Chapter 36 Your “father” was waiting for you
People’s breathing? He Danggui looked up doubtfully and saw a man sleeping on the tree. Who else could it be expect for Gao Jue?
He Danggui suddenly realized why she could meet Gao Jue when she practiced Five Mimic-animal Boxing yesterday morning, and why she could also meet him when she went out to run at dawn today. This was because he had been sleeping in the tree outside the East Wing-room! Peeping? He was such a rude man! He Danggui picked up a scree from the ground and threw it up, hitting Gao Jue’s nose as she expected. His face was now saying that “I want to kill you”. Looking at that expression, He Danggui waved to him and said with a smile, “Master Gao, let’s go.”
The three of them went to the meditation room of the northern yard. He Danggui took out the set of keys which Tai Xi had given her and tried to open the door of the meditation room. But Gao Jue came up with an unhappy face for his lacking of sleep, reached out and pulled the brass lock, together with the lock catch. Zhen Jing was scared and hid behind He Danggui. He Danggui glared at the rude guy and then pushed the door open. They saw a little coffin which was laid in the middle of the room.
He Danggui turned around and looked at the wide-backed sword in Gao Jue’s waist. She asked, “Barbari… Master Gao, may I borrow your sword?”
Gao Jue put out a small delicate dagger with a poker face and held it to the height as equal as He Danggui’s nose. She thanked him before she pushed away the coffin lid, then pried the wood sleeper that was adhered by gum away. The dagger’s hilt was made of dark steel, decorated with red and bright flower patterns, just like those on Gao Jue’s black long gown that he wore the first time they met. It had a sense of uncanny beauty. The tip of the dagger gave off a very strong sense of coldness, suggesting it was a not a toy, but a real bloodthirsty weapon.
With Gao Jue’s witness, He Danggui used his handy dagger expertly to pry the wood sleeper in the coffin away within seconds and then wrapped it up carefully with a square handkerchief. She gave it to the young Taoist nun behind her and smiled coolly, “Take this. It’s our treasure!” Then, Gao Jue just witnessed again that He Danggui used his killing dagger ground the traces she just pried.
It was said that a good weapon was connected to its owner. The dagger seemed to sense He Danggui’s anger, and it became more powerful to cut the gum…
After a while, the work finished. He Danggui blew away the gum and bits of wood on the dagger. Then she put the dagger in the scabbard and returned it to Gao Jue. She laughed out loud, “Perfect! What a nice dagger! Well, since Master Gao being so kind, I’m gonna give an order then. Master Gao, please carry up the coffin and follow us!”
“What?! You want me to carry the coffin?!” Gao Jue squeezed his dagger tightly, emerging a blue vein, as if he would lose control in any second and cut the girl who asked him to carry the coffin into pieces.
Zhen Jing regretted to be given birth to this world. She tried her best to hide herself and prayed Gao Jue wouldn’t notice her existence…
He Danggui sighed and pitied herself with an extremely beautiful expression, “I’ve said before, how could a normal girl give orders to an imperial guard? I was supposed to find some porters who were easy to command. However, Master Gao had offered to replace the porters yet refused to do their job… It’s going to be noon soon, and it’s too late for me to find other porters. Fine, Zhen Jing.” Hearing Zhen Jing’s voice declined a little bit, He Danggui held the front part of the coffin and said to Zhen Jing, “One person a side, let’s go downhill!”
Gao Jue closed his eyes slightly and put away his dagger slowly. His muscles on his shoulders humped, spreading a dangerous feeling. Suddenly, Gao Jue raised his palm against He Danggui and a harsh screaming came out from Zhen Jing in the corner — “Whoosh”. The coffin weighed over 100 jin flew upon Gao Jue’s shoulder in an instant.
Gao Jue carried it and walked out of the meditation room, then he squeezed out two words like he was calling the murderer who killed his father, “Go downhill!”
It was still early, so they didn’t meet anyone on their way out of the Taoist Temple. Gao Jue walked so fast, leaving He Danggui and Zhen Jing far behind. He Danggui didn’t feel relieved, so she yelled at the figure carrying the coffin, “Be careful! That coffin is worth of fortune, and it can’t be damaged a single bit! Or you’ll have to pay for it!
Hearing this, Gao Jue stopped for a second, jumped on the top of a tree and flew away with the coffin.
Zhen Jing finally relieved, curled her lips and turned to look at He Danggui. She asked as if she was going to cry, “Xiaoyi, why do we have to go with him? He is so horrible!”
He Danggui threw up her hands, “You think I want him here? He insisted on staying here and helping us!”
Zhen Jing opened her mouth wide and imagined an astonishing picture of “Master Gao insisted on staying here and helping them”, then she shook her head and asked again, “You said the coffin was quite valuable? But as far as I know, a coffin is normally worth about 8 liang sliver, not to mention your coffin is very little!”
He Danggui grinned, “Lucky for me that all the people in the Taoist Temple, including Tai Shan and Tai Xi, didn’t know the coffin’s value. Otherwise how could I take my coffin away successfully? I’ve inquired Zhen Zhu before. Tai Shan thought this coffin was exquisite and maybe it was worth 20 to 30 liang sliver, so it was kept in the meditation room of the northern yard. She planned to exchange it with some silver in a few days. Luckily, Tai Xi agreed me to take my coffin and redeem you with 5 liang sliver! Come on, Zhen Jing. Let’s go downhill! After getting the silver, we’ll eat Stewed Pork Ball in Brown Sauce and come back to the Taoist Temple to redeem you after that!”
It was beyond Zhen Jing’s expectation that He Danggui bear her debt in her mind all this time. She was so moved and nodded, running down the mountain with He Danggui hand in hand, with a feeling of an elopement. But after a while, she could not go on... What, what speed was that? It was the deadly speed! Zhen Jing held He Danggui who was running, and gasped to wave her hands, giving a sign that she needed rest.
How was this possible? When they went to the mountain to dig potherbs the next day when He Danggui was reborn from the death, Zhen Jing complained that He Danggui walked so slowly and said, “You ladies walk so elegantly, but it’s not the time to visit gardens. We can’t be back before dark if you walk like that.” Just a few days later, why were their roles reversed?
He Danggui thought for a moment and said, “Let me carry you.” She put Zhen Jing on her back after speaking, and asked her to circle her neck. Zhen Jing absolutely didn’t buy her words, so she said, “Spare me, my Lady! I don’t want to fall to death. I have a mother of 40 years old to support...”
He Danggui was a little bit nervous for what Zhen Jing said. She never thought Zhen Jing was not as thin and little as she looked. Holding Zhen Jing a little higher on her back, she took a deep breath, then ran at the mountain road and the speed was not inferior to the running speed when she ran alone, which made Zhen Jing scared and scream the whole time. But He Danggui didn’t even feel tired. So, she ran faster and faster, and felt her sadness and anger could be thrown away...
At first, Zhen Jing felt scared. But she gradually became worried and asked He Danggui many times, “Are you tired, Xiaoyi?” “Are you okay, Xiaoyi?” “Talk to me, Xiaoyi!” However, the slim girl looked possessed, opening her eyes and speaking nothing. She just kept running. Zhen Jing could feel the trees beside them backed tree by tree at first, and gradually block by block. Finally, there were only the hazy gray shadows left of the trees, and all Zhen Jing could see clearly was He Danggui’s black chignon.
Approaching to the foot of the hill, He Danggui began to slow down. She finally stopped right after she arrived at the last path.
Zhen Jing got off from her back and asked her constantly, “What on earth had happened? Why did you run so fast? You scared me to death. And why didn’t you answer me just now?” Zhen Jing began to scrutinize He Danggui’s face now, finding she was breathing as usual and even with no sweat. The only change was the hair at her temples were against her light pink cheek.
He Danggui cast a side-glance at her, “A whole breath is the essential ingredient of internal energy. I would break the breath once I open my mouth, and the worst is to make you fall.”
He Danggui was also amazed at the strength of her legs. When she was running, she didn’t feel tired at all. So, she tried to speed up a little, but she still got the same feeling, so she quickened more. She was in that state for a long period of time, and finally she reached the highest speed as if the wind blew just beside her ears. Carrying Zhen Jing through the mountain road, she didn’t even suffer from fatigue, just like she was not the one who was running but was being carried. Amazing! Even in her previous life, she never knew internal force was such a good thing. Had her present internal force outdistanced that of her 5 years’ efforts in the previous life?
He Danggui and Zhen Jing both took their own bamboo slip out and raised their heads to glug the water. When they laid the bamboo slips down, they saw Gao Jue with a face of “strangers away” and the coffin on his shoulder. freew(e)bnovel.com
He Danggui looked around him immediately, and asked with concern, “Is my coffin still okay? Did it get struck?”
A strong chill was spread from him.
After confirming her coffin was undamaged, He Danggui held Zhen Jing who was trembling with fear to move forward while urged Gao Jue who stood still like a stump, “Hurry up. Let’s go to the morning market together. I’ll treat you with soy milk and deep-fried dough sticks after we sell the coffin!”
Gao Jue’s face looked a little better, but he still didn’t move. He Danggui wondered what she did ruffled him, so she looked carefully at his eyes, finding he was staring at her hands. She moved her hands and his eyes followed? So, He Danggui looked at her hands…holding a bamboo slip with water.
“Do you want to drink water?” He Danggui asked out of curiosity, seeing he nodded superciliously, then she delivered it to him as she rebuked, “If you want to drink water, just say it out. If you don’t tell me that, how could I know your needs? Why didn’t you tell me?”
Gao Jue took the bamboo slip without words and raised his head to drink out all the water. Then he threw the empty bamboo slip at the mountain. Seeing it “thumping” into the forest and making lots of birds flutter, He Danggui turned her eyes from the scattered birds to Gao Jue’s face, and found it was much better. She felt puzzled. Was he just angry for a half bamboo slip of water? What a weirdo.
The three of them walked into Tu’er Town after dawn. He Danggui went into a roadside grocery, asking a fella behind the counter, “Hey, man, may I ask how many coffin shops Tu’er Town has?”
The fella was eating Spicy Oil Noodles. Hearing the question, he looked up with a half of a pickled cucumber in his mouth. Seeing a little and younger beautiful girl, he was about to answer, but felt a quick heartbeat for the girl’s clean, smiling and pretty eyes. The cucumber fell into the noodle soup with a splat and a few drops of spicy oil splashed in his face.
The beautiful girl remained smiling and apologized, “Sorry to interrupt your breakfast.”
The fella waved his hands hurriedly and ran out of the counter, telling this young beauty enthusiastically about what the four coffin shops in the town were called, where their addresses were, which was the biggest and which had the poor quality. He Danggui listened carefully, nodded all the time and thanked him at last.
The fella rubbed his hands nervously because no one had ever listened to him carefully. Most importantly, the listener was a beautiful and polite lady. In the past, he always thought that the more beautiful a woman was, the fiercer she was. Because his landlady’s niece looked beautiful, but was as fierce as a wolf. Also, the most popular courtesan, Zhen Liuniang, who was an unlicensed prostitute in the next street, looked better, but was as fierce as a tiger. This beauty, however, was much more beautiful than Zhen Liuniang, but not fierce at all... Thinking of this, the fella concernedly inquired whether the beauty’s family member died, what she wanted to do in a coffin shop, if she had enough money for a coffin and what price she was gonna pay for the coffin.
He Danggui smiled to remind the fella that his noodles were getting cool. She also noticed that his noodles were floating with not only a layer of chili oil on the cover, but also a few red peppers. Therefore, she told him that she could tell from his look that he might have a strong stomach fire. Also, she advised that his breakfast was too spicy for him, which caused him hungry frequently in the evening. But if he ate food at that time, he would soon suffer abdominal distension. Therefore, if he was desperate to eat spicy food, then he should eat a boiled egg or stirred tofu before that.
The fella was so moved that he did not expect this beauty who met him for the first time was so concerned about him. Moreover, recently he often felt hungry and bloated at night, just like she said. After this conversation, he heard that this beauty spoke Yangzhou dialect just like him, but she had a bit of the capital’s tone. So, he asked where she came from because she didn’t sound like a native.
He Danggui told him that although she was from Yangzhou, the wet nurse who taught her how to speak was from the capital. Naturally, she followed to learn some of the capital’s dialect.
A wet nurse? She turned out to be a lady from a rich family. But how approachable she was! The fella asked why she came to Tu’er Town, if she found a place to live, if she had any other people to come with, if she was not adapted to the environment here, so... She prepared for her funeral affair.
Hearing this, He Danggui was speechless. She never thought people in Tu’er Town were so hospitable, and their imagination were also so unrestrained. As she was about to answer his question, she saw him stepping two steps back all of a sudden. He was startled slightly to wave his hands and said, “I didn’t know your father is still waiting for you. Well, I will not disturb you. Tare care, Miss. My condolences.”
He Danggui followed the fella’s eyes, saw her “father” carrying a coffin and blocking in the front of the grocery sullenly. Then she held back her smile, went out and said, “Let’s go to the Coffin Shop of Li, which is 5 streets away.”
Zhen Jing was waiting for He Danggui at the door, and also heard the fella’s introduction. He mentioned clearly that Coffin Shop of Jing, which was 2 streets away, was the biggest shop in Tu’er Town. Zhen Jing asked, “Why don’t we go to the Coffin Shop of Jing to ask around? Will bigger coffin shops bid more?”
He Danggui smiled and said, “We don’t have to. Let’s go to the Coffin Shop of Li, 5 streets away. But we’ll also ‘pass’ Coffin Shop of Jing on the way, and we can slow down and have a rest.” Zhen Jing was still in a daze, while Gao Jue got her instantly, but he still continued to maintain his cold and gloomy expression without giving any response.
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