Chapter 67 Flashback "Pian Pian, don't not answer me."
Everything I saw was frozen, only Zhu Hao's heart was still beating.
She recalled the first time she met Song Xieqing. Everything around her, whether it was people or objects, was as silent as it was now. But compared to Song Xieqing, the boy in front of her was even more imposing, without the stubbornness that young people should have. The stiff smile on the boy's lips did not make Zhu Hao feel friendly, but made her inexplicably scared. Zhu Hao instinctively stepped back, stepped on a puddle of mud, and fell to the ground.
Seeing the young man stand up, the snow fox on his shoulder also jumped down, circling around and wishing him well, occasionally whimpering.
The young man approached and squatted down one step away from Zhu Hao.
Zhu Haoduan kept searching for the young man's female-like face in her mind, but even after digging through her old memories, she could not find any trace of the young man. Moreover, he was definitely not an ordinary person. If that was the case, how could she have met him face to face, and how could they have not seen each other for a long time?
The snow fox rubbed her sprained ankle, and in an instant, the pain subsided. Zhu Hao tried to stroke the fox's silver fur. When she raised her eyes, the fear on her face had mostly disappeared. "Who... are you?"
The young man's eyes, as cold as ice beads, swept over the snow fox and her, "Awu."
"My name is Ah Wu, and it was chosen by my wife." He gently tapped the snow fox's erect ears, and the furry tips of its ears shrank slightly. Ah Wu then smiled a little from the bottom of his heart, "It is my wife, Ah Zhao."
Zhu Hao was slightly startled, then thought about Zhuo Shui. Wasn't she also an animal? Perhaps a snow fox could also transform into a human. Thinking of this, Zhu Hao suddenly felt that it was rude to touch the little fox without permission.
She saw the snow fox leap back onto the boy's shoulder and lick his fur. Zhu Hao asked the crux of the matter, "When did we meet? And why are you looking for me?"
"Time has passed, and things have passed. It's only natural to forget them. As for why I'm looking for you..." He suddenly raised his hand and touched Zhu Hao's cheek, then withdrew it in an instant. "This thing made of the Wuji Earth does look like something real."
"In ancient times, at the beginning of chaos, the world was devoid of life. I was the only god, supreme. Later, I found Ah Zhao. Nourished by my spiritual energy, Ah Zhao quickly transformed into a human form. Ah Zhao and I wandered through a vast, empty realm, where neither azure skies nor plains could be seen. To please Ah Zhao, I took the boundless soil from the cracks of this realm and molded it into a pair of clay figurines." Ah Wu's tone remained steady throughout. "When I molded you, I was missing a piece of soil—the very boundless soil needed to fill your heart meridians. That's why you were born fragile."
"The spirits of all things, from the six realms above to the blades of grass and trees below, are all gifts I bestow upon Ah Zhao, and so is Pian Pian." Ah Wu saw the woman before him in a trance, so he said, "In this world of reincarnation, who can know their past lives? A drop of water, a leaf can become a human being, and you, having passed through the six realms, are now a true living being. Not only you, but even the six realms, are no longer under my control."
Zhu Hao touched his own skin, which was delicate and smooth, without even a hint of the roughness of dirt. He heard the young man in front of him continue, "A Zhao has long since transformed, and now he can only look like this. He has completely forgotten me."
Zhu Hao was puzzled. He suppressed the myriad thoughts in his mind and looked at the snow fox lying comfortably on his shoulder. He said, "How could she forget you? Isn't she always clinging to you?"
Ah Wu's eyes returned to a blank state. "If she still remembered me, she would have bitten me to death long ago."
I wish you a happy life.
The young man tugged at his shirt, revealing a scar on his chest. Zhu Hao then saw two bite marks on the side of the young man's neck.
She asked pointedly, "If you are a god, why do you still have scars?"
"There is Red Water in this world, which can make scars last forever. The gods all use Red Water as punishment, but in reality, it is not so. It is precisely because of Red Water that traces of Ah Zhao can be left forever."
Zhu Hao's expression froze, and the scars on Song Xieqing's body appeared in her mind.
"Ah Zhao left his three souls and seven spirits in the cracks of the six realms, so it is difficult for him to transform, and even his memory has faded. I am no longer as powerful as I was in the ancient times, and there is no way for me to cross the cracks of the six realms and retrieve Ah Zhao's three souls and seven spirits." His long eyes fixed on Zhu Hao, "Only souls carrying things from the cracks can enter. The Wuji Soil that molded you is exactly what is in the cracks. If you die, you will return to the cracks."
Zhu Hao didn't quite understand, but he understood one thing: "So, you came to kill me."
A trace of surprise flashed across Awu's usually dull face. The snow fox jumped down from his shoulder and circled around Zhu Hao again, occasionally approaching and rubbing against him.
"If you died, Ah Zhao would be sad. How could I do something that would make Ah Zhao sad again?" Ah Wu said calmly, "The reason he was able to save you was because of me. Look, not only would I not kill you, I would even let you live longer. Otherwise, you would not be able to survive the midwinter of this year."
Although the boy did not mention any name, it was not difficult for Zhu Hao to guess who the "he" he was talking about.
"Does your so-called method put his life at risk? If you wanted to use my soul to find my wife, why did you save me..."
"Fear for life?" Ah Wu retorted, "Why not worry about life? You can choke to death while drinking tea, fall to death while walking, and even die from starvation. Besides, if you die, will he live alone? As for why I saved you..."
"Although Ah Zhao has no memory, she finds joy in reminiscing about people and things from her past." The young man stroked the snow fox's fur. "I've been waiting in the Heavenly Palace for a thousand years. Do I still lack a few decades in the human world? Perhaps you can consider this a deal with me. After you die, I will borrow your soul to find Ah Zhao's three souls and seven spirits. From then on, your soul may wander the human world, but it will never be reincarnated again."
He manifested a three-inch crystal ball in his palm. "This ball is the door to open the crack, and you are the key. When the door opens, yin and yang will be reversed, and their souls may float to the ancient times with the aftermath, just like—"
Zhu Hao frowned, not understanding the deeper meaning of his words, "Just like what?"
After saying that, the young man tapped her between the eyebrows, and a golden light spread out like waves, ruffling her beautiful hair.
Zhu Hao suddenly fell into a dark realm. After an unknown amount of time, a cool breeze blew away the black ink in the surroundings, turning it into a starry night on earth.
What caught my eye was the familiar house and the familiar stone desk, but the details were different. For example, the gargoyles on the eaves were more colorful, and the flowers and plants planted in the front yard were different, and the pomegranate tree had become a small one.
The moon was bright as day, and a boy of about fourteen or fifteen sat down at a round table with a scroll in his hands. When Zhu Hao saw the man's appearance clearly, she was shocked. Although he was young, the boy's facial features had already shown the rudiments of his youth. Zhu Hao associated Ah Wu's words with the familiar house, and she vaguely confirmed a bold guess in her heart.
So, Zhu Hao opened his voice and shouted: "Song Xieqing!"
The young man turned around, glancing at the spot where she stood, but then turned back in an instant. Zhu Hao was furious. It turned out that he had always been an annoyingly aloof person! She tirelessly called out to him several times, but the young man remained indifferent and motionless, staring intently at the book in his hands under the moonlight.
Zhu Hao was displeased. Could it be just an illusion? He lowered his head, stunned. He had no substance, as thin as a puff of mist. No wonder he ignored him, considering he'd clearly heard her the first time she called him...
Zhu Hao suddenly realized and called out again: "Song Lang! Song Lang! Song Lang!"
The young man was sure that what he heard was not hallucination. He glanced sideways and asked, "Who is it?"
Zhu Hao was about to respond when another gust of wind blew away the scene at that moment. She took a quick glance at several scenes.
She watched young men grow up, packing their bags and leaving for foreign lands. She also witnessed the fall of Huaicheng a century ago, a bloody road stretching to the horizon, staining the sky red. Imperial power shifted, people suffered, and a princess once held in high esteem committed suicide in a palace coup. She witnessed countless talented and ambitious men and women whose talents were not appreciated. Warriors abandoned the military to take up writing, becoming stooges and sycophants. Some, with pen in one hand and needle in the other, strived to heal the broken and decaying dynasty, but never abandoned the people who struggled to survive under the king's yoke.
Then I saw the young lady with starry eyes and white teeth sitting in front of the mirror, taking off the hairpins and rings from her bun one by one, and tying her long hair meticulously. She rushed to the border with a red tasseled spear in her hand, and died on the battlefield with a group of soldiers. Only one person was waiting to hold a brocade box to bury her remains.
In the end, the young man killed himself under the moon, and his blood splattered on the pomegranate tree. From then on, the pomegranate tree had no branches or leaves left.
And the winner on the throne had the most feminine face she had ever seen.
When Zhu Hao woke up, she was lying on a bed of soft, snow-white fur. Large patches of the snow fox's back were wet. Zhu Hao wiped her tears while wiping the fox's fur. She looked directly at the young man nearby and asked in a hoarse voice, "By the time of old, do you mean a hundred years ago?"
Ah Wu did not answer but asked: "Pian Pian, do you want to make this deal with me?"
Zhu Hao thought that no matter whether it was mud or dirt, she would definitely carve out a way out of the destined death zone.
…
Zhu Hao visited the Shi family bookstore. Shi Chunsheng was far away in the capital, and Shi Yu was old, so they had to hire another bookkeeper.
When the servant saw the graceful young lady with arms full of books, he hurried forward to help. When he took the books from Zhu Hao's arms, he was stunned.
I had thought that girls would mostly read popular storybooks or embroidery manuals, cookbooks and other recreational readings, but the girl brought only history books from the end of the previous dynasty, or maybe maps of the previous dynasty, records of disasters and anomalies, or even records of customs. In short, they ranged from military books to political books. The clerk slapped his head and thought that the girl must have bought these for her brother or husband at home.
Zhu Hao settled the bill and asked the driver Qiu Er to send a large stack of books back to Zhu's house.
The tables in Dexian Tower were no longer just piled with embroidery manuals and storytelling books, but also with history books of previous dynasties as high as forearms.
Zhu Hao was reading through a book under his hands while thinking about writing a few notes. When he looked up, he found that the inkstone on the desk had been ground with ink. He glanced to the side and smelled the fragrance of glutinous rice. There was a stack of three-color steamed cakes on the corner of the desk.
She picked up a piece, bit a hole in it, and then put it down. She took out a scroll with an ink-gray cover from under the table. It was the Huaixianlu.
Zhu Hao opened the title page. She had previously written some tiny words in the blank space, but someone else circled one of her words with a red pen. Zhu Hao thought about it and realized that she had made a typo, but it was not her own doing.
Who has so much free time? I wish you all the best, I already have someone in mind.
She pretended to be absorbed in reading, but her eyelids were already wet. She stared at the wide-open door of the attic. A few rays of spring sunlight slanted into the room, and the dust was floating like silk.
"Song Xieqing, you're here, right?"
No one responded. Zhu Hao clutched the Huaixianlu tightly and walked a few steps around the table, "I missed you."
As he was about to finish his words, a light suddenly appeared three steps away and gradually condensed into a tall and strong figure.
Song Xieqing saw a thin layer of pink at the corners of Zhu Hao's eyes, and her knuckles turning white as she gripped the Huaixianlu. Song Xieqing opened his arms and said softly, "I'm right in front of you, why are you still looking at it? Am I not more beautiful than it? Pianpian, what do you want to know about me? Tell me, and I'll tell you without reservation, okay?"
Zhu Hao didn't move forward, just staring at him intently. Song Xieqing's arms were sore from being raised, and he lowered them. "Zhu Hao, are you still angry with me? Or... are you worried about me? I've carefully considered what you said before, but Zhu Hao, life is full of mixed joys and sorrows. Could it be that just because of a little fear and regret, you've abandoned Yi Le together?"
Song Xieqing walked closer, "You said you missed me, and I miss you too, Pianpian. If that's the case, wouldn't it be torture for both of us if you pushed me away? Pianpian, I want to cherish every moment we spend together."
"Song Xieqing." Zhu Hao turned her back and wiped her tears. The man put his arms around her waist from behind and pulled her into his arms. Zhu Hao did not struggle, but choked with sobs and said, "Song Xieqing, I have never really been angry with you."
She thought for a moment, then added, "Well, I was still annoyed at first, but soon I figured it out. And because I figured it out, I… if the condition for my living was to make you suffer, I think… it wouldn't be worth it."
"Pianpian... I'm really fine." Song Xieqing straightened her body. "Before, I was bound to you and lived in misery only to find my mother. Now... it's over, Pianpian. Now I live only for you, so please live well for me, Pianpian, okay?"
Zhu Hao said nothing, but slapped the Huaixianlu against his chest. Song Xieqing kissed her eyelashes lightly, "Pianpian, I'll tell you everything about me, okay? I'll also tell you how to save you, okay? Don't push me away again, okay?"
"Pianpian, don't ignore me."
Zhu Hao just threw herself into his arms and responded in a muffled voice.
He held it in his arms as if he had found a long-lost treasure, cherishing it again and again. "Then, I will take you to Kyoto, to see the place where I once fought for my country."
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