The Cemetery
The fact proves that Meng Wan’s words are always followed by actions. He He Simu and Chenying had breakfast, and after the doctor came to check on them and found them unharmed, they were politely asked to leave the governor’s mansion. It is said that this is a place of military importance, and idle people are not allowed to enter.
Chenying tugged at He Simu’s clothes corner, anxiously asking, “Miss, will we have food to eat in the future?”
This child always talks about food. It seems that he was really hungry before.
He Simu patted his head and smiled, “Of course, there will be food to eat, and you’ll eat much better than before.”
She held Chenying’s hand and went to find his father’s body first. The young general had ordered the bodies to be collected in the city and moved to several abandoned mansions for families to claim. Those unclaimed within three days would be buried together.
He Simu saw the bodies piled up in the mansion, one after another, too many to count, and secretly cast a spell, following the guidance of the charm, and found Chenying’s father’s body directly.
As soon as Chenying saw his father’s body, he burst into tears again, wiping his eyes and saying, “Dad suffered so many wounds, I can’t even recognize him… How did you spot him from afar, sister?”
“I’m an adult, adults have better vision than you,” He Simu said calmly.
Chenying cried on his father’s body for a while, clumsily but earnestly tidying up his father’s clothes and wiping his face and limbs with a wet cloth. In the process, he noticed bite marks on the body’s neck, frowned, and cried again, “I came too late, Dad’s body has been bitten by wild animals!”
He Simu, standing nearby, wondered where this child’s tears came from. She patted Chenying’s head gently and said kindly, “Finish crying and then bury your father.”
They registered with the guarding soldiers and then pulled Chenying’s father’s body out to a graveyard behind the city, dug a hole, and buried him. The graveyard behind the city was filled with some tired-looking trees and overgrown with weeds. However, at this moment, it was quite lively; many people were burying their loved ones, cries echoing continuously, as there were too many deceased and the space was insufficient.
He Simu found a piece of wooden board and sat in front of Chenying’s father’s small mound, helping Chenying write a tombstone.
Chenying couldn’t recognize a single big character, he could only tell the pronunciation of his father’s name, and He Simu helped him piece together the characters based on the pronunciation.
When He Simu inserted the wooden board into the mound, it seemed like the final conclusion of the coffin, Chenying felt that his father really couldn’t lift this wooden board and return to him again. His emotions completely sank, he didn’t speak anymore, just shed tears while scattering paper money onto the grave.
“Why are you crying for him? He should be the one crying for you. He has ended his life in this world, while you, little one, still have to live through this chaotic world alone. No matter how you look at it, you seem to be the more unfortunate one,” He Simu sighed.
The chatty child became speechless, just wiping his tears.
He Simu sighed and squatted beside him, picking up a stack of paper money and scattering it into the sky.
The paper money scattered into the air from her hand seemed to be enchanted, swirling and floating in the air for a while. The pale and delicate paper shone under the sunlight, suddenly transforming into numerous white butterflies, fluttering up and down.
Chenying, who had never seen much of the world, was stunned for a moment, and the people nearby burying their loved ones also marvelled.
He Simu encouraged him, “You should scatter some too.”
Chenying hesitated for a moment, then picked up a bundle of paper money and scattered it into the air. The paper money floated halfway up and suddenly transformed into butterflies, fluttering and dancing like snowflakes.
Chenying was startled. He stood up abruptly, looking at his hands in disbelief. “I… This is…”
“What are you looking at? It’s just a magic trick,” He Simu burst into laughter.
Chenying was stunned for a moment, then exclaimed in delight, “So Sister Xiaoxiao is a magician!”
“You could say that.”
He Simu snapped her fingers, and the butterflies rode the northern wind and fluttered away. Chenying opened his mouth wide, turning his head to watch the butterflies fly away, and He Simu followed his gaze.
At the end of the butterflies’ flight, bathed in slanting sunlight, stood a young man with a tall and straight figure, resembling a towering pine tree.
He wore a veil hat with a black veil hanging over his shoulders, dressed in a silver-gray round-necked robe with embroidered moons, suns, and stars in ink at the cuffs and heart. His hair was neatly tied with a silver coronet, and two light white ribbons hung down from outside the veil hat.
— This was the scene in He Simu’s eyes. Honestly, she didn’t know what color clothes he was wearing; it might have been red, orange, yellow, green, blue, or purple, but in her eyes, there were only black, dark gray, light gray, and white.
In the world of evil spirits, there were no colors.
The butterflies fluttered past the young man’s head, and he slightly leaned to avoid them, the ribbons of his headgear forming a graceful arc.
The young man looked at He Simu, laughing heartily. “What a magical trick.”
He Simu stood up, her gaze pausing momentarily on the Broken Illusion Sword at his waist, then moving to his face hidden under the black veil.
She was thinking about how to approach this young general again, but unexpectedly, he came to her.
She smiled gracefully and bowed in thanks. With her originally sweet and lovely appearance, her smile was even more innocent and charming.
“Yesterday, General’s life-saving grace to us siblings is beyond measure. We are here to express our gratitude.”
“I am just a general guarding Great Liang. Saving the people is my duty; there is no need for the young lady to thank me,” he said, putting a finger to his lips. “Please don’t call me General; it would cause unnecessary attention from others.”
He wore a veil hat, no official robes, and had no attendants with him, seemingly not wanting to be recognized. He Simu glanced around and said, “Are you here in disguise?”
He didn’t deny it, looking towards a few soldiers guarding the cemetery in the distance.
Due to the large number of dead, there were disputes over the graves. Some soldiers were stationed here to maintain order. The rule was first come, first served. Some people wanted better plots, so they bribed the soldiers to drive away those who had already dug graves for their loved ones. The soldiers were adept at this; they didn’t refuse anyone who came with money.
Families that had already suffered misfortunes were now competing against each other.
He Simu turned her eyes to the young man, whose expression was inscrutable.
“Indeed, the young lady has excellent eyesight. We only met briefly yesterday, and yet today, with me still wearing a veil hat, you recognized me at a glance,” he turned his head to He Simu and said.
He Simu replied confidently, “Of course, your illustrious reputation and heroic bearing have long been admired by this humble maiden.”
The young general chuckled, crossing his arms and resting his chin on his hand. Seemingly amused, he said casually, “Is that so? Illustrious reputation? Then what is my name?”
“…”
Wasn’t this the question she was preparing to ask him?
The young general didn’t press further, lowering his head with a smile as he said, “The young lady need not flatter me. If I truly had an illustrious reputation, I should have saved Liangzhou City from being slaughtered. My name is Duan Xu, known as Xu, styled Shunxi.”
Duan Xu, Duan Shunxi.
Despite his young age, this young general held a high position. He should have been proud and aloof, but unexpectedly, he didn’t seem to have much of an air about him.
He Simu smiled and said, “I am called He Xiaoxiao. This is my younger brother, Xue Chenying.”
“Miss Xiao,” Duan Xu repeated, taking a few steps closer to the siblings, intending to say something. But He Simu caught sight of someone standing high in the nearby building and shouted, “Be careful!”
Almost as soon as she spoke, Duan Xu swiftly turned sideways. The Broken Illusion Sword was unsheathed, spinning in his palm with a flash of silver light, knocking down the arrows shot from the tall building in an instant before the sword returned to its sheath.
“There are Huqi bandits!”
The soldiers guarding shouted, and the dark figure on the tall building disappeared in a flash, with many soldiers giving chase. However, Duan Xu remained calm, still smiling as he sheathed his sword. “It seems that it’s not only Miss Xiao who recognized me, but others as well.”
He turned around, but He Simu, who had just reminded him, was already clutching his clothes, while her brother was clutching her clothes, shivering behind him.
He Simu, with teary eyes, said tenderly, “That was really scary.”
“…It’s all right now. Thank you for saving us, Miss,” Duan Xu reassured her.
He Simu held onto his clothes and said, “Although I also want to be like the general and say there’s no need for thanks, my brother and I have no family. We were driven out of the Prefectural Governor’s Mansion yesterday and have nowhere to go, fearing we’ll be homeless and hungry, especially with the snow about to fall tonight. We haven’t even found a place to stay for tonight.”
Chenying clung to He Simu’s clothes, realizing that this was a critical moment for whether they would have food today, and nodded desperately.
This young general seemed like someone who had read a lot of Confucian classics and would probably not refuse such a pitiful young girl and her lonely little brother. Duan Xu looked at He Simu and then at Chenying before saying, “Alright, a drop of water repays a gushing spring. I will naturally arrange accommodation for you and your brother.”
Pausing, he looked up at the sky, seeming a bit puzzled. “Miss Xiao just said it’s going to snow soon?”
“This year’s weather is peculiar; even the rivers might freeze on a sunny day with snowflakes. It looks sunny now, but the weather is about to change,” said He Simu. Having secured Duan Xu’s promise, she let go of his clothes corner contentedly, pointing to her eyes. “My eyes have always been quite perceptive.”
Without any effort on her part, if it weren’t for Duan Xu’s presence, she would surely have applauded the assassin’s attack and indeed returned kindness for kindness.
In fact, Duan Xu seemed to have eyes in the back of his head just now; he had already dodged before she reminded him. Originally, the arrow couldn’t reach him. However, He Simu used her technique to slightly deflect the arrow in the air, still heading straight for Duan Xu, which forced him to draw his Broken Illusion Sword.
Holding hands with Xue Chenying, He Simu happily returned to the city with Duan Xu.
The Broken Illusion Sword is a pair of swords made of black wood and silver, with silver-carved spells. Normally, the two sword handles serve as scabbards for each other, and when combined, they look like a single sword. Double-handed weapons are inherently more difficult to wield than single-handed ones, but just now, Duan Xu used them very skilfully, even cutting off the arrow with his left-hand sword, showing his considerable martial arts skills.
When the Broken Illusion Sword was unsheathed, He Simu saw it clearly; it was sharp and emitted a cold light. Normally, it was a blunt sword without an edge, only opening its blade after recognizing its master.
He Simu discreetly sized up Duan Xu.
With no spiritual cultivation, he could still wield the Broken Illusion Sword. It seems that this young general has an exceptionally strong destiny and is very favoured by the Broken Illusion Sword.
Strange, how did this young general win the favour of the Broken Illusion Sword?
The sky, which was still bright and clear, suddenly turned gloomy, and then heavy snow began to fall, adding to the desolation of the deserted streets of Liangzhou Prefecture.
He Simu pulled down her sleeve to cover Xue Chenying’s head and said, “You’ve only just regained consciousness after a day and night; if you catch a cold, I won’t be able to take care of you.”
As soon as she finished speaking, she felt something heavy on her head, and then her vision was blocked by a black veil – Duan Xu’s hat was placed on her head.
Turning her head, she saw Duan Xu holding up the brim of the hat, smiling through the falling snow and the veil, “Miss He, you’ve only just regained consciousness today, so be careful not to catch a cold.”
His eyes were round and bright, as if containing a layer of light, and when he smiled, his neat white teeth were revealed, showing a natural youthful vigour.
He Simu adjusted the hat, smiled lightly, and said, “Thank you, General.”
Duan Xu let go of the brim of the hat, turned around, and walked forward into the snow. His back was straight, his steps light and brisk, as if there was nothing in the world worth worrying about.
Indeed, he was like the bright moon in the mountains, the sunlit snow, a young man in the world.
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