When He Sui’an suddenly heard a stranger speak, her heart raced. She turned her head toward the source of the sound and, under the moonlight, saw the stranger’s face clearly. Although she was a bit surprised, she didn’t show it.
The person who spoke to them had a twisted face, making it difficult to discern his actual age. His voice was so hoarse it seemed mixed with sand, making it hard to determine much from the sound, except that he was a man.
He didn’t look like a Taoist priest from Xuanmiao Temple on Dengyun Mountain.
He looked more like someone from the village at the foot of Dengyun Mountain.
When He Sui’an inquired about Dengyun Mountain, the people of Qingzhou mentioned this village a couple of times.
The village was originally named Hongye Village because it had many naturally growing red-leaf trees that remained lush and did not wither all year round. Now, it was mockingly referred to as the “Ugly Village” by the people of Qingzhou.
The term “Ugly Village” undoubtedly carried some mocking and insulting connotations, which made He Sui’an uncomfortable when she first heard it. She asked why it was called Ugly Village.
Those people from Qingzhou waved their hands dismissively and said she would understand when she saw it.
Now she could vaguely guess the reason.
Could it be that the people of Qingzhou called it Ugly Village because of the appearance of its villagers?
But physical appearance doesn’t represent everything.
If He Sui’an were a villager of Hongye Village and often heard other Qingzhou people calling her village Ugly Village and mocking her appearance, she would undoubtedly feel very uncomfortable.
However, the people of Qingzhou didn’t really know the villagers of Hongye Village very well. They only knew that the villagers rarely went out and generally lived self-sufficiently in the village at the foot of Dengyun Mountain.
In any case, whenever Qingzhou people mentioned the villagers of Hongye Village, it was never in a good light.
It wasn’t always like this, though.
The people of Qingzhou said it was because the villagers of Hongye Village were too strange. Not only were they ugly and odd-looking, but their personalities were also peculiar.
The villagers of Hongye Village were very exclusive. Some Qingzhou people who had been to the village were stared at from head to toe, frightening them into running away. As this story spread, the village’s reputation worsened.
One thing the people of Qingzhou and the villagers of Hongye Village had in common was their belief in Xuanmiao Temple.
Is Xuanmiao Temple really that good?
He Sui’an wondered.
She silently watched the person a few steps away, forgetting to answer the man’s question.
Qi Buyan also didn’t respond for the moment.
The man’s slightly bulging eyes were also looking at them, seemingly unfocused, with the whites of his eyes turned outward. It was a bit terrifying but still made it clear he was looking at people.
His facial features were different from normal, giving He Sui’an the impression they were misplaced, as if he had suffered something or was born that way.
At first glance, he looked terrifying.
But after looking at him for a while, it didn’t seem so bad. The important thing was that he didn’t seem hostile.
Perhaps their reaction made the man misunderstand. He thought they didn’t want to interact with someone as strange as him. A trace of embarrassment flashed across his ugly face, and he turned to walk back into the depths of the forest.
The man’s body was deformed to varying degrees. He walked with a limp, his legs appearing uneven in length, making his walk look both comical and pitiful. His back looked lonely.
He Sui’an took a step forward.
She called out to him.
“Wait a moment, you’re a villager of Hongye Village, right? You guessed correctly just now; we are planning to go up the mountain. Is there something wrong?” she replied.
The man stopped and turned around again. Perhaps due to his inferiority complex, he deliberately hid his face in the shadows of the trees, trying to blend his body into the darkness.
“You’re not from Qingzhou.”
He suddenly said.
He Sui’an admitted, “That’s right, we’re not from Qingzhou.”
The man glanced at He Sui’an, then at the quiet, seemingly easygoing young man beside her. If they were from Qingzhou, they would not call it Hongye Village but directly call it Ugly Village.
“You shouldn’t go up the mountain at night,” he said as if kindly reminding them.
Qi Buyan, twirling a fallen red leaf between his fingers, asked with bright eyes, “Why can’t we go up the mountain at night?”
The man mumbled indistinctly.
He Sui’an also felt confused.
The man, who rarely left Hongye Village, was not good at dealing with outsiders. The fact that he had taken the initiative to call out to them was already the bravest thing he had ever done.
“You might be punished by the mountain god if you go up the mountain at night,” he said, hearing a familiar whistle and unwilling to say more. “You’d better wait until daytime to go up the mountain.”
With that, he hurried away.
Mountain god?
He Sui’an was puzzled. The people of Qingzhou hadn’t mentioned this to her.
Not believing in the existence of demons or ghosts, she naturally didn’t believe that Dengyun Mountain had a mountain god, let alone one that would randomly punish people climbing the mountain at night. Could such a being really be called a mountain god?
The whistling sound came from an unknown direction, seeming both distant and near, fleeting. The man disappeared along with the whistle.
The surroundings returned to silence.
He Sui’an looked at Qi Buyan beside her.
She was still thinking about what the man had said. “So, should we still go up the mountain tonight?”
Qi Buyan straightened the strands of He Sui’an’s hair that had been tousled by the night wind and habitually smoothed a lock of hair that hung in front of her. “Yes. What I’m looking for only appears at night.”
“What are you looking for?” He Sui’an hadn’t intended to ask, but since she was also going up the mountain, they could look together.
She blinked. “If it’s inconvenient to say, you don’t have to.”
“It’s the Wan Cao Flower,” he replied calmly.
The Wan Cao Flower is a herb used for refining poisonous Gu, enhancing its toxicity. This herb is mentioned in the Poison Gu Record and has been found on Dengyun Mountain in Qingzhou. It only blooms red flowers at night and looks like ordinary grass during the day, making it difficult to find.
He Sui’an had never heard of the Wan Cao Flower, let alone seen it.
Qi Buyan squatted down, picked up a twig from the ground, and sketched in the dirt. He drew a Wan Cao Flower, which had four petals and a flower core resembling a human mouth.
The flower’s unique shape made it easily recognizable. He Sui’an thought that if she saw it on the mountain, she would recognize it.
“Okay, I’ve got it.”
He Sui’an covered the drawing of the Wan Cao Flower with dirt.
“Aren’t you going to ask me…” Qi Buyan paused, then threw away the twig in his hand, “aren’t you going to ask me why I want to find this?”
“You must have your own reasons. When you want to tell me, you can.” He Sui’an tilted her head.
He smiled.
“What if I told you I’m looking for this to kill someone?”
Qi Buyan remained in his half-squat position, his elbow lazily resting on his knee, palm up, supporting his well-defined chin as he looked up at her.
He Sui’an thought seriously.
She also squatted down and started drawing circles in the dirt with her finger. “Did they hurt you?”
Qi Buyan: “Is that important?”
He Sui’an: “It is.”
“Why is it important?” He looked at the circles He Sui’an was drawing on the ground, his gaze following her slender, pale fingers.
She pondered, “If they didn’t hurt you and you still want to kill them, that would be wanton killing, which is considered wrong by the world. If they hurt you, you have the right to retaliate.”
Qi Buyan stared at He Sui’an for a long time.
His gaze made her uncomfortable.
He Sui’an stopped drawing circles on the ground and asked, puzzled, “Did I say something wrong?”
“No.”
Qi Buyan took her finger, which she had used to draw the circles, and wiped off the dirt, as if he couldn’t tolerate even a pet getting dirty: “It’s the first time someone has explained to me what ‘wanton killing’ means.”
Right and wrong, good and evil.
These concepts had never existed for him.
In the past, Qi Buyan’s world consisted solely of Gu. Now, his world included a person—He Sui’an, whom he had picked up and decided to take care of. She was more vivid than the Gu, and suddenly, he wanted to take care of her for a long time.
He Sui’an watched as Qi Buyan wiped her hand clean with his indigo robe. She seemed used to him treating her like this and didn’t pull her hand away.
When the young man lowered his eyes, he looked exceedingly harmless.
She took a few more glances at him.
Qi Buyan didn’t continue the previous topic. After cleaning He Sui’an’s hand, he stood up and started heading up Dengyun Mountain.
He Sui’an also stood up.
At the foot of the mountain, there was a prominent stone stele erected by Xuanmiao Temple. The stele had a few words inscribed on it, roughly meaning that one should not enter the mountain after the hour of Xu, or they would be responsible for the consequences.
Xuanmiao Temple was revered by the people of Qingzhou, and since the Taoists had written those words on the stele, the people of Qingzhou naturally wouldn’t go up the mountain at night.
But they were not from Qingzhou.
They bypassed the stele and headed up the mountain.
The rugged mountain path wound like a giant coiled serpent, with what seemed like eighteen twists and turns.
By the time He Sui’an’s feet began to ache, they had only reached halfway up the mountain. Her enthusiasm for climbing had mostly dissipated, leaving her only with the thought, “How much longer until we reach the top?”
The mountain was originally very desolate. The occasional sound of the wind could resemble the wailing of ghosts, making anyone alone feel fearful. But He Sui’an found peace in the sound of the silver ornaments from Qi Buyan’s body.
When the silver ornaments jingled, even without looking, He Sui’an knew Qi Buyan was by her side.
She gently rubbed her sore legs and looked around.
To be honest, the scenery was beautiful.
A place of beauty has a unique charm whether in daylight or at night.
The rolling peaks of Dengyun Mountain resembled a green silk ribbon undulating in Qingzhou. Countless trees surrounded the entire mountain range, as if bathing in it, with clouds and mist lingering above at night.
Looking at this mountain, He Sui’an couldn’t help but think of the lonely mountain where Qi Buyan had lived before. Did he also live on a towering, remote mountain like this one?
All these years, by himself?
She didn’t like solitude.
He Sui’an didn’t enjoy being alone, and suddenly she wanted to know how he had managed all this time.
However, when she thought about it, she could imagine how Qi Buyan spent his years—living day and night with the Gu, coexisting with them.
What about his parents?
Thinking of the word “parents” brought her happiness. She must have been very fond of her parents.
He Sui’an reached out and grabbed Qi Buyan’s hand as he walked ahead. Her soft hand, chilled by the mountain night wind, slipped into his warm fingers, interlocking.
Qi Buyan’s eyelashes fluttered slightly as he looked back at her.
His long hair lifted behind him, and the silver ornament at the end of his hair brushed against He Sui’an’s arm.
She looked up, her red silk ribbon fluttering over her shoulder, her cheeks flushed from the climb. “Can we take a break? I’m a bit tired.”
Qi Buyan’s fingers, held by He Sui’an, moved almost imperceptibly.
Eventually, she sat on a large rock.
Qi Buyan sat to her left. His hair was longer than most men’s, reaching his waist, jet black and smooth, as if meticulously cared for. It felt like silk to the touch.
