CH 69

translator: baumkuchen 

That morning’s beef noodles were as delicious as usual. Not only were the noodles mixed with beef, there were also beef tendons. There was no need to worry about not being able to chew through the beef tendons, which had been stewed until they were soft, melting in the mouth. Paired with fresh vegetables and noodles, they made for a great start to another refreshing day.

Lu Qingjiu hadn’t gotten a good rest the night before, so he was a little out of it today. After eating breakfast, and giving the pigs and chickens a simple meal, he sat down in the courtyard to rest.

After tending the fields, Bai Yuehu brought back a few fresh vegetables. Yin Xun washed a cucumber and began crunching loudly on it next to Lu Qingjiu. Bai Yuehu’s cucumbers were top-tier in terms of taste, fresh, sweet and crisp, practically tasting like fruit. No matter whether it was eaten raw in salads or cooked in soup, it would always be absolutely delicious.

After Lu Qingjiu took a short nap under the sun and started feeling better, he got up to make lunch. 

Yin Xun was still a little worried about Lu Qingjiu, hurriedly following after him, saying that he’d help him out. As he washed the vegetables, he asked Lu Qingjiu when they should go out to play. Since the weather was good, they should take advantage of it to fly kites.

“Anytime works.” Lu Qingjiu’s head was lowered as he beat the eggs in a bowl. “Didn’t it rain yesterday? It’s still wet on the mountain, let’s wait until it’s dry.”

Yin Xun said, “Then let’s go the day after tomorrow. The weather will be really good the day after tomorrow.”

Lu Qingjiu said, “Alright.”

Seeing Lu Qingjiu agree, only then did Yin Xun finally relax slightly. He had been worried about Lu Qingjiu being in too bad of a mood, and wanted to find something fun to do to make Lu Qingjiu feel a little better.

Because Lu Qingjiu wasn’t very energetic, the food he made was a little simpler than usual. He steamed a large bowl of steamed rice powder and pork, then made vegetable soup and fried up twice-cooked pork, and even made some glutinous rice and red dates. The red dates were candied, tasting very sweet. After being steamed together with glutinous rice, their sweetness would seep into the rice, making it taste deliciously sweet.

Lu Qingjiu liked this kind of sweet dish, and hence ate a little more than he had that morning.

At the table, Yin Xun talked about going out for an outing the day after tomorrow. 

“Can I go out?” Lu Qingjiu suddenly asked. Yesterday, Bai Yuehu had said that there was a high chance of the dragon coming to find him after escaping. If he went out just like that, would he encounter any danger?

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In the afternoon, Lu Qingjiu perked himself up and made a few sweets in the oven. The sweets were comparatively simple cookies, but after using Niuniu’s (their cow. Lit. cowcow. Only just realised that they were using it as a name instead of a cutesy way of saying it oops. I guess I’ll have to fix that in past chapters :P) milk, the cookies tasted especially good. Lu Qingjiu even thought about planting some wheat at home in the spring, so they’d have a reliable source of flour next year. Originally, there was very little space to plant wheat in this area, but not making use of Bai Yuehu’s special farming skills would be a bit of a pity…… 

The fruit tree seedlings they’d planted in the courtyard were slowly growing bigger. From the rate they were growing, Lu Qingjiu even suspected that they might be able to fruit this autumn. He just didn’t know how they would taste, but thinking about it, with Bai Yuehu here, they definitely wouldn’t taste bad.

When they were children, when spring came, Lu Qingjiu’s grandmother would bring them up onto the mountain to play, pluck some wild fruits, and fly some kites. At that time, they didn’t have a lot of money, so they made all their kites by themselves. His grandmother would usually make a butterfly for Lu Qingjiu, and a bee for Yin Xun. Then, after they got to the mountain, she would watch as the two children ran wild around the mountain, until the kite string in their hands grew taut, and the beautiful kites were flying high in the sky.

They didn’t have any kites in the house. Lu Qingjiu originally planned on going to town to buy one that afternoon, but who knew that Yin Xun would bravely volunteer, saying that he would make a kite, promising the kite that he made would definitely be beautiful.

Lu Qingjiu was skeptical of his self-confidence, but seeing Yin Xun placing a hand on his chest and vowing it to be so, he decided he should give his idiot son a chance. 

The paper used in the kite was ordinary paper, and the skeleton was made from bamboo that Yin Xun brought over. After cutting the bamboo into strips, they were fit to be used to make the skeleton of the kite. Lu Qingjiu sat next to him. Upon seeing that Yin Xun’s kite actually looked rather well made, he was a little shocked.

“What kind of kite are you making?” Lu Qingjiu asked him.

“A squid (yóu yú),” Yin Xun replied.

Lu Qingjiu, “A swimming fish (yóu yú – fish and squid sound the same in chinese)?” Thinking about it, he felt like fish-shaped kites weren’t really anything very strange, and hence relaxed, returning to the courtyard to do other things after preparing colouring supplies for Yin Xun. Taking advantage of the good weather, he wanted to clean up the pig sty, and swap out all straw inside. 

When Lu Qingjiu finished his work and turned and went back once more, he saw Yin Xun’s so-called “fish”.

Lu Qingjiu started. “……What is this?”

Yin Xun, “A squid?”

Lu Qingjiu, “What kind of fish has tentacles?” 

Yin Xun, “Don’t all squid have tentacles?”

Lu Qingjiu paused for a moment. “Wait, when you say ‘yóu yú’, which two words is it?”

Yin Xun, “……The yóu yú in yóu yú dùn jī.”

Lu Qingjiu instantly became resigned. This Yin Xun, had made the kite extremely big, and it was completely black, with just two bright yellow eyes. The tentacles at the bottom of it were both long and thin. Lu Qingjiu could already imagine this kite scaring children to the point of tears as it flew in the sky. 

But it was already done, so they might as well use it. In the end, Lu Qingjiu decided to say nothing.

In one breath, Yin Xun made two kites, both their shapes and colour indescribable. But in order to not put a damper on his child’s enthusiasm, as his father, Lu Qingjiu decided to just bear with it.

Yin Xun had already begun to look forward to their outing the day after tomorrow.

Even though he didn’t have many abilities, Yin Xun’s weather forecasting was still very good. The next two days were both clear. The morning of the third day, Lu Qingju got up early to prepare food, and just like that, the family went out on their outing. 

Xiao Hua, Xiao Hei, and the little fox came along as well. Three people and three animals majestically made their way up the mountain.

Close to the top of the mountain peak, there was a rather spacious plateau. In the spring, the wind there was particularly strong, very suited to flying kites.

Yin Xun held his big black squid in one hand, and an unidentifiable animal in the other, running happily along behind Lu Qingjiu. Lu Qingjiu even had to look back and tell him not to fall. Bai Yuehu seemed as lazy as ever. His hair had become short once more, just that this time, Lu Qingjiu had cut it. He hadn’t cut Bai Yuehu’s hair too short, just short enough such that it wouldn’t affect his eating. But this was a lot better than Bai Yuehu’s “bitten off by a dog” haircut that he gave himself—— Even though no matter what hairstyle Bai Yuehu had wouldn’t affect his beauty.

The wind on the mountain brought with it the fragrance of flowers. In the grass between the trees, they could see wildflowers of all colours. Around them hovered butterflies and bees. Compared to the deathly stillness of winter, everywhere was filled with life. 

The three took the kites and a bamboo basket full of food up along the mountain path to the peak. Upon feeling that strong wind at the top of the mountain, Yin Xun excitedly pulled out his kite and began to run around on the mountain. Originally, Lu Qingjiu had slightly doubted if Yin Xun’s kite would be able to fly, but who knew that after running one round on the plateau, the squid kite would rise up into the air, going straight up into the sky.

Yin Xun laughed loudly like a child, “Look, look, my kite’s flying!”

Xiao Hua and Xiao Hei ran along next to him. Seeing that they also wanted to play, Yin Xun wrapped the string around Xiao Hua’s hoof. In the end, the wind at the top of the mountain was too strong, and Xiao Hua too small, resulting in him almost being pulled into the sky by the wind. In the end, it was Lu Qingjiu who snatched hold of his little tail with quick reflexes, avoiding a tragedy from occurring.

“Watch over Xiao Hua when he’s playing with the kite. He’s really unsafe as a little pig.” Lu Qingjiu was like an adult teaching little children. “Don’t let any accidents happen.” 

Yin Xun obediently agreed.

After managing Yin Xun, Lu Qingjiu then opened up the bamboo basket he’d brought, spreading the cloth he’d kept inside out on the lush green grass, then filled the surface of the cloth with all kinds of food. There was stewed meat and fried chicken packed in thermal lunch boxes, as well as strawberry biscuits and an apple cake he’d woken up early to bake. Lu Qingjiu had even remembered to bring a few bottles of soda wrapped in cold towels.

Bai Yuehu sat down on the ground next to Lu Qingjiu, lifting his head to watch the kites in the sky.

Lu Qingjiu stood next to him, smiling and saying, “When we were children, we all liked to tie grass onto the kite strings. When we tied the grass, we would make a silent wish in our hearts. It was said that this way, we could send messages to the gods in the heavens, and let the gods realise our wishes.” 

Bai Yuehu said, “Did the gods realise your wish?”

Lu Qingjiu was disappointed. “Of course not.”

Upon hearing this, Bai Yuehu looked down and casually pulled out a green blade of grass and passed it to Lu Qingjiu. “Try again?”

Lu Qingjiu laughed, “Alright.” With the grass in hand, he went over to Yin Xun’s side, and tied it to the kite string. Then, Yin Xun began to relax the line, letting the kite fly even higher, bringing Lu Qingjiu’s blade of grass along with it into the air. 

As of what wish Lu Qingjiu had made, it wasn’t very important. After all, there were no gods in the heavens. Since there were no gods, who would realise his wish?

Yin Xun was like a child as he played around happily with the little pigs and the little fox, even wanting to try tying the little fox to the other kite and letting it fly. Lu Qingjiu, as their parent, could only heartlessly stop these bear children from performing their death-seeking antics, saying that foxes couldn’t fly, and that if it were to fall, the whole village would be coming to their home to eat. 

Yin Xun, “Why would the whole village be coming to our home to eat?”

Lu Qingjiu, “To celebrate your funeral, of course.”

Yin Xun, “……”

In the end, Yin Xun said that he didn’t want to bother the entire village, obediently tied the kites to a little tree, then sat down and began to eat. 

Lu Qingjiu had made the fried chicken himself. They’d been coated in a thin layer of flour, then slowly fried in warm oil. After frying, their outer layer was crispy, and the inside was soft and juicy. With a bite, the light yellow chicken juices would seep out. Because it was made from young chickens, even the bones were crisp. With just a bit of force, they’d break in their mouths.

As Lu Qingjiu drank cold soda and ate the still-steaming fried chicken, he felt like life was actually still very good, there weren’t so many obstacles that couldn’t be overcome.

Halfway through eating, Lu Qingjiu suddenly felt the urge to pee. He put down the food in his hands, wiped them off with a tissue, then said, “I’m going to pee.”

“Oh.” Yin Xun’s mouth was stuffed full with a chicken leg. “Come back quick, or I’ll have eaten all the chicken.” As he spoke, he even looked over at Bai Yuehu.

Bai Yuehu stared back coldly. Yin Xun instantly cowered, pulling the chicken leg out of his mouth and taking a bite. “……It’s fine, I’ll leave you a leg.”

Lu Qingjiu said, “You’re so dramatic.”

Yin Xun pretended to hmph, aggrieved.

Lu Qingjiu went into the nearby woods and found a secluded corner to solve his issue. Just as he was about to take off his pants, however, he noticed something strange by his feet. Taking a closer look, he found it was a pile of black ants, crawling around in the grass. 

If it were just black ants, that would be fine, but Lu Qingjiu felt as if the trail the ants were making was very strange. After careful observation, to his shock, he found that the black ants had unbelievably formed two words: A-Jiu.”

A-Jiu, was what Lu Qingjiu’s grandmother had called him. Other than that elderly woman who had already passed, almost no one called him that.

A layer of goosebumps formed on Lu Qingjiu’s back. Before he could react, he saw the black ants form another two words: Come here.

A-Jiu, come here—— A gentle, elderly-sounding voice rung out by his ears. It was as if Lu Qingjiu had been possessed by a demon, his mind going blank, leaving only one thought: He needed to go over to take a look, his grandma was calling him. 

The black ants marked out a path, leading the entranced Lu Qingjiu into the woods. A-Jiu, come here, A-Jiu, come here…… Lu Qingjiu’s mind constantly echoed with his grandmother’s calls. Only when an unfamiliar man appeared before him did Lu Qingjiu snap out of this trance-like state.

“You…… who are you?” A guess as to the man’s identity had already taken a vague shape in Lu Qingjiu’s mind.

The man was standing against the light, in the deep part of the woods. He was dressed in black, wearing a long robe that was a little similar to Bai Yuehu’s. His hair was scattered across his shoulders, and his eyes were closed. Even though his features were a little blurry, his handsomeness could still be seen.

Unknowingly, Lu Qingjiu had already walked into the deep part of the woods. Around him, the surroundings were unfamiliar. The slight wind that had originally been blowing against his face had stilled. There were no birds singing in the trees, leaving only silence. 

The man walked up to Lu Qingjiu.

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“Ct!” Oe Hlcuple’r qjiw pera rb tjqqfcfv ab ijcv bc j rtjgq rabcf. Ktf qglmx bo qjlc bo tlr qjiw yflcu mea bqfc wjvf tlw mgs bea lcnbiecajglis.

The man’s eyes were closed, but he evidently had already sensed what had happened in front of him, frowning slightly and walking towards the fallen Lu Qingjiu. 

Lu Qingjiu watched as the man stopped in front of him, forming a silhouette haloed by the light.

“What did you bring me here for……” Lu Qingjiu should have been terrified, but upon seeing that man’s face, mere inches from his own, he strangely calmed, even becoming able to politely ask the question he wanted to ask, “Is there something you want from me?”

The man didn’t speak, squatting down. Even though his eyes were closed, Lu Qingjiu strangely felt as if he was being stared at by him.

“Did you kill my parents?” Lu Qingjiu asked, “Do you want to kill me, too?” 

The man’s lips pursed slightly, forming a tight arc. Lu Qingjiu felt as if he wanted to say something, but he just shook his head slightly, saying nothing.

“You don’t want to kill me?” Lu Qingjiu relaxed. He could tell that the handsome man before him didn’t seem to feel any hostility towards him, at least for now. “Then what do you want to tell me?”

The man held out his hand towards Lu Qingjiu, motioning him to place his hand on his.

Seeing this, Lu Qingjiu hesitated slightly, thinking about what to do. But as he was thinking, Bai Yuehu’s voice sounded from the trees behind him, “Lu Qingjiu, Lu Qingjiu, where are you?” His voice was extremely frantic, and he was clearly going to find them at any moment. 

The man’s eyebrows furrowed even more. He didn’t give Lu Qingjiu any more time to hesitate, directly grabbing his hand, then writing a word in his palm with a finger.

As his finger brushed against his palm, he only needed to write it out once before Lu Qingjiu understood what the word was.

It was “leave”. The person in front of him, was telling him to leave.

“What do you mean?” Lu Qingjiu was a little confused, “You’re telling me to leave? Leave? Why do I need to leave?” 

As Bai Yuehu’s calls became closer and closer, a hint of anxiety appeared on the man’s face. He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but he could only utter aborted sounds. And Lu Qingjiu, sitting in front of him, could clearly see that in the man’s mouth, was only half a tongue.

The man before him was, without question, was the black dragon who had been trapped in the put. He’d escaped his cage and found him, just to write a single word on his palm?

Bai Yuehu’s voice was right behind Lu Qingjiu. He just needed to aside a few trees before he would enter Lu Qingjiu’s vision.

The man also knew that he was out of time. He lifted his hand and lightly stroked Lu Qingjiu’s head, a slightly sad, tender smile on his face. Then, he turned, and instantly disappeared before Lu Qingjiu’s eyes. 

Lu Qingjiu still wanted to hear what the man wanted to say, but the man clearly didn’t want to run into Bai Yuehu. His posture as he left was incomparably determined.

“Lu Qingjiu!” Bai Yuehu’s panicked voice rang out from right behind Lu Qingjiu. Seeing Lu Qingjiu sitting on the ground, he hurriedly walked forward and pressed down on Lu Qingjiu’s shoulders. “Are you alright? He didn’t do anything to you?”

“No.” Lu Qingjiu glanced at Bai Yuehu. As if possessed, he didn’t tell Bai Yuehu about what the man had written on his hand, just shaking his head. “He didn’t seem to be able to speak.”

Bai Yuehu said, “You’re hurt.” 

Lu Qingjiu’s palm had been sliced open by a nearby rock when he fell. At this point, his palm was completely filled with blood. Just now, all his attention had been focused on the man, so he hadn’t noticed at all. Only now, with Bai Yuehu saying that, did he feel his palm begin to burn with pain.”

“I accidentally fell.” Lu Qingjiu was a little embarrassed. “It’s just a small wound, it’ll be fine after I just go back and clean it with some alcohol.”

Bai Yuehu didn’t agree. His nose twitched slightly, as if he was smelling something. Then, he stared at Lu Qingjiu with a serious look in his eyes. “You smell of him. He touched you.”

Lu Qingjiu was dumbfounded for a second, then explained, embarrassed, “No, he just held my hand.” And patted my head. 

Bai Yuehu’s lips pursed, the serious expression on his face somewhat similar to that of the man’s from before. Then, he did something that Lu Qingjiu would never have suspected—— He lowered his head, and licked the blood on Lu Qingjiu’s palm clean.

“Ah!” The warm and soft tongue slowly brushed against his palm, cleaning the dirt near the wound bit by bit. This kind of action didn’t bring about any pain, moreso numbness. Lu Qingjiu’s face instantly turned red. In a trembling voice, he said, “Don’t, it’s dirty!”

Bai Yuehu was a little unhappy. “It’s not like I’ll get sick after eating it.”

Lu Qingjiu said, “But……” 

Bai Yuehu said, “It needs to be cleaned.”

This “cleaned”, should have been in reference to his wound, but inexplicably, Lu Qingjiu felt like there was another meaning hidden within. Bai Yuehu’s actions were so serious, making him actually unsure as to whether he should refuse for a moment. By the time he’d managed to react completely, Bai Yuehu’s movements had already stopped. He was pulled up from the ground by Bai Yuehu, and obediently let Bai Yuehu neaten up his disheveled appearance.

After patting off the last of the dirt on Lu Qingjiu’s clothes, just as Bai Yuehu was about to finish up his cleaning, he sensed something else, his eyebrow’s furrowing. Lu Qingjiu then felt a hand press against the side of his head, forcing him to turn it. Then, a forceful kiss landed on his hair.

Lu Qingjiu was stunned by Bai Yuehu’s action. “You……” 

Bai Yuehu’s voice was a little stifled, like he was angry. “He touched your hair.”

The originally indignant Lu Qingjiu was actually made to feel a little guilty by that sentence. His mouth opened and closed uselessly. Only after a long time, he said in a small voice, “He just touched it.”

“Even touching isn’t allowed,” Bai Yuehu said coldly, “It’s best if he doesn’t even look at it.”

Lu Qingjiu, “……” Sigh. 

Bai Yuehu, holding Lu Qingjiu’s hand, led him out of the forest. Only then did Lu Qingjiu realise that he hadn’t actually gone all that far away from where they were having their picnic, only being a short distance away.

“Lu Qingjiu, are you okay?!!” Seeing Bai Yuehu bring Lu Qingjiu back, Yin Xun let out a huge sigh of relief. He had already come up with countless terrifying possibilities just now, and what he had been most afraid of was seeing Bai Yuehu bring back an utterly broken corpse, or even…… there not even being a body to bring back.

“I’m fine,” Lu Qingjiu said, “He didn’t seem to feel any malice towards me.”

“No malice?” Yin Xun mumbled to himself, “If he didn’t have any malice then what did he bring you away for, I was so scared that I’m covered in cold sweat.” Fortunately, Bai Yuehu had brought him back in one piece. 

Lu Qingjiu said helplessly, “If he did feel malice towards me, I would already be dead right now.” Even though the dragon had been through tortue, he was still a dragon. Even the most powerful human would be nothing more than an ant in front of this mythical creature.

Yin Xun’s mouth twitched. He clearly didn’t quite agree with Lu Qingjiu’s words. In his point of view, anyone who sneakily brought Lu Qingjiu away couldn’t be anything good.

Without him noticing it, the sun had already gone down. Lu Qingjiu hadn’t at all realised that he’d been gone for so long.

Today’s outing ended here. They packed up their things, and prepared to go down the mountain. However, as they were leaving the mountain, Lu Qingjiu couldn’t help but look back at the forest. He had a kind of feeling, that that man was still there, just that he wasn’t showing himself. 

After the wound on his palm had been cleaned by Bai Yuehu’s saliva, he didn’t feel too much pain, but the writing left by the man’s slender index finger has like it had been burned into his palm, making Lu Qingjiu unable to forget it.

“Leave”? What did he mean by leave? Did he want him to leave with him? Or did it have some other meaning? Had he fled that place, just to tell him this?

Lu Qingjiu truly couldn’t understand. He couldn’t help but sigh.

Yin Xun said, “What are you sighing for?” 

Lu Qingjiu didn’t answer. “Let’s eat squid tomorrow.”

Yin Xun, “Why?”

Lu Qingjiu said, “Because I kept feeling like your kite had a strong squid flavour.”

Yin Xun, “……” What’s wrong with squid flavour, didn’t it fly really high!