UCTOOT CH26

The early morning was another day of travel.

The rain poured down in sheets, the road was muddy, and a sudden storm swept through the mountain forest.

Shi Shu ran forward with his head covered for a long distance before seeing a post station pavilion with four corners. He and Xie Wuchi took shelter from the rain in the pavilion, and the donkey was also led inside.

Shi Shu was soaked to the bone, and Xie Wuchi was about the same. His damp, dark hair stuck to the side of his face. Shi Shu looked at him and burst out laughing. “Hahaha, what an adventure! Damn, this journey has really been full of all kinds of rare experiences!”

“The rain is so heavy. That dark cloud just now looked like the end of the world.”

The young man was soaked, and transparent water droplets slid down his neck. His fair skin reflected the light in the gloomy weather, and his collarbone looked as if it had been licked, the water stains silvery bright.

Xie Wuchi’s gaze was scorching. After watching for a while, he averted his eyes.
…

Another afternoon, the little donkey, for some reason, threw a tantrum, spending nearly two hours grazing in someone else’s field. By the time they got it back and continued on their way, the sun had set, and they were still several kilometers from the next post station.

They traveled through the night, passing through deep mountains and old forests, a scene of crow cries and village drums.

“Caw caw caw—caw caw caw—” an old owl circled.

Shi Shu clung tightly to Xie Wuchi’s sleeve, scared out of his wits. “Ahhh, so scary, so creepy!”

Xie Wuchi: “Don’t be afraid, follow me.”

Shi Shu: “Xie Wuchi, but I need to pee.”

“Go, I’ll wait for you here.”

Shi Shu: “Don’t go too far. It’s best if you’re in a position where I can see you, but you can’t see me.”

Xie Wuchi stopped. Shi Shu walked into a bamboo forest out of sight in the dark. Just as he finished peeing, he saw a stone tablet in front of him. The dates of birth and death were worn away. It was actually a broken tombstone!

Shi Shu’s vision went black, and he almost fainted. “Xie Wuchi, there are graves everywhere! Is this a mass grave?”

Xie Wuchi caught him. “Perhaps. There was a war here once, with heavy casualties. Alright, don’t be afraid.”

They walked and walked, through an endless forest of graves. The graves, with a stone erected in front of a small mound, were sometimes only one or two steps away, extremely close. The path lined with them seemed to go on for a quarter of an hour.

It was the middle of the night. Crows circled, wild beasts howled, and a gloomy wind blew. Shi Shu’s world had collapsed. No haunted house could compare to the atmosphere before him.

“Xie Wuchi, it’s a good thing I came with you. Otherwise, if you had to walk through a place like this alone at night, wouldn’t you be scared to death?”

“…”

Xie Wuchi turned his head. In his calm eyes, there seemed to be a surging undercurrent. After a moment, he said in a hoarse voice, “Give me your hand.”

Shi Shu: “What for?”

“Holding my hand will give you a greater sense of security.”

Shi Shu didn’t extend his hand. Xie Wuchi came over and held his fair hand in his palm. There were fine calluses on his fingers and palm, mixed with a scorching heat that inserted itself between his fingers. In that instant, his composure also infected Shi Shu.

Shi Shu: “If you’re going to hold my hand, why are you interlocking our fingers?”

Xie Wuchi: “It’s more stable.”

Shi Shu didn’t pay much attention to having his hand held. After all, it was normal to occasionally touch hands with a friend. He let him lead him for a few steps, and they chatted along the way. “Do you do housework at home? The calluses on your palm are so thick, they’re a bit scratchy.”

Xie Wuchi: “Gun calluses. It’s legal to own a gun abroad. Every year, I go hunting with friends.”

Shi Shu: “So cool. What kind of gun?”

Xie Wuchi: “I play with all kinds of guns. I like shooting handguns the most.”

Shi Shu: “…” Did I misunderstand something?

Xie Wuchi: “I’ll take you with me next time.”

“…”

Shi Shu didn’t know whether to agree or not for a moment. He was led by him for a while, still undecided whether to ask carefully if he meant what he thought he meant.

In any case, after a long journey, they finally arrived at the post station!

Closer to the city, the post station was larger and had more guests. It was managed by someone who provided food, drinks, and hot water. You could get things done as long as you paid.

Thirty wen for two buckets of hot water and a meal.

Walking for one day was manageable, but after walking for several days in a row, Shi Shu took off his shoes while sitting on a stool. His heel was uncomfortable. Upon closer inspection, a red blister had formed.

Soaking his feet in water, he looked at the blister carefully. On the side, Xie Wuchi, wrapped in a chill after his bath, entered the room. He glanced up and saw the slender ankle and jade-white toes soaking in the wooden basin.

Xie Wuchi: “What’s wrong?”

“I walked too far, and I have a blister on my foot. I used to get this sometimes in class. It’s nothing.”

But when he popped it, the pain made Shi Shu suck in a breath through his nose. His nose was white with a hint of pink.

Xie Wuchi: “Don’t walk tomorrow. The donkey can be ridden. If you keep walking, the wound will fester layer upon layer. It’s not good.”

Shi Shu: “We’ll see about tomorrow. Let’s go, time to eat downstairs.”

In the dining hall downstairs, only extremely simple meals were served. Steamed buns and porridge for breakfast, two stir-fried dishes for lunch, and noodles for dinner.

Two bowls of steaming hot plain noodles were placed on the table. They were very white, just noodles boiled in water with a few grains of salt sprinkled on top. There was very little oil, and there was no doubanjiang, soy sauce, vinegar, or other seasonings on the table.

The first bite was bland and tasteless. Another bite, and it was plain, with only the taste of wheat.

Shi Shu had been eating noodles all along the way. He stared at the bowl and then picked it up. “Xie Wuchi, I can’t finish it. Please help me out.”

Xie Wuchi: “My bowl is full. You eat first. Give it to me when you’ve made some room.”

Shi Shu: “But this way, I’ve already eaten from the bowl. You’re not disgusted?”

Xie Wuchi: “I’m not.”

Shi Shu: “Even my parents find it disgusting, but you don’t.”

Xie Wuchi raised his gaze, his dark black eyes looking at him calmly. “It’s just eating. It’s just stained with saliva. When two people have intercourse, the bodily fluids exchanged are much more than what’s in this bowl.”

“Cough—” Shi Shu almost sprayed out his noodles.

He glanced at Xie Wuchi, deliberately ate a mouthful of garlic, and then lowered his head to slurp his noodles.

Looking up, Xie Wuchi was not a picky eater. If he were picky, he probably wouldn’t have survived in this era. In short, he ate a portion of the noodles with a blank expression, and then Shi Shu scooped the noodles from his own bowl into his.

Now that he had said it, it felt weird.

After finishing most of the noodles, there was a knocking sound at the door. It turned out to be new travelers. The station attendant came out. At the door stood an official, wearing a dark blue round-collared official robe. A servant was helping him down from his horse. His face was slightly pale. The moment the station attendant saw him, he immediately stopped in his tracks and waved.

“Sir, may I ask where you have come from?” the station attendant asked.

“Shukang Prefecture.”

The station attendant hurriedly said, “I’m sorry, sir. We just received a notice today saying that gentlemen from the Shukang Prefecture area are not to be received. Please find another place, sir.”

“…You people, you bully the court officials too much!” the servant’s face was flushed with anger.

But the official, with his tall, thin, and sickly constitution, had clearly been refused many times along the way. He only sighed.

“Alright, then we won’t enter. But can you give us some food and water? We’ll eat and continue on our way.”

“Sirs, please wait.” The station attendant returned to the kitchen and brought out many steamed buns. The servant took a step back, and only then did the station attendant place the steamed buns on a lotus leaf on the ground, and then stepped back.

The group of people picked up the steamed buns from the ground, handed them to the official, and leading their horses, they left the post station with a clatter.

Shi Shu chewed his noodles, which tasted bland. “Those people, why weren’t they allowed in?”

Xie Wuchi: “The light was very dim just now. Did you notice something? This official has a lot of wounds on his hands. His fingers are pricked by sharp objects, and the wounds are layered on top of each other, which means the wounds have been repeatedly opened after healing. There’s also a scar on his wrist, about a few centimeters long, a mark from being cut by a knife.”

A chill ran down Shi Shu’s back. “What?”

Xie Wuchi: “The scar on his wrist is deep. It wasn’t an accidental injury, but a deliberate cut to the blood vessel to let out blood.”

Hearing such words for the first time, Shi Shu’s scalp tingled. “Why? Isn’t this wrist-cutting and self-harm… How could someone do this deliberately?”

Wrist-cutting, he certainly understood. Some people, when in pain, would harm their bodies to get relief. Only by harming themselves could they calm their pain. Wrist-cutting was a self-harming behavior adopted by many people with psychological trauma.

Shi Shu: “This official, is he very dangerous, so the post station didn’t let him in?”

“He is indeed dangerous, but it has nothing to do with mental pain.”

Shi Shu: “What’s wrong?”

Ever since he saw that person, Xie Wuchi’s brows had been furrowed, as if he had a lot on his mind. His eyes were covered by the shadows of the lights. His lips were pressed into a thin, cold line. He turned his eyes to Shi Shu.

“This journey should be more dangerous than expected.”

Shi Shu couldn’t help but ask, “Is it some evil cult that would incite its followers to do such things?”

Xie Wuchi: “I’m not entirely sure yet, but we’ll change tomorrow’s plan first. We need to go to the market to buy some things.”

After speaking, Xie Wuchi stood up. “Let’s go, back to the room.”

Another early morning of travel.

But now, they were very close to Shukang Prefecture. Unknowingly, Shi Shu and Xie Wuchi had already been walking for seven or eight days.

The weather was sunny and bright. The blister on Shi Shu’s heel hadn’t healed, so Xie Wuchi wouldn’t let him walk. Shi Shu sat on the little donkey, and Xie Wuchi led the donkey, walking together on the mountain path.

“Xie Wuchi, why did you suddenly buy so much cloth and cotton?”

Xie Wuchi: “They’re useful.”

“Are we almost at Shukang Prefecture?”

“We’re still some distance from Shukang Prefecture, but we’ve arrived at the nearest city, Anzhou. As expected, it’s just ahead.”

Shi Shu: “It’s so strange. Why haven’t we seen anyone on this road?”

Xie Wuchi: “The map I’m looking at shows a shortcut. There probably aren’t many people.”

Shi Shu yawned and squinted. Shukang Prefecture, it was said, was a very beautiful city. This city could cultivate an extremely beautiful blood-red flower, and even the palace often procured it from here.

Then, a few months ago, a very serious rebellion broke out outside Shukang Prefecture. A group of bandits who had taken to the hills actually gathered tens of thousands of people, raised a flag, and declared themselves emperor. They accumulated their initial capital by burning, killing, and looting along the way, and gathered a force of one hundred thousand people by recruiting the local population.

Shi Shu was thirsty. Before his eyes, this bouquet of bright red flowers called “Yining Flower” was in full bloom, a brilliant red stretching to the horizon. As Shi Shu walked, the flowers fell like a colorful rain.

Occasionally, one would fall on the tip of his nose, its fragrance assailing his nostrils.

As Shi Shu rode the donkey and walked with Xie Wuchi to the edge of a cliff, he saw that a Yining Flower had actually bloomed and borne fruit. Shi Shu quickly said, “Xie Wuchi, wait! I want to eat this fruit!”

Xie Wuchi stopped and watched as Shi Shu, sitting on the donkey, reached out to pick the fruit among the green leaves.

He couldn’t reach it. After a moment, Xie Wuchi said, “Get on my shoulders.”

Shi Shu: “Ahahaha, you’re so nice! Thanks!”

Shi Shu climbed onto his shoulders, holding onto the little donkey to be lifted up. He reached out and touched the cool fruit. With Xie Wuchi’s height, his vision also became wider, and he unintentionally looked to the other side of the mountain.

“Huh?”

Shi Shu held the fruit, his fair face’s gaze fixed. On the other side of the mountain, he had thought it was just messy crops, but when he looked carefully, it wasn’t.

—It was a mass grave, a real wild graveyard.

When Shukang Prefecture suppressed the rebellion, the main battle had taken place in this beautiful valley. The bodies of the soldiers who died in the elite army were brought back.

And the bodies of the bandits lay densely in this valley, like wild grass.

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