Today, the light rain in the early morning didn't stop until the afternoon. The empty Cuiwei Mountain looked immersed in cold and gray.
It had been five days since Li Huai last visited. Su Qiuchi kept saying that it would be great if the rogue monkey didn't show up again as it would save all the good wine he wasted. However, his eyes kept glancing outside the bamboo house.
"Not seeing that guy feels abnormal to you now, doesn't it," Jiu Jue easily saw through him. "That's right, it's good if you're worried about that fellow."
"Nonsense! Why would I worry about what a grown man does!" Su Qiuchi rolled his eyes at him.
"There's no one else here, no need to pretend," Jiu Jue chuckled. "If you still can't tell whether Li Huai is male or female after that sunset dance, then you really must be a blind wild boar."
"I..." Su Qiuchi blushed, then stuck his chin out and said, "So what if I know that fellow is a woman? This Great Master Su has seen more beauties than he has eaten in his life. Why should I worry about that fair-looking and bad-tempered tomboy!"
Duplicity is not necessarily the monopoly of women; men also have a share in it. Ever since the evening when Su Qiuchi realized Li Huai's true gender, an indescribable feeling seemed to surge within him whenever he thought about it. It wasn't quite admiration — after all, how could he possibly fall in love with a fierce woman that he'd met by chance, was of unknown background, and loved opposing him; and it surely wasn't appreciation — as if there was anything remarkable about that guy! And yet, he just couldn't shake the feeling that the two of them should be together. The more time Su Qiuchi spent with Li Huai, the more obvious this feeling became. It was truly baffling.
"Since we're idle anyway, let me do a divination for Lu Huai," Jiu Jue stopped arguing with him and asked Lan Ting to bring out his turtle shell and copper coins. He shook them a few times, and the coins inside the shell clinked as they rolled out on the table.
"How is it? That guy didn't fall into the river and get washed away, did he?" Su Qiuchi blurted out, staring at the three coins with different sides facing up and down.
"Your words have hit the mark," Jiu Jue glanced briefly and put away the coins. "It's a very bad omen." Su Qiuchi was momentarily speechless.
"Let's go!" He grabbed Su Qiuchi, "Let's go find her!"
"Do you know where she is? Even her name is most likely fake!"
"I am a god!" Jiu Jue dragged Su Qiuchi up into the sky. Seeing the white clouds rushing beneath their feet, Su Qiuchi closed his eyes in fear.
Lan Ting looked up at the two people hurriedly flying away, put the small dishes he was holding back into the kitchen before they were served, and sighed deeply, his face full of worry as he hid into a secret place…
Translator:
Jiu Jue uses the Three-coin method of I Ching divination. You can read about it in this Wikipedia article.
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