TSMITB Chapter21

Shen Que returned to the small building full of doubts. Sheng Qixiao stood at the courtyard entrance while lowering his head. Seeing them return, something quickly slid away from his feet, causing morning dew to drip from petals and leaves onto the soil.

 

“Was the sunrise beautiful?”

 

“Beautiful, I also took quite a few photos, I really should have taken you with me.” Shen Que turned on his phone screen, brought up the casually taken photos, and handed them in front of him.

 

Sheng Qixiao cast a casual glance, then, mimicking him, reached out to tap it. “Why has it gotten smaller? I can’t see it clearly.”

 

Shen Que leaned over and stood side-by-side with him before carelessly looking at where his finger was pointing. His eyes instantly widened, his hand was faster than his brain and he quickly turned off the screen.

 

Sheng Qixiao’s casual tap accidentally opened the photo gallery and right beneath his lingering fingertip was the mark left by the little beauty Shen Que had dated before, who had whined and insisted on leaving it on his phone—it was a side-profile mirror selfie, the person in the mirror was completely naked. Against the backdrop of fair skin, several red marks layered on the curve of the waist down, attracting particular attention.

 

Shen Que’s expression went blank for several seconds, his heart and pulse were still beating and death seemed not so far away anymore.

 

“What is that?” Sheng Qixiao obviously couldn’t understand Shen Que’s embarrassment. His tone was steady and composed when he asked openly, “Why can others appear in your hand without any concealment?”

 

Shen Que swallowed the “you can too” that was about to slip out, wiped his face, and walked into the courtyard, the tips of his ears hotter than the sun-scorched, reddened sky. “I’m hungry, let’s eat soon!”

 

Gang Zi blocked the stairwell with a look of schadenfreude, his expression extremely annoying: “The indecent thing in the phone has been discovered~”

 

Shen Que let out a chuckle, gave his calf a kick, and didn’t even break stride.

 

Sheng Qixiao watched Shen Que retreating back with a dark gaze without a hint of a smile on his face at all.

 

After the meal, as usual, Ke Di was already waiting downstairs early, ready to head to the medicinal fields with Old Qiu and Gang Zi to help the other tribesmen with the final finishing touches.

 

After a few days of “working together,” the three of them had established a relatively stable revolutionary friendship.

 

Dust motes in the air danced in the sunlight. Sheng Qixiao was bent over washing dishes in the kitchen; while Shen Que’s gaze trailed the bell in his hair all the way down. His wide sleeves were rolled up to the crook of his arm, where the wound on his wrist already scabbed over and soaking in the water.

 

“Let me do it.” As though some hidden nerve had been struck, a pang of sourness rose in Shen Que’s chest, and he took the initiative to step forward and take over the task from Sheng Qixiao’s hands.

 

Sheng Qixiao bent his arm and blocked him with his elbow, “No need.”

 

Shen Que had no choice but to stand by as a conveyor to take the dishes Sheng Qixiao had washed to wipe them dry, and put them into the cupboard and comforted himself that he was at least helping.

 

Assembly line work doesn’t require much thought but one can’t be completely thoughtless either.

 

By the time Shen Que realized something was wrong, several washed bowls had already been placed one by one into the small water reservoir in the kitchen, like fish fry, and were now tumbling and slowly sinking to the bottom.

 

Sheng Qixiao stood a few steps away slowly drying his hands, showing no reaction to Shen Que spacing out; only when Shen Que looked up guiltily did he ask, “Is it fun?”

 

Shen Que raised his hands in surrender and decisively backed away until he reached the kitchen door. “I’m never coming in again.”

 

Sheng Qixiao ignored the bowls in the reservoir and walked straight towards him: “What were you just thinking about?”

 

Shen Que blinked and sighed: “I was thinking my phone might be broken, the little square thing I just showed you pictures on worked fine yesterday, but today it won’t receive a signal, and somehow it’s filled with all this messy stuff.” He observed Sheng Qixiao’s reaction as he spoke, “Right, do you know what a signal is?”

 

Sheng Qixiao stared at the two lips opening and closing in front of him. His adam apple rolled up and down once before he turned his face away and walked back inside to retrieve the bowls from the reservoir, saying indifferently, “I don’t understand these things.”

 

Shen Que leaned against the doorframe while watching Sheng Qixiao’s back as unfamiliar emotions slowly began to stir in his heart, like reluctance or something else, but he neither had the time to think about it nor dared to.

 

Perhaps it was coveting beauty, Shen Que finally concluded; after all, it was rare for him to pretend to be a gentleman for so long and he insisted on adhering to his duty and maintaining a “distance” with him that he had never maintained with anyone else before. Looking at it this way, Sheng Qixiao indeed held some special significance for him, it was inevitable to feel unwilling about a delicacy one couldn’t taste.

 

The day dragged on unusually slowly. Shen Que kept glancing at his watch, practically counting down the minutes until nightfall. At other times, he sank into a wicker chair, flipping through the books he had earlier claimed were for Sheng Qixiao when bored.

 

Calling them books was generous, they were actually a stack of papers, yellowed and crisp enough to rustle when flipped, stitched together with needle and thread. He couldn’t understand the text on them and could only repeatedly flip through the abstract patterns, hoping to find some clues.

 

Sheng Qixiao had said before that he could read them to him when he had time but Shen Que felt awkwardly bored and rejected the offer indirectly.

 

Darkness then pressed down from the sky, and all the daytime sounds gradually faded into silence.

 

Old Qiu and Gang Zi changed their clothes and avoided the main entrance, carefully climbed out the inner second-floor window, and followed the pre-planned route all the way to the vicinity of the temple.

 

The entire massive building was surrounded by dense woods with the darkness of the night added a few touches of eerie terror to it.

 

Gang Zi tightened his clothes around himself and shrank his neck inward, “That’s strange, it’s unbearably cold as soon as you get close here, and the temperature seems to drop the further inside you go.”

 

Old Qiu didn’t speak; he looked around vigilantly, observing the surroundings and missing no slightest movement, each step taken with extreme caution for fear that any accidental noise might alert others.

 

Before long, the two of them reached the end of the stone steps.

 

The flat ground paved with stone slabs was divided into blocks of different sizes by colored pebbles of varying shades. A closer look suggested a complex pattern, radiating a cold aura under the moonlight.

 

The surrounding buildings lost their original colors under the cover of night, appearing ancient and solemn. The tightly shut doors and windows were pushed by the night wind and constantly emitting a “creaking” sound, giving both men goosebumps on their backs.

 

Old Qiu and Gang Zi exchanged knowing glances and simultaneously turned and walked in opposite directions before splitting up to investigate.

 

In the grass that neither of them noticed, a small blue snake poked out its head, its scarlet tongue flicking out and in unhurriedly.

 

An extremely faint sound of silver bells was dispersed in the wind.

 

Gang Zi crouched low against the wall, focusing intently on the situation inside the room.

 

A series of heavily suppressed footsteps came from behind as a hand with almost no temperature touched his shoulder.

 

Gang Zi’s movement froze, controlling his breath so as not to exhale loudly while secretly clenching his fists in preparation to fight before slowly turned his head.

 

What came into view was Old Qiu’s heavily wrinkled, unshaven face.

 

“…Are you crazy? Why did you suddenly pat me from behind? You almost scared me to death!”

 

“I called you, it’s just that you yourself didn’t hear it.” Old Qiu was a bit speechless. “Did you find anything over there?”

 

“Nothing at all, the rooms are all empty.”

 

“Same here, that’s strange, it shouldn’t be like this.” Old Qiu stroked his chin, lost in thought: “Did you look inside here?”

 

“I…”

 

Suddenly, a bolt of lightning tore across the sky, violently splitting the darkness, immediately followed by the rumbling roar of thunder.

 

Immediately after, a fierce gust of wind sprang up out of nowhere, sweeping dust, scattered branches, and leaves into the air and driving them straight toward the two men’s faces. They hastily raised their hands, barely managing to shield themselves.

 

With a “clatter”, the old copper lock hanging on the door dropped to the ground.

 

The two people stood rooted to the spot and simultaneously looked back.

 

The tightly shut doors and windows were now wide open, while the originally pitch-black room was now lit up with lights, though they didn’t know when they had been turned on.

 

The room was very deep, impossible to see to the end, and in the very center knelt a person upright, their long black hair loose and disheveled by the wind while the candlelight on the offering table in front of them remained completely still.

 

Various silver utensils of different shapes were scattered across the floor, their lids not tightly closed, and it seemed as if some living creatures were trapped inside, repeatedly tapping the lids one after another, echoing the sound of the wind.

 

The two people were stunned by the scene before them and momentarily forgot to hide.

 

The person kneeling in the hall seemed unaware of the two men’s presence and was still remaining kneeling upright with hands pressed together in prayer before slowly lifting their head to face the candlelight, devoutly praying for something.

 

The change happened in an instant, that person abruptly stood up and with a wave of their sleeve, the door was forcefully shut by an invisible hand. In the last second before it completely closed, that person slowly turned their head sideways, the beautifully shaped lips were tightly pressed, pulling down into a cold arc. Thousands of flickering candlelights reflected in the light brown eyes while blood oozed from the corners of the mouth and eyes, staining the entire face.

 

“Ah!”

 

Shen Que screamed, nearly tumbling off the swing.

 

Two sneaky shadows, one on the left and one on the right, squatted beside him, both tacitly reaching out, trying to cover his mouth.

 

Shen Que rubbed his brows, and only after his heartbeat calmed down did he suppress his anger and ask in a lowered voice, “Why did you come back so late?”

 

Old Qiu’s face was solemn, he didn’t answer, instead asking, “Did Sheng Qixiao go out tonight?”

 

“No. I’ve been guarding downstairs all night, he hasn’t come down yet.”

 

Old Qiu and Gang Zi exchanged glances, both their brows furrowing deeply.

 

“What on earth happened? What time is it already? Stop speaking in riddles.”

 

Gang Zi was tired of squatting and simply sat down on the ground, vividly recounting his encounter tonight.

 

“You’re saying you saw Sheng Qixiao at the temple?” Shen Que turned his head, his gaze heavy as he looked towards a certain window on the second floor.

 

“Yes.” Old Qiu nodded with a complex expression. “But he didn’t seem to see us, we were right behind him, his reaction… how should I put it…”

 

“Like he wasn’t in the same dimension as us.” Gang Zi took over, “Are you sure he really didn’t go out? I suspect this kid might be deliberately acting spooky to scare us.”

 

The three people then quietly went upstairs, Shen Que waved his hand at Old Qiu and Gang Zi to signal them to return to their rooms first. Suppressing the pounding in his chest, he slowly pushed open Sheng Qixiao’s door.

 

On that absurdly large solid wood bed, Sheng Qixiao was obediently lying on his back on the side near the door with his waterfall-like black hair spread across the pillow, while his breathing steady.

 

The door then closed and the person who had been sleeping slowly opened his eyes, his quivering eyelashes framing a clear gaze while a small blue snake coiled around the wrist hidden beneath the blanket.