Seeing old friends
Si Mucheng never expected that Lele would be connected to the long-tongued ghost that had terrified him.
A sense of unease welled up inside him, whether for Lele or the gossipy ghost, he didn't know, but he wasn't feeling well.
His second aunt's husband didn't notice the change in his mood and cheerfully offered to buy him pancakes, but Si Mucheng wasn't interested. So the two of them stopped shopping, bought their things, and rode their motorcycle home.
The trip wasn't as long as he'd imagined. His second aunt was busy at home, and Qin Yu was doing her homework in her room. After putting the things he'd bought for them and the vegetables Lele had given him on the table, Si Mucheng seemed to have nothing to do. He wandered around the room for a while. There was still a long time before dinner, and he couldn't help but think of Wen Ya again.
Her act of going to find Lele clearly showed that she knew her. Was that candy... told to her by the gossipy ghost?
Si Mucheng could no longer sit still, so he went out and headed towards the desolate bamboo forest. He had a feeling that Wen Ya would still be there.
This was his third time visiting the desolate mountain. Perhaps because there were so many treasures on the mountain, not many people came even during the day. Si Mucheng felt uneasy and couldn't help but wonder what was so special about this place that made Wen Ya keep going deeper and deeper.
He muttered to himself as he walked into the bamboo grove, where Wen Ya was indeed there.
Hearing footsteps, Wen Ya turned her head and glanced at Si Mucheng. Si Mucheng's expression remained calm and composed, as if he didn't care about his arrival.
When Si Mucheng saw the long-tongued female ghost standing opposite her, she felt no fear, only pity.
"Why are you here again?" Wen Ya said calmly.
Si Mucheng opened his mouth but didn't answer. He simply asked, "What are you doing here?"
Wen Ya was just asking casually. With legs as long as Si Mucheng's, of course he could go wherever he wanted. But what Wen Ya was curious about was why this person, who was so timid, kept coming here even though he knew there were ghosts.
She glanced at him, but still answered his question: "Sending away the soul."
This was a new term that Si Mucheng had never heard of before. He chuckled and joked, "I've only ever heard of calling back the soul."
Wen Ya looked at him as if he were an idiot.
Si Mucheng didn't realize that his attention was on the long-tongued ghost. Perhaps he had seen her photos from when she was alive, but even now, though she still had that terrifying appearance with her long tongue sticking out, he felt that she was meek and obedient, even though she was rolling her eyes.
Si Mucheng scratched his head, thought for a moment, and said, "You... don't worry, Lele is a sensible and good child."
Upon hearing Lele's name, the long-tongued ghost seemed very excited, taking two steps forward and making whimpering noises.
Wen Ya frowned: "How did you know?"
Si Mucheng felt that he couldn't explain it clearly in a few words, and Wen Ya might misunderstand him as following her, so he just vaguely said, "Coincidence, coincidence."
Wen Ya, however, had a different meaning: "I'm asking you, how did you know the child's name? Did you ask her?"
"That's so strange, of course I'm asking."
Wen Ya sighed: "Asking someone's name is the beginning of a bond. If you only meet them once, such a bond is useless."
Si Mucheng asked in surprise, "How can it be useless? Don't you ask someone's name before making friends with them?"
Upon hearing this, Wen Ya looked at him with an ambiguous expression, and for a moment, she remained silent.
The gossipy ghost whimpered twice more at Si Mucheng, but he couldn't understand it. He figured the two women, mother and daughter, had a good relationship, and as a mother, she must have cared for her child. He thought for a moment and told her everything he knew: "Lele is currently staying at her aunt's house, but she'll come back to your own home during holidays. Don't worry, she's taking good care of herself and even grows vegetables. She gave me a lot; I'll try them tonight and see if they're really as delicious as she said..."
He rambled on and on, and Wen Ya, not expecting him to say so much, didn't interrupt him.
"...So don't worry too much, she will definitely be fine and grow up." She may not have her mother's protection, and there may be all sorts of difficulties on her way to grow up, but she can grow into a tree on her own instead of being a flower.
Wen Ya paused for a moment before saying to the long-tongued ghost, "Now that my wish has been fulfilled, it's time to leave."
The long-tongued ghost nodded, then bowed deeply to Si Mucheng, startling him. "Hey!" Si Mucheng exclaimed, unable to dodge, experiencing a ghost's bow for the first time in his life. He scratched his head, unsure what to do with his hands and feet. Suddenly, he asked, "Leave? Where is 'she' going?"
He was of course asking Wen Ya, but Wen Ya didn't answer him. Seeing that he had no intention of leaving, she didn't try to shoo him away. Instead, she paused for a moment and took out a yellow talisman from her small bag.
Si Mucheng stared at her curiously. She held the talisman between her right index and middle fingers, and a breeze stirred around her, causing the green bamboo leaves on the ground to sway.
Wen Ya remained calm, her eyelids slightly closed, and her voice was clear and crisp: "All things return to dust, and all delusions dissipate."
Si Mucheng's pupils dilated slightly. He saw the long-tongued ghost radiating a faint golden light. Then, Wen Ya softly shouted, "Break!"
The long-tongued demon suddenly turned into golden dust and vanished in an instant.
She simply vanished.
Before and after death, love, hate, and grudges vanish without a trace in an instant.
This must be the second time Si Mucheng has seen such a scene. He remembered that when he had a high fever, his grandmother had also turned into powder in a dreamlike state. It turned out that all of this was real.
He asked blankly, "'Where did she go?'"
This time, Wen Ya offered a rare explanation: "Reincarnation."
"Then... then 'she' just disappeared like that?"
Wen Ya sighed: "It's not disappearance, but reincarnation. This is the final destination of ghosts."
Si Mucheng responded with an "oh," unable to articulate his feelings, and then asked a foolish question: "Then... what about Lele?"
Wen Ya paused for a moment, her voice filled with sorrow: "From the moment she passed away, the mother-daughter bond between her and her daughter in this life came to an end."
Yes, the long-tongued ghost had long since passed away. He probably saw "her" wandering the world as a ghost, so he always felt that "she" had never truly left. It seemed that only now did Si Mucheng understand the matter of life and death. He asked, "Did Grandma also... go to reincarnation?"
Wen Ya remained silent for a moment before saying meaningfully, "All spirits will eventually be reincarnated."
No matter how deep the bond, it can only last a lifetime.
Wen Ya seemed to be thinking of her maternal grandfather, and she remained silent with Si Mucheng, not moving.
The two stood in the bamboo grove for a while, watching the smoke rise from distant chimneys. Si Mucheng belatedly realized it was almost dinnertime. He barely moved when Wen Ya, standing beside him, walked out of the grove faster than him. Si Mucheng paused, then caught up with her in two steps: "Where are you going?"
Wen Ya replied matter-of-factly, "Let's go home."
Si Mucheng knew he had asked another stupid question, so he shut his mouth and followed Wen Ya down the mountain.
They remained silent the whole way until Wen Ya saw the roof of her house, only then realizing that Si Mu Cheng had been following her all along, almost all the way home.
Wen Ya: "...Are you coming to my house for dinner?"
Si Mucheng choked for a moment, then stammered, "Um... can I come with you?"
Wen Ya was surprised: "Why are you following me? I can't cook, and I won't give you any food."
Si Mucheng's eyes lit up: "I can make it, I'll make it for you."
"...Who cooked this?" Wen Ya frowned and asked him again, "Why are you following me?"
Si Mucheng said very sincerely, "Master, you are so powerful, only you can save me! I am really afraid that I will see a ghost again one day and I will not know what to do. How about we add each other as friends?"
Wen Ya looked up and met Si Mu Cheng's gaze. She was already tall, and Si Mu Cheng was almost a head and a half taller than her, his imposing figure creating a sense of oppression in front of her, like a wall. This "wall" looked pitiful at the moment, and she couldn't understand why he was afraid, so she remained speechless.
She looked at him for a while before speaking: "I told you, don't call me Master."
Si Mucheng readily complied: "Okay, great master! Whatever you say goes!" His face was full of flattery, and his sycophantic nature was overflowing.
Wen Ya said helplessly, "It's no use you following me. I'll be leaving Xiqiao Village in a couple of days, and besides, you'll have to go home after summer vacation. Why don't you get used to it? Ghosts generally don't harm people, so they won't affect you. After all, whether you can see them or not doesn't change the fact that ghosts exist."
That's true, but Si Mucheng clearly grasped another key point: "Are there also harmful ghosts?"
Wen Ya pondered for a moment: "Anything can happen."
She didn't say it explicitly, but in Si Mucheng's view, not denying it was confirmation, which made him even more afraid.
From childhood, he was a staunch materialist. He would watch ghost movies and then forget them, never believing in them, and because he didn't believe, he wasn't afraid. But now he had seen them with his own eyes. Although so far, the ghosts he had seen hadn't done anything particularly terrifying except for their gruesome deaths, he was still afraid.
He's genuinely scared; who wouldn't be? Now that they're telling him some ghosts can really harm people, he'll cling even tighter to the charlatan's coattails.
"Please, great god, just treat me like a subordinate. I can serve you tea and water, and I promise to be obedient. I'll go wherever you go!" Si Mucheng hunched over, looking meek and submissive, almost begging Wen Ya to hug his legs.
Wen Ya awkwardly stepped back. She was used to being alone since childhood and didn't need anyone with her. Besides, she only sent souls away, not saved people, and she didn't understand why Si Mucheng felt that following her would make him less afraid. Logically, as a soul sender, she would only go to places with ghosts; if Si Mucheng was afraid, he should stay away from ghosts.
But Si Mucheng actually thought she could protect him?
As they spoke, they arrived at the Wen family's old house. Wen Ya unlocked the door and went inside. Si Mucheng naturally followed, but as soon as he stepped across the threshold, his vision blurred, and the sound of flapping wings and the wind they generated rushed towards him at the same time. Si Mucheng reacted quickly, turning his head to the side to avoid them.
"Holy crap!" Si Mucheng exclaimed, still shaken. "What the hell?!"
Before his eyes could focus, he heard a "clucking" sound. Si Mucheng looked down and saw the chicken he had seen through the window when he came here to find Wen Ya was now looking at him with a spirited expression.
Si Mucheng was taken aback: "It's you!"
Wen Ya had already called out, "Wen Xiaofeng, come here."
Si Mucheng was shocked: "Who are you calling? It? How come it has a name and a surname??"
The chicken clucked as it walked over and rubbed against Wen Ya's leg. Wen Ya bent down and petted it, quite puzzled by Si Mucheng's overreaction: "It's my family's, so it's normal for it to have the surname Wen."
Si Mucheng watched as the chicken fluttered and flew onto Wen Ya's shoulder. The sight of such a beautiful, aloof woman carrying a chicken on her shoulder was quite striking.
"But it...it's clearly a chicken, so why is it called Little Phoenix?"
Wen Ya frowned disapprovingly and said seriously, "Don't say that to its face, it can understand. Besides, there's an idiom 'hoping one's son becomes a dragon,' but I hope it becomes a phoenix instead."
Si Mucheng: "..."
He couldn't find the words to refute her for a moment, while Wen Xiaofeng, perched on Wen Ya's shoulder, stared at Si Mucheng with her two black bean-like eyes gleaming coldly.
Si Mucheng felt as if he had been looked down upon by a chicken.
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