Jin SeCh66 - The Third Lantern (1)

The eastern coast was not a rich land, the terrain was hilly, and the soil was barren.

As the sun set, it cast the shadows of those rolling hills onto the boundless seas. Once in a while, one could catch a glimpse of reefs or perhaps a small boat drifting on the waves. The lighthouse at Boshang emitted a cold light, pointing into the depths of the east sea, where strange creatures were rumored to dwell. f2dNHX

No one knew where its other shore was. No one had ever seen it. The small islands scattered in the eastern sea seemed to be the utmost border of the human realm. It was said that deities and demons lived there; ordinary people didn’t dare approach.

Because of all the reefs, it was difficult to live off the mountains and seas. Every year, who knew how many young people would carry their humble belongings on their backs and leave in search of a better life, wandering for years in faraway lands before finally returning. Sometimes it’d be a year, sometimes several years, sometimes tens of years.

Chrysanthemum Garden.

When they left, their rosy cheeks glowed with youth. When they returned, their hair was half grey. Even though their accents hadn’t changed, and they were returning to their homeland, they were nearly unrecognizable. 

Thus, this place had a custom. Twenty-five days after the winter solstice, when plum flowers were in full bloom, was the Eastwind Festival, which would later be known as the Small Reunion Festival. The men who’d left would return one by one to reunite with their wives and children, wearing their best clothes, returning in fortune as best they could. z3bawI

The people living on the eastern coast were rather plucky. On the day of the Small Reunion Festival, the women would all dress up prettily and wait by the streets. Unmarried men would wear a small plum branch in their hats, and if they returned showily, if they looked handsome, then perhaps a young woman might promise herself to him.

As the years passed, the Small Reunions Festival eventually became like the Double Seven Festival, a beautiful, suggestive holiday wherein young men and women would express their inner feelings towards each other.

That day, a small fishing village by the eastern sea was decorated with colorful lanterns. Young men and women would sit round bonfires on the high hilltops, singing and dancing. Even the bitterly cold waves would seem peculiarly gentle. The old guards at Boshang Pass would sit atop the lighthouse and play a little ditty on their flutes. The music seemed to reach as far as the light of the lighthouse, traveling far along the waves.

Traveling to a far far away island.

Traveling to Bai Li’s nearly deaf ears.

His limbs burned. He felt like he was being sliced apart and sewn back together by a little knife. He was enveloped in an ever thickening white mist. It seemed to him that the person holding the knife was looking at him with a pair of sorrowful yet silent eyes — he knew it was himself.

At that time, Bai Li thought he was already dead.

Dying in the sounds of joyous flute music and the vibrant song and dance of young women brought to him by the wind. As the sounds trailed off and went off-tune, they seemed indescribably bleak. The things in his shadow wanted to devour his flesh and drink his blood; they circled him, waiting and watching, ready to pounce. StCkKr

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.

It was the soft yet unyielding white mist that protected him as it tortured him.

Djl Ol tjv cfnfg xcbkc atja atf yibbvilcf tf’v fzmlrfv klat tlr bkc akb tjcvr mbeiv yf rb ragbcu.

Obcu jub, tf’v kjcafv eialwjaf qbkfg, atf qbkfg ab aegc atf kbgiv bc lar tfjv jcv vb jcsatlcu tf klrtfv. Dea ktfc, joafg jii tlr rmtfwlcu jcv qibaalcu, tf’v jmaejiis byajlcfv la, tf obecv atja… tf kjr ralii ecjyif ab byajlc atf tfjga bo bcf qfgrbc.

He understood many things already, save for one thing; he didn’t understand the human heart. 7d usH

Bai Li began to scream hysterically. A notion flashed lightning-quick through his consciousness: he didn’t want Shi Wuduan anymore; even if he died that moment and became a cow, horse, swine, or dog in his next life, he never wanted to see him again.

The moment that thought surfaced in his mind, he felt a surge of clean, pure energy pour into him through the top of his head. The burning agony instantly lessened as the mist thinned. The figure formed of white mist, nearly indiscernible, burrowed into his body from his forehead.

In that exceptionally surreal moment, Bai Li, who had been sleepy and muddled, struggling blindly between wakefulness and sleep, suddenly returned to reality.

The memories of Cangyun Valley from so long ago that he’d buried so deep in his memories flashed before his eyes. Those dull yet happy days of his youth floated to the surface, all those decades squeezed into an instant. 2UBJAd

A person… no matter their birth or bloodline, cannot cut themselves in two. Even if they threw it away themselves, they’d no longer be the person they once were. In a moment of realization, Bai Li abruptly understood what was meant by… “by the time I looked back, I was already a century old.”

He suddenly panicked — no, how could he not see Shi Wuduan?

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

He’d already entrusted all the love, hate, desire, sentiment he’d ever have in this lifetime to that person. Only him; there’d never be any other.

Startled, Bai Li lifted his hand, touched his cheek, and found that his face was wet with tears.  cw06s4

The white mist shrank in volume. A blinding light shone from within, agitating those who were celebrating on the shores. They all stopped in confusion and looked into the distance. Someone yelled, “It’s a sign from the gods!”

They kneeled and closed their eyes piously, reciting their wishes, large and small, silently in their hearts. Some prayed for the gods to bless their destined marriage, others silently chanted the name of the one they longed for, hoping that the gods might tie a red string between them.

Bai Li felt like he’d been torn in two. When he woke, his mind was instantly dulled by pain. He couldn’t even scream. His vision blackened and he knew no more.

The moment before he passed out, he grasped on to that last bit of clarity and thought: considering how entangled they were in this life, they’d at least have the fortune to pass each other by in their next life; even if he could only see him one more time, even if he couldn’t say another word before they unremarkably went their separate ways…. CwG3uD

Once he saw him and knew he was well, he could rest in peace.

Aside from that, he wished for nothing more.

… he no longer dared to.

Shi Wuduan, who’d traveled hard for many days and had already laid down in an inn, suddenly woke. His heart trembled like he’d been struck by lightning. As if he was still dreaming, he reached out unwittingly to grasp something; he grasped only air. Only then did he remember that the rabbit he’d always carried in his arms was gone, its soul carried off to some unknown place, and its body laid to rest on the great bodhi tree.  RUpf5F

He slowly exhaled and laid back down, his eyes open as he stared at the inn’s old, worn ceiling in stupor.

Why am I here? He thought. For a while, he couldn’t think of an answer. His heart was an empty void, the stark ash left behind in the wake of a wildfire.

He turned and laid on his side, took a pouch out from the fold of his robes, and opened it. Inside, was a tuft of animal fur.

Was that dumb rabbit Bai Li? He lightly pinched the rabbit fur that’d long since lost its sheen as he asked himself, but…. how could it have been Bai Li? ry3MqO

Shi Wuduan suddenly let go and the fur fell to the palm of his hand. He clenched it in his fist, covered his eyes with his arm and forced himself not to think about it.

War had erupted once more in the northwest. The court would have their hands full trying to clean up the mess he’d created. The secret treaty with the Dasheng Sect was already established. Shi Wuduan was constantly notifying Gu Huaiyang and Xia Duanfang of his movements.

Rumor had it that Master Bitan was getting antsy, and wanted to personally reorganize the Xuan Sect’s shattered forces. He’d personally met with Xia Duanfang across the battlefield, and in the chaos, Gu Huaiyang had once more taken Dongyue. This time, wiser and cannier, he didn’t enter it immediately. He retreated and advanced back and forth, cleanly finishing off the court’s armies like they were mere bandit gangs. Only then did he split his forces in two. One force fought their way straight into Dongyue while the other circled around, heading straight towards the Xunan encampment in the middle plains, their numbers several times greater than what they’d had at the battle of Min River.

That was exactly the third lantern that Shi Wuduan intended to light. 4Cyv9m

They could use Xunan as a staging ground to launch further attacks, or they could station garrisons there to prevent incursion. It was a natural barrier. The defending general, Song E, was said to be an honest, upright man, a valiant fighter and leader. Plus, with Zou Yanlai who’d retreated to Xunan, it seemed that taking it would be a strenuous affair.

Still, there were always cracks in every defense. Shi Wuduan smirked in the darkness, but it quickly disappeared from his face.

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Even though he’d lit a fire, he still felt so very cold.

The icy winds roared fiercely as he laid alone in an inn far away from home, his heart full of schemes as he listened to the sound of snow hitting the walls. Even the heated floor wasn’t enough to keep the cold out, he was still freezing under his blankets — so frozen it seemed he’d never thaw. rxwa0A

Why would someone so proud and arrogant as Bai Li be willing to reside in such a fat, powerless rabbit?

… don’t think about it; have the spies in the Xunan Encampment successfully infiltrated yet? 

He’d stayed by his side so constantly for so many years, why? For what?

Why am I still thinking about it? The Xunan Encampment…. pdhrmb

No wonder he was so crazy and mercurial, and no wonder… the rabbit had such a peculiar gaze.

The rabbit’s dead already! So what if Bai Li was alive? What did it have to do with you? Why are you still thinking about it! Xunan…

The sect leader said he had to suffer the most agonizing torment, where was he now? If that was the case, how would he suppress the demons in his shadow? What if…

Shi Wuduan abruptly sat up and blanked out listlessly for a long while before he slowly rested his head against his knees and slowly shut his eyes.  y6bkdW

But then, so what? He told himself again and again, but then… so what? Who could control their fate in such chaotic times? Who wasn’t like flotsam and jetsam bobbing up and down in the currents? Who could manage to take care of anyone else?

It was still cold. He curled up into a ball, and in his jumbled heart there was only one thought left —

It was still cold.