Chapter 3 Meet Another Self

His eyes were crystal and extremely light. They looked like the mists at both ends of the fall and also the drifting sparks on a midwinter night. He looked sideways and frowned when he looked at the crazy walking corpse and the unconscious girl. Then he stretched out his finger and pointed at the fierce walking corpse with uncertainty. The candlelight gradually faded away, and the hall was silent. After a while, the young man stood up. Looking at the rotten flesh torn apart on the ground, he made his judgment, “So weak.” Then he looked at the dying girl and frowned. Memories just flashed through his mind. He only felt some pain in his head and seemed to be watching a difficult puzzle. Then he raised his index finger and pointed amidst her eyebrows. That finger was still a bit bloody and dirty, but it didn’t tremble at all. ... The autumn breeze approached; the moon rose from the east, shedding its light on the mountain, which made the towering palace look as if covered in snow and frost. When he arrived at the door of the palace, the people outside the door had escaped. He looked at his hand on which the corpse spots gradually receded. With a slight frown, he muttered with trembling lips in a low voice, “Ning... Changjiu?” Were there really two people with the same name? Or... this was just my name? He picked up the copper coin on the threshold and gently held it. Then he looked through the hole in the coin. The shadows of the autumn leaves were shaking; the bright moonlight was scattered across the night mist. Amidst the bright moon, he seemed to see an illusory Taoist temple, and many fragmented memories slowly flooded into his mind, but they could not be put together completely for the time being. “Who...am I?” He stood quietly. His robe was blown by the night wind, which made him look like a bird flapping its wings. He just stayed in the night wind and didn’t return. ... Ning Xiaoling woke up three days later. After the rite, Ning Qinshui died abruptly. Song Ce didn’t dare to bring people to collect the corpse until the next early morning. To his astonishment, he found that the old priest had turned into a pile of rotten flesh and bones and that his two disciples seemed to be still alive. After all, they survived the mishap, so he assigned someone to send them back to the deserted yard. At this moment, the medicine decoction was being boiled on the small stove, bubbling with the strong smell of medicine and a large amount of white mist. When Ning Xiaoling opened her eyes, she happened to see Ning Changjiu lifting the lid and staring at the boiling decoction inside with a frown. Ning Xiaoling looked around and found the vermilion-lacquered wooden bed, the half-hung curtain and the red lanterns hanging between the ancient tables and shelves. “This is…” She wanted to sit up, but she felt that she was too limp to exert any strength at all. Worse still, she felt as if thousands of ants were biting her head. As she tried to think, she felt a terrible headache. Wrapped in a quilt, she curled up more tightly and seemed to recall some scene. As her pupils slightly shrank, she started to shiver. Her cold hands and feet couldn’t be warmed regardless. She raised her head cautiously. Smelling the strong scent of medicine, she felt everything was so not real. “Where is Master?” She asked gently. Ning Changjiu answered precisely, “Dead.” Ning Xiaoling closed her eyes, the wailing of the evil spirits stuffed into her body was still ringing in her ears. All of a sudden, she opened her eyes and tried to ask in a calm voice, “Then how did we survive?” Ning Changjiu said, “Maybe we were just lucky.” Of course, Ning Xiaoling didn’t believe this explanation, but she didn’t ask further. Somehow she felt something was wrong with her senior fellow disciple. Ning Changjiu put the cattail fan aside, poured the decoction into the bowl and handed it over, “It is ready. Drink the decoction.” After Ning Xiaoling drank the medicine decoction, she felt slightly warmer and finally gained some strength. She recalled the way Ning Changjiu poured the decoction and felt something was wrong. “What decoction is this?” She asked casually. Ning Changjiu said, “It was sent by Song Ce. I’ve checked it and found no problem with it. It can relieve coldness, warm your body and nurture your Zifu (the core of cultivation).” Ning Xiaoling replied with a simple “oh”. Then she put the empty bowl on the nearby wooden cabinet and placed her hand back into the quilt. She just curled up like a little fox. “Changjiu... Thank you,” she whispered. Ning Changjiu asked, “For what?” Ning Xiaoling raised her face and said seriously, “I remember you stood in front of me, trying to protect me at the time. I was mean to you before but you really don’t hate me for that.” Ning Changjiu said, “Actually... I seem to have forgotten a lot of things, and meanwhile thought of a lot of things.” Ning Xiaoling was startled and asked, “What do you think of?” Ning Changjiu sighed softly and replied with a voice as deep as the wind sinking to the bottom of the valley, “I thought of the fact that Master killed me.” Ning Xiaoling’s brows frowned slightly. What happened that night just kept her haunted like a nightmare. At that time, it was quite obvious that Ning Qinshui used the so-called “protective talismans” merely to make them die for him. However, something happened afterward and they two just surprisingly survived. How could Ning Changjiu forget such an unforgettable memory? Could it be that he still couldn’t forget the affection between him and his master?” How could there be such a fool? Ning Changjiu didn’t continue. He shook his head and said, “Have a good rest. I will go out for a walk.” Ning Xiaoling lowered her head and replied, “Emm.” The door of the house was wide open. The cool breeze blew across his eyebrows and eyes. Shortly, an autumn rain came and wetted the courtyard with the continuous patter of raindrops. Ning Changjiu moved a chair over and sat under the eaves, looking at the autumn rain. In his eyes, those raindrops were like countless silvery-white threads hanging down from the sky. He suddenly raised his hand, maintained it at a certain height and stayed still. Time just passed by quietly. Wearing a single layer of the white garment, Ning Xiaoling rolled up the curtain and went out only to see what he was doing. She was slightly surprised and then snuck quietly back into her room while crouching low. The following two days were rather peaceful. Song Ce ordered people to deliver medicine and food on a daily basis. When they were well, he would give them a sum of money and then send them out of the imperial city. It seemed that Ning Changjiu was not injured but Ning Xiaoling had ruptures in all her meridians rather than be injured in the sinews or bones. If it were not for the fact that she secretly cultivated herself and had the aura as protection, she would definitely not be able to walk by now. And the Zifu she relied on for cultivation was also almost directly wrecked that night. It would take her a long time to repair it. At night, Ning Xiaoling lay in bed on her back as always, and Ning Changjiu carefully applied the plaster to her shoulders and back. Sitting on the edge of the bed, Ning Changjiu was putting away the plaster. Ning Xiaoling suddenly said, “After you get well, let’s split the money that Master hid privately. You’ve made so much effort to take care of me, so you should take more.” Ning Changjiu said, “You can have it all. I don’t need it.” Ning Xiaoling pursed her lips and rubbed her temples suddenly. “I feel a bit of headache and can’t think of where it is kept.” Ning Changjiu said, “One sum under the compass, one after the stove, one on the fifth beam from left to right, and the last one in the secret drawer under the bed.” The oil lamp was shaking with the flame. The girl lowered her head and the hair before her forehead covered her eyebrows and eyes. Rubbing her arms, she looked poker-faced. Both of them were silent. Again, Ning Xiaoling spoke first, “It was my fault. I knew that the old chap harbored evil intention and still acted that carelessly. I should have checked the talisman.” Ning Changjiu nodded and said, “The most difficult thing to parry is always the knife behind your back.” Ning Xiaoling turned her head with watery eyes open and asked, “You will never hurt me, right?” Ning Changjiu was dazed and then said naturally, “Of course not.” Ning Xiaoling nodded lightly, seemingly comforting herself, “Yeah, you will never blame me or hurt me... but, but...” Ning Changjiu stared at her calmly, waiting for her to ask the question. Ning Xiaoling suddenly raised her head. Her originally delicate and lovely face looked thin and pale at the moment. The girl’s eyes glittered. Vigilant and frightened, she opened her mouth and finally asked the question stuck in her throat. “But...who on earth are you?” With a sound of splatter, a drop of oil burst out suddenly beside the sleeve.