The Voyage In The Blizzard - Chapter 86

Walking freely around the palace, Yun Qi still couldn’t get used to her clothes. Dressed in a long green dress, her slender but strong arms were gently wrapped in an almost imperceptible fabric and every corner of her skin peeped out from under the delicately sewn patterns.

Endlessly straightening her hair and trying to relieve the slight pain that her new hairstyle caused, Yun Qi stopped by the pond and looked at her reflection.

“Is this called beautiful?” she asked, loosening her hair and pinning it up with her usual hairpin. “That’s better.”

Continuing to explore the kingdom, she walked through the fragrant garden, turned behind the fountain and stumbled upon a small building with high windows, she looked inside and saw a woman there with a thick volume of a book. At the sight of the book, she jumped abruptly and climbed onto the window frame.

The woman, noticing her, was a little frightened, but showing respect for the unknown guest she asked, “Who are you?”

“Yun Qi.”

“So it’s you Yun Qi.. Everyone’s been talking about you since the morning.” the woman said.

“May I come in?”

“Sure.” Watching how Yun Qi approached her and how abruptly, almost with a crash, sat down in the chair, the woman smiled and returned to reading.

“Doesn’t it hurt you?” Yun Qi suddenly asked, pointing to her hairpin, which was pulling each hair with force.

“Are you talking about hair? I’m used to it.” answered the woman.

“You are all strange. How can you walk in such clothes.” Moving closer to her, Yun Qi began to scrutinize her face.

It was a young face with black eyes and thin eyebrows, a slightly upturned nose, and thin lips that were completely pale.

Looking at her velvet waistcoat with a golden belt and long brown dress, Yun Qi asked, “What is your name?”

“Yubi.”

“Yubi. Interesting.” After reading the contents of her book, Yun Qi frowned and said, “You are studying the sky.”

“That’s right.”

“And what interesting things have you found in this sky?”

Putting the book aside, Yubi fixed her dreamer gaze on Yun Qi. “In the sky I find everything that I cannot find on earth.”

“And what is this?”

“Appeasement.” Yubi answered with one word.

“So you are looking for peace in the sky? How stupid. If you knew how the warriors of the three mountains live. There is no peace and there is no talk. You have to seek peace in every second until the beast sees you and you can relax a little. But you know, there is one appeasement.” Yun Qi said loudly while picking up the heavy book.

“Do not compare our worlds. For everyone there is a limit to her misery and her own peace.”

“So you’re also unhappy?” Yun Qi asked with a grin, pushing her slightly. “If you were in the Three Mountains even for a day, you would understand what it really means to be unhappy.”

“I didn’t live the way you lived, and now you blame me for this?” Yubi asked calmly and even with a smile.

“If Xing Fu and Shidai were born in a place like this, they would not complain about life for a single day.”

“A person, when she sees too much happiness, eventually begins to dislike it.” Yubi said with sadness and wisdom.

“So you admit that you don’t value happiness?”

“And you have a sharp mind and a sharp tongue.” said Yubi. After a moment of thinking about something, she looked at Yun Qi. There was no anger or any other emotions in her eyes that Yun Qi was used to seeing, they were calm and immensely kind.

“If you’re new to everything here, you might want to see the whole kingdom? You can tell me about your world as well.”

“Good. Only my fathers will come with me.”

“Fathers?”

“Yes. I won’t go anywhere without them.” Yun Qi said and pointed her finger at her and exclaimed, “Just don’t go anywhere!”

After running outside, Yun Qi ran towards the house where they temporarily began to live. On the way, having pushed several of the queen’s maids out of the way, she, laughing, made a somersault and jumped up onto the roof of the pavilion.

“What a savage.” someone said dissatisfied. But Yun Qi ignored it.

“Dad!”

Seeing Longwei lying on the grass, Yun Qi jumped at him.

“What happened?” in a panic, Lei ran out of the house. Noticing new clothes on him, which were white pants that were short on him and a snow-white shirt with small buttons up to the knees, Yun Qi said, “White suits you. And you too, beautiful.”

“Yes, but these pants are too small for me. I can hardly move in them.” said Longwei standing up.

“Where have you been? Did you eat?”

“Yes. But it doesn’t matter. My new friend Yubi invited us to see the whole kingdom!” Yun Qi exclaimed happily.

“Yubi?”

“Yes. Come quickly! She’s waiting for us.”

“Have you seen Queen Li Hua?” asked Longwei on the way.

“No. They say she meets some guests.”

Approaching the house where Yubi was sitting, Yun Qi stood on tiptoe and whispered in their ear, “Yubi is a little shy.”

“Everyone here looks at us like we are monsters.” added Lei.

Without waiting for them to go inside, Yubi left the house and said without showing obvious surprise, “It’s very nice to see you here.”

“These are my fathers. Longwei, and this is Lei. I know they look a little strange but they are very good. You should not be afraid of them.”

Smiling Yubi, without taking her eyes off them, said, “The Kingdom of Waterfalls has always been famous for its kindness to all unknowns. Queen Li Hua always told us that if we see something incomprehensible, then we should not look for danger in it. On the contrary, you need to show kindness, then if it is danger, it will become a part of kindness.”

“Finally, I see someone who speaks the language of wisdom.” Longwei said.

“Well, let’s go?! I can’t wait to see the whole world!” Pulling Longwei’s hand, Yun Qi was the first to run somewhere forward.

Once outside the gates, they were completely wondered.

As the legend says, the Kingdom was surrounded by waterfalls that, to their surprise, ran down without any noise.

High mountains, touching the heavens, as if the defenders of this world were in wise silence.

The sunrays playing among the waterfalls reflected all the dreams of the little girls who played on the lawn.

There was joy and happiness everywhere. Loud laughter filled everything around making the sun’s rays even brighter.

Yubi with a tiger’s gait, stepping forward and with kind seriousness, greeted everyone with a slight nod of her head.

Coming out onto the asphalt road, Yubi looked at the guests to read the surprise on their faces.

Numerous rows of houses stretched straight upward as if wanting to touch the sun. Stalls with flowers, fruits and toys, as well as a variety of clothing created multiple markets.

The vibrant colors, different flavors that came from the freshly baked buns made their heads spin.

Unable to behave culturally anymore, Yun Qi galloped towards the city center where some kind of performance was planned.

Women of different ages surrounding the square with a tall statue of Queen Li Hua could not help but notice the approach of two tall and too big men.

“Maybe we should bend over or sit on our knees.” Lei whispered, catching the frightened looks of the older women.

“Daddy look!” Yun Qi exclaimed to almost the entire square.

Many dancers in bright outfits and with amazingly beautiful smiles began to move to the beat of the music created by the instruments.

The sounds of the violin literally controlled their arms and legs, forcing them to move in harmony with each other.

“This is how the Festival of the Goldfish begins.” said Yubi. “The waterfall dance is performed only by the best women in the world. It is a great honor to be able to dance like that.”

“Dance of the Waterfalls?”

Clapping and shouting and whistling happily, women, the children all began to roll from one foot to the other to feel the whole dance on themselves.

“Bravo!” screams were heard.

Golden dresses sparkling in the sun were themselves part of this star.

“Bravo!”

Suddenly, one of the dancers came up to them and looked with surprise at Longwei and Lei, she wrapped her satin scarf around their necks and with a playful smile returned to her dance.

“What a nice fabric.” noticed Longwei touching the satin scarf.

“Just look at them. What broad shoulders. They’re like trolls.” said the short-haired girl. Noticing that Lei turned in her direction, she abruptly turned away and even moved away.

“What trolls? Can’t you see they’re human?”

“Do you remember the tale about the trolls from the Red Lands? They were described that way there. Just look. Broad shoulders, high, rough, and in general looks kind of intimidating.”

“But they are very beautiful. And trolls are scary.”

“You do not understand anything.”

“They’re definitely trolls. It’s not for nothing that my mom told me to walk less at night. She always told me that the trolls can take you away and no one else will ever find you.”

“This is all nonsense.”

“And I would be delighted if such beautiful trolls took me.” said a young girl of extraordinary beauty. Finding the courage to approach the “trolls”, she raised her head and looked at Lei. So she smiled and asked, “Do not consider me rude, but where did you come from?”

“You don’t know the world we came from.” Lei answered gravely.

“Like trolls.” someone whispered behind him.

“Most likely you came from a very beautiful world.” smiling she said lightly, almost imperceptibly touching his shirt.

“If frost and blood are beautiful for you, then yes, maybe so.” Lei answered.

“My name is Rose. What about you?” she asked.

“Lei.”

“Unusual. Lei. But that name suits you.”

Noticing Rose’s strange look and a clear desire to befriend him, Longwei pulled Lei to him and pointed to the buns shop, “I’m hungry.”

“Well let’s go.”

Approaching the fragrant buns that had a crispy crust, Longwei took a deep breath and sweetness filled his entire mind.

“Would you like something?” asked an elderly woman with a surprisingly kind face and gray eyes.

“Can I try this one?”

“One malachite.” said the woman.

“Sorry what?”

“The price of one bun is one malachite. I wrote it clearly.” the woman said pointing at the sign.

“Price?”

“If you are not going to buy then go. Do not scare my clients away.”

“Give us four buns.” Yubi said from behind.

“What bun do you want?”

“With strawberry jam.” said Yubi, holding out four dark green round stones.

“And you exchange these stones for food?” Longwei asked.

“Yes. This is how this world works. You have to pay for everything.”

“It’s just an ordinary stone.” Laughing, Lei said, taking one of the malachites in his hand.

“Yes. But it’s malachite. And without that, you can’t buy anything.”

“And what, everyone needs these malachites?”

“No. If you are a farmer or a seamstress, you can just exchange goods.” Yubi answered, holding out the bun to Yun Qi.

“What is it?” she asked, bringing the food to her nose.

“Try it.”

After taking a bite, the three of them exclaimed in one voice, “Sweet!”

Not noticing how the first rays of the evening sun painted everything around them in warm colors, after a long walk along the alley, they sat down by a wide lake through which an arch-shaped bridge passed.

The sky overhead was painted pink and created a feeling of comfort.

Silently contemplating what was ahead, namely the gleaming of the river and the swaying of the water from the light wind, Longwei, still feeling the taste of strawberry jam in his mouth, threw his head back.

As if spellbound, not finding suitable words to describe this other reality, they felt a sense of blessing.

“Yubi, so what are you doing in this life?” Lei asked breaking the silence.

Watching the goldfish swim, Yubi replied, “I am an astronomer. I follow the stars and seek secret meanings in them.”

“Did you find secret meaning in them? What are they talking about?”

With one finger touching the thin petal of a yellow flower, Yubi replied, “The stars say a lot. But mostly they just make you feel the whole universe at the end of your finger. The stars say that everyone’s life contains this brilliance and no matter how dark it is, there will always be light.”

“In the dark, light is best seen.” added Longwei.

“Tell us about Queen Li Hua.” Yun Qi said touching the water of the river.

Raising her head to the sky, Yubi was in no hurry to answer. And only then, after thinking it over, choosing the right words, she said, “Her Majesty, she is the clearest example of kindness.”

“Yes. We noticed that. Queen Li Hua, is she the granddaughter of Queen Li Hua who ruled many centuries ago?”

“Yes. Queen Li Hua is her ancestor. She is named after her.”

“Based on your records of history, Queen Li Hua, what is said about her?”

“Aside from having a kind heart and a sharp mind, nothing else.”

“Even history was erased.” whispered Longwei.

“Why don’t you ask us about why are we here?” Yun Qi asked as she moved closer to her.

To which Yubi replied, “I have a lot of questions, but I know that your answers will be incomprehensible to me. I’d better wait until everything becomes clear.”

“There are many questions, everything is new. Perhaps we will wait until everything becomes clear.” Lei agreed and the evening opened its curtain with a hint of a beautiful night.