Outside the cave, the snow raged and the wind howled, freezing water droplets as they fell.
Inside the cave, He Sui’an spread out a few thick pieces of clothing and covered both herself and Qi Buyan. Though he might not fear the cold, He Sui’an was extremely sensitive to it; she shivered whenever she left his embrace.
The night was far colder than the day, and as she drifted off to sleep, He Sui’an reminded herself to wake up early the next day, ensuring she left his embrace before he woke.
Perhaps the boy’s warm body was too comforting, as she soon fell into a deep sleep.
He Sui’an had a dream.
In the dream, she seemed to be in a damp and sticky snake den, with colorful snakes crawling on the vines above, the ground, and the stone walls, countless in number, hissing continuously.
No one else seemed to be around. With no hope of escape, He Sui’an curled up in a corner of the snake den, only to find the snakes suddenly crawling towards her, their tongues bright red, as if stained by blood that couldn’t be wiped away.
Terrified, she hugged her knees and sat still.
“Help me.”
“Can someone help me?”
Not far away, there seemed to be a rustling sound, suggesting someone else was there. He Sui’an looked towards the source of the noise and saw a child sitting there, surrounded by snakes as well.
It was hard to distinguish whether the child was a boy or a girl.
Dressed in a dark blue robe that didn’t fit well, revealing slender, pale wrists adorned with seven small bells, with a blue-green headband tied across the forehead, and hair half braided, half loose.
The exquisite clothes were covered in jingling silver ornaments, ringing with every movement. Despite the initial difficulty in discerning the child’s gender, He Sui’an instinctively thought of the child as a boy.
She couldn’t see his face clearly.
But she felt he must be very good-looking.
The snakes moved, not the ones near He Sui’an, but those near the boy. The colorful snakes slithered over each other, ready to strike, making her shiver with fear.
A thin brown snake on a vine coiled its body like a spring, launching into the air and landing precisely on the boy’s face, making He Sui’an shudder.
“No.”
He Sui’an shook her head instinctively.
To her surprise, the unarmed boy grabbed the snake. But with no stones in the cave and only layers of snakes on the walls, he had no way to kill it.
So He Sui’an witnessed an unforgettable scene: the boy opened his mouth and bit off the snake’s head, not caring if he might get poisoned, only wanting to kill the snake that tried to bite him.
She covered her mouth in shock.
The boy remained expressionless, spitting out the snake’s head as blood trickled down the corners of his lips.
After a long while, he tossed away the motionless snake body, and his blood-stained lips slowly curved into a smile. He Sui’an wondered if she had seen it wrong; he was smiling, and blue butterflies appeared on his body.
She suddenly thought, perhaps the butterfly pattern had something to do with the snake venom.
The snake at He Sui’an’s feet began to move too.
Just as a snake was about to bite her, someone called her name, “He Sui’an.”
It was Qi Buyan’s voice.
The snake den suddenly vanished, the nightmare dissipated, and He Sui’an’s eyelashes fluttered open. What met her eyes was a piece of dark blue fabric, rising and falling slightly with breaths. So, this was…
He Sui’an looked up.
As expected, she was still in Qi Buyan’s embrace.
She had slept too deeply and hadn’t managed to leave his arms before he woke up. Trapped by this dilemma, He Sui’an immediately forgot the nightmare she just had and began to ponder how to resolve this situation.
Should she honestly say that it was too cold and she wanted to borrow his body for warmth? Would he be angry? The words rolled around in her stomach but couldn’t come out.
“I…”
She only managed to utter one word.
Qi Buyan’s face remained innocent as he looked down at He Sui’an, his fingertips picking up the colorful silk and a few strands of hair that had fallen into his collar. “What about you? Do you want to explain why you were hugging me while sleeping?”
He Sui’an blushed and nodded, explaining that she was really too cold last night and, if he minded, she would never do it again. After saying this, she withdrew from his embrace.
As soon as she did, she felt cold again.
But there was no way she could shamelessly snuggle back in.
One moment she was warm, the next she felt like she was in an ice cave. However, it wasn’t as cold as it had been the previous night. He Sui’an wrapped her clothes tighter, trying to adapt.
She wanted to speak again.
But she saw the boy nonchalantly stand up.
He scooped up the red snake that was curled in a crack in the stone and flicked it awake in his palm. “I used to always sleep with my Gu, what’s wrong with that?”
Qi Buyan walked to the cave entrance and looked out, the silver ornaments at his waist jingling. “As long as you don’t betray me, I’ll treat you the same as my Gu. Whatever they can do, you can do as well.”
He Sui’an was speechless.
She wanted to tell him that, unless they were married or in a special situation, men and women shouldn’t act this way. But then she seemed to realize something.
After hesitating for a long time, He Sui’an tentatively asked, “You once told me you came from the Miaojiang Tianshui Village. Is this your first time leaving the village?”
She looked like she had guessed correctly.
Qi Buyan responded with a simple “Mm.”
He said, “You guessed right. This is indeed my first time leaving Tianshui Village. I used to live alone on the mountain in Tianshui Village and would only come down if there was a major event in the village.”
He Sui’an suddenly understood.
She muttered, “I see.”
It seemed he had only heard about the butterfly patterns from an elder in Tianshui Village. She wondered if he even knew how to engage in such matters. This thought crossed her mind.
Qi Buyan reached his hand out of the cave. The cold wind brushed through his fingers. He stepped outside, glanced back at He Sui’an, who was wrapped up like a cocoon, and smiled slightly, looking like an innocent youth rather than someone who used Gu to kill.
“The snow has stopped. Let’s set off,” he said.
He Sui’an took the bundle lying beside a rock and left the cave as well. The snake followed behind her, making her quicken her pace.
*
In Fengling Town, within the Great Zhou territory.
Compared to the border, it was warmer here. The town was built along a river, with bridges made from ancient trees spanning the water, adorned with misty rain corridors, resembling an ink wash painting.
He Sui’an looked at the colorful lanterns hanging along the corridor. Her curiosity, typical of a teenager, got the better of her. She stood on tiptoe and gently poked one, marveling at the beauty of Fengling Town.
It had taken them half a month to reach Fengling Town.
The journey had been uneventful, allowing her to relax and appreciate the scenery.
The street was bustling with people. Afraid of getting separated from Qi Buyan, He Sui’an uncharacteristically took the initiative to hold his hand. This time, instead of grabbing his waist sash or the Gu-protected wristband, she held his hand directly.
Qi Buyan glanced at their joined hands but did not push her away. They walked side by side.
Suddenly, there was a commotion ahead.
He Sui’an felt something was off.
People were running towards them in a panic, their faces filled with terror, as if fleeing for their lives. At first, it was just a few people. Gradually, the crowd gathered ahead dispersed quickly.
When the crowd cleared, He Sui’an saw what was happening.
Someone was biting people.
The biter was a pale-skinned man with disheveled hair, his body filthy. He grabbed a frail scholar on the street and bit his neck, repeatedly.
The bitten scholar convulsed a few times before going still. After a moment, he moved again, pouncing on a woman who had collapsed on the ground and couldn’t get up. He started biting her too.
One biter became two.
Two became three, and the number kept increasing.
The survivors on the street had never experienced anything like this before. Their faces were ashen as they stumbled away from the scene, terrified of becoming the next victim. In the chaos, He Sui’an and Qi Buyan were separated by the fleeing crowd.
Thx for the chapters I hope you continue to translate