Chapter 44: Picking Mulberries (Part 1)
Qinglan had been smiling.
But in Ni Su’s memories, her brother rarely smiled. He was like their father, serious and reserved even in his youth. While their father focused on his medical studies, it was her brother who had guided her, teaching her about medicinal herbs and life lessons.
Ni Su had always believed that if she ever made a mistake, her brother would be there to guide her back to the right path.
He was her brother, her teacher, her mentor. He had shown her that as a woman, she could choose a different path.
Not a caged bird, but a soaring swallow.
Ni Su wiped away her tears, wanting to see him more clearly, but his form, made of soul fire, was fading. She reached out, but her touch only hastened its dispersal.
“A-Xi, I’m proud of you,” Ni Qinglan’s voice echoed in her dream as the last of the soul fire was absorbed by the beast bead.
Ni Su opened her eyes. The pale morning light filtered through the window. She stared blankly at the bed canopy, then touched her wet face.
She remembered her brother’s disappearance, the beast bead returning to Xu Zi Ling’s hand, him helping her to bed, her crying into his blanket.
Her dream had been filled with her brother’s presence.
She touched the damp pillow and looked up, her eyes swollen. The green gauze curtain had been lowered. A figure sat at the desk, the sound of turning pages barely audible.
“Xu Zi Ling,” she called, her voice thick with sleep.
The figure stopped turning the pages and stood up, his movements slightly stiff. The punishment for using his powers at the Dengwen Drum Court must have been severe. Months of incense and candles hadn’t fully restored him. He leaned on the desk for support as he walked towards the curtain.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
Ni Su saw his hand lifting the curtain, pale but otherwise normal, its bones elegant and graceful.
He wore a light green robe today, the white collar of his inner robe making him look like a snow-covered pine tree, his eyes clear and cold.
“You sat there all night?” she asked, noticing the scroll in his hand.
“I don’t experience physical fatigue. Even when I close my eyes, I’m not truly sleeping.”
As a ghost, his senses were dulled. He only felt pain because it was the Earth Lord’s way of punishing him.
Sleep, food, the things that sustained human life, were irrelevant to him.
When he closed his eyes, he was merely trying to recall his past.
Ni Su watched him put down the scroll, light the stove, and prepare tea. The room was warm, and she noticed the glowing embers in the brazier.
He must have replenished the coals throughout the night.
“I haven’t thanked you for letting me see my brother one last time,” she said, watching him from beneath the blanket.
Xu He Xue shook his head. “The Earth Lord gave you the beast bead as a reward. I couldn’t have done it without the bead.”
“A reward for what? For burning winter clothes for you? For summoning you back?”
“Mmm.”
“But…” Ni Su realized she couldn’t recall the face of the white-haired monk from Da Zhong Temple. “Why did he go through so much trouble to help you return?”
Fate was a strange thing. If she hadn’t met Xu Zi Ling, she might have come to Yun Jing alone and perhaps died without seeing her brother again.
What was Xu Zi Ling’s fate?
Xu He Xue paused, his gaze falling on the table. After a moment, he said, “Because what I seek is also what he seeks.”
The souls trapped in the pagoda in Youdu crossed the River of Resentment every year during the You Shi period, but few succeeded.
Without crossing the river, their resentment lingered, trapping them in the pagoda, their hatred and grievances growing with each passing year.
This wasn’t good for Youdu.
If resentment filled Youdu, it would destabilize the realm.
“Then…” Ni Su asked hesitantly, “what do you seek?”
This was the closest she had come to uncovering his secrets.
The wind rattled the window, and sparks flew from the brazier. Xu He Xue looked up, the bleak winter landscape outside mirroring the desolation in his eyes. “To cleanse those who deserve to be cleansed.”
Fifteen years ago, at Mu Shen Mountain.
Thirty thousand souls, their bodies left unburied in a foreign land, their blood staining the ground.
He wanted to cleanse their souls, clear their names, and bring them peace.
Even if he couldn’t retrieve their bones, he could restore their honor.
Ni Su didn’t fully understand. How could those who were already cleansed be cleansed further? But seeing him pour tea, she hesitated to ask again.
“Would you like some?” he asked, offering her the cup.
Ni Su glanced at him. He clearly didn’t want to elaborate. She sat up, took the cup, and drank a few sips. “Thank you,” she said softly, meeting his gaze.
The light outside grew stronger. Yu Wen entered to help Ni Su wash and dress. Xu He Xue quietly left the room and stood on the porch, unnoticed by the servants bustling around the courtyard.
“Sister Yu Wen!” a servant called, running from the front of the shop, carrying a food box, and passing Xu He Xue without seeing him. “Someone’s here for Miss Ni!”
“Who is it?” Yu Wen asked, walking out.
“They said… they’re here to consult her,” the servant said, handing her the food box.
Consult her?
Xu He Xue looked up and heard footsteps inside. Ni Su emerged, her eyes bright in the morning light. “Really?”
“They want you to visit them. They said they’re bedridden,” the servant said, scratching his head.
“I’ll go take a look,” Ni Su said, holding onto the doorframe. Yu Wen put down the food box and supported her, but she stopped and turned around.
Xu He Xue met her gaze and nodded, walking towards her.
A young woman in simple clothes stood nervously in the main hall, refusing the seat offered by a servant.
Seeing Ni Su, she took the offered tea. “I… my mother is unwell. It’s been six months, but she refused to see a physician and was afraid of medicine women. She’s been delaying treatment.”
She looked at Ni Su, slightly younger than herself, a flicker of doubt in her eyes. “I heard you come from a reputable medical family. I thought, if you dared to appeal to the Dengwen Drum Court for your brother, you must be a good person. So I wanted to ask you to treat my mother, if… if the fee is reasonable.”
With the resolution of the winter examination case and Ni Su’s appeal, the Ni siblings’ story was now well-known in Yun Jing.
“You’re the first person to come to my clinic. I’ll treat your mother for free,” Ni Su said, asking Yu Wen to bring her medicine box.
Ni Su refused Yu Wen’s offer to accompany her. She took a cane and asked the young woman, Zhang, to carry her medicine box, leaving without breakfast.
At Zhang’s house, Ni Su didn’t rush to examine the patient. She sat by the bed and chatted with Zhang’s mother, easing her anxieties.
She often used this method in the villages near Que County to build rapport with her patients.
Near noon, Ni Su left, leaning on her cane.
“Let me carry that,” Xu He Xue said, reaching for the medicine box.
Ni Su handed it to him. “Are you bored waiting for me?”
“No,” he said, taking the box and supporting her. Seeing her slow pace, he said, “Wait a moment.”
Ni Su stopped, watching as he placed the medicine box on the ground, took her cane, and crouched down before her, his light green robes pooling around him. He looked back at her, her expression blank, and called her name. “Ni Su.”
“Your wounds haven’t healed…” she said, clutching her sleeve.
“I’m not in pain anymore,” he said, then, remembering her holding the umbrella over him that night, added, “I’m not lying.”
Ni Su realized he had materialized. An old man carrying a heavy load passed by, staring at Xu Zi Ling curiously.
Ni Su quickly leaned down and wrapped her arms around Xu He Xue’s neck, her face against his back.
She felt his shoulders tense. She, too, was flustered, unsure where to place her hands.
Her fingers brushed against the smooth fabric of his robe. She looked up at his neatly combed hair and the jade hairpin.
Xu He Xue picked up the medicine box and carried her on his back.
Ni Su chattered, telling him about the prescription she had given and how she always left her patients’ homes before lunch in Que County.
“Do you know why?” she asked playfully.
“You’re afraid they’ll offer you food,” Xu He Xue said, walking along the riverbank, willow branches brushing against his hair. “Although they’re poor, they’re hospitable. They would offer you their best food, especially since you treated their mother for free.”
“You’re… so smart,” Ni Su said. She had been waiting for him to ask “why.”
Although raised in privilege, Xu He Xue wasn’t ignorant of hardship. He had seen the suffering of the people during his five years at the border.
“Practicing medicine seems to make you happy,” he said, remembering her eagerness when she heard about the patient and her cheerful demeanor while talking to Zhang’s mother.
“Having someone ask for my help is the best feeling,” Ni Su said with a smile. “Xu Zi Ling, with the first patient, it won’t be so difficult anymore, right?”
Her voice was filled with hope.
“Mmm,” Xu He Xue replied softly.
Few people walked along the riverbank. Thin ice had formed at the water’s edge. He carried her silently, then felt her cold fingers press something against his lips.
Ni Su hadn’t meant to touch his lips. She instinctively tried to pull back, but the object was already between his lips. “Open your mouth,” she mumbled, embarrassed.
Xu He Xue opened his mouth and took the object.
“Zhang gave it to me. I only took one,” Ni Su said, withdrawing her hand and watching his long eyelashes flutter in the wind. “Is it sweet?”
It was candy.
Xu He Xue lowered his eyes. “Mmm,” he said. “It’s sweet.”
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