Chapter 40

Chapter 40: The Tomb of Emperor Hui of Jin [8]

Translator: Xah

Editor: Ayish

The voice came from far to near, faintly discernible like being dispelled by wind puff. Zhang Qiu was cold all over and heard the words, “Your Excellency, save maidservant.”

“Baba.” It was Xiao Jiang’s voice.

The voice that originally revolved around him had thoroughly disappeared after Xiao Jiang’s voice was uttered.  Everything just happened like a fantasy. Zhang Qiu’s heart sunk. That voice just now contained too much emotion, which made him feel uncomfortable. Zhang Qiu’s hand felt heavy. He looked down at Xiao Jiang; his two tiger’s teeth were bloodstained which suffused with cold light. When he saw Zhang Qiu looking at him, he immediately put the tiger’s teeth away as if he were afraid.

Zhang Qiu was stunned and suddenly remembered that he had said Xiao Jiang could not suck blood, otherwise he did not want Xiao Jiang.

“Daddy didn’t mean to blame you.” Zhang Qiu knew Xiao Jiang saved him just now. He touched his son’s curly hair and praised, “Still need to thanks Xiao Jiang.”

The Little Jiangshi who got praised immediately showed two sharp tiger’s teeth, with his small body stood up straight, he said happily, “I will protect Baba and also my little brother in the future.”

Protecting Daddy is very touching, but when is there a little brother?! Zhang Qiu touched his son’s face, thinking: if your great zongzi Daddy gives birth, then that’s good. The more the merrier. As for the other, had better forget it!

“Xiao Qiu, what are you doing standing there? Calling you without respond, what’s the matter?”

There was a familiar voice behind him. Zhang Qiu breathed a sigh of relief and looked up. The view of the road had been restored. He was standing just a hundred meters away from the Red Roof Restaurant, just at the fork of the avenue.

Pixian Hui Wang walked step by step closer with a smile, but he could not help frowning.

“What a heavy Yin Qi.” Pixian Hui Wang said.

Zhang Qiu retold what he had just experienced, “You remember the sweet fragrance in Changsha? I just smelled it, just right behind me. When the smell became stronger and denser, I could feel something behind me want to attack. Luckily, there was Xiao Jiang. Then, there was that voice again, that said, ‘Your Excellency, save maidservant’. The voice was like a ghost; faintly discernible. For the first time, I thought it was a female ghost. When it came to say it again, although the voice was a bit clearer, however the truth was really a man.”

He could feel that the sweet-smelling thing had a murderous intent towards him, but the ghost behind him did not mean anything harm to him, instead it sounded pitiful.

“But which man would call himself a maidservant? It shouldn’t be a ghost who likes role-playing…” Zhang Qiu himself could not go on talking about it. If it was really a ghost who likes role-playing, then he would truly write his admiration in capital letters. Whose family’s ghost was so idle that it was bored?

Pixian Hui Wang thought about it, “Maybe this ghost could not be regarded as a man. How do I say this? In ancient times, some eunuchs pronounced themselves as maidservants.”

“A eunuch does not call himself a slave?”

Pixian Hui Wang jeered, “This appellation was used after the Qing Court.”

Although there were 56 ethnic groups and 56 flowers[1] now, in Er-Sao’s mind, Man Qing[2] still belongs to Dazi[3] category. It was normal that he did not give a good face. Zhang Qiu did not intend to continue this appellation.

“Er-Sao, when I came out, I met Pei Qing. I asked him if he had met Li Shu. He said no and told me to go to the restaurant. When I passed by, Pei Qing had a slight sweet smell, and what I had just experienced had something to do with that fragrance.”

“Are you suspicious of Pei Qing?”

Zhang Qiu was uncertain for a moment. Obviously the whole way they went together, Pei Qing did have some doubtful point about him. But when he had finished talking, he recalled Pei Qing’s appearance; he felt that it was not Pei Qing.

After half a day of talking, the two men did not reach a conclusion. Pixian Hui Wang took the lead in saying, “Don’t think about it. Go back and ask Li Shu. Are you here for dinner? Let’s go. I’ll go with you. Why does your constitution love inviting Yin?”

He was despaired, too!

“Er-Sao, you’re so kind. Simply a beauty with a kind heart. If I didn’t have Li Shu, I would definitely cut the corner of my Er-Ge…” Zhang Qiu flattered, but did not expect that Er-Sao went as far as nodding and smiling in favor of appreciation. Zhang Qiu couldn’t stop talking for a moment and cockily said, “You see, you are beautiful and I’m handsome. If we also stand together, there will be many head turning around.”

“Oh?”

Suddenly there was a cold voice behind Zhang Qiu, and he went stiff. Looking at Er-Sao, who was smiling gently in front of him, where was the beauty and kind-hearted man? It was clear that he was the most poisonous beautiful person. He had seen Li Shu coming, yet did not to tell him, but also seeing him becoming cocky.

Zhang Qiu turned around stiffly and saw Li Shu’s cold face. The cocky expression just now had turned into completely pathetic grumbling in a flash. He even said with a seamless ‘hee hee’ laugh, “I just wanted to tell Er-Sao that he’s too weak and unsuitable to me. I like a beautiful husband[4] like our family’s Li Shu.”

Li Shu remained unmoved, towering above him.

Zhang Qiu gnashed his teeth, but he could not be minded about his pride in front of Er-Sao. At this moment, if he was reluctant to admit his mistake, tomorrow his butt would burst open and he could not climb down the bed.

“Daddy, beg to let go, muah!” Zhang Qiu was so tearful that he had to hug on Li Shu’s thighs.

Li Shu held Zhang Qiu’s waist in one hand. Pixian Hui Wang still smiled very gently and said, “Xiao Qiu just told me that he’s very skilled in bed and wants to ask me to try it out.”

Zhang Qiu ‘wuwu’ cried out; this Er-Sao created something from nothing and did not give him a way to live!!!

“Oh? Then I’ll try.” Li Shu looked down at Zhang Qiu with his lips hooked.

Zhang Qiu felt his blood curling seeing Li Shu looked at him tenderly. He was even more frightened of it than the ghosts pounding the wall just now. He stammered, “I-I’m still hungry, I’m going to eat.”

“Ah, so hungryyy!” Li Shu dragged the ending. Zhang Qiu felt strange when he listened to this tone. He only listened to Li Shu saying, “Rest assured, you will eat until you’re very full in the evening.”

What if he did not heed these words? Zhang Qiu had ‘papapa’ with Li Shu so many times that his brain was filled with flooding bullet screen on the evening.

Tomorrow it will be impossible to climb down the bed!!!

“Look at Xiao Qiu’s appearance, he’s looking forward to it!” Pixian Hui Wang concluded with this.

Zhang Qiu: Face of despair.

–

That evening, Zhang Qiu was like a Zhang pancake had experienced all kinds of postures over and over; first he cried and begged for mercy, then cursed when he was done too harshly. Li Shu ruthlessly went in, “It seems that you are still not full.”

Finally, like a grandson, he cried and moaned in hoarse voice praising Li Shu in various ways. His vocabulary had never been so smooth and rich.

“… big tool works good, feels good. You’re the most beautiful person, love you muah!”

Zhang Qiu fell asleep and murmured something incessantly. His face and eyes were still bright red because he was too tired and cried too much yesterday; it looked like a crumpled up bun. Li Shu could not help but kissed the tip of the crumpled bun’s nose when he heard Zhang Qiu’s sleep talks.

“So good, want more.”

Li Shu’s eyes darkened. One hand gently resting on Zhang Qiu’s waist and slowly moved down. The person under his hand was shocked immediately. He opened his red eyes and said in a hoarse voice, “It’s hurt, no more.”

He looked pitiful and delicious.

Li Shu’s heart skipped a beat. With a little effort, he moved his hand up to Zhang Qiu’s waist. Zhang Qiu, who had just been strictly observing, was comfortable with Li Shu’s massage technique. He hummed and hawed then fell asleep again.

I’ll let you go this time.

Li Shu got up to make breakfast. The Little Zongzi, who was confined to the living room for a night to sleep on the sofa, skipping behind the big zongzi Daddy to eat. The room was quiet, Zhang Qiu turned over, his belly exposed, and a little brocade bag was hanging around his neck.

“Your Excellency, Your Excellency.”

Who?

“Maidservant is Ling Dang, beg Your Excellency for help, willow’s shoots on the moon… Your Excellency, be careful. Someone wants to harm you…”

Who on earth is talking?

The faint and subtle voice in his ears was intermittent; Zhang Qiu did not sleep well at all when this happened. After Li Shu walked away, there was a voice talking in his ears. He only listened to a fragmented voice. After Zhang Qiu rubbed his eyes, he was at a loss; just now he seemed to hear someone talking.

It was called something Dang Dang?

Li Shu, carrying breakfast, saw Zhang Qiu sitting on the bed with a flexible and smooth cross-legged deep in thought, so he asked, “What’s wrong?”

“It seems that there’s someone named Dang Dang said something about the moon.” The more Zhang Qiu remembered, the less vague the voice in his dream became.

Li Shu raised his eyebrows and said, “Do you still have time to think about other people in your dreams?”

Zhang Qiu listened to Li Shu’s tone like “want to eat fast papapa”, and he quickly said, “You heard wrong. Dang Dang is actually Ding Dang Cat, an animated cartoon. Haha, Xiao Jiang has also grown, it’s time to watch an animated cartoon for enlightenment. If you don’t like Ding Dang Cat, then we will support domestic production. Xi Yang Yang [TN: Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf] is also good.”

Xiao Jiang, who had grown, was leaning at the rim of the bowl, sipping porridge. The rim of the bowl was two sizes of his head. When he heard Baba mentioned his name, he raised his head from the rim of the bowl, and looked at Baba with big wet eyes.

“It’s nothing. You eat yours. Your Daddy and I were talking about your education.” Zhang Qiu, with an upright face talked like it was the truth.

–

One interruption in the morning made Zhang Qiu completely forgot about Dang Dang and the moon. Xiao Jiang finished his breakfast, and jumped up to him and asked him what was radiant with joy (xi yang yang). Zhang Qiu’s mind conflicted. Finally, he put on an animated cartoon to watch with little Jiangshi all morning.

–

Because they were waiting for Pingquan and Xiao Liu, they stayed at the resort villa for three days. According to Zhang Qiu, who could not stand the kidney’s pain and pleasure every day, he had never seen Su WanTing for these three days, nor did he smell that sweet fragrance on Pei Qing anymore. The ghosts pounding the wall that night, and dreaming of Dang Dang never happened again. It was as if it were all his fantasy. It seemed like everyone really came here for vacation.

Zhang Qiu had just finished his meal that day when he heard a voice at the gate of the yard, Pixian Hui Wang put down his cup on the table and said, “Pingquan is here.”

Zhang Qiu subconsciously looked at his cell phone; it was more than seven o’clock in the evening. He was just thinking about Pingquan and he arrived. It was unlikely to set off today. Besides, they had not prepared anything. Never had he expected that Su WanTing would come with someone half an hour later.

“Time is up, let’s go!” Su WanTing spoke and looked at Li Shu, with an overwhelming excitement.

Even Zhang Qiu was aware of Su WanTing’s eagerness. She said it was time, yet not everyone was here. He felt that Su WanTing had a conspiracy written on her face. Li Shu nodded in a very indifferent manner. Zhang Qiu’s heart then settled for a bit.

There were still two cars. Su WanTing led the way ahead, while Pei Qing drove at the rear. Zhang Qiu only knew that this map pointed to Luoyang, but the exact location had not been known. Now, when he looked at the direction of the car going up the mountain, he realized Su WanTing’s intention of setting the hotel on the mountain.

The car drove for less than half an hour to the mountain pass, and then the road was blocked by a fence. The car could not go on, so they had to walk.

Zhang Qiu found that there were not much baggage on the back of Pingquan, Bald Head and the rest. The Liu brothers surrounded Su WanTing in the center. Su WanTing suspected the two of them were blocking the road, so she walked along the road quickly. Because the road was an uncovered mountain road surrounded by weeds, and its height was almost close to a human’s waist, it was difficult for the flashlight from behind to show the road ahead, especially the ground was uneven. However, Su WanTing walked faster and more steadily without a flashlight on such a road, with her petite figure, she smartly shuttled through the underbrush like an apparition.

It was too dark on the mountain. Zhang Qiu just followed Li Shu’s footsteps, so he didn’t notice the surroundings at all. He could not make out anything even if he wanted to see into the pitch dark.

“Here we are.” Su WanTing’s voice came from a distance, which sounded strange with some distortion of the wind.

There was a small steep slope ahead. Zhang Qiu’s foot slipped but was pulled by Li Shu. Up on the slope, field of vision was broadened a lot at once. This was not the top of the mountain, but a rare flat land where many willows were planted, and the trunks were big. At first glance could know the willows were old, with some grew very luxuriantly and some had already died.

The southeast direction was the resort villa at the foot of the mountain. It was said that there were hot springs on the mountain. The owner purchased the land and built it specially to draw the spring water down. When they were staying, the staff also said that the owner of the hotel invited the Master Feng Shui from Hong Kong to calculate, when he built it. This place was a place for making money, with mountains on its back to depend on it and water flowing. It was really good that there was a steady stream of vitality.

Zhang Qiu was a smatterer[5], but he also knew this Feng Shui land had to have a scale of old willow forest. The willow attracted Yin, and was likely to condense Yin qi. Naturally, it would attract something else.

This place’s Feng Shui was good, only more likely to benefit the dead.

–

It was unknown whether it was an illusion, but when they entered the forest, the wind was strong and the willow tree tops were rustling loudly. Zhang Qiu had goose bumps on his arm. Li Shu reached out and took his hand and kneaded it. Zhang Qiu felt a little less uncomfortable.

Tonight’s moonlight was very bright, but because the trees in the middle were too lush, the moonlight could not penetrate through at all.

Bald Head was impatient and asked, “Where is the pit hole?”

“Wait.” Was Su WanTing’s simple word.

Zhang Qiu looked at his watch; it was almost ten o’clock in the evening. Just a moment ago Su WanTing was leading the way as if she was in a hurry, so he followed suit. Now resting in place, made his legs and feet felt sore. Li Shu found a place for him to sit.

Su WanTing saw it but said nothing. Only when her line of sight shifted to the back and swept to Pei Qing, she bent her lips in a smile that was somewhat happy.

–

It was past ten o’clock that Zhang Qiu found out Su WanTing could not stand still. She kept walking around the edge, staring at the top of the willow tree with her neck raised. He wondered what she was looking for.

Willow’s shoots on the moon.

Zhang Qiu suddenly remembered this sentence. At this time, he could not say anything. The most important thing was that he only remembered this sentence. He raised his head and swept at the top of the willow around the circle. He never expected that he really saw the clue.

Just now, the moonlight could not penetrate through, as time slowly went by, a bright moonlight shone onto a certain place.

Su WanTing watched it all the time, and naturally found out. She clapped her hands, laughed and said, “Found it.” Pointing to that place, just right at the direction of the hotel was where the brightest moonlight shone.

Without Su WanTing’s instruction, Bald Head and Pingquan had gone up with the tools.

This piece of area was not small. The two took out the Luoyang’s shovel, and basing on the distribution of positioning, it soon removed the others and only left with the right position.

With undisguised smile, Su WanTing said happily, “Dig!”

---

Footnote:

[1] all kinds of races, dialects, cultures etc. under one unified nation

[2] Manchuria

[3] I’m not sure but probably Tibetan Plateau

[4] Han zi could mean man, husband(dialect). I used husband because ZQ kinda in a pinch and he liked to use dialect.

[5] a person who studies a subject in a superficial way or has only a slight knowledge of it.

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