FMT 32

Chapter 32 One Month

That night, the families in Kaoshan Village who lived close to the mountain faintly heard the sound of a flute being played.

The flute notes were meant to be flowing and melodious, but in the winter night they sounded bleak.

When it was almost time to sleep, Liandan lay in bed, tossing and turning.

Xue Ming opened her eyes, looked at him, and asked, “You can’t sleep?”

Liandan asked, “Did you hear something, like someone playing a flute?”

Xue Ming focused and listened for a while. Her expression shifted, as if she understood. But she only said, “Maybe it’s someone who has words in their heart but cannot speak them out.”

….

On a large tree halfway up Lingyun Mountain, a young man in white stood on a branch. The wind blew his clothes and long hair into the air, and though the thin branch swayed, it bore his weight without any sign of breaking.

The winding flute sound drifted through the mountain forest at night, together with the cold moonlight, like weeping and lament.

A group of people moved quickly through the woods, arriving at the tree, and stopped to bow in salute.

Moments later, the flute stopped. The man in white lowered the flute, turned his back to them, and asked in a deep voice, “Are you all ready?”

Liu Shuqi answered respectfully, “Yes.”

“We set off.” As soon as the words fell, the man in white rose lightly into the air and swiftly disappeared into the distance.

Liu Shuqi gestured to the others behind him, then followed quickly.

After the Right Protector and Left Protector reunited, within two days they unexpectedly separated again.

The Left Protector’s whereabouts were unknown, while the Right Protector moved in secret, recruiting disciples and preparing to build power. If left unchecked, it would only grow more troublesome.

Their mission was to find the Right Protector’s whereabouts and eliminate him completely.

….

Xue Ming was clever. When Liandan did not ask, she said nothing. If he asked, she told him a little. If he asked again, she told him a little more. Liandan had been wary of her. If she had tried to persuade him herself, he would not have believed her, and would have resisted more. But once Liandan wanted to know on his own, it was different.

These past days, Xue Ming told Liandan what martial arts were, what inner strength was, what meditation was for, and she also told him many stories about the martial world. She even let him try on a human-skin mask.

Liandan had lived his whole life within ten li of this place, never even going to town. He had never heard so many unbelievable new things.

Every day it was like listening to storytellers in a teahouse. Xue Ming brewed tea for him, set out delicate pastries, and spoke vividly, telling whatever came to mind. The tea leaves and pastries were fine ones she had prepared especially.

Liandan drank tea, ate, and listened, his eyes growing wider the more he heard. He felt both amazed and envious.

That day Xue Ming told him about a few years ago, when a rash young man came down from Canglan Mountain. He was the disciple of a reclusive master. Having trained for more than ten years since childhood, he thought he was already very skilled. He insisted on going down the mountain to travel, and his master allowed him.

After coming down, the rash youth sent out challenges everywhere, calling out martial experts. For the first two months he met no match, won every fight, and became arrogant.

One day he came to challenge Xue Ming’s senior brother.

That senior brother was famous in the martial world for his qinggong. The rash youth said he would not bully him, that they would not compare anything else, only the qinggong that had made the senior brother’s name.

The senior brother normally would not have bothered with such a person. But because he had ties with the youth’s master, who secretly wrote to him asking that he look after the disciple, he agreed. The two arranged to compete on the Mishui River.

“And then?” Liandan forgot to eat, staring curiously.

“They used qinggong to cross the river as if walking,” Xue Ming stretched out her arms to demonstrate, “and the river was dozens of meters wide, not easy at all.”

Liandan’s mouth opened wide in amazement.

“They set off from this bank together. Whoever reached the far bank first would win. The result…” Xue Ming covered her mouth and laughed. Liandan tugged at her sleeve. “What was the result?”

Xueming cleared her throat, smiling. “That rash youth fell into the water halfway across. He couldn’t swim, nearly drowned. My senior brother reached the far side, then came back and pulled him out. When he came up, he spit out several mouthfuls of water, and a live fish jumped out from inside his clothes!”

Liandan let out an “Ah” and then laughed, holding his stomach.

Xue Ming patted his back with a smile. “There were many martial people watching on both banks, all laughing so hard. The rash youth, once he recovered, covered his face and ran back to Canglan Mountain at once. These past years, he hasn’t come down again.”

Liandan laughed even harder. When the laughter subsided, his face still held a smile. He asked, “Can people really walk on water?”

Xue Ming nodded. “Yes, but the qinggong must be excellent. To master it, you need both talent and many years of hard training.”

Liandan’s face showed longing.

Xue Ming touched his shoulder and arm. “Actually, your body is quite suitable for learning qinggong. But you’ve passed the best age to learn martial arts.”

Liandan touched his own arm awkwardly, lowered his head, and said, “Forget it. It would be useless even if I learned, and besides…”

Besides, he was almost well, and Xue Ming would be leaving soon. Seeing his expression dim, Xue Ming thought for a moment and said, “Then let me teach you three moves. You can use them even without inner strength. If you run into some small thugs, you can protect yourself.”

Liandan lifted his head, his eyes bright. “Really?”

“Mm.” Xue Ming nodded firmly.

So that day, under Xue Ming’s guidance, Liandan practiced those three moves over and over until he mastered them.

Xue Ming even let him try them against her. She deliberately went easy, and Liandan felt very accomplished.

The next morning, after breakfast and tidying up, Xueming packed her bundle and prepared to leave.

Liandan held Xiaodan, watching her with mixed feelings. Xue Ming handed him a money pouch, heavy with silver.

Liandan hurriedly pushed it back. “I don’t want this…”

“This isn’t my money. Take it,” Xue Ming said. “Xiaodan is growing. He’ll need food and clothes. That all costs money. He is your child together. He has a duty to help raise him. It is only right you take this money.”

Liandan hesitated, but finally accepted the pouch. Xue Ming patted his shoulder, bent down, affectionately kissed Xiaodan’s plump cheek, held his small hand, then reluctantly left.

The room was suddenly left with only Liandan and the child, it was quiet to the extreme.

….

After Old Madam Chen was laid to rest, there would still be two more memorials this month. For the first seven-day rites, Xue Ming had arranged everything for Liandan.

That day the Zhang family came, and they also invited monks to conduct Buddhist rites. It was arranged quite properly.

Chen family’s eldest son also came. He sat off to the side, sullen, not talking much, but kept glancing around the house at the things inside.

Since Chen Shuangning was not there, someone was bound to ask. Liandan followed what Xue Ming had taught him and said that his paper-made body did not last long, so he had to often go to the temple for Master Yuanjing to redo it. With that, no one could press further.

On the third-seven day, only the two Zhang brothers came. Zhang Xing was the same as always, no flaws to be seen. But in his words, he no longer showed the browed hostility he once had toward Liandan, instead he was rather easy to talk to.

After the rites for the third-seven were done, they only had to wait for the forty-ninth day’s rites. Then Madam Chen’s funeral would be considered fully complete.

After the beginning of the eleventh month, the weather suddenly turned freezing. Going outside required wrapping up the face and ears, and padded gloves had to be worn, otherwise fingers could freeze if one stayed out too long.

In winter, farming families had little to do. Only the young people unafraid of cold went to town to find day work for some money.

Some went to the mountain to hunt or chop wood, keeping what was needed and selling the rest.

At Liandan’s house, firewood was already stocked, and he burned coal sparingly. It would definitely last the whole winter.

He was a ge’er, so finding work in town was difficult. More importantly, he had to look after Xiaodan, who was growing more and more energetic.

So this winter, Liandan did not plan to go anywhere. He stayed home, kept the house warm, and made sure the child would not fall ill.

After meals in the day, once tidied up, he would take a short walk at midday when it was not too cold, but always returned quickly. Sometimes he asked others to buy some food from town, and he played with the child.

The money Xue Ming gave him was more than ten taels of silver. Liandan felt it was enough for a lifetime.

Tang Hua was also bored at home and often came holding Xiaohua to visit.

Xiaohua was four months old. She was pale, thin, and small, her crying was soft. She was a little girl everyone doted on.

When the two children were together, Xiaohua could not yet play with others. But just watching Xiaodan, and Xiaodan watching her, they could stay curious for a long time.

Tang Hua glanced at Xiaodan, then at Liandan, and pinched his cheek with a smile. “Did you get fatter? How did you raise both big and small to be so white and tender, like water would squeeze out?”

Liandan turned his head away, embarrassed. “I’ve been eating more lately.”

When Xue Ming was here, she made food in all kinds of ways. Only then did Liandan realize the same ingredients could be cooked into so many variations.

She also bought many foods from town that Liandan had never eaten before. After tasting them, he tried making them himself, and the results turned out quite decent. Not only did he put on some weight, Xiaodan had also grown plumper than before.

Tanghua asked, “Your man has been gone almost a month now. Shouldn’t he be coming back soon?”

Liandan’s face stiffened. He remembered what Xue Ming had said and quickly lowered his head. He stammered, “S-soon… soon.”

In three or four days it would be the fifteenth.

Tang Hua laughed. “Less than two months left before New Year. Soon we’ll need to prepare for the festival. When your man comes back, how about the two families borrow a cart together and go to town?”

Before Liandan could refuse, Tang Hua clapped his hands. “I remember your sister lives near town, right? We can stop by and see her then.”

Liandan was tempted, but… He lowered his head, not giving a certain answer, only saying, “We’ll see when the time comes.”

Tang Hua did not insist, he just nodded. “Alright. It’s too early to say now. We’ll decide then.”

As they were talking, suddenly a small hand slapped down on Liandan’s shoulder. Both he and Tanghua turned in surprise and saw Xiaodan holding onto his Liandan’s shoulder. With his chubby legs trembling, he stood up.

Tang Hua exclaimed with joy, “Oh, he can already stand holding on! When his father comes back in a few days, he’ll be overjoyed!”

Liandan’s expression was more complicated. He kissed the child’s face and then buried his own face in the child’s small neck.

….

On the fifteenth of the eleventh month, Liandan was restless all day. Last time Tang Hua had visited, he ate the red date cake he steamed and said it was delicious. He promised to make some and bring it over.

Since Tang Hua’s family still had his parents-in-law, it would look stingy to give too little. So Liandan steamed a full large pot, leaving a small portion for himself and Xiaodan, and packed most into a basin to deliver.

But when he had bundled Xiaodan and strapped him to his back, ready to leave, he hesitated, lowered his head, and put one piece back into the pot.

After putting it back, he quickly regretted it, opened the pot, and returned it to the basin. But after walking only a few steps, he went back and again took a piece out of the basin and returned it to the pot. This back-and-forth repeated several times until Xiaodan grew impatient and called “Ah ah” from behind him, probably meaning he was too tightly bundled and hot.

Liandan closed his eyes, covered both pot and basin, and stopped hesitating. He lifted his foot and went out.

After delivering the food, he stayed at Tang Hua’s house for a while, chatted, then returned to prepare dinner.

At home it was only him and the child. They could not eat much. He cooked a vegetable porridge and steamed an egg custard for the child. After eating and cleaning up, Liandan boiled water to bathe Xiaodan.

Xiaodan splashed around nonstop in the water, soaking Liandan’s hair and clothes. With no choice, Liandan also wiped himself clean.

After coaxing Xiaodan to sleep, Liandan sat on the edge of the bed, looked at the night outside the window, and placed his hands properly on his knees like an obedient child, lost in thought.

After a while, he rose, took a sewing basket from the cupboard, and sat at the table to work.

Xiaodan now sometimes stood holding onto people. Aunt Wu next door said in less than two months he would be walking, and then he could no longer wear the old shoes. Liandan had to sew two pairs fit for walking.

It was not urgent, but since he had time, he started now. With something to do, Liandan stopped overthinking and gradually focused.

Until suddenly, from the outer room door came a soft knock. Liandan froze at first, then thought of something, though not fully certain.

He set down his work and hesitated as he went to the outer room. When he reached the outer door, he was already certain who was outside. Because as soon as he stepped forward, the knocking stopped.

Liandan stopped at the doorway. Before he spoke, the person outside already knew he was there. A hoarse voice came through the thin door panel. “It’s me.”

Liandan lowered his head, bit his lip, and his heart began to race. While he was still hesitating, the latched door creaked open. Liandan was startled and stepped back unconsciously.

A young man in white walked in slowly from outside and stopped in front of him. Liandan raised his head to glance quickly, then lowered it again.

Chen Shuangning turned and closed the door, looked at Liandan, and said in a deep voice, “I’m back.”