Chapter 9 - Did we use to know each other? (1/2)

Hidden in the shadows of the night, I listened to their conversation while staying crouched behind a plum tree.

“Senior!” the nun was saying with some urgency. “The wolf demon is coming to invade us. Why are you allowing that demoness with unknown origins to remain here? Shouldn’t we exterminate her as soon as possible?”

I sighed. I’d already said this a thousand times. Yes, my origins aren’t clear, but I’m really not a monster! I had even destroyed that Thousand-Lock Pagoda of yours, had I still not proven my identity?! Oh, the stupidity! Humans are such idiots!

Even though I hadn’t finished grumbling, I noticed that Zhonghua was getting fairly affected. “We’ll discuss this another day.” His voice was slightly hoarse and weak, as though he had had too much to drink.

He was drunk.

The nun still wouldn’t let it go. “Senior, don’t tell me you’ve come to care for the demon because of her vulnerable façade.”

Zhonghua was getting angry. He brushed her hand off and snapped: “What nonsense are you uttering?!”

“Let’s hope I’m just uttering nonsense.” She then coldly continued: “Senior, I’m sure you haven’t forgotten. In the beginning, it was precisely because Master was softhearted that she had accepted that low-class wolf demon called Hu’yi. It ultimately led to Liubo’s crisis twenty years ago. Qingling prays that you won’t follow our master’s footsteps.”

After a length of silence, Zhonghua waved his hand and told her: “Go back.”

I pursed my lips in thought. From what the nun had just said, the wolf demon named Hu’yi had perhaps been the disloyal and betraying kind that pays kindness with misdeed. Based on my experience of inspecting countless ghosts by the Wangchuan River, however, that isn’t what he was.

There had to be untold tales in the story twenty years ago!

After the nun named Qingling left, Zhonghua stood by himself in the dark corner for a while before leaning on the wall and slowly finding his way back to his bedchamber.

I heaved a sigh as I watched his forlorn shadow.

In the past, whenever Moxi stumbled and fell, I was always there to protect my baby and feel his pain. I had never let him suffer any loneliness or be hurt in any way. Yet now that he had become the high and mighty Venerable Zhonghua, he didn’t have a single helper by his side when he got drunk. He might not even be as comfortable as Chang’an who was sleeping in my room.

“Who’s there?” He sharply turned around.

I blinked a few times, increasingly convinced that he must be living a very tiring life from day to day. If even my soft sigh could catch his attention after he was this drunk, his wariness on a normal basis must be layers thick.

Hearing no answer, Zhonghua straightened up and slowly made his way to this side.

I knew I couldn’t hide, so I openly stepped out and greeted him with a smile. “Oh! Good evening!”

When he saw me, his brow severely scrunched up before turning to leave, as though he had seen something extremely revolting. He walked with long strides, no longer staggering drunkenly this time.

I froze for a moment, suddenly becoming furious. Am I so hideous that you have to run away from me like that?

“Stop!” I yelled out.

His pace gained even more speed. It only took two steps before he completely disappeared from sight.

My anger flared up. Hiding from me? I’d like to see how you’ll hide from me!

I rushed back to the dilapidated hut and pulled a soundly sleeping Chang’an out from under the quilt. He blinked blearily at me, disoriented and confused. I gave him a toothy grin. “Chang’an, can you help me with something?”

Only now did he turn to look at me. He froze for a moment, screamed in fright, and then attempted to wrap himself up in a panic so that I wouldn’t see him.

I sternly dragged him out by his collar and brought him to a spot closest to Zhonghua’s bedchamber. Patting his tear-stained face, I told him: “Cry, cry as loud as you can!”

He stared at me blankly.

My lips upturned into a smile that was as radiant as it was lewd. “Although your yang is a bit small, it’s still better than nothing. And though my heart already belongs to your venerable Reverend, it’s a bit difficult to control my desire when I look at a boy as handsome as you. Won’t you indulge me today?”

Chang’an was scared stiff, as if he had been struck by lightning.

I guess that was to be expected. In the middle of the night, an unfamiliar female had broken into his room, abducted him and said she wanted to molest him. Any sane person would be shocked. I very graciously allowed him a second of stupefaction, after which, I satisfyingly heard him give a shrieking scream.

“No!” Petrified, he crawled to the edge of the force field, banging on the force field’s wall screaming: “Save me, Your Most Reverend! Save me! Chang’an is still too young! Chang’an doesn’t want to die!”

He wailed and wailed. His venerable Reverend finally clutched his forehead and came out with a glowering face. He frowningly stared at Chang’an and then growled: “Good for you!”

If you asked me, as a Most Reverend, your running away the moment you saw me wasn’t any better.

I smirked and kicked Chang’an in the butt while he was lying sprawled out on the ground. “Alright, since your venerable Reverend is here to replace you, I’ll let you off the hook this time. Go back to bed.”

Chang’an looked up to Zhonghua, then looked back at me. Seeing tacit acquiescence from the both of us, he quickly scrambled up and ran away without once turning back.

I looked at Zhonghua, smiling smugly. He rubbed his forehead, closed his eyes and did not return my eye contact. “What is it?”

“Nothing.”

The veins on the back of his hand popped blue. He said nothing more and turned to go.

Before he could leave the force field, I hurried to grab his sleeve. Maybe because he was drunk, his much slower reaction had allowed me to catch him. “Why are you hiding from me? I’m not going to eat you.”

“Why should I be hiding?” he said. “You’re Liubo’s prisoner…”

“Exactly, I’m the one imprisoned. If anyone were to hide, I’d be the one hiding from you. Why are you doing this? Do I have boils or fur growing on my face? Are maggots going to fester in your eyes if you take one look at me? Are you going to suffer vomiting and diarrhea? Are you going to bleed to death? Are you g…”

Before I could finish, he took a deep breath, turned around and looked at me. It was a simple and honest gaze that showed both his obstinacy and a desire to prove himself. But I wasn’t as simple as he was.

I saw in his clear orbs the images of a starry sky, of white snowflakes and fragrant plums, and of myself.

All deeply imprinted in his eyes.

It had been so long since I last saw him looking so intently at me this way. I couldn’t help but step forward and lean into him. My hands slid down from his sleeve to take hold of his hand.

I saw myself quietly smiling in his eyes. He didn’t break away from me, his gaze softening. My smile widened.

“With this muted fragrance and pure white snow, and even you, there’s nothing more Sansheng asks for.”

With this muted fragrance and pure white snow, and even Sansheng, there’s nothing more Moxi asks for. They were words Moxi had said to me in the last lifetime.

He was slightly startled upon hearing these words. A frown. Then suddenly looking to have recovered, he abruptly pushed me away and, as a result, landed himself onto the snow due to not having stood firmly. He appeared to be in a slight panic.

I wanted to go over to help him, but he blocked me with his hand. Clutching his head, he sat in the snow silently.

“Mo… Zhonghua, you…”