Chapter 9: Goodbye, Ruoxue

Hearing my master’s words, I sighed. I’m not a fool. Their words were very clear, almost explicit.

When I was with Ruoyue, I just didn’t want to think about such things. I cherished my feelings for Ruoyue, and the more I cherished something, the more I was afraid that it would ‘spoil’, and the more I wanted to escape.

Holding Huigen’s hand, I walked up the mountain road. Huigen was jumping and skipping along the way, never having a moment to rest. She kept saying, “Chengyi is my brother, and Ruoyue is my sister. When my master took me as his disciple, he told me that I had a brother and a sister. I didn’t see you at that time, so I was wondering what my brother and sister looked like.”

I don’t know how many times I’ve heard Hui Gen say this, and this is probably why she has been so attached to me and Ru Xue since she was a child. But today, it sounded different. I couldn’t help but ask, “Hui Gen, you don’t want to lose Ru Yue, do you?”

“Well, I don’t want to be without a brother either,” Hui Gen said to me seriously, with her eyes wide open.

“Well, my brother is also my brother, and you are my younger brother, and Ruoyue is my younger sister. I want you to be my younger brother and sister for the rest of your lives. So, I don’t know anything, and I don’t want to ask anything. Ruoyue is my younger sister, my younger sister for the rest of my life.” I also said to Huigen very seriously.

“What does that mean?” Hui Gen looked at me in a daze. Of course he didn’t understand.

Once I realized this, my mood brightened a little. I touched Hui Gen’er’s round head and said with a smile, “That’s what I mean.”

Hui Gen’er pouted, pushed my hand away in dissatisfaction, and said in a grumbling voice, “I don’t care about you guys. You’re all crazy.”

Hui Gen’er’s words made Cheng Xin Ge laugh beside him. Even the fierce girl, Irene, laughed along. Cheng Xin Ge took me gently in his arms and said, “This method is good. Sometimes pretending to be ignorant is better than saying it out loud, because it causes less harm. It’s like a wound. If you let it heal in peace, it will always heal. If you pick at it, it will bleed. Don’t worry about scabs or leaving a mark, because the scabbed area is actually the hardest skin.”

Brother Chengxin is like this. His gentle demeanor is like the spring breeze. Holding hands and holding hands are his usual actions. I accept them calmly and feel that after so many years, the friendship between us has been revived in our generation.

“Everyone says that immortals are good, but they can’t forget the word ‘knowledge’…” Master inexplicably shouted a little tune that was out of tune. Master Hui looked at Master with contempt, snorted, and muttered beside him, “What the hell is he singing? I’m the real golden voice. Who doesn’t know the girls in that valley?”

The master stopped singing and looked at Master Hui with the same contempt, saying, “The girls in your valley are all 70 or 80 years old and have lost their hearing. Otherwise, how could they say you have a golden voice? When you sing, a group of female donkeys will come around.”

“You’re full of shit,” Master Hui shouted, and then he started to sing a folk song.

This was a bare-knuckle fight. My master was not willing to admit defeat, and he also started to yell a Sichuan folk song.

Then, under the barrage of Master and Hui, we all climbed to the top of the mountain.

Master and the others said they had important things to discuss, and went directly to the ancestral hall-like building, where the village’s chief shaman was. When I got there, I was a little worried, not knowing whether to follow Master and the others or to go find Ruoxue.

But my master walked up to me and said, “Go. No matter what the outcome is, you have to face it. As I said before, my master will not interfere with any of your decisions. Don’t feel pressured.”

I took a deep breath and said to my master, “Master, you don’t need to say anything. My choice has already been made. Similarly, I will respect Ru Xue’s choice. I…”

Hearing me say this, a hint of sadness and tension flashed in the master’s eyes. He waved his hand at me and said, “Don’t tell me your decision now. Either way, it’s a difficult decision. I don’t open my own disciple’s wounds, just as I don’t get used to thinking about my own sad things.”

After saying this, the master sighed and turned to leave. Looking at the master’s back, I thought that the master must have loved Grandma Ling Qing very much back then.

But whether it was me or him, we were both disciples and grand disciples of Old Li.

It was still the same stilted house. I stood downstairs, looking up at the upstairs window, but I didn’t have the courage to go up. I lit a cigarette and leaned against the stairway. I felt that I needed a little more peace of mind to face it.

Halfway through the cigarette, I saw Ru Yue coming down the stairs with Ling Qing’s grandmother. Ru Yue’s eyes were still a bit red, but her expression had become more natural. She didn’t say anything, but Ling Qing’s grandmother asked me very calmly, “Is your master in the ancestral hall?”

“Yes, just now.” I don’t know why, but I was a little nervous in front of Grandma Lingqing.

“Mmm.” Grandma Lingqing nodded and then asked me, “Why aren’t you going up?”

“I’ll go up later, after I finish smoking.”

“No matter what, be nice. A relationship has a beginning, and it should also have an end. No matter what the end is, it is your own fruit, and the process is also your own process. There is no need to regret some things.” After saying this, Lingqing’s grandmother took Ruyue and left.

But I always felt that there was another meaning to what Grandma Lingqing said. Was it the same story with her and my master back then?

Ru Yue wanted to say something to me, but in the end she didn’t say anything, just whispered, “Third brother, come on.”

I gave her a reassuring gesture, then smiled gently at her, stubbed out my cigarette, and turned to go upstairs.

The summer evening left beautiful shadows outside the window. The slight breeze, with the unique scent of summer, filled the entire room.

It was still the same room, and the same curtain, which was slightly fluttering in the wind. I was standing outside the door, and Ru Xue was inside.

I took a deep breath, opened the curtain, and saw the familiar figure. She was a little thinner, but she was still leaning against the window. Her long hair, like a waterfall, was still scattered on her shoulders, and she was gently combing her long hair with a small wooden comb.

I didn’t want to speak, and I couldn’t bear to speak, for fear of ruining the tranquility of this moment, and also for fear that I would forget such a picture in my life in the future. It was too beautiful, and I wanted to look at it for a while.

I stood there for a few seconds, as if I had carved this image into my soul, before I walked forward and slowly walked over.

Ruxue didn’t turn around, and I didn’t want to call her. I just walked behind her, stood quietly, and then naturally took the wooden comb from her hand and helped her comb her long hair.

Ruxue’s body trembled slightly, but in the end she did not refuse. After a while, she said, “You’re here?”

I carefully combed her long hair and answered calmly, “Yes, I’m here.”

The room was quiet, except for the sound of the comb. Ruoxue still didn’t turn around, and I said softly, “In ancient times, men expressed their feelings for their beloved wives in this way, combing their hair and drawing their eyebrows for them, watching them paste yellow flowers on the mirror, and then watching them put on their red makeup. I really want to do this for you in the mornings for many years to come. You know that.”

Ruxue also said softly, “I know.” After a pause, she added, “I know more than that. I know that you combed your hair in a silly way when you first met my sister, that you were bewitched by my sister, that you are afraid of Feifei, and that I know a lot about you.”

“Did Ru Yue tell you all this?” I asked, as I continued to comb Ru Xue’s hair.

“Yes, she told me everything. She likes to tell me everything about you and her. At that time, I envied her. She could go outside, take risks, and have friends who could get along with her naturally, regardless of her status. When she grew up, she could have a third brother who was a bit silly and impulsive, but absolutely reliable and would never abandon others. Before that, I imagined your appearance many times, but I couldn’t imagine it.” Ru Xue said to me.

This was the first time that Ru Xue had said this to me. I had no idea that before I met Ru Xue, she was already so familiar to me, and I knew nothing about her. It was because of a coincidence that every time I mentioned her name, I was interrupted.

After meeting her, I learned that she was the beautiful woman they had spoken of, with a beautiful singing voice and skillful hands in the kitchen, the goddess of Xiangxin’s mouth.

She is also the witch of the Yueyan Miao village.