living was difficult. Having no choice, he learned to weave the grass ropes into straw sandals, hats etc. and sold them in exchange for primeval stone fragments to feed himself.

有一段时间，他空有真元，毫无蛊虫，跟凡人一般，连生活都困难。万般无奈之下，就学会了搓草绳编织草鞋、草帽等等贩卖，换取一些元石碎屑勉强糊口。

While twisting the grass ropes in his hands, Fang Yuan’s memories resurfaced.

此时搓起草绳，方源心中的记忆又浮现出来。

The anguish and suffering from back then had transformed into his soundless laughter now. The rabbit underneath his foot continued to struggle, the bell ringing nonstop.

那时的苦涩和煎熬，化为了此刻他嘴角无声的笑。腿弯下野兔不时地挣扎，铃铛叮啷作响。

A pair of two strings touch for long, ten thousands of twists and thousands of returns make their inseparable love numerous. (1)

一双两好缠绵久，万转千回缱绻多。

Delicately and slowly, with the passing of years, letting them converge. Complications, entanglements and turns present.

细细的，慢慢地，经年累月，把岁月汇聚在一起，有曲折，有翻搓，有纠缠。

Weaving the grass ropes, isn’t it just like experiencing life?

搓草绳，不就是经历人生吗？

In the secret cave, the red light shone onto Fang Yuan’s face, showing his youthfulness and experience intertwining together on his face.

秘洞中，赤光晦暗，年轻和沧桑交错在方源的脸上。

Time seemed to have stopped too, silently appreciating the young man weaving his ropes.

时间也仿佛在此驻足，静静地欣赏着少年搓草绳。

Ring ring ring…

叮铃铃……

An hour later, the wild rabbit rapidly entered the passageway, the bell on its neck ringing continuously. In a few breaths it left Fang Yuan’s field of vision.

半个时辰之后，野兔快速地窜进了甬道之中，脖子上的铃铛叮当作响，几个呼吸就出了方源的视野。

Fang Yuan held onto the improvised grass rope that he wove temporarily, and on one end the rope was attached to the rabbit’s hind leg, dragging into the tunnel with it.

方源手中临时编制的草绳，一端系在野兔的后腿上，此刻被野兔拖拽着，急速地向外游走。

After a while, the rope stopped all movement.

过了一会儿，草绳停止了游动。

But this did not mean the rabbit had reached the end of the tunnel. It could have been killed by a trap or just decided to take a rest midway.

但这并不意味着野兔到达了甬道的尽头，有可能被陷阱所杀，有可能只是中途驻足。

Fang Yuan began to pull at the rope, retrieving it. The rope gradually tightened as he tugged.

方源开始往回收绳，绳子渐渐收紧，他用力一拽。

On the other end, a force of strength suddenly tugged back as the rope started to move towards the cave again.

草绳那端，立即传来一股力量。接着草绳又接着向外游走。

Evidently the rabbit on the other side had felt the tugging force and in its fluster, started to move deeper into the cave.

显然是那边的野兔，忽然受到拖拽的力量，在惊惶之下，又开始向里面急窜。

After many attempts, the rabbit finally reached the end of the path, and no matter how Fang Yuan tugged at the rope, it only tightened and relaxed.

如此三番五次，野兔似乎终于走到了甬道的尽头，不管方源再拽草绳，草绳也只是松了又紧，紧了又松。

Maybe the rabbit had reached the end of the tunnel, or maybe it had fallen into a trap and got stuck.

也许是野兔窜到了甬道的尽头，也有可能是野兔落到了什么陷阱机关当中，被困住了。

It was simple to test and find out the answer.

要验证这当中的答案，也十分简单。

Fang Yuan started to retrieve the rope. His strength surpassed the rabbit by a mile, and eventually he dragged the rabbit out by force.

方源开始收绳，他的力量野兔子哪里抵得过，最终他用草绳把野兔硬生生地拽出来。

The rabbit struggled at the other end, but the rope was made from materials acquired from the Wine Sack Flower Gu and Rice Pouch Grass Gu. Although it had been dead for years, it remained sturdy unlike normal grass.

野兔在草绳那端不断地奋力挣扎，但是草绳取材酒囊花蛊和饭袋草蛊，虽然枯死多年，但仍旧坚韧，不是寻常的稻草可比。

The wild rabbit was once again in Fang Yuan’s hands jumping about. Fang Yuan inspected the wild rabbit and saw that it had no injuries, then he finally breathed out in relief.

野兔再次活蹦乱跳地落到方源的手中，方源细细地检查了一番野兔，见它的身上并没有伤口，这才吐出一口浊气。

“For now, it seems that this segment of the passageway is safe.”

“目前看来，这段甬道应该是安全的。”

With this result, the rabbit thus lost its value and Fang Yuan killed it instantly, throwing the corpse on the ground.

得到这个结果，野兔也就失去了作用，方源一把捏死，随手抛尸在地上。

He could not let the rabbit go, for animals also had memories. If it came back again, and like the Liquor worm, attracted outsiders, that would be very bad.

不能放生这野兔，动物也是有记忆的，万一它再回来这里，像是酒虫一样，引来外人，那就糟糕了。

He breathed in deeply. After several tries and probes, he finally stepped into the passageway carefully.

他深吸一口气，经过几番试探，他这才小心翼翼地踏入甬道。

Even with the wild rabbit exploring, there were many traps and mechanisms that specially targeted only humans. A small animal like the wild rabbit would be unable to trigger it. Thus, Fang Yuan still had to be careful.

尽管有野兔探路，但是很多陷阱机关，专门针对人类。野兔这种小巧的动物，反而触发不了。因此方源不得不防。

The tunnel was straight, diagonally slanting towards the bottom. The deeper it was, the wider and taller the passage became.

甬道呈直线，斜向着地底延伸出去。并且越往下，甬道就越宽敞。

Fang Yuan had to lower his head when entering at first, but after more than fifty steps, he was able to take large strides with a straightened back, and after a hundred steps, he could walk while lifting his upper arms and brandishing them left and right.

方源刚刚进入甬道，得弯腰低头，走出五十多步之后，就能昂首挺胸。再走到一百步左右，能甩开膀子左右挥舞。

The tunnel was not that long, it was only around 300 meters. But Fang Yuan spent around two hours venturing before he finally reached the end of the path.

甬道其实并不长，只有三百米左右，但是方源却足足花费了一个时辰，才探到了甬道的尽头。

On the way, he was vigilant and explored step by step. At the end of the path, he was already sweating profusely.

这一路上，他都是小心谨慎，一步一探。走到尽头时，他已经累得浑身大汗。

“It is so troublesome without a detection Gu worm.” Fang Yuan wiped the sweat off his forehead and after confirming his safety, calmed down and inspected the area.

“没有用来侦测的蛊虫，就是麻烦。”方源擦了擦额头的冷汗，确认安全之后，这才定下心来，仔细打量甬道尽头。

This time at one glance, he was stunned.

这一观察，他就楞住了。

At the end of the tunnel, there was a huge rock. The rock’s surface was smooth and protruded towards Fang Yuan’s direction, resembling Jia Fu’s belly.

甬道尽头处，堵着一块巨大的石头。石头表面光滑，向方源的方向凸出来，如同贾富那圆滚滚的肚皮。

This rock alone halted Fang Yuan’s progression.

就是这块巨石，挡住了方源继续前进的脚步。

Other than this huge rock, there was nothing around Fang Yuan.

除了这块巨石之外，方源身边空无一物。

“Is it because of an accident that the tunnel path was blocked, causing this?” Fang Yuan squinted as he thought about the possibilities.

“难道因为意外，甬道中段塌方，导致了堵塞？”方源目光一凝，这是很有可能的事情。

Before the Flower Wine Monk died, he was eager to set up the inheritance. He used the Thousand Li Earthwolf Spider and created a tunnel path. The path led deep within the mountains and to guide the inheritor in.

花酒行者在临死之前，急切间创立这个力量传承。他利用千里地狼蛛，仓促地做出了一条山体甬道。甬道通往山体深处，引导着继承者前行。

After hundreds of years, the passage was unable to withstand the corrosion of time and at one point, one of the areas collapsed due to lack of maintenance.

然而数百年过去了，这条甬道经不起时间的侵蚀，在某一刻，其中的一段甬道年久失修，塌方了。

All sorts of accidents often happen in life.

生命中总会有各种意外发生。

“If this is the case, won’t I be stuck at this point?” He went forward and touched the rock. This rock was halting his progression, its size was like a door, one could only imagine its overall thickness.

“若真是这样，我岂不是要止步于此了？”他走上前摸了摸石头，这阻挡住他前进的巨石，单单露出的面积，就和门一样大。可以想象它整个形体的厚度。

Fang Yuan could use the Moonlight Gu to carve away at the rock wall, but if he wanted to grind off this huge rock, it would take at least a year or two.

方源可以用月光蛊磨掉石壁，但是要磨掉这样的巨石，非得有一两年的苦功不可。

“It seems like I’m forced to use tools, I’ll need to use spades and pickaxes to break the rock. Except if I do this, I might reveal some traces. The construction sounds might also travel out.” Thinking of this, Fang Yuan frowned deeply. He was weighing the pros and cons.

“看来必须动用工具，利用铁镐和铁锹，将巨石破开。只是这样一来，难免就暴露了许多痕迹。一些敲打的声音，也会传出去。”想到这里，方源深深地皱起眉头。他在考虑其中的风险和收益。

If the risk was too huge, he would rather give up this strength inheritance.

若是风险太大，他宁愿放弃这个力量传承。

After all, if others found out this secret, all the plotting and acting that Fang Yuan had done would go to waste, and his life would even be in danger!

毕竟若是被其他人发现这里的秘密，他先前做出一番布局和苦功，都要破费不说，自己都可能有生命的危险！

(1) Seems to be a line from a poem.

《蛊真人》中英文对照版 第六十一节：草绳上的人生

《蛊真人》中英文对照版第六十一节：草绳上的人生