Chapter 131: Extras · Fated Marriage 02
Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
Editor: Karai
When Kou Xuanling was eight years old during winter break, he returned home to pay respects to his ancestors. He was then dragged by his cousins to the foot of a mountain behind Bijia Mountain, a place called Tiewei Mountain. Tiewei Mountain was one of those eerie mountains that you could tell were ominous with just one glance. The lush, verdant trees showed no signs of life, and the mountain was shrouded in a constant silence and darkness. Kou Xuanling asked Kou Ying, “Why did you bring me here?”
“We’re going to explore tonight. The rule is that everyone has to come here alone at night to retrieve the red cloth tied to the middle of the mountain,” Kou Ying said, handing him the red cloth. “It’s a bravery challenge. Do you want to join?”
“No. It’s boring.” Kou Xuanling had no interest. But Kou Ying persuaded him, “I heard there’s a jiangshi in the mountain. Aren’t you curious about jiangshis?”
Kou Xuanling asked, “Have you all seen a jiangshi?”
“No,” Kou Ying and the other cousins all shook their heads. “But jiangshis definitely exist. I found records in the family genealogy. There’s a legend from a thousand years ago about a woman who fled to Tiewei Mountain and was inexplicably bitten by a jiangshi. After being poisoned by the jiangshi, she turned into one, neither alive nor dead. The most recent record was from the Republic of China, when a warlord led a military expedition into Tiewei Mountain after finding out that there was a tomb here from the Song Dynasty. They wanted to dig up the grave but never returned. However, one warlord escaped and shouted that there were jiangshis in the mountain.”
“Yeah, the family genealogy doesn’t deny these records, so there are definitely jiangshis in the mountain. We’re doing the bravery challenge, and while we’re at it, we’ll see if we can find any jiangshis. Ah Ling, you really aren’t going to join us?”
Kou Xuanling scoffed at the bravery challenge, but he was very curious about the jiangshis. He agreed, “Fine, I’ll join. Who’s going tonight?”
Kou Ying raised his hand, and Kou Xuanling said, “Then I’ll go tomorrow night.” Everyone agreed, and during the day, they all went up the mountain together to tie the red cloth to the trees, then walked back down.
“Remember the way well so you won’t get lost tonight. There’s fog on Tiewei Mountain at night, so be careful. Don’t forget to bring spiritual talismans, and if anything happens, let everyone know,” their older cousin reminded them before they all dispersed.
Since Kou Xuanling was close in age to Kou Ying, they walked home together. Kou Xuanling found it strange that Kou Ying seemed so relaxed and fearless. He remembered that Kou Ying wasn’t usually very brave. “Kou Ying, aren’t you afraid?”
“Huh?” Kou Ying turned around, realizing what Kou Xuanling was asking, then answered, “No, I’m not afraid.” He quietly added, “Actually, we secretly told Master Lu Jing about our plan to go to Tiewei Mountain, and if we tell him, he’ll protect us. One time, Sister Xin was trapped in the fog on Tiewei Mountain and forgot to bring a talisman, so she couldn’t get out and cried out of fear. Later, she saw a light about four meters away from her, and she followed that light and eventually made her way out of the mountain.”
Kou Xuanling was surprised. “How did you know that light was from Master Lu Jing?”
Kou Ying explained, “Because it wasn’t just Sister Xin who saw the light—others have seen it too. After talking it over, we realized that everyone who went into Tiewei Mountain had secretly told Master Lu Jing beforehand. We didn’t dare to tell him openly, or we’d be punished, so we just told him quietly. And we found out that the light was actually a lotus lamp placed in front of Master Lu Jing’s statue.”
“Really?” Kou Xuanling murmured to himself, tilting his head.
Kou Ying suddenly grabbed Kou Xuanling and pulled him toward the East Hall of the family altar. “Quick, let’s go worship Master Lu Jing before it gets dark and ask for his protection. Ah Ling, you come too.”
The two of them ran quickly, taking advantage of the fact that the elders were still at Bijia Mountain for feng shui readings. They sneaked into the East Hall, took down Master Lu Jing’s portrait from the altar, and then ran back to their room.
Kou Xuanling’s pupils dilated as he grabbed Kou Ying and asked angrily, “Why did you steal Master Lu Jing’s portrait?”
“Shh!” Kou Ying put his chubby finger to his lips to signal silence. “Keep quiet, we can’t let Master Lu Jing hear us.” He carefully checked outside for any suspicious people before closing the door. Once inside, he laid out the portrait and placed his palms together to pray. “Master Lu Jing, may you forgive us for our strange actions.”
Kou Xuanling furrowed his brows tightly. “Weren’t we supposed to be worshipping Master Lu Jing?”
Kou Ying, with his round, chubby face, seriously corrected him, “It’s Master Lu Jing, not just ‘Grandmaster.'” Aside from the Three Clear Ancestors, the Kou family’s altar had two other ancestral masters, and to distinguish them, they would always call them by their names. Kou Ying continued, “If we tell Master Lu Jing about our night adventure to Tiewei Mountain in the East Hall, he will hear us. Master Lu Jing is very serious and strict. He will knock our heads, and it will hurt a lot.”
When he mentioned Master Lu Jing, his voice softened considerably.
Kou Xuanling asked, “So you guys stole Master Lu Jing’s portrait and then told him?”
“Yes. Anyway, there’s still Master Lu Jing’s statue in the East Hall, so taking the portrait doesn’t matter. We’ll put it back after we’re done. Ah Ling, hurry up, we need to pray quickly. My dad, uncle, and second uncle will be back soon. Let’s finish and return it quickly.” Kou Ying pulled Kou Xuanling to bow before Master Lu Jing’s portrait.
Kou Xuanling stared at the portrait for a while, then bowed devoutly, but didn’t tell Master Lu Jing about his plan to sneak into Tiewei Mountain, hoping for protection. He wasn’t a child, so he didn’t need to tell an elder.
Suddenly, a soft, ethereal laugh echoed in his ears. Kou Xuanling quickly opened his eyes and looked at the portrait. Master Lu Jing still appeared calm and dignified in the image. The room was silent, except for Kou Ying’s chatter, as if the laugh had been nothing more than a hallucination. Kou Xuanling frowned, was he mistaken?
After finishing his prayer, Kou Ying theatrically pulled out two half-moon-shaped, palm-sized divination cups and shook them in his hands. After the prayer, he threw them to the floor—one cup with the opening facing up, the other facing down—a Yin-Yang cup, symbolizing divine consent. Kou Ying smiled, “Master Lu Jing agreed.”
Kou Xuanling asked, “What did you ask for?”
Kou Ying explained the divination cups: If one was facing up and the other down, it was called a Yin-Yang cup, symbolizing a holy approval from the gods. If both were facing down, it meant rejection, and the gods were displeased. If both faced up, it was a Laughing Cup, signifying that the gods found the question trivial. Since Kou Ying received a Yin-Yang cup, it meant Master Lu Jing had agreed to his request. Kou Xuanling was curious about what he had asked.
Kou Ying grinned mischievously, covering his mouth, “I asked Master Lu Jing to protect you. It’s the Holy Cup!” Kou Xuanling was a bit surprised, and Kou Ying continued, “I knew you didn’t tell Master Lu Jing about going to Tiewei Mountain, so I asked for you. Don’t thank me!”
Kou Xuanling rolled his eyes, “I won’t get into trouble.”
“Maybe you’ll encounter a jiangshi?” Kou Ying teased.
Kou Xuanling, not believing in jiangshis, muttered, “Perfect, I just want to see a jiangshi.” He didn’t take it seriously—how unlucky would he have to be to run into one? However, the next day, under an intense moonlight, he did indeed get lost during the midnight dare event and might have encountered one. But, as it turned out, it wasn’t quite a jiangshi; it was a shade corpse, an in-between form of a jiangshi and a regular dead body. If it drank blood or flesh, it could transform into a true jiangshi.
That night, Kou Xuanling entered Tiewei Mountain when the moonlight was at its peak. Following the path he had taken during the day, he quickly found the red cloth ribbon. However, his real goal was never the dare; it was to find the jiangshi. He wandered further, making marks along the way, but the fog grew denser and soon covered all of his tracks. Not only was he lost, but he couldn’t even find the marks he’d left.
After walking through the same spot five times, Kou Xuanling began to panic. He was, after all, just an eight-year-old child. Despite his usual calmness, in this empty, lifeless place with no signs of life, fear and regret slowly crept in. He tightly gripped the red cloth ribbon and suddenly heard the sound of leaves being stepped on.
Instead of rushing out or shouting, little Kou Xuanling immediately hid. It was a quiet night in Tiewei Mountain; not even insects were chirping. How could there be someone here? He thought back to what Kou Ying had said about jiangshis and quickly concealed himself. Fortunately, the trees in Tiewei Mountain were enormous—so big that an adult couldn’t wrap their arms around them. It was more than enough to hide a child.
However, whether it was a jiangshi, a corpse-walker, or a shade corpse, all of them had an extraordinary sense of smell. They might not be able to see, but they could certainly detect any living creatures. It didn’t take long before Kou Xuanling noticed the crunching leaves had stopped right beside him.
He crouched down, curling his body, then slowly snuck around the tree to check behind him. It was empty. Confused for a moment, he relaxed and turned back around—only to hear a ‘huffing’ sound above him, like someone struggling to breathe with something lodged in their throat. He looked up, his pupils constricting. The shade corpse was right above him, sniffing the air. Its decaying head, filled with crawling insects, slowly descended toward him.
The shade corpse sniffed the air and stopped right above Kou Xuanling’s head. In the next moment, Kou Xuanling sprang into action, leaping like a spring, but the shade corpse lashed out, missing him. Its sharp claws sank into the tree stump, leaving ten terrifying black holes.
Though the shade corpse’s movement speed wasn’t as fast as a jiangshi, it wasn’t as slow as a corpse-walker either. It moved with the speed of a normal human, but its strength was enormous. If Kou Xuanling were an adult, he might have had a chance to escape, but as a child, he couldn’t run fast enough, and his skills in Taoist magic were still lacking.
Tiewei Mountain was full of dead trees, so Kou Xuanling began running around them. The shade corpse moved at human speed, but its reflexes and sensitivity were not as sharp. Kou Xuanling continued circling the trees, but in the end, the shade corpse ripped or broke through the trees in pursuit of him. The cold wind cut through the night, stinging his throat and making him struggle to breathe. His heart and lungs felt like they might stop. He glanced back, the shade corpse was almost on him, and in that moment, he tripped over his foot and fell to the ground. The shade corpse pounced.
The stench of decay filled his nose, mixing with the cold wind, more nauseating than the fear itself. Kou Xuanling almost vomited. But suddenly, the shade corpse was kicked away, crashing into a tree. As it struggled to get up, a short peach wood sword shot through its heart, pinning it to the tree. The sword’s red tassels jingled as it swayed.
The sound of the bells tinkled before stopping, and Kou Xuanling blinked in disbelief. That peach wood sword—it was the one he’d lost last summer at home, the one he had searched for and never found. Behind him, he heard the sound of leaves being stepped on again. He quickly scrambled to his feet and hid behind a tree. After a while, he peeked out cautiously, only to be startled by a smiling face suddenly appearing in front of him, causing him to fall back in shock.
“Ha! Who are you?” Kou Xuanling stammered.
The figure before him was a beautiful woman in white, her long hair cascading down her back. She stood against the backdrop of a full moon. The moonlight, which had never reached here before, seemed to shine on her now, making her appear as if she were glowing. The woman looked down at Kou Xuanling with a smile, her eyes curving playfully. “You couldn’t even handle a shade corpse?”
Kou Xuanling immediately retorted, “I was letting it win.”
“Oh? Is that so?” Lu Jing smiled faintly, pulling out the peach wood sword and burning the shade corpse. He glanced at the mountain top, where the moonlight gathered, revealing a small figure coldly gazing at the silent world around. “Let’s go,” he said, extending a hand to little Kou Xuanling.
Kou Xuanling tilted his head, extending his hand to Lu Jing while saying, “You stole my peach wood sword.” His eyes twinkled mischievously, his expression clever and lively. “You have to compensate me.”
Lu Jing picked him up and began walking down the mountain. Wherever he went, the moonlight followed him, undeterred by the mountain trees and thick fog, as if lighting the way for him. From a distance, it appeared as though a dim yellow lantern was wrapped in the mist, a stark contrast to what Kou Xuanling saw. As he was carried, his thoughts were occupied with how to deceive the beautiful man.
Lu Jing asked, “How do you want me to compensate you?”
Kou Xuanling pretended to be magnanimous, saying, “You marry me, and I’ll marry you. I won’t mind that you’re older than me. I know you’ll get old when I grow up, but I won’t care. I’ll still marry you. And when I grow up, I’ll definitely become very handsome and make a lot of money. I’m from the Xian Master generation.”
Lu Jing couldn’t help but laugh. “This is something you gave me. It’s not stealing, so no need for compensation.”
Kou Xuanling had never met Lu Jing, but since the man said it, he couldn’t directly contradict him. That would be too unmanly. He puffed up his round face, seriously and confidently guessing, “It must be a betrothal token.”
Lu Jing paused. He remembered that last year, when Kou Xuanling had given him the peach wood sword, he had called it a token of love. Now, it has become a betrothal token. He replied, “I’m a man.”
Kou Xuanling was stunned, “Am I heartbroken again?”
Lu Jing thought Kou Xuanling had regained his memories, but upon closer inspection, he realized the boy had simply unconsciously said it. He was both amused and touched by how cute Kou Xuanling was. “So, A Ling doesn’t like that I’m a man? I was even thinking about agreeing to your proposal.”
“Really?” Kou Xuanling’s eyes widened as he patted his chest. “I’ll marry you!”
Lu Jing was momentarily stunned, then laughed out loud, replying, “Sleep now.”
Kou Xuanling felt confused and was about to say something else when exhaustion suddenly overcame him. Before his eyes closed, he vaguely saw a dim yellow lotus lantern. His memory of Lu Jing was wiped clean once again, and when he woke up, he could only vaguely remember the shade corpse attacking him and the dim yellow lotus lantern appearing in front of him.
From then on, his elders sternly warned him not to go near Tiewei Mountain, as they had discovered the presence of shade corpses there.
Kou Ying and the others, still with lingering fear, came to comfort Kou Xuanling. Fortunately, he hadn’t encountered the shade corpse, and it was likely due to the protection of ancestor Lu Jing. Kou Xuanling didn’t argue and silently accepted the protection of ancestor Lu Jing, following everyone to the Eastern Hall of the altar to offer worship. When he looked up, he saw the portrait of ancestor Lu Jing winking at him, and he was sure he hadn’t seen it wrong.
Kou Xuanling smiled with delight. It really was ancestor Lu Jing who had saved him.
From then on, Kou Xuanling became a fervent devotee of ancestor Lu Jing, never stopping his regular offerings, prayers, and sword dances until he grew up. Of course, he completely forgot the “marriage contract” he had once had with ancestor Lu Jing, and after devoting his body and soul to the ancestor, he grew into a principled and resolute man, a true steel-hearted straight man.
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