As she was thinking, she spotted in the distance a group of people on a carriage, coming from the west side of the mountain. At the top of the carriage, there was a drum, and along the side, many people were walking while holding gongs.
The noise they had heard earlier in the Taohualin Forest, was it made by them? Jinxia curiously walked toward the head of the group and greeted him, “Greetings, uncle. Earlier, when we were both in the Taohualin Forest, there were sounds of gongs and drums, did you make them by chance?”
The head of the group was an old man with a white beard. When he heard that both of them had been inside the forest, he was shocked to death. He observed them from top to bottom, seeing that they were good and healthy, he let out a sigh of relief and asked, “You two were in the Taohualin Forest? Did you not encounter any snakes?”
“We did, but when they heard the sounds of gongs and drums, they ran away. But, what’s going on with the wild boars and rabbits?”
“Oh, this is the custom of this place. Every year, after the ‘Insect Awakening Day’, we use the sound of gongs and drums to drive animals of the nearby fields into the Taohualin Forest. After the Peach Blossoms Fairy enjoys it, she can bless the adjacent villages for a year, freeing them from the snakes. You went into the forest and could come out with a healthy body. Surely it is because the Peach Blossom Fairy has blessed you.”
Jinxia kept nodding her head, “Of course, of course, we even met her, the red-robed fairy, hiding in the middle of the red-purple smoke.”
Lu Yi, who was on the horse, did not say anything, not interfering with the conversation.
The old man showed surprise mixed with joy. “Ah! You both have such a great blessing to be able to meet the Peach Blossom Fairy!”
Jinxia smiled while continuing with her words, “The face of the Fairy is very kind and friendly, she even talked a lot with us…”
Hearing her words becoming nonsense, Lu Yi was afraid she would become too ridiculous, therefore he decided to interrupt her and said to the old man, “Too bad deities and humans are different… We were unknowledgeable, and couldn’t understand a word.”
“Who said…” Jinxia’s sentence was stopped by Lu Yi’s loud cough, and she was forced to open her mouth to say, “Who said that what he is saying isn’t true? What a shame…”
The white-bearded old man praised them, “You two are really fortunate people. All this time, people who went into the forest, even if they didn’t lose their lives, they would at least be injured. Yet, you’re not only fine, but even had the chance to meet the Fairy! This is some good luck that you must’ve obtained from the previous life, you must celebrate it!”
“Thank you, thank you, although I did not understand the words of the Fairy, it is very obvious that She really likes the sound of drums and gongs. This custom must be continued.”
After saying that, Jinxia excused herself from the old man, pulled the horse back, and continued her journey. While walking, she came to understand the whole incident: after passing the ‘Insect Awakening Day’, the snakes had woken up and become active again, being hungry. It was the reason why the villagers had driven wild boars and rabbits into the forest, in order to prevent the snakes from going out of it to hunt for food and hurting people. Today was a really fortunate coincidence, otherwise, she might have been buried in a snake’s stomach.
“Daren, our luck is really good!” She turned her head to look at Lu Yi and laughed.
Lu Yi corrected her, “Your luck is really good.”
“……”
While pulling the horse’s rope, Jinxia turned her head to look at the peach blossom tree, remembering what she had just experienced. In a low voice, she said to herself, ‘This master already knows that his life is lucky!* On the peach blossom field, there is a peach blossom temple, inside the peach blossom temple there is a fairy, and the fairy planted the peach blossom tree, then the tree was exchanged for wine…”
*[Tang Yin’s Tao Hua Wu poem, TN]
***
Seven and a half grams of clay, two grams of peeled angelica dahurica, thirty grams of crush pearls, made into five parts, one gram of deer fragrance, ten grams of musk, seven and a half grams of litharge powder, five grams of eagle’s manure, five pieces of gold paper, five pieces of silver paper, twenty grams of cinnabar, and a little bit of camphor. Use all of these things listed above, grind them into powder, then put tapioca flour on the tips of the lily petals that have just bloomed, steam them until they become blackish green. Finally, mix both powders together until they become pearl powder.
Looking in the mirror, Zhai Lanye took the pearl powder and poured it into her palm. The maid used a sharp silver needle and dripped water onto the powder: it quickly melted on the palm of her hand, she then gently smeared it on both her cheeks.
“Gui’Er, can you tell if I look thinner and paler?” She looked at herself through the mirror, observing herself from top to bottom, as if she was examining a piece of expensive porcelain, not missing a single spot.
The maid smiled faintly, “Where? In my opinion, back then, you had a little bit of a child-like look, but now, you took away that naive look, so you’re more beautiful than before.”
Her finger lightly stroked the upper cheeks of the person in the mirror, her whole face looked bright, but her expression was unsure.
“But, what if he prefers the face of a child?”
“It’s impossible… Miss, you worry too much.” The maid helped her tidy up the strands of hair on her temples, “I think all men are the same, if you have character and beauty, who wouldn’t fall in love with you?”
Zhai Lanye took the eyebrow pencil, then slowly said, “You do not understand, he and those people are not the same.” When she finished speaking, she looked again into the mirror, tracing the edge of her eyebrows.
Seeing the situation, the maid knew it would be useless to persuade her, so she laughed and shook her head, “Miss, yesterday the three outfits that you took out, I ironed them carefully, but which clothes would you like to wear?”
Zhai Lanye turned to look at the three outfits hanging on the yellow wooden pear shelves with mushroom patterns, trying in silence to guess which clothes he would have liked. For a long time, it was difficult for her to decide…
“These clothes were just sewn in the spring of this year, the red-silver colour is really nice, the outfit gives a sweet and charming look.” The maid looked at Zhai Lanye’s face and continued to point to the other outfit, “What about this dark blue one? It’s soft, light and simple…”
Zhai Lanye kept shaking her head, then she gave the orders, “Go get the yellow-orange coat under the box here.”
The maid left right after her words. A moment later, she returned, “This one is indeed new, but the design on it is antiquated, do you want to wear this one?”
After receiving the coat, her soft long fingers touched the embroidering, stroking the stitches. Zhai Lanye was sitting quietly on the drum stool, with her eyebrows furrowed, as if she was drowning in deep thoughts. The maid was used to seeing scenes like this, it was like her spirit had jumped out of her body, and now she was dazed, hence she didn’t want to bother her anymore.
After half a day had passed, the wall clock chirped ‘tweet’ several times. Zhai Lanye seemed to wake up from her thoughts, she had finally made a decision, therefore she stood up saying to herself, “Just wear this one, although, I don’t dare to hope, but if he…” Even though she did not finish her words, on her cheeks appeared a light pink tone and her face looked shy and agitated, showing a young girl’s tenderness.
***
Shen Mi’s clinic hall, backyard.
“What? You went there again?!?”
If it weren’t for his hand being busy kneading the dough, afraid she would get dirty, YangYue would’ve pulled her ears.
“Keep your voice down, don’t be so loud.” Jinxia tried to calm him down, “This Master had returned in good condition, nothing happened. Listen to me, the man and the woman weren’t my hallucinations, I found their footprints.”
YangYue said in surprise, “Footprints? Didn’t you say the woman was dead? You didn’t find her?”
Jinxia shook her head, her face turned serious, “I also felt something was strange, like the positioning of the man in my memory… There was no footprint there, but right at the spot, I found a print of a heavy object pressing on the ground and the man’s footprint was next to that print. Isn’t it weird?”
“The man did not die, then carried the woman out of the Taohualin Forest?” YangYue speculated.
“There is still one possibility…” Jinxia sighed and said, “That is, those two were buried in the stomach of the snake. You didn’t see that snake, it was really big, so big that it could swallow a wild boar. Not to mention, there were its kids and grandchildren, squirming back and forth… Just thinking about it already gives me the chills.”
“You’ve met a snake? This is the season when snakes wake up, and they are especially fierce during this time.”
“But this Master is safe and sound, I was protected by the golden armor given to me by the gods… Try to hurry up a little, I’m waiting to eat these noodles. Remember to boil an egg, I will go check on the Master.”
Jinxia ran out before YangYue could yell at her. In an instant, she arrived in front of Yang ChengWan’s room. Outside the door, she politely greeted and, after hearing a response from Yang ChengWan, she pushed the door open and went inside.
“Master, how are you feeling? Are you bored? Do you want me to find you some books to relieve your boredom?” She moved a small stool closer and sat down beside his bed. She looked at Yang ChengWan with a smile.
Watching this child grow up and seeing her smile like this, Yang ChengWan narrowed his eyes, suspiciously asking, “Did you cause some troubles outside, and now you’re feeling guilty?”
“How could you say that? My master is being treated here, how would I dare cause problems that can make you worry? Can I be such an ignorant person?” Looking at Yang ChengWan’s face again, Jinxia quickly said, “Yes, yes, yes, I will tell you. Nothing really happened in the last two days, it just that I found a man and a woman in the Taohualin Forest, and that woman…” She explained everything, and of course even the miasma poison, along with the snakes in the Taohualin Forest.
After listening, Yang ChengWan frowned and asked again, “You said that the woman was barefoot and the man’s position showed signs of being pressed by a heavy object.”
“Yes.” Jinxia nodded, “That’s why, I think this matter is very strange.”
“Try to draw and show me the footprint of the woman and the heavy object, remember to include the shape and size, it must not be wrong.” He ordered.
“Oh.”
Despite not knowing the intention of her Master, Jinxia obediently looked for a servant to borrow pen, ink, paper and inkstone. She bent down on the table and began drawing what she had seen. After flowing the ink marks, she gave the picture to Yang ChengWan.
Yang ChengWan looked at it for a moment, then asked: “Was there anything strange about the man?”
“There was fog in the forest at that time, I didn’t see him in a clear way, but I vaguely remember that the man’s arm was positioned in an unusual way, as if it was being pulled hard.” Jinxia hesitated for a moment, “Come to think of it, there’s something else; that night when I was with Xie Xiao at the Qifen Pavilion, when I looked out the window, there was a fragrance boat and inside it there were a man and a woman hugging each other. The man’s arm was positioned like that too… Could it be the same person?”
YangYue did not say anything for a while, then he suddenly said, “That was not a human being.”
“Huh? Not human?” Jinxia asked in surprise.
“In the past, there was a torture instrument, like a coffin that stood upright, inside of it there were sharp thorns, approximately three inches long. When a person was put inside it and the coffin was closed, those sharp thorns would be pierced into the flesh of the person. The blood would then be poured out drop by drop on the ground, in a slow agony, until the whole body would be drained. This kind of torture was extremely cruel, because it took about two to three days for the person inside to die.”
As soon as Yang ChengWan told her about this method of torture, it gave her sudden chills down her spine.
“Who’s idea was to make this? How big of a grudge for someone to use this? It’s too cruel.” She said with a titter.
“Later, someone changed it and made it into a wooden human form, inside which were hidden the sharp thorns. When this human form embraces a person in their arms, its arms will be contracted. When the machine is on, the sharp thorns will appear, piercing into the body. This torture instrument is called ‘Ai Bieli’,” Yang ChengWan paused for a moment, “When I saw your picture earlier, the traces left behind really matched the traces of ‘Ai Bieli’.”
*[Ai Bieli = Or another way ‘Love Parting’, the modified version of the Iron Maiden, TN]
Jinxia shuddered, and murmured, “Buddha stated the eight human sufferings: birth, old age, sickness, death, love parting… And in this world, there is a person who can come up with this kind of torture instrument, it’s so strange….”
“Thankfully, the process in creating this tool is very complicated and it hasn’t been used for a long time, but why is it now suddenly appearing in the Yangzhou area?” Yang ChengWan’s eyebrows furrowed, “And you’ve seen it twice.”
“It is related to the Zhou Xian’s case? But… What is the relationship between these two matters?”
Jinxia didn’t understand.
As she was thinking, she spotted in the distance a group of people on a carriage, coming from the west side of the mountain. At the top of the carriage, there was a drum, and along the side, many people were walking while holding gongs.
The noise they had heard earlier in the Taohualin Forest, was it made by them? Jinxia curiously walked toward the head of the group and greeted him, “Greetings, uncle. Earlier, when we were both in the Taohualin Forest, there were sounds of gongs and drums, did you make them by chance?”
The head of the group was an old man with a white beard. When he heard that both of them had been inside the forest, he was shocked to death. He observed them from top to bottom, seeing that they were good and healthy, he let out a sigh of relief and asked, “You two were in the Taohualin Forest? Did you not encounter any snakes?”
“We did, but when they heard the sounds of gongs and drums, they ran away. But, what’s going on with the wild boars and rabbits?”
“Oh, this is the custom of this place. Every year, after the ‘Insect Awakening Day’, we use the sound of gongs and drums to drive animals of the nearby fields into the Taohualin Forest. After the Peach Blossoms Fairy enjoys it, she can bless the adjacent villages for a year, freeing them from the snakes. You went into the forest and could come out with a healthy body. Surely it is because the Peach Blossom Fairy has blessed you.”
Jinxia kept nodding her head, “Of course, of course, we even met her, the red-robed fairy, hiding in the middle of the red-purple smoke.”
Lu Yi, who was on the horse, did not say anything, not interfering with the conversation.
The old man showed surprise mixed with joy. “Ah! You both have such a great blessing to be able to meet the Peach Blossom Fairy!”
Jinxia smiled while continuing with her words, “The face of the Fairy is very kind and friendly, she even talked a lot with us…”
Hearing her words becoming nonsense, Lu Yi was afraid she would become too ridiculous, therefore he decided to interrupt her and said to the old man, “Too bad deities and humans are different… We were unknowledgeable, and couldn’t understand a word.”
“Who said…” Jinxia’s sentence was stopped by Lu Yi’s loud cough, and she was forced to open her mouth to say, “Who said that what he is saying isn’t true? What a shame…”
The white-bearded old man praised them, “You two are really fortunate people. All this time, people who went into the forest, even if they didn’t lose their lives, they would at least be injured. Yet, you’re not only fine, but even had the chance to meet the Fairy! This is some good luck that you must’ve obtained from the previous life, you must celebrate it!”
“Thank you, thank you, although I did not understand the words of the Fairy, it is very obvious that She really likes the sound of drums and gongs. This custom must be continued.”
After saying that, Jinxia excused herself from the old man, pulled the horse back, and continued her journey. While walking, she came to understand the whole incident: after passing the ‘Insect Awakening Day’, the snakes had woken up and become active again, being hungry. It was the reason why the villagers had driven wild boars and rabbits into the forest, in order to prevent the snakes from going out of it to hunt for food and hurting people. Today was a really fortunate coincidence, otherwise, she might have been buried in a snake’s stomach.
“Daren, our luck is really good!” She turned her head to look at Lu Yi and laughed.
Lu Yi corrected her, “Your luck is really good.”
“……”
While pulling the horse’s rope, Jinxia turned her head to look at the peach blossom tree, remembering what she had just experienced. In a low voice, she said to herself, ‘This master already knows that his life is lucky!* On the peach blossom field, there is a peach blossom temple, inside the peach blossom temple there is a fairy, and the fairy planted the peach blossom tree, then the tree was exchanged for wine…”
*[Tang Yin’s Tao Hua Wu poem, TN]
***
Seven and a half grams of clay, two grams of peeled angelica dahurica, thirty grams of crush pearls, made into five parts, one gram of deer fragrance, ten grams of musk, seven and a half grams of litharge powder, five grams of eagle’s manure, five pieces of gold paper, five pieces of silver paper, twenty grams of cinnabar, and a little bit of camphor. Use all of these things listed above, grind them into powder, then put tapioca flour on the tips of the lily petals that have just bloomed, steam them until they become blackish green. Finally, mix both powders together until they become pearl powder.
Looking in the mirror, Zhai Lanye took the pearl powder and poured it into her palm. The maid used a sharp silver needle and dripped water onto the powder: it quickly melted on the palm of her hand, she then gently smeared it on both her cheeks.
“Gui’Er, can you tell if I look thinner and paler?” She looked at herself through the mirror, observing herself from top to bottom, as if she was examining a piece of expensive porcelain, not missing a single spot.
The maid smiled faintly, “Where? In my opinion, back then, you had a little bit of a child-like look, but now, you took away that naive look, so you’re more beautiful than before.”
Her finger lightly stroked the upper cheeks of the person in the mirror, her whole face looked bright, but her expression was unsure.
“But, what if he prefers the face of a child?”
“It’s impossible… Miss, you worry too much.” The maid helped her tidy up the strands of hair on her temples, “I think all men are the same, if you have character and beauty, who wouldn’t fall in love with you?”
Zhai Lanye took the eyebrow pencil, then slowly said, “You do not understand, he and those people are not the same.” When she finished speaking, she looked again into the mirror, tracing the edge of her eyebrows.
Seeing the situation, the maid knew it would be useless to persuade her, so she laughed and shook her head, “Miss, yesterday the three outfits that you took out, I ironed them carefully, but which clothes would you like to wear?”
Zhai Lanye turned to look at the three outfits hanging on the yellow wooden pear shelves with mushroom patterns, trying in silence to guess which clothes he would have liked. For a long time, it was difficult for her to decide…
“These clothes were just sewn in the spring of this year, the red-silver colour is really nice, the outfit gives a sweet and charming look.” The maid looked at Zhai Lanye’s face and continued to point to the other outfit, “What about this dark blue one? It’s soft, light and simple…”
Zhai Lanye kept shaking her head, then she gave the orders, “Go get the yellow-orange coat under the box here.”
The maid left right after her words. A moment later, she returned, “This one is indeed new, but the design on it is antiquated, do you want to wear this one?”
After receiving the coat, her soft long fingers touched the embroidering, stroking the stitches. Zhai Lanye was sitting quietly on the drum stool, with her eyebrows furrowed, as if she was drowning in deep thoughts. The maid was used to seeing scenes like this, it was like her spirit had jumped out of her body, and now she was dazed, hence she didn’t want to bother her anymore.
After half a day had passed, the wall clock chirped ‘tweet’ several times. Zhai Lanye seemed to wake up from her thoughts, she had finally made a decision, therefore she stood up saying to herself, “Just wear this one, although, I don’t dare to hope, but if he…” Even though she did not finish her words, on her cheeks appeared a light pink tone and her face looked shy and agitated, showing a young girl’s tenderness.
***
Shen Mi’s clinic hall, backyard.
“What? You went there again?!?”
If it weren’t for his hand being busy kneading the dough, afraid she would get dirty, YangYue would’ve pulled her ears.
“Keep your voice down, don’t be so loud.” Jinxia tried to calm him down, “This Master had returned in good condition, nothing happened. Listen to me, the man and the woman weren’t my hallucinations, I found their footprints.”
YangYue said in surprise, “Footprints? Didn’t you say the woman was dead? You didn’t find her?”
Jinxia shook her head, her face turned serious, “I also felt something was strange, like the positioning of the man in my memory… There was no footprint there, but right at the spot, I found a print of a heavy object pressing on the ground and the man’s footprint was next to that print. Isn’t it weird?”
“The man did not die, then carried the woman out of the Taohualin Forest?” YangYue speculated.
“There is still one possibility…” Jinxia sighed and said, “That is, those two were buried in the stomach of the snake. You didn’t see that snake, it was really big, so big that it could swallow a wild boar. Not to mention, there were its kids and grandchildren, squirming back and forth… Just thinking about it already gives me the chills.”
“You’ve met a snake? This is the season when snakes wake up, and they are especially fierce during this time.”
“But this Master is safe and sound, I was protected by the golden armor given to me by the gods… Try to hurry up a little, I’m waiting to eat these noodles. Remember to boil an egg, I will go check on the Master.”
Jinxia ran out before YangYue could yell at her. In an instant, she arrived in front of Yang ChengWan’s room. Outside the door, she politely greeted and, after hearing a response from Yang ChengWan, she pushed the door open and went inside.
“Master, how are you feeling? Are you bored? Do you want me to find you some books to relieve your boredom?” She moved a small stool closer and sat down beside his bed. She looked at Yang ChengWan with a smile.
Watching this child grow up and seeing her smile like this, Yang ChengWan narrowed his eyes, suspiciously asking, “Did you cause some troubles outside, and now you’re feeling guilty?”
“How could you say that? My master is being treated here, how would I dare cause problems that can make you worry? Can I be such an ignorant person?” Looking at Yang ChengWan’s face again, Jinxia quickly said, “Yes, yes, yes, I will tell you. Nothing really happened in the last two days, it just that I found a man and a woman in the Taohualin Forest, and that woman…” She explained everything, and of course even the miasma poison, along with the snakes in the Taohualin Forest.
After listening, Yang ChengWan frowned and asked again, “You said that the woman was barefoot and the man’s position showed signs of being pressed by a heavy object.”
“Yes.” Jinxia nodded, “That’s why, I think this matter is very strange.”
“Try to draw and show me the footprint of the woman and the heavy object, remember to include the shape and size, it must not be wrong.” He ordered.
“Oh.”
Despite not knowing the intention of her Master, Jinxia obediently looked for a servant to borrow pen, ink, paper and inkstone. She bent down on the table and began drawing what she had seen. After flowing the ink marks, she gave the picture to Yang ChengWan.
Yang ChengWan looked at it for a moment, then asked: “Was there anything strange about the man?”
“There was fog in the forest at that time, I didn’t see him in a clear way, but I vaguely remember that the man’s arm was positioned in an unusual way, as if it was being pulled hard.” Jinxia hesitated for a moment, “Come to think of it, there’s something else; that night when I was with Xie Xiao at the Qifen Pavilion, when I looked out the window, there was a fragrance boat and inside it there were a man and a woman hugging each other. The man’s arm was positioned like that too… Could it be the same person?”
YangYue did not say anything for a while, then he suddenly said, “That was not a human being.”
“Huh? Not human?” Jinxia asked in surprise.
“In the past, there was a torture instrument, like a coffin that stood upright, inside of it there were sharp thorns, approximately three inches long. When a person was put inside it and the coffin was closed, those sharp thorns would be pierced into the flesh of the person. The blood would then be poured out drop by drop on the ground, in a slow agony, until the whole body would be drained. This kind of torture was extremely cruel, because it took about two to three days for the person inside to die.”
As soon as Yang ChengWan told her about this method of torture, it gave her sudden chills down her spine.
“Who’s idea was to make this? How big of a grudge for someone to use this? It’s too cruel.” She said with a titter.
“Later, someone changed it and made it into a wooden human form, inside which were hidden the sharp thorns. When this human form embraces a person in their arms, its arms will be contracted. When the machine is on, the sharp thorns will appear, piercing into the body. This torture instrument is called ‘Ai Bieli’,” Yang ChengWan paused for a moment, “When I saw your picture earlier, the traces left behind really matched the traces of ‘Ai Bieli’.”
*[Ai Bieli = Or another way ‘Love Parting’, the modified version of the Iron Maiden, TN]
Jinxia shuddered, and murmured, “Buddha stated the eight human sufferings: birth, old age, sickness, death, love parting… And in this world, there is a person who can come up with this kind of torture instrument, it’s so strange….”
“Thankfully, the process in creating this tool is very complicated and it hasn’t been used for a long time, but why is it now suddenly appearing in the Yangzhou area?” Yang ChengWan’s eyebrows furrowed, “And you’ve seen it twice.”
“It is related to the Zhou Xian’s case? But… What is the relationship between these two matters?”
Jinxia didn’t understand.
