Chapter 36 - 2#
If You See SnowCh36.2 - He’s Afraid of the Cold and Afraid of Being Lonely#
The border capital, Qinghe Community, official relay station.
Yan Jinyu sat cross-legged in the tent, his upper body bare, with his waist, abdomen, and arms wrapped in bandages. There were also traces of bruising on his face, and a maidservant was applying medicine with soft cotton gauze. He stood up, and the maidservant respectfully bowed, holding the bandages as she slowly stepped back. Another maidservant waiting behind her stepped forward, draping a long, deep purple robe over him, the collar overlapping beneath his chin, then meticulously fastening his sash and affixing a jade pendant.
As zishi arrived, all the attendants exited the heated chamber. Yan Jingyu walked down the stone steps with a paper umbrella in hand, stopping amidst the snow to look towards the northern sky.
White snow blanketed the horizon, and a rustling whisper filled the world as if a lover’s murmurs had descended upon his ears. At this moment, he heard the sound of a xiao. The melody, winding and undulating through the falling snow, was steady and clear, like the voice of a child. He turned to see a figure standing at the far end of the snowfield. This figure was clothed in plain white, with hemp robes and a bamboo hat filled with snow. They held a xiao to their lips, and a plain folding fan was tucked into their waist.
The relay station was heavily guarded and under strict security, and there were ten outposts between the main gate and Yan Jinyu’s heated chamber. However, this person seemed completely undeterred by the guards. They seemingly appeared out of thin air and strolled along as if walking through the snow.
Yan Jingyu didn’t panic at all. Instead, he calmly set down his paper umbrella, kneeled to the ground, and kowtowed to the heavens in great reverence.
“Of Youzhou’s Yan family, Yan Jinyu, welcomes Patriarch Shen Tu to the human world.”
The sound of the xiao ceased, and a low, raspy voice emerged from beneath the bamboo hat. Apparently still unaccustomed to human speech, his pronunciation sounded a bit warped and strange, “You are a mortal child, why would you pledge your loyalty to us, the natural enemies of mortals? Didn’t Su Gou tell you while he was still alive that to us, humans make for a rather tasty meal?”
Yan Jinyu’s lowered head was a far cry from the insufferably arrogant demeanor he had displayed before the Beichen Palace. He said: “Yao eat humans, but humans also eat each other. The nobility treat the common people like cattle and horses, forcing them to cultivate their fields with their very blood and sweat. If humans are livestock and food to Yao, then the common people are worth less to the nobility than even cattle and horses. If one considers solely the act of devouring others, I see no distinction between humans and Yao.”
“You’re not afraid of being eaten by us?” Shen Tu asked.
Yan Jinyu spoke each word with strong conviction, “Cattle and sheep need herding dogs, and hunting requires falcons— Yan Jinyu is willing to serve the patriarchs as the dog and falcon. When the patriarchs descend upon the mortal world, the mortal world will fall apart. The Underworld is full of evil, and the noble families are ununited. Should the Snowlands launch a single attack southward, the mortal world shall be destroyed. He who recognizes the signs of the times is a true man of wisdom, and I hold no faith in the Kunlun Secret Sect. Moreover, I have a deep seated grudge with the Secret Sect. Until the world is thrown into chaos, my heart shall find no peace.”
“Oh? Tell me about your deep seated grudge.” Shen Tu asked with great interest.
Yan Jinyu straightened his body and untied his sash, revealing a bare torso. He pressed his palm against his chest and began to tear away his own flesh, inch by inch. The expected flow of blood never came. That layer of flesh was actually fake leather, tanned cowhide that had been dyed. Thus, the scene within his chest came into view: a hole the size of a bowl had been torn in his chest. Through this gaping opening, one could clearly see his ribs and the lungs behind them, with the Ziji meteorite iron bones seamlessly fused to his skeletal frame. The wind and snow swirled into his chest cavity, and his escaping body heat condensed into wisps of white mist.
“When I was fourteen, Kunlun Secret Sect’s Sang Chiyu killed my father and mother, destroyed my secret arts, and turned me into this state— neither human nor ghost. Had I not been so fortunate, and had I not encountered the real Yan Jinyu while wandering homeless and seized his identification token to join the Yan family, I would never be here today. Dantai Jing constantly preaches righteousness, yet he shields and covers his own disciple.” Yan Jinyu gnashed his teeth, saying, “I, Yan Jinyu, vow to cut down the Secret Sect, kill that dog Sang, and calm the spirits of my parents in heaven to rest in peace.”
Yan Jinyu once again prostrated himself upon the ground and said, “Patriarch Shen Tu, as long as the whole empire falls into conflict, the noble families exhaust each other, and the Secret Sect crumbles, the Snowlands will be able to sit back and fish up the spoils. I have a stratagem to offer you, Patriarch.”
Shen Tu looked intrigued, “Go on.”
“I believe you have already received Lord Su Gou’s message. Su Ruhui has secretly escaped from the Secret Sect, adopting the alias Jiang Quexie. I met him once before, and observing his words and actions, that smug air of self-importance with which he uses to play with others is unmistakably that of Su Ruhui. Su Ruhui is the leader of the Underworld. If we can kill him and hang his head on the Great Wall of the border capital, the Underworld will surely be incensed and rise up to storm the gates.” Yan Jinyu continued, “I have already located his residence. I will send someone to behead him…”
As he spoke, he suddenly noticed that the snow had stopped falling all around him.
The sound of snow faded away, and the world fell silent.
Yan Jinyu froze.
In the silence, he heard that eerie voice again. This time it wasn’t at the end of the snowfield, but right beside his ear.
“That name, say it again.”
It finally dawned on Yan Jinyu that he was facing a demon from the depths of the Snowlands, the natural enemy of mortals. It likely cared nothing for his schemes or his grudges. It acted entirely on its own whims.
He forced himself to suppress his fear, not daring to turn his head to look at Shen Tu’s face, and opened his mouth with a trembling voice: “Su Ruhui.”
“How much do you know about this person?”
Yan Jinyu took a breath and said, “Replying to the Patriarch, Jinyu knows a little. His mother is Princess Suwu of the Secret Sect, Dantai Xun, the younger sister of Dantai Jing. His father is a commoner from a merchant family, named Su Guanyu.”
“I have heard that Su Guanyu was graceful in bearing and eloquent in speech, with a particular talent for music, and that he won the princess’s favor through his good looks. The princess was of a violent and tyrannical nature, often ordering the execution of her attendants. Yet Su Guanyu alone charmed her, indulging in debauchery all day long. Later, he fell out of the princess’s favor and was cast aside in the inner palace. Later still, Princess Suwu was assassinated outside the border and died from her injuries, and Su Guanyu was banished from the palace by Dantai Jing.”
“Su Guanyu ended up on the streets, wandering from place to place, teaching, selling straw sandals, and even carrying heavy loads. He’s done every menial job imaginable. I heard he had this wild fantasy of obtaining secret arts through cultivation. How naive of him. He sometimes returns to Zhuoluo Mountain to visit Su Ruhui, I’ve seen him a few times.” Yan Jinyu thought of something and sneered, “Some people call him a kept man to his face, but he’s probably so used to living off his looks that he’s too spineless to ever argue back.”
Shen Tu asked: “Do you have any of the straw sandals he made?”
Yan Jinyu paused for a moment, “No.”
“What a pity,” Shen Tu remarked with deep regret, “I really wanted to try the straw sandals Su Guanyu made.”
Yan Jinyu asked tentatively: “Patriarch knows Su Guanyu?”
Shen Tu nodded, “I used to be his guide wolf. Back then, I hadn’t become the Yao Patriarch yet. He said I was the most beautiful little wolf in the Snowlands, and that I looked like I’d make the perfect roasted meat.” He tilted his head. “What is roasted meat?”
Yan Jinyu paused, thinking he had misheard.
Shen Tu continued: “Do not provoke Su Ruhui. We have been keeping a close watch on this child for a long time, and Su Guanyu must have left something behind for him.”
“Left something behind?” Yan Jinyu didn’t understand Shen Tu’s words.
“Indeed, do you truly believe that when Dantai Jing spent years probing Su Ruhui’s memories using Flowery Dream, what he was actually seeking was the puppet’s secret key?” Shen Tu laughed, “It was because Dantai Jing believed that the puppet key was something Su Guanyu had left for Su Ruhui. Don’t go provoking Su Ruhui. Even we Yao fear him, how could a tender fleshed mortal like you possibly stand a chance against him?”
Yan Jinyu clenched his fists, “I know Su Ruhui is a genius of unparalleled talent, but how can one know the outcome without at least trying? I beg Patriarch to grant me this chance to try.”
“Let’s talk about it later. I also really want to kill him, but I am unable to make the decisions regarding Su Ruhui.”
Yan Jinyu froze, then gritted his teeth and forced out an assent.
“Oh right, you also have to help me find a per… no, a cat.”
Yan Jinyu slowly turned his head. He finally caught a glimpse of Shen Tu’s appearance and couldn’t help but be momentarily taken aback, for beneath that bamboo hat lay a comical mask of a monkey general—the very kind commonly sold at street stalls, the sort that practically every child on the street carried in their hand.
The eerie voice of the monster named “Shen Tu” came from behind the mask.
“Cat?” Yan Jinyu inquired with confusion.
“Mn, the one who killed your parents, Sang Chiyu, is a child of my Yao clan. He is the old Monarch’s rightful son, a small cat—one that has forgotten that he is a Yao.” Shen Tu benevolently stroked his head, “You better not kill him, little mortal. Or else, I will cut off your head right now. The tofu pudding in your human world is very delicious, I wonder if human brain pudding is delicious as well?”
The author has something to say:
Shen Tu isn’t the (real) Yao Patriarch that Su Gou mentioned lol, he’s a new guy in office. (Basically Yan Jinyu just thinks Shen Tu is the Yao Patriarch and Shen Tu is just rolling with it)
TL corner:
Wonton’s readers are so smart ~ OdJrNv