Chapter Nine, The Long Ditch Flows Silently Under the Moon (V)

She cried

She tearfully told me that she was not dead; she had merely fainted after being so horrified by the lady's struggle that she accidentally ran into the wall in the yard.

I turned my head to look at my savior, who was lazily sleeping beside me on a branch hanging down from a tree, swaying gently as if about to fall but never did. I gazed at his large bamboo hat and tight black clothing, and suddenly realized he was the one who delivered medicine that night, calling my mother 'Miss' and reciting to her: "Tomorrow, across the mountains and valleys, the affairs of the world are all hazy." My mother referred to him as 'Jinxie'.

I was stunned

"Mountain villa."

I estimate that if I were to inquire about which mountain villa this is, its location, to whom it belongs, and the reason for going there, it would likely take at least a year.

It was a strange meadow, and I struggled to look around. Before me flowed a stream, its surface shimmering with fragmented silver light under the moonlit night. The wind carried the fresh, moist scent of water, brushing past the sparse flowers and trees, which trembled gently. Beneath me, the grass was dense and soft, resembling a finely crafted Persian carpet.

When I can finally lie at the top of the highest tree in the villa like a near demon, greeting the rising and setting sun, I believe that the happiest and the worst memories of my life have finally been successfully buried deep in my heart, allowing me to present the world with the most perfect smile, a smile that is light and carefree, utterly pure

It is unlikely, for when the lady was poisoned, she was already carrying the young miss, thus there was some residual poison within her body. It has been suppressed for many years without manifesting, but ultimately, due to acute pain attacking her heart, it erupted all at once. For such a potent poison, if it does not manifest, it will remain dormant; once it does, it will spread like wildfire. In just a few days, it is impossible to eradicate it... Oh? Am I also poisoned like my mother? Was her experience before her passing similar to this...? It must have been a hundred or a thousand times more painful than mine... Mother, I finally understand why you were so insistent that I live for myself.

Inhaling hastily, I unknowingly triggered something, and I began to cough violently and silently. Instantly, a surge of pain erupted, causing me to see stars, and I wished I could die immediately

In the Juwu Mountain Villa, there are often people who insidiously gather together to lament and complain about someone's shameless cunning, despicable nature, and cruel behavior.

However, I still cannot speak

Then, can I go accompany my mother

As for why the fainting Liu Xia entered my dreams in such a manner, prompting me to rush to see my mother for the last time, there is no answer to be found

In front of the bathtub, there is a mirror, and I see that my face, which has been ghostly pale in recent days, surprisingly shows a hint of redness.

It hurts so much, who will drive away this bastard that is bothering me

I am in great pain; Jin Xie is truly not a good teacher. He mercilessly punishes the lady when I slack off and refuses to provide any ointment for the wounds.

Tomorrow, the mountains stand apart, and the affairs of the world are both vague and distant. The tone is one of deep sorrow, and a single phrase becomes a prophecy

Because he is my grandfather

This feeling of looking at life through a mirror makes me feel very detached Am I dead

The reason it is said that one should be young is that his hair has almost turned completely white

The second time I spoke to him, I asked where we were going

I do not understand. Yet there is a slight joy that comes from the heart. Has mother become an immortal? ... How wonderful. ... ... ... I said I wouldn't cry ... ... I do not want to ... ...

However, I am unable to move even the slightest bit; a subtle awareness drifts slowly, allowing me to clearly perceive the individuals and conversations beside me, yet I cannot participate.

Thus, I gradually grew up in the depths of Juwu Mountain Villa located in the boundary of Ganshan, accompanied by my grandfather, along with his disciples and protectors, Jin Xie, Yuan Zhen, Qi Shan, and Yang E, as well as both renowned and obscure followers, and my Aunt Yang, Liu Xia, Han Bi.

I quickly became familiar with every blade of grass and tree in the villa. Often, while daydreaming on the large bluestone platform in the courtyard, picking pine nuts under the old pine tree behind the house, or washing various wild fruits by the clear stream, I would think of my mother. Did she also daydream like this, pick pine nuts, and wash wild fruits?

I also closed my eyes, preparing to have a good conversation with my mother, who may have become an immortal, under this beautiful starry night.

I feel as though I am trapped in a realm of chaos, with a dense white mist before me, where many shadows come and go, appearing and disappearing like phantoms

The pain and suffocation make me want to scream, to shout, to open my mouth and bite everyone I see first with great intensity

My poison injury has finally healed, and I have begun to read books. The old man reluctantly started to teach me martial arts, saying that after taking so many medicines, it would be a waste not to practice martial arts. He sighed and ground his teeth as he spoke.

He hesitated for a moment and slowly removed his hat

A pair of hands reached over and accurately patted me on the back, and the cough miraculously stopped

During our first conversation, I indicated to him that he should be open and honest, and asked him to remove his hat so I could see his face

When I woke up again, I found myself in an open field.

Cursed and raged for half an hour, pointing at the sky and the ground

A tall figure approached me, with a long and handsome face, coming closer in a hazy manner: "Huaisu, Huaisu..." Who are you? Why are you calling me so affectionately? I do not recognize you.

This sentence made me ponder for a long time. It was not until one day, when I saw Jin Xie take off his hat again and was astonished to discover that he had lost even the small amount of black hair he originally had, that I finally understood the meaning of his words: "The hair was not originally that white."

My tears suddenly welled up again, yet I struggled to blink, desperately blinking them back.

And those painful, hateful, and unforgettable past experiences will have no choice but to follow me forward. Yet I understand that the hands that once gently caressed me, the eyes that gazed deeply in the quiet night, and the smile as gentle as a spring breeze under the moonlight will never return again

Is it time to wake up

This time I understood. He took me back to the villa first, and Aunt Yang and the others followed. I was filled with tears of joy, infinitely delighted by the important information I had successfully pieced together over the course of 3 days.

A slender black shadow flickered in my tilted and chaotic field of vision: "Your Highness, you have not rested for two nights, perhaps..." The tall man snorted coldly, and the person immediately fell silent

The old man was quite surprised to see me the next day, carefully checked my pulse, and then flew into a rage.

I gradually became able to say some simple words and attempted to speak with him, only to find that he spoke even more simply than I did

Everyone in this villa seems to share some similarities with the nearby evil; they appear slow and lazy, yet are actually quite proactive. Almost as soon as I arrived at the villa, I was abruptly awakened. After that, an elderly man with delicate features and long eyebrows directed the others to throw me into a bath barrel that had already been prepared.

The old man certainly knows, but he turns a blind eye to it.

Chaos

What is not so white? Is the face not so white? Is the clothing not so white? Is the sky not so white?

Ten days later, one night, while I was in deep sleep, I was taken to the villa by a close evil presence

It is very hot, yet very cold; a heavy stone seems to be lodged in my chest, with sharp spikes piercing into it, driving deep into my bones. I feel as though I can hear the creaking sound of my bones under the pressure. Under such force, my internal organs are on the verge of being crushed

Although it is a scolding, listening to his tone reveals more concern than blame

Thinking this way can lead to long contemplation, until the white clouds leisurely drift across the sky, finding a place to apply makeup, and then returning to masquerade as rosy clouds, replacing the morning sun with the evening sun, only to be pulled back into the house by that cold, indifferent master by the ear

I closed my eyes, Mother, and the evil came to take me; everything was quite normal

I saw her surrounded by colorful light and ethereal clouds, with celestial sounds echoing as cranes soared above. Amidst the five-colored clouds and rainbows, my mother smiled at me and said: "Foolish child, these decades of tumultuous worldly life are merely trials to endure; do not cling to appearances, just go with the flow."

Jinxie, however, did not like the way I looked at him. He coldly put his hat back on and said, "It's not that white."

To this extent, words are as precious as gold; I am left speechless, tears in my eyes

Your Highness? Which Highness? What brings you here? You should return to your palace at once, so I can get some proper sleep. Perhaps I might even see my mother again. Just now, it seemed I caught a glimpse of her, clad in white, drifting with the wind, her cold and clear eyes fixed intently on me, holding a white lotus with her fingertips. Her face, however, was even more beautiful than the lotus.

A profound weariness envelops me, and a painful, violent force pulls me in, dragging me once again into the depths of darkness

Every day at noon, he would perform energy work to draw out the poison from me, while simultaneously administering a crimson pill. The bitter yet fragrant sensation I felt upon waking that day was indeed from this substance

But can I still survive

In the following days, Jin Xie continued to carry me on the journey, sometimes along mountain paths and sometimes along waterways. When passing through towns, he would rent a vehicle for me to lie down in, while he himself slept on the roof of the car

What?

With a soft sound, a gentle breeze swept over, and immediately, a warm and soft black cloak enveloped my entire body

I felt a surge of joy, yet those damned shadows were once again flickering before my eyes

He casually withdrew his gaze, lazily lay back down, appearing as if he would continue to sleep and no longer concern himself with me

He looked at me, the bamboo hat blocking his line of sight, but I could sense his surprise. He must have thought I would cry, become numb, be in a daze, and...

For the third time, I asked him where Aunt Yang and the others were

I looked at his youthful, jade-like cold visage, then at his silver hair with only a few strands of black, and suddenly felt a pang of sorrow

Liu Xia had not died; when I saw her, I thought I had seen a ghost, and then I joyfully asked her how her mother had been recently

That person's shadow still annoyingly swayed back and forth: "Huaisu, Dad has come to see you, wake up, wake up..." I couldn't help but laugh inside, Dad. What a joke, in the past ten years, my father has never appeared, and now that I have lost my mother, he suddenly shows up out of nowhere, truly self-deluded.

When I have time, I prefer to stroll leisurely in the villa. The villa is a wonderful place, with spacious and grand architecture, and lush flowers and trees throughout the seasons. Although it is located in a remote area, the red apricots and white poplars bloom vibrantly and refreshingly, each excelling in its own way. The furnishings and buildings may not be luxurious or exquisite, yet they possess a solemn dignity that makes one forget the mundane upon seeing them

I can only say that, in the grand scheme of things, fate is always watching over us, observing what we do, and when necessary, it intervenes, adjusting the destiny of certain individuals.

However, the old man sternly warned me when I first arrived that I was not to call him "grandfather" in front of others. As for the reason, he said that I would naturally understand when I grew up

He said: "Later."

Scatter like birds and beasts at the moment someone smiles

Although I have lost that most important person, I ultimately cannot resist growing. Gradually, I have relearned how to be happy, to smile, to be cunning, to tease, and many other things that my grandfather excelled at

There is a bitter yet slightly fragrant taste in my mouth, as if someone had just fed me something along with a book. The knife-like pain in my chest and abdomen has eased somewhat, and the heavy pressure on my chest that was suffocating me has also alleviated. I am making an effort to breathe, and the cool air rushes into my lungs; it is somewhat painful, but more so, it brings a clear and refreshing sensation.

I had no choice but to sneak into the old man's study at midnight to steal some medicine. If I found any delicious new-flavored candies or any martial arts manuals that caught my eye, I would take them without hesitation

The bathtub was filled with the scent of herbs, which made me drowsy, and I indeed fell asleep. Halfway through my slumber, I felt a warm sensation rising from my lungs, surging and howling within me, swirling and rolling, resonating with the misty aroma of the herbal bath, creating an uncomfortable yet harmonious blend of internal and external sensations

I listened for a long time but could not figure out who he was cursing. The gist was that the girl was overly protective, fully aware that the poison had penetrated deeply and the medicine was no longer effective, yet she should have saved some for me. Instead, she gave it all to that little girl, unnecessarily granting her decades of power, which left me with insufficient for myself. Is my medicine something to be casually consumed like candy? What a tremendous waste

Then I smiled at him and said with an accent: "Thank you"

I never expected that I would laugh

That night, as I soaked in the bath, I once again felt that increasingly potent force rising within every part of my body. I heard the creaking sound of my bones growing, echoing in the midnight stillness like the sound of bamboo shoots sprouting. I recalled the woman who often fed me tonics, deceiving me by saying they were a new flavor of candy. Tears finally fell quietly, dissolving in the hot water infused with the fragrance of medicine

I scoff at this; he neither wants to teach me nor wishes to learn himself. What is the benefit of learning martial arts? A wise person should conquer the world with intelligence and strategy, while relying on brute force and violence does not constitute a true hero.

However, the sensations in my body are not chaotic; there is a kind of burning, splitting pain within, accompanied by a bone-deep cold pain. These two pains resemble two serpents covered in scales, slowly slithering through my body. Wherever they pass, their coarse, hard scales pierce through my tender organs, leaving me bleeding profusely

Jinxie should be very young, even exceptionally handsome, with delicate features and thin lips like a line. However, for someone so lazy, the contours of his face are clear and strong, with slightly upturned eyes that subtly carry a hint of menace.