97 Squeak
"May you have a long and happy marriage! May you have a long and happy marriage! May you have a long and happy marriage!"
A group of monkeys kept making noise outside the window until midnight before leaving. Luckily, only the two of them lived on this hilltop, otherwise their neighbors would definitely have complained about the disturbance.
Old grudges were resolved, but new ones were added. For the sake of Ying Jianhua, Du Zhijin took a few deep breaths and decided to endure for the time being to keep the peace.
But in doing so, there was no trace of romance left. The two looked at each other, and finally she sighed, pulled the covers up, lay down obediently, and said dryly, "Go to sleep early."
“…Mmm.” Ying Jianhua suppressed her fleeting disappointment, turned to hug her, and they fell asleep in each other’s arms.
The next morning, Du Zhijin woke up before dawn, her bright eyes shining with energy. She didn't disturb the sleeping person, tiptoed out of the house, leaving Xingyue to watch the house.
After several days of non-stop travel, and only finding a moment of peace late last night, Ying Jianhua was utterly exhausted. He was usually a light and alert sleeper, but the comforting atmosphere here caused him to fall asleep without realizing it, so much so that for the first time, he didn't notice she was gone.
Upon waking and seeing Xingyue on the table, he guessed that Du Zhijin must have gone to take care of some business, so he wasn't alarmed. Since arriving at Dengxian Mountain, his heart had become much calmer, and he was no longer as afraid of being abandoned as before; he had a sense of having found the right path.
Thinking this, he decided to take a walk around the area to familiarize himself with the environment, hoping to find suitable land to cultivate medicinal herbs. The vast sect of Dengxian Mountain had an entire medicinal peak, but he didn't want to deal with those medical cultivators. Firstly, he was worried about his half-demon identity, and secondly, he believed it was better to rely on himself than others; if Du Zhijin were injured in the future, he could prepare medicine immediately.
Ying Jianhua walked along the only path in the mountains, lost in thought, oblivious to his own fatigue, unaware that he was getting further and further away from where he started. By the time he finally realized something was wrong, the sun had already climbed high above the mountains.
Looking around, he found himself in front of an unfamiliar mountain, which looked very desolate with only a few scattered trees.
Du Zhijin had shown him these mountains yesterday; they were completely bare...
Before Ying Jianhua could recall which mountain it was, the ground beneath her feet suddenly began to tremble, accompanied by a series of rapid creaking sounds.
It seemed as if a group of things were rushing towards him.
Dust billowed in the distance, and sand and gravel flew everywhere, making it impossible to see who was coming. But whoever it was, judging from the situation, things were probably not good. He had left in a hurry that morning and had only taken a packet of sleeping pills without Xingyue, which was a drop in the ocean against the army. He wanted to run away immediately, but suddenly felt that the strange squeaking sounded very familiar.
It sounds like I've heard this somewhere before...
The army was close at hand, and after the dust settled, the true face of Mount Lu was revealed.
The painting should have surprised him.
————
Du Zhijin had a reason for leaving so early. She had previously told Amo that there were no special ceremonies for becoming Daoist partners on Dengxian Mountain. At the time, she thought this was fine—a gentleman's friendship as pure as water, simple and unpretentious. But when the time came for her to become a Daoist partner, the thought arose that "that's too perfunctory; Amo deserves the best." Therefore, combining what she read in stories with the marriage customs she had witnessed in Wuling Village, she decided to establish her own school of Daoist practice.
Firstly, she would withdraw all her savings from the past years. Aside from what her master had left her, the Ordinary Mountain Sect distributed supplies to its disciples every month, and apart from the first year, she hadn't taken any, accumulating a considerable sum over time. Today happened to be the day the General Affairs Hall distributed supplies; if she arrived late, she would have to wait in a very long line.
She lived quite far away, but Zui Lan was fast enough that when she arrived at the General Affairs Hall, there were only a few people ahead of her, one of whom was an acquaintance.
"Senior Sister Huaizhou!"
Having not heard anyone address him like that in a long time, Du Zhijin took several breaths to realize that he was being called. Turning around, he saw a smiling face and exclaimed with delight, "Junior Sister Xiaoxiao!"
Mu Xiao is a disciple of the Beast Taming Peak. She and Mu Xiao are both struggling students in the lecture hall. Mu Xiao is always drowsy in class, which is a headache for several elderly elders.
Ever since Du Zhijin left the mountain, Mu Xiao had become the only one being reprimanded by the elders, and her life had been miserable. Now that she saw her return, she thought she was saved and hurriedly tried to curry favor: "Senior Sister, are you going to the lecture hall tomorrow?"
She shook her head: "Let's see in a few days." She's busy finding a Daoist partner right now.
Therefore, Master Zhang passed away, and Du Zhijin, through her own hard work, won first place in swordsmanship, so even the sect leader didn't care about her future. Mu Xiao wanted her senior sister to accompany her, so she was particularly enthusiastic: "Senior sister, you go first! I'm not in a hurry, I can get the supplies later, come on, senior sister!"
Faced with her junior sister's kindness, Du Zhijin declined, saying, "No need, it won't take long." After a moment, she felt that her previous refusal was too impolite, so she took the initiative to invite her, "Would you like to come and sit at my place for a while?"
"Okay, okay." Mu Xiao nodded repeatedly, then noticed the jade pendant hanging from her waist and asked curiously, "Where did you get this jade pendant, Senior Sister? It's so beautiful. I want to buy one when I go down the mountain."
"This?" She looked down and fiddled with the jade pendant, a smile in her eyes. "It was a gift from someone else."
Mu Xiao tilted her head, thinking that Senior Sister Huaizhou never cared what she wore or what she adorned herself with, and she would never accept gifts, especially such an ambiguous gift as a jade pendant, unless...
She seemed to have discovered some incredible secret.
Du Zhijin's accumulated supplies over the years were no small amount. The two disciples from the General Affairs Hall spent half an hour sorting through the supplies, agreeing to send someone to deliver them to her a day later. Mu Xiao watched from the side, becoming even more convinced of her guess and filled with curiosity about the upcoming trip to Sword Peak.
As a disciple of the Beast Taming Peak, Mu Xiao naturally had his own mount, a majestic spirit lion named "Suspended Star." Sitting was always more comfortable than standing, so Du Zhijin simply took in Zui Lan and rode on Mu Xiao's Suspended Star.
The flying pear was fast and stable, and sitting on it, feeling the gentle breeze, was incredibly pleasant. Mu Xiao took out a pear from her mustard seed bag and fed it to Xuanxing, then took out two more and gave her one.
Du Zhijin thanked him, took a bite, and found the flesh crisp and sweet, very refreshing. He then asked where the pear was bought, thinking that Amo liked to eat vegetarian food, so he could buy more.
Mu Xiao told her, "No need to buy any, just fill your basket as much as you like. The Beast Taming Peak is full of them, pick as much as you want. Senior Sister, you know that we have a lot of birds and beasts around here, so there's plenty of fertilizer too, so... cough cough, anyway, if you like them, I'll bring you a basket tomorrow!"
In other words, since Du Zhijin had been away from the sect for a long time, all the other senior brothers, sisters, junior brothers, junior sisters, and even senior uncles and senior aunts had been seen off by the people of the Beast Taming Peak, and they had long since kept their distance. She couldn't be more eager to send more off.
Du Zhijin thanked her again, and Mu Xiao was overjoyed, feeling that her relationship with her senior sister had become even closer.
"Ah! There's something I forgot to tell you!" As the star flew over Monkey Mountain, she slapped her forehead, remembering something.
"What is it?"
Mu Xiao: "Do you have a monkey with a bald patch on its head where you live?"
Du Zhijin nodded: "Yes, I encountered it as soon as I got back. What happened? What terrible disaster did it cause?"
"Um... it's not that serious." She hesitated, unsure how to begin, and stammered, "It's just... it seems like it's about to develop sentience."
"It's not 'seems,' it's already happened," Du Zhijin corrected. Judging from what the bald guy did yesterday, he's definitely become a spirit, resembling a tyrant among monkeys.
We can't afford to mess with them.
Mu Xiao pressed on, quickly asking, "Senior Sister Huaizhou, do you know if it's male or female?"
She knew perfectly well: "It's a female monkey."
After saying that, she looked at Mu Xiao suspiciously: "Does it have anything to do with the parents?"
"Yes." Thinking about what he was about to say, Mu Xiao awkwardly touched his nose and mumbled, "Well... this female monkey that has gained intelligence, it recently likes to... uh, kidnap good-looking people to be its wives."
As soon as she finished speaking, Du Zhijin didn't immediately understand what "robbing good-looking people" meant. A moment later, she was suddenly startled.
Oh no! Ah Mo!
————
Originally, Ying Jianhua thought the monkeys were taking him for revenge. After all, he had "forced" the monkeys to shake hands and make peace with him yesterday, but that peace was shattered by nightfall. They howled outside the window all night, perhaps because they realized Du Zhijin was not there and he had lost his backer, so they tied him up and prepared to take revenge.
"Squeak! Squeak!"
Despite hearing several squeaking noises, Ying Jianhua remained calm and showed no signs of anxiety or tension about being kidnapped.
Because no matter what, they're just a bunch of monkeys, they won't do anything to him, right?
He was thinking this until he saw two monkeys, each half a person's height, holding out a... wedding dress?
"Squeak squeak squeak!"
In a moment of astonishment, everything suddenly went black and red before my eyes, and the ill-fitting wedding dress was suddenly on my body.
Immediately afterwards, a monkey dressed in a wedding gown emerged from behind the rock. It had a bald patch on its forehead and was the same monkey that had blocked the way yesterday.
Meanwhile, the other monkeys nearby pulled out gongs and suonas from who-knows-where and began banging and beating them haphazardly. Accompanied by these inexplicable tunes, they somehow created a festive atmosphere.
It's eerie, but also festive; there are even monkeys specifically assigned to hand out candy.
See the picture: ?
Wait, what are these monkeys doing? A wedding ceremony?!
He belatedly felt a sense of absurdity, which was followed by the urge to escape. Fortunately, he still had half a packet of sleeping pills on him. He casually sprinkled a handful, and as the nearby monkeys began to rub their eyes, he lifted his skirt and ran away.
As he ran, a group of monkeys relentlessly pursued him; it was a classic case of "he can't escape even if he has wings."
Oh no, now there's really no way to escape. Because the skirt was too bulky, Ying Jianhua tripped and fell after running only a short distance.
The monkey in the wedding dress was the first to catch up, yelling at him as if giving orders. Helpless, he was captured again, this time taken directly to a table that looked like an offering table.
Two red candles, two plates of fruit, and two elderly monkeys scratching their ears and cheeks.
What kind of situation is this...?
"One bow, squeak!"
He comforted himself, saying the wording was wrong, so it didn't count, and he was still innocent...
"Bowing to the parents twice!"
Ying Jianhua suddenly looked up.
How come the words are correct?! He panicked completely, struggling to escape, but the monkey grabbed his skirt. Seeing him try to run away, the other monkeys scattered, piling up haphazardly, their cries echoing everywhere. But even so, he couldn't break free, and in the struggle, he found himself back in front of the wedding dress monkey.
"Squeak!" Upon seeing the groom, the monkey clapped its hands happily and lowered its head to press the groom down to complete the final bow.
"Husband and wife bow to each other—"
This voice was especially clear and resonant. Before he finished speaking, the person opposite him eagerly pulled him up. Ying Jianhua resisted opening his eyes, but found that everything around him was quiet.
The monkeys fell silent in an instant, as if they had vanished.
He was startled and slowly opened his eyes, only to see Du Zhijin panting heavily, holding the monkey in one hand and supporting him with the other, his face covered in scratches, looking quite disheveled.
She seemed to be panting and unable to speak. When she saw him looking over, she gave him a smile. To be honest, the smile wasn't very attractive, given her face was covered in scratches, some of which were bleeding, and her hair was a mess, with several leaves stuck to it.
However, however...
"Send them to the bridal chamber! Send them to the bridal chamber!"
The monkeys chanting the wedding prayers tirelessly chanted "Send them to the bridal chamber," while the monkeys scattering flowers hopped and skipped over, showering the room with petals. One monkey with particularly strong hands even ripped a piece off the wedding dress, then let go, landing it squarely on Du Zhijin and Ying Jianhua's heads.
Both of them were taken aback, and all the noise was shut out by the red gauze.
Their eyes met.
Suddenly, the bald man who was being held down by Du Zhijin shouted at them, "May you have a long and happy marriage! May you have a long and happy marriage! May you have a long and happy marriage!"
[Author's Note]
I'm late! [crying emoji]
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