Chapter 586: As If an Old Friend Passed By

Outside Taian Temple, in a fly-ridden street of roadside eateries...

Perhaps it was the recent sweltering weather, or maybe the afternoon hours didn’t draw many worshippers. It could also be that the livelihoods and economy of Yidu had clearly declined.

But whatever the reason, the eateries on this street were all rather quiet. Few people sat inside to eat, while the entire street buzzed with flies. Some shopkeepers waved around their fans to drive them off, while others simply ignored them, too lazy even to glance at them.

Song You picked a shop that at least made an effort to swat the flies and sat down. He wanted to eat meat, but didn’t dare order fresh cuts, fearing what he’d be served might not be all that fresh. So, he ordered a plate of cold-dressed fish mint and asked the shopkeeper to boil some cured meat to slice.

Naturally, he also asked for a bowl of

mao’ertou

[1].

“You got it!” The shopkeeper beamed.

This street’s usual clientele consisted mostly of worshippers, small vendors catering to them, and common townsfolk drawn in by the vendors. Wealthier worshippers, after paying respects, would head to restaurants. The ones who stayed to eat here were just the everyday folk.

Mao’ertou

was the best-selling item here. Many laborers and vendors, or parents bringing their kids into town for the market, would treat themselves to a bowl if they had some spare coins. Adding a plate of vegetables was already rare, and ordering meat even more so.

The shopkeeper looked young but worked deftly. The

mao’ertou

had been steamed earlier, but he didn’t serve it right away. The fish mint was tossed together in two or three swift moves, but that too was set aside for now.

First, he pulled some cured meat down from the beam, scraped and washed it clean, then boiled it. Only after that did he bring over the cold fish mint and

mao’ertou

, and then returned to slice the meat quickly and thinly. Before long, everything was served, and they hadn’t had to wait long at all.

“Enjoy your meal, sir.” With that, the shopkeeper picked up his palm fan again and resumed swatting at the flies.

Song You rolled the chopsticks in his palm to smooth them, then picked up the bowl of

mao’ertou

. The snowy white rice was mixed with a bit of crushed millet and broken mung beans. The golden glutinous millet and jade-green mung beans added a burst of color and made it look much more appetizing. It was still heaped high in the bowl, and compared to the

mao’ertou

that Lady Wu had once treated him to while they were out of town, this version had a bit more variety.

Song You asked for a small bowl, and spooned out some rice for the little girl across from him. Just like that, the

mao’ertou

lost its shape.

“Eat.” The Daoist lowered his head and dug in, and the girl followed suit.

When the Daoist picked up a bite of vegetables, so did she.

The fish mint leaves were green with a hint of red, dressed in soy sauce and vinegar with a few drops of sesame oil, and some unknown sauce added for extra flavor. It was quite decent; it was just a little salty, but perfect for this hot weather.

The so-called fish mint was actually

Houttuynia cordata

, also known as

zhe’ergen

[2] People from Yidu had to eat

zhe’ergen

, and naturally, so did Yidu’s cats.

This particular plate was made with leaves, not roots, so Song You bit down with a crisp crunch.

Across from him, the little girl also took steady, crisp bites.

Crunch, crunch.

She didn’t show any dislike for the dish at all. Calm and composed, she kept a close eye on the Daoist’s expression and movements. The moment he lowered his head to eat, she followed. When he picked up vegetables, she absolutely could not lag behind.

Only when a fly occasionally buzzed past her did her bright, lively eyes involuntarily shift, drawing her gaze away from the Daoist and instead trailing the insect.

Then, like a flash of lightning...

Swish!

A fly was caught in her hand.

With a gentle squeeze, she killed it. She used just enough strength to end its life, yet not enough to crush it, then set it on the corner of the table.

Swish!

Every reach was a sure catch, never a miss. At first, it was just once or twice. But as it kept happening, the shopkeeper who had been busy swatting flies started to look a bit stunned and scratched his head in a daze.

She repeated this countless times. By the time the meal was nearly finished, a small pile of flies had already formed on the corner of the table, shaped into a nearly perfect little mound.

The girl had never missed once. The shopkeeper watched, completely dumbfounded.

It wasn’t until the Daoist reached out with his chopsticks one last time to pick up the final slice of cured meat, which was golden and glistening with fat, and the lean part a tempting red, quivering with oil, that the girl suddenly stood up with a serious look. With a

swish

of her hand, she caught a fly overhead.

Then, the Daoist put the slice of meat into his mouth. The girl, holding the fly, carefully approached the mound and, holding her breath, gently placed it on top. The near-perfect little cone of dead flies immediately became flawless.

“Sir, the bill.”

“That’ll be forty-two wen, sir.”

“Thank you.”

“Sir, this child...”

“Oh, the child in my care is naturally a bit mischievous. Her way of thinking isn’t quite the same as others’. I’m used to it. Please don’t mind her.”

As the Daoist spoke, he counted the coins on the table, scraped them into his hands, and handed them over.

“No, no, of course not...”

The shopkeeper took the coins with both hands, nodding repeatedly.

But out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the little girl scraping the pile of flies into her hands as well. Her movement was nearly identical to how the Daoist had scooped up the money, so much so that for a moment, he genuinely worried she might hand that handful of flies to him.

Instead, she tucked them into the cloth satchel slung at her side. The shopkeeper was stunned once again.

“Sir, this child...”

“Please don’t mind her, don’t mind her,” the Daoist said with a smile.

The shopkeeper caught another glimpse out of the corner of his eye and saw the young girl tilting her head up, her fair, clean little face expressionless, staring at him in puzzlement with eyes that seemed to be asking questions.

“Not at all, not at all.”

The shopkeeper quickly bowed and retreated into the shop. In his heart, he thought,

What a pair of oddballs.

As the sky gradually darkened, the people of Yidu began to return home from work, or stepped out from their houses. Once dinner was ready, they sat at their doorsteps with bowls in hand, or strolled about, gathering in busy spots to enjoy the evening breeze and chat. For a while, the city seemed to return to how it was in Song You’s memories.

Lady Calico walked along and watched those who admired the splendor of the mortal world, and also watched the monsters and ghosts with ulterior motives hiding in the city.

The Daoist, meanwhile, smacked his lips, still savoring the taste of the cured meat.

Half an hour later, they returned to the inn. The little girl still had the cloth satchel slung at her side and now sat by the window, holding a handful of flies in one hand. With the other, she picked up one fly at a time and passed it forward.

Perched on the windowsill was a swallow. The swallow cautiously took each fly from her fingers. With a quick tilt of its head and a snap of its beak, the fly disappeared down its throat.

Then it stared at her again, waiting.

Truth be told, this was the season when mosquitoes and bugs were most plentiful, and there was no need for Lady Calico to feed it at all. The bird could simply fly out for a short while and easily fill its belly. It didn’t even like eating flies all that much.

But Lady Calico’s offerings were something even their master found hard to refuse completely, so what choice did the swallow have but to accept them?

And just after it finished the flies, the girl pulled out a stick of candied hawthorn from her pouch and handed it over. Seeing this, the swallow felt utterly helpless.

Night slowly fell.

The little girl still sat by the window, leaning over the small wooden tea table and staring blankly down at the alley below, especially the one diagonally across from them. Only when she heard the sound of the Daoist moving behind her, washing up, did she ask without turning her head, “How long are we staying here?”

“Not too long.”

“How long are we staying here?”

“A few days, I suppose. Just to rest a bit, then head back to the Daoist temple. I want to go visit my master. After that, we’ll be off to Yunzhou.”

“A few days...” the girl mumbled under her breath.

𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

With a soft

poof

, she turned back into a cat, then leapt onto the tea table by the window again. As she lay down and continued to stare outside in a daze, her eyelids started to droop.

Perhaps the exhaustion from the day had gotten to her. The night breeze brushed past her as she watched and watched, and before she knew it, she had fallen asleep.

In her dreams, memories surged and resurfaced from the depths. Lady Calico seemed to see that calico cat who had first arrived in Yidu.

That calico cat was truly weak. It couldn't even take human form at the time. It was timid, though pretending to be brave. In such a strange place, it had been so uneasy, afraid of stumbling into someone else's territory.

When it entered Taian Temple and saw such a grand temple and such massive golden statues of Buddhas, it had been utterly terrified. It hadn’t even dared to go through the door at first. It had forced itself to gather its courage to enter, but once inside, it still didn’t dare speak.

It just did its best to act like an ordinary cat, for fear of being recognized. That calico cat had been so foolish and utterly clueless about everything. Naturally, now she was clever.

The little cat curled into a ball, sleeping soundly.

Meanwhile, the Daoist sat cross-legged on the bed with his eyes closed in meditation. But how could he not be thinking of the past as well?

In the days that followed, the two of them wandered idly around the city.

They even visited the Temple of the Divine Lord Yuewang, offering three sticks of incense. That very night, the god himself appeared in a dream to grumble about the tedious matters of the Ghost City, such as the pressures from the Heavenly Palace, the infiltration by the Western Paradise.

While things hadn't become overwhelmingly taxing on his end, it certainly wasn’t as leisurely as Song You had once claimed it would be.

He also updated Song You on the construction progress of the Ghost City and the development of the City God system.

As it turned out, the wealthy butcher who had purchased the courtyard where they once lived truly was a hospitable man. Every night, if there was meat at home, he would without fail come to the inn to invite Song You over for dinner. If Song You didn’t go, whether out of politeness or because he was out, then the butcher would make sure to send over a bowl.

He often had friends from the

jianghu

come looking for him, and he welcomed them all with great enthusiasm. No wonder his slaughterhouse business had only grown more prosperous.

Song You even asked him about Heroine Wu.

But it seemed that in the current martial circles of Yidu, there was no one by the name of Wu Suowei. At least, neither the butcher nor his friends had ever heard of such a person. When Song You asked about the Xishan Sect, it seemed that such an elite and prestigious sect was a bit out of reach for the likes of the butcher and his friends. They’d only heard a few tales, like this or that disciple displaying remarkable power somewhere, or one being defeated by some mysterious figure, but none of them had ever heard of a senior or expert from Xishan Sect surnamed Wu.

Song You didn’t pry any further.

Thirteen years had passed. Some parts of Yidu remained unchanged, while others had long since become unrecognizable.

More than once, while walking through the city, he felt that someone passing by looked familiar. Some looked like former neighbors; some like people who had once come to him for talismans or to expel evil spirits. A few times, he even thought he’d glimpsed one or two people from that old group of merchants from Jinyang Road. But each time, both parties only passed each other briefly, a fleeting glance, feeling they looked familiar, and then continued on their separate ways.

One had changed too much. The other, not at all.

A face like an old friend's passed him by. Yet, their hair had turned white.

How could he dare to acknowledge them?

1. To refresh your memory, mao’ertou literally means ‘hat-top rice’. According to historical records, in ancient times, restaurants in various parts of China would serve bowls of rice heaped high with steaming hot rice. The peak of the mound was pointed, resembling the top of a straw hat. ☜

2. 折耳根 literally translates to “folded ear root.” ☜