Chapter 3: Life and Death Like a Dream
To repeat myself, Xie Huailing knew he was dead.
The last fragment of her memory was of the cracked ceiling and the smell of dust; she had no further consciousness.
The feeling of death was strange; she had become a feather. Light as a feather, she drifted aimlessly, without anything to cling to, experiencing whatever she felt. She also heard voices speaking in a language she couldn't understand, mentioning her name—perhaps the Black and White Impermanence, since she was truly dead. The voices even asked if she still had any attachments to the mortal world.
What did Xie Huailing reply? Oh...nonsense, did I want to die?
No one spoke then, and the feathers continued to flutter.
She didn't keep track of how much time had passed; what did time mean for the dead? Only the sudden sound of wind and water pulled and embraced her, and the hazy reflections of the water appeared. Xie Huailing didn't think about when she would be reincarnated; she drifted off to sleep in the water, unaware of anything else.
When she regained consciousness, her senses were no longer as blurred as when she was in a daze. What she heard and heard became clearer. It was a lot of words that she couldn't understand at all, plus a strong, sticky, medicinal smell. For a moment, she wished she could faint again, but she was choked by the heat that was suffocating her.
If she wasn't mistaken, she had a fever.
That's strange. How can a dead person have a fever? Could she have been reincarnated? If she was reincarnated, why does she still have memories?
Xie Huailing was completely confused. What she knew was that her internal organs felt like they were being roasted on a fire, the boiling heat threatening to dry her out, every part of her body was tormented, and a bitter taste lingered in her mouth. She desperately wanted to die again, and this time, when she passed through the underworld, she would remember to give it a bad review and set it ablaze again, because equality among all beings meant everyone would be burning up together.
But she couldn't give that bad review; a heavy, nauseating fever had been burning inside her for days. Broken dreams mingled with the gaps in her profuse sweat, making her struggle to finally break the fever and regain control of her throat.
She finally awoke from a long, agonizing sleep. The sunlight was just right, gently entering through the doors and windows, touching her slightly open eyes. She first saw a pale golden halo, which receded before revealing the orchid-filled room. Through a light gauze curtain in front of the bed, the wooden table and bookshelf appeared as indistinct as reeds in the soft light, their antique charm evident only in the furnishings. A few fragrant orchids sat languidly in a porcelain vase, their presence creating a chasm-like chasm between her own era and the world she had grown up in.
She realized she was lying on a couch, not a bed, and above her head on the couch was an ancient painting, its strokes aged and weathered. She was slightly lost in thought, and in that instant, she understood: she hadn't been reincarnated. She had transmigrated.
So that's what he meant by "Do you still have any attachments to this world?" Xie Huailing thought regretfully. She should have just asked for money.
There was no discomfort from the sweat left after the fever subsided. Upon closer inspection, a thin layer of fragrance could be detected, light and subtle. Xie Huailing struggled to sit up, and the brocade quilt slipped down, revealing the soft inner garment beneath, from which the faint fragrance emanated.
She tilted her head slightly, paused for a moment, and then heard light footsteps coming from outside the gauze curtain, growing closer as the movement of figures could be faintly seen against the curtain. Then, a fair hand gently lifted the curtain.
Two girls, around sixteen or seventeen years old, arrived. They wore their hair in double buns, dressed in light green silk skirts, and had their eyes lowered. The slightly taller girl looked up and met Xie Huailing's open eyes. A flash of surprise crossed her eyes, which quickly turned into joy. She was about to say something when a string of completely unfamiliar syllables came from her mouth.
“*&%￥#@*…” The girl spoke quickly, with obvious concern in her voice.
Xie Huailing couldn't understand a single word. A flash of confusion crossed her mind. She tilted her head, listened to the jumbled, seemingly random syllables, and confirmed that she didn't know any of the languages. Looking at the girl, only one word echoed in her mind: Huh?
What are they saying, babbling away?
She showed no normal reaction. The two girls exchanged a glance, their joy tinged with helplessness. The taller girl stopped trying to speak, quickly walked to the bedside, pulled back the gauze curtain, gently supported Xie Huailing's shoulders, and placed a thick brocade cushion behind her. The other girl turned and went out, returning a moment later with a tray. On the tray was a bowl of steaming, dark brown medicinal liquid, the strong smell of which made Xie Huailing's stomach churn. Beside it was a small blue-and-white porcelain dish containing several pieces of rather delicate, translucent pastries.
The bowl of medicine was carefully placed in front of Xie Huailing. The pungent, bitter smell made Xie Huailing instinctively shrink back, her brows furrowing. Seeing this, the tall girl quickly put down the bowl, picked up a pastry from a small dish, used silver chopsticks to pick up a small piece, and offered it to Xie Huailing's lips, her eyes filled with encouragement.
This was like trying to coax a child. Xie Huailing looked at the pastry, its color warm and smooth, resembling some kind of rice cake. She was indeed hungry, and thought to herself, "Fine, I'll just coax a child then," and reluctantly took a small bite. The pastry melted in her mouth, a sweet rice aroma with a faint hint of honey; it wasn't unpleasant. But after only a few chews, the strong smell of medicine wafted into her nostrils again, and the churning in her stomach intensified. She pushed away the pastry the girl offered again, turned her head away, and simply and clearly indicated her lack of interest.
The girls' faces showed worry. The taller girl picked up the bowl of medicine and gestured as if she were drinking it, her eyes pleading. Xie Huailing looked at the bowl of bitter liquid that seemed to have no bottom, and her resistance grew even stronger. As the saying goes, she would rather die than submit. She shook her head resolutely again, even turning her face slightly away.
The situation remained deadlocked when, just then, the light at the doorway dimmed slightly.
A silent, aloof yet highly noticeable aura instantly overwhelmed the smell of medicine and fragrance in the room. As if sensing this, the two girls stopped in unison, quickly placed the medicine bowl and pastry plate back on the tray, then bowed their heads, bent over, and nimbly retreated to the side, pressed against the wall.
The curtain was completely lifted by a hand with more defined knuckles.
A person walked in.
Xie Huailing's gaze was almost immediately fixed on the newcomer.
He was very tall, but his figure was unusually thin, as if he had just recovered from a serious illness or had been suffering from chronic diarrhea for a long time. He wore a deep red robe, the red of which did not represent celebration, but rather resembled the last remaining maple leaves in late autumn, carrying a kind of poignant beauty of burning out.
His face was pale and handsome, with sharp features, possessing a sickly elegance and a slightly sinister air. Most unsettling were his eyes, deep-set beneath his brow bone, their pupils an extremely dark color, like the black jade at the deepest part of a cold pool, now silently and calmly fixed upon her face. There was no scrutiny, no curiosity in his gaze, only a chilling coldness that could pierce through all appearances. Yet, within that coldness, Xie Huailing caught a glimmer of barely perceptible fire—a fire that must have been incredibly fierce.
Su Mengzhen coughed once, but the cough did not interrupt his unhurried pace. He walked straight to the sandalwood table a few steps away from the bed, lifted his robe and sat down.
Xie Huailing looked up, and she looked at the newcomer the same way he looked at her. Her heartbeat was steady, as if she were examining an object. Her gaze lingered on his pale face and upright posture, discerning his high status and concluding that he was not someone who could easily pique her interest.
The tall girl poured Su Mengzhen a cup of hot tea, leaned down and said a few words to him. He moved slowly, his fingers holding the thin porcelain cup, bringing the rim close to his lips, but he didn't drink immediately. His gaze pierced through the rising steam and landed on Xie Huailing's face.
He peered at Xie Huailing's expression, but she was already boredly looking at the medicine bowl that had been set down. She didn't even want to lift her eyelids, passing the time guessing what exactly was added to the dark, murky medicine; just smelling it was torture. She also thought about turning the bowl upside down, hoping she could guess where she had traveled to.
The atmosphere between the two froze, one scrutinizing the other's nonchalance, merging into silence, with only the sound of the wind remaining in the room.
Su Mengzhen finally took a sip of tea and put down the teacup. He stood up, and the distance between them suddenly closed in a few steps. Xie Huailing's thoughts had already wandered to the game she hadn't finished before she died. She saw what he was saying, but still couldn't understand it. She looked up at his face.
To make the language barrier more intuitive for this person, she cleared her throat and then uttered her first words upon waking: "I don't understand."
Su Mengzhen couldn't understand the completely unfamiliar language either, but he understood Xie Huailing's meaning. Su Mengzhen nodded slightly to her and placed his fingers on her wrist. He was checking her pulse, respecting the difference between men and women, only touching her fingers lightly.
Feeling her steady pulse, Su Mengzhen nodded to her again, released her, and said something. The two girls exchanged glances, then sat back down on the edge of the bed, looking troubled as they fed her the medicine again.
This was practically murder. Xie Huailing instantly retreated to the corner of the bed, shaking his head violently.
Seeing that she was really unwilling to drink the medicine, Su Mengzhen didn't say anything more. He asked the two girls to take the medicine out and left the pastries. She was still leaning against the corner. Su Mengzhen didn't make her show any fear. But the bowl of medicine made her grab the brocade quilt and wrap herself up tightly, only revealing her beautiful face. She seemed to be worried that he would force-feed her the medicine at any moment.
He looked at the listless and erratic person on the bed, this shadow that seemed to have fallen from the sky. The Mid-Autumn Festival moon hung high in the sky, overlooking the Golden Wind and Fine Rain Pavilion. His uncle's prophecy, the relic that sank to the bottom of the pool, the strange person who fell in the moonlight... all of these absurdly connected, pointing to the woman before him who couldn't even speak and whose behavior was abnormal.
fate?
The martial world is in turmoil, and Jin Feng Xi Yu Lou walks on thin ice. He doesn't know how long his frail body can hold on. His wishes remain unfulfilled, the times are chaotic, the emperor is incompetent, and the martial world is in disgrace. Is this so-called fate a lifeline, a death knell, or merely an absurd and cold joke played by destiny, a conspiracy without warning aimed at him?
He gazed at her intently in the water, and now he gazed at her again. He knew only that at this moment, this "fate" was on his side, meeting his gaze with eyes that seemed to say, "It's none of my business." Having chosen to save her, to try and catch the moon's reflection in the water, Su Mengzhen would never regret it. His mind was made up; he would wait and see what happened!
Sunlight streamed down, casting long shadows of the two silent figures on the wall, one like a maple leaf in late autumn, the other like a thin mist in early winter.
————————
My new book is out!
Little did Su Louzhu know that his good days were yet to come...
Warning: The female protagonist in this book has other aspects of her personality that definitely don't qualify her as a normal person.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com