Chapter 56: Yun Shan’s Little Red Braid

That evening, they ate noodles cooked in the leftover pork rib soup from lunch. Dou Ming slurped down five huge bowls in one go, then ate a flatbread stuffed with chili and eggs. Only then did he slow down, tilting his head as he gnawed on a big bone.

“Crunch, crunch.”

The sound made Qiu Sheng’s teeth ache. “Your teeth really are something. You can even gnaw bones that happily.”

Dou Ming glanced at him, then continued to lose himself in gnawing the bone.

Hua Qi went back into the room and brought out the big pomegranate Yun Shan had carried back from the mountain that morning. He peeled the skin carefully and patiently, saving up a bowlful of pomegranate seeds. Then he opened his mouth and ate nearly half the bowl in one bite.

This time, he did not swallow it down in one gulp as he usually did. Instead, he chewed slowly and carefully with his teeth.

Fresh, sweet pomegranate juice flowed across the tip of his tongue, sweet all the way into Hua Qi’s heart.

It felt like crawling out of a cave after winter hibernation ended and basking in the sunlight: comfortable and deeply satisfying.

He ate the rest of the pomegranate slowly, one small mouthful at a time. Again and again, he tasted the fresh sweetness of the juice and savored the satisfaction in his heart.

“Dou Ming.”

The sun was still sinking in the west when Liu Dali arrived with the young, strong men of the village to look for Dou Ming and Xi Jue. If those two were with them at night, they would feel steadier and less afraid.

Dou Ming finished the bone in a few bites, wiped his mouth, and stood up. He did not forget to remind Xiu Niang, “Make sure you save the scrambled eggs with chili for me. I’ll eat it when I get back tonight.”

“It’s in the basket in the kitchen, hung from the beam,” Xiu Niang replied with a smile. “There are also twenty-three flatbreads. That’s enough for you and Xi Jue.”

Only then was Dou Ming satisfied enough to leave with Xi Jue and Liu Dali.

Xiao Cong glanced at Hua Qi and saw that he was still sitting there eating pomegranate, without even looking at Dou Ming and Xi Jue. Hua Qi had never mentioned what would happen tonight, but knowing Hua Qi’s temperament, if Qin Niang and her mother-in-law did not come to apologize and make amends, Hua Qi would definitely not let it go. Xiao Cong did not know who would be going to Qin Niang’s house that night.

Xiao Cong took out his little sewing basket and, before the sun had fully set, finished embroidering the third handkerchief.

The sun went down behind the western mountains, and the sky slowly darkened. Hua Qi finished bathing Yun Shan, dried the water from his body, and carried the bare, smooth little baby back into the room.

Tuo Tuo was sitting by the edge of the kang. He reached out to take Yun Shan and placed him on the cotton cloth that had been laid out. Xiao Cong hurriedly fetched a diaper and put it on Yun Shan.

“Giggle, giggle.” Yun Shan kicked his legs, his little face bright with joy. Whenever Xiao Cong touched him, he laughed. No one knew exactly which spot had set him off.

“Little Temple Master’s little whiskers have grown longer,” Tuo Tuo said to Xiao Cong as he smoothed the sparse baby hair on Yun Shan’s head. “Give me a length of red thread.”

“What for?” The red thread bought that day had not yet been used, and Xiao Cong was a little reluctant. Once he finished embroidering the handkerchiefs, he had to prepare little red clothes for Little Temple Master.

“His little whiskers are longer. I’ll tie them up for him, the same as the one on my head.” Tuo Tuo shook his head back and forth so Xiao Cong could clearly see the little upward-pointing braid on his head.

Xiao Cong, feeling the pinch, cut a piece of red thread two fingers long from his sewing basket and handed it to Tuo Tuo.

“That’s way too short,” Tuo Tuo said unhappily.

Xiao Cong said, “How is it short? Temple Master Yunshan only has one tiny tuft of fuzz. A thread this long is more than enough.”

“All right, then.” Tuo Tuo lay down and gathered Yun Shan’s hair together.

The hair he had just gathered was scattered again when Yun Shan shook his head. Tuo Tuo cried softly, “Aiya. Little Temple Master, don’t move around.”

But Yun Shan simply would not cooperate. He kept shaking his head back and forth, refusing to let Tuo Tuo tug at the fuzz on top of his head.

“Xiao Cong, you hold Yun Shan’s head still. I’ll braid his hair.” Tuo Tuo set the red thread to one side, crouched by Yun Shan’s head, and used both hands to gather the little whiskers.

Xiao Cong knelt beside Yun Shan, placed both hands at the sides of Yun Shan’s little face, and used a bit of strength to keep him from moving his head.

Yun Shan twisted his little body uncomfortably. One small hand grabbed Xiao Cong’s clothes as he shouted in dissatisfaction, “Ah! Ah!”

“It’ll be done soon.” Tuo Tuo was using the red thread to tie a knot at the end of the little braid. After tying the knot, he still had to wrap the red cord around the braid a few times.

“Waaah—” Yun Shan could no longer bear it and burst into loud crying. It startled Tuo Tuo so badly that his hand trembled, and Xiao Cong immediately let go.

“What happened?” Hua Qi rushed into the room and saw Yun Shan lying on the cotton cloth, crying hard. A little braid had been tied on top of his head, swaying back and forth as he shook his head. Tuo Tuo and Xiao Cong were both beside him. One glance was enough to know this good deed had been done by the two little ones.

“What are you doing?” Hua Qi walked over and picked Yun Shan up, gently patting him to comfort him while questioning Tuo Tuo.

Perhaps because someone had come to back him up, Yun Shan blinked, and his crying stopped instantly.

“We’re tying up the little whiskers on top of his head,” Tuo Tuo said. “So he looks as good as me.”

Hua Qi looked at Yun Shan’s messy hair, then at the little braid sticking up on Tuo Tuo’s head. The braid did indeed look better. “I’ll hold him while you tie it. Don’t hurt him.”

“The room is too dark. Xiao Cong, give me some light.” Tuo Tuo pinched the red cord and climbed up, sitting by the edge of the kang. Xiao Cong gently rubbed three fingers together, and a small ball of fire appeared at his fingertips, lighting up Yun Shan’s head.

The fuzz on top of his head was fiddled with again and again. Yun Shan stirred uneasily in Hua Qi’s arms.

Hua Qi comforted him softly. “Yun Shan, little darling, it’s all right. Tuo Tuo is tying a little braid for you. You’ll look so good with a little braid. It’s all right, it’s all right. Mother is here. Mother is staying with Yun Shan.” He coaxed him for a few sentences, then patted him a few times, and Yun Shan slowly quieted down, his eyes wide open as he stared at Hua Qi above him.

Hua Qi smiled at him, and he immediately split his little mouth into a grin and smiled back.

“All done.”

A little red braid leaned crookedly on top of Yun Shan’s head. It was short and tiny, only as long as one of Yun Shan’s little fingers. The rest of his hair was still scattered across his head. It did not look much better than when it had all been loose a moment ago.

Hua Qi raised his brows at Tuo Tuo. “Ginseng spirit, is your craftsmanship not good enough? How did you tie Yun Shan’s hair like this? The one on your own head looks much better than this.”

“His little whiskers are short and soft. They’re not as easy to tie as mine. They have to grow longer. Tomorrow I’ll tie a few more for him, and then it won’t look messy.” Tuo Tuo would never admit that his braiding skills were lacking. This stinky black snake had actually praised his braid today. How strange. Thinking this, Tuo Tuo touched the braid on his head, turned away, and secretly smiled.

It did not look good, and he wanted to tie even more? Tying more little braids would use even more red thread. Xiao Cong refused in a small voice, “Like yours, having one little braid already looks very good. There’s no need to tie more.”

Tuo Tuo turned his face back. The smile on his face had not yet faded, and after hearing Xiao Cong’s words, the corners of his mouth lifted even higher. “Right? One already looks very good, doesn’t it? Then we won’t tie more. Just one little braid. Yun Shan has to grow his own little whiskers.”

Aside from the firelight in Xiao Cong’s hand, there was no other light in the room. By now, the sky had completely darkened.

Hua Qi placed Yun Shan on the cotton cloth and dressed him in the little clothes embroidered with auspicious cloud patterns. Then he turned and transformed. A black snake appeared on the kang, swimming two circles around Yun Shan and enclosing the human cub in the middle. The snake’s tail rested lightly on Yun Shan’s little belly and swept back and forth, making Yun Shan laugh nonstop.

Xiao Cong extinguished the fire, jumped off the bed, transformed into a pangolin, curled into a ball, and quietly leaned against the wall.

Tuo Tuo climbed to the other side of the kang, keeping far away from Hua Qi.

The room quieted down. The snake tail stopped sweeping and rested peacefully on Yun Shan’s belly. Yun Shan gripped it tightly in his hand. He played with it by himself for a while, gave a small yawn, loosened his hold on the snake tail, closed his eyes, and fell asleep.

In the middle of the village, Liu Dali held up a torch and carried a stick as he walked at the very front. Xi Jue and Dou Ming followed behind him empty-handed. Behind them were the village youths, some carrying iron shovels, others holding sticks or cudgels. Most had even brought the dogs from their homes. Not one of them was empty-handed like Dou Ming and Xi Jue.

Unlike Liu Dali, who had long since gotten used to Dou Ming charging into the deep mountains empty-handed and had even seen him stab a wolf to death barehanded with a single arrow, the others only felt that these two looked increasingly unreliable.

The occasional cool breeze blew away the summer heat from their bodies. From the grass came waves of frog calls. The torches crackled as they burned, and the dogs following the group barked from time to time.

This night was no different from any other.

When they passed Qin Niang’s maiden home, Liu Dali quietly said to Dou Ming and Xi Jue, “This is Qin Niang’s family home. I heard she had a fight with her mother-in-law today, then came back home.” He winked backward and continued in a low voice, “Her fourth younger brother, Xiao Song, is behind us.”

Dou Ming glanced at the courtyard, then turned his head away with no interest at all.

They followed the small path and turned left, passing a dozen households before arriving at Qin Niang’s husband’s family home.

Xia Sheng was also in the night watch group. Someone teased him, “Want to go home and take a look? We’ll wait here for you.”

Xia Sheng took the torch and lit up his own front gate. Seeing that the doors to his parents’ room were perfectly fine, he relaxed. Near dusk, Qin Niang had already taken Da Gou, Er Gou, and San Gou to stay at her maiden home. Only his parents were at home now.

“The doors are all fine. No need to look.” Xia Sheng handed the torch back to the man in front and continued forward with the group.

At the same time, under the night sky, a black giant python flicked out its tongue and arrived at the entrance to Qin Niang’s maiden home. He had followed Qin Niang’s scent here.

More than three hundred years earlier, Hua Qi had cultivated from a snake into a python. His body was as thick as the mouth of a bowl, three zhang long, entirely black, with hard scales. But at first he had been a snake, and he most liked appearing in the snake form he had taken before beginning his cultivation, so he rarely revealed his true original form.

At this moment, Hua Qi’s eyes narrowed slightly. His tail swept lightly, and the half-man-high mud wall surrounding Qin Niang’s family courtyard collapsed inward in its entirety.

Naturally, the people inside the house heard the noise.

Qin Niang, who had already fallen asleep, was so frightened by the sound that she sat up at once, trembling all over. The wild beast had actually followed her here.

By the moonlight, she hurriedly lowered her head to check the children beside her. Da Gou opened his eyes in a daze and was just about to speak when Qin Niang covered his mouth. “Shh.” Qin Niang spoke in a breathy whisper. “Don’t make a sound. Hurry and sleep.”

Everyone knew the village had not been peaceful these past two days. Qin Niang’s maternal family heard the commotion outside and hid inside the house without making the slightest sound.

Just from the sound of the wall falling outside, they knew whatever had come must be something huge. With that kind of force, they feared even three or four young men would not be able to subdue the wild beast.

The python’s body pressed over the collapsed mud wall and slid into the courtyard.

All the live chickens and ducks were eaten by Hua Qi, and he did not leave even a single egg behind.

The flapping and squawking of chickens outside was exactly the same as last night. Naturally, Qin Niang understood. The beast had actually run to her maiden home to eat the livestock. What mistake had she made, exactly? Whose boy was it? Who had she quarreled with? Was her mother-in-law’s apology not enough? Did she have to go too? She could not care about so much now. Tomorrow morning, as soon as it was light, she would go to every household in the village that she had ever had a grudge against and apologize.

Hua Qi stared at the room where Qin Niang slept and flicked out his snake tongue. If she did not come to apologize and make amends tomorrow, he would not be as polite as he was today.

The giant python twisted around, left the courtyard, and headed for Qin Niang’s husband’s family home.

He had heard that the old woman of this family had gone around the village apologizing today, which showed she did know how to reflect on herself. But she had still forgotten about Xiu Niang’s matter. Considering that she was willing to reflect, today would only be a small punishment. If he did not see her tomorrow, this family could forget about keeping their house.

Hua Qi raised his tail and lashed it against the large tree in the courtyard. The tree fell with a crash, landing right on the water vat in the courtyard. The vat shattered with a sharp crack, instantly breaking into pieces and spilling water all over the ground.

Before the water reached him, Hua Qi swiftly slid away.

Only after the giant python had left did the dogs nearby dare to bark.

The night watch group followed the sound of barking dogs and arrived at Xia Sheng’s house.

Dou Ming twitched his nose and smelled the scent Hua Qi had left behind. As expected, getting revenge for every grudge was exactly Hua Qi’s style. This family had offended Little Temple Master and still wanted to brush it off easily. Not a chance.

Under the light of several torches, the broken tree and shattered vat in the courtyard could be seen clearly.

Xia Sheng called toward the house in a trembling voice, “Dad, Mom.”

“Xia Sheng, Xia Sheng.” Xia Sheng’s mother opened the door and scrambled out of the house, nearly crawling as she ran. Trembling, she said, “It was something huge. It split the tree in one strike.”

In a panic, she said, “Mother already went door to door today to apologize. How... how could there still be misfortune?”

“Was it your wife?” Xia Sheng’s mother grabbed Xia Sheng’s arm tightly, her face twisted fiercely. “It must be that jinx! She hid back at her maiden home today and didn’t apologize to anyone. The misfortune is still following us!”

“Who are you calling a jinx?” Xiao Song stepped out from the crowd and said angrily, “My sister married into your family just so you could slander her like this?”

“What do you mean, slander her?” Xia Sheng’s mother glared at Xiao Song with hatred. “That’s what the masters at Yunling Temple said. They gave us hints: boys, a quarrel, two matters. I went and apologized to every family I had quarreled with. How would I remember who Qin Niang quarreled with? It has to be her!”

“No wonder you told us to patrol near your house tonight. So you knew what was going on.” Someone in the crowd reacted and pointed at Xia Sheng, saying irritably, “No wonder the nearby households are all fine, and only your family had trouble. You even wanted to trick us into putting in effort for your family. What a fine plan you were making.”

Everyone knew how effective the masters from Yunling Temple were. This family had always had foul mouths, quarreling with others every few days. The masters had not been wrong. It was a quarrel that had brought this disaster. Otherwise, why were the other households perfectly fine, while only their family had been harmed by wild beasts again and again?

“Exactly. Why didn’t you say so during the day?”

“Same thing tonight. The nearby families are all fine, but your family had trouble.”

“You already went to Yunling Temple and still dared to drag things out. You must really think your lives are too long.”

“I don’t think that’s all. Didn’t Qin Niang go back to her maiden home?”

When Xiao Song heard this, he grew anxious. His family’s child had only just completed its first month. “Go, go, go. Let’s go check my house.” He did not dare go back alone, afraid he might run into the wild beast, so he called for everyone to come along.

“Go. Let’s take a look,” Liu Dali agreed, turning around and leaving.

Xia Sheng’s parents did not dare stay at home by themselves, so they followed the group and went toward Qin Niang’s maiden home too.

When they arrived at his own front gate, Xiao Song was stunned.

His family’s place was far worse than Xia Sheng’s. The surrounding wall had collapsed, the chicken coop was wide open, chicken feathers were scattered all over the ground, the duck pen was empty, and the courtyard was a mess.

Sharp-eyed Xi Jue noticed traces Hua Qi had left after sliding over a patch of vegetable field. Without letting it show, he walked over and casually stepped on it a few times, wiping all the marks away. Then he looked around to make sure Hua Qi had left no other traces behind.

“Dad, Mom, Xiao Lai.” Xiao Song knocked open the door of his house.

Qin Niang’s father opened the door, shivering. “Song, ah, you’re back.” Even his voice trembled as he spoke.

Inside the house, everyone was trembling as they hid in a corner. Only when they saw Xiao Song had returned and the courtyard was full of light did they dare stand up.

“Xiao Song. Wuwuwu...” His wife, Xiao Lai, saw Xiao Song as if she had seen her pillar of support. Holding the child, she threw herself into his arms and cried. “It was too frightening, too frightening. Such a huge wild beast. With just one strike, the whole courtyard wall fell down. The chickens and ducks at home were ruined too.”

Qin Niang heard the voices outside and cautiously opened the door a crack. Seeing a crowd of villagers standing outside, she let out a heavy breath. Before she could recover, the door in front of her was shoved open with force, and then a slap landed on her face.

Before she could cover her face, she heard a stream of curses. “You jinx! I told you to hurry up and apologize to others, but you didn’t go. You hid at your maiden home instead.”

Xia Sheng’s mother viciously slapped her again.

Qin Niang hurriedly hugged her head and dodged backward.

“Who are you calling a jinx? In-law, this is Qin Niang’s maiden home. How can you hit Qin Niang?” Qin Niang’s mother immediately refused to stand for it. She went around Xiao Song, entered the room next door, wrapped her arms around Xia Sheng’s mother’s waist, dragged her outside, and flung her to the ground.

“You’re shielding her. Look at what good end your family got.” Xia Sheng’s mother climbed up from the ground and continued pointing at Qin Niang as she cursed. “This morning, the masters at Yunling Temple already said she had to go take care of it. But look at her, she didn’t do anything. She came back to her maiden home tonight, and your family suffered disaster. If she isn’t a jinx, what is she?”

“The neighboring households are all fine. Only our family had the wall knocked down, and not a single chicken or duck was left.” Xiao Song was angry too. The masters of Yunling Temple had already pointed the way, but his eldest sister did not do it. She insisted on returning to her maiden home and even brought harm to the family along with her.

Qin Niang’s mother looked at Qin Niang and cursed, “You damned girl, why didn’t you tell me about this? If the wild beast had entered the house tonight, it would have eaten your father, mother, and brothers. My whole houseful of people would have had to die with you.” Her hands shook with anger, and she ground her teeth. “What a sin. How did I give birth to something like you?”

Qin Niang’s brothers and sisters said nothing now. After what had just happened, none of them could bring themselves to sympathize with Qin Niang. If the wild beast had gone mad, they really might have been eaten tonight just like the chickens and ducks.

Having suddenly become the target of everyone’s anger, Qin Niang shrank by the door and did not dare make a sound.

Although the wild beast had only destroyed things at Qin Niang’s husband’s family home and her maiden home without hurting anyone, it had still entered the village. They still had to keep watch that night.

“Dou Ming, let’s go.” Liu Dali tugged at his clothes.

Dou Ming had been watching with great relish. He thought the two families fighting and cursing together was more interesting than watching animals fight on the mountain. With deep reluctance, he looked back every few steps as he followed the night watch group and continued patrolling the village.

The young men patrolling that night all began thinking things over in their hearts. This wild beast was strange too. No one heard it when it came out, no one saw it when it left, and it specifically chose only Qin Niang’s maiden home and her husband’s family home to wreck. Could it really be as the masters of Yunling Temple said, a calamity brought on by Qin Niang’s family?

Only when the sky was faintly bright did the strong young men who had patrolled all night return home.

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