Chapter 214 The Night God Bird's Bond.
Zhao Yu prepared a simple dinner, consisting of typical local dishes from Tianchi. There was braised tofu and cold mushroom salad, with a jar of clear soup beside them. In the center was a dish of unidentifiable ingredients, which Shen Lixia couldn't help but curiously pick up with her chopsticks.
After seeing it clearly, her hand, which was shoveling rice into her mouth, paused for a moment. The things clumped together between her chopsticks, mixed with dark sauce, were densely packed together – the same tiny ants she had seen on the tree earlier. The sour smell hit her nostrils, strangely enticing, sending shivers down Shen Lixia's spine. She steeled herself and put it in her mouth.
The taste was surprisingly good, quite suitable as an appetizer. She glanced at the others.
Zhao Yu and Liang Shi were clearly used to this. As ordinary people from Tianchi, they had learned how to find food in the wild almost from a young age. They had probably studied the large spider and caterpillars she had just seen in various ways.
Su Jiang and Xi Mengsi ate as usual, but the latter asked, "Were the mushrooms thoroughly cooked?"
Liang Shi couldn't help but laugh: "What, are you afraid we'll poison you?"
Simmons shook her head. "The fungi here are generally not poisonous enough to kill me, but I still don't really want to see Great-Grandma right now."
"We stir-fry it until dry and let it cool before mixing it," Zhao Yu said. "This is our food for the winter."
Tianchi Lake doesn't get cold until late winter. At that time, there's less food available, so it's necessary to prepare some easily stored food for the winter.
Shen Lixia picked up a piece with her chopsticks. When she bit into the mushroom, it was bursting with fresh and fragrant flavor, surpassing the richness of ordinary meat without being greasy. The edges were crispy from being stir-fried, and the aroma emanating from the oil was mellow. It was clear that mushroom oil had been added to the sauce, making it a way of eating that combines the original broth with the original food.
It's delicious.
She secretly glanced at Qiao Yanshen, whose expression was normal as he chewed his food in small bites. In the past, when she made late-night snacks, Qiao Yanshen never ate much either. Gradually, Shen Lixia learned how much to make and often only filled the bowl halfway with rice.
She knew her senior's tastes and appetite, and also knew when she was most interested in tasting food.
As he watched, Qiao Yanshen suddenly sped up his pace and put the bowl down.
Shen Lixia's thoughts were broken by this clear voice, and she quickly lowered her head.
The young woman stood up and said, "I'm done eating." She then picked up her bowl and chopsticks to wash them. Zhao Yu pointed to the water vat and told her where to rinse her mouth and cleanse herself.
"There are only two rooms available. One of them doesn't have a bed, so you'll have to make do with sleeping on the floor." Zhao Yu said apologetically, "We've never let anyone stay here before."
When the two women's mothers and sisters came, only the elderly women would stay; the others, who lived nearby, would naturally leave in the evening.
Qiao Yanshen nodded readily: "I'll go clean up first and then get the cushions and sheets."
She left the table first, and Shen Lixia subtly lost interest in tasting the exotic dishes, and could only silently move her cheeks, finding them tasteless.
After a while, she remembered something: "Did they find anything out while exploring Kunlun Mountain?"
Liang Shi took a moment to react, then shook his head and said, "I've never heard of it. Ordinary people like us don't dare to get close; we've mostly heard about it from legends. The elders say that Kunlun Mountain is a place where ice and fire coexist, with nine rivers flowing underground, and that powerful demons still guard its depths."
Seeing that Zhao Yu no longer stopped her, she put down her chopsticks and began to speak slowly.
There is an ancient story about Tianchi.
Kunlun Mountain was once a sacred mountain shrouded in ancient dragons, a holy place where the Yin Lord once lingered. Numerous divine birds inhabited the mountain, accompanying the true dragons in creating clouds and rain; one such bird, called "Rain Master," derived its name from this.
This was a young divine bird. She was too young to leave her mother's side except when the dragon called upon her to bring rain. But birds are naturally playful, and the more they were confined, the more they struggled. So one day, she secretly ran down the mountain.
Just then, a young girl from the mortal realm lost her way and came down to the foot of the mountain in the thick fog surrounding Kunlun Mountain. The white mist was so graceful that it seemed as if she had stepped into a fairyland. She thought she had lost her way and accidentally entered the realm of immortals, and that one day thereafter would be ten years in the mortal realm. She was both surprised and anxious, and burst into tears.
The Rain Master happened to hear the crying and followed the sound. The two were fortunate enough to become acquainted. The Rain Master sent her away from the sacred mountain, and she told the Rain Master about the smallest and most ordinary things in human life.
The Rain Master imparted the knowledge of the gods to her—farming, writing, poetry… These endowed the young girl with extraordinary abilities, and the human villages surrounding Kunlun Mountain gradually prospered. The young girl became a schoolteacher in the village, and all of this was recorded and passed down through the ages.
Later, she died peacefully in her sleep. The divine bird seemed to sense her passing, circling nine times above her tomb and crying mournfully. The boy's name was lost to time, but people remembered that she always brought accurate rain forecasts for the tribe, so they named her after the divine bird.
Many people only know the beginning of the story; the rest is what Liang Shi learned from her family's collection of books. Her mother was on good terms with the chieftain, so she had a wealthier family than most, which allowed Liang Shi to study diligently in her childhood without having to work in the fields.
"Later, people gave the Rain Master many names, such as Bluebird, Luan Fairy, Moon-Avoiding... The last one seems to be that she would return to the mountain every night, as if hastily avoiding the moonrise. There is a local saying in Tianchi: 'When Kunlun fog appears, it is an omen of divine birds forming a bond; when the Rain Master is lost, how can one know whether it is good or bad fortune?' It means that disaster and fortune go hand in hand, and fate is unpredictable."
"But you can go to the Taiyin Temple to ask those cultivators who went to investigate."
Liang Shi said with a smile.
She glanced at the sky outside and said, "There are more people tonight, so I feel more at ease. Usually, it's just me and Ayu, and I'm really scared. After all, I've heard that those evil spirits can lure people away, disguised as familiar faces, using familiar voices..."
Shen Lixia felt a chill run down her spine upon hearing this. "So clever!" She had encountered those drought demons before, which were utterly ferocious, but this kind of monster could even mimic them. It was truly becoming more and more cunning.
"Any traces of those evil spirits?"
“We rarely investigate such matters proactively. We only heard that the chieftain had previously spread rumors that they roam around and that we should be careful at night. It’s best not to live alone, otherwise you’ll easily suffer during the day as well.”
She yawned. During their conversation, they finished their meal and began clearing the dishes. After washing up, Shen Lixia offered her bed to Xi Mengsi and Su Jiang, letting them fight over it amongst themselves, and went to the room where they slept on the floor.
Qiao Yanshen had already gone to sleep. There were bookshelves and a table here, and a faint smell of ink, so it was obviously a study. It was located at the back of the room, so there was a side door next to it.
Perhaps someone had a special intention, allowing someone to open the door and go for a walk when they got tired of reading. The paper curtains were rolled up on the window, and the moonlight shone down, casting a soft white glow on the ground, like sand soaked in seawater.
She also got a blanket for Shen Lixia and had already made the bed. However, what was particularly jarring was a book between the two sides, like some kind of barrier, clearly indicating the boundary between the two of them. Shen Lixia took off her boots and lay down in bed, picking up the book with one hand, only to find that it was a journal written by Qiao Yanshen.
A pen was tied to the notebook with a string.
The ballpoint pen that Qiao Yanshen brought from the modern world was almost out of ink, making it seem so out of place.
She glanced at Qiao Yanshen, and after confirming that her breathing was steady, she carefully curled the corner of the paper, wanting only to see the last page.
A small note caught my eye:
I knew you would see it.
Please don't be angry with me anymore, okay?
The last sentence, it's as if you can hear her pressing her lips to her ear and whispering softly.
Even her questioning tone carried a faint smile, slightly soft, and with a slight upward tilt, it revealed a hint of caution and grievance.
Shen Lixia took out her pen and wrote:
"Then don't leave me, okay?"
I want to go with you.
She put the pen back, turned over, and belatedly realized the absurdity of her actions. She couldn't help but curl the corners of her mouth, not minding that the book was like a line separating them.
The story Liang Shi told was very interesting; Qiao Yanshen would definitely like it. She missed it, but he could tell it again.
Perhaps because she had something on her mind, her dream was somewhat chaotic, and in the end, she seemed to become the boy in the story, standing in a vast fog. This fog should have instilled a sense of fear and disorientation, but she carried a lamp, illuminating her surroundings, as if waiting for someone to come.
Therefore, I am no longer afraid.
After an unknown amount of time, a figure slowly walked over.
She was a young boy who also looked quite young. She wore a light blue dress, the fabric of which was as smooth as the most expensive silk, and a cloak made of feathers draped over it.
The boy emerged from the mist and silently drew closer to her. Shen Lixia opened her mouth, feeling as if her mouth was out of control, yet she managed to utter a few words in a daze, though she couldn't understand what they were.
She strained to feel and listen, and finally heard herself calling out—
"Rain Master?"
The girl looked up when she heard the call. She then saw that the other person's amber eyes, which were staring at her, were filled with round, wet tears.
She said...
Shen Lixia woke up with a start.
She was still groggy when she felt someone hugging her from behind. A familiar scent enveloped her, a faint coolness and fragrance wafted over, and two arms wrapped gently around her waist, as if afraid of waking her.
Just as he was about to say something, the last syllable slipped from his lips before being tightly covered by a hand.
"Shhh."
Qiao Yanshen's voice murmured in her ear, low and slightly hoarse. She felt as if she were being drawn into a layer of fine salt by that voice.
“Listen carefully,” the young man whispered, “Don’t speak.”
Shen Lixia finally came to her senses and held her breath. Since Qiao Yanshen said that, there must be some kind of commotion.
Just then, she finally heard a rhythmic knocking sound coming from the door directly in front of her.
Du, du.
The wind seemed to stand still, leaving only the knocking, persistent and unwavering, as if the person knocking didn't need a break, continuing for quite some time.
But when Shen Lixia released her divine sense to sense it, no fluctuations came. The shadows outside seemed to be cast among the leaves, swaying slightly and flickering in the pale and deep moonlight.
Thump, thump. Continuously.
Shen Lixia's heart tightened, and cold sweat soaked her back.
There's something outside the door.
Not a living person.
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Author's note: This is all fictional and has little to do with the real Kunlun Mountains. Just enjoy it for fun.
People from Yunnan, please don't hit me... (just kidding). When I was little, I read an article about cold pickled ants, and I was really curious because it described them as incredibly delicious. Since I couldn't have it myself, I wanted the main characters to try it. This person still loves writing about food...
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