Chapter 2 (1/2)
Chapter 1 of Lost You Forever was good, wasn’t it? I was hooked before I knew it by how different Tong Hua chose to delve into as billed as a majorly epic story The novel has three volumes and volume 1 alone has 17 chapters so be patient as I try my best on the translations and pray my arms don’t fall off and need physical therapy by the time I’m all done Another reason I’ve decided to translate Lost You Forever, other than it being fantastic and the fact and I’m pretty much madly in love with one of thea torch for the other one, is that this novel is about to start production into a dra has been pushed back twice now and is currently slated to start in May, so once the casting begins we’ll see if there is any possible way for real actors to live up to the a Once Promised is absolutely necessary to understand and appreciate Lost You Forever but it adds to the richness of the back story for some of the leads The OTP of Once Promised are the parents to our heroine in Lost You Forever, and Tong Hua had hinted at the end of Once Pro with their princess daughter
So when Lost You Forever rolled around, to be honest I was expecting the epic love story of our leading lady Xiao Yao with a certain ain and I’m pleasantly surprised Chapter 1 sets up nicely the world of Lost You Forever currently reduced to one rather unassu town There’s a littleman named Xiao Liu, and one day he rescues a tortured e of death When Xiao Liu saves the life of shi+ Qi, it starts the strings of fate that will bind theether For now at least, shi+ Qi is just shi+ Qi in the same way Xiao Liu is just Xiao Liu Whatever they are both running froht now they don’t need to face it just yet But Xiao Liu is really just a trouble net is how I see it, and he’s about to run s that will also lead to some kind of forever Is it destined to be love? Hate? Misunderstanding? Xiao Liu is a major softy inside even when he acts like he couldn’t care less, so with every connection he startstowards a world he doesn’t want to acknowledge I’ll keep using “he” when I talk about Xiao Liu until the ti lady finally takes off herthe princess with the e even within the powerful world of the Gods and Goddesses Until Xiao Liu decides he wants to be Xiao Yao, let’s enjoy his adventures andShui Toith his motley crew of odds and ends
Chapter 2 – The Road Ahead is Unknown:
Qing Shui Toasn’t big but it was a very unique place in the vast wilderness Froes that were treacherous, creating natural barriers After the Sheng Nong Kingdo refused to surrender He controlled tens of thousands of soldiers stationed in the area to the East of Qing Shui Town and from there he continued to battle the Yellow E ardodom It wasn’t under the control of the Grand Edodo Shui Town became an area muddled with all three influences but neither of the three powers could control it
Inside Qing Shui Town, there was no royal power, no influential families, no rich or poor, and definitely no distinction between Gods and demons
If a person had a skill, whether he be God or demon, previously an official or a bandit, the person could openly seek a living and no one cared about the past Gradually all sorts of people gathered here
Due to the nonstop warfare for the past few hundred years, the blood, corpses, and reborn lives forged a lot of blacks Shui Toas relatively famous
If there were blacksmiths and healers, then people would come to buy weapons and seek medical help When there were men, then there were brothels When there omen, then there were milliners If there were men and women, then came the restaurants and tea shops…
Not sure if the chicken or the egg ca with people and it didn’t even see war
Hui Chun Clinic was situated in a small location in the Western part of town Because the competition was fierce and a clinic was especially hard to run, Ma Zi and Chuan Zi told Ye shi+ Qi that people once came to shut them down But Lao Mu was a deserter fro just a lowly God he still had some spiritual power and could handle a few people Xiao Liu’s e so the other clinics didn’t even bother trying to win any business back So the business at the Hui Chun Clinic was just so-so, enough the feed and clothe their group of five
Two years had passed and shi+ Qi still looked thin and weak But his strength was stronger than anyone suspected Carrying water pails, cutting wood, brewingherbs, he could do it all He had an especially keen memory
Ma Zi and Chuan Zi followed Xiao Liu for over ten years and still couldn’t remember some of the herbs shi+ Qi was different, whatever the herb if he heard it once from Xiao Liu he would re hioodhe was told, he was literally the perfect person to ask to do bad things like ht the five of the, Xiao Liu counted all of theirShui Town than woa wife to sleep with every night is going to be hard In the short ter with a prostitute is a better deal But for the long terain”
Ma Zi and Chuan Zi both stared dumbstruck at Xiao Liu Lao Mu’s old face rinkled like a chrysanthehtly tilted upward Xiao Liu asked theuys want to sleep around a few times now, or hold off and endure a few h ht?”
Ma Zi said very sternly “Brother Liu, ht”
“You spend big money to marry a woman and you don’t want to sleep with her?” Xiao Liu was about to flip the table
“Of course not, Iwith and talking to, a companion”
Xiao Liu huffed “I eat with you and talk with you and keep you company So why do you still want a wife then?”
“Because my wife can sleep witha wife just to sleep with her”
Ma Zi sat doearily “Fine, just call it rabbed Chuan Zi’s hand “Don’t listen to Brother Liu, be patient and save money Our oives are better than prostitutes It really isn’t just for sleeping with” Lao Mu laughed and patted Ma Zi “Don’t worry, Brother Liu and I will help you guys save up enough money”
Ma Zi and Chuan Zi went to sleep and shi+ Qi was sent back to his room as well
Lao Mu said to Xiao Liu “Chuan Zi can wait but Ma Zi’s hter of Butcher Gao and if we don’t put down a ht about going into theup better herbs, and maybe if I’m lucky to find some spiritual plants…
Xiao Liu said “Theresistance ar there would be asking to die Plus you don’t know those herbs I’ll go”
Lao Mu replied “The Gong Gong controlled resistance army is fair and principled, they won’t har into Sheng Nong soldiers But that Lieutenant General Xiang Liu is very difficult Rumors say he is a Nine-headed Demon He has nine lives and his nickname is Nine Lives He is vicious and brutal”
Xiao Liu laughed “I’et spiritual plants He may be vicious but he has to follow army rules Plus I’ll never run into so Liu”
Lao Mu was thinking the saet Nine Lives Xiang Liu, he’s never even run into army officials ranked several ranks above him before
He felt reassured and reo where not needed and if no spiritual plants are found then to come back and they can think of another way
Xiao Liu orried about Ma Zi and Chuan Zi’s stopping hi a s on a chicken feet, Xiao Liu walked and felt so was off He turned around and shi+ Qi was silently behind him Xiao Liu waved “Why did you follow ather herbs You hurry ho but so did shi+ Qi kept following Xiao Liu put his hands on his hips and raised his voice “Hey! I told you to go home Didn’t you hear me?”
shi+ Qi quietly stood still with his eyes lowered and his silence conveying his determination Maybe it was that their destiny started with pity so Xiao Liu was quick to soften towards hi deserter?” shi+ Qi shook his head “Are you a Xuan Yuan soldier?” shi+ Qi shook his head “Are you a Gao Xing spy?” shi+ Qi shook his head Xiao Liu smiled “Then you can head into the mountains Follow me”
shi+ Qi took the basket fro of snacks Xiao Liu finished gnawing on the chicken feet and shi+ Qi passed hirabbed a duck neck He finished the duck neck and was about to wipe his hands on his robe when a clean cloth was handed to hiled and wiped his hands clean shi+ Qi handed hi of plum wine and burped He felt these days life was sure sweet! The two of them walked the entire day and it was dusk when they entered the mountains
Xiao Liu found an area near a water supply and used herb powder to sprinkle a circle around them “There are lots of beasts in the o fetch water and you get soht the water back along with soetables shi+ Qi wasn’t back yet and Xiao Liu was about to go find him when shi+ Qi returned ood on his back and a wild chicken in his hand Xiao Liu was so happy “You start the fire, I’ll cook so delicious for you”
Xiao Liu cleaned the chicken cleanly then stuffed some mushrooms inside the cavity, salted the outside, splashed it with plue leaves, and buried it under the yellow dirt next to the fire He then etables with the chicken guts
shi+ Qi quietly watched Xiao Liu busy at work Xiao Liu stirred the stew and said with a laugh “I lived in the mountains for many years What is edible and not edible, I’ve eaten it all Havingtasty”
When the ti out the hard dirt lu out Xiao Liu split the chicken in thirds, one part went into the food bag, he gave shi+ Qi the bigger re portion “You must finish, you are too skinny” Xiao Liu ate his portion and watched shi+ Qi He was still the saant and refined, as if he was seated at thethe hed “shi+ Qi, you’ll leave sooner or late”
shi+ Qi glanced at him “I Won’t”
Xiao Liu smiled and finished the mushroom stew and went to the creek to wash up
Xiao Liu woke up in theto find shi+ Qi had started a fire and boiled hot water Xiao Liu took the re chicken and diced it up and tossed it in the water toand split it with shi+ Qi Once they were done with the soup and put out the fire, they continued up the mountain
Xiao Liu took shi+ Qi and collected only the , they entered the deepest parts of the mountain Xiao Liu squatted down and stared at a pile of ani shi+ Qi carried all their belongings and silently watched him
Xiao Liu stood up and said “You stay here, I need to go find so alone” shi+ Qi didn’t nod, where Xiao Liu went, he also went Xiao Liu glared “You said you would listen to me If you don’t listen, I don’t want you anymore” shi+ Qi silently looked at hih the trees shone on his scar along the hair line and the light sorrow in his eyes
Xiao Liu softened and stepped foranting to grab his arrabbed his sleeve “shi+ Qi is the best and most obedient andyou is because its dangerous That thing is too clever and if it s it’ll be scared off and run thousands of et close is to sh poop here so only I can go If I can’t catch it I’ll coht back so wait for me here”
Xiao Liu tilted his head and smiled and finally shi+ Qi nodded
Xiao Liu picked up the poop and stepped away to sross? You probably never saw this where you grew up It’s not really that dirty A lot of medicine is made with aniht next to him already and he paused shi+ Qi fixed his sleeve and said “Be careful”
Xiao Liu laughed “I lived alone in thefrom under a Thousand Year Snake Deerous to me To be honest, there are no beasts or animals scarier than people……” Xiao Liu fixed his waistband and waved “I’m off”
“I Wait for you” shi+ Qi stood underneath the tree
There is no person ait for another for an entire lifetime Xiao Liu smiled and with a hop and a skip disappeared into the trees
Xiao Liu wanted to catch a Jiu Jiu, a s white tail and can take away people’s sorrow It was popular with the nobles and could be sold for a pretty penny It didn’t have any attack power but it was very very clever yet easy to frighten so quick to run away It was very hard to catch But Xiao Liu had a way of dealing with it Jiu Jiu loved listening to a young wo wo and its body would inch closer to help the girl forget her sorrows Xiao Liu found a suitable spot to set the trap
He jumped into the water to wash off the poop first, then crawled on a rock and sat down The rock aring The song was carried by the wind Xiao Liu sang a song about et
The voice wassorrowful so the Jiu Jiu was lured out by the song Initially it was scared so hid in the dark When it sensed no danger, it could not overcoet sorrow so it stepped out and started chirping
Xiao Liu fixed his hair and stared at it It had large round saucer eyes and was super adorable It would chirp and shake its large white tail, doing little flips or kicking its legs or thus to hed loudly and undid the trap “You silly thing, you run off noon’t catch you to sell for money”
Jiu Jiu stared at Xiao Liu quizzically when suddenly a loud whoosh thundered frorab the Jiu Jiu It had nowhere to hide that it darted into Xiao Liu’s arold and white condor stood before Xiao Liu and stared at hi to eat that! If you don’t want to die then scrah spiritual learning to take the fore
He sighed and bowed respectfully “Master Condor, it isn’t that I want to be disrespectful, you know its hard to catch a Jiu Jiu and if I didn’t lure it out then you wouldn’t even be able to try and eat it”
The condor flapped its giant wing and a large rock was smashed to smithereens His fury was palpable Xiao Liu didn’t want to retreat since that would incite a beast’s natural attack instinct This condor could think but it’s natural instinctinto Xiao Liu and it tried to make its body as tiny as possible Xiao Liu held it with one arm and the other tossed out some powder His eyes held the eyes of the condor and he said in a very sincere and non-threatening way “Master Condor is handso power is i condors, the ruler of the skies I am very impressed……but I’m sorry that I can’t let you eat it today”
The condor wanted to destroy this bastard before him but it felt dizzy all of a sudden like that one time it stolen the wine but he didn’t steal any wine today…… After teetering left and right the condor collapsed
Xiao Liu was about to escape when a voice came from above “Furball, I told you many times, people are devious This time you’ll remember it, yeah?”
A white hairedon a tree branch shed, the real danger has arrived He threw the Jiu Jiu towards the tree knowing that with its quickness it could escape Who know the Jiu Jiu tuht and frozen towards the e to run away! If it wasn’t going to run, then Xiao Liu was off!
Xiao Liu tossed powder at the man and then turned to run when the man in white blocked his path
Xiao Liu tossed another powder but thethat useless junk and dirty my clothes, I’ll cut your hands off”
Xiao Liu stopped immediately, the opponent was so powerful that poison and sleep poas useless on hiht hiet on his knees and beg
Xiao Liu plopped down on his knees and with a copious aed “My lord, I’ Shui Town coet some herbs to earn some money My two brothers need it to marry wives…” The man felt up the condor and said “Antidote”
Xiao Liu crawled over and handed the antidote to him The man fed it to the condor and finally looked at Xiao Liu “My condor ride has eaten tens of thousands of poisonous snakes, even the poison do to know that even a little healer in Qing Shui Town is this talented”
Xiao Liu felt a cold breeze fly up his spine and he cursed silently “It’s just getting lucky I’ in infertility The Hui Chun Clinic in Qing Shui Town If My lord has a ho can’t get pregnant………”
A s up and bowed respectfully “My lord!”
The man kicked Xiao Liu over and barked “Tie hih of relief This was the Sheng Nong resistance arh the Yellow Emperor called them a bunch of villainous traitors, in the last few hundred years they never bothered people and always kept a regi he said was true so once they confirerous………he peeked at the white robedon the condor
The antidote is real and the condor would be up soon But that silly Jiu Jiu was still frozen on the ground Xiao Liu laughed and said “Will o” The man appeared not to hear and continued to stroke the condor’s back The condor stood up and shook its feathers before flying over and ripping the Jiu Jiu apart
The screaone before it landed Xiao Liu lowered his eyes and saw a blood stained white fur land on his shoe Thebefore everyone headed back to ca to see the route Based on the sound of voices, this wasn’t a large caround and the ood set of ears is often more useful than a set of eyes”
Xiao Liu opened his eyes and froe point could only see theShui Town for over twenty years, a quick check will confired his robe and sat down at his desk to review documents It was then that Xiao Liu finally saw his face clearly White hair like the clouds that wasn’t tied into a bun but instead a jade-colored rope was used to tie it neatly back to let it fall behind his head His face was so beautifully handsome it bordered on surreal His entire body was so spotlessly clean it was eerie
At this ti a document in one hand as his eyes were lifted in scorn He sensed Xiao Liu looking at him and smiled towards Xiao Liu who shi+vered and immediately shut his eyes That look he’s only seen once when he was siant demon looked at her, it was the look that only soive off