Chapter 94: I like ugly butterflies too
“Are you saying one of the disciple’s tombs is in Tongxi City?”
“Yes,” Xin Liu responded, “When is Ninth Master planning to go?”
Tongxi City was a small, remote city in the south, underdeveloped and surrounded by towering mountains, with poor transportation.
It was far from the territories of the Four Great Families, and the area was dominated by local shamans and spiritual practitioners who were very xenophobic.
Exorcists from outside had no status there.
Even for Feng Xuexiang, it wouldn’t be easy to dig up a tomb there in just a few days.
And it couldn’t be done openly; otherwise, the locals might drive them out.
Feng Xuexiang had given Xin Liu three days to find the next tomb, but the last two tombs couldn’t be found in such a short time.
So Xin Liu brought up this tomb that he had quietly located earlier to buy some time.
The jade scroll from the tomb in the mountain was already in his possession. When he first went there, he found that the tomb was built deep within the mountain, in a complex terrain that had been eroded by an underground river, making entry very difficult.
According to his plan, by the time they had successfully explored this tomb and left empty-handed, Feng Xuexiang would likely have fallen into a deep sleep.
He knew there was no way he could gather all the jade scrolls in time.
Once Feng Xuexiang fell into his deep sleep, the jade scrolls would end up in his hands.
…
On the flight to Tongxi City, Xin Liu noticed Feng Xuexiang sitting next to that man named Zhou Shi, smiling as he talked to him.
That expression was the very picture of innocence.
Xin Liu grew more wary of him with each passing day, because Feng Xuexiang presented one face to Zhou Shi and another entirely to him.
That deeply unsettling madness, hidden beneath the surface, reminded Xin Liu time and again of his master, Chi Heng.
His master, Chi Heng, had been a figure of immense power for hundreds of years in Li Dynasty, so influential that even the royal family relied on his favor.
Even in death, many continued to fear him, to revere him.
But only those disciples who had accompanied him during his final days knew just how truly mad this famous exorcist was, how terrifying his obsession with immortality had become.
To achieve resurrection, he painstakingly set up nine disciple tombs to gather life force and extend his years.
Unfortunately, too many people were unwilling to live under his shadow any longer, so his plans had only now come to light.
Xin Liu was certain that the two tombs he couldn’t locate had been deliberately hidden away.
Especially the most important one, the resurrection tomb.
“In Tongxi City, there are some ancient villages. This season, the mountains are full of red leaves—you’ll love it,” Feng Xuexiang said to the man beside him.
His tone was light and expectant, as if they were truly going on a vacation.
Xin Liu glanced at Feng Xuexiang’s smiling, innocent face. That foolish eagerness to please, typical of someone in love, made him momentarily forget the madness that reminded him of his master, and his wariness eased.
Heh, nothing to fear.
He told himself this once again.
…
Yu Shi knew what Feng Xuexiang was here for. He wanted to find a tomb similar to the one in Jinxi Snow Mountain, and it was for the jade scroll.
But as for the other details, Feng Xuexiang was secretive, and Yu Shi didn’t mind.
On this trip, it was obvious that Feng Xuexiang hoped Yu Shi would treat it as a vacation, and Yu Shi appreciated the sentiment.
If it helped Feng Xuexiang feel more at ease, Yu Shi was, of course, willing to cooperate.
So when they arrived at Lanjiang Village, under Tongxi City, the people Feng Xuexiang had specifically brought along began searching the nearby mountains, while Yu Shi stayed in the ancient village with Feng Xuexiang.
They paid to stay in a mountain dwelling, and every morning, the area would be shrouded in fog.
The white mist made the mountains and rivers appear hazy, and as the sun rose, the mist would slowly lift, like a veil being drawn back.
Yu Shi woke up early and saw the women in indigo clothes heading to the nearby river to do laundry.
This place had seen little development, and most of the native inhabitants still lived simple lives. The mountains were bright, and the water was clear.
Early in the morning, people were laughing and chatting as they washed clothes by the river. A fisherman, extinguishing his lantern, slowly poled his bamboo raft across the river, greeting the women as he passed by.
“Do you want to ride the bamboo raft?” Yu Shi asked Feng Xuexiang.
Feng Xuexiang asked in return, “Do you want to?”
Yu Shi smiled and said, “Yes, I do.”
Feng Xuexiang grabbed his wrist and jumped down to the stony beach, saying, “Then I want to, too.”
Yu Shi, in turn, pulled him behind him and said, “Let me handle it.”
He exchanged a few words with the fisherman who had come ashore. The fisherman nodded and handed the bamboo raft over to them.
“Xuexiang, come quickly.”
Feng Xuexiang was pulled onto the bamboo raft by Yu Shi. The old fisherman, in no hurry to leave, placed his fish basket by his feet and gestured as he taught Yu Shi a few techniques.
Yu Shi was interested in this, and Feng Xuexiang, blindly trusting him, believed there was nothing Yu Shi couldn’t do. Then, the two of them poled the bamboo raft and ended up flipping into the river.
Luckily, the river was calm, the current not strong, and it wasn’t very deep. The two of them climbed ashore, completely drenched.
The women who had been washing clothes were watching them. When they saw them fall in, they burst into laughter, shouting something loudly.
They were a bit far away, and their accents were thick, so Yu Shi couldn’t fully understand, but he could guess they were teasing them.
The old fisherman who had stayed behind to watch was very enthusiastic, slapping his thigh and pointing out where they had gone wrong, eager to help them correct their mistakes.
It was late autumn, nearing early winter, and falling into the water made it easy to catch a cold. The two of them headed back to change clothes.
On the way, Yu Shi felt a bit frustrated and apologized to Feng Xuexiang. But Feng Xuexiang shook his head repeatedly, laughing with genuine joy.
Yu Shi kept hearing his laughter, which rang out every now and then. Occasionally, Feng Xuexiang would turn his head and chuckle, so Yu Shi asked, “Is it really that funny? You’ve been laughing the whole way.”
“Hahaha,” Feng Xuexiang said, holding his hand, “It’s the first time I’ve seen you mess something up.”
“There are plenty of things I’m not good at. Messing up, making mistakes, it’s all very normal,” Yu Shi said, looking at him with a smile in his eyes.
“Don’t think of me as too perfect or too capable, Xuexiang.”
“There are still many things that I’m encountering for the first time, and I don’t always know the best way to do them.”
“If you know, you can tell me. If you don’t know, we can figure it out together. Even if we end up in the water, it doesn’t matter, right?”
It seemed like he was talking about something else.
Feng Xuexiang saw his own face reflected in Yu Shi’s eyes and couldn’t help but look away.
The image of him in those eyes was false, but those were eyes that once saw the truth.
Feng Xuexiang feared seeing his own ugly self reflected there.
“We should go. We need to get back and change clothes quickly. Let’s take a hot bath too, so we don’t catch a cold.”
*
Xin Liu and the others were busy in the mountains, but for the first two or three days, they didn’t have much success.
Feng Xuexiang and Yu Shi also took a walk in the mountains. Xin Liu, intentionally delaying time, put on a look of anxious helplessness and said:
“There was once an earthquake here that exposed an underground river. We can’t excavate on a large scale; we have to find a way to enter through mountain cracks. But we’ve tried two routes already with no success. We’ll need more time.”
Feng Xuexiang wasn’t in the best mood, but he still smiled as he walked with Yu Shi through the mountains.
There weren’t many red and yellow-leaved trees in the area; they would only see one after walking for a while.
Yu Shi bent down to look at a dry twig and suddenly called out to Feng Xuexiang, “Xuexiang, come look.”
“What is it? Did you find something interesting?” Feng Xuexiang immediately came closer.
“Look.”
He pointed at a leaf, and only on a second glance did Feng Xuexiang realize it wasn’t a leaf but a butterfly.
“It’s a dead leaf butterfly. It’s perched here, looking just like a dried leaf,” Yu Shi said, picking up the twig it was resting on. The butterfly didn’t move at all.
“Are you going to take it back? But what’s so special about this kind of butterfly?”
“Even though its wings don’t have bright colors, it can disguise itself as a leaf. Isn’t that impressive and interesting?”
“…You like butterflies that aren’t pretty too?”
“Yes, I like them even if they aren’t pretty.”
Yu Shi placed a kiss under Feng Xuexiang’s eyes, where fine lines had begun to form.
…
Every morning, Yu Shi would pull Feng Xuexiang along to watch the fog and chat with the women by the river. He even helped them wring out thick blankets twice.
After the sun came out, they wandered around the ancient village. When they saw the elderly men and women gathering nearby to weave bamboo, Yu Shi dragged Feng Xuexiang over and made a delicate little bamboo basket.
Feng Xuexiang curiously held the small basket. Watching Yu Shi’s fingers twist and fold the bamboo with ease, he wanted to try it himself.
By the time Feng Xuexiang had finished his attempt, the old man who split the bamboo decided to pack up, not wanting to waste any more of his bamboo.
“It’s alright. I’ll go get a bamboo stalk for you and bring back plenty of bamboo strips for you to practice with,” Yu Shi reassured him.
…
In the afternoon, he indeed went out and selected a bamboo stalk from the bamboo forest.
They had a winter festival coming up in the area, which involved making a type of bun with wild vegetables gathered from the riverbank. It was said that eating these buns in winter could help prevent coughing.
The family they were staying with was also preparing them. Yu Shi tried his hand at making the buns and, after a bit of practice, managed to make a quite presentable one. The hostess, Sister Lan, praised him repeatedly.
Coincidentally, Xin Liu and the others also came down from the mountains to rest, and they all had a meal together.
In the evening, Xin Liu updated Feng Xuexiang about the situation in the mountains. There was a potential route to the disciple’s tomb, and they would be able to set out the next day.
Yu Shi overheard Sister Lan chatting with some of the nearby women in the courtyard. She praised the water vegetable buns he made and went on to bring out a basket of buns for others to try.
Many of the women and older sisters were familiar faces Yu Shi had seen and talked to during his walks. Since few outsiders came by throughout the year, they had initially been quite curious about Yu Shi and Feng Xuexiang. Now that they had become more familiar, they would greet him more warmly.
One of the older women waved Yu Shi over and whispered, “What are you two doing in the mountains? It isn’t just tourism, is it? That young man, he’s been here before. I’ve seen him when I went to gather firewood in the mountains.”
Yu Shi saw that the person the older woman was referring to was Feng Zaixing, who had just come out of the room he shared with Feng Xuexiang.
…
That evening, Yu Shi told Feng Xuexiang about the older woman’s comment.
“The old woman said she had seen Feng Zaixing on the mountain around a month to nearly two months ago,” Yu Shi said, gently touching Feng Xuexiang’s head resting on his chest. “Did you know about this?”
Feng Xuexiang was quiet for a moment and then said, “Now I know. It’s alright. Don’t worry.”
“Ashi, don’t worry about anything.”
Regardless of the situation, Feng Xuexiang was already prepared.
