CH 24

Chapter 24: You Openly Took Two Girls Away, And You’re Asking Me Why I Am Here?

The silver moon startled the magpie, and the night wind was cold, but not cold enough to pierce through the skin. The man who stood in front of the Residence door was dressed with a black Royal robe with silver edges. He was curving his eyes with a smile on his face, the corners of his mouth were raised spontaneously.

“You…. Why are….” Qi Ci stuttered right away. “Why are you here….?”

“Someone with my token openly took two girls away from the Prince’s Residence, and you’re asking me why I am here? Hmm?” Bian Zhonghua raised his eyebrows, and his smile became more and more flamboyant.

“I… I’ll explain it to you later. Let’s go in first, the girl on my back can’t stand the cold of the night.” Qi Ci said.

With Bian Zhonghua’s help, the three of them returned to the side courtyard smoothly. Along the way Qi Ci explained what happened to Bian Zhonghua.

After hearing about what the young woman went through, Bian Zhonghua’s eyebrows knitted gently as he asked Xiao-Yu: “Was it done by someone from the Prince’s Residence?”

Xiao-Yu nodded weakly.

Bian Zhonghua hummed softly, but his eyes were a little cold.

After sending the two girls back, Bian Zhonghua and Qi Ci exited the room together. They didn’t stay too long.

Bian Zhonghua smiled and said to Qi Ci: “You don’t mind getting yourself into trouble. You don’t even know how to solve your own affairs, yet you take care of other people’s troubles? If the guards hadn’t come looking for me with the token today, would you three have slept on the street?”

Qi Ci sensed something and asked: “Did you wait for us at the gate when you heard the news? How long did you have to wait?”

Bian Zhonghua coughed lightly and didn’t reply. Instead, he said: “It’s alright. Next time, remember to buy me a drink. As for this, I’ll return it to you.”

As he spoke, Bian Zhonghua took out the token from his bosom and handed it to Qi Ci.

Qi Ci took it, with a trace of joy surging inside his heart. He stammered for a long time and said: “If I have your token with me all the time, won’t you be affected by it?”

Bian Zhonghua curved his eyes, smiled brightly, and said: “I’m giving you this for you to avoid any kind of danger. It’s just an ordinary piece of wood when it’s with me. But when it’s with you, it can actually be of some use. It’ll be great for you to avoid danger like you did today by using it.”

Suddenly, something hit Qi Ci’s heart really hard. It was a strange and mysterious feeling swimming inside his internal organs, until it rushed to his fingertips, throat and eyes. It was like the Spring chasing after the swallows, like the feeling of having warm porridge and the dusk, it was like seeking a glimpse of the universe.

“What’s the matter? Suddenly got lost in thought?” Bian Zhonghua asked with a smile.

Qi Ci suddenly came to his senses. As he averted his gaze, he shook his head and said: “Let’s go, it’s getting late. We should go back and rest.”

Unexpectedly, Bian Zhonghua said: “Wait.”

“What is it?”

“Did you hear someone crying?”

Qi Ci suddenly froze in place. The breeze at night was cool, and the courtyard was so quiet and silent that even if a needle were to fall, you would be able to hear it. It was so silent, that not even the sounds of insects were heard. So, where did that cry come from? 

Qi Ci’s face was puzzled, and when he was about to open his mouth to ask, Bian Zhonghua gently hushed. At that, Qi Ci immediately closed his mouth tightly.

Bian Zhonghua listened carefully. As he stepped on the thin and cool moonlight, he walked to a corner of the courtyard. A small mound of soil was raised in this corner, without any weeds in it, and slightly wet. At first glance, he knew it was filled recently.

Bian Zhonghua half-knelt down, looked down at the mound of soil, and asked softly: “Why are you crying so sadly?”

As soon as he said those words, Qi Ci shivered all of a sudden, followed by a momentary feeling of numbness on his back.

Because he could also hear the sound of crying.

It was the cry of a baby. A heartbreaking howl that exploded in the silent night, causing one’s scalp to tingle.

What frightened Qi Ci even more was the sudden appearance of a baby on the mound of soil!

The baby had no eyes, only holes in its eye sockets. The baby was wrapped in dirty incense ash, and he was howling miserably, but not a single tear could be seen.

“This…. what is this?” Qi Ci tried his best to keep calm, but every word was squeezed out from his teeth.

Bian Zhonghua stood up and said: “It’s the grieving soul of that girl’s baby. Although it was a stillborn, it has an obsession, so it can’t enter the reincarnation circle.”

As he said that, Bian Zhonghua pinched his fingers gently, and a silver light flew out from his sleeve, wrapping around the baby: “What’s your obsession? Put it down quickly. If you don’t enter the reincarnation circle as soon as possible, you’ll become a fierce ghost.”

When the silver light swirled around, the baby stopped crying and staggered towards a room in the courtyard.

It was the room where the two girls lived.

Qi Ci suddenly realized something and stepped forward: “Is it blaming that girl? Does it want to take revenge?”

After seeing that the strange baby was about to crawl into the room, Qi Ci was feeling a bit anxious. When he was about to step forward, he was stopped by Bian Zhonghua.

The moment Bian Zhonghua stopped Qi Ci, the baby walked through the door of the room without hindrance.

After a hard day, the two girls were resting. Although she had already taken the medicine, the girl’s lower abdomen still felt vaguely painful. As she curled up with her hands clutching the sheets, the corner of her eyes shed some tears.

She had nightmares about the horrific scene of that day. For a moment, she dreamed of someone crying, asking her why she didn’t want her.

At that, the girl helplessly knelt down, replying: “I’m sorry, I was desperate. Forgive me, please forgive me.”

In the room, the baby slowly climbed towards the girl. The more the baby got closer to her, the less incense ash covered the small body, turning the once gray body of the baby gradually becoming white and tender. After a while, the baby finally climbed up to the girl, mouthed the word ‘mother’, and placed its forehead against the girl’s.

The girl’s tight brows gradually stretched out. She was no longer having a nightmare, and her sleep became more stable.

Only then did the baby stagger away.

Outside the room, Bian Zhonghua said to Qi Ci: “Don’t be afraid, that baby won’t hurt the girl. It only wants to drink one more bowl of Mengpo soup1 for the girl on the road to the Yellow Springs2.”

“What does that mean?” When Qi Ci heard those words he froze.

Bian Zhonghua said: “Before a soul can enter the circle of reincarnation, the soul should take away the sad memories of people close to them and make it blurred. This baby wasn’t born, so there’s no need for it to pay for its sins, and it can enter the reincarnation circle right away. This baby only wants to take away the girl’s bad memories from the past few days.”

“Is this allowed?”

“Yes, when your loved ones pass away, your grief can fade a little bit because they don’t want to make you sad.” Bian Zhonghua smiled and then continued to say: “The best part is that when you get to Naihe Bridge3, you can say to Meng Po; Come! Give me ten more bowls of Mengpo soup! Hahahaha it can’t be helped! There are so many people who miss me. It’ll take me a lot of effort to take away their memories one by one!”

Bian Zhonghua said this as if he had already talked to Meng Po on the Naihe Bridge.

The corners of Qi Ci’s mouth curled up after realizing he was being teased, but his eyes suddenly reddened.

Bian Zhonghua asked: “What’s wrong?”

Qi Ci wiped the corners of his eyes and said: “Nothing, I was just thinking of my mother.”

Qi Ci remembered that time his mother, dressed in white plain clothes, held his hand to teach him how to read and write. But after 8 years had passed, he couldn’t remember what poems she would read for him, nor could he remember the words she wrote.

If a soul comes back to meet you in a dream, you should have a good discussion with them. Don’t take all the memories away simply because you’re afraid of them being sad.

He wanted to say to her, the same way as he did when he was a child pertering his mother for one more candy…

‘Leave some more, some more.’

Bian Zhonghua gently stroked Qi Ci’s head, trying to appease him. Suddenly, he felt something and turned around. Sure enough, he saw the baby, who had come out of the room and was standing on the steps.

Bian Zhonghua half-kneeled down, trying to be at the baby’s level. The baby said some vague words, but Bian Zhonghua was able to understand: “There’s no need to thank me, just find a good family in your next life and so on. Anyway, you’re not in a hurry to reincarnate, so how about you do one more thing?”

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The baby understood what Bian Zhonghua was trying to say, nodded, and slowly crawled out of the side courtyard.

“Come, let’s follow.” Bian Zhonghua pulled up Qi Ci, who was full of questions, and followed behind the baby.