Life: A Black and White Film - CH 14 part1

Happy 5th birthday to Fanatical!  I didn’t come to the blog until a year later, but I am so very happy to have found it. And we here at hui3r are happy that all of you found us, regardless of when in those five years you came. Our sincerest thanks for all your support! Here is day 1 of 7 of birthday week posts.

Their slice of peacefulness must come to an end.

This story was translated with the expression permission of the author for hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com. All forms of reproduction, redistribution, or reposting are not authorized, except by linking to hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com. If you are not reading this from hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com, the copy is unauthorized and has been taken without consent of the translator.

Wen Han circled once through the unlit living room, considering almost every single corner of it. In the end, as if prompted by a supernatural force, she stepped into the kitchen. She opened the cupboard that was beneath the sink and filled with spices. People of India love eating spices, and this home of those young priests had an entire cupboard of different varieties.

She had discovered this cupboard when she was making that Moscow borsh for Cheng Muyun.

Laid out in the furthest back part of the cupboard were eight canisters of rosemary.

Judging by this number, they would be using this rosemary until next year? By next year, Cheng Muyun should have retrieved the item and taken it away already. Pulling out the innermost canister, she carefully removed some of the rosemary that was inside and stuffed it into the pocket on the side of her skirt. Then, gently, she put the relic deep into the canister and covered it up.

Rosemary was often scattered on coffins during funerals to convey remembrance, so putting that item into here should not be considered a desecration to it. Wen Han shoved the canister into the corner and then neatly stacked each of the remaining canisters.

In that instant when she closed the cupboard door, a pair of eyes appeared in the window.

Shaken with alarm, Wen Han stepped backwards, bumping into the wall behind her.

Her breathing was quick and shallow. By the light of the moon, she saw the outline of the shape of an animal. It was that little yellow dog… Yes, it was the dog. Just an animal. Good thing, good thing…

Calming her breathing, she watched as that little yellow dog that she had once played with stretched out its tongue, licked the window, and then, turning around, hopped off the high windowsill.<>Copyright of Fanatical, hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com. Translated with the express permission of the author for hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com. If you are not reading this from hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com, the translation has been taken without consent of the translator.

Everything was done.<>Please support the original translation of this story at hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com

When Wen Han returned to the room, she took the extra rosemary leaves that had been in her pocket, rubbed them until they became crushed, little pieces, and threw them out the window. There was the sound of water inside the bathroom. Pushing open the door, she saw, through the white, steamy air, his clearly defined backside and also that spot of dim, yellow light that glowed in the mist.

“I’ve hidden it.” Her voice was quickly swallowed away by the steam in the room.

That warm, moist steam dampened her eyelashes.<>Please read this at hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com instead

Cheng Muyun leaned in close, grabbed her hand, and pulled it up toward himself. When he bent his head down, he smelled a familiar scent. “That hiding place is quite a good one.” Sure enough, nothing could be kept secret from him. “But, my love, you forgot to wash your hands.”

With her wrist enveloped in his hand, Cheng Muyun pulled Wen Han under the water.

The last remnants of aroma in her palm were washed away by the water.

She lifted her head. Her forehead was almost directly against the tip of his nose. “Are you always so careful?”

His voice low and husky, Cheng Muyun replied, “Always been so.”

He truly was grateful to Heaven for imparting in him a cautious, suspicious instinct that caused him to not believe in chance encounters, to not believe that there could be such a coincidence that he would encounter her first on the Tibetan Plateau and then in Nepal. Without such an instinct, she would not be standing here now, her clothing completely drenched from the streaming water, so real before him.

“You’re rushing back tomorrow because you need to attend that manor lord’s monastic induction ceremony?”

She would rather stay here longer, even if for only one extra hour.

“My love, why do you think I told you that you would be safe once you were here in India? It is precisely because that rich master of this family is my friend. They have so kindly hosted us, so we must of course give repayment of that hospitality in accordance with proper etiquette.” Cheng Muyun peeled off her sodden blouse from her. “Tomorrow, there will be hundreds of monks and sadhus and a herd of Indian elephants. Trust me, you will like it.”

……<>Copyright of Fanatical, hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com. Translated with the express permission of the author for hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com. If you are not reading this from hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com, the translation has been taken without consent of the translator.

On the dawning of this day, those four people surveilling them awoke to the clear sound of running water in the bathroom.

Outside the bedroom, they all felt this was rather inconceivable.

The fact that all four of them had fallen asleep together meant that Cheng Muyun must have done something to them. But the purpose of knocking them out had not been for escaping, so what then was it for?

Still, after the sky brightened, one of the men slipped into their bedroom and went into that bathroom. He found traces left behind of the passion that had occurred between the two people not long ago in this very bathroom. Therefore, after exchanging thoughts, they decided that they would brush over this matter with simply a passing comment. This more than two-hour blank period would simply be viewed as one where Cheng Muyun had been engaged in intimacy with his little girlfriend.

The only thing was, they wondered, when the people in Headquarters saw this twenty-four-hour report, what would they think of the fact that this man, who had already retired from the world for a decade, actually had such an amazing and romantic private life?

They left Varanasi.<>This is an UNAUTHORIZED copy, taken from hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com

Before noon, they had hurried back to the manor estate. Everything for the monastic induction ceremony was prepared and ready to go.<>Copyright of Fanatical, hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com. Translated with the express permission of the author for hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com. If you are not reading this from hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com, the translation has been taken without consent of the translator.

At this time, those several young priests, who were standing outside the door, noticed Cheng Muyun.

Stepping forward, they greeted him warmly. One extended his arms and embraced Cheng Muyun. “I was worried that you and your younger sister were having too much fun in Varanasi and had forgotten the ceremony time.”

“My dear friend,” Cheng Muyun smiled, “I came such a long distance, all the way here to India, because of the invitation from all of you. How could I possibly miss today?”

“Thank you, Yun.” Another person of the group smiled. “My father will be very happy to see you here today.”

“It is my honour.” He gave a slight nod.<>Please read this at hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com instead

“Oh, by the way, my dearest friend, my father hopes that you could help him by escorting to the temple that treasure that is enshrined beneath the bamboo platform. You were, after all, once a monk.”

“Is that so? That even more so is my honour.” Cheng Muyun gladly accepted this task.

As Cheng Muyun continued to idly converse with them, he indicated to Wen Han that she should go find Fu Yiming and Cheng Jiayi first.

Wen Han surveyed the surroundings and soon found those two people. Walking over, she took a seat beside Cheng Jiayi. And then, what followed was a French-style sun hat being placed lightly on her head by Cheng Jiayi. “My dear, beginning at twelve noon and through the more than two hours of the day when the sun is most intense, that manor lord who is renouncing the secular world will be parading once around the town.” Cheng Jiayi heaved a sigh. “I was thinking, you will very much need this to block out the blistering sun, because, out of politeness, we must stand under those scorching rays and wait for his return from circling the town.”

“He needs to walk for that long?” Wen Han was surprised.<>Please read this at hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com

She did not think that such a small town would require more than two hours to walk a circle around it.

Fu Yiming shrugged. “The town may be small, but the procession that will be following behind that manor lord is a full five, six kilometres long. Behind him, there are going to be six hundred monks, two hundred sadhus, and also a dozen or so elephants and some camel-drawn carts. On top of that, all along the way, they’ll be throwing large amounts of gold coins and bills and also car keys as gifts to the at least 130,000 people who came here from all parts of India. I’m guessing this trek will take even longer than two hours.”

Wen Han let herself imagine the scene where things like gold coins were being tossed out… and more than a hundred thousand Indian people all rushing over madly to fight for them.

Indeed, taking even a single step would be difficult.<>Please read this at hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com instead

“But just now, those priests told us that Cheng Muyun would be taking some sort of treasure to the temple.” Cheng Jiayi was very curious. “Wen Han, do you want to secretly take a look to see what that is?”

This question stirred in her mind her secret from last night of hiding away that relic.

Contemplating briefly, Wen Han quietly answered, “That probably wouldn’t be a very good thing to do?”

Cheng Jiayi gave a smile, not continuing with what she had been saying.

Wen Han picked up the Indian milk tea that was on the table and took a small sip, her heart feeling uneasy as she glanced these two people over.

She could not even imagine that one of these two people, who right now were chatting casually like friends, had once betrayed more than ten brothers, betrayed Zhou Ke, and killed Zhuang Yan.

Returning to this place from Varanasi was like returning to hell after being in heaven. Wen Han knew that everything was about to begin. The ceremony today was like a little breather—and was the final slice of peacefulness.

Regardless of what method Cheng Muyun used, someone would… die.<>Copyright of Fanatical, hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com. Translated with the express permission of the author for hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com. If you are not reading this from hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com, the translation has been taken without consent of the translator.

Discerning that Wen Han’s nerves were becoming increasingly taut, Fu Yiming gave a little chuckle. “Miss Wen Han?”

“Hmm?” Wen Han tried hard to put up a nonchalant front.<>Please read this at hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com

“You seem preoccupied with worries. What’s making you so uneasy?”

Wen Han was left without a response to this question. He knew the answer, yet he was still asking.

She had not had much contact with Fu Yiming, but she had always felt that his temper was extremely eccentric, sometimes good, sometimes bad, and very volatile. From the way he had grilled her in the coffee plantation with sentence after sentence, to later, how he had come to a fight with weapons in that small, austere building with Cheng Muyun, to his rage and the physical altercation that had occurred in the hospital basement, these all had left a deep impression on Wen Han… But that day, when Cheng Muyun was taken away, her instinct had been to find Fu Yiming.

How bizarre. Fu Yiming was obviously very dislikable when he spoke.

Using her lowered lashes to conceal her emotions, Wen Han responded, “The weather today is very abnormal. It’s unbearably hot and dry. Maybe I’m just not used to this awful weather of India’s.”

“Is that the case?” Fu Yiming loosened the buttons on the sleeves of his shirt. “Weather is weather. I feel, though, Miss Wen Han, that your eyes are filled with animosity when you look at me, and that makes my heart very uncomfortable.”

“This is an internal matter of our team. She is an outsider.” Cheng Jiayi jumped in to help Wen Han out of this situation. “Don’t turn everything on her and make her your target.”

“Outsider?” Fu Yiming eyed Cheng Jiayi up and down. “I am the leader of this ops team, yet I do not even have your file. So, to me, are you not an outsider, too?”

“It seems it really bothers you that Cheng Muyun did not transfer the files of all the team members over to you back then?” A smile touched Cheng Jiayi’s lips. “Even though you do not know me, I am very familiar with your past, Ops Leader Fu.”

“Is that so?” Fu Yiming laughed. “I actually attracted such attention from you, the beautiful woman that you are. That really is an honour. Then, do you know a very important secret?”

Cheng Jiayi paused in surprise. “What secret?”<>Please read this at hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com instead

“I am not married,” Fu Yiming replied, his voice low.<>Please read this at hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com instead

“……” Cheng Jiayi frowned. “You really know how to tell a joke. I’m not interested in you.”

Fu Yiming gave a slight lift of his brows. “Then that truly is regrettable. I’m very interested in you.”

Cheng Jiayi’s voice dropped even lower. “You had best be more respectful with your words.”

A laugh came from Fu Yiming. “My dear, why are you so uptight? If you were in Moscow and a handsome man like me was flirting with you, wouldn’t you be happy?”

With a forced smile, Cheng Jiayi picked up from the couch that red sun hat that belonged to her and put it on. “But your flirting makes me really uncomfortable. Your method of attracting women is just crude.”

“Is that the case? Then, if I switch to a different method, will it help you feel a little happier?” Fixing his eyes intently on Cheng Jiayi, he enunciated each word, each sentence. “Enjoy this hard-to-come-by blazing sunlight. My dear, no matter how much that face of yours makes people want to have you, as long as you really are the traitor, I will, without question, find the evidence that will make death seem better than living for you and put you forever in hell. That place doesn’t have such nice sunshine.” Fu Yiming flicked a glance at Wen Han. “Do you think so, Miss Wen Han?”

……<>Please support the original translation of this story at hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com instead

Wen Han pressed her lips together, not answering.<>Please read this at hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com instead

Fortunately, at this moment, an Indian man dressed in white approached them and, putting his palms together, bowed. “Our three honoured guests, please come outside the hall with me. The wait for Master’s return will be very tiring and hard. Thank you that you have come from afar to walk with our master in this final leg of his journey in the mundane world.”

Wen Han hurriedly pressed her palms together and rose to return the greeting. “Thank you. We will go now.”

Those two people who, only a moment ago, had been sparring back and forth with words and verbally lashing out at one another now were back to normal.

Fu Yiming even motioned in a very gentlemanly manner that the two ladies should go first.<>Copyright of Fanatical, hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com. Translated with the express permission of the author for hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com. If you are not reading this from hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com, the translation has been taken without consent of the translator.

This story was translated with the expression permission of the author for hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com. All forms of reproduction, redistribution, or reposting are not authorized, except by linking to hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com. If you are not reading this from hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com, the copy is unauthorized and has been taken without consent of the translator.

Completed: 1 of 1 Prologue 41 of 50 Chapter segments 0 of 1 Epilogue