translator: baumkuchenย editor: ellabells
After Lu Qingjiu left Shuifu village, Yin Xun could only play by himself for a very long time.
He went up the mountain alone, he swam around alone, he climbed up onto what used to be their absolute favourite mill and stared off into the far distance alone.
In the distance, there was a winding path between the mountains. Whenever new faces came or old faces returned to Shuifu village, they would have to pass through that path.
Whenever Yin Xun would watch the path, he would have several coins firmly grasped in his palm. These coins were game coins, he had bought them in town using his own pocket money, and had originally planned on giving them to his best friend, Lu Qingjiu, as a goodbye present. Unfortunately, in the end, he wasnโt able to hand this present to his friend.
Yin Xun didnโt give up. He remembered the promise that Lu Qingjiu had made to him when he left. Lu Qingjiu had said he would still come back again. So Yin Xun thought, when Lu Qingjiu came back, he would definitely hand these coins over to his best friend.
Yin Xunโs family situation was similar to Lu Qingjiuโs. Both of their parents went out to work, leaving their elderly and children behind. But Lu Qingjiuโs parents were more responsible, bringing Lu Qingjiu out of the village early on and sending him to go to school in the city. Yin Xun wasnโt as lucky. His parentsโ financial situation was only so-so, so he still had to stay in the remote Shuifu village for many years.
Ever since he was young, Yin Xun had played together with Lu Qingjiu. Now that Lu Qingjiu had left, he was all alone.
Looking forward to his friendโs return, Yin Xun spent his days like this, waiting, waiting, waiting, untilโฆ one midsummer night.
Even now, Yin Xun still remembered the weather that day; clear, sweltering hot, not a single cloud in the sky. The bright moon hung above the curtain of night, glittering stars lighting the entire night sky. The noisy chirping of cicadas filled his ears and when he approached the side of the path, he could see the glow of fireflies in the dense grass.
It was an ordinary night that couldnโt have been any more ordinary. Yin Xun, who had lived in Shuifu village for a long time, didnโt notice anything unusual. The him from that time was still a young sprout not even 1.5 metres tall, wearing a baggy T-shirt and shorts. The glue that held his sandals together had come loose, making it a little inconvenient to walk. His grandmother had promised to buy him a new pair by the end of summer.
Yin Xun sat on the mill by the entrance to the village, holding two chirping crickets in his hands. He had just caught the crickets from the grass so they were still full of energy, constantly struggling in Yin Xunโs hands.
Even though it was already dark, Yin Xun still didnโt plan on going home.
It was very safe in Shuifu village and there was no deep water nearby for children to play in, so practically no accidents ever happened to the children in the village. Their parents had no need to worry. Yin Xunโs grandparents were also old. As people got older, they became less energetic, and the children of farming villages were usually brought up to be tough. So even though it was already so late and Yin Xun still hadnโt come home, his family didnโt come out to look for him.
If this was before Lu Qingjiu had left, Yin Xun would probably have gone back together with his little friend, but now, Lu Qingjiu wasnโt there anymore.
Yin Xun sat on the mill, played and played, and slowly drifted off to sleep. The mill was very hard and lying against it was painful. In the haziness of sleep, Yin Xun seemed to hear the sound of running water.
This sound became louder and louder, rousing Yin Xun and making him blearily open his eyes. When he opened his eyes and saw his surroundings, he was stunned stiff. He saw a huge puddle of water that had appeared at some point under the mill. The water in the puddle was swirling, the splashing sound of rushing water making the flow of water seem especially rapid.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Yin Xun stared at the puddle before him, a stupefied look on his face. The ground here was flatโฆ why was there this puddle of water?
Aera jr Tlc Wec kjr rajglcu vjhfvis ja atf qevvif, j qjlg bo yijmx, tjlgs jgwr revvfcis gfjmtfv bea bo atf qevvif abkjgvr Tlc Wec. Par tjcvr kfgf rifcvfg yea lcmgfvlyis ragbcu, fjrlis ugjyylcu tbiv bo Tlc Wecโr ifur jcv yfulcclcu ab vgju tlw lcab atf gertlcu qevvif.
โCt!!โ Tlc Wec, oglutafcfv ys atfrf fnfcar, ifa bea jc jijgwfv rmgffmt. Lf gfjmtfv bea jcv ugjyyfv bcab atf wlii lc j mbcvlalbcfv gfoifz, yea tlr ragfcuat tjv cb kjs bo mbwqfalcu klat atja bo atf wbcrafg lc atf qevvif. Coafg ifrr atjc akb bg atgff rfmbcvr bo rageuuif, tf kjr obgmlyis vgjuufv vbkc.
The water quickly covered Yin Xunโs nose and mouth. His eyes opened wide and he began to struggle with all his might, but this didnโt get him out of danger. On the contraryโฆ more and more air escaped from his airways. This was the first time Yin Xun had come into such close contact with death.
As the air slowly left his lungs, Yin Xunโs eye slowly began to close from lack of strength. In his trance, he seemed to hear the clear sound of a coin falling to the ground.
Ahโฆ I still havenโt seen Qingjiu againโฆ The moment he remembered this, Yin Xun had another rush of strength, actually freeing himself from the black hands holding him and swimming up towards the surface of the puddle.
I donโt want to dieโฆ I donโt want to dieโฆ Yin Xun thought, I still havenโt given the coinsโฆ to Qingjiu.
Even with this desperate will, Yin Xunโs consciousness gradually became fuzzy. In the end, his vision was shrouded in darkness.
When his family noticed that Yin Xun was missing, it was noon the next day.
His grandma and grandpa made his breakfast, yet didnโt see their grandson return. After realising something was wrong, they searched everywhere, searching for an entire day, before finally finding a trace of their grandson.
That was a pair of little sandals below the mill, thrown haphazardly next to the mill. It could be seen how panicked their owner had been when heโd left them.
A child going missing was naturally a big matter. His grandma and grandpa called the police and asked everyone in the village, but they were still unable to find Yin Xun. After hearing the news, Yin Xunโs parents also rushed back home, inconsolable in their grief over learning about their sonโs disappearance.
There was an insane person in the village who said that their child had been taken away by a water monkey. Everyone else thought he was talking nonsense. Clearly, there was no water in Shuifu village, just a little stream that reached up to oneโs calf. No one had ever drowned in that stream so how would there be a water monkey.
The policeโs final conclusion was that the child might have been abducted and sold off by someone passing by the village. Around then, someone came to Yin Xunโs home.
Yin Xun never saw that person. He only knew through his grandparentsโ descriptions that he was a young man with a cloth covering his face that only showed a pair of dark eyes. That pair of eyes looked utterly terrifying โ with only pupils, no sclera.
The man entered Yin Xunโs home and told Yin Xunโs parents that Yin Xun was already dead.
Yin Xunโs parents were inconsolable. At the same time, they were suspicious if it had been this man who killed Yin Xun. Just as the family wanted to tie the man up and bring him to the police station, they watched with wide eyes as the man turned into a pool of water and like that, disappeared right in front of them. If not for their soaking wet hands still before their eyes, they would have preferred to believe that they had all just had a weird dream.
The next day, the man who had turned into water came back.
This time, Yin Xunโs parents didnโt dare to make a move against him, politely listening to the man talk instead.
โYour son canโt come back anymore,โ the man said, โHeโs dead.โ
Yin Xunโs grandmother fainted when she heard the words. His mother and father burst into loud tears. The entire room was filled with sadness.
โBut, I have a way to save him,โ the man said, โBut after he comes back, he wonโt be able to leave Shuifu village. Heโll have to stay here, all the way until the end.โ
โThe end?โ His grandfather, the only one to hold onto his composure, asked, โWhat do you mean by โthe endโ?โ
The man smiled and shook his head. โYou wonโt need me to explain, heโll know.โ
Even though the manโs background was unknown and he was incredibly suspicious, the family had no other options and could only choose to compromise. According to the method the man told them, they set up a tombstone for Yin Xun and held a funeral. The funeral was very grand, with everyone in the entire village attending. It was reasonable to say that when a child died a premature death, one shouldnโt hold anything too grand. But Yin Xunโs family held a funeral that lasted for a full seven days and seven nights.
A few days after the grand funeral, a soaking wet Yin Xun appeared at the door of his home. He was barefoot and his expression was a little blank, as if he didnโt understand why he was here.
When Yin Xunโs parents saw their son, they were overjoyed. His mother carried him into the house, both laughing and crying.
Because they never found Yin Xunโs corpse, this sudden reappeared child was easily accepted by the people in the village. Since Yin Xun had returned, that proved that that man hadnโt lied. Yin Xunโs family members followed what the man had told them, erecting a shrine on Shuifu villageโs mountain, writing Yin Xunโs name inside, and leaving offerings of joss sticks and fruits. Abiding by what the man had said, they didnโt let the lights in the shrine go out and didnโt let the fruit run out.
Yin Xunโs family all followed the manโs instructions one by one, except for Yin Xunโs mother, who had a different idea form in her heart. She wanted to take her son out of Shuifu village.
โYou canโt take him away, that man said that Yin Xun cannot leave Shuifu village.โ His grandpa wanted to stop his mother.
But his mother, who had already lost her child once, refused to do so. She said, โThis place has problems, the people here have problems, I canโt leave my child here! I want to bring him out of here!โ She felt that if she left this place, she could leave all this madness behind and forget about that manโs pair of horrifying black eyes.
His father remained silent, his grandparents wanted to but couldnโt stop her. So, the next day, his mother, little Yin Xun in her arms, started on the path leaving Shuifu village.
His father had called a car to wait by the village entrance early on. The family of three walked towards the direction of the car.
But the moment his mother stepped out of Shuifu village, she discovered that Yin Xun, who hadnโt spoken up until now, had begun to melt in her arms. Water flowed down his body and he was gradually becoming transparent.
โAaaaaaaaah!!!โ Upon seeing this scene, his mother broke down. She screeched and threw Yin Xun onto the ground, scrambling out of the village as fast as she could. โThis isnโt my child, this isnโt my child, itโs a monsterโ Monsterโโ
Yin Xun watched his mother dazedly. He only remembered himself being pulled into the puddle. He didnโt remember anything else. He thought the strange atmosphere in his home had been because he had been too playful and had never thought that there was a deeper reason.
His mother left. She didnโt bring Yin Xun along, getting onto the car leaving Shuifu village with his father. She never returned.
Yin Xun was abandoned in this tiny little village.
Fortunately, besides being unable to leave Shuifu village, Yin Xun wasnโt any different from the other children.
Like this, Yin Xun slowly grew up. He also gradually noticed how he was different from other people. In the beginning, his grandparents hadnโt planned on telling him about it. Until one day, he found out that the shrine his grandma worshipped on the mountainsโฆ had his name on it.
When Yin Xun saw the shrine, he vaguely felt something. Only a long time later, did he finally realise what it was heโd felt.
It was his set task, his set task to forever keep watch over Shuifu village.
Someone had saved Yin Xun, who should have died, and gave him a new life, at the cost of passing on an inheritance.
His grandparents told Yin Xun about what had happened back then, about the strange man, about his mother, about why he couldnโt leave Shuifu village.
Even though he had never tested them, Yin Xun knew that his grandfatherโs words were all true. He even vaguely knew why he had become like this. But these things werenโt to be said. Words could be curses, and some things, if one said them out loud, would change oneโs reality.
Even later on, his grandparents died, and Yin Xun gradually grew up.
After becoming an adult, the range Yin Xun had been restricted to became a little bigger. He could leave Shuifu village and go to the nearby towns and villages. As for whether he could go further, Yin Xun had never tried. Because whenever he thought about it, a whisper would seemingly come from the mountains, telling him, he couldnโt leave, if he left, he would die.
Shuifu was his life, it was the root he could never leave.ย ย
The story should have ended like this, but Lu Qingjiuโs return signalled the start of a new chapter to the story.
*sobs
Thanks for the chapter
So he became a guardian? I wonder if he worships at his own shrine? ๐ค
Thank you
Why are we getting these damn feels QAQ
Dear author. You are hurting me ๐ญ then he know the origin of Bai Yuehu?
Maybe he don’t and the reason for his reaction is probably because that he saw BY original form and couldn’t associate his appearance with that of a fox spirit
Thanks for the chapter! ^ ^
Nice mother :’D
Thx for the ch (ใ หใ ห)
I love background information xD
Thanks for the hard work love the story ^_^
So that’s what happened
So sad…๐ญ๐ญ๐ญ Yon Xun…
So sad in many ways.
Thanks for the great translation โฅ๏ธ
Unfulfilled childhood hopes and promises break my heart หโงยบยท(ห หฬฃฬฃฬฅโหฬฃฬฃฬฅ )โงยบยทห
Thanks for the update!
๐ญ๐ญ Can LQJ arrival release YX from his shackles? Or will it only mean that his power will improve drastically? Thanks for the translation.
I thought this is comedy-horror-mystery. How did this become feels? ๐ญ๐ญ๐ญ๐ญ๐ญ๐ญ
aawww poor babyy Xun Xun๐ข๐ข๐ข…its okay babyy Qingjiu is here noww
๐ญ๐ญ๐ญ๐ญ๐ญ๐ญ
So he is like a land god…
Thank you so much for the chapter!(เนยด>แ<)~โค
Knife after knife man. Author San it’s not sparing me any room to even breathe QAQ.
Thanks for the chapter! ๐
So why is the seemingly ordinary LQ so important? ๐ง๐ค
Hoof.. At least this is better than him evaporating or leaving for good once he is discovered.. He might be restricted but can still be their together with his best friend and I know MC has even more reason to not leave the village ever..
I have no words to give anymore, take my tears instead.
LQJ timely returned really help out YX
he suffered so much….
(โฅ๏นโฅ) (โฅ๏นโฅ)
Poor baby! He must’ve been lonely ๐ญ๐ญ๐ญ