Good evening, Master.
The heavenly fire burned extremely far. The people of Ping'an Valley were enjoying the scenery with their rice bowls in hand when they looked closely and saw a large bird flying through the clouds. Who else could it be but Meng Yan, greeting them from above?
"Sister Yan, slow down! We've left some rice for you in the pot!" the children responded in a flurry of voices.
.
That night, Meng Yan's mood was brighter than the sky. He tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep.
She simply threw on a coat, went out amidst the startled candlelight, and wandered aimlessly through the valley.
As the night deepened and the dew grew heavy, it quickly soaked the hem of her clothes, and her hair also became wet as it flew about. She suddenly looked a little disheveled, but it didn't dampen her good mood.
Come to think of it, when did your mood start to improve?
Before bed, dinner, going home, or even earlier.
Meng Yan stood by the stream, lost in thought. Withered leaves brushed against his cheeks, drifting and falling into the water, creating ripples.
My reflection in the water was shattered, but after a few ripples, it pieced itself back together.
"I told you to keep it to yourself, and now look what happened, you've run into a ghost!"
"You make it sound so easy. Every time you need to pee, I'm the one who comes with you. Show me how you can hold it in."
"I've gotten up so many times in the night, but I haven't encountered any ghosts."
A rustling sound came from the nearby woods, occasionally punctuated by the soft whispers of children. The sound drifted on the wind to Meng Yan's ears, and she snapped out of her reverie, looking toward the source of the sound.
"She turned her head away. What should we do? Will she see us?"
"Normally, no, there are so many leaves and branches blocking our view... but why is she staring at us without moving!"
"Oh no, she's moved! She's walking this way!"
Hearing this, Meng Yan raised an eyebrow, stopped in place, and listened intently to the little creatures' next move.
"While she's stopped now, listen to me. If she takes another step forward, I'll hold her back while you go ask your senior brothers and sisters for help."
"Come on, you're missing an arm, and you think you can stop her? I'll stop her, you go."
"Before you, you cripple, even get close to her, I'll be the one she grabs and eats. At least I can run away, but if you get caught, you're really done for."
"You're the one who's doomed, I'm not leaving."
During the argument, the beautiful figure moved and took another step forward.
"I'm not going to argue with you anymore, we'll both die if we keep arguing. Let's go, we'll be brothers in misfortune together in the next life!"
Suddenly, the hand beside him exerted force, pushing the boy with the leg ailment away, while he himself stepped out of the bushes to face the wandering ghost whose face he could not see.
"What's the point of being brothers in misfortune? It's the next life. Can't we all hope to be healthy again? Then we'll all be ordinary people and build another peaceful valley!" The boy with the leg disability shouted as he turned around, panting, after he had just steadied himself against a tree.
With no candles lit and visibility poor, Meng Yan was worried that the two brothers, who were deeply attached to each other, would run into trouble, and was eager to step forward and stop them.
The closer she got, the more anxious they became. Despite the short distance, the three of them stumbled and bumped along, unable to even meet.
Left with no other choice, Meng Yan casually snapped off a tree branch and hooked it towards the one-armed boy not far ahead. Amidst his screams, she flipped him over and saw only a pair of tightly closed eyes amidst the flowing tears.
The moonlight illuminated the two figures clearly. If he opened his eyes, he would surely recognize that the person standing before him was not the ghost he had imagined, but rather Senior Sister Meng Yan, who seemed hesitant to speak and had a gentle expression.
But he didn't dare open his eyes. Even in the face of danger, he didn't forget to convey the ghost's characteristics to his companions: "This ghost is definitely taller than the two of us, and she's incredibly strong. I can't move an inch. She didn't hurt me or try to take my life. Is she unable to speak? Are all the ghosts in our valley disabled?"
His companion's rambling reached the ears of the boy who was struggling to move. A cold wind blew from behind, startling him. But he still mustered up the courage to look back. After one glance, he breathed a sigh of relief and walked back.
Hearing the heavy thud of each step and the deep gasps for breath after every few steps, the one-armed boy, who had been quiet for so long, suddenly struggled to his feet. "Why are you back? Wasn't she holding me? 'Living and dying together' is just a joke. Don't actually come here to die!"
Meng Yan shook his head, picked him up, and walked towards the boy who had gone halfway back and was resting under a tree.
The boy understood her meaning, smiled sheepishly, and patted the shoulder of the boisterous boy beside him, "The one who can talk and take lives is a ghost; the one who can't talk is Senior Sister Meng Yan."
"ah?"
The loudmouth suddenly fell silent, peering out through a slit in the moonlight. There stood a familiar figure in the moonlight: Senior Sister Meng Yan, her long hair loose and wearing an outer garment, standing in the wind, her hair and the hem of her garment tangled and fluttering outwards. It was none other than the wandering soul from the stream bank.
"Senior...Senior Sister, good evening. Are you here to get up in the middle of the night too?"
The boy with the leg disability couldn't bear to listen anymore, so he covered the boy's mouth, threw him behind him, and greeted Meng Yan again.
"Are you still sleepy?" Meng Yan asked suddenly after receiving the greeting.
"I'm not sleepy anymore, I'm full of energy." The one-armed boy behind him peeked out from behind his companion's shoulder.
The sweat on the boy's forehead had not yet dried when he answered truthfully, "I'm afraid I won't be able to sleep for a while after I get back."
"Shall we go for a stroll outside the valley, or perhaps take a look at the sky?"
Meng Yan always carried a mechanical kite with her, which she now held in her hand, tossing it up and down in the moonlight.
"Now?" they both asked in unison.
She blinked, seemingly unaware of anything amiss, and naturally began to walk.
The news that the mechanical kite could carry adults through the sky had already spread throughout the valley. For safety reasons and time constraints, the bird mostly carried members of the mechanical group, and only occasionally would it give a ride to senior brothers and sisters who were going out or returning home.
Despite numerous improvements, many fellow disciples remained quite resistant to the bird, refusing to approach it unless absolutely necessary. Amidst this invisible fear, the children rarely had the opportunity to see the large bird. However, Meng Yan always knew in his heart that they always wanted to go outside the valley to take a look.
There's no time like the present; now is the perfect time.
Sure enough, the two little ones behind her followed her steps, suppressing their excitement on the moonlit path.
Children can't keep things to themselves, and before long, whispers reached Meng Yan's ears.
"Am I dreaming? I can get out of the bathroom in the middle of the night?"
"You better not be dreaming. I don't want to wake up one morning and have to wash the sheets with you."
"Oh, don't mention that. It's been over a year since we entered the valley, and I never thought we'd actually be able to see the outside world. Aren't you excited?"
“A little, but I’m afraid I won’t be able to enjoy what Senior Sister Meng Yan is like… the feeling that the senior brothers and sisters in the organization call ‘freedom and longing’.”
"Oh, you're afraid of this? It's okay. I heard it's been improved many times since then. Maybe it was just someone else playing a prank on us. If you're really scared, just close your eyes. Listen to me, if you close your eyes, you won't be afraid of anything."
"Like when you were caught by Senior Sister Meng Yan?"
"Fine, I'm not going to talk to you anymore, but please don't tell anyone about this tonight, I'm begging you."
Meng Yan, who was listening from the front, laughed so hard that his eyes crinkled. When he looked up, he met a pair of equally smiling eyes, the smile even reaching the wrinkles at the corners of their eyes.
In an instant, she changed her expression, covered the wooden bird in her hand, and greeted the newcomer.
Li the Cripple chuckled and stroked his beard. "Little Yan, instead of sleeping tonight, you're leading your junior brothers on a mountain patrol?"
The two chattering sparrows immediately shut up, bowed in greeting, and huddled behind Meng Yan.
Senior sister was like a narrow wall, light and thin, yet she stood firmly in the middle, blocking the coldness brought by Master.
"The moon is beautiful tonight. I thought I'd take the little ones who can't sleep out for some fresh air, to admire the moon and stars, and to relax and enjoy themselves." After saying this, she looked up at the sky with a serious expression.
All that could be seen were churning dark clouds, obscuring the stars and moon, which gathered in a cluster in the sky, offering no scenic view whatsoever.
The two people behind her looked up, then looked back at their senior sister. The wall seemed to have a crack.
"Then my valley truly boasts a wealth of talented individuals and a gathering of brilliant minds. What have you discerned through these heavy clouds? Let me hear it."
Li the cripple walked to Meng Yan's side and struck a similar pose, trying to see what she was seeing.
"We see the time is just right, suitable for sleeping, so we're going to rest now. Master, please don't forget to go to bed too."
The wall collapsed completely. Before it collapsed, the two children were kindly pushed away together, and the three of them closed the door under the loving gaze of the kidnapper, Li.
A gentle breeze swept by, casting shadows on the ground. The moon and stars hung peacefully in the sky, awaiting the sunrise to guide the colorful clouds up the heavens.
"The weather is quite beautiful today."
Li the cripple sighed deeply under the bright moonlight.
.
As planned, Meng Yan woke up very late, only slowly waking up when the sun was high in the sky. After quickly tidying his clothes, he burst out of the door and headed excitedly towards the small courtyard of the government office.
The time originally intended for delivering the good news had long passed, and she felt a little guilty for not being able to share the good news with everyone in time. But things can change, and unexpected events are unavoidable. Since she had already missed the deadline, there was no point in regretting it. She might as well speed up her pace and send everyone's worries away as soon as possible.
Bathed in the sunlight, Meng Yan pushed open the courtyard gate with both hands and feet. With a creak, she decided to open her arms to welcome everyone's gaze and reveal the solution to the talisman problem to the public at that moment.
The doors swayed a few times before finally catching their way against the stone wall. She spread her arms wide and lowered them amidst the silent welcome of no one looking up. She quietly walked into the courtyard, closed the door, and obediently slipped into her work area, silently observing the senior students around her.
After a whole day of rest yesterday, everyone gradually returned to reality from the gloomy winter ahead, and worked even harder with their hammers, trying to reduce the consumption of the heater through their own efforts.
Despite being bathed in warm sunshine, the courtyard was faintly filled with the desolation of autumn. Yellow leaves, seemingly appearing out of nowhere, flew in from outside the courtyard wall, circling around and brushing against the busy hands of the senior students, before landing with a thud on the stone slab in front of Meng Yan.
She held her face in her hands and stared blankly for a long time. When she heard the noise, she picked up a fallen leaf in front of her, paused for a moment, crushed it in her hand, and threw it over. Her senior brothers and sisters all looked up.
Looking at themselves, there was no joy in their eyes, only dejection and loneliness. For some, the dark clouds were heavier than usual, undoubtedly because they had endured a difficult night and stared blankly until dawn.
"Does Junior Sister Yan think we're no different from these withered leaves?" Senior Sister replied listlessly.
"What does this mean?" a senior student asked, perking up.
"They won't survive the winter."
"..."
Meng Yan was speechless. He picked up a hammer and struck the copper, drawing everyone's attention back to the sound of the hand-made bell.
She put down the hammer, stood up, and in the bright sunlight, waved her arms to remove the knots between everyone's brows.
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