Chapter 76: A Sunny Day Chapter 55: Is She Alive or Dead?

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Protagonist:

Shaowei

Liu Qi

Shaowei was displeased that Jiang Fu insisted on going to buy that sharp, pungent new wine, and because of the argument in the hall just now, seeing Jiang Fu sitting on the cow's back smiling and saying he was going out, Shaowei stood inside the courtyard gate and merely gave a stiff "oh."

Seeing this little ghost was displeased but still responded, Jiang Fu jokingly nodded and praised: "The Birthday King is truly very understanding."

Shaowei had no time to feel this was a compliment before she saw Jiang Fu gently pat the green ox's head: "The green ox is slow to enlighten; it seems it must learn more from the King."

Shaowei was instantly annoyed and turned back into the courtyard, only to hear outside the sound of cow hooves accompanied by Jiang Fu's laughter as they left.

She walked briskly to the front of the hall, about to cross the threshold, but just as she lifted one foot, Shaowei's movement suddenly stalled; she frowned at her colorful new tiger shoes and the red-and-white overlapping skirt hem, then after a moment, drew back the foot she had raised in midair and retreated to outside the threshold.

Shaowei frowned and wondered if she had been too strict, and whether on her birthday she should be more generous and easygoing?

She had never celebrated a birthday like this before; back at Tianlang Zhai, Mother would remember her birthday, but conditions did not allow for any celebration, Qin Fu was unpredictable, and sometimes on her birthday she might not even see Mother, while her birth was not something particularly worthy of joy and celebration for Mother, and Shaowei felt ashamed about this as well.

After returning to the Feng Family, because of the existence of that birthday wooden token, the Feng family members learned of Shaowei's birthday; this birthday happened to be the Double Ninth Festival, and Feng Xian, Feng Yi, and others increasingly asserted with great certainty that Shaowei was a reincarnation of a calamity star and ghost, no wonder she killed her birth mother and harmed her maternal grandparents.

Such a birthday had nothing worth celebrating; Shaowei's face showed no sign of timidity, but her heart was full of confusion, and she increasingly resisted and avoided her own birthday.

Therefore, celebrating her birthday like this now was something that had never happened before.

Shaowei had no normal experience of celebrating birthdays, but she had at least seen others do so; Jiang Fu went without saying, and she still remembered that Qin Fu would be very pleasant when celebrating birthdays, and the old woman who lived next door to Shan Gu's foster mother's home usually kept a stern face, but last year on her birthday she actually smiled at everyone she met, beaming with joy, and even actively shared birthday fruits with the children.

Shaowei thus inferred that on this day one must possess a bearing and character far surpassing ordinary days to be considered a qualified birthday star.

Faced with such a conclusion, Shaowei recalled her attitude toward Jiang Fu when he went out to buy wine just now—that response of a single "oh"—and couldn't help but feel it was unworthy of a birthday star's bearing.

Shaowei turned and walked outside, intending to call Jiang Fu back and ask him to bring back something else; what exactly to bring didn't matter, only to show friendliness and display bearing.

Just as Jiang Fu had said, this birthday star was indeed quite understanding, but this understanding had not yet been perfectly displayed; Shaowei arrived at the courtyard gate and first heard the sound of drums and music.

The Wunü Team was coming from the direction Jiang Fu had left, and the lively and bizarrely shaped scenes of entertaining the gods immediately filled Shaowei's field of vision.

Not to mention the crowd following to watch, just the Wunü Team itself numbered several dozen people; they wore colorful sacrificial robes, wore flower-branch bird-and-beast divine crowns, and held staffs, tokens, blade whips, and so on in their hands, their faces all covered with different divine-demonic masks, accompanying the music as they walked, chanted, and danced.

Shaowei couldn't tell for a moment which one was Qingwu, and she craned her neck and stood on tiptoe to identify with difficulty, finally catching sight of a figure dressed as Empress Lishan in the crowd.

That figure was slender and graceful; mixed among the crowd, everything looked normal at first glance, but upon closer inspection her movements seemed somewhat awkward and unfamiliar; despite the immortal's colorful robe and mask giving her courage, there was still a sense of nervousness and fear revealed.

This small nervousness was not worth mentioning in the clamor, but Shaowei saw it clearly; she stood on tiptoe, put her hands together at her mouth, and shouted loudly: "Empress Lishan, your magic power is boundless!"

Amidst the drum and music, the voices were indistinct, but Shaowei's shout seemed to use Qi from her dantian, exceptionally loud and powerful, clearly reaching Qingwu's ears.

Qingwu was so nervous she was flustered and hadn't even noticed where she had come; now, following this shout, she saw Shaowei, and felt both excited and reassured at once; and although separated by a mask, one could see surprise and joy in her eyes.

Qingwu didn't know it was Shaowei's birthday; seeing Shaowei dressed like this, she thought Shaowei had specially dressed up to wait for today's appointment.

Qingwu held a staff in her hand with a bell hanging from it; as she danced past Shaowei's side, she shook the staff bell until it couldn't ring any louder.

Shaking the bell was to drive away disaster and bestow blessings; if this dense blessing could take substance, it would probably drown Shaowei.

Solemn music and dance surrounded her; Shaowei stood in the bright sunlight, bathed in the sincere blessings from the "Goddess of Lishan."

Qingwu had never known it was Shaowei's birthday, but this year on this day she gave the blessing of a female immortal as a gift, and last year on this day she personally tied a Sparrow Head Knot on Shaowei's wrist—she had celebrated Shaowei's birthday for two consecutive years without knowing it.

Shaowei ran and followed the team, escorting and encouraging Qingwu for a stretch of road, until she saw the figure of Empress Lishan become increasingly composed, then she felt reassured and stopped, turning back.

After this delay, she naturally didn't see Jiang Fu's figure anymore; Shaowei thought that at the evening banquet, she would no longer stop Jiang Fu from drinking, and let him be a drunkard to his heart's content.

Zhan Zhan followed Shaowei back to the small courtyard; the bird didn't understand birthdays, but could smell the joyful aura filling Shaowei's body, and as its wings flapped, it also became especially cheerful.

Mo Li was busy in the stove house, while Shaowei rolled up her sleeves and thoroughly cleaned the hall, almost dragging the mice out of the mouse nest to dust them—this was originally an exaggeration, but unexpectedly she really saw a mouse quickly crawl out from under the table holding the incense burner.

The mouse squeaked as it crawled out, Zhan Zhan wailed and chased it; after several rounds of chasing and pecking, Zhan Zhan used its two claws to grab the big rat alive, flew over the courtyard wall, and threw it into the grass bush.

After doing all this, Zhan Zhan flew back into the hall, landed on the side table, proudly put its wings behind its back, and walked a few steps with a proud stride.

Shaowei rarely saw it act so bravely, so she took out two pine nuts as a reward.

Zhan Zhan held one pine nut in its beak and one in its claw, and flew to the courtyard to enjoy them.

Shaowei wiped the side table and saw that blue smoke curled slowly in the bronze censer; obviously incense was being burned.

Jiang Fu liked burning incense and loved light, faint fragrances; these incense pills were all made by her own hands, and she had once boasted to Shaowei that her secret-recipe incense pills each had their own efficacy, and a small box was worth a hundred gold pieces.

Although Shaowei didn't believe this big talk, at this moment she seriously smelled the fragrance, and it was indeed elegant; smelling it made one feel refreshed and delighted, and she felt her limbs and bones unconsciously relax.

After cleaning the inside and outside of the hall until it was almost brand new, Shaowei looked around at the results of her labor and felt deeply satisfied.

Shaowei sat cross-legged behind the low table, intending only to rest for a moment, but suddenly felt quite sleepy; probably because recently at night she had tossed and turned due to Jiang Fu's nighttime coughing and couldn't sleep well, and now that her mind and body relaxed, all the sleepiness she had owed recently came to collect debts like a tidal wave, and her yawns were longer than her life in her previous life.

Shaowei did not return to the bed inside the house; first, she was really sleepy, and second, she didn't want to take off her new clothes and new shoes, fearing that sleeping in them would wrinkle them, so she simply stretched out her legs, sat with her arms crossed, leaned her back against the table behind her, and intended to take a short nap and be done with it.

Shaowei rarely napped during the day; even if she slept, she would automatically wake up after two quarters of an hour; using Jiang Fu's words, everything about Shaowei's body had its own order: imposing and majestic toward outsiders, loyal, careful, and meticulous toward her master, not daring to make the slightest mistake.

But this time this body lost its rules and order once.

When Shaowei, who should have woken up soon, opened her eyes, she actually found that the sky outside was almost completely dark.

Shaowei felt a bit dazed from just waking up, her mind was chaotic for a moment; she looked down and saw Zhan Zhan lying on its back on her legs, still sleeping very soundly. Shaowei stood up, Zhan Zhan rolled off to the side, changed position, and actually lay down and went back to sleep.

Shaowei vaguely felt something was wrong; she had slept until now, why hadn't anyone woken her?

The hall was already dim, and outside the hall the last trace of twilight remained; Shaowei got up and walked outside, only to see that a lamp was lit in the stove house, which gave her a bit of inexplicable reassurance, but she still hurriedly called out: "Mo Li!"

Mo Li's figure came out from the stove house: "You're awake!"

Shaowei asked urgently: "Why didn't you wake me?"

Mo Li's face had no expression as usual: "You never told me to wake you!"

"Where is Jiang Fu?" Shaowei looked around, realizing that if Jiang Fu were home, she would definitely wake her up and make a fuss, but right now everything around was unusually quiet.

Mo Li: "The Head of Household has not returned."

He had prepared all the vegetables and meat, only waiting for the Head of Household to return and give an order before putting them into the pot.

Mo Li didn't know how to adapt; he only knew to keep waiting in the stove house.

Shaowei's brows had already furrowed, and she immediately said, "Go!"

Mo Li: "Go where?"

The words barely left Shaowei's mouth before she had run out several steps, but then she suddenly turned back, ran into the hall, and scooped up the still deeply sleeping Zhan Zhan, stuffing her into her embrace.

Before turning to leave the hall, Shaowei fixed her gaze on that bronze incense burner half-hidden in the dimness.

"Go find her!" Shaowei said to Mo Li as she stepped over the door threshold.

Jiang Fu did not often go out, but she had gone out before; when the mood struck her, she liked to ride an ox and wander idly, especially to secluded mountains and waters. Her sense of direction was extremely good; a road seen just once she could remember very clearly. Therefore, it was absolutely impossible that she had lost her way.

If not lost, could it be that she succumbed to a wine craving midway, drank too much, and passed out drunk under some slope or by the roadside? If so, it would be infuriating, but a voice in Shaowei's heart said it would be best if that were the case, best if she really had passed out drunk somewhere, waiting for her to find her — she would definitely be able to find her.

Mo Li hurriedly followed Shaowei out of the small courtyard.

As night spread, the moonlight also began to hold its own; the Double Ninth waxing moon hung quietly among sparse stars, watching the youth running on the ground.

Shaowei searched along the road leading to the prefecture and county market.

This trip was a good ten-plus li; and since she had to find someone, she could not deploy lightness skill for a cursory glance. Shaowei had already prepared herself for the likelihood of searching until dawn. She walked while thinking in a messy, haphazard way, her mind a tangle of thoughts. She gave Mo Li some jumbled instructions, and Mo Li nodded "oh" in a jumbled way all along the road.

The two people searched out two or three li, with nothing gained.

On this Double Ninth night there were no travelers; between heaven and earth lay boundless quiet. Shaowei, who had slept deeply for half a day, ran searching bewilderedly within this quiet, feeling that everything was unreal — including that inexpressible unease at the bottom of her heart.

As they walked, a rustling sound suddenly came from the peach grove on the left side of the road. This faint sound, no different from the wind, still made Shaowei instantly vigilant. One hand blocked Mo Li following behind, while the other hand reached toward her waist rear, where a short knife was tucked inside that red vermilion belt.

The short knife had not yet fully left its sheath when Shaowei had already distinguished the other party's breath and presence. She immediately pressed the knife hilt at her waist back, took large strides toward that grey shadow flashing out from the peach grove, her voice almost urgent: "Jiang Qian!"

It was a household servant, one who had been gone for a good stretch of time.

Shaowei opened her mouth and said to him: "Jiang Fu has not returned home up to now. You come with me to find her, along this road——"

The household servant interrupted Shaowei's words with a hoarse voice, saying: "Come with me."

Shaowei froze for a moment: "Go where?"

"Leave Taoxi Township."

"Why?"

The household servant did not answer, only reached out and gripped Shaowei's arm, immediately trying to take her away.

Shaowei violently yanked her arm back, retreated a step, and asked in a stern, serious voice: "Did something happen to her?"

The household servant was silent for an instant, then said: "Nothing. She just left."

"You're lying to me." Shaowei blurted out: "She would never just suddenly leave like this. Today is my birthday!"

This sounded like nothing more than childish, immature words, and could not serve as any evidence. But the girl's expression was unwaveringly certain, her voice equally stubborn and self-assured: "Where is she? I'm going to find her——"

Looking at the girl's slightly red nose tip and eyes, the household servant, never good with words, fell silent for a moment.

But this girl was both clever and anxious. Seeing him not speak, she straightaway broke into a run, plunging into that peach grove, intending to follow his incoming path to find someone.

The household servant sighed, turned, and also flashed back into the grove, quickly catching up to that figure, compromising: "Come with me then."

He deployed lightness skill and left; Shaowei hurriedly followed.

Zhan Zhan fell from Shaowei's lapel onto the ground, was picked up by Mo Li behind. The deeply sleeping bird opened its thin eyelids, finally recovering consciousness.

The household servant's lightness skill was superb; Shaowei could barely keep up. Mo Li at the very rear was left a distance behind. Fortunately, Zhan Zhan flew in the middle guiding him, the bird seemingly becoming a guiding rope to prevent the civet slave from getting lost.

They ran like this for who knows how far. When they stopped, they saw a looming black mass of a great mountain blocking the way ahead. They had already arrived at the foot of this mountain.

At the mountain's foot there was only a single extremely narrow, extremely winding goat-intestine path. Wild grass grew thick all around, clearly seldom trodden by people on ordinary days.

But judging by the flattened traces on the grass all around, it was clearly trampled not long ago, and by a chaotic trampling of many people and horses.

The great mountain's black shadow pressed down heavily. In this dim wilderness, Shaowei keenly smelled a trace of blood qi.

She followed that blood qi and hurried forward. Ahead, a patch of flattened autumn grass vaguely trembled. A black mass propped itself up, trying to rise, but could only manage to kneel halfway in place, letting out a pained, muffled, hoarse low cry: "Moo——"

It was the green ox.

Shaowei ran to the green ox's front, half-crouched and knelt down. She saw an arrow bolt stuck in its back, and one front leg had actually been sliced halfway off, blood dripping. The blood qi was precisely overflowing from its body.

Its large ox eyes were full of tears. It mooed at Shaowei again, nudging her arm with its head.

Shaowei raised her hand and encircled the green ox's warm head, tilted her head back, and asked the approaching household servant: "... Is she alive or dead?"