Five hundred years ago.
It was the third time I'd fished out this stupid girl from the Welcoming Moon River, where the village children liked to throw her in.
Her brightly colored red dress floated in the cool river water, resembling a blooming flower.
"Give me your hand," I jumped into the water and grabbed her hand.
She fell on the shore, coughing desperately and spitting out a few mouthfuls of river water.
I knew her; she lived in the village at the foot of the mountain, where her family ran a small wine shop. I often bought wine for my shifu from their store. It was her every time. She stood on a small stool and scooped out the mellow from a wine vat taller than her, carefully poured it into my wine pot, and then wiped the pot with a cloth before handing it to me.
She was an abandoned baby brought down from the mountains by her current parents, who didn't like her and treated her with nothing but harshness.
I personally saw her burly foster father once chasing and beating her with a wooden stick, solely because while accounting for the liquor sales he discovered she had undercharged two coins. I watched her dodging and begging for mercy, tears streaming down her bright red face.
After that incident, every time I went to buy liquor, I would leave behind much more money than the cost of the liquor for her. My shifu never cared about money anyway and always gave me plenty.
But this stupid girl would always chase after me, returning every extra coin, not a single one missing. Her honesty made me want to punch her.
I patted her cold, wet back and, once she caught her breath, asked, "Hey, I'm called Ah-Tou. What's your name?"
"My name is Bu Yu."
I gradually learned why she was so unwelcome in the village. It was because she would often say things like, "Tomorrow, you'll cut your hand while chopping wood!" or "Your house will catch fire at night, and your son will get burned." And every time she spoke, her predictions came true. The villagers all considered her a freak, and no one liked her. What's more, they clamored to drive her out of the village. But her foster parents, really reluctant to lose a free helper, went to great lengths to keep her.
However, when she honestly told the villagers, "Three days from now, the village will be destroyed in a massive fire and there will be countless casualties," the enraged villagers finally drove her out of the village, beating and cursing at her. They called her a doomsayer and bearer of ill luck, focusing on the negative rather than the positive. They told her to beat it as far away as possible and warned that if she ever dared to return, they would break her legs.
Three days later, a massive fire reduced the once-thriving village to rubble, and the deceased villagers piled up like a hill on the ground.
Amidst the pervasive smell of charred remains, I held Bu Yu's hand and brought her before my shifu. When my shifu saw Bu Yu standing timidly beside me, I distinctly saw his usually half-closed eyes reveal a sudden rare brilliance.
Bu Yu became my junior apprentice sister.
None of my fellow apprentices were human; some were foxes like me, others were fish demons, and there were even mountain spirits among them. Shifu was the mountain god of Welcoming Moon Mountain, a kind middle-aged man who knew many miraculous magics. He taught us, the demons born in the mountains, the meaning of "tolerance is greatness[1]" and what it meant to be a "modest and scrupulous gentleman," encouraging us to treat everything around us with kindness. He taught us how to soar into the clouds and control the wind, and gave us a stable and warm place to live. Life in Welcoming Moon Mountain was like one big family, where fellow disciples would practice martial arts and play chess, or pursue the four arts[2], all while enjoying the harmony and happiness of each day.
Before meeting Shifu, each of us had a difficult life. It was either being hunted down by Taoist priests and living in constant fear; or being mediocre and incapable, struggling even to find three meals a day. As for me, I owed Shifu a life saving grace. He bought me back from an old hunter, preventing me from becoming just another fox fur mattress under that old man.
After meeting Shifu, I, an easy-to-satisfy fox, finally believed that the world isn't as terrible as some of my kind describe it, with no good people at all. I hoped this kind of life could last forever, and after Bu Yu came into my life, this hope grew even stronger.
Bu Yu and I were the closest of friends. Ever since she came to the mountains, she followed me around like a little tail, practicing magic with me and playing in the forest together. What made her truly exceptional was that she never told lies. Since she came, anyone who stole food from the kitchen or sneaked down the mountain to have fun, as long as our shifu questioned her, she would come clean without hesitation, much to the chagrin of our fellow disciples. She still made predictions like "You'll definitely fall into the river when you go down the mountain today!" to others, but we were different from those villagers. Not only did we not get angry, but we also placed bets out of boredom to see if her words would come true. The result was that her predictions never failed to come true, not even once.
As time went by, we began to suspect Bu Yu's true identity. We knew that our shifu never accepted human disciples.
Many years later, our gang of male disciples had all grown into handsome young men, while Bu Yu had blossomed into a charming and graceful young woman. At Shifu's birthday banquet that year, he looked at us with satisfaction and at the same time also fulfilled our years of curiosity. He said that Bu Yu's true form was that of a prophecy flower.
Prophecy flowers are born on the highest cliff by the Western Waters of the Hidden Sea. They bloom once every hundred years, and have three blood-red petals. By consuming these flower petals, one can foresee the misfortunes that will befall others, hence the name "Prophecy Flower." Once a prophecy flower absorbs the essence of heaven and earth, it gains the chance to cultivate into a human form. Not only can it foresee the calamities for people, but it can also foretell the time of a person's death. If its skin is taken and used in secret rituals, it can create an unbeatable deadly curse, causing certain death to those afflicted.
In the eyes of the righteous path, this flower is considered an ominous thing.
My fellow apprentice brothers and I were surprised, looking at each other and whispering.
At that birthday banquet, Bu Yu was quieter than ever. Previously, she had known nothing at all about her origins, not even who her parents were. Or perhaps she had no parents at all and was just a prophecy flower that had inexplicably taken on human form and had somehow ended up wandering to Welcoming Moon Mountain. The phrase "ominous thing" in particular seemed to really be an invisible stick that struck her so hard that she couldn't even lift her head.
By her side, I discreetly tightened my grip on her hand. I detested seeing her become even a little downcast. I could only use this method to pull her up, preventing her from sinking further.
The next day, I searched the library, looking through ancient notes about various demons. In the section about Prophecy Flowers, at the very end, there was a sentence that read??—
Prophecy flower, prophecy flower, words of prophecy it wields. Conversely, conversely, flower consumes life.
I went to ask Shifu what this sentence meant.
Shifu sighed and explained, "Prophecy flowers never tell lies. She can accurately predict the misfortunes a person will encounter. However, everything has two sides." He clipped a withered leaf from the potted plant and continued, "Bu Yu can see how much of a person's life remains. For example: when she honestly tells someone that they have only ten years or even just three days left to live, then it's a fact that even the gods can't change. However, if she lies and tells the other person they have fifty more years to live, then that person's life will be rewritten, and they truly can live for another fifty years. But, as a punishment for going against their nature by telling such a lie, the prophecy flower that spoke the falsehood will lose a part of its petals. In Bu Yu's case, it means she will lose a piece of her flesh and blood. The more she extends someone else's life, the more of her flesh and blood she loses, until there's nothing left. She will completely vanish. That's why throughout history, some sorcerers sought prophecy flowers to use their petals for malevolent curses, while others aimed to turn out the petals into a life-prolonging panacea through secret methods."
I finally understood what the phrase "flower consumes life" meant.
On that moonlit night, Bu Yu and I lay side by side on the mountaintop, basking in the moonlight like we did in our childhood. The gentle radiance bathed us in a momentary tranquility, a utopia.
"Bu Yu..." I gazed at the full moon above, "Will you promise me something?"
"You're not about to propose to me, are you?" She rested her head on my shoulder and giggled.
"That's the second thing I want you to promise me," I sat up, pulling her up as well, "But the first thing is more important."
"Tell me." Seeing that I was serious, she stopped giggling.
"Never, ever lie to anyone." I said each word slowly, "Promise me!"
"I never tell lies anyway," she replied, looking puzzled.
"Promise me that you'll never do it at any time!" I emphasized again, holding her hand tightly, "Swear it!"
Her delicate face exuded a gentle glow in the moonlight. Gazing at me who insisted like a child, she nodded, "Alright, I promise you. I won't tell lies, no matter when. And if I break this promise, I'll be separated from you for a hundred years, never to be reunited."
I held her in my arms, and in that moment, her soft and warm body gave me a love that I could never let go of.
"Ah-Tou, I am an ominous thing... I often wonder, if I hadn't spoken out about the village fire back then, would it have never happened? Or, if I had never appeared in the village, would they have been spared from those misfortunes..." She whispered in my ear.
"You are not an ominous thing," I held her even tighter, "If anyone dares to use this as an excuse to hurt you in the future, I'll make them repay tenfold! Don't overthink it; you just told the truth, and most humans don't like hearing the truth. It's that simple."
"Ah-Tou...you are so good to me. How about we get married? Only then can I show you that I am also good to you."
She is always so honest.
I chuckled, "Okay!"
Footnotes:
[1] 有容乃大. This phrase is part of the couplet 海納百川，有容乃大；壁立千仞，無欲則剛. Roughly translated: "When the sea accepts a hundred rivers, it becomes vast; When the mountain stands a thousand fathoms tall, it remains steadfast without desires." In essence, it encourages people to have a broad and accepting perspective while maintaining inner strength and resilience.
[2] qín qí shū huà: the four arts (zither, Go, calligraphy, painting); the accomplishments of a well-educated person.
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