Chapter 4 Zhuangzi's Dream (Part 4) Young Master Gu's Childhood Experiences
There's always a way out.
She had felt that this place looked familiar, and when she looked at the pair of stone lions on the blue stone railing, she immediately realized that this was the road through which she had been carried out.
Therefore, when the servants got anxious, Song San was delighted.
It made a fool of itself, but unexpectedly delivered her to Gu Lianzhou.
The window was lowered, blocking out the sharp whistling sound. Song San, panting heavily, looked warily into the room.
As she expected, Gu Lianzhou's bedroom was very large, with many partitions, so he couldn't see her for a while.
That made things easier for her.
Song San felt his way forward a few steps along the wall when he suddenly heard a soft cough. The person seemed to have just woken up, and their voice was still innocent and childish: "Aunt Wu, what's that noise outside?"
“Don’t be afraid, Zhou-ge’er, I’ll go out and take a look,” another woman replied.
Gu Lianzhou responded sullenly, then seemed to suddenly remember something and added, "I think the noise is coming from the window. I hope it's not a cat or dog. Aunt Wu, don't chase the cat away."
“Oh,” the woman said with a smile, “I know that Brother Zhou is kind-hearted and loves cats. I’ll go take a look and bring it to you.”
After he finished speaking, the sound of rustling footsteps echoed inside the house.
Song San glanced around.
There was a wide table placed by the window, on which paper, ink, brushes and inkstones were visible, and a bamboo woven box was placed diagonally behind the table.
It's spacious enough to hold books and other miscellaneous items.
It's not bad to use it to hold people.
Without thinking, she darted forward a few steps, lifted the lid of the chest, and jumped inside.
He crouched down, pressed the lid against it to put it back in place, held his breath, and looked out through the gaps in the box.
The movements were completed in one smooth motion.
A moment later, she saw a dark purple figure walking towards her.
The woman was plump, yet moved with remarkable agility, arriving as swiftly as the wind. She passed the chests and went straight to the window, pushing it open to look outside.
"Squeak—" It was impossible to see how she was moving, but from the sound alone, it sounded like her upper teeth were biting her lower lip, sucking out a sharp, breathy sound.
And sure enough, the cat came.
Song San couldn't help but wonder.
It's understandable that Gu Lianzhou didn't know the situation, but the woman was an illusion, part of an evil spirit, so how could she not know what had just happened outside the window?
Is it just an act...?
The woman leaned out with all her might, half of her body almost hanging on the windowsill, as if she had actually grabbed onto something.
Suddenly, she stood up straight: "Oh my, it's you, you naughty little thing!"
The woman turned slightly, and Song San immediately saw the cat in her palm.
—A "general's back".
Where did this cat come from!
Song San's expression faltered for a moment, and the strange feeling in her heart rose to its peak again. She looked up from the raccoon and her gaze fell on the woman's round face.
This time, however, the ink-splashed eyebrows and eyes were nowhere to be seen.
You can't see her eyes at all on her face.
The woman had a kind smile, her eyebrows and eyes curved into two tightly closed slits.
Looking at the corners of her lips, they also curve upwards to the sides, revealing her bright white teeth underneath.
It didn't look like a human, but rather like a wax figure melted by fire, its face reflecting an oily sheen.
If we're talking about kindness, then she truly is kind.
But that's precisely why it seems so eerie.
Gu Lianzhou must have been blinded by the "lard" and didn't notice anything amiss?
While Song San was filled with doubt, the woman had already walked away with the cat. Song San gripped the inside of the box, his fingernails almost digging into the gaps.
“Brother Zhou, you guessed right, there’s a raccoon playing outside.”
"Really? Bring it here so I can see it."
"Why."
...
The master and servant laughed heartily, and the sounds of teasing the cat could be heard from inside.
Song San was huddled in the stuffy trunk, not knowing what to do.
Because their abilities differed, evil spirits were also divided into different ranks, and most of them were recorded in the Demon Codex and kept in the Scripture Pavilion of the Heavenly Mystery Sect. She had read in the Demon Codex that among the illusory forms conjured by evil spirits, there was a crucial point—that is, the weakness of the demons.
The small world before us is so vast that every blade of grass and every tree is a potential target. Trying to break through it would be like finding a needle in a haystack, extremely difficult.
Furthermore, the incident happened so suddenly that the bronze mirror used to identify demons was left outside, leaving her "blind in both sight and mind" and unable to diagnose the problem.
Therefore, the best course of action is to start with Gu Lianzhou.
But the more Song San thought about it, the more he felt something was wrong.
If illusions are related to people's obsessions, then what would Gu Lianzhou's obsessions be?
Kick ball? cat?
What kind of obsession is this?
In the midst of my worries, a sudden creaking sound rang out.
Song San tightened his grip on the box and cage, noticing that the sounds of cat-playing outside had disappeared and the room had fallen into silence.
Immediately afterwards, the innocent and cheerful voices of children blew in like a gust of wind.
"Brother, look what good things I brought you."
Song San pricked up his ears and heard a flurry of footsteps rushing past the room and heading inside.
Gu Lianzhou smiled and said, "Shaoyang, what brings you here?"
The footsteps stopped abruptly, and a childish voice questioned, "Why can't I come?"
He paused, then added, "Brother, happy birthday. Father had someone watch over my studies, and I barely managed to sneak out..."
Then came the exchange of pleasantries between the two brothers.
The sound was faint and not very clear through the box. Song San pursed his lips and pondered for a while, then figured out a few key points.
The newcomer was none other than Gu Lianzhou's younger brother, Gu Shaoyang, the second young master of the Gu family who had promised her a hundred taels of silver as a reward. At this moment, the two brothers met in the illusion.
To be precise, what is standing in front of Gu Lianzhou now should be part of the illusion.
Following Gu Lianzhou's ideas, the illusory form changed shape at will, moving completely at his own discretion, as if he were the creator of this world.
Song San seemed to be deep in thought. When she was being chased by the servants of the manor earlier, the evil spirit revealed its wicked nature, but after entering the room where Gu Lianzhou was, it dared not cause any trouble.
It was as if an invisible barrier was restraining it.
Gu Lianzhou was that restriction.
Laughter came from outside the chest. Gu Shaoyang said excitedly, "This is top-quality cherry wood that I asked my father for. It's perfect for making knife handles."
"Look at the handle of the knife now." He said with obvious pride, "The teacher says my handwriting has improved recently. What do you think, brother?"
Gu Lianzhou laughed and said, "Good, it's written neatly now, unlike before when it was crooked and couldn't be arranged in a straight line."
In short, Gu Shaoyang was praised by his older brother. Being young, he did not understand the teasing in his brother's words and smiled innocently, "Then I will give this carving knife to my brother as a birthday gift."
Gu Lianzhou readily agreed.
After the two brothers chatted for a few more minutes, Gu Shaoyang said regretfully, as if he were timing it perfectly, "Auntie should be calling me back to study now. Brother, I'll find another opportunity to see you tomorrow."
After she finished speaking, the room fell silent for a moment. Song San couldn't see the expressions on their faces, but she sensed that Gu Lianzhou wasn't in a good mood.
Today is his birthday, but he stays in his courtyard and doesn't go out to socialize with others.
He looked very lonely.
If I remember correctly, he is the eldest son of the Gu family and the future heir of the Gu family, so he should be valued. But his parents didn't come on his birthday, and his second brother could only sneak a peek. It's really strange.
The next moment, the sound of a door opening rang out from inside the house, and Wu's mother led Gu Shaoyang out.
Upon hearing the sound, Song San lifted his eyelids, as if he had made up his mind, and jumped out with the lid of the box on his head.
As a child, Gu Lianzhou sat on the couch, playing with the carving knife, a look of melancholy beyond his years lingering between his brows.
When Song San arrived, he saw this scene.
She was used to it by now.
"Gu Lianzhou," she said softly.
The "General's Back" lying at Gu Lianzhou's feet looked up at Song San before him, then let out a strange cry and darted away like an arrow, disappearing without a trace.
The boy finally reacted and looked over.
His expression remained unchanged, and he said in a calm tone, "Why is it you again?"
This time, they didn't call for someone to throw her out.
Song San was very grateful for this. She lifted her clothes and sat on the other end of the bed as if they were old friends, and began to make up a story: "Let me introduce myself."
"I am a wandering sorcerer. Today, I happened to pass by this place, only to find that demonic energy is rampant here, swirling above the mansion and lingering for a long time..."
Gu Lianzhou quietly looked at the "uninvited guest" in front of him, patiently waited for her to finish speaking, then slightly curled the corner of his mouth and uttered two words: "Liar."
Song San wasn't annoyed and asked, "Aren't you curious why no one in the Gu household noticed me entering your room so many times?"
Gu Lianzhou flipped the carving knife in his hand and said coldly, "He's also a thief who can get into any situation."
Song San caught a glimpse of the cold light reflected from the carving knife and thought to himself that children are not easily fooled, and it would be better to take him to see the "monster" outside with his own eyes.
Thinking of this, she extended an invitation to Gu Lianzhou: "What if I said that the entire Gu family is full of evil spirits? You can come out of this courtyard with me now, and we'll see whether it's true or not."
"A demon?" Gu Lianzhou tilted his head and blinked his dark eyes. "You look like a demon to me."
Song San swallowed back the words she was about to say. She paused, then laughed out loud: "You're not afraid to go out, are you?"
"Do you think my frail body can possibly tie you up?"
"Young Master is still a bit timid."
"If I'm bluffing you, you can go and report it to the authorities."
...
His barbed words, a mix of self-deprecation and provocation, were used to the fullest extent of his power, yet Gu Lianzhou didn't even raise an eyebrow.
Despite his uncertainty, Song San still gestured with his chin toward the door: "Are you leaving or not?"
It's really hard to coax a child. Before she could see any results, she herself was already feeling sleepy.
Gu Lianzhou lowered his head again and began playing with the carving knife in his hand.
He clearly didn't want to pay attention to her.
Song San paused for a moment, his gaze involuntarily drawn to the knife, and he couldn't help but glance at it a few more times.
The dark red hilt was carved in the shape of a harbinger of good news, with the words "Presented to my elder brother by Shao Yang, in the third year of Tianxi" engraved at the end.
The words seemed to have a magical power; once you stared at them for a while, it was hard to look away. For a moment, she felt as if she were caught in a vortex, and then her vision went black, and her feet felt as if they were being pulled down sharply.
"Ouch—" Song San shuddered and struggled to sit up.
She quickly looked around, but couldn't find young Gu Lianzhou. The surrounding scenery was very different from what she had just seen. Then she saw the familiar gold and red bed curtains and the young man behind them. Song San's mind went blank.
She couldn't help but rub her arms.
The room, which was just warm and cozy, now feels drafty, and a chill creeps up my spine from my feet.
After a moment of stunned silence, she finally realized—this was definitely winter!
Looking down again, Song San's gaze fell upon the blood-stained bronze mirror at his feet. He took a long breath, exhaling stale air as his chest heaved.
She...she...she just came back like that?
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