Chapter 558: The Midnight Aroma Returns to the Western Regions

The scent of ink filled the room.

On the long table were the brush, ink, paper, and inkstone, everything neatly arranged.

The brush was an imperial tribute of fine wolf-hair from Luozhou, purchased during their travels. The ink was Congealed Fragrance from Yangdu, and the inkstone was a Duan inkstone[1] gifted by Yu Jianbai during their last return to Changjing. Even the paper was of the highest quality. Under the flickering lamplight, the young girl sat on the carpet with her legs folded, leaning forward against the table as she carefully held the brush, writing neat, small characters as delicate as herself.

With a

creak

of the door...

She already knew from the sound of footsteps it was her Daoist returning, yet she couldn’t help turning her head to confirm.

“You’re writing your travel journal,” Song You said, stepping into the room.

“I’m writing my travel journal!” the little girl echoed him cheerfully, continuing to write. Only after a moment did she lower her head and ask, “Where did you go to play?”

“I just took a stroll in the courtyard.”

“Was it fun?”

“Not particularly fun, but the evening was cool. Walking and chatting with Mr. Xie was quite enjoyable. There’s also a grapevine in the courtyard, which is rather interesting,” Song You replied casually. Suddenly, he inexplicably felt as if she was the adult checking in on him, and couldn’t help smiling. “Mr. Xie is from Angzhou, Zhuyu County—the same hometown as General Chen. We’ve agreed to visit Jade City tomorrow.”

“Did General Chen survive?”

“I don't know.”

“I want to go for a walk tonight too!”

“But there would be no one to chat with you.”

“It’d still be fun.”

Lady Calico wasn’t like other people; she had her own ways of finding amusement.

“That’s fine, but it's not very safe here. Mr. Xie mentioned that strange things often happen at night. Lady Calico, you must be careful.”

“I know!”

“Indeed, I suppose there’s no need for me to worry...”

While speaking, Song You rummaged through his bags, pulling out a clean Daoist robe and placing it beside the bed. He took out his washing utensils as well, conveniently placing each item into a few recesses chiseled neatly into the stone wall, as if they had been deliberately carved to hold such items.

Then he took out the four spiritual resonances, carefully setting them into another recess.

Three of the spiritual resonances could have their radiance concealed completely: the earth-element spiritual resonance resembled drifting sand, the metal-element spiritual resonance appeared as a smooth metallic mirror, and the water-element spiritual resonance looked like a miniature ocean.

Only the fire-element spiritual resonance naturally emanated a red glow and flame; even when its brilliance was restrained, it continued to emit faint firelight. Set into the wall’s recess, it was as if the room had gained another small lamp.

“...!”

The little girl keenly noticed the change in brightness within the room, stopping her writing immediately. Raising her head to look at him, she knitted her delicate brows and said seriously, “You can’t just leave it out like that—someone might steal it.”

From the tone of her voice, it seemed the Daoist was now the careless one, and Lady Calico had to bear the burden of worry.

“It's all right,” Song You assured.

“But we worked so hard to find those!” she insisted.

“Even if we don’t leave them here, and hide them in our bags instead, they'll still get stolen if they're meant to be.”

“Oh...”

The little girl paused briefly, her brows knitting even more tightly, her expression turning serious and troubled. “Then I will stand guard here every single day!”

“It's fine—let them steal it.” Song You gazed at the four spiritual resonances, pointing slightly toward the water-element spiritual resonance. Instantly, a tiny stream of light flew out and merged into the charm, becoming indistinguishable. “If they steal it, that'll be perfect. We'll then know exactly where they're hiding.”

“...!”

Lady Calico froze in shock, her eyes widening dramatically. She immediately grasped the cleverness of this plan. So this was the high-level hunting technique of the mortal realm?

“What if he doesn't come?” she asked.

“He'll come for sure.”

Though those monks in the temple weren't the great demon himself, they represented him to some degree, reflecting his personality, preferences, and methods.

The five spiritual resonances were supreme treasures between heaven and earth, crystallizations of the great Dao. Unless it was an Ancient Great Being as powerful as Flaming Sun True Lord, or someone who already understood what the five spiritual resonances and the successor of the Hidden Dragon Temple represented, it was nearly impossible for any demon to resist the charms' allure.

The higher their cultivation, the deeper their understanding of the profound truths embodied in the five spiritual resonances, and thus, the harder it became to resist.

Moreover, this particular demon was already greedy for treasures and had a penchant for collecting things.

If he truly resisted the temptation of the five spiritual resonances, Song You would actually respect him. Or, if he genuinely refrained from stealing, that would mean his original intent in freezing an entire army on the mountain a hundred years ago wasn't primarily about seizing their treasures like the five-colored jade.

Similarly, arranging last night's scheme to lure Song You here likely wasn't out of greed for anything Song You had. Either way, sparing him wouldn't be an issue.

In fact, it would save Song You some trouble.

“Let me join you in writing the travel journal,” Song You said, sitting down at the opposite end of the low table. Yet the girl swiftly reached out, covering the words she'd written.

“Are you so wary of me because you frequently peek at what I'm writing, and thus assume I'll also peek at yours?”

“Um...”

Rendered speechless by his accusation, the girl opened her mouth to refute, but after hesitating with a few inaudible murmurs, she swallowed her words instead.

In the end, she was honest at heart—a bit too honest.

Song You sat down and calmly began writing, seemingly indifferent to her vigilance. After staring at him warily for a while, the little girl saw he was genuinely absorbed in his own writing, his eyes never wandering from his own paper. Gradually, her suspicions faded away.

Under the warm glow of candlelight, the adult and child quietly wrote, capturing the vast landscapes of the Western Regions, the unique local customs, the strange creatures, and peculiar events they'd encountered. Yet, each wrote from their own distinct perspective.

For a moment, the entirety of Jade City seemed to settle into tranquility.

“You know, I actually quite like it here...” Song You spoke to her without even lifting his head as he wrote.

This carriage inn was bustling during the day, but at night, it was much quieter than one might expect.

During the day, people came and went—travelers from Great Yan, local merchants, and even traders from farther western kingdoms. Amid the lively noise, it gave Song You the perfect chance to experience the customs of the Western Regions and broaden his horizons.

At night, however, all the merchants went to bed early. There were no late-night festivities or candlelit conversations. Maybe the occasional snore, but the stone walls offered far better sound insulation than wooden ones—Song You could hardly hear a thing.

The backyard bordered a river and had a large open space where the horses, unbound by reins, could roam freely. In the front courtyard, grapevines were growing under trellises, already close to ripening. Whether or not they’d get to eat any was another matter, but just the sight of them was enough to bring a sense of delight.

“It's a shame we're limited to just five days,” he sighed softly.

“I like it here too.”

“Because there are a lot of mice here, right?”

“Huh?!” The young girl was shocked. “How did you know?”

𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

“I guessed.”

“You have the ability to know how many mice a place has as soon as you get there now?”

“I just guessed.”

“Oh...”

The little girl lowered her head in thought, wrote two more characters, then looked up and said, “If I help the innkeeper catch all the mice here, do you think he’ll let us stay a few more days?”

“That depends on your eloquence.”

“You go talk to the innkeeper!”

“I’m not much of a speaker, I’m afraid I’m not up to the task.”

“Not up to the wask...”

“Not up to the task.”

“Mm...”

The little girl fell silent, thinking as she continued writing.

“By the way, Lady Calico, and Yan An too,” Song You said as he wrote, “in the coming days, if I go out, it’s best if you two come with me. If not, you can go out to play, but don’t stay alone in the room. Just in case that person shows up, it’d be better not to run into him.”

“Got it.”

After that, Song You said no more.

He continued writing for about another hour before finally going to bed. Lady Calico, on the other hand, was even more diligent—she kept writing until midnight, then turned into a cat and slipped out to play.

Early the next morning...

Song You was woken by the sound of knocking.

When he opened his eyes, Lady Calico had already turned back into a cat and was curled up on the blanket by the desk. She’d been sleeping soundly, but now opened her eyes from the noise, lifting her head in a sleepy daze to look toward the door.

Knock knock...

“Sir, are you awake?”

“I’m coming.”

Song You quickly got up and went to open the door.

The one knocking was the merchant with the surname Xie.

They had chatted for a long time under the grape trellis the night before, and it seemed he found the Daoist to be a decent person. So early this morning, he had come to call him, letting him know that the innkeeper had prepared breakfast for the guests. He invited him to come along—otherwise, if they missed it, they’d have to go out and buy food on their own.

Song You thanked him, of course, and headed out with him.

The dining hall was a relatively spacious stone house, its floor covered in fabric rugs, with low, long tables set up throughout. At this hour, it was packed with people—merchants from both East and West—seated on the rugs and eating their meals.

Breakfast consisted of boiled camel’s milk and baked flatbread.

There was still an open seat in the corner. Song You and Merchant Xie each took a ceramic bowl, ladled out a serving of camel’s milk from the innkeeper’s wooden barrel, grabbed a round flatbread, and went over to sit down.

“Did you sleep well last night, sir?”

“Quite well. It was actually much quieter than I’d expected,” Song You replied.

“The people staying here are mostly traveling merchants. After so long on the road, they’ve long since gotten into the habit of sleeping as soon as it gets dark. Aside from some snoring, sleep-talking, or teeth grinding, there’s not much noise.”

Merchant Xie, sporting a round belly and looking very much the seasoned trader, chuckled as he spoke, then suddenly wore a mysterious expression. “Sir, did you happen to get up during the night?”

“After I fell asleep, I didn’t get up.”

“Then did you wake early?”

“I just woke up a moment ago.”

“Oh dear! Then I must have disturbed your rest? I’d thought you, sir, were like the rest of us—early to bed, and up no later than the fifth watch. I didn’t expect someone from outside the mundane world to live so leisurely.” Merchant Xie gave a slight bow, then continued, “I had originally wanted to ask if you noticed anything strange outside last night.”

“Something strange?”

“Around the fourth or fifth watch, someone outside was roasting meat. The smell was incredible. When we got up this morning, there weren’t any bones or footprints in the courtyard, but next to the usual fire pits where the innkeeper and merchants roast meat during the day, there was a new, smaller patch of scorched ground.”

“Did anyone go out to check?”

“Who would dare? Strange things are common around here, and they come in all forms. No one finds it odd anymore when something strange happens at night.”

Merchant Xie’s face showed a mix of oddness and resignation. “Sometimes, matters of demons and spirits are just like those of the human world—many things won’t concern you if you don’t step outside to see them. But once you open the door or window, you might invite trouble. I only dared to bring it up now that it's daylight and the matter has passed, just to chat a bit and treat it as an interesting tale. As for opening the door at night? Absolutely not.”

“I see.”

Song You couldn’t help but smile.

He hadn’t expected that even a tale of demons and spirits could so neatly echo the principles of the human world.

1. The Duan inkstone is one of China’s Four Famous Inkstones and originates from Zhaoqing City in Guangdong Province. In ancient times, Zhaoqing was known as Duanzhou, hence the name “Duan inkstone.” Its production dates back to the Wude period of the Tang Dynasty (618–626 AD), giving it a history of over 1,300 years.

The finest Duan inkstones are characterized by a bluish-purple stone color with round, bluish-green “stone eyes.”

A top-grade Duan inkstone is not only aesthetically pleasing but also excellent for grinding ink. It produces rich, glossy ink with a lacquer-like shine and helps prevent the ink from drying out too quickly. ☜