Chapter 99 Letting Go (The End...)

Cheng Ying became increasingly depressed. She reverted to her previous state, lying in bed in a daze, neither eating nor drinking, neither laughing nor crying.

She wanted to escape, but she knew she couldn't escape Long Buxi's grasp.

His Gu worms are everywhere; as long as she shows any intention to escape, he can find her in no time and bring her back.

She was unwilling and resentful to stay in Pucang Village indefinitely.

She was in a dilemma, not knowing what to do, and could only protest silently in her own way.

Seeing that she had returned to her previous dejected state, Long Buxi felt both heartache and stubbornness, unwilling to let her leave, fearing that if she left, she would disappear again or never want to come back.

He held Cheng Ying's increasingly thin body and gently coaxed her to eat. He promised her that as long as she ate well, she could move freely in Pucang Village and not be confined to the stilted house. Only then did Cheng Ying respond.

She ate very little; not enough to starve to death, but not enough to kill her either—she was just barely clinging to life.

She would always wander around the village when Long Buxi was not in the stilted house, always accompanied by a bunch of Gu worms. Whenever she wanted to leave Pucang Village, those Gu worms would block her way, and she would turn back.

Long Buxi saw everything. As long as she didn't leave Pucang Village, he wouldn't care where she went.

On this day, the long-awaited clear sky finally appeared over Pucang Village.

Winter had arrived, and the weather was getting colder. Cheng Ying put on a thick Miao ethnic woolen cotton coat, stepped out of the stilted house, and strolled around downstairs, enjoying the warmth of the winter sun on her body.

Behind her followed a string of venomous snakes and scorpions, and many poisonous insects hung from her shoulders. When the villagers saw her, they all had a deep and taboo expression on their faces and avoided her.

Cheng Ying wandered aimlessly and unknowingly arrived at several stilted houses in the bamboo forest by the Zuowulin River.

Long Jin's parents were drying the medicinal herbs they had picked under the stilted house. Long Jin sat on a chair next to them, looking up at the sky and smiling foolishly.

When Long Jin's parents saw Cheng Ying, they were somewhat surprised. They probably knew about Cheng Ying's current predicament. Seeing how thin she was, after their initial surprise, they both showed heartache and pity, and came forward to ask Cheng Ying what she was doing there.

"I don't know why I came here," Cheng Ying said, looking confused. "I just felt too bored staying in the stilted house and wanted to come out for a walk."

Longjin's mother stepped forward, took her hand, and asked her in broken Chinese, "How did you get so thin?"

Cheng Ying was taken aback: "Have you lost weight? I don't think so. Maybe it's because I haven't been eating much lately."

Longjin's mother asked again, "Why...why aren't you eating?"

Cheng Ying looked up at the sky above the bamboo forest, at a sparrow flying towards the horizon. "I am imprisoned here, I have lost my freedom, and I feel pain and discomfort because of this. I can't eat. Whether I eat or not makes no difference to me."

Longjin's mother couldn't understand what she was saying, so Longjin's father translated it for her in Miao language before she could understand.

Longjin's mother remained silent for a while, probably unable to bear seeing Chengying grow so thin. She whispered a few words in Miao language in Longjin's father's ear. As if they had made a decision, Longjin's father asked Chengying, "Do you... want to leave here?"

Cheng Ying's spirits lifted: "Do you have a way to get me out of the village?"

The couple exchanged a glance, and Long Jin's mother nodded: "Yes."

Long Jin's father said, "We can ask Mei Shu to expel the worms from you and have her hold back Arnold so you can leave."

Cheng Ying was overjoyed, but also doubtful. "Why are you helping me? Will it do any good to ask Mei Shu? Is she really willing to help me get rid of Long Bu Xi's Gu worms?"

Long Jin's father glanced at Long Jin and said, "We help you because you helped us. You saved Long Jin from Arno. Although he is now mentally challenged, we as parents are already very grateful that he is alive. Mei Shu's husband is my cousin. When she had a difficult childbirth, my wife delivered her baby and saved her life. If we beg her, she will help us."

Cheng Ying hesitated: "If I leave Pucang Village and Long Buxi finds out, will he take his anger out on you and deal with you?"

Long Jin's mother smiled and said, "Don't worry, we have our own way of dealing with this."

Three days later, it will be the New Year for the Miao people of Pucang Village.

The festival customs of Pucang Village are different from those of the Han people. The whole village gathers together under the altar in the inner village to carry out activities such as dancing the lusheng (a traditional reed pipe instrument), bullfighting, horse racing, singing folk songs and choosing a spouse, which lasts for nearly ten days.

On the first day of the event, Cheng Ying put on Miao ethnic costume and reluctantly cooperated with Long Buxi to participate in the day's activities.

After that, she refused to participate in any more activities, citing reasons such as dislike and lack of energy, and stayed in the stilted house in a daze.

As the clan chief, Long Buxi had to be present during the festival, whether he liked it or not.

To prevent Cheng Ying from escaping, he placed twice as many Gu worms around her and left A Lan in the stilted house to monitor Cheng Ying's every move, so as to prevent Cheng Ying from escaping.

However, on the sixth day of the event, a Gu mother of the same type as Alan silently flew in front of Alan, attracting Alan's attention and drawing it away into the distance.

For some unknown reason, all the Gu worms in Cheng Ying's room were listless, lying on the ground, unresponsive.

When Cheng Ying noticed something was wrong with the Gu worms, Mei Shu, dressed in purple Miao clothing and carrying a string of bells, came to her room, jingling as she looked her up and down for a moment. She then sat down at the table and said, "You can leave now, but I need to give you a heads-up. You are now Arno's wife, and you promised to be with him for life. You can't break your promise. After you leave, you must come back as soon as possible. Otherwise, Long Buxi will go crazy and lock you up completely, and you will never be able to leave here again. Do you understand?"

Cheng Ying was silent for a few seconds before slowly speaking, "Why did you help me leave? Aren't you afraid that Long Buxi will be unhappy and come after you?"

"I'm afraid of him?" Mei Shu scoffed. "His Gu techniques are indeed powerful, but mine are no worse. If I really fight him to the death, it's not certain who will win or lose."

After saying that, she stared blankly at Cheng Ying's somewhat familiar features, trying to find Cheng Jiantong's shadow in her face, muttering to herself, "Helping you wasn't just helping you, it was also helping myself. If only I had been as stubborn as you, as insistent on being myself back then, I wouldn't have regretted it for the rest of my life..."

Cheng Ying left Pucang Village and had a smooth journey back.

She thought Long Buxi would come after her after she left, but he didn't.

After she left Pucang Village, Long Buxi did not chase after her, nor did any butterflies or other Gu insects come looking for her.

This gave her the illusion that Long Buxi didn't know she had left, or that he was simply testing her feelings for him.

Did Long Buxi not know she had left? Of course he knew. Half an hour after she left, he noticed something was wrong with his Gu worms. He rushed back to the stilted house and found that Cheng Ying's room was empty and all the Gu worms were on the verge of death.

Just as he was frantically searching for someone, Mei Shu appeared before him and told him that she had dealt with his Gu worms and made Cheng Ying leave.

Ignoring Long Buxi's extremely gloomy face, she reached out and gently patted his back, as if comforting him when he was a child. "Arno, I understand your deep love for Cheng Ying. You want to keep her by your side, to watch over her and take care of her at all times, so that you can feel at ease and secure."

“I used to think the same way you do. I felt that even if the person I liked didn’t love me back, and I couldn’t win their heart, I would still force them to stay by my side so that I would be happy.”

“But Arno, they are Han Chinese. Their thinking is different from our Miao people. They live in a civilized world. Their place is constantly progressing. They can’t give up the colorful world outside and live with us in this remote mountain valley, living that primitive life of working at sunrise and resting at sunset.”

"If we force them to stay by our side and put too much pressure on them, they will suffer from mental illness, sadness, injury, or even death. Is that the outcome you want?"

"Arno, do you want to watch Cheng Ying die? Haven't you seen how thin she's become, all skin and bones, since she stayed by your side? By forcing her to stay with you, you've caused her to develop a serious mental illness. If you stubbornly refuse to let go, she will die!"

"Arno, try letting go. Maybe there will be unexpected results. I can tell that Cheng Ying has feelings for you. She's gone, and maybe one day she'll come back to you after she's thought things through."

"Even if she doesn't come back to you, it's okay. You can go out and look for her, do what you can for her, and try to win back her heart."

“I will take care of the clan in your place. You can come back whenever you want. I am your aunt and your only relative. Although the deaths of your parents and brother back then left me with too many shadows, as your only elder, I still feel sorry for you. I can’t ignore your situation.”

Long Buxi remained silent, gazing at the entrance to Pucang Village in the direction Cheng Ying had left, but ultimately did not chase after her.

But in my heart I was silently chanting:

Cheng Ying, you'll come back, right?

**

The End.