Bone-Returning Seed (Part Two)

I went inside to get my bundle, and Huai Xu and Feng Qiao rushed over.

Feng Qiao asked anxiously, "Aunt, what happened? Huai Xu and I were mixing hay when Uncle Lin told us to come see you right away. He took the horse out, but he won't say anything when we ask him."

"Come with me." I led the two of them to the kitchen and gestured for Huai Xu to pry open the inner wall of the furnace.

Feng Qiao exclaimed in surprise, "Auntie, how come there's a tunnel here?"

I nodded: "It existed when the inn was built."

"What... what is this for?"

"It's for smuggling. When the official market was closed and the sale of official salt was prohibited, how many people relied on this route to survive? I never thought that after so many years, it would still be useful now." I stuffed the bundle into Feng Qiao's hands. "Travel expenses and travel permits are all inside. Uncle Lin has prepared horses at the exit. You take Huai Xu with you out of Sichuan."

Huai Xu jumped out of the furnace, grabbed my hands, and said, "Godmother, I won't leave!"

"Yes, we're not leaving!" Feng Qiao put down his bundle. "Auntie, we can't abandon you!"

"Who needs your help? I still have your Uncle Lin, don't I?" I looked towards the door, just as Lin Zhong entered.

"Master, the horses are ready."

Huai Xu gripped my arm tightly: "I don't care, I'm not leaving!"

"Stop fooling around!" I said with a stern face. "Feng Qiao, you come from a family of legal scholars in the Central Plains. Huai Xu may not understand, but you should. The southwestern tributary states are essentially uncivilized areas. National laws don't apply to family laws, and criminal laws don't apply to clan rules. If you don't set off now, are you going to do something as foolish as throwing an egg against a rock?"

Feng Qiao looked at me, then at Lin Zhong, his face full of pleading: "Aunt, Uncle Lin, why don't we go together?"

I said sternly, "No!"

"Why not?!" Huai Xu shook me, "Godmother, we'll go together. If you don't leave, I won't leave!"

"Lin Zhong, give the bundle to Feng Qiao!"

Lin Zhong picked up the bundle and, ignoring Feng Qiao's attempts to dodge, tied it to his back.

"Feng Qiao, if you still consider me your aunt, take Huai Xu away right now."

Feng Qiao reached out to take Huai Xu's hand, but Huai Xu shook it off, saying, "Feng Qiao! If you want to leave, go by yourself! I'm not going with you!"

At that moment, one of my arms was finally freed from the air, and in the next instant, I raised my hand and slapped Huai Xu across the face.

With a crisp "smack," five clear finger marks appeared on the surface of the locust tree.

"God...mother?" Huai Xu's pupils shrank drastically, his face filled with disbelief, and his other hand, which was gripping mine, slowly slipped away.

I raised her for ten years and never laid a finger on her.

At this moment, seeing the other me in her pupils, I felt so unfamiliar... It turns out that hurting the person you love most can make you unrecognizable.

Lin Zhong supported me as I trembled and said to the two of them, "Stop pressuring her."

Feng Qiao pulled Huai Xu into the secret passage, and Lin Zhong sealed the furnace wall piece by piece. Huai Xu's suppressed sobs gradually became inaudible.

I rubbed my eyes and said to Lin Zhong, "Finally, I can get a good night's sleep. You should go and rest too."

I slept soundly until dark, and woke up to rain pattering against the windowpane.

I lit the oil lamp on the table and opened the cabinet. Deep inside the cabinet was the embroidered apron that my mother had left me; it had once been part of my wedding dress.

Twelve years ago, on a winter day, I happily wore them and sat in this room from dawn till dusk, but my beloved did not come. Instead, I received news that he had been ambushed and killed after the war between Shimen Fan and Nanguang, and that he had come from Dongchuan.

"Qingcheng, Axiang said that as long as he's alive, he'll definitely come back to find you!"

I couldn't help but sigh, taking out the ceramic jar from deep within the cabinet and gently wiping away the surface dust: Gao Tai, so many years have passed, and I still haven't sent you back to Dali, nor have I given you a proper burial. Now, it seems I have no other choice but to bury you in Nanguang. If you have a spirit in heaven, will you resent me...?

Upon arriving at the front house, Lin Zhong had already prepared dinner: a bowl of chicken soup and a plate of stir-fried hollyhock sprouts.

I picked up a piece of hollyhock with my chopsticks and put it in my mouth, nodding and saying, "Mmm, it's very fresh and tender, even better than Feng Qiao's stir-fry."

I've eaten food cooked by three men in my life—my dad when I was a child, Lin Zhong cooked for me for three years, and Feng Qiao came to the inn five years ago and has been cooking for me ever since. Without any emotional bias, in terms of skill, Lin Zhong is the best.

Lin Zhong remained silent and scooped a chicken leg for me.

"There's not much meat, but the taste is alright. There are two more outside, maybe we should stew them tomorrow too."

Lin Zhong remained noncommittal.

Unfortunately, the two people I usually talk to the most are not here. Although the meal was delicious, I ate it in a somewhat lonely way.

"Where's your drink? Not planning on having a drink tonight?" I chuckled self-deprecatingly. "Don't worry, I won't beg you for a drink."

"Boss, do you want to go somewhere to hide?"

"Where can we hide?" I said, twirling the chicken bone in my hand. "This troublemaker will only attract trouble wherever we hide."

"Besides, the inn is my home. I've lived here for thirty years. Qingcheng Inn is the culmination of my parents' life's work. The happiest and most carefree days of my life were spent here with them."

"Lin Zhong, do you know that the seat you are sitting in now is where my father used to sit? Sometimes, I even feel that they are still here, never having left."

"Besides Huai Xu and Feng Qiao, all my remaining attachments are here. I can't hide, and I don't want to hide."

Lin Zhong was silent for a moment: "Mine... is here too."

I put down the chicken leg bone, took a couple of sips of soup, and said, "Lin Zhong, have you ever thought about what kind of person you were before you came to the inn? Your family, your sect—all these years, do they still miss you, or are they hoping you'll come back?"

Lin Zhong turned his face away: "Boss, you're not keeping your word."

"I didn't keep my word?" As the employer, I believe I have fulfilled my responsibilities. "Lin Zhong, back then you promised to work for me, and you asked for the best wine in Rongzhou. Over the years, even when I was so poor I couldn't afford to eat, I've never shortchanged you on a single meal, have I?"

Lin Zhong's voice was somewhat cold: "Boss, you've changed."

I rested my chin on my hand and said, "How have I changed? Tell me."

Lin Zhong lowered his head: "When we encountered difficulties in the past, you never drove others away."

Yes, the carefree attitude of facing death in the past is something I can no longer do with my current state of mind; that's a carefree attitude exclusive to young people in their twenties.

Time flies, and youth is nowhere to be found.

I was also a little sad: "That's because the longer you spend time together, the more you care. All good things must come to an end. If it's over, let's all be well. Why bother gathering together to suffer together?"

Lin Zhong suddenly said, "Master, let me tell you a story."

I was surprised that someone who usually speaks less than three sentences a day and whose sentences rarely exceed ten words would volunteer to tell a story.

I waved my hand dismissively: "Go ahead and speak, I'm listening."

"When I was seventeen, I went to Sichuan to track down the murderers who killed my entire family. I found them and killed them one by one with my sword."

"The rain that day was even heavier than tonight. I used my last bit of strength to dig a hole, closed my eyes, lay down in it, and waited to be reunited with my family. Originally, everything was over, the grudges and debts were settled, and I had no regrets in dying."

"But, of all people, someone had to meddle and carry me here, and even gave me a name, telling me to call her 'sister'."

"She said she was my family, and I believed her for eight years. Now she wants to go back on her word." Lin Zhong looked at me and said slowly, "Boss, what do you think I should do?"

I cried uncontrollably: "Lin Zhong, where's your wine? Let's have a drink tonight, just one drink, I'll toast you!"

Lin Zhong sat silently for a long time, then suddenly got up, picked up an umbrella from the cabinet, and walked quickly towards the door.

I also heard the neighing of horses. One of them was very familiar, and the other was... I quickly wiped away my tears and got up to clear the dishes.

"Aunt!" Feng Qiao rushed into the courtyard, followed by Wei Ji and Lin Zhong.

"Feng Qiao, Lord Wei." I was about to speak when I didn't see Huai Xu.

"Don't worry, Qingniangzi." Wei Ji took off his rain hat. "I've temporarily placed Huai Xu in the prefectural office. Sometimes Yu keeps him company, so his safety shouldn't be a problem."

"Thank you, Lord Wei." I glared at Feng Qiao. "Didn't we agree to return to the Central Plains? Why did you end up at the prefectural government office?"

Feng Qiao lowered his head and remained silent. Wei Ji hurriedly said, "Fortunately, they let me know about this. Qing Niangzi, in public, Huai Xu is a citizen of Yuezhou; in private, you saved my life. If I had remained in the dark, wouldn't both public and private matters have been wasted?"

“It is not intentional to conceal this from you, sir. The Mahu tribe is located in Xunzhou. The Dong people are fierce and their customs are closed. The etiquette of the Han people cannot be understood by them. A direct confrontation would inevitably harm innocent people. After thinking it over, the most convenient option is to send Huai Xu and Feng Qiao away.”

Wei Ji nodded: "I see. Since the matter is so urgent, how many days do we have left to maneuver?"

I blurted out, "Five days."

Wei Ji took her hand and said, "I hope you can trust me, Madam Qing. Please let me make the arrangements for the next few days."

I also took his hand and said, "Qingcheng has unwavering faith in you, sir, and everyone in the inn will follow your arrangements."

Wei Ji put on his rain hat: "Take care, everyone. I'm going back to the prefectural government office now."

"I'll see you off, sir." Lin Zhong, Feng Qiao, and I saw Wei Ji off as he departed. "Take care on your journey, sir."

"Take care, Lord Wei!"

The mountain path was muddy and difficult to traverse. I watched his lone figure disappear into the rainy night, and I thought that by the time he returned to Junlian, it would be broad daylight...