Jin Xiao Yi Tan - Volume 1 Chapter 11

Was the person in the photograph really Jiuye?

Or was it just someone else with a coincidentally similar appearance?

Or, was that person Jiuye’s relative, so they looked similar?

Through the following week, this question surged at the bottom of my heart.

To be honest, I wasn’t willing to accept that the person on the photograph was Juye, but no matter how I looked at it, I wasn’t able to convince myself.

Not only had the young man on the photograph have similar features as him, the signature smile only Jiuye would have was displayed on his face, as well as that trace of an all-knowing and tranquil manner he had about him. This wasn’t an appearance anyone could learn just by trying to.

I could almost completely confirm that the young man sitting in the tea shop was no one else, but Jiuye.

However, this yellowish black-and-white photograph was caught in the year nineteen thirty-seven, and in that year Jiuye looked only in his twenties, and calculating from that, he was probably more than a hundred years old…

Why would a person who was at least a hundred years old, look no more than twenty? Why did time seem to have no effect on him? Why did he look so young?

I even suspected, that there was a possibility he wasn’t just a hundred years old, that even before that, long ago, he already had that appearance.

Possibly during the Qing Dynasty, the Song Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty… in a much more distant age, he had kept this appearance of twenty years old, going through the vicissitudes of times, had experienced the transformations of the world, until today…

Thinking of this, I was shocked by my own astonishing conclusion.

Just what kind of person… was Jiuye?

Or, was he… even a person?

Goodness, just what sort of ’demons and ghosts’ had I been mixing in with all this while?

Why had Jiuye asked me to become his assistant? Why did he want to keep me by his side?

Could it be… that he was fattening me up for his meal? Fuck!

Through the silent midnight, I carried my mug of coffee, standing before the window to start thinking wildly, and the more I thought the more I felt terrified, the fear of the unknown slowly submerging from the bottom of my heart.

At this moment, someone clapped a hand on my shoulder, catching me off guard. I was so shocked I jumped.

With a clang bang, the coffee mug crashed to the floor.

Jiuye looked at me in astonishment, asking, “What’s wrong? I called you many times, but you didn’t answer.”

I forcefully pressed down the frenetic beating off my heart, shaking my heart, and smiled stiffly, saying, “N-nothing, I was just thinking of something… I didn’t hear you.”

“Oh? What were you thinking of?”

“I was just… just thinking of my work.”

I anxiously swallowed a mouthful of saliva, saying this as I crouched to pick up the pieces of the coffee mug on the ground.

Jiuye also bent his waist to pick up the pieces, bumping into the back of my hand. I abruptly withdrew my hand, backing a step away.

I became aware that my actions were a little too out of the ordinary.

Jiuye looked at me, an elusive trace of complication flashing across his pitch-black eyes.

After a few seconds, he smiled slightly, saying blandly, “Xiao Mo, you seem to have been deliberately avoiding me these past few days. You’re not willing to talk to me, even unwilling to approach me, you even avoid eating with me during mealtimes. Did something happen?”

I hesitated for a long moment, at last gathering the courage to talk about the photo.

After a moment, I stammered, “Um… I-I’ve bothered you for so long, it’s really embarrassing, I… I’ll prepare to leave tomorrow…”

With that said, I lowered my head, not daring to meet his gaze.

Jiuye did not say anything for a moment, then smiled faintly, saying, “Mm, okay, I understand.”

I lifted my head, just in time to see his back walking out from the door.

For some reason, I felt that his back seemed to have a feeling of solitariness that one couldn’t explain, and that feeling of solitariness, made me feel especially difficult to bear.

I couldn’t help but run over, unable to stop myself to ask him loudly, “Ah Ye, can I trust you?”

Jiuye’s footsteps halted on the staircase, and asked me instead with a smile, “Are you willing to trust me?”

“I…”

I froze, and couldn’t answer.

Jiuye smiled dimly, a hint of pain and sorrow in his gaze.

“Ah Ye, I…”

I took a step forward, wanting to explain something further, but Jiuye had already reached the bottom of the stairs.

Amongst the quiet midnight, I stood by myself, and stood there for a very long time.

*

The afternoon the next day, Jiuye was gone when I woke up.

I knew that he was deliberately avoiding me.

Ah Bao stood by the door, displaying a pitiful expression laden with grief. The yingyao hopped out from the corner, also soundlessly batting its eyelids as it looked at me.

I crouched down, smilingly stroking Ah Bao’s head, giving him a strawberry-flavored soft candy.

Yet Ah Bao unprecedentedly pushed the strawberry soft candy he loved the most away, reaching out a hand to grab my clothes, pleading with tears in his eyes, “Xiao Mo Mo, don’t go, don’t go…”

I looked at him wordlessly.

Heh, this little guy, he must have heard my conversation with Jiuye last night.

Honestly speaking, after considering it carefully once I calmed down, I felt that avoiding the problem by walking away from it just wouldn’t cut it.

After all, all this while Jiuye had never done anything to harm me, and besides, I felt incredibly happy during the days with him.

The two of us would drink together frequently, conversing till very late at night. I loved to hear his stories, he loved to eat the food I made, and after experiencing those strange incidents with him, after recollecting all those moments, I felt that those were all absolutely precious memories in my life.

So, I didn’t actually care if Jiuye was a ghost, a demon or a yao.

In my heart, I had already considered him an intimate friend.

But with this awkward situation at the moment, how was I supposed to redeem myself?

I couldn’t help but sigh lightly, and turning to look at the luggage I had packed yesterday night, I went to the nearby coffee shop on my own, drinking some lemonade, eating a few sandwiches, my heart especially jittery.

Just as I was almost finished with my sandwiches, I saw a person standing before me.

He did not even greet me, just sitting right opposite me in a grandiose manner, then lifted the corners of his lips in a smile, saying, “What a coincidence, we meet again.”

“Pfftt! Coughough, coughoughough…”

Looking at the young man in white clothes, I suddenly choked on my sandwich, and hurriedly grabbed the cup of lemonade to take a huge gulp. After finally swallowing down the food, I widened my eyes and stammered, “Y-you… You’re… That day…”

If I remembered correctly, this person was the white-clothed man who stood below the victim’s window, the night of the egui incident! Goodness, I had met him again?

What a coincidence, could it be that he had come to the coffee shop for breakfast too?

No, wasn’t this… a little too coincidental?

I shrunk back guardedly, asking, “Who are you?”

“I’m Bai, Bai Ruize. You can call me Mr Bai.”

The man smiled courteously.

Although the man’s appearance was exceptionally handsome, he didn’t feel good-natured, especially the sinister gaze shooting out from his eyes, the cold feeling could really make someone shudder.

“Mr Bai?”

I frowned, this was my third time hearing this address.

Before this, the person who had gifted He Xiaowei that ink portrait of the Six-Eared, as well as the person who had been invited by the rich land developer Wang Taifu to bind Zhao Yinfei’s soul with a binding circle, were both called Mr Bai!

Just who was this Mr Bai?

I looked at him guardedly, saying, “Mr Bai, if I’m guessing right, at this time and moment, you came here deliberately to find me, am I right?”

Bai Ruize smiled, and didn’t beat about the bush either, saying immediately, “Yes.”

And so I continued to ask, “What do you want with me?”

Bai Ruize paused for a few seconds, saying something very strange.

He said, “I came here to save you.”

“What, save me?”

I couldn’t help but burst into laughter, and said, “I’m sorry, I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”

Bai Ruize looked into my eyes, saying slowly, “Do you know, that you’re currently in deep danger.”

“Danger? Why?”

“Because of your friend.”

“You’re talking about Jiuye?”

Bai Ruize curled the corner of his lips, asking in turn, “Do you know who he is?”

“No matter who Ah Ye is, he will always be my friend.”

“Heh, friend?” Bai Ruize chuckled lowly, saying, “This must be the funniest joke I’ve ever heard, there’s actually someone who considers that monster a friend?”

I couldn’t help but freeze, and Bai Ruize’s smile became even more unsettling, sighing as if he was overwhelmed with indescribable sorrow.

“How pitiful, so you didn’t really know anything? The one you call a friend, is actually a monster. At this moment, it is as if you are standing next to a beast whose stomach is rumbling with hunger, about to be consumed at any time, not even your bones will be left behind. Like I said earlier, the situation you’re currently in is incredibly dangerous.”

I looked at him with half-doubt, biting my lip, not making a sound.

After a moment, Bai Ruize said, “How about, you let me help you?”

I watched him attentively, asking, “How do you plan on helping me?”

Bai Ruize took out a tiny bottle, pushing it towards me across the table, saying, “As long as you make him drink this bottle, you’ll be safe.”

“What is this?”

I took up the little bottle, looking at it uncertainly, realizing that there was a blood-yellow liquid inside it. The liquid looked incredibly dense and creamy, and I didn’t know what was mixed inside it, but it seemed pretty grotesque.

“This is Yellow Spring Water.”

“Yellow Spring Water?”

“Anything, be it spirits, devils, sprites or goblins, as long as they drink this Yellow Spring Water, will have their five viscera and six entrails corroded, their entire body fester, die as they choke on blood, so, you just need to—”

“Don’t joke around!”

I couldn’t push down the fury in my heart, fisting that bastard’s collar, gritting my teeth as I said, “It doesn’t matter if he’s a spirit, devil, sprite or a goblin, Ah Ye is still my friend, I definitely won’t let you hurt him!”

After a pause, I then said, “Also, you better not let me see you again.”

After saying this, I turned to leave without looking back.

Before I could even walk out the door to the shop, Bai Ruize chased over with rapid footsteps, unexpectedly lifting his hand to cover my eyes.

He was exceedingly quick, I had no time to avoid him, just feeling my sight go black, and then my entire self going into a daze for a few seconds.

When I opened my eyes once more, I was perplexingly met by a huge block of transparent glass before me, and through the glass, a young man lay about five steps away from me.

That person was lying there, unmoving, on the floor of the coffee shop. He wore a dark hoodie, and light jeans.

Although he had his back facing me, I recognized him with just one look.

Because this person, was no one other than me!

Why… Why was I seeing myself collapsed on the ground?

Was I dreaming? Just what had happened earlier?

I threw myself forward, using all my might to hit the glass, shouting as I hit: Hey! Wake up! Wake up!

But no matter how much I shouted at the top of my lungs, there was no sound to be heard.

I tried to call out a few more times, but I still couldn’t hear anything.

Fuck! How can this be? Have I gone mute or deaf, why isn’t there any sound?

And where had this obstructing glass before me come from?

At this moment, a few attendants in the coffee shop frantically ran to the ‘my’ side, patting ‘my’ shoulder as they conversed.

But that ‘me’ had completely lost consciousness, not making a single movement.

Someone had called the ambulance, and a woman had placed her small packet cushion under ‘my’ head, preventing the blood from flowing backward, this was a temporary first-aid measure.

After a short moment, the other customers in the coffee shop surrounded the area, everyone zealously looking at the fallen ‘me’, saying one thing or another, but I didn’t hear a single thing.

It was as if I was having an out-of-body experience, seeing my own body being lifted onto the ambulance.

What was happening? Had my soul escaped my body?

I backed away, not understanding, and this was when I realized I was trapped in a small transparent jar, a rounded cork stuffed in the opening.

And this glass bottle was placed on the table in the coffee shop.

Did this mean that I had been shrunken many times, closed into this glass bottle?

There were a few people passing the table one after another. I hit the glass with all my might, shouting loudly for help, but no one heard, nor did anyone see.

I hazarded a guess that possibly, in the eyes of the normal people, I was invisible, they could not see me, and thought that there was only a completely ordinary bottle that was empty placed on the table…

Fuck, that bastard had just covered my eyes for just a few seconds, just what had he done?

I touched my forehead in disbelief, leaning back against the glass wall at my wit’s end, slowly sliding to sit down.

After a moment, a person walked over.

Bai Ruize raised his eyebrows at me in the bottle, reaching out a hand to take the bottle.

Before I could yell at him, I was stuffed into a clothes pocket like a toy.

My vision obstructed, I could not see anything, could not hear anything, just feeling the entire bottle swaying side to side nonstop, rocking so much I fell a few times, not even able to stand.

Damn it! Just what was this guy planning, shutting me into a bottle?

I was stuffed in the pocket all the way there, in a state disconnected from the world. The flow of time had become a riddle, I did not even know if the outside world was day or night.

A day might have passed, or was it two? Or even longer?

When I was met with light once again, I became aware that I had been brought to a mountaintop.

The sky was gray and misty, the winds strong, all four directions desolate and uninhabited.

Bai Ruize held me in his palm, smiling at the bottle faintly, then seemed to say something.

I could not hear anything, and could only do my best to beat the glass, roaring at him soundlessly.

Scoundrel! Let me out! Let me out! Hurry up and let me out!

The more I shouted myself hoarse, the more this guy’s smile turned profound.

Damn it, what exactly was he planning on doing?

I gradually calmed down, scrutinizing the surroundings attentively. Bai Ruize had brought me to the mountaintop, at last halting at the edge of a precipice.

And standing next to the overhanging cliff was an incomparably familiar figure!

J-Jiuye? Why was he here, had Bai Ruize summoned him here?

I suddenly came to a realization, this bastard Bai Ruize, he must have used me to threaten Jiuye, right? Just what sort of deep grudges did they bear between each other? How hateful!

I gritted my teeth angrily, pressing myself against the glass to watch Jiuye.

Jiuye glanced at me, giving me a comforting smile.

He said something to Bai Ruize, Bai Ruize’s emotions becoming increasingly agitated, the grip on the bottle in his hand tightening even more, and I was a little worried that the glass bottle would break.

But suddenly Bai Ruize started laughing madly, who knows what he was laughing at.

The two of them stood opposite of each other for a few seconds, and soon after Bai Ruize tossed something over.

Jiuye lifted a hand to receive it, looking at it.

I narrowed my eyes to look at it carefully, the thing Bai Ruize had thrown him was that bottle of Yellow Spring Water!

Fuck! What was he planning!

An incredibly bad feeling submerged from the bottom of my heart.

N-no… Ah Ye, don’t fall for it, that bottle’s filled with poison!

I watched Jiuye, heart torn with anxiety.

There was a usual tranquil smile on Jiuye’s face, and looking at me, he opened the cover of that thing.

No! Don’t! Ah Ye! Ah Ye! Don’t drink it! Don’t drink!

I beat the glass wall in a frenzy, so anxious tears almost fell out of my eyes.

But it was no use, Jiuye lifted his head without any hesitation, swallowing that bottle of Yellow Spring Water in one gulp!

After drinking it, he extended a hand towards Bai Ruize.

Bai Ruize glanced at me, smiled, extending a hand to hand me over. Then, just as the bottle was about to be placed into Jiuye’s hand, he flung it with all his might, throwing the bottle out!

I only felt the world spin, my entire body rolling around in the bottle.

Jiuye threw himself over, trying to catch me, but the bottle slipped out from the cracks of his fingers, slashing a high parabola in the air, before descending right down the precipice.

God!

The descent of the bottle continued uninterrupted, the surroundings switching rapidly. I lowered my head, shuddering, I saw countless hands at the bottom of the pit!

Countless grayish, bony hands!

Those hands looked like they belong to those on the verge of drowning, all five fingers opened, grasping at the air incessantly.

Fuck! What was that! Why were there so many hands! Just what sort of place was this!

I hadn’t had the time to feel shocked, when the bottle fell to the bottom!

With a crisp thump, the bottle broke, and I was thrown out. In an instant, I was captured by those ash-gray hands.

The fingers that were as incisive as iron claws dug into my skin. I rolled over in pain, crawling up staggeringly, turning my head as I escaped.

Numerous naked, skinny humans gathered around me. They appeared malevolent, their skin festering, letting out hoarse noises from their shriveled mouths.

I was hemmed in the middle of these people, nowhere to go, and could only stare on helplessly as I was pounced on by these ‘zombies’, pressing me onto the ground.

Those zombies bore down upon me, unceasingly devouring my body!

Thick fresh blood gurgled as it flowed out. It hurt so much I howled in anguish, struggling with all my might, but I was like prey that had fallen into the hands of ravenous beasts. There was absolutely no chance of escape, only the painful and despairing wait for death.

Until I was devoured to the point of half my body left, a bright ball of light dropped down, coincidentally floating about half a meter above my head, exploding instantaneously, shooting out a thousand dazzling rays of light.

At that moment, all of the zombies were flung away, flying far into the distance.

I collapsed in a pool of blood, having no more strength to move, unable to open my eyes in the midst of the bottomless light, but I felt someone gathering me into his arms and chest.

“Xiao Mo, don’t be afraid, I am here.”

A gentle and comforting voice rang out by my ear, and I couldn’t stop my tears from falling.

Before I could speak a word, I lost all consciousness.

*

When I woke up, I realized that I was lying on a hospital bed.

“Xiao Mo, you’re finally awake? Do you know how much you scared Mama…”

My mother had cried, her eyes red, hugging me tightly.

“Mom, I’m fine, don’t worry.”

As I comforted her, I lowered my head to look at myself.

My hands and feet could be operated normally, everything was all well, no anomalies.

I knew, my soul had finally returned to my body, and that terrifying scene of being devoured by zombies beyond recognition, was as if it had all been a nightmare.

A nightmare I would never be able to forget.

Now, I had finally woken up from that dream.

My father told me, I had suddenly collapsed in the coffee shop and sent to the hospital for emergency treatment. After examining me for half a day, the doctor did not discover anything, every diagnosis showing that I was incredibly healthy, but just would not wake up. With the doctor at his wits’ end, my mother was so worried she worked herself into tears every day.

My father looked at me severely, asking me reproachfully, “You better explain yourself properly, where have you been these past few months? Were you really on a business trip? What sort of job are you really undertaking?”

As a string of questions landed, I was utterly speechless.

My mother pulled on my father’s sleeve, saying, “Xiao Mo has just woken up, couldn’t you wait before asking him?”

Looking at my parents’ deeply worried faces, I lowered my head deeply, saying with my heart full of shame, “Mom, Dad, I’m sorry. I’ll definitely give an explanation to those questions later on, but right now, there’s a place I really must go.”

I got off the bed, putting on my coat, then hastened my footsteps out the hospital door.

A reprimanding voice from my father sounded from my back, “Stand there! Where are you going?”

But I had no time to stop, my heart was torn with anxiety as I rushed out of the hospital.

Jiuye had saved me from the nightmarish valley, but he drank that bottle of Yellow Spring Water! According to Bai Ruize, anyone who consumed that Yellow Spring Water would have their intestines turn to rot, dying while choking on blood!

Ah Ye, you have to be alright! You have to be alright!

I ran wildly all the way back to the villa, Jiuye was nowhere to be seen, and after searching all the rooms on the first and second floor, I found no one at all. And his phone number was in a suspended state.

Jiuye was not here? Where had he gone?

I held the walls, gasping for breath, when Ah Bao walked over with tears in his eyes.

“Xiao Mo Mo, you’re finally back, I missed you so much, I missed you so much…”

He pulled on my clothes, huge droplets of tears sliding down his face.

“Ah Bao, I’m back, be good, don’t cry.”

I hugged this little guy, stroking his hair, asking, “Where’s Ah Ye? Where did he go?”

Ah Bao lifted his head, choking with sobs, “Ah Ye, he… He told me to tell you… He’ll be gone for a while, you don’t need to worry, and there’s no need for you to wait for him to return…”

I immediately grasped Ah Bao’s shoulders, asking urgently, “Where is he?”

“I don’t know.” Ah Bao shook his head.

“Did he say when he was going to be back?” Once more, I asked.

Ah Bao still shook his head.

I asked hesitantly, “Then… when he came back, how was he?”

Ah Bao was still shaking his head, mumbling, “Not very good…”

“Not very good? What do you mean by not very good?”

“He kept on spitting blood.”

I froze, my heart aching so much I almost couldn’t breathe.

Damn it! Where did Jiuye go? Just how was he doing?

He told me there was no need to wait for his return… Just what did that mean…

I gripped my fist tightly, backing two steps away, collapsing into the sofa weakly.