Chapter 14: 13, Touring the Flower Garden

13, Touring the Flower Garden

Inside the side room where Bai Xiue was temporarily staying, the furnishings were even more rudimentary than in the main hall.

The wooden bed by the window was built entirely from planks and stones; against the wall stood a clumsy wooden table, but that table was missing a leg, so it had to be propped up with bricks and stones.

Bai Xiue moved the high stool from the corner to in front of the table, sat down, and looked somewhat panicked and unsettled.

The old man outside the door kept pressing her on where her own home was; several times she almost couldn't help but speak up and tell him—but then she thought of the circumstances she would face upon returning home, and she became terrified, thus trapped in a dilemma, acting shameless and turning a deaf ear to Old Duan Gong's questions.

Fortunately, that young gentleman was willing to help her out of this predicament...

But this cannot go on like this.

If Old Duan Gong pays a bit more attention and asks around on the streets for a few days, sooner or later he will find out where her home is; what then should be done?

The young girl's eyes were full of sorrow; she sighed softly, lifted her gaze slightly, and stared blankly at a mirror placed on the table.

The mirror had originally been covered with a black cloth, but at some unknown time, the black cloth had slipped down from the mirror.

On the wall beside this mirror hung a string of copper bells.

"When facing a mirror for three breaths, one must shake the bell"; this was a folk taboo mentioned in the "Scripture of Purity" of Qingyi Town.

The "Scripture of Purity" mentions over a hundred folk taboos; if a person were to fully observe all of them, he could only lie in bed and sleep all day, so no one would ever fully abide by the rules of the "Scripture of Purity," yet people would still, based on its contents, truly avoid certain things.

Such as the rule of "shaking the bell when facing a mirror."

If a person gazes into a mirror for more than three breaths, he must shake the bell to remind himself. If one does not follow the rule, perhaps unpredictable situations may arise.

Bai Xiue's home was just near Qingyi Town; over there they also observed the custom of chanting scriptures at the fifth watch every dawn. She knew the rule about shaking the bell when facing a mirror, so when she saw the black cloth on the mirror slip down and her own face reflected within, her first reaction was to rise and shake the bell—

But she was still a step too slow.

Within three breaths, enough time existed for certain changes to occur.

In the mirror, the right half of Bai Xiue's face rippled like water; half of a bright and enchanting face floated up from beneath that "water," smiling as it gazed back at Bai Xiue.

"Shameless," that enchanting face, which had once appeared on yellow paper, laughed and scolded Bai Xiue.

Bai Xiue's face turned pale; she looked fearfully at the "paper face" in the mirror, pressed her lips tightly together, and said not a word.

There was not a trace of laughter in the paper face's eyes; it merely curled its lips, and half a face became incredibly vivid, making one involuntarily recall the idiom "a smile blooming like a flower"; it stared at Bai Xiue and continued speaking softly: "You have no kinship with the Zhou family, and you are a 'half-unveiled' woman; how dare you shamelessly linger in someone else's household?

If such a matter were to spread, would it not bring shame upon your family?

Have you forgotten your elder sister? She was caught meeting a man from outside, was stripped naked and paraded through the streets, and finally drowned in a pig cage—you are living in the home of two men, and your situation is even more serious than your elder sister's..."

The paper face seemed to know very well about Bai Xiue's past.

Its words were like knives stabbing into Bai Xiue's heart; Bai Xiue bit her lips until they turned white, tears accumulated in her eyes, and the panic on her face gradually turned to anger; she even began to refute the paper face: "I, I have already been married twice—my life, my life has been returned to my father and mother; I owe them nothing!

While I was alive, my father married me off as a concubine to a nobleman in the city.

I hanged myself, and the nobleman in the city sold my corpse to the townspeople for a ghost marriage—I have returned everything I could return; on what grounds do they still pursue me?!"

Her angry refutation only earned a sneer from the paper face.

The paper face still spoke in that wavering tone: "Who told you that although you died, you did not die completely, and have come back to life?

To be alive is to belong to another's household; to be dead is to be another's ghost; this is your fate... Even if you do not owe them, do you not owe the six young ladies who hanged themselves with you?

On the day before your wedding, you made an agreement with them to hang yourselves together at the 'Bride's Pool' and go together to 'Tour the Flower Garden.'

But all six of them died one after another, while you retained a breath of life and lived until now...

Can you still fulfill your agreement with them?

They are still waiting for you to go to the Flower Garden together..."

The soft voice lingered around Bai Xiue's ears; she remembered those six young ladies who had hanged themselves with her, and tears rolled down from her eyes in large drops; suddenly she felt her face itching terribly, so she reached out to scratch; her fingernails scraped across her skin, tearing off large chunks of flesh and skin—

In the mirror, large patches of Bai Xiue's skin were scratched away by her, exposing the muscle texture beneath.

Among the vivid red facial muscles, black holes resembling lotus root pores suddenly appeared; strands of lotus silk swam out from those holes, transforming into white, slender arms that swayed before Bai Xiue's eyes: "Xiue, Xiue..."

"Come, come..."

"Let us go together to tour the Flower Garden..."

As dusk approached, Zhou Chang heard a sound of donkeys and mules braying outside, followed immediately by the sound of beating on the courtyard gate, the gate opening, and greetings.

The sounds outside gradually grew fainter; Zhou Chang guessed that Zhou Sanji's senior brother had arrived.

Leaning against the head of the bed, he used thought-threads to manipulate his arms, slowly moving his body to sit more upright.

After straightening his posture, Zhou Chang lifted his gaze toward the door, waiting for Zhou Sanji and his senior brother to push the door open and enter.

Even though he could now use Bai Xiue to make the "thought-threads" grow, granting himself a certain degree of mobility, relying on thought-threads to control this body was ultimately not a long-term solution.

Zhou Chang still hoped to be like a normal person.

After returning to normal, he could also travel around and seek out the whereabouts of "Yinsheng Laomu."

Yinsheng Laomu, the Old Mother of Yin Birth, was the key to whether he could return to his hometown; perhaps there too he could solve the mystery of why his and Zhou Chang's life experiences were so identical.

His hope of returning to normal now rested solely on Zhou Sanji's senior brother.

But he gazed at that door for a long time, yet it was not pushed open.

Outside the room.

In the passage behind the courtyard gate.

An old man, tall and thin, wearing clothes covered in patches, held the hand of a boy of eleven or twelve with one hand, while extending the other toward Zhou Sanji; with round black glasses perched on his nose bridge, he grinned and spread his palm toward Zhou Sanji: "Ten copper coins for the carriage fare!"

Zhou Sanji's expression changed; he glared at the tall old man, but finally, through gritted teeth, he took out ten copper coins and tossed them into the old man's hand.

The old man turned, threw a few copper coins to the mule-cart driver waiting outside the courtyard gate, and pocketed one for himself in his sleeve; he then chuckled and said to the mule-cart driver: "Along this journey, I chanted the name of your elder and younger family members one hundred and thirty times before the Manifested True Lord of Wan Tianchuan, so that the venerable one would remember them and protect your entire household; thus, charging you one copper coin as incense money is not too much, is it?"

"Not much, not much..." The mule-cart driver looked very stifled, yet he still had to smile apologetically at the old man.

After all, since the other party had spoken thus, what could he say?

"Then why don't you thank me?" The old man took off his round black glasses, widened his eyes, and stared at the mule-cart driver.

The mule-cart driver felt even more stifled; he repeatedly thanked him and urged the carriage to depart.

At this moment, Zhou Sanji stopped the mule cart, gave the driver a copper coin, and after the driver departed with endless thanks, he turned back, glaring at Gao Laotou—his senior brother—and spoke harshly: "Three copper coins can buy a large piece of tender tofu; one copper coin can buy a jin of rough rice—others drove you dozens of li to get you here, constantly fearing for their lives along the way, yet you even deduct their pay!

We are all ordinary commoners; we should look out for one another!

Where is the logic in bullying each other?"