Chapter 92 Character Side Story: Xiao Fangliang
Become the pride of the Xiao family
No one knew the day Xiao Fangliang left Zhongjing.
He had originally told Wang Shanyue that he would leave after the New Year. But one morning before the New Year, he left alone through the North Gate.
Before the morning mist had dissipated, he stood outside the city gate, leading his horse, and looked back at Zhongjing.
The red walls were high and wide, the city towers were imposing, the houses within the city were neat and orderly, and the streets were bustling. Everything was as usual, except that it was too early and the city was a little deserted.
Zhongjing will not change because of his temporary departure.
Just as the foundation of the Xiao family will not be shaken because he entered officialdom two years later.
This was an insignificant departure, yet it was one he had long awaited.
Go and see the mountains, rivers, and seas of the Jianghu (江湖, a term referring to the world of martial arts and chivalry), instead of worrying about the official career that is so highly anticipated.
As dawn broke, the cold wind gradually subsided.
He chuckled and led his horse forward.
The moment he stepped onto the unknown official road, he suddenly felt a very slight sense of unreality.
Leaving is such a simple thing.
Just like that childhood that was once bound by etiquette and burdened by family responsibilities, the chapter was turned over so easily.
The ancestral hall where he was used to kneeling, the few broken rulers, the reputation of being a "child prodigy" as described by outsiders, and the few words of praise he could barely recall from his father's strict discipline.
He was both proud and confused.
Proud of bearing the glory of the Xiao family, and complacent with the praise and envy of others, he tries to do better and live a more noble and dignified life.
He wanted to be the perfect son in his father's eyes.
Therefore, regardless of whether he was old enough to understand the Thousand Character Classic, the Mengqiu, or the Analects, he would try his best to memorize them whenever his father asked him to.
It seems that if you read enough books, you can understand everything in the world.
He can be ahead of everyone else, has a bright future, continues the glory of the Xiao family, and occupies a place in the imperial court.
To become the pride of the Xiao family.
They never considered what they wanted, living like soulless puppets.
His confusion began when he looked at the mountains.
He couldn't understand why some people could live without purpose, repeatedly cause trouble, and have nothing about them that could be praised in worldly terms.
At that time, the "perfect" Xiao Fangliang actually felt envious of such a person.
Xiao Shanyue always dozed off in school, but when he talked about martial arts or escorting goods with his family on long journeys, his eyes shone with the purest light.
That was his favorite thing.
"Ah Liang, let's go on adventures together from now on!"
He was extremely excited and longed for it.
Emotions and desires he had never experienced before grew wildly in his heart.
However, he could not easily shed the shackles of his family, nor could he ignore the expectant gazes, nor could he shake off the cowardice of being "Xiao Fangliang".
To this day, he still can't explain why he was moved back then—whether it was because of the human world that he described in those rigid books, a world that was never fully depicted.
Or perhaps it's because of the person with the purest smile.
However, in life, there are always some things that have no answers.
And, a deeply hidden secret.
*
Xiao Fangliang followed one group of travelers after another, passing through one city after another.
The more remote the town, the less likely you are to find a decent inn.
Sometimes the houses were low, earthen dwellings, and sometimes the windows of the houses where I stayed were drafty, and I could clearly hear the cawing of crows on the branches.
Only then did Xiao Fangliang realize that he had never truly been a germaphobe.
As a child, he didn't want to get close to the mountains; as an adult, he didn't want to touch the world too much.
It's not that I dislike it.
It's simply because some things, once you get involved with them, will generate ever-deeper desires.
From initially just touching it, to longing to own it.
Once you actually have it in your hands, you'll only want more.
But humans can never escape the shackles of life.
Just as behind every event in the world, there are always secrets that are not fully written in books.
Among the guests passing through the hall, there were always a few who would reminisce about the past.
Some people mentioned Nan Yue's scheme back then, talking about the strange Gu technique and the monsters that could not be killed no matter what.
"Legend has it that when the skin is cut, what flows out of the body is not blood, but countless poisonous insects!"
A chilling wind swept through the hall, sending shivers down the spines of everyone in this deserted village inn.
"At that time, the people of Xia Nan suffered terribly. Anyone who dared to go out would be entangled by the evil Gu and die from having their flesh and blood devoured."
Everyone swallowed silently.
Just as the atmosphere of terror reached its peak, the man suddenly slammed his fist on the table and laughed, “But the Xie family army of Great Xia is truly valiant. A small team of a hundred men managed to hold off tens of thousands of ghost soldiers.”
Xiao Fangliang picked up his teacup, took a small sip, and a smile played on his lips.
"It's a pity that General Xie is already dead," someone sighed.
The crowd couldn't help but feel sorrow, lamenting, "If he hadn't been poisoned in the final battle, the Northern Frontier would probably have been conquered by our Great Xia long ago."
Those past events that happened in Xia Nan, in this boring late night, became topics of conversation for travelers, becoming both thin and one-sided.
Only Xiao Fangliang knows the whole story.
Knowing that the young general was not dead,
I know of a girl who died once in Xia Nan and came back to life.
The knowledge of the miraculous medicine to combat Gu people comes from a young, highly skilled physician who has worked tirelessly for several days and nights.
It turns out that this world, like people, holds many secrets.
It's never something that can be glossed over with a single, understated sentence in a book.
Just like a person, it's not that you can truly give up everything just because you say you want to go out and explore the world.
Many things that I couldn't understand before, I can now gradually understand.
*
This time of travel, during which he was punished by the emperor with two years of banishment from officialdom for helping Tang Yu enter the palace, felt like it had been stolen.
He took up his pen to record those hidden stories for the world.
Record the story of a young man who was once dashing and spirited, but eventually retired to the countryside and lived in seclusion in the mountains with his lover;
Remember the girl who turned the tide and saved a city from disaster, whose name has been erased by time;
Record those old friends who have drifted away with time and whose whereabouts have become increasingly unknown.
They also recorded more things that no one would have paid attention to before.
The further he went, the less he thought of Zhongjing.
It's not that I deliberately forgot, but the wind before my eyes, the water beside me, and the joys and sorrows before me were all too real.
It's so real that any insights or truths it offers seem somewhat superficial.
"Are there really merfolk on your Moon Island?"
Xiao Fangliang gazed at the vast sea.
The old fisherman waved his hand: "Those are all lies and legends. There are many reefs and dangerous whirlpools in the sea. Those people are greedy for money. They won't listen to advice and insist on going to sea. If they don't come back, they're just asking for trouble."
"What about the divine shark enshrined on the island?"
"Perhaps, there really were mermaid gods a long time ago."
The old fisherman looked at the sea and smiled. "But those are long gone now. This sea is vast, though; who knows, there might really be fish bigger than a person here."
Xiao Fangliang nodded.
The next morning, he left Moon Island in a boy's fishing boat.
The sky was clear, and the sea surface shimmered with tiny sparkles.
The ripples created by the boat's stern faintly reflected the colorful scales of a fish's tail.
Beneath the surface of the sea, seaweed resembling long, black hair drifts slowly with the current.
*
These past two years have been a journey.
Xiao Fangliang looked at the mountains and the water.
At first, mountains did not appear to be mountains, and water did not appear to be water.
Nowadays, mountains are mountains, and water is water.
The city gates remain unchanged, and Zhongjing is still prosperous.
Two years have passed in the blink of an eye, becoming a deviation unknown to anyone.
He returned to his original place, resumed his responsibilities as a member of the Xiao family, and retired to serve in the imperial court.
However, on occasional nights...
Suddenly, I'll remember the damp sea breeze of Moon Island.
The story of "Ghost Cry Village," forgotten by the world, comes to mind.
I remember him, a man buried by time, forgotten by the world, living happily somewhere in the mountains.
And those years,
Unforgettable.
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