Strong Winds Return Home – Chapter Sixty-One

The two would leave at the appointed time, and it was still early, so Liu Xian’an lay back on the bed again in his night clothes. A-Ning deftly rearranged the wardrobe, then turned around to find that his eyes were still open, and asked worriedly: “The young master seems to have been suffering from insomnia recently. Do you really not want to take medicine and recuperate?”

Liu Xian’an explained: “I’m not suffering from insomnia, I’m just thinking about the prince.”

“But the prince is next door to us,” A-Ning said. “And he will take the young master out with him later.”

Liu Xian’an felt that he couldn’t elaborate on this matter, because he was thinking about the one in his dreams. As he thought, it was as if he had returned to that hot spring, where his whole body was soaked and weak, and he had no strength to lift his eyelids. A-Ning had become accustomed to the problem of his young master falling asleep suddenly mid-word, so he quickly rolled up the quilt to cover him. With the weight on his body, Second Young Master Liu met His Royal Highness Xiao Wang once more, but perhaps due to having a doctor’s instincts, he felt that it was not good. Too often would result in an imbalance of qi and blood, so he thought hard, no more sleep, no more sleep, wake up.

He ran all the way in that illusory realm, looking for the world’s exit, but there were hot springs and peach blossom forests everywhere. There were slippery petals beneath his feet, and the sky was raining fallen petals so that he was about to be buried in them. Liang Shu sat by the bed and called him: “Wake up.”

Liu Xian’an opened his eyes, finally breaking free from the Three Thousand Worlds, but he didn’t expect the first thing he saw to be the person from his dreams. He sat up in bed and tried his best to calm his frantic heartbeat: “Why is the prince here? Where is A-Ning?”

“I told him to go back and rest.” Liang Shu said, “It’s almost zishi, do you still want to go to Yu Manor?”

I definitely want to go, but I had to wait for a while. Liu Xian’an threw off the quilt and got out of bed, a little disheveled from sleep. Liang Shu looked away from that smooth neck, following behind him without incident.

“You seem to have nightmares all the time. Do you want to take some tonic? What do you dream about?”

Liu Xian’an was perfunctory: I didn’t dream of anything.

Liang Shu grabbed a strand of his hair: “Is there another old man bothering you?”

Liu Xian’an replied, yes, yes, yes.

Liang Shu didn’t let go, and continued to order, next time don’t dream about the old men, dream about me.

Liu Xian’an had a guilty conscience and couldn’t listen to these words, so he changed the subject: “Why don’t we hurry to Yu Manor.”

Because A-Ning was not around, there was no need to wear the extremely long cloak. The two left the inn together. The night wind in the southwest was very cool, so Liang Shu naturally pulled him over by the waist, leaping up like a giant hawk. Both of them vanished into the dense shadows.

The lights were on in Yu Cong’s courtyard, and there were many maidservants and courtyard guards. The air was filled with a strong scent of medicine. Liu Xian’an removed the mask covering his face and took a small sniff, saying: “Green shucao can cure chest and heart pain, which is common for the elderly. However, green shucao is a strong medicine, and is generally only used when the disease is in the later stages. Only when other medicines are useless will one take the risk of trying it.”

“The shopkeeper also said that Master Yu hadn’t played shuttlecock in the streets for a long time.” Liang Shu said, “Let’s go and look elsewhere.”

Liu Xian’an put on the face mask again. Although there were guards all around, he was not nervous at all, and it was almost like he was “coming for a visit.” And Liang Shu’s mentality was similar. They naturally must investigate the cult, but he also could not delay holding hands with his sweetheart. Not far from Yu Cong’s residence, there was a courtyard full of colorful objects. Liu Xian’an spotted it and asked what it was, so Liang Shu took him there to have a look.

It appeared to be a warehouse, all piled up with useless things such as colored paper and colored cloth, cups, plates, bowls, several large black pots, and many tables, chairs, and benches. Liang Shu said: “They’re things for holding a banquet.”

They all looked brand new, and some of them hadn’t even been taken out of their bundled straw ropes, so they should all have been prepared for the banquet and the Many-Color Festival.

Liang Shu pushed open the door, and Liu Xian’an walked in with him. The lighting in the room was much darker than outside, and many things could only be seen as blurred outlines. After a moment, the eyes of the two gradually adapted to the darkness. At this time, a full moon happened to rise from the dark clouds, and the surroundings became brighter. As soon as it became brighter, the fine hair stood up on the back of Liu Xian’an’s neck, and he vaguely felt that someone was staring at him.

He took a deep breath and slowly turned his head. Looking at it, even though he was prepared, he nearly cried out. Liang Shu covered his mouth and said in a low voice, “Don’t be afraid, it’s a mannequin.”

Liu Xian’an nodded. He knew it was a mannequin, but knowing such did not prevent him from being frightened. Who could stand to run into such a pair of stiff white eyeballs in the dark? Liang Shu held his hand: “I’ll go look, you close your eyes.”

Liu Xian’an turned his eyes away as he said, but was curious, so he turned them back again. The master who crafted the mannequin seemed to have used all his ability, trying to make it develop in the direction of a beautiful girl. But it was also due to this that the mannequin looked extremely close to the appearance of a real person, but with a stiff look that was completely different from one. Wearing a bright red outfit and grinning, it might cause one more timid to wet their pants on the spot.

Liang Shu knocked on the mannequin, and there was a dong dong. He said: “It’s a human-shaped stone covered in a layer of paper.”

“For sacrificial offerings,” Liu Xian’an explained. “I’ve seen this sort of folk legend in books. If someone in the family is sick, one will throw a stone bride into the river so that the sick person will be blessed by the river god.”

“That rubbish makes no sense.” Liang Shu shook his head. “Fishers and bridge builders all beg the river god to come down, and curing diseases and preserving lives also requires the intervention of the river god. Moreover, the long river winds tens of thousands of feet, and there are sick people in all the villages along its banks. How many people does the river god have to marry?”

“If it was reasonable, it wouldn’t be called a ‘folk rumor’,” Liu Xian’an said. “Everyone loves to hear folk rumors where one must get married.”

Liang Shu asked: “You like to hear them too?”

Liu Xian’an replied: “Well enough.”

It was better to hear about a pair of lovers overcoming obstacles and finally getting married than to hear about an old monster going down the mountain to eat people. Liu Xian’an mused to himself, just like the current Huaizhen city, if what they caught up with was not a ghost, but two people getting married, the whole city could set up a feast. Wouldn’t that be very pleasant?

Liang Shu vowed: “Then whichever city we pass by in the future, if there is a wedding banquet, I will take you there to eat.”

As for the gloomy stone bride in front of them, it looked like she wouldn’t be able to marry the river god anytime soon. Liang Shu took Liu Xian’an out of the courtyard and went east, where the Young Master Yu, Yu Zhong, resided.

The lights in the hall were also on at this time, and there were servants coming and going to bring tea and snacks, obviously entertaining a guest.

This “guest” was the wizard who was said to be extremely effective in catching ghosts, named Yin Die.

In his forties, with a thin body and high cheekbones, he wore a dark-colored cloak. He had a deep complexion, and did indeed look like a master from a foreign land.

Liang Shu poked a small hole in the window paper, and asked Liu Xian’an to come over to watch the liveliness.

Young Master Yu probed: “What about the haunting?”

“I’ll need to catch the ghost myself.” Yin Die half-closed his eyes, “But the river god’s marriage cannot be delayed. The whole city will be notified tomorrow, and it will be done the day after tomorrow. Young Master Yu doesn’t want his father to have any troubles, does he?”

Yu Zhong continued: “Of course not, of course not, but—”

Before he could say “but,” Yin Die had already got up, flung his sleeves, and walked out the door. The tea set on the table with the cloak was overturned, and the old lady who was waiting to the side hurriedly went to clean up, but he didn’t even turn his head. He only left a sentence: “I’ll go to see Master Yu again, if Young Master Yu wants to hold the Many-Color Festival, he should prepare things quickly.”

Yu Zhong made a sound of affirmation, but the expression on his face was not very good. After Yin Die walked away, he grew even more angry, and seeing that no one was pleasing to the eye, he kicked out the maid and the old lady, cursing: “That deceptive dog, it’s just the old man who believes him. What should be prepared is already prepared. After all, isn’t it all just silver and gold?”

His trusted steward reminded him to keep his voice down, and that the walls had ears. However, Yu Zhong still wanted to curse. Not to mention Wan Yuan crawling out of her grave, Yin Die had probably planned it himself. Now the old man had been deceived to the point that he believed whatever he said, and his mind was confused due to his illness, but it was easy for him to open his mouth wide.

Liang Shu and Liu Xian’an listened outside for a while, and could roughly figure it out. This was the young master of the Yu family. He didn’t believe in ghosts at all, but could do nothing about Master Yu’s deep belief in Yin Die. Thus, he could only allow the wizard to run rampant in Yu Manor, and Yu Zhong only dared to to feel distressed about the money behind his back, even cursing his father.

Liu Xian’an pinched his nose and forced a sneeze back.

It was the first time Liang Shu had seen this sort of technique. He touched the other’s cold hand, leading him away from Yu Manor and back to the inn.

Liu Xian’an: “Achoo!”

A-Ning: “I told you to wear a cloak when you went out!”

Liu Xian’an heard but did not listen, entering the room lightly. He said: “I’m not cold. Why aren’t you asleep?”

A-Ning replied: “I’ve already woken up. Seeing that the young master had not come back, I was a little worried, so I came here and waited.”

“With the prince here, what are you worried about?” Liu Xian’an cupped his own face in his hands. “Warm.”

A-Ning commented: “The way the young master talks and does things now, he looks more and more like the prince.”

Liu Xian’an thought for a moment: “Intimidating without being angry?”

“Not quite like that.”

Liu Xian’an simply kept his face unchanged and put his hand into A-Ning’s neckline. A-Ning was so cold that he screamed and hid to the side, saying: “This is what you call not cold?”

Liu Xian’an explained: “When we were spying, the prince was holding me, so I naturally wasn’t cold.”

A-Ning didn’t realize that there was something wrong with this, because his young master looked weak and not very frost-resistant, so he needed to be held. He asked the shopkeeper to bring hot water for washing, and asked: “Did you find anything out?”

“According to Yu Zhong and the wizard, the Many-Color Festival will be reopened the day after tomorrow.” Liu Xian’an said, “If the female ghost’s true purpose is to put a stop to the Many-Color Festival, then when the news spreads tomorrow, she will probably take action.”

A-Ning was not very interested in the Many-Color Festival and ghost hunting. He only thought, if the female ghost makes trouble tomorrow night, wouldn’t his young master want to follow His Royal Highness Xiao Wang to watch the excitement again and not be able to sleep?

He speedily helped him wash up, then stuffed him under the quilt with great force and said: “Sleep!”

Liu Xian’an had not yet reacted, and didn’t know why he was lying down. He said: “But I still want to talk with the prince for a while.”

“It’s yinshi. The prince is going to sleep too.” A-Ning was unmoved. He had never thought before that his young master would someday refuse to sleep honestly. If this were to be written in a family letter, neither the Master or First Young Master would believe it.

Liu Xian’an was forced to lie on the bed, thinking about things and flipping pancakes,[1] and only felt faintly sleepy when the pancakes were fully baked. This time, he did not dream of the hot springs and His Royal Highness Xiao Wang, but of the stone bride from Yu Manor following behind him, screaming at the top of her lungs.

The screaming was so shrill that Second Young Master Liu was almost at the point of death, so he could only say to her calmly: “You sit down, let’s talk about the Heavenly Dao.”

But the stone bride didn’t listen or speak, and only stared at him with her two eyeballs. Second Young Master Liu also looked at her for a while and felt that it was really boring, so he called a white crane and ignored her. He broke through the clouds ninety thousand li away toward the red sun in the sky, and returned to the present world, swaying and at ease.

And the first person he saw when he opened his eyes was still Liang Shu, who was sitting by the bed. He said: “It seems that this dream is pretty good. You’re smiling.”

Liu Xian’an was rather puzzled, and wondered if it was the other way around. Dreaming about His Royal Highness Xiao Wang was obviously very good, but nine times out of ten, he felt the panic and confusion of a nightmare, but dreaming about ghosts was very peaceful and quiet.

Liang Shu didn’t know what was going on in his mind at the moment. He frowned thoughtfully, thinking that it was the old white-bearded men who were causing trouble, so he stretched out his hand and lifted him up to a sitting position. His Royal Highness Xiao Wang was already familiar with this process of taking advantage of beauties, and would return to this soft fragrance and warmth from time to time. Of course, this was mainly due to the fact that the Sleeping Immortal often failed to distinguish between dreams and reality upon waking up, his mind confused and muddled, and could be manipulated at will.

Grab him and move him.

It was good that A-Ning couldn’t see this, or perhaps he would drive the prince out in a rebellious manner.

Liu Xian’an leaned back on his waist pillow, still unwilling to move. He originally had not slept for long.

Liang Shu said: “Eat something first, then go to sleep.”

Liu Xian’an still didn’t move, so His Royal Highness Xiao Wang picked him up as a matter of course and made it appear that he had suffered a loss: “This lord has never served others in such a way before.”

The service was not good, far worse than A-Ning’s. No matter how precious this lazy fellow was, he could only rally his spirit and do everything himself. He dodged the hot towel thrown at him: “The prince has been staying in my room?”

Liang Shu nodded, handing him the towel: “I saw that A-Ning was a little sleepy, so I asked him to go back to his room and rest for a while.”

But the actual conversation that morning went like this—

A-Ning: “I’m not sleepy.”

Gao Lin: “You’re sleepy.”

A-Ning: “I’m really not sleepy.”

Gao Lin: “You really are sleepy.”

The two recited their mantras back and forth several times, and the guards next to them were all dazed. They wondered if Lieutenant General Gao had learned some medical skills himself, in order to forcibly make a diagnosis and arrange for others to sleep more.

Of course, Second Young Master Liu didn’t know all of this for the time being. After washing up, he sat at the table and took a piece of pastry to eat. Liang Shu opened the window to let in some air, but the breeze brought in the voices of the common people talking on the street. Liu Xian’an’s ears were very handy, and could pick up even a casual sentence. He immediately asked: “There was another haunting last night?”

Liang Shu nodded: “Yes, the screaming woke up half the city.”

“No wonder I heard it in my dreams,” Liu Xian’an said. “There was really a ghost screaming.”

“I originally wanted to let you sleep a bit longer.” Liang Shu opened the window all the way. “Have breakfast first, and after that, I’ll take you out to have a look.”

[1] “Flipping pancakes” is to toss and turn. ⮐