A Tomb Keeper's Mountain Food Diary

After a stumble, Tao Chun finally regained consciousness amid the jolting. She was bound across an ox's back in a red wedding gown, while the man leading the wedding ox headed deep into the mountains. Tao Chun had been trapped in this body for over half a month. The body's original owner belonged to a family of imperial tomb keepers. She had left the mountains to attend school at ten, then lived with her aunt, a cook for a wealthy household, from the age of fifteen. At nineteen, she fell in love with a man from outside the mountains. When her parents learned of it, they arranged a marriage for her in the mountains. Her betrothed was also a tomb keeper. She didn't want to return to the mountains to guard the tombs. She wanted to marry the man she loved and live outside the mountains. But tomb keepers received a stipend from the imperial court from birth and were born with the duty of guarding the tombs. They couldn't leave the mountains without permission from the court, much less live outside them. If she insisted on staying away, her entire family would lose their status and become slaves guarding the underground palace. Even her aunt, who had taken her in, would suffer for it. The closer the wedding date came, the more “she” resisted. In a fit of anger, she swallowed poison and died, leaving her aunt to clean up the mess. Tao Chun pushed down her complicated feelings and leaned over the ox's back to cough. The man leading it stopped. Wu Chang'an untied the ropes. Seeing that her eyes were clear, he advised her expressionlessly, “We're both tomb keepers. We've lived by the tombs since birth, and even in death we'll be buried in these mountains. The world outside isn't for us. Stop doing foolish things that hurt you. Isn't it better to be alive?” Tao Chun gave him a quick once-over. He probably didn't interact much with people in the mountains. He wasn't even good at putting on an act; his distaste was written all over his face. The tomb keepers lived isolated from the rest of the world in the mountains. They received a stipend and sacrificial fields, and paid no taxes. Aside from farming, they spent their days patrolling the mountains, preventing fires and theft, cleaning, and planting trees. It really was a fine place to retreat from the world. “I was blinded for a moment and did something stupid. I'll go back to the mountains with you and settle down.” Tao Chun immediately made her position clear. “Let's head in.” It wasn't as if she had a choice. If she didn't go into the mountains, she'd die, and the original owner's whole family would be implicated and punished. She might as well go. These lush, vibrant mountains would become her vegetable garden, orchard, and hunting ground. Wu Chang'an swallowed the rest of what he had been about to say. Looking at her sparkling eyes, he couldn't help feeling uneasy. She was nothing like the woman who had been on the verge of death earlier. The man's face went pale. He was afraid of ghosts more than anything. [Note] To clarify, people who guarded imperial tombs in ancient times were not free to enter society. They were born into tomb-keeper families, guarded the imperial tombs while alive, and could only be buried after their identities were verified upon death. Tomb keepers lived in the mountains, received a stipend and sacrificial fields, and this was a distinctive occupation in ancient times because of the restrictions imposed by imperial authority. They had no freedom to resist. The male lead grew up with this mindset. To him, resistance meant defying imperial authority and courting death, hence his calling it foolish. This occupation really existed in feudal society. Tomb keepers could only marry other tomb keepers, and even in death they had to be buried in the mountains. [Note] This is historical fiction set in an imaginary world. Eating wild animals is not illegal in this world, but readers should not imitate it. Protecting wildlife is everyone's responsibility. My next story is The Concubine's Elopement. Please add it to your reading list! Dan Sui is a rich merchant's concubine. She performs the duties of a concubine, but has only the status of a maid. The merchant is frail and likely doesn't have long to live. Once he dies, she'll either be toyed with by his spoiled young master or dismissed and sold off. With her looks and no one to protect her, she'll inevitably end up on the streets, a plaything to be abused. So while the merchant can still draw breath, she scurries around like a headless fly, seeking out a new patron. One day, a new guard arrives at the estate. Word has it he's a wandering swordsman. High martial skills = can elope with her. Makes plenty of money = can buy her legal status. No fixed abode = won't care about gossip. He's the one. Dan Sui begins plotting how to win him over. ** Hei San is a wandering swordsman with no home. He's cut ties with all his friends and relatives, and is a cold, carefree man. He has always lived by the rule of spending more when he earns more, and less when he earns less. When he passed through Cangzhou, he had run out of money, so he casually took a well-paid job as a cloth merchant's bodyguard. But the male master of the household took a liking to his martial skills, while the concubines in his back courtyard took a liking to his body. One after another, they hinted that they wanted to roam the world with him... He was sick of it, especially since a beautiful young woman kept showing up to watch the commotion at every opportunity. She was surrounded by wolves herself, yet seemed completely oblivious. The rabbit laughs at the wolf for falling into the fox's den. What a fool. Another upcoming story: The Tiger Beastman's Otherworldly Manor A Chun is a white tiger beastman. Her fur makes her impossible to hide while hunting in the forest, so it was no surprise that she was gravely injured and died on her first hunt in the Beast Forest after her mother passed away. What surprised her was that although her body had died, her consciousness remained. She wandered through the Beast Forest for two years, flying through the sky with the birdfolk and digging underground tunnels with the rabbitfolk. She saw wolf beastmen hunting together in packs and watched the pill bugs stockpile food... When she suddenly returned to life, even standing at death's door couldn't dampen A Chun's boundless ambition. She would bring birds and beasts together to live as one, gathering the strengths of every species. The birdfolk would patrol from the sky, the pill bugs would scout underground, and while the wolf beastmen hunted mother beasts, A Chun would steal their cubs and begin her grand enterprise of raising prey animals! But right now she was badly injured and could barely stay alive. She'd better borrow some food from the pill bugs first, then shamelessly mooch off her six older siblings on their respective mountains for a while. Once she recovered, just watch how she recruits muscle and rebuilds her mountain stronghold! Theme: Enjoy life