Chapter 21 Yin Yang Ravine (Part 9) The gaze follows the waistline downwards…
After finishing their meal, the group sat around the table and shared information.
Upon seeing the people from outside the village after so long, Liu Dai was extremely excited. He asked some trivial questions, such as the value of the cabbages outside the village, the current emperor's health, whether there had been a change of dynasty, and other oddities. Song San patiently answered all his questions.
"Liu Xingchuan, why are you asking these questions? What does it matter to you how many coins a cabbage costs?" Yu Qi lazily propped his chin on his elbow and couldn't help but interject, "You don't mean to take the rotten cabbage from the cellar and sell it, do you?"
After receiving a sharp look from Liu Dai, he silently shut his mouth again.
“We have a general understanding of what’s going on in this village, but if we want to find a way out, I still need to go out and survey it carefully.” Song San brought the topic back on track. “I will go out with my junior brother later and we will be back before noon.”
Gu Lianzhou, who was stacking bowls and chopsticks, nodded in agreement: "Okay, I'll go with my senior brother."
Seeing that the two addressed each other as "brothers in the same school," Liu Dai couldn't help but laugh and said, "Young Brother Song looks so young, yet he's already someone else's senior brother. It must be because he entered the school early."
Song San glanced at Gu Lianzhou and, seeing his embarrassed expression, couldn't help but smile mischievously. "Yes, the sect doesn't distinguish seniority by age. Junior Brother just suffered from a late start in his studies."
However, his shortcomings were not exposed.
Thinking about how his senior brother had given him face in front of outsiders along the way, Gu Lianzhou felt a surge of warmth in his heart and respected Song San even more.
After exchanging pleasantries for a while, Liu Dai patted his head, as if he had remembered the important matter, and said seriously, "Now that you're here, you should have a place to stay. How about this, my courtyard isn't very big, with only two rooms in total. I'll make do and have Yu Laoqi move in and live with me. You two brothers can stay in his room. Wouldn't that be a win-win situation?"
"Hehehe... Feeling wronged? Everyone's happy?" Yu Qi's laugh was more like a grimace. "I'm out killing demons every night, exhausted to the point of death, and when I get home I still have to squeeze into the same bed with you. Who's really feeling wronged?"
Liu Dai didn't even look up, and said indifferently, "I'll give you an extra chicken leg."
"Alright, never mind." Yu Qi lowered his head, finally succumbing to the tyranny of Master Liu.
With this decision made, Song San and Gu Lianzhou were extremely grateful. Gu Lianzhou took the comb and went downstairs to wash, while Liu Dai led Song San into the small hut on the west side.
"This house had been empty for a while, which is why Yu Laoqi and I got it for free." Liu Dai pushed open the door, casually ripped off the spider web in his hair, and went inside. "The bed isn't big, but it's warm enough to squeeze in at night. It's just that we don't have enough blankets, which is a problem..."
Song San said, "It's alright. We came in a carriage, and there are two quilts inside. I'll fetch them in a bit."
Upon hearing this, Liu Dai's eyes immediately lit up: "A carriage? Where is the carriage?"
Having said that, he craned his neck to look outside, "Is it outside the door? Why not bring it in so I can see it?"
"The horse is gone, but the carriage is still here." Song San's words extinguished all his hopes. "It's parked at the old man's house where we stayed last night."
Liu Dai asked in confusion, "Where did the horse go?"
Song San said indifferently, "Let a wicked old woman devour him raw."
Liu Dai: "..."
It's that monster's doing again!
Looking at Song San, his expression was calm and undisturbed.
Such a steadfast mind is unlike that of ordinary people.
Thinking back to when I first arrived, I was quite frightened. How could I be so calm?
Thinking this, Liu Dai looked at Song San with more respect in his eyes. "Brother Song, if you need anything, just tell me. We are now in cahoots, no... we are in the same boat, so we should help each other."
Song San nodded his thanks and watched as Liu Dai crumpled up the bedding and pillows on the bed and carried them to the east room. He then followed, went out of the room, met up with Gu Lianzhou, and together they went to the old man's house where they had stayed the night before.
As Gu Lianzhou stepped into the courtyard, he recalled the bloody and tragic scene of the previous night and couldn't help but feel a little scared. His hands moved even more quickly, and in no time, he got off the carriage with a quilt and a pillow and gave them to Song San.
It seems the old man didn't go out today. No matter what they did, the door remained tightly closed, and there wasn't a sound coming from inside.
Therefore, the two moved smoothly and returned to the clinic with a full load of things.
After everything was arranged, Song San breathed a sigh of relief, took out paper and pen and put them in his sleeve, and waved to Gu Lianzhou, "Come on, let's take a walk around the village together."
-
Huanxi Village was no different from any other village, surrounded by trees and crisscrossed by paths. When it snowed heavily, the ground was covered with snow and no one took care of it, burying seventy percent of the roads. The two of them could only rely on their intuition to find a way out by following the houses.
With the charcoal pencil cap in his mouth, Song San would stop from time to time to scribble on the hemp paper, measuring the distance of the road by his steps. Gu Lianzhou would help point out the number of houses and the terrain on both sides of the road. After such a busy time, the sun was high in the sky, and smoke was rising from the chimneys of several houses.
“Senior brother, it’s time to go back.” Gu Lianzhou remembered Liu Dai’s words this morning and thought of the other’s kind and generous nature. He was afraid of delaying the other’s lunch time. “It’s not too late to paint after lunch.”
"Okay." Song San put away the charcoal pencil, turned around and looked at the two rows of footprints on the snow, rolled up the hemp paper and put it into his sleeve pocket. "I've drawn half of it. I should be able to finish the other half before dark."
The two returned to the clinic along the same route. Before they could even open the door, they smelled the aroma of meat. Yu Qi's shout flew over the courtyard wall and reached their ears, "What's wrong with me taking a bite? Those two brothers haven't returned yet. I'm just tasting it for them to see if it's salty enough. What's wrong with that?"
"Seventh Brother Yu—" another angry shout rang out, "Can't you even tolerate this for a moment longer?!"
Inside and outside the house, it was like two completely different worlds, one of ice and the other of fire.
After standing in front of the door for a moment, seeing that the fire inside showed no signs of abating, the two looked at each other and shook their heads in tacit agreement.
Song San gave him a wink, and Gu Lianzhou immediately understood, raising his hand to push the door open and enter.
It was another lively dinner party.
"Yu Laoqi, were you a weasel in your past life? How come your mouth is all greasy?" Liu Dai stretched out his chopsticks, knocked away the chicken wing that the fellow had secretly picked up, and then put it into Gu Lianzhou's bowl. "Brother Gu, don't be polite with us, please eat more."
"Okay." Gu Lianzhou thanked Liu Dai and buried his head in the food in his bowl.
Yu Qi was still young and at the age where he was growing. One bowl of rice wasn't enough, so he went to get another bowl and ate until his belly was round before putting down his chopsticks and saying, "You guys eat slowly, I'll go get two chairs."
Having said that, he left the three people at the table and headed towards the pile of wood in the corner.
Liu Dai raised his chin and explained to the two of them, "He's just idling around anyway, so he might as well add some chairs and stools to your room."
Was it actually for them?
Song San swallowed his food, his gaze falling on Yu Qi's busy back, and he finally felt a sense of reality about his current life.
We added blankets and some furniture, and we gathered together for three meals a day.
Yu Qi and his group truly intended to live their lives here permanently.
It has a bit of the feel of slowly boiling a frog in lukewarm water.
A secluded village has trapped two young people in this predicament. Their will to survive and escape is gradually worn away by the daily grind, as if staying here is the only right choice.
Song San choked for a moment, suppressing his discomfort, stood up and said, "Time is precious during the day, I'll go out now and finish the unfinished topographic map."
Gu Lianzhou hurriedly put down his chopsticks and stood up.
She looked at Gu Lianzhou, extinguishing his hopes, "You stay here and help Brother Yu and Brother Liu. I'll be back before dark, so don't worry."
Seeing her resolute words, Gu Lianzhou didn't press the matter further and could only nod in agreement.
Watching his senior brother's figure gradually disappear into the distance, he felt uneasy and couldn't help but call out, "Senior brother, come back soon."
As soon as he finished speaking, his senior brother raised his right arm and waved without turning his head.
He had a reassuring appearance.
“Sorcerer Song has a tenacity.” After finishing his meal, Liu Dai leaned back in his armchair, his tone tinged with envy. “Back then, Yu Laoqi and I were just like that. We couldn’t stay still, so we ended up turning the whole village upside down.”
He sighed deeply and said, "It's a pity there's no way out."
As if remembering something, he got off the armchair, patted Gu Lianzhou on the shoulder, and said, "I'm going to check on the medicinal herb field behind the yard. You'll have to do the washing of the pots and pans."
Gu Lianzhou nodded hurriedly in agreement, "I'm not tired, it's my duty."
Now he lives under someone else's roof, relying on Liu Dai and Yu Qi for food and lodging.
In the village now, gold and silver are considered worthless, even less than dirt. One can only do a little to repay the kindness.
He was happy to do some manual labor.
-
Song San walked quickly, following the markings on the hemp paper southwards. Seeing that the road ahead was muddy, she took out two thin ropes, tied her trouser legs tightly, and then trudged deeper into the woods.
There weren't many villagers; there were a total of fifty-six houses, arranged in a grid pattern. The place where Yu Qi and his group were now located was in the lower right half of the grid.
At this moment, she is advancing towards the upper left half of the "well" shape.
If the village of Huanxi still had some life before, the border of the village now can be described as eerie and gloomy.
Due to insufficient sunlight, most of the trees in this forest have strange shapes, some with gnarled branches that resemble coiled pythons, and others as thick as several people could hug. Their roots are piled up on the road, as if they have come to life.
After filling a sheet of paper with drawings, Song San looked up at the sky.
The intertwined branches divided the sky into narrow sections, through which faint sunlight filtered down and fell on her face.
The chill in the forest was growing stronger, and a faint white mist was rising.
It must be getting dark soon.
Song San then put away the hemp paper and returned along the same route.
-
Before nightfall, Song San returned to the clinic. Seeing that no one was around, he headed towards the east room.
"Junior brother?" she called softly as she pushed open the door and went inside. "Where has everyone gone?"
Two or three "drizzling" sounds of water came from inside the house.
Inside the cramped room, the man, shirtless, was wiping himself with a soaking wet towel. Hearing a noise, he turned and looked towards the door.
In the dim light, the man's thin, firm muscles reflected a glistening sheen of moisture, and as he turned, his sharp, narrow waistline was revealed, disappearing down into his smooth silk trousers.
Song San's gaze inevitably drifted downwards.
Then, his throat tightened slightly, and he swallowed with difficulty.
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