TBWE Chapter 23

Caress

The divine being was sealed deep within the Hundred Thousand Mountain, its true form unable to leave the mountain range.

Ming Pu protected Chu Ruoxian and the unconscious Chu Li as they left, paying a heavy price for this—she was severely injured and took half a year to recover.

From that day forward, the Chu family never stopped searching for Chu Li, and Chu Ruoxian’s family was forced to move multiple times.

To prevent her good friend from being dragged too deeply into this and being targeted by the Chu family, Chu Ruoxian voluntarily cut off contact.

Speaking of this, Ming Pu smiled faintly. “Your mother was a very decisive person. After that farewell when you were four, I never saw her again.”

It wasn’t until Chu Li turned eighteen that she received another call from Chu Ruoxian.

She asked Ming Pu to take care of Chu Li for one month, then she and her husband would come to pick her up.

Ming Pu never got to see her one last time.

Their final contact was over the phone.

Three days before the month was up, Chu Ruoxian called again.

“Your mother said…” Ming Pu’s voice grew heavy, “to entrust you to me. She didn’t want you to bear the karmic consequences on your body, only wished for you to be safe, healthy, and carefree.”

——”Ah Pu, you’re the last person I can trust in this world… Please help me take care of her. I only want her to be safe and healthy… Don’t let her come back, don’t come back!!”

In that last phone call, Chu Ruoxian’s weak, intermittent voice still echoed in her ears.

After hiding for many years, the Chu family found them again. This time, the Grand Nuo had emerged from the mountains.

They were determined to bring Chu Li back.

Chu Ruoxian learned of this through certain channels and sent her daughter away first, then pretended nothing was wrong with her husband, setting a trap to try to kill them in return.

Ming Pu: “That day, there was a major explosion at a factory in Hai City’s suburbs, with dozens of casualties. There was no explosion—it was the aftermath of a magical battle where both sides were severely injured. Unfortunately, the Grand Nuo survived, though it’s unclear if she was wounded.”

“With the Grandt Nuo leaving the mountains, the seal loosened, and the divine being worshipped by the Chu family created an avatar and left the Hundred Thousand Mountain. But at that time, you had the copper coin on you—a magical artifact passed down in my sect that could protect you and conceal your karma, so He couldn’t find you.”

“After you fell into the sea, it blocked one calamity for you and lost its power, allowing Him to track you down.”

Ming Pu gazed at Chu Li warmly. “That’s the complete cause and effect. Though I promised your mother not to let you return, letting someone live in confusion is very painful.”

“Even now, whether to stay or leave is your choice to make.”

A piercing pain struck her heart like a chisel. Chu Li clutched her chest tightly, gasping for breath, tears streaming down one by one.

“…Why, why must it be me?” She raised her bloodshot eyes. “Aunt Pu, what’s so special about me that they’d go to such lengths to fight over me! Even harming my family!”

“I don’t understand… I don’t understand why it’s so hard for a family to live peacefully together. If the Chu family wants me, just send me back. Why must they fight? Why has no one ever asked for my opinion? Why is everyone always doing what they think is good for me? Why has no one… ever asked what I want?”

Chu Li’s hands trembled, her fingers threading through her hair, crying and laughing as she repeated similar words over and over.

Ming Pu silently stood up and pulled her tightly into her embrace.

The night rain continued pattering.

After a long while, Chu Li asked hoarsely, “Aunt Pu, why must the Chu family have me back?”

“On this point, neither your mother nor I are clear.” Ming Pu wiped away her tears. “The Chu family and the divine being they worship are already at odds. I suspect they want you back because you’re unaffected by His influence—they want to use you against Him.”

So after all this circling around, she still couldn’t avoid Him.

Chu Li’s heart was unusually calm. “I want to return to the Chu family.”

To seek vengeance for her parents’ blood debt.

Ming Pu smiled and sighed. “Your mother understood you and guessed you might want to go back. She left you a way out.”

****

That night, Chu Li had a dream.

Thin mist filled the continuous deep mountains, with cold drizzle falling. Tall cedar trees reached straight to the sky, their trunks tied with red ropes and copper bells that rang eerily in the wind.

Blue-black stone steps led into the deep mountains, with a human-faced, bird-bodied pillar standing every nine steps.

She walked alone on the long stone steps with her short legs, walking faster and faster until she was running.

“Mom… Mother, Mother!”

Her foot caught on a wet, slippery pebble and Chu Li tumbled headfirst, instantly scraping her palm.

In the deep mountains, the fine rain was damp and cold, with wind gently blowing.

“Wuu…” Large tears fell as she hugged herself, curling into a mushroom-like ball on the ground.

The stone steps had somehow reached their end. Dozens of steps away stood a solemn building with dragon-scale tiles and upturned eaves. The pitch-black door was several meters high, covered with grotesque masks that seemed alive, slowly writhing, turning their eyes and opening their mouths.

Chu Li was almost scared senseless, squatting in place and crying blankly.

“Ha.” A laugh rang out from the deep forest, its tail end mixed with a strange humming.

It didn’t sound like something a human could make.

As a child, Chu Li loved listening to ghost stories and would watch paranormal movies broadcast on the star channel with adults.

The atmosphere at home was relaxed, following free education principles, never interfering with her interests. Though very young, she realized she had encountered a ghost.

Chu Li cried even more pitifully. “Don’t, don’t eat me, I’m sick… I don’t taste good! My daddy and mommy have lots and lots of money, they can buy lots and lots of paper money and incense to burn for you…”

The deep forest was quiet with no response.

“Ghost, did you agree?” Chu Li slowly poked her head out.

“I… my mom says, no answer means agreement.” She covered her eyes with her little hands, peering around through her fingers. “Teacher Huahua says to be honest people, you… you agreed, so you can’t…”

Chu Li squatted on the ground, craning her neck up, mouth agape, staring blankly.

Across the entire sky loomed a mass of viscous, pitch-black, mist-like flowing substance, appearing and disappearing, with occasional flashes of ghostly blue light like countless blinking eyes.

In that instant, Chu Li made eye contact with Him.

She saw Him.

She saw an existence that shouldn’t exist in this dimension, that shouldn’t be seen by human eyes.

When something isn’t being observed, it exists between reality and illusion. When observed, it becomes real.

The fine rain above Chu Li stopped.

“Lost?” He imitated human intonation, his voice gentle yet cold and slippery.

Young Chu Li was completely certain she had encountered a ghost.

“I, I…” Her teeth chattered, clicking and clattering. “I want to find my mommy, I’m lost, she’ll be very worried about me…”

“Stand up, turn and walk forward, turn right——watch out for the stones…”

That voice patiently gave her directions.

Chu Li stumbled along following the voice, and suddenly her vision opened up—she had walked out of the deep forest.

Continuous ancient building complexes were built along the mountain, the main gate wide open. Inside, smoke and fire curled around, and thin figures in ritual robes wearing Nuo masks swayed copper bells. Her mother held a pale-faced “her” in her arms, sobbing as she called her name.

“Go.”

Chu Li was gently pushed.

She staggered and tumbled across the threshold, holding onto the door frame as she turned back. “Thank, thank you! Do you live in that house?”

Deathly silence surrounded her.

After a long pause, that voice slowly responded.

“Yes, I live there.”

“I’ll bring gifts to visit you!” Chu Li’s tear-stained face broke into a smile. “Thank you, you’re really a good person!”

She turned and ran toward her mother, eager to cry about how she had just fallen and gotten hurt.

Therefore, she didn’t notice the laugh that rang out from the deep forest—at first barely managing to sound gentle, but eventually becoming garbled and sinisterly low.

As if hearing the most ridiculous joke in the world.

****

Outside the window, dawn light glimmered faintly.

Chu Li woke from her dream with a start, her back covered in cold sweat, her temples throbbing.

This was the memory she had forgotten. But it was incomplete—there was still another part she hadn’t remembered.

From this glimpsed past, when her mother brought her back to the Chu family, she was already near death. Her soul had left her body and drifted to the deep mountains, unable to find the way back.

Recalling the divine being’s true form from her dream, Chu Li’s hair stood on end.

This was a thousand times more terrifying than His avatar.

She slapped her mouth in annoyance. “Talking nonsense, talking nonsense…”

The casual promise she made as a child had nearly killed her present self.

After this dream, Chu Li couldn’t sleep anymore, so she simply got up and practiced Taoist magic with Ming Pu.

For the next half month, she woke very early every day and practiced with Ming Pu alongside Ming Chun.

Perhaps influenced by her mother, though she had never been exposed to these things from childhood, she had high comprehension and learned quickly.

Ming Pu taught her many simple concealment and self-defense techniques, and also taught her several sword moves.

Half a month passed in a flash.

On the day Chu Li descended the mountain, fine rain drifted.

Ming Pu gave her a stack of talismans and a copper coin sword she had used for many years—normally palm-sized, like an inconspicuous pendant.

After bowing deeply, she turned and descended the mountain, dialing an unfamiliar number with a Hu Province area code.

This was the escape route Chu Ruoxian had left for Chu Li.

After several rings, the call connected, and the person on the other end had a gentle voice. “Hello, who is this?”

Chu Li took a deep breath, her voice slightly low. “Little Aunt.”

The sound of things clattering and falling came from the other end, followed by footsteps, then silence for a long time before the person spoke with a trembling voice. “…Is this Xiao Li?”

****

South of Hu Province, the Hundred Thousand Mountain rose and fell in undulating peaks.

In the deepest part of the heartland, a mountain gate stood over three zhang high, with two stone statues of yazi ghost kings standing before it, their necks tied with faded red ropes with bells at the ends that chimed crisply when people passed by.

Behind the mountain gate, blue stone slab steps wound upward, and in the open areas stretched continuous ancient building complexes, rising and falling beyond what the eye could see.

With the ritual approaching, the vacant wooden buildings gradually filled with guests.

In previous years, the Chu family ancestral home was filled with joyful atmosphere during rituals. This year the mood was solemn, people coming and going were cautious and taciturn, afraid of offending or colliding with those they shouldn’t.

Chu Li followed a slender woman across the square with its black ground painted with crimson patterns.

The woman had her hair pinned up with a silver hairpin, wore a buttoned short jacket and indigo long skirt, with a red and green Nuo mask hanging at her waist. Her features were heroic, her profile bearing six parts resemblance to Chu Ruoxian.

She pushed open the door of a small building that looked like an office from a bygone era, with blue-covered booklets piled on the desk. Men and women were buried in organizing and copying.

“Sister Ruoying, why are you here?” A round-faced woman poked her head up from behind a stack of booklets.

She had a pot of stone orchids on her desk and a double-sided mirror.

Chu Li glanced inconspicuously at herself in the mirror.

Clear brows and eyes, a small mole at the corner of her lips, hair neatly pinned up, wearing a black buttoned short jacket and matching long skirt with a white hem sewn around the bottom.

It was a completely unfamiliar face.

Chu Ruoying intimately put her arm around Chu Li’s shoulder, speaking in a familiar tone. “This is a child from my cousin’s family, came from far away and arrived late. Please arrange some light work for her. Qingyu, this is your Aunt Miao.”

“Hello, Aunt Miao.” Chu Li smiled obediently.

“Ai, what a good child.” The round-faced woman pulled out a vermillion booklet, her finger sliding back and forth. “There are only a few days left before the ritual, all the good positions are already assigned. Sister Ruoying, you should have given me advance notice so I could have reserved a spot early…”

Her plump finger, wearing a gold-set jade ring, poked at a name in the booklet that had been crossed out with a red line.

“Yesterday a girl got frightened, there’s a vacancy at the shrine, let this child fill in.”

The shrine…

Chu Li’s hands under her wide sleeves couldn’t help but clench tightly as she asked softly. “Aunt Miao, what happened with the frightened girl?”

“Eh… there was some disturbance at the shrine, the girl was timid and got scared.”

Chu Ruoying frowned and patted Chu Li’s shoulder. “This girl is also timid, I’m afraid she might accidentally offend the Nuo God without knowing her limits. Is there anywhere else you can arrange?”

“No, there’s only the mountain patrol left short-handed, one shift during the day and one at night. This little frame couldn’t handle it.”

Chu Ruoying pondered for a moment and handed over a bulging black pouch. “Can you use your authority to exempt her from this duty?”

The round-faced woman looked around cautiously and lowered her voice. “Sister Ruoying, in previous years I would definitely help you, but this year won’t work. The Grand Nuo is displeased, checking everything very strictly up and down. All the junior members of the branch families must work.”

Chu Li suppressed her emotions and smiled. “It’s fine, Little Aunt, I’ll be very careful when working.”

****

Chu Li’s partner was a shy girl with freckled cheeks named Chu Queling.

From today until the day after the ritual ended, they would eat and live together.

Chu Ruoying was in charge of part of the ritual proceedings. After giving her a few warnings about what to be careful of, she was hurriedly called away by people sent by the Grand Nuo.

Together they went to the large dining hall to get lunch and picked a spot with a good view by the doorway to sit and eat side by side.

It was communal food—one meat dish, one vegetable, and a bowl of bland soup.

Chu Li had been picky about food since childhood and forced herself to eat half before she really couldn’t swallow any more.

Chu Queling ate cleanly and completely. Seeing her unable to eat, she smiled with pursed lips. “Qingyu, this is your first time here, right?”

“Yes, in previous years I wasn’t well and was always recuperating.”

“No wonder. I’ll take you for extra food later—there are delicious things.”

After lunch and a brief rest, Chu Queling led Chu Li to a room in the central building complex to collect two food boxes, then passed through the large building complex and began climbing the blue-black stone steps up the mountain.

Step by step, the scene from her dream gradually overlapped with the scenery before her eyes.

Chu Li touched the small copper coin sword she wore close to her body, only feeling slightly reassured after confirming it was still there.

“It’s alright.” She whispered comfortingly, “The Nuo God doesn’t like noise. If we keep our movements quiet, we won’t disturb Him.”

Chu Li couldn’t help but think of what the round-faced woman had said about the girl who was frightened.

“Queling, what happened to the girl who partnered with you before?”

“She went mad. After we finished placing the new offerings together, she told me to go out first because she wanted to kowtow to the Nuo God. So I went out first to clean outside the shrine. Not long after, she came running out crazy and delirious, as if she had seen something terrifying.”

“…Went mad?!” Chu Li’s back went cold. “Isn’t kowtowing allowed?”

Chu Queling’s expression was complicated. “Haven’t you heard the prophecy circulating in the main family? Before the previous Grand Nuo died, she left a prophecy saying the Chu family would have someone gain the Nuo God’s recognition, obtain divine power, and break the bloodline curse.” She sighed. “Since then, many people have tried various methods hoping to win the divine being’s favor.”

“Qingyu, we must never have such thoughts. My grandmother said the Nuo God actually deeply despises the Chu family. The only outcomes for angering Him are madness or death.”

Chu Li listened in confusion, but hearing the last sentence, she nodded vigorously.

Going to Him voluntarily—she’d have to be insane to do such a thing.

At the end of the stone steps stood an ancient, solemn building, quite different from what she’d seen in her dream.

In front of the shrine was a square paved with jade stone bricks, crisscrossed with crimson patterns, with a bronze tripod cauldron requiring three people to embrace it placed in the very center.

The shrine’s door was a normal vermillion double gate, and the windows weren’t sealed either.

Chu Queling kept her mouth tightly shut, leading Chu Li to lighten their steps as they crossed the high threshold.

The light dimmed, and the temperature inside the hall was much colder than outside, eerily quiet and cold.

Chu Li’s back tensed as she walked very slowly and cautiously.

The wide offering table was filled with tribute items, and many spell banners embroidered with ancient characters hung from above. The divine statue behind the offering table extended into the upper part of the hall, strictly covered with red cloth.

Behind the statue was an even more spacious area, but it was completely hidden in darkness. Chu Li only glanced once before learning from Chu Queling to open the heavy three-tiered food box and replace the cooled exquisite dishes on the offering table.

They moved quickly, loading the cooled dishes back into the food box, re-covering and lifting it.

Everything went smoothly. Chu Li secretly breathed a sigh of relief and followed Chu Queling in bowing her head and slowly backing away.

Retreating to the threshold, she turned around carrying the food box.

Rustle——

A cold wind blew from the depths of the shrine, setting the spell banners fluttering endlessly.

A viscous gaze pinned itself to Chu Li’s back, crawling up inch by inch, finally settling on the nape of her neck.

Chu Li’s heart jumped heavily, her movement across the threshold faltered, and the food box struck the threshold.

Thud——

A dull, harsh sound echoed within the hall.

Chu Queling’s face instantly turned completely white, instinctively trembling as she knelt and prostrated herself.

That gaze lingered for a very long time.

So long that Chu Li felt it transform into a hand, starting from her brow bone and slowly caressing downward.

Finally stopping at her neck, gently stroking, the pressure gradually tightening.