Jiang Sheng’s friend was named Lin Qiubai. He was a descendant of a wealthy family in Nanjing. His family’s ancestral craft was the nationally renowned cloud-pattern brocade weaving technique. The “Seventeen Grand Brocades” passed down from his family as ancestral heirlooms were dazzling and beautiful and could be called a work of art.
The Lin family’s lineage could be traced back to the Ming Dynasty, and while the techniques for weaving eleven of the Seventeen Grand Brocades had been largely lost over time, the techniques to weave the remaining six grand brocades were enough to sustain their entire family business. From this, one could imagine the grandeur of their past.
Accompanying the illustrious reputation of the Seventeen Grand Brocades were not only its resounding name but also some eerie and mysterious rumors. The Lin family had consistently claimed these to be malicious rumors spread by competitors, but some things were challenging to stop from spreading through word of mouth.
According to the rumors, the technique for weaving the Lin family’s Seventeen Grand Brocades was beyond human capability. Apparently, the Lin family had used evil magic to trick a Weaver Crane Maiden into revealing the secrets of this technique. The Crane Maiden wove the beautiful Seventeen Grand Brocades but incorporated a curse of revenge within them. Hence, whoever possessed these brocades would face calamity. This was also why the Lin family’s Seventeen Grand Brocades were becoming less and less popular, and their past brocades could no longer be found.
Lin Qiubai wouldn’t be troubled by this illusory rumor alone. As the fourth son in the direct line, he originally had no interest in learning family skills. However, what happened in the past two years did make him feel increasingly uneasy.
Two years ago, the family’s patriarch, the eldest among Lin Qiubai’s father’s generation and the current head of the family, publicly announced the restoration of one of the Seventeen Grand Brocades weaving techniques, transforming the existing six brocades into seven. Shortly before Jiang Sheng’s last visit, another restoration was declared, adding yet another brocade. While initially a cause for celebration, Lin Qiubai lost his joy after accidentally uncovering some unsavory secrets.
Jiang Sheng didn’t have Huang Yuliang’s good temper and was very impatient with Lin Qiubai deliberately creating an atmospheric storytelling. “Can you get to the point? Why are you being so long-winded?!”
“Don’t rush, information can’t hurt. Continue, please,” Huang Yuliang, who was listening attentively, chirped.
“Brother Huang, you are truly insightful!” Lin Qiubai deliberately lowered his voice. “I have a cousin who is the second eldest child in her family. When I was young, family members used to say she had questionable behavior. Eventually, she was stripped of our generation’s middle name character. I haven’t seen her since.”
Lin Qiubai always remembered his cousin Lin Qiuzi as a kind and well-behaved girl. As the eldest girl of their generation, she was groomed as a proper young lady with skills in music, chess, calligraphy, and poetry. When Lin Qiubai was twelve, things suddenly took a turn for the worse. He saw his cousin being tied up and forcibly pushed into the courtyard of her home. Elders surrounded her, hurling insults as they poured cold water over her. Her parents could only cry helplessly, unable to stop the abuse. No one intervened.
At the time, Lin Qiubai didn’t understand why they treated his cousin Lin Qiuzi so cruelly. He only overheard whispers about her being “undisciplined.” However, none of the adults ever elaborated the details of what constituted this supposed lack of discipline. As he grew older, he began to suspect something was amiss. Maybe this “undisciplined” behavior had something to do with romantic relationships, but he couldn’t fathom why such harsh public criticism was necessary for just having a boyfriend.
From that moment onward, Lin Qiuzi never appeared at home again.
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.
Not long ago, when Jiang Sheng came to Nanjing, Lin Qiubai went to sneakily swipe some rice wine from his eldest uncle’s secret stash. Inadvertently, he discovered a semi-underground secret room in the house. The room’s window was sealed with wooden boards, and inside, Lin Qiuzi was sitting, weaving fabric. Peering through the cracks in the boards, he could see that the spacious room was well-stocked with daily necessities, but most of the space was occupied by a large jacquard wooden loom.
Olc Hlehl’r qjgfcar tjv qjrrfv jkjs ogbw vfqgfrrlbc rbbc joafg atf jmmlvfca atja sfjg, yea Olc Hleyjl mbeivc’a ojatbw tbk atf vjeutafg bo atf liieraglber Olc ojwlis fcvfv eq mbcolcfv ab remt j alcs qijmf ab kfjnf mibat.
Ca atja wbwfca, Olc Hleyjl mjiifv bea ab tlr mberlc, kjcalcu ab xcbk ktja tjv tjqqfcfv. Lbkfnfg, tlr mberlc bcis mglfv jcv gfdefrafv tlw cba ab afii jcsbcf jybea olcvlcu tfg tfgf, cba ab jqqgbjmt atflg fivfra ecmif, jcv vfolclafis cba ab lcnbinf atf jeatbglalfr. Vfflcu tlr mberlc’r ogjulif rajaf, Olc Hleyjl kjr lcoegljafv, yea eqbc oegatfg mbcrlvfgjalbc, tf ofia atja Olc Hlehl wera tjnf tjv tfg gfjrbcr obg kliilcuis kfjnlcu ojyglm lc remt j mbcolcfv rqjmf.
Almost reflexively, Lin Qiubai thought of the two weaving techniques that had been recently restored. After all, there was nothing else peculiar that could be associated with this matter.
“Do you think your sister wove the two restored brocades of the Seventeen Grand Brocades?”
“Of course. Otherwise, why would our eldest uncle imprison her?”
Huang Yuliang thought for a moment, and indeed, the connection between these two incidents was quite evident. However, understanding the problem thoroughly or even resolving it would be quite challenging. “I’d like to either see all seventeen of your family’s Seventeen Grand Brocades or meet your sister in person. Which one do you think is easier?”
Lin Qiubai pondered. “My eldest uncle rarely allows outsiders into the house. If you want to see the brocade, it might be relatively easier.”
As Huang Yuliang’s gaze flitted from Jiang Sheng to Lin Qiubai, a nascent idea took root in his mind.
To Li Yan’s surprise, the relative his grandfather had talked about had already become a nun.
During their conversation, the woman explained that she’d witnessed the tragic massacre of the Li Family Village back then and was plagued by nightmares even after fleeing. It was only after seeking refuge in Buddhism that she found some peace of mind. Li Yan had hoped to gather clues about his father or great-uncle from this person, but the current situation suggested it might not be possible.
Walking up the steps of the Jiming Temple to the Medicine Buddha Pagoda, Li Yan sincerely made a heartfelt wish to the Buddha. He prayed that he’d find his father soon, that his father would let go of his vendetta and all worldly chaos, and that their family would be reunited soon.
While deep in prayer, his shoulder was tapped. Turning around, he met the gaze of a young man with a gentle and kind face.
“Do you have a moment? It’s not convenient to talk here. Could you come with me to that side?” The young man gestured towards a secluded spot beside the steps. “Please don’t misunderstand. I mean no harm.”
Li Yan wasn’t afraid. He estimated that with the other person’s slender build, a single kick could knock the guy down.
Following the young man to the side of the steps, Li Yan strategically positioned himself on the opposite side of the mouth of the stairs to avoid being pushed down when he wasn’t paying attention. “Go ahead.”
The young man picked up a short branch from the ground, then grabbed a handful of dirt and sprinkled it on the ground before using the twig to roughly sketch the shape of a bone. “Have you ever seen something like this before?”
Li Yan examined the drawing and initially found it unremarkable. But the longer he gazed, the more unsettling he felt. The simple sketch seemed to morph into something tangible, its shape and length unmistakably resembling the foxtail stone statue. “This… this is…”
“You’ve touched it, haven’t you?” The young man, seeing that Li Yan wasn’t refuting, smiled and continued, “It’s okay. Fortunately, you haven’t been in contact with it for long.”
“How do you know about this thing?” Li Yan took a step forward. However, suddenly realizing that someone who knew about this statue would certainly be no ordinary person, he involuntarily took a step back. “You…”
The young man paid no attention to Li Yan’s cautious movement and pointed towards the bottom of the stairs and asked, “That person is your acquaintance, right?”
Li Yan thought he must be hallucinating. How could this person know everything?
“If you can ask her for a red string, that would be best.”
Subconsciously obeying the command, Li Yan immediately went to the nun, his distant relative, and asked for a red string.
Taking the red string, the young man pinched a handful of soil from under one of the trees, rubbed it on the red string, and handed it to Li Yan. “The purifying power in the soil of this temple can dispel evil spirits. I’ve infused this power into the string. Wear it, and try not to take it off if possible.” With that, the young man smiled, turned around, and began to leave.
With a surge of urgency, Li Yan closed the distance between them, his hand shooting out to snag the young man’s sleeve. “Um… You know about this thing, right? Can you tell me more about it? I mean no harm, really. I’m not planning to use it for evil purposes…”
The young man patted Li Yan’s shoulder. “I hope you can let go of these things and stay as far away from them as possible.”
“I want to use them to find my father. He… he was collecting these statues, so… Umm, I don’t know how to explain it. It’s just that I’m searching for them because my father wants to unseal them.” Li Yan knew that the person in front of him was not human, but a strong intuition told him that this person was not malevolent. Moreover, for some reason, he felt that this young man could help him.
The young man smiled and turned around, and in the blink of an eye, he was already at the bottom of the stairs.
“Hey, brother! Uh… S-sir!” Li Yan chased after him, feeling that this person definitely knew something. Just as his grandfather said, as the Swallow of this generation, finding his father was not just his personal wish, it was also his responsibility so as to prevent his father from causing harm with the Poison Hand Technique and stone statues.
With light and elegant movements, Li Yan reached the bottom of the stairs in a few steps. When they were separated by four or five steps, Li Yan could almost hear the young man let out an almost imperceptible sigh. Although his lips didn’t move, a voice floated into his ears. “While I may not be able to read human hearts, I can tell that you are a kind soul. So let me give you a suggestion: Clinging to the past will only bring you pain.”
Li Yan abruptly halted in his tracks amidst the astonished gazes of those around him. Somehow, he felt that even if he caught up, the young man wouldn’t say anything more. Moreover, a sense of sadness surged within him, as if there was a real bitterness permeating the air. He felt as if a spotlight had pierced the deepest recesses of his heart, illuminating something he’d secretly tried to bury. It was something he didn’t want to touch or face. Something he’d sensed long ago:
All of this was ultimately in vain.
Mystery intensifies…
Thanks for the chapter!