Chapter 18
It is rare for there to be snow in the south.
There is revelry every night in the Hong Kong Coliseum.
One group of people left, and another group came.
Yan Nanzhi stood up and checked the heater in the room. Turning back, she saw the two children snuggled up to each other, sound asleep. A soft smile softened her expression. She gently walked over to stroke Gu Luoyan's head and tucked the corner of Mao'er's quilt.
Then it became difficult to fall asleep.
Yan Nanzhi put on her winter clothes, opened the wooden door, looked back at the sleeping children, and closed the door again. Finally, only a ray of bright moonlight came through the gap, which was quickly lost in the darkness.
Later in the night, I could still hear the clamor coming from the distant red light. The wind howled in the cold night, and countless fallen lives danced with it. Withered and decaying, the moonlight drowned out the stifled laughter in the distance.
Yan Nanzhi was waiting for someone. Suddenly I remembered the last flock of geese migrating south that I had seen earlier.
They flew to the unknown south, escaping from the cage that imprisoned their wings.
How nice it is, they still have the right to choose.
Yan Nanzhi's greatest wish in life was to see a heavy snowfall. She grew up in the south and was later sold to Mingjing, where she never had the chance to see snow.
The moon hung in the night sky, and in the middle of it there seemed to be a shadow of osmanthus.
The person she was waiting for came.
A black shadow climbed over the courtyard wall, then leaped up, landed, and came in front of Yan Nanzhi.
"Bai Lang." Yan Nanzhi called him.
The night wind messed up the man's hair. He seemed to be running in a hurry, still panting. His tall and strong figure blocked Yan Nanzhi's way, casting a shadow. And Yan Nanzhi stood in his shadow.
He raised the teapot in his hand to signal, but deliberately avoided Yan Nanzhi's gaze, not daring to look her in the eye.
"Bai Lang, why are you so afraid of me?" Yan Nanzhi said and took another step towards him.
"I dare not..." Bai Lang bowed and retreated.
"Then why are you blushing?" Yan Nanzhi laughed at him.
Bai Lang didn't answer.
Yan Nanzhi still smiled and stopped teasing him. She walked forward and tried to take the teapot from his hand.
But he took it back and said, "Be careful, it's hot."
Realizing his impoliteness, Bai Lang lowered his head again, saying only "I'll pour tea for Ji Zi" and hurried to the stone table in the yard.
The wind blew the fallen leaves in the yard, and Yan Nanzhi walked back and sat down beside the stone table.
She kept looking at Bai Lang, with a smile in her eyes all the time.
Seeing him pouring tea for herself, she asked Bai Lang to pour a cup for herself as well.
When you drink the hot tea, the bitterness turns into sweetness.
The sound of the wind is in my ears, and the absurd things in the world are everywhere.
The red light over there was still on, swaying wildly in the wind. The chatter gradually faded, and the two of them sat across from each other, drinking several cups in silence. Yan Nanzhi suddenly looked up at the moon in the sky.
She asked if she was sick.
She likes to sit alone like this, unable to sleep every night, and even invites Bai Lang to come here at midnight to drink tea in the cold wind.
She said she suddenly hated the place.
She began to yell at the guests and even resisted, using sharp weapons to defend herself.
When Mammy came to persuade her, she smashed everything until she scared Mammy away.
She accepted the madam's punishment with a smile. No matter how badly she was injured, she would threaten death if she was dressed up as the charming Yan Nanji again, and she would never appear in that disgusting pavilion again.
Yan Nanji is crazy.
Everyone says so.
Only the children in the Hong Kong Coliseum like to play with her.
So we had a few rare autumn days to pick fruit together.
Bai Lang poured tea for Yan Nanzhi again, but she grabbed his collar.
"Bai Lang, tell me the truth, am I really crazy?"
Shiro shook his head.
Yan Nanzhi smiled. She did not let go, but pulled Bai Lang closer. Yan Nanzhi leaned over and sniffed him.
Then he let him go: "You listened to my advice and stopped drinking."
"Jizi said she didn't like it, Shiro remembers it." Shiro said in a calm voice.
"How wonderful." Yan Nanzhi's fingers curled around the teacup. She suddenly raised the cup towards the moon in the sky.
“I raise my glass to the bright moon, and my shadow and I become three people.”[1]
After saying this, he drank facing the moon.
Bai Lang looked at her, the person drifting in the wind, her eyes full of loneliness and having nowhere to go.
Suddenly feeling distressed, he couldn't help but speak, he spoke haltingly: "Ji Zi... have you ever thought about leaving?"
Yan Nanzhi turned her head to look at him. She was stunned for a moment, then suddenly a layer of bitterness spread across her face: "I don't miss you for even a moment."
"But how can I leave? It may seem like a glorious life, but once I leave this Hong Kong Coliseum, I will be nothing but a worthless body, trampled upon by thousands of people."
"Haha..." Yan Nanzhi turned the teacup over and let the wind blow through her body.
"Even if I'm redeemed, I'm just handing my life over from the madam to someone else."
"Unlike you, Bai Lang. You can practice martial arts, do labor, and get what you want step by step. But I, as a woman, will always be a man's vassal."
Tears welled up in Yan Nanzhi's eyes. "I can't escape, Bai Lang."
Shiro wanted to retort, but he didn't know where to begin. In the end, all he could say was, "Himeko, it's cold."
Yan Nanzhi chuckled and slowly stood up. "Look, you're like this too. I don't blame you."
"Let's go, it's time to go back to the house. I'm sorry that you came to accompany me today, Yan Nanji, I won't see you off." She walked straight to the house without turning back to look.
That night the wind was strong, and the air around me was filled with ghosts crying. Only the bright moon in the sky was quiet and peaceful, pondering the affairs of the world alone.
Yan Nanzhi walked to the porch and was about to push the door open when he was stopped by someone who suddenly rushed up from behind.
"Hmm? What else?"
"Nan-Nanzhi..." the man stuttered. The usual grayness and darkness in his eyes was gone. "I am your warrior, Ji Zi's warrior. I will do anything for you, even risk my life."
"Himeko wants to leave. Shiro will take you."
"If Jizi doesn't mind, Bailang will work. Although he won't become rich, he will definitely be able to eat his fill. Jizi just needs to do something that makes him happy. When one day Jizi meets a good man, Bailang will leave of his own accord and never return."
Yan Nanzhi was speechless and just looked at him silently, with a bitter look in her eyes. Finally, she raised her hand and knocked on Bai Lang's head.
"Could it be that practicing martial arts has damaged your brain? How dare you say such a stupid thing?"
"Shiro, Shiro's words are sincere."
"Silly." Yan Nanzhi didn't push the door again. She passed Bai Lang and stood beside him.
"You know that in this world, all marriages are decided by the father and the mother. I have no father and no mother, so how can I expect to meet a good person?"
"Bai Lang, you just called me Nanzhi, why are you calling me Ji Zi now?" She suddenly changed the subject.
Bai Lang hesitated and said hurriedly, "I dare not."
"Since I have no father or mother, I will take heaven and earth as my mirror." Yan Nanzhi hooked her little finger with Bai Lang's little finger.
"If there is a true lover in this world, I don't want to look for him anymore, he is right beside me."
"Jizi..."
"Call me Nanzhi."
"The road ahead may be a dead end, do you know that?" Yan Nanzhi asked him finally.
This time the man did not hesitate any longer, and instead interlocked his little fingers to form five fingers.
"My life depends on Jizi... Nanzhi."
"stupid."
·
Red leaf flowers bloom in the vase.
It has been decided. Tomorrow at the hour of Yin, we will escape from Mingjing from the northwest entrance, around the moat.
A few days ago, Yan Nanzhi suddenly discovered that the cat no longer came to his yard to play.
She asked Qiu Niang, who replied that the cat was ill. The courtyard lost some of its laughter, and suddenly became quiet and chilly.
Yan Nanzhi prepared two gifts. He called Gu Luoyan over, gave her one, and asked her to take the other to Mao'er. Yan Nanzhi took Gu Luoyan out for a bowl of fish bone noodles. Gu Luoyan had been pestering Yan Nanzhi for this bowl of noodles for a long time, and finally got what she wanted.
On the way back from eating noodles, they met a musician who often came to the South Court to perform. That was the first time Yan Nanzhi really introduced her to Gu Luoyan.
He was a very beautiful person.
He is also a person who was born with a disease.
The musician had pale white pupils. Yan Nanzhi said she was born with color deficiency. Although she was not blind, she could only vaguely see the things around her.
That's why she can't be Ji Zi.
Yan Nanzhi said that if she had any problems in the future, she could ask the musician for help.
Treat her as a sister.
Gu Luoyan shook her head and said no. Yan Nanzhi smiled and stroked her hair without saying a word.
The sun sets in the west, half gilded and half misty purple.
Yan Nanzhi led Gu Luoyan forward and instructed again:
"Luo Yan, read the musician's name again."
"The musician's surname is Dou and his name is Shiqiu. Why are you talking nonsense today, sister?" Gu Luoyan said dissatisfiedly.
"That's not nonsense." Yan Nanzhi walked slowly holding Gu Luoyan's hand.
"But sister, I'm afraid I can't accompany Luo Yan to see the sea."
"Why?"
Yan Nanzhi didn't answer anymore, but just smiled and urged Gu Luoyan to leave quickly.
The red light is about to come on, and the corrupt and decadent night is coming again.
——
Qiu Niang lit a lamp and walked down the damp stairs. An ugly rat-woman led the way. A stench mixed with the smell of blood blew towards her, staining the moss clinging to the rocks black.
When they reached the end, the rat woman stepped aside, and Qiu Niang bowed and said, "South Court Su Qiu is pleased to see you, my Lord."
A pale face turned around, and the madam twisted her body and walked down from the upper seat. She looked down at Qiu Niang and said, "What brings you here?"
"I'm here to report that Princess Yannan is about to escape."
——
The cat sat under a weeping willow, feeling bored. Her mother had warned her not to leave the house for the next few days, but she wouldn't tell her why. She had already been trapped in the courtyard for seven days and couldn't stand it any longer. A bird happened to land in the yard, and the cat pounced on it. The bird, startled, flew away, around the high wall, and disappeared.
The cat chased the bird all the way to the wall, muttering to itself, "I'm chasing the bird, I'll be back in a moment." Then it used its hands and feet to climb up the wall and climb out of the house.
The Hong Kong Coliseum, which should be quiet during the day, was unusually lively today. Cat was drawn to the sound of gongs and drums from the other side. He glanced back at the courtyard, then, without giving it any further thought, responded to the sounds.
Following the sound to the side of the alley, I found no one watching. Only a procession marching along, beating drums and gongs.
The cat stopped, but before she could think, a man with a green face and fangs suddenly turned around and faced her, scaring the cat so much that she trembled.
The man was wearing a mask and performing extremely strange dance steps, singing and dancing around the cat.
The gongs and drums in that row suddenly stopped.
They all glanced at the black flag planted on the door not far away, then turned around and started beating drums and gongs towards the cat.
The man with a green face and fangs took out a wooden bowl filled with water and poured the water in the bowl on the cat without saying a word.
Before the cat could react, someone grabbed its hands and it couldn't move.
She panicked and wanted to make a sound, but the green-faced man suddenly grabbed a rooster from somewhere, bit through the rooster's comb with his mouth in front of the cat, and smeared the blood from the rooster's comb on the cat's forehead with his fingertips.
While painting, he muttered to himself.
The rooster's neck was then cut with a knife, and blood stained its feathers red and flowed all over the ground.
The cat was surrounded by four or five people in the queue, dancing and yelling. Then it was lifted up and put on the wooden cart in the middle of the queue.
But she suddenly fell silent, her eyes wide open, not blinking.
It was as if only a shell was left, neither crying nor making a fuss.
The gongs and drums sounded again and the team continued to move forward.
When they arrived at the door where the flag was, someone took it down.
Maoer remembered that the person living in this house was a girl who was unfortunately pregnant and the baby was born just a few days ago.
——
After knocking on the door three times, Yan Nanzhi opened the door and saw Bai Lang.
"Nanzhi." Bai Lang called her, "It's almost Yin hour."
Yan Nanzhi put on her lightest clothes, took the hand that Bai Lang offered her, and walked out the door.
"Let's go."
The night was quiet, and even the activities in the Hong Kong Coliseum came to an end at the hour of Yin.
Bai Lang took Yan Nanzhi and bypassed every patrol post. The two walked carefully, either climbing up the wall and flipping over the tiles, or walking in the shadows. The route was determined by Bai Lang after walking on it several times, so the journey was smooth and they soon arrived at the northwest entrance.
Bai Lang took out the iron tools from his bag and began to carve a support on the wall for his feet.
——
A bonfire was doused with kerosene and ignited instantly. People around it worshipped and danced towards the object hanging in the center.
——
Qiu Niang got up at night and quietly opened Yan Nanzhi's door. She held up a lamp and looked out. As expected, there was no one in the room.
——
After Bai Lang finished chiseling the wall, he tied a piece of brocade around Yan Nanzhi's waist and held the other end. Bai Lang climbed up the iron yoke first, then said to Yan Nanzhi, "Nanzhi, I'm going to try it out first. I'm still worried about what might happen. You wait here for me, please... wait until I'm sure you're all right before I pull you over, okay?"
Yan Nanzhi nodded and agreed.
Bai Lang tightened the brocade in his hand and said, "As agreed, I will take you away." After that, he turned around and climbed up. After a while, he reached the top.
Yan Nanzhi watched from below and breathed a sigh of relief. Suddenly, there was a voice behind him, accompanied by a burst of fire.
The ribbon around her waist was suddenly pulled, and Yan Nanzhi was pulled against the wall. Then, the brocade fell from above and broke into two pieces.
Yan Nanzhi was stunned for a moment, and heard a dog barking behind him.
She tried to climb up the iron shackles. Looking up, Yan Nanzhi saw the freedom she had imagined so many times was just around the corner. She gritted her teeth and persevered, but fate played a trick on her. The iron shackles beneath her feet suddenly loosened, and just as Yan Nanzhi was about to step over, she lost her balance and one of her legs got caught in the shackles, tearing it apart. She fell back to the ground, gasping in pain.
A piece of meat was still hanging on the iron shackle on the wall, dripping with blood.
The fire grew closer, and a large group of people surrounded her.
Yan Nanzhi looked up at the high wall for the last time.
——
Bai Lang fell in a pool of blood, with the piece of brocade still tightly grasped in his hand.
Countless blades pierced his body.
He looked at the other end of the high wall and murmured "Nanzhi" in his mouth.
——
When Gu Luoyan woke up, he was covered in sweat. He had not slept well.
He was in a panic, as if he was eager to find something.
Until I saw a conch on the table.
That was the gift her sister gave her yesterday.
Gu Luoyan cried and got out of bed, clamoring to go to the South Courtyard. The maids tried to persuade her but she would not listen. Before daybreak, Gu Luoyan tripped over an oil lamp in the room.
——
The wall reflected the burning flames.
The figures overlapped and swallowed up Yan Nanzhi.
Yan Nanzhi finally smiled.
She said, don't be sad.
The geese have flown south, leaving no regrets.
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