Sending the Divine

送神

sending-the-divine

Paper Patch

The full moon hung like a plate in the sky on the fifteenth. Not a cloud could be seen, only twinkling stars dotting the night.
Su Si was on the roof of the Sun Manor, enjoying the breeze.
He held the sleepy Lord Bai in his arms as he gazed absentmindedly at the sky. Even while spacing out, he retained some of his street smarts, not forgetting to grab some melon seeds and sweet fruits from inside to munch on. When he got tired of eating, he flicked Lord Bai's beak, annoying the goose to no end, almost twisting Su Si's wrist until it bled.
Half a plate of food was gone when suddenly, with a whoosh through the air, another person leapt onto the roof.
Yan Qing brought two jugs of wine and sat down beside Su Si. He still radiated heat from his martial arts practice, waves of it singeing the air around him.
"Your lightness skill has improved." Su Si helped himself to a jug of wine and broke the seal. "Is this really wine? I thought you hated this stuff the most?"
"You looked so troubled." Yan Qing wrinkled his nose at the alcohol fumes. "I specially asked for the watered-down wine the servants drink, it won't cause any problems."
Su Si let out an "oh", then took several big gulps. The two fell silent for a while.
"We used to count the stars like this all the time. I even taught you how to navigate by the stars in the mountains." After a long pause, Su Si let out a soft sigh. "You were always so silly and naive since you were little. I thought I had to protect you. But looking at you now, San-zi, you're much more ruthless than me."
Yan Qing: "..."
"I like being ruthless to others, while you like being ruthless to yourself. In just a few months, you've been practicing martial arts like your life depends on it. Your skills aren't much worse than mine now."
"The sword is good, the sword manual is good." Yan Qing answered honestly. "And fists and kicks get rusty if you're lazy. You don't like to move, Si Si. I have to catch up to you quickly."
Su Si pretended to hit him with the wine jug: "Saying such blunt truths? Isn't it great that you're so good? With those monstrous master and disciple pair watching over you, you won't die even living as a servant. You practice until you're half-dead every day, who are you trying to show off to?"
"I want to live up to this sword, live up to Abbot Juefei's care for me."
"He's already dead, it's not like he has eyes to see." Su Si muttered under his breath.
"What did you just say?"
Su Si let out an exaggerated yawn: "Nothing much. I was just thinking, I've seen plenty of these jianghu folks. Those from Taiheng Sect have it good and are naive, I get that. Meeting your red-eyed relative the other day, a Ling Sect leader still worrying about hurting the innocent, it's almost laughable."
With that said, he directly downed nearly half a jug of wine and let out a big breath.
Su Si deliberately added a hint of sarcasm to his tone, making it unpleasant to hear. However, Yan Qing turned his head, his expression filled only with concern: "Is your mood really that bad?"
"My mood is bad?"
This time, Su Si's sarcasm was directed at himself.
"Our sect leader is a beast, but still saves people when he should. Senior Yin has frosty brows and snowy eyes, not caring about anything, his inner demons as big as a mountain, but it seems he has some conscience too. And you, needless to say, are an exceptionally kind person, risking your life to practice martial arts and do good for the sake of a dead monk. All good people, great people. If anyone's mood should be bad, it shouldn't be me, a heartless and unscrupulous person."
"You're not evil-hearted either..."
Su Si didn't look at Yan Qing: "Do you know how many people I killed when I was still in the Red Hook Sect?"
Yan Qing didn't directly answer: "I remember the Red Hook Sect's Red Scorpion Feet had many rules and wouldn't accept virtuous targets."
"Whether those killed deserved to die is one matter, whether the killer cares is another. Yan Zheng... Yu Zheng, that kid, killed the enemy who murdered his father and harmed his mother, and it still weighed on his heart for many years. When I killed, I only felt exhilaration. I never deliberately thought about it afterwards."
Su Si finished the jug of wine, his eyes faintly red. That tear mole looked pitch-black in the night, like the darkest ink dot.
"Before, when I followed you, I thought of you as my brother, protecting you was the chivalrous way. With the demon sect chasing my tail, I could also escape with my head held high in righteousness. Now you don't need my protection and those chasing me are gone. I... what can I use to keep pretending to be an upright gentleman?"
Yan Qing remained silent.
Su Si hugged Lord Bai tightly in his arms. The goose flapped its wings wildly from being squeezed. Su Si pretended not to notice and held on even tighter: "I can deceive the world but not my own thoughts. If I force myself to act, I'll be the first to feel sick to my stomach."
[I caused someone's death when I was just nine years old!]
Su Si's own shout echoed in his ears again. At his young age, he already knew to drag this out to provoke Dark Blood Witch. The moment those words left his mouth, he wasn't just putting on a front. His tone was even proud.
That was the first time Su Si witnessed someone's last breath.
Back then, he was still called "Su Sigou". Su Si had worked hard to kill a wild boar, giving the starving Yan Qing a meal with meat. Who knew this kid Yan Qing had listened to a few words of sages' teachings in the study and stuffed his brain full of foolish filial piety. Originally Su Si had saved him some meat to take with him, but he gave it all to his drunkard father.
Then Yan Qing was beaten half to death by his inebriated father, the reason as absurd as always - his father complained the meat was too little, not enough for his drinking appetizer, truly not satisfying enough. If Su Si hadn't waited for his playmate and rescued the barely alive Yan Qing, the Compassion Stone Sword might have had no successor.
After treating the skeletal Yan Qing's wounds, Su Si couldn't take it. He directly ran to the Yan family courtyard to reason with Yan Qing's father.
[I'm going to take him away.] Su Si had no fear at all of the tall Yan Ziren, scolding him righteously. [If not for me, you would have tormented him to death long ago! A cripple isn't missing hands and feet. Needing a child to wait on you everyday, shameless lazy dog!]
[Who do we have here? Isn't this the unsold brat from the Su family?]
Yan Ziren was drunk to the point of not knowing up from down, not taking the nine-year-old Su Si seriously at all.
[The grace of giving birth is greater than the sky. He is here to care for his old man in his old age. Being unfilial is a great sin. My son is not like you, so ungrateful and un-un-unknowing of the rules...]
[Take him away? You? His father, I, am still alive. Did you ask if he's willing to go with you? When the time comes, he'll shed a few tears and act a little soft, and he'll come back on his own to serve me... Don't know, *hic*, don't know if this temperament takes after who, maybe his silly mother.]
Yan Ziren slurred his words, letting out a string of drunken hiccups. Relying on his tall stature, he pushed Su Si all the way out the door. The latter nimbly dodged, but Yan Ziren, with alcohol-soaked brains, kept pushing at the air.
After a few steps, he tipsily pushed at nothing and knocked his head on the door frame, opening up a huge gash on his head.
Fresh blood immediately poured out. Yan Ziren felt the hot blood and instantly sobered up a bit. Unfortunately, he had ruined his body by drinking too much and couldn't even crawl up with his weak hands and feet. Yan Ziren first ordered Su Si to find someone to save him. Seeing Su Si not moving, he started screaming for help.
Su Si was not seeing a pool of blood for the first time. He had killed many beasts in the mountains to fill his stomach. But it was his first time seeing a person injured like this in front of his eyes.
He wasn't afraid or panicked, just watching the pool of blood gradually expand. Then, as if waking from a dream, he came to his senses and walked towards the door.
"Yes, yes!" Yan Ziren thought he was going to call for help and hurriedly raised his voice. "Quick... quickly go get someone! Anyone will do. Where did that stupid boy Yan Qing run off to?"
Who would have thought that Su Si walked to the door and neatly bolted the wide open doors. He leaned his back against the two wooden doors, eyes staring straight at Yan Ziren who had collapsed on the doorstep.
It was midday and there were quite a few people coming and going outside. Hearing Yan Ziren's roar, someone passing by finally knocked on the door: "What's going on, making such a racket?"
Su Si cleared his throat and imitated Yan Qing's voice, not very skillfully: "Sorry uncle, my dad is fine, he's just drunk and making a scene."
The person outside spat upon hearing this and walked away muttering.
Yan Ziren, half-closed his eyes in the pool of blood, no longer having the strength to cry for help. He could only curse Su Si with all sorts of vicious words. The more blood flowed, the less coherent his curses became. He started to beg for mercy, trying to reason and appeal to emotion.
However, Su Si just smiled.
He squatted down in front of Yan Ziren, the bright and lovely smile of a nine-year-old child. Only reflected in a pool of blood, it took on a somewhat sinister air.
"Uncle Yan, I will still take the person away." Su Si said happily, "The two of us will go far away from this village and never come back."
"You... you're killing me... I won't let you off even as a ghost... you'll never sleep soundly in this life..."
"So what if I'm killing you? I'm not afraid of you. You're just a waste who relies on his son even when alive. What can you do when you're dead?"
Su Si rubbed the bloody mud on the ground, his smile growing even more brilliant.
"Uncle Yan, I'm very happy."
Thinking back now, it was a wonder that he understood nothing of right and wrong back then and could still say such nonsense to Yan Qing about "wanting to become a hero". He had never told Yan Qing about this matter. Now that everyone in Xizhuang was dead, Yan Qing would never know the truth.
And now he was even drinking with him by his side.
Su Si put down the empty wine jug in his arms, still not looking at Yan Qing. Even when he returned to Mount Huilian, with his obsessive delusions, this scene was not included.
He had never regretted it and still felt pleased about it to this day.
"If I had died earlier in the north, it might have been a good thing." Su Si muttered softly, "At least you could still consider me a hero."
Yan Qing suddenly put down the wine jug and took something out from his bosom: "Give me your hand."
Su Si casually held out his palm and felt a slightly cool sensation. Taking a closer look, he broke out in a cold sweat, and the already faint effects of the alcohol dissipated completely.
It was the Mountain Ghost Coin left by Yan Qing's father, which Yan Qing had cleaned up very nicely and tied with a red silk ribbon.
"...What do you mean by this?"
"It's for you." Yan Qing smiled, "In case you make up your mind to leave, you definitely won't say a proper goodbye. You and I are as close as family, so you should at least carry a token on you."
With that, Yan Qing picked up the Compassion Stone Sword beside him. A cheap longevity lock hung in place of the sword tassel, looking rather out of place. It was clearly the one Su Si had bought at the market before they were separated, to warn Yan Qing in his urgency when Xizhuang was attacked. Who would have thought that after the chaos in Yuanxian Village, Yan Qing had kept it seriously.
Su Si quickly averted his gaze: "When we got separated back then, it was all because of this thing. Aren't you afraid it's unlucky?"
Yan Qing smiled without saying anything.
"Alright, if you insist on giving it, let's go out and buy something else tomorrow. Using this Mountain Ghost Coin as a proper token, forget it." The Mountain Ghost Coin was something that belonged to Yan Qing's father, and Su Si just felt it tasted wrong.
"This object wards off evil and avoids misfortune, perfectly matching your flesh-cutting knife." Yan Qing laughed, "This is my most valuable possession."
"This is your father's thing."
Yan Qing answered calmly: "It's my thing."
"I don't want it." Su Si reached out to return it, but his fist was stopped with a smack by Yan Qing.
"Having come this far, even I, foolish as I am, can see that there is a limit to what a purely good person can do. If you hadn't taken me away back then, I would have either died from my father's abuse, or killed him first and then myself... I'm not as free and easy as you, and there are only a few paths I can choose."
Su Si's movements froze.
"You and I are different, but I think you are even more remarkable - I don't harm others, only because I can't bear the regret and guilt afterwards. Doing evil would definitely be extremely painful. You have no such concerns, yet is still willing to walk the righteous path. Isn't that even more difficult?"
"...Fallacious reasoning." Su Si said in a low voice.
Yan Qing pretended not to hear: "In the future, when you hold this Mountain Ghost Coin, take it as a promise from me. Even if the whole world doesn't believe you, if you speak, I will believe you. And if you hurt me, I won't blame you."
Su Si almost retorted with "Aren't you afraid I'll kill you", but then found that he couldn't even say it. This person had really targeted his weakness. For a moment, he almost thought Yan Qing knew everything.
Su Si abruptly withdrew his hand, gripping the silver coin tightly: "That works too. It does match my flesh-cutting knife quite well."
For some reason, the blood that had been blocking his heart suddenly dispersed. It was just Ku Mountain Sect. He could leave if he wanted and stay if he wished. Did he need anyone's permission?
Seeing Su Si's lips curl up, Yan Qing's expression brightened a few degrees. He opened his own wine jug and poured half of it into Su Si's: "We've known each other since we were young. It would be too distant if our bond lost to the sect leader and Senior Yin."
Su Si: "..."
Su Si: "You think what they have is a 'bond'?"
Yan Qing was still immersed in his sentiments: "Yes, eating and sleeping together, as close as hands and feet, how nice."
Su Si silently drank his wine, casually stroking the goose beside him. He was definitely overthinking. What subtle thoughts could Yan Qing possibly have? Only if the sect leader and Senior Yin bowed to heaven and earth in wedding clothes in front of him would this guy notice something was off.
Leaving such a big blockhead here, he really was a bit worried. Seemed it was better to stay for now after all.
Sect Leader Shi was not wearing his wedding attire. He was alone in the room, flipping through books related to Sun Wang. As descendants of Sun Wang, every room in the Sun family was filled with biographies of Sun Wang from various versions and eras. Shi Jingzhi casually picked out the oldest and rarest one, "Biography of Sun Wang", leaned back on the bed, and read while waiting for someone to return.
He had no deep connection with Sun Huaijin, so it was more appropriate to have his "old acquaintance" discuss this matter. Since they had already been seen, there was no need to hide it anymore. Awkwardness aside, they would definitely still have to sleep together tonight.
The biography was all dry praise and records of battles. After reading just a small portion, Shi Jingzhi let out a huge yawn. Perhaps he pulled some muscle or vein, as his chest hurt and he coughed up several more mouthfuls of blood.
This time, the amount of blood was more than usual. The handkerchief couldn't contain it. Shi Jingzhi was so sleepy that he was disoriented, and a large patch of blood directly stained the book pages.
...This was an antique!
Sect Leader Shi was shocked and instantly sobered up. He immediately got out of bed, diluted the blood stains with clear tea, and carefully dried them over candlelight. As the pages slowly dried, Shi Jingzhi's brows gradually furrowed—
This book had been altered. Someone had specifically used thin and compliant "paper patches" to change characters. Only when wet did the covered characters reveal a slight outline.
In the "Battle of Shafu" before the founding of the nation, this book initially wrote the time incorrectly, a month earlier than what Shi Jingzhi knew.
Shi Jingzhi had heard of this version of "Biography of Sun Wang". It was a book printed during the founding of the nation, using common printing plates, so there was no situation of copying errors. This version was not printed in large quantities. If it was just the month that was written wrong, was it necessary to use the precious "paper patches" to modify it?
After much thought, Shi Jingzhi still wrapped up that dull book and placed it in his luggage.
Tomorrow he would say some nice words and ask for this book.

Sending the Divine

Sending the Divine

Chapter 110 - Paper Patch

Skye