Chapter 346
Chapter 346
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 346
>Chapter Title: Bai Lingmiao
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“Thump thump thump~! Thump thump thump~! Inviting the gods~~” Rhythmic drumbeats rang out inside a simple earthen hut.
“A little drum and whip, one foot three in length, tied atop a ribbon of five bright colors! Dong dong dong~”
“A tiny drum whip one foot and three inches long, tied to those colorful ribbons above! Thump thump thump~”
“Press it down and it makes a curve, point it up and it forms a tip! Dong dong dong~”
“Dip down for a curve, point up for a spike! Thump thump thump~”
“Strike once—it staggers three times, strike thrice—it reels nine! Dong dong dong~”
“One strike for three shakes, three strikes for nine jolts! Thump thump thump~”
“Crack the whip and the drum resounds, when the drum resounds—the immortals are summoned! Dong dong dong~”
“The whip cracks and the drum booms, the drum booms and the gods arrive, hey! Thump thump thump~”
Two women wearing red veils circled a child with a deathly pale face inside the hut, continuously pounding the drums.
Beside the child’s pillow sat a handful of soil with three sticks of incense stuck in it. The rising incense smoke swayed in the air, gradually forming several blurry characters.
Just as those characters were about to take shape, a gust of wild wind suddenly blew open the tightly shut window nearby, scattering the wisps of green smoke.
In an instant, the drumming grew urgent and rapid.
The Great God’s slender black fingernails swirled in the air, and the smoke that was about to dissipate seemed to turn into solid white threads, which she wound around her hand.
Her sharp fingers followed the white threads’ guidance and stabbed fiercely three inches below the child’s thumb.
She then swiftly sliced downward. The child’s tender palm split open, and clumps of yellow things like fish roe wriggled, trying to burrow out.
A pair of black scissors wrapped with a red cord plunged in, prying the gash even wider.
“Wah wah wah wah~!” The child, who had moments ago looked ashen-faced and near death, suddenly sat up crying and shouting for his father.
He didn’t notice at all that the things emerging from his palm were rapidly melting into a puddle of yellow water, soaking the reed mat on the bed along with his tears.
“Son! My son~!” A wizened little dwarf rushed in anxiously from outside and saw his nearly dead child awake.
He hurried over, pulling the sweat-drenched, crying child into his arms. He then bowed repeatedly in thanks to Bai Lingmiao, who had removed her red veil nearby.
The haggard Bai Lingmiao shook her head bitterly and turned to leave.
“Immortal lady, wait a moment. I haven’t paid you yet.”
The man hurriedly rummaged through trunks and cabinets, selecting fifty unclipped copper coins from the bottom of his chest. He held them out to Bai Lingmiao with both hands.
She glanced first at the patches on his knees and the straw sandals on the ground, then at the bare walls of the house, and shook her head in refusal once more.
“Never mind, Uncle. Keep it to buy some food for the child. He’s so skinny and frail.”
“No no no, Immortal lady, you must take this money. Our Old Zhou family has only this one shoot left. If you hadn’t saved his life, who’d take care of me in my old age?”
After several refusals, Bai Lingmiao was finally forced to accept the fifty coins.
Once Bai Lingmiao emerged from the earthen hut, Chun Xiaoman, who had been practicing swordplay with one arm by the carriage, swiftly sheathed her blade at her waist and came over.
“How’d it go, Miao-miao? All done?”
Seeing her nod, Xiaoman smiled faintly and took her hand, leading her toward the carriage. The wheels, caked in yellow mud, began to roll slowly toward Oxheart Mountain.
“Thank you, Sister Xiaoman, for specially coming out with me.”
Hearing Bai Lingmiao express her thanks from inside the carriage as she drove the horses, Chun Xiaoman quickly replied:
“You’re talking like we’re strangers. Aren’t we good sisters? If we run into bandits on the road, I can help out too.”
Chun Xiaoman lifted a corner of the carriage curtain and glanced quickly at Bai Lingmiao inside before sighing softly.
Her earlier words had been made up, of course. Bai Lingmiao didn’t need her protection. It was just that black strangulation mark on her fair neck that never faded—she couldn’t rest easy without staying by her side.
By rights, no matter how huge the event, time would eventually dull its pain.
Just like how her own parents selling her off didn’t hurt as much anymore when she thought back on it.
But her sister didn’t seem to be like that. Senior Brother Li had been gone so long, yet she still wandered around in a daze like this.
She hadn’t smiled once since then. Her eyes were utterly vacant, as if she’d lost something irreplaceable.
The carriage pressed on until late at night before stopping.
They hadn’t reached Oxheart Village. There were no settlements near it, so if they wanted to get home, they’d have to spend the night in this barren wilderness.
After a hasty meal of dry rations, the two lay down in the carriage to rest.
In her half-asleep state, the still-worried Chun Xiaoman reached out to touch the young woman’s face beside her.
Feeling her eyes actually open, she let out a soft sigh.
“Miao-miao, this won’t do. I know you’re hurting bad, but it’s been so long—you’ve got to pull yourself out of it.”
“The dead can’t come back. Torturing yourself like this won’t bring them to life.”
Seeing no response, Chun Xiaoman tried another angle.
“Since we’re sisters speaking from the heart, I’ll just say it straight: I know Senior Brother Li saved us, but let’s keep things separate. He really wasn’t all that great.”
“Forget the things he did—even with your current looks, if you so much as hint at a marriage proposal, men would trample down your door to marry into the Bai family.”
“Fat ones if you want fat, skinny ones if you want skinny—which of them isn’t better than Li Huowang?”
“It’s him who lost out when you two split. I’m serious—with his crazy ways, he’s doomed to be a bachelor his whole life. No other woman would have him.”
Though Chun Xiaoman knew Senior Brother Li wasn’t quite like she described, if badmouthing him could snap her good sister out of it, then so be it. A few harsh words wouldn’t cost him any flesh.
Bai Lingmiao curled up, nestling into her arms like an infant.
“Don’t say any more, Sister Xiaoman.”
“Fine, ditch that stinking man if you want. You could be a self-combing woman like me! But no matter what, you’ve got to pull yourself together first—not keep on like this! What you’re doing now is just giving up on yourself!”
In her agitation, Chun Xiaoman grabbed her shoulders and shook her. But as she shook, she heard choking sobs, which instantly melted her heart.
“Alright, alright, I won’t say more. Don’t cry—go to sleep.” Chun Xiaoman held her close, stroking her waist-length hair over and over.
The night passed uneventfully. When they woke the next morning, it was as if last night’s talk had never happened, and they continued onward toward Oxheart Mountain.
Pulled by two sturdy horses, they arrived back at Oxheart Village by afternoon the next day.
“Old Man Lv, off to perform plays?” Chun Xiaoman, driving the horses, greeted the oncoming carriage.
Lv Zhuangyuan nodded with a cheerful grin, puffing on his pipe as he answered:
“I’m heading south to see if there are any estates. This Great Liang’s got money— one gig there tops years of my usual work.”
“How come just these few people? Your youngest son isn’t back yet?”
(End of chapter)