Xiao Bangchui quietly looked at him, perhaps her heart was not as calm as her face suggested, as her heart was pounding fiercely in her chest.
She had never known what it felt like to have parents. Growing up, she had followed her master from place to place, watching other children with their parents by their side. Occasionally, she would wonder why she didn’t have any. Now, suddenly learning that she had drifted down the river and that her parents might soon be found, she felt an indescribable mix of emotions.
Had she been deliberately abandoned? Or was it unavoidable? She couldn’t guess the answer, and there was a vague sense of rejection in her heart; she didn’t want to know the truth.
“Could my biological parents be on the river?” she hesitated to ask.
Her master shook his head and sighed, “I’ve been searching for you for over two years, asking every household along the river, but we haven’t found anything. I suspect your biological parents passed by here and left you behind…”
At this point, he suddenly felt he had spoken too much. Being abandoned by one’s biological parents was certainly not a pleasant thing for a child. Glancing at Xiao Bangchui, her expression remained unchanged, showing no signs of emotion, though her eyes were a bit dim, suggesting she cared about it after all; she was still just a ten-year-old child.
With a chuckle, her master patted her on the back, “When you’re older and can stand on your own, you can look for your parents; you’ll have plenty of time. Speaking of which, I’m getting old and can’t be of much help in finding your parents; you can ask your senior brother for help in the future.”
Huh? Why did he mention a senior brother?
Xiao Bangchui’s zombie-like expression finally cracked slightly. What was happening today? Was her secret about to be revealed? Where did this senior brother come from?
“…Senior brother? You’ve had disciples before?”
Her master boasted proudly, “Of course! With my age and skills, how could I possibly have only you as my disciple? Long before you arrived, I had a very talented disciple. Your senior brother was much smarter than you; he learned spells instantly and never needed to be taught twice.”
“Where is he now?”
Did he go out to explore the world since he learned all the spells? She had never seen this senior brother, and her master had never mentioned him before.
“Your senior brother is a prodigy. By the time he was ten, I had nothing more to teach him. He had his own opportunities and met a celestial being; he should have joined another sect by now.”
A prodigy… joined another sect… It sounded like some legendary tale, devoid of any sense of reality. Xiao Bangchui looked at her master suspiciously; actually, what seemed more suspicious than all this information she was hearing for the first time was that her master, who usually didn’t talk much, was so talkative today.
“Having said so much, my mouth is dry.” Her master knocked the spent tobacco leaves on a stone, stood up, and stretched, “Xiao Bangchui, cook something; I’m hungry.”
Didn’t he just say that? She nodded and pulled up a few radishes. With no other vegetables available, she decided to make radish soup and braised radish…
“Put more salt in the braised radish; I like it salty,” her master instructed leisurely from behind.
“Okay.”
Xiao Bangchui pushed open the kitchen door. Suddenly, her master called out to her again, “Xiao Bangchui.”
“What is it?” she turned back to see her master standing at the door with a smile, but she thought she saw a fleeting look of reluctance in his eyes.
“Oh… it’s nothing.” Her master smiled, “Be careful while cooking, don’t get your new clothes dirty.”
For this braised radish, Xiao Bangchui put in three handfuls of salt; it was salty enough to be eaten as pickled vegetables. She ladled out a bowl and took it to her master’s room, gently knocking on the door: “Master, it’s time to eat.”
After calling three times with no response, she wondered if he had fallen asleep. Normally, whenever she called him for meals, her master would come out immediately, regardless of whether he was awake or not.
A sense of foreboding gradually spread in her heart. Although she had felt this way earlier, her master had been acting strangely today, suddenly buying her clothes and suddenly saying so many things he had never mentioned before. At first, she hadn’t thought much of it, but…
Xiao Bangchui felt a sudden chill and yanked open the door. Inside, the room was filled with thick smoke. As soon as she opened the door, the smoke billowed out, and she stumbled into it, her eyes stinging from the irritation and coughing repeatedly.
After a long while, the smoke finally cleared. Xiao Bangchui slowly walked into the room, which was empty except for a bed. The master, who had been there before dinner, was nowhere to be found.
“…Master?” she called out softly, but there was no response.
She was no stranger to this green smoke; it was her master’s escape technique, which summoned a thick mist to obscure vision, allowing a person to vanish in an instant and travel thousands of miles away. It was one of her master’s genuine spells, and many had been deceived into believing he was truly an immortal. However, she never expected he would use it at home. Where was he now? Had he escaped to a distant place?
Xiao Bangchui’s heart slowly sank. For the first time, an overwhelming panic suddenly seized her.
She dropped her bowl and ran outside, circling the courtyard in search of him, even peeking into the earthen well, knowing there would be no one there.
Where was her master? Suddenly gone?
Breathless, Xiao Bangchui searched the woods again and finally returned, disheartened, to the wooden house where her master lived. She looked around in confusion—his room had nothing but a bed. The rough cloth sheets were ones she had washed and spread out just the night before, perfectly smooth, showing no signs of anyone having slept there.
By the bedside lay a blue cloth bundle she recognized; it was her master’s usual travel bag. The bundle was round and appeared to be filled with something.
Suddenly, all sounds around her ceased, and Xiao Bangchui felt a dreamy disconnection. Slowly, she unwrapped the bundle. A few bars of silver rolled out, and beneath them was a piece of old cloth stained with blood that hadn’t been cleaned properly, with a letter pressed underneath.
Opening the letter, she saw her master’s handwriting, flowing and lively, the ink still wet and bleeding through the paper.
“Xiao Bangchui, eat the radishes yourself. Eat more; you need to be strong for the journey. The silver is what I’ve secretly saved over the years; take a few pieces for your travel expenses. You’re incredibly slow; I’m worried about you not mastering what I’ve taught. I have some matters I must attend to and can’t bring you with me. Take this money and look for your senior brother. Attached is a portrait of your senior brother; he should be studying under Wu Yue Ting now, and it seems he has quite a bit of skill, so you can’t go wrong looking for him. That blood-stained cloth was the swaddling you were wrapped in as a baby; the bloodstains can’t be washed away, so keep it as a memento. Don’t rush to find your parents; there’s plenty of time. Xiao Bangchui, although you’re a girl, I believe you can take care of yourself. Treat yourself like a man, but don’t really think of yourself as one; girls should smile more. You never smile, and I’m really worried you don’t know how to.”
The writing abruptly stopped. Even when writing a farewell letter, he was so careless; the sudden halt left a void in her heart.
Xiao Bangchui felt her wrists trembling. Just that morning, she had thought about how poorly she had learned her spells, wondering how she would live if her master were to pass away. She never imagined that day would come so quickly. Her master hadn’t passed away; he had left without a word, abandoning her alone.
She tossed the letter aside and pulled out another piece of paper from the envelope, which had a crooked, funny drawing of a person with a tilted eye and mouth, making it look extremely ridiculous. Her master had even added a note saying, “This is probably what your senior brother looks like.”
She snorted with laughter, annoyed yet amused. Who said she couldn’t smile? Stupid old man.
After laughing, she suddenly felt a jarring sense of reality wash over her. Her eyes stung, and she couldn’t hold back; tears streamed down her face, blurring the ink and making the drawing look even more comical.
Why? Even if he had important matters, she could have gone with her master; even if she was incredibly slow at learning spells, she could have waited at home. Why did he have to leave in such a nonchalant manner? Buying her clothes and talking about her background and senior brother with so many inconsistencies—it was obvious something was off! Why did he leave her a letter? He had never given her a single penny before; why now? He had kept the swaddling for ten years, never mentioning her parents; why return it to her now?
She remembered the past ten years they had spent together, the stingy, petty, temperamental, unpredictable, annoying, yet wilful old man leaving in such a wilful manner—it was infuriating.
Xiao Bangchui angrily threw the blue cloth bundle away. Suddenly, the silver coins hit her foot, causing her to gasp in pain, and she clutched her leg, unable to get up for a long time. The thin skirt she wore was new, just bought for her by her master, with orchid embroidery on the hem. Tears filled her eyes from the pain, and she couldn’t stop them; they soaked the new skirt. As she cried, for some reason, it turned into uncontrollable sobbing, making it hard to breathe. She didn’t even want to know what she was crying for. Was it the intense pain in her foot? Perhaps it was the ten years spent with her master, long yet fleeting, all flowing out of her eyes like a river.
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