Chapter 10: A Mound of Yellow Earth, Rosy Cheeks and White Bones

Emerging from the western gate of Maplewood City and following the official road for some seven or eight *li*, one then turns left onto a smaller path. In less than the time it takes for half an incense stick to burn, the sight of the Green Willow River, its banks adorned with weeping willows, comes into view.

At this hour, the evening breeze caressed the face, and the bright moon mirrored itself upon the rippling waters, creating a shimmering spectacle.

As Jiang Wang stepped out from the path, he saw Ling He's gaunt silhouette, rooted by the river like a silent tree.

"Aiya, let me see, let me see." Zhao Rucheng bounded before him, craning his neck. "He's definitely hiding and sniffling, isn't he?"

Ling He sighed, a hint of helplessness in his tone. "Why have you come?"

"Your voice is even a little hoarse. You must have cried!"

Just then, a gruff voice emerged from the riverbank reeds. "姓赵的 (Xing Zhao de - referring to Zhao Rucheng), sometimes you truly deserve a beating, do you know that?"

"Brother Hu, you're here too?" Zhao Rucheng instinctively drew back his neck. Du Yeh Du, this brute, was truly one who acted without hesitation, and furthermore, he paid no mind to his handsome face.

"I was already here drinking," Du Yeh Du grumbled, his body reeking of alcohol that drifted in the evening breeze. "I didn't expect him to carry that fellow over here too. Bad luck."

"Exactly! Why even bury him?" Zhao Rucheng chimed in. "Such a wolf-hearted, dog-lunged thing should be tossed directly into the river, let him drift downstream and feed the fish and shrimp."

Jiang Wang glanced in the direction from which Du Yeh Du had appeared. "He's buried there?"

"Third Brother," Ling He explained, mindful of Jiang Wang's feelings. "I haven't forgotten Pengju's wickedness, but I still remember his good deeds too. My family was poor, and I often went hungry. Pengju would always find excuses to have me point out flaws in his martial arts, keeping me from leaving until it was time to eat. His death is well-deserved, but I cannot bear to see his body exposed in the wilderness... Of course, you were also very good to me. That year, when we cleared the Green Ox寨 (zhai - fortified village), you saved me..."

"Why speak of these things?" Jiang Wang interrupted him. "When my father was alive, he told me that adults are different from children. The first thing adults must learn is to seek common ground while reserving differences. That kind of 'I won't play with him, so you can't play with him either' is for children. You with Fang Pengju and you with me, let's treat them separately. I won't interfere with your deep bond with him, and you won't interfere with my complete break from him."

"That makes sense," Ling He said.

He looked around at the Green Willow River under the night sky. "There's always a feeling of being back in the past, as if it were yesterday. The changes here aren't significant, but we are all different now."

"Nothing is immutable; the only constant in this world is perpetual change," Zhao Rucheng declared with a meaningful air, then shamelessly sidled up to Ling He again. "Burying someone shouldn't take this late. Did you two hug and cry?"

The words had barely left his lips when he sprang into the air, deftly dodging Du Yeh Du's incoming hairy leg.

"Tsk tsk tsk, losing your temper..." He was halfway through his taunting remark when he quickly cupped his hands and bowed. "My mistake, my mistake, Brother Hu."

Du Yeh Du was already rubbing his hands together, chasing after him. "You're not mistaken, I'm just about to have a good cry with you."

Watching the two bicker, Ling He said leisurely, "But I believe there are some things that won't be changed."

"Regarding your words, I agree with half," Jiang Wang said.

The 'sparring' between Du Yeh Du and Zhao Rucheng somehow devolved into a free-for-all among the four of them. Fists and feet flew, each throwing hindrances in the other's path. They fought until everyone was breathless, then burst into laughter, and then hugged and cried.

If someone had passed by the vicinity of the Green Willow River that night, they would likely have heard tales of water spirits or other strange occurrences.

The four brothers finally left the Green Willow River side by side, leaving behind this place that held the memories of youth and friendship.

No one spoke further.

Only Zhao Rucheng muttered to himself as he looked back one last time:

"When you're over there, don't harm your friends again. You ghost."

...

Moonlight flowed within the shimmering waters of the Green Willow River, and also poured down from the broken roof of the Zhen Guan temple.

Perhaps due to the moonlight, the faces of the two people speaking within the dilapidated temple appeared remarkably pale.

One of them was a captivating woman, clad in a vibrant crimson gown. Her figure was exquisite, curves in all the right places. Especially the hint of dazzling white skin visible where her collar was slightly open, a sight that made it impossible to look away.

Her face was perhaps too pale, which by rights should have made her appear somewhat fragile and sickly. Yet, she exuded an astonishing sense of vivid allure. Perhaps it was due to her overly bright, scarlet lips?

She sat there on the dust-laden incense table without a care, so beautiful yet so unperturbed.

She lightly traced her red lips with her little finger and said, "All the beggars in this temple are dead. It's truly vexing. How can we supplicate the divine decree now?"

Her voice seemed to have circled the spiderwebs on the eaves before reaching its intended destination, giving it an ethereal quality.

"A cultivator's soul is sufficient."

The speaker stood near the entrance. Unlike the crimson-clad woman, he seemed unwilling to even set half a foot inside this filthy, broken temple, and covered his mouth and nose with a handkerchief embroidered with plum blossoms.

"Aiya, easy for you to say," the crimson-clad woman said. "We have to sneak around to kill a few mortals. Kill a cultivator? Aren't you afraid of the Zhuang Kingdom's Daoist academy coming knocking?"

"Everyone in this city, every single one, will die sooner or later," the man said, frowning as he spoke. "Must we speak in a place like this?"

The crimson-clad woman chuckled. "The renowned Zuo Guanglie, who was celebrated throughout the land, met his end here. The people of Zhuang Kingdom have searched this place thoroughly no less than ten times. There's nowhere nearby cleaner than this."

Speaking of Zuo Guanglie, she actually closed her eyes slightly, displaying a look of intoxication. Even her pale face quickly flushed with color. "I can still smell his vigorous aura~"

"Back to business." The man interrupted her reverie without a change in expression. "Wei Quji is not someone to be trifled with, and now there's this Dong A. We must find the Dao Child as quickly as possible. These Qin and Chu savages fighting amongst themselves here have disrupted the Zhen Guan temple's sacrifice. If you ask me, instead of gradually and sneakily capturing some mortals, it's better to simply sacrifice a cultivator. It's much simpler and more direct."

"There isn't just one way to seek death. Why must you cling to this one? Isn't slitting your throat with a sword good? Or being devoured by lightning?"

Perhaps irked by having her thoughts interrupted, the crimson-clad woman opened her beautiful eyes and her smile vanished. "Until the Dao Child appears, you had best know what 'low profile' means!"

The man also seemed somewhat irritated, covering his nose as he spoke. "Miaoyu! As if attacking the Maplewood City Daoist academy wasn't your idea! Now you've stirred up such a commotion throughout the city. If things go wrong, our great undertaking will fail!"

"What do you know? This world is too vast, and there are too many accidents! Who could have imagined Zuo Guanglie would die like this? And conveniently disrupt our sacrifice plan. At the bottom of the Wangchuan River, the bones have been silent for too long! There can be no more accidents! Now, in Maplewood City, Dong A is crucial. We must ascertain his strength and his limits! A certain sacrifice is unavoidable. Furthermore..."

The crimson-clad woman named Miaoyu licked her lips. "Do you know that the beggars in this broken temple didn't all die? I smelled a familiar scent in the Maplewood City Daoist academy..."

The filthy environment made the man increasingly impatient. "The life or death of a mere beggar is something for me to care about?"

This time, Miaoyu merely stretched languidly, fully displaying her exquisite figure. "Fool."

The man narrowed his eyes, concealing the fleeting desire within them. "Don't presume to be so presumptuous just because you are nominally the Dao Child's woman. The sect has had many Holy Maidens over thousands of years. When the Dao Child appears, whether he wants you, whether he acknowledges you, remains to be seen."

"Crimson beauty, white bones; emptiness and illusion. Can you not see through it?"

"Hehehehe." The man turned and walked out of the temple. "Whether I can see through it or not, what does it matter? It is what it is."

After a long time, the seductive murmur within the quiet and dilapidated old temple gently echoed, spreading out like the moonlight.

"How could he not love me? How could he not want me? I have waited for so many years, for so many years..."