Chapter 84: Gazing at the Incense

He saw me and Fatty walking over, and probably assumed I was here to persuade him to move again. He shot me a glare and looked away. I approached with a smile plastered on my face and greeted, "Fourth Grandpa, busy as always?"

He ignored me. I fished out a cigarette and offered it, but he waved it off and shook the pipe hanging from his neck, indicating that he only smoked that. His pipe was exactly like my grandfather's. All those pipes from that era seemed to look the same. I gave an awkward laugh and said, "Fourth Grandpa, I'm not here to talk you into moving again. We already came last year, didn't we? I know living here is your livelihood. This time, it's my friend who's come from out of town. He wants to go hunting in the mountains and we'd like you to show us the way."

Only then did Fourth Grandpa's demeanor soften a little. He glanced at Fatty and asked, "Got any gear?"

Fatty was momentarily confused, then realized he was being asked about hunting equipment. "Honestly, I didn't bring anything. Guns are illegal now, and I don't handle a bow well. It's not really about hunting, just for the experience."

Fourth Grandpa gave Fatty another glance with his one good eye, then turned to me. "You going into the inner mountain or just around the outskirts?"

I smiled. "Of course into the mountains. He's a friend, not some outsider. The outskirts are just barren hills—nothing interesting there."

Fourth Grandpa eyed us both, then said, "You two aren’t properly equipped. I’ve got gear here, want to look?"

"What kind of gear?" I asked.

A glint of shrewdness, unique to mountain folk, flashed in his solitary eye. "Professional stuff. If you want, it’s inside. Go take a look."

Before I could answer, Fatty chimed in, "Sure, I came in a hurry. I could actually use some proper equipment."

Fourth Grandpa nodded. "But my stuff doesn’t come cheap."

"Money’s not a problem, right, Grandpa? Show us what you’ve got," Fatty said. With that, Fourth Grandpa led us inside, pulled a box out from under the bed, and opened it. Inside was a trove of mountaineering clothes, hiking boots, flashlights, tents, entrenching tools, and all sorts of odds and ends—a veritable treasure chest. At first I thought he was quite the businessman, getting equipment wholesale to sell, but on closer inspection, all the clothes were used. That gave me pause.

"These were left behind by those wealthy city folks. They wore them once and didn’t want them anymore. Take your pick for a thousand yuan," Fourth Grandpa said.

I thought to myself, a thousand for secondhand gear? Even if these were name brands, wearing used clothes felt disgusting to me, no matter how new they looked. Yet Fatty was already picking through the pile and managed to find an entire set of mountaineering gear in his size. He grabbed an entrenching tool and a high-powered flashlight as well. Clothes really do make the man—he looked much more professional at once. "Old man, this stuff really isn’t that expensive," he said.

I’m not a clean freak—if the situation called for it, I’d wear the clothes. But these secondhand items with unclear origins made my skin crawl, even if they looked clean. Still, since the thousand covered both of us, not taking anything would be a waste. So I grabbed a high-powered flashlight, a wicked-looking knife, and found a small first-aid kit at the bottom of the box, which I stuffed into my backpack. I handed over a thousand yuan to Fourth Grandpa. To be honest, it wasn’t a bad deal for all that gear—it just made me feel a bit sick.

Fourth Grandpa took the cash, licked his fingers, and counted it three times, even checking each note for authenticity. Then he said, "How many days are you staying? Outsiders pay three thousand a day. I know you, you’re from the village. For you, it’s fifteen hundred a day. If you bag any game, that’s extra. If you agree, we go. If not, head back."

I nearly stomped my foot in frustration. Fifteen hundred a day? Why not just rob us? The old fox was being too cunning. We’d already paid for the gear—if we turned back now, that thousand was wasted.

I was about to bargain when Fatty cut me off. "Alright. But, Grandpa, we’re not sure how long we’ll stay. Here, I’ve got three thousand—let’s call it two days for now. If we have a good time, we’ll settle up later, how’s that?"

Fatty pulled out three thousand yuan. It made my heart ache—my monthly salary wasn’t even close to that. But I only winced for a moment; someone like Fatty, a true Taoist adept, was never short on cash.

Fourth Grandpa took the money, slowly counted it again, checking each watermark. At last, he pocketed the cash and waved us over. "If you’re going into the mountains, come pay respects to the Mountain God for your safety."

"Do we really have to burn incense?" I asked.

At that moment, Fatty nudged me in the leg and winked, signaling me to keep quiet. I didn’t know what he meant, but I said nothing and followed Fourth Grandpa into another room. It was small, with an altar and an incense burner. Across from the burner stood a shrine shrouded in red cloth, hiding whatever was inside. I thought to myself, why is this Mountain God so shy?

Fourth Grandpa pointed to the incense sticks on the altar. "Each of you offer three sticks to the Mountain God and bow your heads. Whether you believe or not, mountain folk have their taboos."

Fatty had already warned me to hold my tongue, so I kept quiet, lit the incense, and bowed. The kneeling pad was interesting—just a tree trunk, and judging by the rings, it was an old one. I didn’t think much of it, just stuck the incense in the burner and stepped aside.

Fatty reached for the incense, but Fourth Grandpa motioned for him to wait. "Hold on. Let me read the incense first."

Fatty smiled. "Didn’t know you could read incense, old man."

I knew what he meant by reading incense. In many places, fortune-tellers and spirit mediums can interpret the way incense burns to answer questions. The smoke and burn pattern are said to be the way the deities communicate.

Fourth Grandpa fixed his one eye on the three sticks I had placed. After a moment, all three suddenly went out. His expression changed at once. I quickly said, "Grandpa, maybe the incense is damp?"

"The Mountain God won’t let you into the mountain. You can’t go. Go home," he said, suddenly nervous. He quickly re-lit incense for the Mountain God and started shooing us out.

The whole thing seemed a bit mystical, and I almost didn’t know how to react. But right after, I figured this was just another one of his tricks for fleecing city folk: collect the gear money, collect the guide fee, then when the incense goes out, declare the Mountain God doesn’t agree and warn of disaster. Faced with such theatrics, most would be too scared to ask for their money back and might even pay more for some so-called ritual solution.

"Grandpa, we’re from the same village, my surname’s Ye. You don’t have to do this to me. It’s not like I’ve never gone into the mountains before," I said.

"The Mountain God doesn’t welcome you. Go home!" Fourth Grandpa was still intent on driving us out.

Then Fatty suddenly gave me a shove and laughed, "Ye, if the Mountain God doesn’t want you, you should go home. I’ll go in alone, it’s all the same."

He then bowed to Fourth Grandpa and said, "Grandpa, maybe the Mountain God has no issue with me. Let me offer incense. If the Mountain God agrees, I’ll double your fee. If not, then it’s my fate—I’ll leave and won’t say a word about the money. How’s that?"

Fourth Grandpa’s eyes darted around, then he nodded. "Fine, remember what you said."

I thought to myself, Fatty, you idiot—can’t you see this is a scam? If my incense went out, so will yours. He’s just looking to pocket your money.

But as Fourth Grandpa headed back into the room, Fatty winked at me again, all sly and confident, making me wonder what trick he was up to. Ever since he saw that box of gear, Fatty hadn’t been acting quite normal.