Green Waterfall in its youth
The Forest of Awakening, the Sea of Suffering, the Forest of Enlightenment.
"Whoosh—"
"Whoosh—"
Arrows were fired simultaneously from both sides of the hilltop, aiming at the two people locked in a stalemate in the swamp.
Looking at their scores of "4/50" and "3/50" above their heads, Won-seok was the first to laugh. Walking down the street, he folded his hands behind his head, leaned slightly, and said with feigned regret, "What a pity. If we had caught up later, you might have gotten first place today."
The person next to him remained silent. Yuan Xi sensed something was wrong, lowered his head, and looked through the stray hairs on Shi Qing's forehead to see his reddened eyes.
Shi Qing's lips moved, a thousand words stuck in her throat, finally turning into a trembling question: "Sister Jingxi said you would meet up with us. But why...didn't you come?"
“…” Yuan Xi scratched his head, a few blades of grass still stuck to his hair, and the mud all over his body couldn’t hide his embarrassment at the moment. “Well… it’s a long story.”
Afraid that Shi Qing would really cry, Yuan Xi, who had no experience in comforting people, had to keep it short: "Back then... I had almost saved up my withdrawal fee, but before I left, I took on a 'small task' that was supposed to be very rewarding." He shrugged helplessly, "Who knew that task was a trap? I got caught up in trouble and almost lost my life. By the time I recovered from my injuries, I had lost almost all the money. So... that's how it got delayed."
He spoke casually, but Shi Qing could imagine the danger involved. What mission from the Nine Streams Sect was truly "small"? He looked at Yuan Xi, whose face had long since lost the bruises of yesteryear, but now bore a few fine scars, and whose brows showed signs of hardship. Only his eyes, when he smiled, still habitually curved upwards at the corners, carrying a touch of nonchalant roguishness.
"Then... couldn't you have sent a message?" Shi Qing's voice lowered, tinged with a barely perceptible sob. "Jingxi and the others, and me... we all thought you..."
"Send a message?" Yuanxi paused for a moment, then suddenly realized, "Ah... I was badly injured back then, and I was in a daze. After I was able to get out of bed, I felt too ashamed to contact you. I promised to go over after I left the house, but I ended up in this state..." He laughed self-deprecatingly, "I did write a letter. But... have you moved away? Someone told me that there was an avalanche in that area, and many people moved away. No one replied to my letter."
"No, we live in a very safe place, and everyone is waiting for you." Shi Qing sniffed, her eyes still red, but her resentment had almost subsided.
He looked at Yuan Xi's shoulder; it was empty, where a little mouse had once lain.
"What about Zhizhi?" he suddenly asked.
Yuan Xi's eyelashes trembled slightly. After a moment of silence, he said, "I'm old and dead."
"..." The two were speechless for a moment, seven years of time standing between them, blocking out many things they wanted to say.
After a long pause, Yuan Xi finally spoke again, trying to break the dull atmosphere, "And you? How did you become a disciple of Tianquan? And..." He looked Shi Qing up and down, his gaze lingering on the Mo Dao in his hand and the Tianquan sect's attire, "So... dashing?" He was obviously recalling the embarrassing moment in Jue Zhang Forest when he had made it all the way to the final round and was resting on a tree when Shi Qing, who was in a bloodthirsty frenzy, kicked him into the mud.
“You have your own sect, and I also want fellow disciples, is that not allowed?” Shi Qing deliberately retorted.
“Okay, okay,” Yuan Xi said. “It’s pretty good, a very wealthy sect.”
Shi Qing retorted softly, "That's not true. The money was all given to those in need."
He had too many questions to ask, and there wasn't enough time to ask them all. But when they reached a fork in the road, Won-seok said, "You should go now."
"And what about you?"
“Me?” Yuan Xi asked. “Of course I’m going home too.”
Shi Qing pouted: "Can't I go back with you?"
Upon hearing this, Yuan Xi smiled and flicked Shi Qing's head with his finger, "If you don't come home at night, your fellow disciples will be worried."
"..."
Shi Qing turned back every three steps, but Yuan Xi, unlike when he saw him off on the boat years ago, didn't stay and watch. Instead, he left without looking back.
Where is he going?
Just as Shi Qing didn't understand why Yuan Xi wanted to leave him back then, he doesn't know where Yuan Xi is going now either.
...
When Shi Qing was nine years old, she met a boy hanging upside down in a tree. His cloak cascaded down his shoulders like a green waterfall gushing from the treetop.
Shi Qing almost screamed, but the boy covered her mouth before she could even open it. "Don't be afraid," the boy said, raising a finger and curving his eyes, "I'm here to save you."
On the other side of the wall, the slave trader's angry roar could be faintly heard: "You swine! Don't you know someone's missing?!"
The boy leaped down from the treetop, grabbed Shi Qing, and ran. He ran too fast; Shi Qing, who had only drunk a few bowls of water, couldn't keep up, so she had to free her hand and grab his cloak instead.
"There are still people trapped inside." Shi Qing turned to look at the dilapidated temple receding into the distance.
“My fellow disciples have gone,” the boy squatted down. “Here, get on.” He carried Shi Qing on his back and added, “I’m too weak; I’ll only hold them back. But saving you is more than enough.”
"Are you a member of the martial arts world?"
"I guess so."
"What sect?"
"The Nine Schools"
"oh."
The boy ran non-stop from the gloomy, dilapidated temple to the straw sandal camp in Kaifeng, and only left the room after settling Shi Qing in.
Shi Qing wandered around the room and suddenly heard two "squeaks"—he turned around and saw a mouse perched on the cupboard, staring straight at him.
"You...don't come any closer!"
"Alright, Zhizhi, don't scare people." A laughing voice came from the doorway. The boy walked in carrying sweet drinks and hot pancakes, and the mouse obediently climbed onto his shoulder.
"You raised it?"
"uh-huh."
Why keep mice as pets?
"It's the sect's rule," he said, shaking the dart rope in his hand, "that you tie it on when you fight."
Shi Qing silently moved to the other side, avoiding the rat's gaze: "Its name is Zhizhi... What's its owner's name?"
"I don't know, it's probably called something like Yuan something Xi."
Shi Qing took a small bite of the biscuit, but her eyes couldn't help glancing at the mouse named "Zhizhi." It was happily eating the crumbs that had slipped through Yuan Xi's fingers.
"Isn't it... dirty?" Shi Qing couldn't help but ask.
Upon hearing this, Yuan Xi flicked Zhizhi's forehead with his finger and laughed, "Did you hear that? I think you're dirty." Zhizhi squealed as she was flicked, turned around with the crumbs in her arms, and faced Shi Qing with her backside.
Yuanxi then said to Shiqing, "It's lovely and clean, cleaner than some people. Besides, I already live in a place like this, how can I care about this?"
"Are all the Nine Schools like you?" Shi Qing imagined a group of people carrying rats on their backs and hanging upside down from trees.
"What about me?"
"It's just... a little strange."
Yuanxi wasn't annoyed at all; instead, he burst into laughter, his shoulders shaking as he swung back and forth on Yuanxi's shoulders, his claws gripping Yuanxi's clothes tightly.
Just then, a loud commotion came from outside. Yuan Xi listened for a moment, stood up, and said, "My senior brothers are back. You are safe here. Get some rest."
He walked to the door, paused, then turned back, took a small cloth bag from his pocket, and tossed it precisely into Shi Qing's arms. Shi Qing opened it and saw several pieces of maltose wrapped in oil paper.
"Have something sweet to calm your nerves." He grinned, revealing two sharp canine teeth, and then his figure disappeared into the night outside the door.
Shi Qing stayed at the Caoxie camp for seven days.
On the first day, Yuanxi took him to Chunshui Pavilion, where the dirty, beggar-like child was washed clean from head to toe. Afterward, Yuanxi took him to a famous inn in Kaifeng for a meal.
The next day, he went with Yuanxi to catch fish on the willow bank. As soon as they caught them, they grilled them on the bank. When the patrolling soldiers saw this, they scolded him severely. Yuanxi held him with one hand and the fish that was not yet finished in the other, and even in his distraction, he told each fish to be sprinkled with sesame powder and smoke powder.
"Aren't you afraid?" After escaping the soldiers' pursuit, Shi Qing leaned over, panting, with his hands on his knees.
In the alley, Yuanxi was in a good mood as he fed Zhizhi boneless fish. He was older and taller, and his presence was like a wall to Shiqing, who was still small and thin at the time, blocking the glaring sunlight at the alley entrance.
Yuan Xi: "Those people are nothing. There are many people who are more powerful than them. I have made fun of them all. Do you think I am scared?" He always had a roguish air about him when he laughed. At that time, Shi Qing did not have a concept of this word. She just thought Yuan Xi was really cool.
"Here." Yuan Xi handed over the grilled fish. The aroma interrupted Shi Qing's thoughts. He blushed as he accepted it and took small bites.
On the third day, the fourth day... Yuanxi seemed to be very free. Shiqing saw that the other disciples of the Nine Streams Sect were never home, coming and going in a hurry, carrying all kinds of goods and shuttling through the market. Their residence was always filled with the crisp sound of bells.
He asked the idle Yuanxi, "Why don't you go sell goods?"
"I've sold out, otherwise where would we get the money for food?"
Recalling the "low-class behavior" he had witnessed near the straw sandal shop these past few days, Shi Qing shrank back and honestly said, "I thought you took someone else's..."
Yuan Xi was silent for a moment, then laughed rudely on his shoulder, "...Fine."
The straw sandal shop was really nice; everyone was very welcoming, and Shi Qing got along well with the older brothers and sisters there. However, he relied on Yuan Xi the most. But after a period of leisure, Yuan Xi suddenly became busy, and Shi Qing couldn't find him for several days. So, Shi Qing had to play with Zhi Zhi.
Yuanxi has two cloaks, one in the room and one draped over his body. Shiqing and Zhizhi always see the one in the room when they play, and every time they see it, they can't help but wonder what the owner of the cloak is up to.
On the morning of the seventh day, Yuan Xi, with a face covered in bruises, pushed open the door and pulled Shi Qing towards the door.
"Are you alright?" Shi Qing's heart ached at the sight of his face. She reached out her hand in mid-air, wanting to touch him but not daring to.
"It's nothing," Yuan Xi said with a smile, then gasped for breath, the action a bit too much for him right now. "What are your plans for the future?"
Shi Qing shook his head. "No." His hometown had suffered a disaster, his family had been scattered, and now he had nowhere to go.
After listening, Yuanxi didn't ask any more questions. He silently led him to the ferry, where a boat loaded with at least four boxes of various sizes was moored. Shiqing saw him exchange a few words with the boatman, then turn and walk towards him.
Yuan Xi squatted down and tied a heavy money bag around Shi Qing's waist.
Shi Qing was still in a daze when, in the next second, he was already on the boat, and Yuan Xi was waving goodbye to him from the shore.
The boatman poled away from the shore, and the ferry crossing slowly receded from view. Shi Qing stared blankly at the figure on the shore, the smile on his bruised face still bright, as if he were just saying goodbye to an ordinary friend, not a destitute orphan.
The money pouch at his waist was heavy, still warm from Yuanxi's body.
"Wait!" Shi Qing suddenly grabbed the edge of the boat, the river water wetting his sleeves. "Will...will I ever see you again?"
Yuanxi cupped his hands around his mouth, his voice carried on the wind: "If you're willing—"
His figure grew smaller and smaller until he became a blurry green dot at the edge of his vision, like the fleeting waterfall on the tree when he came. Shi Qing lowered his head, untied his money pouch, and inside, besides enough silver coins, was a roughly carved wooden plaque made from scraps, on which a lifelike little mouse was carved crookedly.
Shi Qing gripped the wooden plaque tightly, his knuckles turning white.
He didn't understand why Yuanxi wanted to send him away. Where was he going to send him?
The boat drifted north with the current. After disembarking, someone came to meet Shi Qing. Her name was Jing Xi, and she was from the same hometown as Yuan Xi. She had now settled in the north.
When Shi Qing asked him if his name was similar to Yuan Xi's, Jing Xi replied, "That's how we all got our names, with the character 'xi' in them."
Shi Qing: "Are you all from here?"
Jingxi shook his head. "The village was buried by a mudslide. Yuanxi, a few other children and I survived. Later, Yuanxi stayed in Jiuliumen in Kaifeng, while only a few of us settled here."
Considering Yuan Xi's own experiences, Shi Qing couldn't help but ask, "Did he stay in the Nine Streams Sect to help more people like him?" Instantly, Yuan Xi's status in his mind rose even higher.
Unexpectedly, Jing Xi laughed, "No, he was deceived."
"Scammed?"
"Someone asked him to help find something, but when he found it and went to give it to that person, he was told it was an entry token for the Nine Schools. He wanted to leave the school, but the exit fee was 50,000 coins—where were we going to get that money?"
"..." Shi Qing fell silent.
Upon arriving at the lodgings, three or four people tidied up Shi Qing's luggage, jokingly saying, "That brat has no money to pay the withdrawal fee, but he has money to prepare luggage for Xiao Qing. Judging from this, Yuan Xi will probably have to wait a while longer before he can come here."
Upon hearing Yuan Xi's name, Shi Qing jogged over, "Will he come?"
"Yes. Once he's saved enough money to leave the sect, he'll come and live with us here."
That night, Shi Qing couldn't sleep, so he secretly pulled out a cloak—he had a gut feeling that Yuan Xi had come to see him for something, so he had secretly taken the cloak that Yuan Xi had left on the cupboard. Although it wasn't very ethical, but…
Shi Qing comforted herself, saying, "I'll return it to him when he comes."
However, seven years passed in the blink of an eye, and Yuan Xi still hadn't arrived. Even Jing Xi and the others hadn't received any news about Yuan Xi. At first, Shi Qing went to the dock to wait every day, and the boatmen all recognized him and offered to inquire about him when they went to Kaifeng.
Days passed, and the boatman didn't find out anything, bringing back very little news.
Over the years, Shi Qing had risen rapidly. To clear his mind, he had once traveled alone to the far north, where he encountered disciples of Tianquan atop a snow-capped mountain. Their enthusiasm seemed capable of melting icebergs, and at their invitation, Shi Qing passed the examination and became a member of Tianquan.
When he returned to his residence with snow still clinging to his shoulders, Jingxi looked at him with a subtle expression. "You entered the Heavenly Spring?"
"Yes!" Shi Qing exclaimed excitedly. "What about Yuan Xi? Is there any news about Yuan Xi?" Would Yuan Xi be happy to know?
Unfortunately, Jingxi still gave a negative answer, "Not yet, we haven't received it."
Shi Qing was somewhat disappointed.
Tianquan lived in a remote snow-capped mountain, and it was impossible for him to travel back and forth between the ferry and his post every day. At Jingxi's urging, Shiqing weighed the pros and cons and bid farewell to the place where he had lived for seven years, heading towards the snow-capped mountain.
...
The snow in Tianquan never melts, and the wind that blows through the indigo sleeves wraps the snow-capped mountains in white, blowing into Shi Qing's Kaifeng dreams every night.
In Shi Qing's dream, it saw a boy hanging upside down from a tree, carrying a mouse on his back, smiling as he fed Shi Qing sweet drinks and hot cakes. The boy sweetly called him "Yuan Xi".
Sometimes Shi Qing and Yuan Xi would run across the fields, and when they got tired, they would lie down on the grass. Yuan Xi would hold a blade of grass in his mouth and ask Shi Qing if he would like to join the Nine Streams Sect.
Shi Qing pouted and said, "You yourself are about to leave the door, and you still want me to add it?"
In the dream, Won Seok said, "If you come, I won't leave."
In reality, Shi Qing couldn't forget the terrible weather when she escaped from the slave trader, but in her dream, it was sunny and bright.
Sometimes Yuanxi would escort Shiqing to the ferry, and just before they boarded the boat, Shiqing would grab his hand and say, "But I want to be with you."
So Yuanxi and Shiqing boarded the ship together and traveled to the north.
Sometimes Jingxi would say that Yuanxi wouldn't come again, but Shiqing would stubbornly wait at the ferry. He would wait from dawn to dusk, until he was almost asleep when someone patted his head twice. When he opened his eyes, a tall man was standing in front of him and said, "You're really smart. Only you saw through my lie."
I couldn't see that person's face clearly in my dream.
...Shi Qing often woke up with a smile, then fell asleep in distress, and before going to sleep, he would take out Yuan Xi's cloak and look at it again—he was practically a madman.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com