Chapter 8 Part3 (1/2)
Random troubles seem to arise from nowhere. Just another ordinary traveller?
Chapter 8.3 — When Buddha's Warrior Attendant Glares in Terrible Rage (3)
While the people down below, were still watching the excitement with heads tilted upwards, that person who had hopped up onto the bunk was already kicked back down…
Wen Han swiftly sat up, hugging her bag tightly as she stared anxiously at that adolescent boy.
The people on the ground level all broke into guffaws.
The youth gave a roll on the floor, then crawled back up onto his feet. Patting away the dust on his body, he let out a ”hee hee” and commented, ”A big sister who's got thorns. We'll just let it be. If you don't want me to sleep there, then I won't. Hey, monk, give some s.p.a.ce. Monastics are kind and benevolent. Amituofo[1].” Pressing his palms together, he very devoutly pleaded for a seat.
Cheng Muyun did not even so much as lift his eyelids.
The long-haired girl was chortling gleefully, and squeezing up against her companion, she opened up a small sliver of s.p.a.ce on the side. ”Hey, handsome lad, come sit by your big sister here.”
The boy did not pretend to be shy, and scuttling over, he took a seat.
Was he truly just a traveller who got on the train halfway through?
Wen Han unconsciously cast a glance at Cheng Muyun, trying to see if she could catch any hints from him. But there was nothing. It was as if no persons, no matters had anything to do with him; he was purely someone who, alone, was enjoying his journey.<>Copyright of Fanatical, hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com. Translated with the express permission of the author for hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com. If you are not reading this from hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com, the translation has been taken without consent of the translator.
And so, from when this teenage boy appeared, things below began to grow lively. This handsome lad could not seem to settle down for even a moment, talking from one thing to another and from this thing to that, starting first with how he had come to India because he wanted to see the floating corpses on the Ganges River but had ended up seeing nothing, and then telling them about how he had narrowly escaped being bedded by a male priest…
The long-haired girl let out a yawn. ”So sleepy. How come we weren't able to buy sleeper bed tickets.” She lifted her face to look at Wen Han. ”Did you reserve your ticket in advance?”
Thinking briefly, Wen Han answered, ”More than a month ago. Booked it online.” She remembered, before they came, Roman, who had been in charge of the India part of their itinerary, had complained that India's train tickets were difficult to book.
The long-haired girl nodded, then said rather glumly, ”If I had known, I would have booked ahead of time, too.”
She muttered for a while like this, griping about how her three male companions were not reliable at all and that none of the preparation work had been done thoroughly enough. Eventually, the girl exhaustedly looked up at Wen Han again. ”Would I be able to squeeze in up there with you for an hour? I'll be getting off the train in an hour.”
Wen Han hesitated for a moment.<>Please read this at hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com instead
”Big sister, I'm really sleepy, too, and I'm also getting off in an hour.” The boy looked even more pitiable as he tilted his head up at Wen Han as well.
After chatting for so long, they were all half-acquainted, and Wen Han did not feel right turning them down anymore. She had been lying there for so long and had been unable to fall asleep anyway, and she would soon be getting off the train, too.
”You two go ahead and squish together for a bit, then. I'll go down.” She thought, compared to sleeping jam-packed in one s.p.a.ce with a stranger, it might actually be a little safer down below.
At least down below, there was Cheng Muyun.<>Please read this at hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com instead
She soon climbed down from the sleeper berth.
”I'll lift you up onto there.” Once the youth said this, he had already nimbly caught the other girl by the waist and lifted her up into the narrow s.p.a.ce on that bunk above.
”I don't want to be crammed up here together with you. Men and women should maintain a proper distance from one another[2].” The girl was not very happy about this arrangement.
The adolescent, however, had already slipped up there and, in a rascally manner, flopped onto his back. ”You should be happy you even get to sleep, and here you are still being picky about this and that. It's not like I'm going to take advantage of you.” Grumbling a sentence under her breath, the girl turned over to face the inside and made do with the situation.<>Copyright of Fanatical, hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com. Translated with the express permission of the author for hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com. If you are not reading this from hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com, the translation has been taken without consent of the translator.
There had already been more people than seats over where the girl had been sitting. Now that two people had left, two older Indian men immediately squeezed into the spots that had been vacated. And so, in just the s.p.a.ce of one minute, Wen Han was left with no place to sit.
As she rubbed her arms, Wen Han thought, she would just let things be and stand like this all the way to the next station.
”Monk.” Noticing her predicament, the short-haired girl smilingly said to Cheng Muyun, ”Why don't you squeeze over a bit and let her sit by the window for a little while?”
Cheng Muyun lifted his eyes to first glance at the short-haired girl, then at Wen Han. Without uttering a word, he s.h.i.+fted slightly toward the outside of the seat, creating a narrow s.p.a.ce between himself and the window.
”Go sit down. You can hardly stay standing on your feet here.” The short-haired girl gave Wen Han an amicable nudge.
”Mm.” Since Cheng Muyun had already made room for her, Wen Han had no reason to refuse. With her head bowed, she stepped over and sat down close beside him, her bare knee brus.h.i.+ng against his leg. ”Thank you.” Her tone was polite and respectful.
Cheng Muyun gave a slight nod as his response.<>Please read this at hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com instead
Her seat was small and also very cramped, and their legs were touching. She did not dare move.
Propping her hand on the small table beside the window, she let her gaze fall outside the window.
On the gla.s.s, she could see the side profile of his face. A rather hazy image. However, she could envision his deep black eyes beneath those thick, downcast lashes. When she was a child, she had heard a Chinese doctor in the hospital say that ethnic Chinese babies were born with black eyes that were very clean and pure, but with the grinding of life, those eyes would lose that initial unsullied blackness. This was the price paid for maturing and learning the ways of the world.
But he seemed to violate this law.<>Please support the original translation at hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com
As Cheng Muyun turned over a page, his elbow b.u.mped against her.
Instinctively, Wen Han straightened in her seat.
His eyebrows lifting slightly, he carried on reading.
Only then did she realize that her action had been too big. Somewhat embarra.s.sedly, she offhandedly tucked behind her ear the strands of hair that were by her face, trying to conceal the awkwardness that was secretly roiling in the undercurrents.
……<>Copyright of Fanatical, hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com. Translated with the express permission of the author for hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com. If you are not reading this from hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com, the translation has been taken without consent of the translator.
”Look. This is the peepal fig tree the handsome lad and I were talking about.” The short-haired girl held up her camera to Wen Han to let her look at the scenery that their group had encountered along their journey. ”It's already more than 2,500 years old.”
Out of politeness, Wen Han leaned closer for a look and asked, ”This is the site where the eight countries divided Buddha's body relics[3]? I remember that should be the case.”
The other party smiled. ”You've been there, too?”
Wen Han nodded and returned a friendly smile.<>Please read this at hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com instead
The girl became increasingly invigorated and began showing her photograph after photograph that she had taken. Since she was so excited, Wen Han had no choice but to move a little closer and show her polite appreciation. As her body leaned forward, the ends of her hairs naturally brushed against the back of Cheng Muyun's hand.
The train vibrated rhythmically as it rolled down the tracks, and the tips of her hairs also swayed gently with it.
This touch called up in Cheng Muyun's mind the memories of when he abducted her into the virgin forest, how she had been so dirty she was like a little savage; the fragility she had displayed when she was fevering and wished with all her might that her bones could just be broken all at once; how she had not even had the strength to cry… His middle finger bent, pa.s.sing between the soft strands of her hair. In this moment, what he was thinking about was that image of her, a thin layer of perspiration on her back, her head arched backward, her waist pressed into a deep curve.
Nothing had happened, no interaction through movement or eye contact.
But Wen Han suddenly felt perturbed. Only a moment ago, her attention had been on the photographs, but now she could clearly sense the presence of the man beside her.
She pressed her lips together, forcing herself to continue her guise and not display any outward emotion.
Cheng Muyun, though, had already set his book onto that small table first. Pressing his palms together in a humble manner, he rose and then disappeared into the crowd. She did not know where he had gone.
Five minutes later, when the train began announcing its arrival at the next station, Wen Han finally clued in—he was getting off the train.
Wen Han remembered this station. She needed to get off here as well.
Almost at the exact same time, someone tossed her bag down from above.