Chapter 14#

If You See SnowCh14 - Call Me Ruhui Gege#

Su Ruhui rushed northward for three days straight, seeing countless refugees along the way. The world had too many people, and the Great Jing was as crowded as a steamer basket (for dimsum) about to explode. Despite the Secret Sect’s harsh punishments that exiled numerous prisoners to the snowy wastelands or mines to extract spirit stones, there were still many homeless, left to wander the streets. Even with a compassionate heart, one must guard against thieves and robbers. Along the way, ragged vagrants kept their eyes on the carriages on the road, while Su Ruhui never let go of the firearm tucked inside his sleeve.

While he stopped to rest in various towns and cities, news of Sang Chiyu’s defection had already spread. The Secret Sect posted wanted notices for Sang Chiyu’s capture, replacing Su Ruhui’s former position as the class A most wanted criminal. The wanted poster bore the cold, impassive face of Sang Chiyu. The Secret Sect’s painting skills were excellent, depicting his face perfectly. Su Ruhui reined in his horse and came to a halt, recalling that guy’s expressionless and stubborn demeanor. He sighed inwardly.

Sang Chiyu wasn’t like this when he was a child. At least when he was treating patients in front of Su Ruhui’s master, he was a very well behaved child.

Su Ruhui remembered that after Dantai Jing left Zhuoluo Mountain, he volunteered to take on the daily task of delivering meals to the cave. He also taught Sang Chiyu how to break through the maze array, telling him that if Sang ever felt bored, he could come find him anytime. They snuck out to play without anyone ever noticing. Later, Su Ruhui grew bolder and bolder, teaming up with Jiang Xueya and Zhou Xiaosu to secretly bring Sang Chiyu down the mountain.

This group of children had a small courtyard called Pear Blossom Courtyard. Jiang Xueya and Zhou Xiaosu lived in the main house, while Su Ruhui occupied the east wing. The west wing had originally been used for storing junk. Su Ruhui and the others cleared the clutter into the back yard, freeing up a space for sleeping. Su Ruhui contributed his Arhat bed, red fur carpet, and the lion-cat pillow his father had gifted him on his last birthday. Jiang Xueya and Zhou Xiaosu contributed bedding and blankets, and a carved wooden screen respectively. Sang Chiyu then began living there.

Ming Ruowu opened a private school at his Buliao residence. He charged no tuition fees, so children miles away could come to listen in on classes. Half the children from Zhuluo Town at the foot of the mountain attend classes here, and Su Ruhui, Jiang Xueya, and Zhou Xiaosu had to go too. Su Ruhui spent three days attending classes at Ming Ruowu’s place, returning each evening to play with Sang Chiyu in the house. For over half a month, no one knew that an extra ten-year-old child had appeared in their courtyard. Many years later, Su Ruhui recalled this period of time and realized that Ming Ruowu had known all along that they were hiding Sang Chiyu, yet he had chosen to turn a blind eye.

Later, to make walking around easier for Sang Chiyu, Su Ruhui measured the size of his feet with his hands, memorized his size, and went down to Zhuluo Town to have a friendly young girl make him a pair of shoes. Sang Chiyu treasured those shoes dearly. They didn’t know that those were the first pair of shoes Sang Chiyu had ever owned.

Every day, Sang Chiyu would wipe his shoes clean. If mud was stuck to the soles and he couldn’t wipe it clean, he wouldn’t use them. Jiang Xueya was the type of person who judged people by their appearance, and since Sang Chiyu always indulged him, she ordered Su Ruhui to carry him on his back. Su Ruhui was very upset; he had asked someone to make shoes for Sang Chiyu precisely so that Sang Chiyu could walk on his own. Although Su Ruhui appeared to be the gang leader, he actually held the lowest position in the Divine Dragon Gang, and his protests were ignored as usual.

On the surface, Su Ruhui was the leader of the Divine Dragon Gang, but in reality, Jiang Xueya was the one who called the shots regarding the gang’s internal affairs. Therefore, the daily games played by the members of the Divine Dragon Gang were all games typically played by girls, such as jump rope, making braided flower bracelets, and dress-up. Sang Chiyu was beautiful, and Jiang Xueya and Zhou Xiaosu were enthusiastic about dressing him up, stuffing him with colorful clothes every day and making him look gorgeously dressed.

Su Ruhui was a sneaky little kid who deliberately caused trouble. Jiang Xueya and them had Su Ruhui comb Sang Chiyu’s hair, but he made it a mess. Jiang Xueya and them carefully selected the most beautiful flowers to pin at Sang Chiyu’s temples, and Su Ruhui replaced them with ugly, bright red pomegranate blossoms. Jiang Xueya and them dressed Sang Chiyu in a pleated skirt, and Su Ruhui secretly placed a color changing gecko on it, scaring Zhou Xiaosu to screaming in fright. Su Ruhui had burst into laughter, and then was beaten up by Jiang Xueya.

Once, when their master was preparing a medicinal bath for Jiang Xueya, Zhou Xiaosu was accompanying her. Ming Ruo had no classes for three days, and Su Ruhui was on vacation. Only he and Sang Chiyu remained in the Pear Blossom Courtyard. Su Ruhui slept until the sun was high in the sky. He had too much free time and was bored, wandering over to the west wing to find Sang Chiyu. As soon as he pushed open the door, he saw Sang Chiyu sitting by the edge of the cupboard drawer. With his tiny figure dressed in white and a head of black hair, he looked like a lonely little mushroom.

Su Ruhui leaned closer to look and saw that he was carefully placing the flowers that Jiang Xueya and Zhou Xiaosu had picked for him into a small drawer one by one. The bright red pomegranate blossoms that Su Ruhui had picked were also among them. The flowers were all withered, their petals blackened and emitting a foul odor. Su Ruhui thought Sang Chiyu had thrown them away long ago; he hadn’t expected him to keep them.

“Why are you keeping those? They’re all withered,” Su Ruhui squatted beside him and said in a bored tone, “Come on, I’ll pick some new ones for you.”

Sang Chiyu shook his head: “I want to keep them.”

A bright green gecko crawled from Sang Chiyu’s back onto his shoulder, startling Su Ruhui into jumping. Looking closer, he realized it was the same gecko he had mischievously placed on Sang Chiyu’s skirt a few days earlier.

“Why is this thing here too!?”

Sang Chiyu cupped it in his palm: “You gave it to me.”

Su Ruhui wanted to say it wasn’t a gift, but something he picked up to scare people for fun. But when he turned his head and met Sang Chiyu’s big, black eyes—in which the small figure of Su Ruhui was clearly reflected—he inexplicably swallowed those words.

“I remember now, I did give it to you.” Su Ruhui said.

Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at the flowers in the drawer. Sang Chiyu couldn’t bear to throw away a single one of them because they were the gifts his friends gave him. For the first time in his carefree life, Su Ruhui felt a pang of guilt. Yu’er was too easy to trick. If you gave him anything he’d take it, and if you told him anything he’d believe it.

If anyone else had seen such an obedient child, they would surely have showered him with affection, leading to a touching love story. Unfortunately, Sang Chiyu met Su Ruhui, and Su Ruhui had never been a good person since childhood. While others cherished and protected the fair, he would go and destroy them. At that moment, Su Ruhui suddenly remembered the mountain of smelly socks piled up in his room, and with a sudden thought, any lingering guilt quickly vanished.

He raised his eyebrows and asked, “Yu’er, are you dage’s (big bro’s) xiaodi (lil bro)?”

Sang Chiyu nodded.

“Xiaodi has to wash dage’s stinky socks. You haven’t helped me wash mine yet.”

Sang Chiyu paused for a moment before saying: “I’ll wash them for you.”

“You said it, no take backs.” Su Ruhui couldn’t contain his delight.

Sang Chiyu shook his head gently, “I won’t take it back.”

Su Ruhui led Sang Chiyu into his room and pulled out all the smelly socks from the closet. Su Ruhui’s room was a mess, and Sang Chiyu saw the Bajiquan manual, the《Woqijing》, and the Bengyun saber manual scattered on the floor. Sang Chiyu picked them up and saw that Su Ruhui had filled them with simple stick-figure drawings.

While folding his socks, Su Ruhui said: “Those are all homework my master gave me. He says I have to practice martial arts and learn star arrays so I can make a living in the future…” Su Ruhui hated practicing martial arts. Every day he was either carrying sandbags and climbing mountains, or swinging a wooden sword at wooden dummies, ending up breathless and exhausted like a dog. He hated star arrays even more. The《Woqíjng》’s Feng Hou star array was incredibly complex, with hundreds of variations for just one type of array. He couldn’t even remember the directions. He didn’t want to learn it at all and thought he could become a cook in the future. There were so many things to do in the world, why couldn’t he make a living doing something else? Su Ruhui rolled his eyes and said, “It’s so boring, there’s nothing interesting about it. Come on, let’s go wash socks!”

Su Ruhui thrust the wooden basin into his hands, and Sang Chiyu, being honest and straightforward, actually carried the basin to the riverbank, rolled up his sleeves, and diligently began scrubbing away at Su Ruhui’s socks with huffs and puffs. There were so many socks piled up that even after Su Ruhui returned from fooling around all afternoon, Sang Chiyu still hadn’t finished washing them. Su Ruhui found some conscience in himself and picked a large lotus leaf and sat beside him, using it to shield him from the setting sun.

“Yu’er,” Su Ruhui instructed him, “Don’t tell Jiang Xueya and Zhou Xiaosu about this. If they ask, just say I took you to pick flowers.”

“Why can’t I say?” Sang Chiyu asked in confusion.

“Don’t ask why, you’re my xiaodi, I’m your dage, so you have to listen to me.” Su Ruhui said, using a mix of persuasion and deception, “You can pretend to listen to Jiang Xueya on the surface, but actually listen to me.”

Although Sang Chiyu didn’t understand why, he still nodded.

“Remember this, from now on, we’re in this together. Jiang Xueya and Zhou Xiaosu are outsiders.” Su Ruhui said with a grin, “Come, call me Ruhui gege.”

“Ruhui gege.” Sang Chiyu obediently said.

Su Ruhui said cheerfully: “Jiang Xueya’s medicinal bath needs to be soaked in for three days straight. While she’s away, I’ll teach you how to massage my back and legs tomorrow.”

“Ok,” Sang Chiyu called again, “Ruhui gege.”

As the elevation increased, the air became increasingly dry and cold, and snow-white frost formed on his eyelashes. Initially, Su Ruhui wore only a single layer of clothing, but later he changed into a padded jacket, covered his head with a felt hat, and wrapped a scarf around his face, leaving only his dark eyes visible.

The Great Jing had forty-eight provinces. After leaving the most prosperous province of Yunzhou, the landscape became increasingly vast and desolate. Scattered rocks were everywhere, the bare earth resembling the stiff veins and bones of an old man. In the distance, snow-capped mountains steeply rose, winding and intruding into the shimmering mist and clouds. Their serene and profound appearance was like that of a compassionate buddha gazing down upon the mortal world. As the mountains drew nearer, particles of snow mixed in with the wind. In the grey and hazy landscape, Su Ruhui’s carriage, with its single lamp flickering like a distant star, slowly made its way towards the mountains.

In the early morning, the puppet carriage entered a border city at the foot of Kunlun. The city gates had an inspection point to impose martial law. All those entering and leaving had to be checked for travel permits. Many people had already gathered there, most likely to enlist in the army.

This border city was the capital of the Great Jing, where Kunlun’s Zhuoluo Mountain was. With its towering mountain ranges, it guards the border of the Great Jing, keeping the snowy wilderness at bay. The Scout Guard, as the name suggests, was a military unit specifically tasked with venturing into the snowy regions to search for mines. Refugees and escaped prisoners lived in the wilderness, and wild beasts typically lived underground. When they were recruited by the Underworld for their own evil army, they became enemies of the Scout Guards. The Underworld constantly coveted the spirit stone mines of the Secret Sect, and because they were deep in the snowy region and constantly faced the Underworld’s attacks, this unit had the highest death rate among all the Secret Sect’s military branches.

Those who were excluded from the noble families and those seeking to gain experience and advance their careers mostly came here. Both Jiang Xueya and Sang Chiyu had served in the Scout Guard before. However, Sang Chiyu went there because his master was inhumane and insisted on putting him through harsh trials, while Jiang Xueya was driven to the Scout Guard due to persecution from her family.

With so many people coming here, they probably all harbored the ambition of becoming superior beings. The Secret Sect monopolized the secret arts and controlled the world. Once you join the Secret Sect, you can rise above others, dictate the lives and deaths of others, and no longer be an ant trampled in the mud. Of course, the prerequisite is not to make the same mistake as Sang Chiyu.

Su Ruhui drove to the conscription office in the Yamen alley. The residences there were all government offices, with red gates and white walls. Many crows perched on the large trees in front of the buildings. A little officer from the Secret Sect had set up tables and chairs on both sides and placed two signs that read “ordinary people” and “secret arts users.” An officer was behind the tables, hugging his shoulders and shivering from the cold. He shouted in a breathless voice: “Those with secret arts go to this side, those without go to the other side. Report your name and hometown, and form a line! Move quickly! It’s so cold, if you freeze laozi, laozi will chop off your heads!”

The line for those with secret arts was very short. The aristocrats monopolized the bloodlines capable of wielding these abilities, and only one in ten thousand people in the general population could awaken them. Although the probability was low, it wasn’t impossible. With enough searching, they could still find some. After waiting all morning, only three people showed up. No one else came, so the officer registering those with secret arts closed his ledger and went off to drink with his comrades.

Su Ruhui, clutching a hand warmer, joined the crowd of ordinary people. Burly men who looked like iron towers surrounded him in the front and back. Although he was quite tall himself, compared to them, he looked like a little white rabbit. The crowd bustled together, and the system had placed markers above everyone’s heads. A quick glance revealed that most were labeled “passerby.” Those labeled “thug” or “hoodlum” were probably from the Paradise Pavilion. Those labeled “monk” were likely from the Great Compassion Temple. There was also a man in black clothing who was quite unique, his head bearing the label “mysterious youth.”

Su Ruhui withdrew his gaze and rubbed the hand warmer hidden in his sleeve. Some of these people were watching him, and not just one. He had traveled discreetly, without revealing his identity, and no one knew he was Jiang Quexie. It seemed these people had followed him all the way from Yunzhou.