Xue Yang, “What do you think happened? Just a few more slaps and a few more kicks.”
A-Qing, “This was you, right? He liked sweets—it definitely was you! Why were you like this when you were young? If I were you, I would’ve been like ptew, ptew, ptew and spat in his food, and then I’d hit him, and I’d hit him, and I’d hit him…” She danced around, almost hitting Xiao XingChen, who sat by her side.
Xiao XingChen quickly spoke, “Alright, alright. You finished listening to the story. It’s time to sleep.”
Even as A-Qing was carried by him to the coffin, she was still angrily complaining, “Ugh! Your stories make me so mad! One is so boring that it makes me mad, and the other is so annoying that it makes me mad! Jeez, that guy who made him take the letter was so annoying! I’m so frustrated!”
After Xiao XingChen tucked her, he walked a few steps, then asked, “What happened afterward?”
Xue Yang, “Guess. There was no afterward. You didn’t continue telling your story either, did you?”
Xiao XingChen, “No matter what happened afterward, since right now your life is fairly adequate, there’s no need for you to dwell too much on the past.”
Xue Yang, “I’m not dwelling on the past. It’s just that the Little Blind keeps on stealing my candy and even finished them, so now I can’t help but remember the days when I couldn’t have any.”
A-Qing kicked the coffin hard and protested, “Daozhang, don’t listen to him! I didn’t really eat that much!”
Xiao XingChen laughed softly, “Let’s all rest.”
That night, Xue Yang didn’t follow him. Xiao XingChen went out to night-hunt alone. A-Qing lay motionless inside the coffin, but she couldn’t fall asleep.
When the sky began to brighten, Xiao XingChen came back, not making a sound as he entered.
As he passed the coffin, he put his hand inside. A-Qing pretended as if she were asleep, and only opened her eyes again after Xiao XingChen left the coffin home. She saw a small piece of candy beside her straw pillow.
She stuck her head out and looked into the bedroom. Xue Yang wasn’t asleep either. He sat at the table, appearing as if he was thinking about something.
A piece of candy lay silently on the edge of the table.
After the night when they talked at the furnace, Xiao XingChen would give both of them a piece of candy everyday. Of course, A-Qing was quite pleased. Xue Yang expressed neither gratitude nor rejection toward this act, which made A-Qing angry at him for some time.
Xiao XingChen had always been responsible for the three’s meals. Since he was blind, he didn’t know how to select vegetables and was too embarrassed to bargain with others. When he went out alone, it was fine if the vendors were nice, but he sometimes met vendors who purposely took advantage of his blindness. The vegetables that he brought back would be lacking in either quality or quantity. Xiao XingChen didn’t care much himself, or one could say that he didn’t really pay attention to the matter, but A-Qing was often infuriated. In a seething manner, she’d demand to shop for ingredients alongside Xiao XingChen. Unfortunately, even though she could see, she couldn’t express anything. She didn’t dare throw tantrums and knock down the stalls in front of Xiao XingChen either. This was when Xue Yang became useful. With keen eyes and a sharp tongue that came with his delinquent self, if he went outside with them, whenever they wanted to buy something, the first thing he’d do was to shamelessly bargain the price down to a half. If the vendor agreed, he’d bargain even further; if the vendor didn’t, he’d put on a menacing look, and the vendors would start thinking that they were lucky somebody like him would decide to pay at all, hoping for him to leave as soon as possible. Presumably, when he was roaming freely in Kuizhou and Lanling, he probably didn’t have to pay anything for the things he wanted. Now that A-Qing had her anger vented out, out of happiness, she even praised him a few times. And, thanks to the delightful candy everyday, since then, for a short length of time, a delicate peace was maintained between A-Qing and Xue Yang.
However, she could never let down her guard for Xue Yang. The short periods of peace were also often immediately suppressed by multiple doubts and suspicions.
One day, A-Qing was playing on the streets again, pretending to be blind. She had been playing the game for her whole life, and hadn’t grown tired of it even once. As she was knocking her bamboo pole while walking around, suddenly, a voice came from behind her, “Young Maiden, if your eyes can’t see, it’s best if you don’t run so fast.”
It was the voice of a young man, which sounded rather cold. A-Qing turned around to see a tall cultivator who wore black robes, standing a few meters away from her. A sword was carried behind his back while a horsetail whisk was in his arm. With an upright posture and drifting sleeves, he had a proud, aloof air to him.
This man just happened to be Song Lan.
A-Qing tilted her head. Song Lan had already walked over. Putting his whisk over A-Qing’s shoulder, he led her to the side, “There are less people on the side of the road.”
Wei WuXian commented, They really are good friends, aren’t they? Good friends would have to be similar in character.
A-Qing tittered, “A-Qing is very thankful of Daozhang!”
Song Lan took his whisk back and held it in his arms again. He glanced at her, “Don’t play around too much. The dark energy here is quite strong. In the future, be careful not to linger outside.”
A-Qing, “Okay!”
Song Lan nodded and continued walking, but A-Qing couldn’t help but turn around to watch him. After he walked for a while, he stopped a passerby, “Excuse me. Has anyone seen a blind cultivator who carries a sword in the area?”
At once, A-Qing started to listen carefully. The passerby replied, “I’m not too sure. Daozhang, you can try asking the people over there.”
Song Lan, “Thank you.”
A-Qing tapped her way over, “Daozhang, why are you searching for the other daozhang?”
Song Lan immediately turned around, “Have you seen him?”
A-Qing, “Maybe I have, but maybe I haven’t.”
Song Lan, “How can I make it so that you’ve seen him?”
A-Qing, “If you answer a few questions for me, then maybe I’ll remember that I have. Are you a friend of the daozhang?”
Song Lan hesitated. He only replied after a few moments, “… Yes.”
Wei WuXian wondered, Why did he hesitate?
A-Qing also felt that his answer was somewhat reluctant. Her suspicion grew again, “Do you really know him? How tall is he? Is he pretty or ugly? What is his sword like?”
Song Lan answered straight away, “His height is similar to mine. His appearance is rather fine. His sword is carved with patterns of frost.”
Seeing that he answered everything correctly and didn’t look like a bad guy, A-Qing responded, “I know where he is. Daozhang, follow me!”
Song Lan had already been travelling in search for his close friend for a few years, and had been disappointed countless times. Now that he finally heard news of him, he couldn’t even believe his ears. He managed with effort, “… Thank… Thank you…”
A-Qing led him until they were near the coffin home, yet Song Lan stopped in his tracks. A-Qing asked, “What’s wrong? Aren’t you gonna go over?”