The old images of the old house and the puzzle of memories
The early winter sun shone with a chill, slanting light on the white walls and green tiles, making the wooden sign "Qi Family Old House" seem faded. Lu Ye stood in front of the courtyard gate, clutching a yellowed photo—a photo he had found yesterday on the last page of Master Mo's "Tongyou Notebook." In the photo, the young Qi Chen crouched in the courtyard, holding a stray cat. Master Mo stood behind him, and the old house behind them was exactly the one before him.
"Is this where you lived as a child?" Lu Ye asked softly, his fingertips touching the soul-calming bell at his collar. The bell was warmer than ever, and Qi Chen's outline was so clear that he could even see his hair. There was a subtle tremor in his voice. "Yes... I lived here from the age of five to fifteen. Then my master disappeared, and I was taken away by a distant relative. I never returned."
The courtyard entrance consisted of two red-lacquered wooden doors, the patina on the doorknobs mottled. When pushed open, they creaked, like an old man whispering memories of the past. The yard was overgrown with weeds half a man's height, with only the stone path leading to the main house still faintly visible. The pomegranate trees lining the path had long since withered, their branches twisted and pointed skyward, like sinister shadows.
The door to the main room was ajar. As Lu Ye stepped inside, a scent of dust and sandalwood hit him—it was Qi Chen's usual scent, though the sandalwood here was stronger, with a hint of mustiness. Most of the furniture in the room had decayed, with only an old eight-immortals table still barely intact. On the table sat a chipped blue and white porcelain bowl with a few withered wild chrysanthemums in it.
"When I was little, I always did my homework at this table," Qi Chen's voice was filled with nostalgia. "My master would sit across from me and teach me how to identify resentment runes. He would also make sweet osmanthus porridge for me, saying, 'Studying is hard, so you need something sweet.'"
Lu Ye's fingertips gently slid across the tabletop, touching a tiny incision—a rabbit pattern, the edges still clear, as if it had been carved recently. "Did you carve this?" he asked.
"Yes," Qi Chen's silhouette swayed gently in the bell. "I was seven years old that year, and I successfully identified resentment for the first time. My master said I was amazing, so I carved a rabbit as a souvenir because he said rabbits bring good luck."
Just then, a slight noise suddenly emanated from the inner room, as if someone were rummaging through something. Lu Ye gripped the soul-calming bell tightly, pulled out his phone, turned on the flashlight, and slowly walked back inside. The light in the inner room was even dimmer, with only a ray of sunlight filtering through the torn window paper, illuminating the dust flying in the air.
The door of the wardrobe in the corner was half open, and inside hung a few faded gowns, the very style Master Mo often wore. Lu Ye was about to approach when he suddenly heard a soft sound of footsteps behind him—not his, but coming from behind the wardrobe, as light as a feather falling to the ground.
"Who's there?" Lu Ye turned around abruptly, his flashlight beam sweeping across the back of the wardrobe. He saw a blurry figure squatting on the ground, holding a small cotton-padded jacket in his hand, muttering to himself, "Ah Chen's cotton-padded jacket...isn't finished yet...it's getting cold, he'll be cold..."
She was an old lady wearing a blue cotton shirt, with gray hair and wrinkled face. She was moving the needle and thread on the cotton coat, but she could not sew a single stitch - because her fingers were transparent, and the needle and thread went straight through the coat.
"Grandma Wang?" Qi Chen's voice suddenly became excited, and the outline of the bell shook violently. "You are Grandma Wang! The Grandma Wang who lived next door when I was a child!"
The old lady slowly raised her head, a glimmer of light flashed in her cloudy eyes. She looked at the soul-calming bell in Lu Ye's hand, and her voice choked with sobs: "A Chen... It's A Chen's voice... You are finally back..."
Lu Ye then realized that the old lady before him was the wronged spirit of Granny Wang. He asked softly, "Granny Wang, do you have any unfulfilled wishes? We will help you fulfill them."
Granny Wang's tears fell, landing on the coat, but leaving no trace. "I promised Ah Chen I'd sew him a new coat, but before I could finish, I suddenly fell ill and passed away," she said, her voice tinged with guilt. "Then I heard Ah Chen had been taken away, and the old house was no longer in care. So I've been waiting here, trying to sew the coat for him to come back for... But I've been sewing for so many years, and it's still not done..."
Lu Ye's heart ached. He remembered that last winter, Qi Chen had given him a cotton-padded jacket, saying, "Grandma Wang taught me to sew this when I was a child. It's not pretty, but it's very warm." It turned out that Qi Chen had sewed that jacket according to Grandma Wang's example.
"Grandma Wang, don't worry," Lu Ye took the cotton coat, "I'll sew it for you. Once it's done, we'll wait for Qi Chen to come back."
Grandma Wang nodded, a relieved smile on her face. Lu Ye found a needle, threaded the thread, sat on the ground and slowly began to sew. Qi Chen's voice rang softly over the bell, teaching him how to sew and tie knots, just like Grandma Wang had taught him back then: "The stitches should be denser so that it will keep you warm; be gentle when tying knots, otherwise it will hurt you."
The sun slowly moved, shining through the window paper onto Lu Ye and his cotton-padded jacket. The stitches on the jacket became denser and denser, and Granny Wang's figure became clearer and clearer. When the last stitch was done, Granny Wang suddenly let out a soft cry, and the needle and thread in her hand fell to the ground: "Ah Chen's name... I haven't embroidered it yet..."
Lu Ye picked up the needle and thread and embroidered the words "Qi Chen" on the collar of the cotton-padded jacket. Although the handwriting was not neat, it was full of love. Granny Wang looked at the cotton-padded jacket and her tears fell even more fiercely: "It's okay... It's finally okay... Ah Chen won't be cold anymore..."
At this moment, the temperature in the inner room suddenly rose, and a faint golden light emanated from the cotton coat, enveloping the entire room. Granny Wang's figure gradually became transparent. She looked at the soul-calming bell in Lu Ye's hand and said with a smile, "Ah Chen, you must be good and follow Xiao Ye. Don't be naughty like you were when you were little..."
The light slowly faded, and Granny Wang's figure vanished, leaving only the newly sewn cotton-padded jacket, lying quietly in Lu Ye's hands, still carrying a faint warmth. Lu Ye hugged the jacket to his chest, and suddenly felt the soul-calming bell at his collar become scorching hot. The outline of Qi Chen in the bell was clearer than ever before, and he could even see the tear marks on his face and hear his rapid breathing.
"I remembered..." Qi Chen's voice was filled with emotion. "I remembered how Granny Wang sewed cotton-padded clothes back then. I remembered how she always cooked sweet potatoes for me and said, 'Ah Chen is growing, you need to eat more'; I remembered when I was ten years old and had a fever, she stayed by my bedside and didn't sleep all night; I remembered the day I was taken away, she stood at the door, holding the unfinished cotton-padded clothes in her hands, crying and saying, 'Ah Chen, you must come back often'..."
Lu Ye's tears fell on his cotton coat. He reached out and gently touched the outline of the bell with his fingertips. This time, he actually felt a hint of real touch, as if Qi Chen's hand was covering his fingertips. "Qi Chen," he said with a choked voice, "Have all your memories returned?"
Qi Chen nodded slowly, his eyes filled with tears. "Yes, it all came back. From Master teaching me how to identify resentment, to Granny Wang sewing me a cotton-padded jacket; from our first encounter in the ancient town, to us working together to resolve Su Qingyuan's obsession; from us opening the secret room shop, to me dispersing my soul to seal the core... I remember everything."
Lu Ye hugged his cotton coat tightly, feeling the emptiness in his heart finally filled. He thought back to the past year of waiting and hard work, the longing he felt late into the night, the anticipation he felt every time he untied his obsession—and now, finally, there was a result.
"Let's go home," Lu Ye said with a smile, "Let's go back to the Shenyuan secret room. I'll make you some sweet osmanthus porridge, just like your master used to make."
Qi Chen nodded gently, his voice gentle: "Okay, go home."
Just as they were about to leave the old house, the chipped blue and white porcelain bowl on the Eight Immortals Table in the main room suddenly emitted a faint blue light. Lu Ye walked over and found a line of small words engraved on the bottom of the bowl: "The soul of emotion, hidden in the sea of Wangchuan, awaits your discovery."
"Wangchuanhai?" Lu Ye whispered softly, turning to look at Qi Chen in the bell.
Qi Chen's outline also saw the line of words, and his voice was filled with a hint of thought: "Wangchuanhai is a place my master often went in the past. He said that it hides the secrets of the people who pass through the netherworld. The last remnant of my soul - emotion, should be there."
Lu Ye gripped the soul-calming bell tightly, his heart filled with anticipation. He knew Qi Chen's memories had all been restored. Next, they would journey to Wangchuan Sea to retrieve the last remnant of his "emotional" soul. If they found it, Qi Chen would truly return to him, and they would be able to fulfill all their promises—open a bookstore together, cook sweet osmanthus porridge together, and watch the sea together.
As he left the old house, Lu Ye looked back. The weeds in the yard seemed to have thinned out, and a few tender green shoots had sprouted next to the dead pomegranate tree. He knew this was Granny Wang's kindness, his master's protection, and a testament to their love.
It was already evening when they returned to the Shenyuan secret room. Seeing the cotton-padded jacket and the soul-calming bell in Lu Ye's hand, Xiao Wu said in surprise, "Brother Ye, Brother Qi Chen's shadow... seems different from before, and it's clearer!"
Lu Ye smiled and nodded, placing the coat in the display case, next to Master Mo's notes and Mr. Lin's letter. He stood in front of the case, looking at Qi Chen in the ring, his heart filled with hope: "Qi Chen, we will go to Wangchuanhai tomorrow to find the last trace of your soul."
Qi Chen nodded gently, his voice gentle: "Okay, let's go together. No matter what difficulties we encounter, we will face them together."
The moonlight from the window poured in, illuminating every corner of the secret room, and also illuminating the increasingly clear figure in the soul-calming bell. Lu Ye knew that they were only one step away from reunion, and this step, they would take together. The next stop was Wangchuanhai - there was their promise, Qi Chen's last remaining soul, and all the possibilities for their future.
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