Chapter 8: Riverside Immortal (Part 2)
Ni Su had never felt so wretched. Taking shelter in a dilapidated temple, huddled on a pile of dry grass, using withered straw as a pillow, she endured the long night.
The lone white candle on the floor flickered. Ni Su stared at it, recalling the ghost stories she had read, almost all of which depicted ghosts consuming incense and candles, absorbing their essence.
But he wasn’t like that.
She tossed and turned, the dry grass rustling beneath her. She saw the man outside, now sitting on the steps, his back as solitary as bamboo, his form flickering, as if he might dissolve into the mountain mist at any moment.
Unconsciously, Ni Su drifted into a light sleep, or perhaps she simply closed her eyes for a while. As the sky turned the color of fish belly white and the first light of dawn touched her eyelids, she woke with a start.
The morning mist was thin and damp. Ni Su stepped out of the temple and looked around, but the man who had been sitting on the steps last night was gone. A cool breeze brushed her face, and she heard the sound of a horse exhaling. She immediately went to unharness the animal.
The carriage contained the belongings Mama Qian had packed for her: jewelry, clothes, her favorite books, her usual ink. But now, it was inconvenient to carry them.
Ni Zong wouldn’t give up easily, and Ni Su didn’t plan to hire another coachman. It was better to travel light. She would hide these things for now.
She took only the essential medical texts, the banknotes Cen Shi had given her, and her set of gold needles.
There were places in Que County where one could hire horses. Ni Su had been to such places with Ni Qinglan, but she had only watched him and his scholarly friends ride; she had never ridden herself.
She remembered how her brother effortlessly mounted a horse, but now, as she tried to imitate him, the horse wouldn’t cooperate. Its tail swished back and forth, its hooves pawing the ground restlessly.
Ni Su struggled, her temples damp with sweat. The forest rustled around her. Suddenly, she felt a supporting force, effortlessly lifting her onto the horse’s back.
The golden light of the rising sun streamed through the trees. The pale young man stood nearby. Sensing her gaze, he raised his eyes, which seemed clearer than last night. His long fingers held the reins, gently stroking the horse’s mane. “Horses are spiritual creatures. To control them, you must connect with them.”
Ni Su remained silent as he gently stroked the horse and led it forward. The horse, seemingly calmed, obediently followed him.
Watching him stroke the horse’s mane, Ni Su sensed something different about him, as if this was a motion he had repeated countless times.
He led the horse to a patch of lush grass. Seeing the horse eagerly lower its head to graze, Ni Su realized she hadn’t fed it since last night.
She took the reins he offered. “Thank you.”
In the early morning, villagers from nearby often came up the mountain to gather firewood. Ni Su rode slowly along the mountain path. After asking an old man for directions, she realized she had indeed taken the wrong path.
On the way to Qiao Town, Ni Su gradually got the hang of riding. Although she didn’t dare go too fast, she wasn’t too slow either. She didn’t linger in Qiao Town, buying only some dry rations before continuing her journey.
The recent loss of her mother weighed heavily on Ni Su’s heart, and the news of her brother’s possible soul loss made it difficult to breathe. She wished she could travel day and night to reach the capital quickly.
But night travel was dangerous. As Ni Su sat by a stream, eating dry, hard biscuits, a peasant woman returning from gathering firewood took her home.
“You’ve come at a good time, Miss. The daughter-in-law next door is giving birth. They’ll probably have a feast tonight.” The peasant woman’s family didn’t have any tea, so she offered Ni Su a bowl of water in a gourd ladle.
Ni Su thanked her and gave all her malt candy to the peasant woman’s young daughter. The girl, who was losing her baby teeth, grinned at Ni Su, revealing a gap-toothed smile.
“Chang Sheng? Chang Sheng…”
A frail old woman emerged from the house, her cloudy eyes unfocused, calling a name repeatedly.
The peasant woman quickly put down her work and gently coaxed the old woman back into the house. After a while, she returned.
“My husband was swept away by the river last year while repairing the embankment. My mother-in-law was deeply affected and often forgets that he’s gone.” The peasant woman smiled, explaining her family’s situation.
Seeing Ni Su’s hesitant expression, the peasant woman continued her embroidery as she spoke. “Fortunately, Minister Meng was still an official here last year, so the imperial compensation wasn’t embezzled by those scoundrels. Otherwise, I would have had to remarry to get some money for my mother-in-law’s living expenses.”
Ni Su had heard of Minister Meng.
Meng Yun Xian had a military background but later became a civil official, rising through the ranks in the scholar-dominated Great Qi. He had once been Vice Minister, in charge of new policies, but fourteen years ago, those policies were abolished, and Meng Yun Xian was demoted and sent to a small, insignificant county.
“Sister Jiang, is Minister Meng no longer in Wen County this year?” Ni Su asked, holding her bowl.
“He left a few months ago. I heard the Emperor changed his mind and recalled Minister Meng to the capital. It seems he’s going to be officially appointed as Minister this time,” Lady Jiang sometimes worked as a dishwasher in the restaurants and teahouses of Wen County. She had heard this news from the gossiping patrons.
The sun was scorching, but beneath the shade of the trees, a cool breeze blew, sunlight filtering through the leaves and falling on Xu Hexue’s shoulders.
The words “Minister Meng” reached his ears, and he opened his eyes.
The cicadas chirped loudly nearby.
“Zhang Chong Zhi, he is your student. You should understand his character better than I. Even if you force him to kneel here until he dies, it won’t change his mind! A fledgling bird has grown its wings and wants to defy the current. Even as a teacher, how can you stop it?”
A summer evening, by Yong’an Lake in the capital, in the Xie Chun Pavilion. A fourteen-year-old boy knelt on the steps, looking up at the sound of two robed scholars arguing heatedly, their backs silhouetted against the setting sun.
The sounds from beneath the tree brought Xu Hexue back to the present. He looked up and saw the young woman who had been sitting at the table hurriedly put down her bowl and run after Lady Jiang to the house across the street.
Ni Su didn’t get to eat the feast. The daughter-in-law next door was having a difficult labor. Hearing the concerned murmurs of the neighbors gathered outside the house, Ni Su followed Lady Jiang over.
Hearing the midwife inside exclaim, “This is bad!”, the husband panicked and wanted to fetch a physician, but his mother stopped him. “Son, how can you let those male physicians examine your wife?”
“But Yue Niang…” The man, held back by his mother, was frantic. “What about Yue Niang? What about my son?”
“I’ll take a look.”
Ni Su didn’t want to witness their family drama any longer. Rolling up her sleeves, she simply announced her intention, washed her hands, and entered the room.
Everyone exchanged puzzled glances, none of them recognizing the young woman.
“Lady Jiang, who is that girl?”
Someone, seeing that she had come with Lady Jiang, asked.
“Well…” Lady Jiang rubbed her temples. She had just met the girl on the road and hadn’t had time to ask about her family. “Her surname is Ni. She’s just passing through.”
A woman who had gone inside with Ni Su ran out. “She seems to be a medicine woman!”
What? A medicine woman?
Everyone looked at each other in surprise. Lady Jiang also looked astonished. “How could a medicine woman be so young? She looks no older than fifteen or sixteen.”
Her demeanor didn’t seem like that of an ordinary peasant girl either. She seemed more like a fallen noblewoman, but which noblewoman would work as a medicine woman?
As the sky darkened, the people outside waited. Finally, they heard the cry of a baby. The husband’s tense shoulders relaxed, and he turned, his gaze fixed on the door.
The midwife emerged, carefully cradling a baby in her arms. She glanced at the old woman, then smiled at the man. “Sun Da Lang, it’s a girl.”
The man seemed unfazed, carefully taking the baby to look at her. However, the old woman’s face fell, and she slammed her cane on the ground, glancing at the door. “What good is a girl!”
The neighbors, trying to avoid the awkwardness, pretended not to hear. But the old woman’s voice was loud, and the young wife, who had just escaped death, heard her. Tears welled up in her eyes, and her pale lips trembled. “Thank you, Miss, for saving my life.”
“Rest well.”
There was no clean water left in the room. Ni Su’s hands were covered in blood, and her clothes were stained. She glanced at the woman on the bed and walked out. Hearing the old woman still muttering about her granddaughter, Ni Su said, “Aren’t you a woman yourself, Madam?”
The old woman glared at her, initially startled by the blood on her hands, then scrutinized her. She had delicate features, and her clothes, though stained, looked to be of good quality. Her hair was styled in three looped buns, and although she wore no ornaments, it only accentuated her clean and refined appearance.
“Oh, Miss Ni, come back to my house and wash up!” Lady Jiang, knowing the old woman’s temperament, quickly ushered Ni Su through the crowd.
“So young, yet working as a medicine woman…” the old woman muttered, glaring at Ni Su’s retreating figure.
“Mother, she saved Yue Niang and your granddaughter’s lives! Stop it!” the man said, holding his daughter and sighing helplessly.
“Miss, quickly wash your hands and change your clothes. It doesn’t matter if you can’t eat their food. I’ll cook for you!” Lady Jiang led Ni Su back to her courtyard and pushed her into a side room.
Ni Su had assisted with childbirth many times before. She knew the unspoken rule that even if a family’s daughter-in-law was giving birth, they wouldn’t invite a “medicine woman” to stay for a meal.
Ni Su didn’t mind. She entered the room and washed her hands. As she was about to undress, she suddenly stopped, looked around, and tentatively asked, “Are you… there?”
Lady Jiang’s daughter was playing with pebbles in the courtyard. Suddenly, a gust of wind stirred. She looked up and saw the branches of the large tree in their courtyard swaying. A wisp of smoke drifted from beneath the tree, disappearing into the lamplight.
Hearing no sound from inside the room, Ni Su relaxed slightly and untied her sash. Suddenly, a wooden stool clattered to the floor.
Startled, she looked through the simple screen and saw a figure standing by the table. His movements were strange, and his eyes seemed… off.
Ni Su quickly retied her sash, picked up the lamp, and approached him. As she suspected, his eyes were vacant, devoid of any light. She waved her hand in front of his face, and his shadow moved, but his eyes remained unblinking, unresponsive.
“Your eyes…”
Ni Su was astonished.
He had been able to see clearly during the day. But then she remembered that he had been like this outside the carriage the night they encountered the bandits. Suddenly, it dawned on her. “Could it be… night blindness?”
But could ghosts suffer from night blindness?
Xu Hexue didn’t answer. As he raised his hand, a gust of wind blew out the candle in Ni Su’s hand, plunging the room into darkness. Only the light from the lantern outside filtered through the window.
Xu Hexue stood motionless in the deep shadows. Smelling the smoke from the extinguished wick, he said, “Light it.”
Ni Su, puzzled, retrieved a flint and steel from her bag and relit the candle, placing it on the table. She looked up, meeting his gaze.
His eyes, clear and cold, reflected the faint light.
“You…” Ni Su stared at him in astonishment, then looked at the candle, then at her own hands.
Finally, she understood.
Only when she lit the candle could he see at night.
“Are all ghosts like this?”
Ni Su found it bizarre.
“My eyes were injured before I died. I cannot see at night unless you light a lamp,” Xu Hexue said indifferently.
He was a damaged soul. Unless he returned to Youdu, he couldn’t see at night without the summoner personally lighting a lamp.
Ni Su was taken aback. After a moment, she suddenly blew out the candle.
Without warning, Xu Hexue’s world was plunged into darkness again.
“I’ll light it for you later,”
Ni Su said, walking back behind the screen.
Xu Hexue heard the rustling of her clothes. He seemed to realize what she was doing and turned his back, his long eyelashes lowered.
“You didn’t have to endure such criticism,”
Ni Su had just taken off her bloodstained clothes when she heard his voice from behind the screen. Understanding what he was referring to, she looked back through the gap and saw him standing in the shadows, like a frost-covered pine branch.
“This isn’t the first time I’ve heard such words. The women I’ve saved have never looked down on me. They see me as their lifeline, and I’m happy to be their lifeline. As for what others say, I can’t control their mouths. I only strive to act righteously and have a clear conscience.”
