It's really him!
Su Qiuchi stared at the handsome young man who was unconscious in his arms. Thinking about the wine flask that he had broken, he should have been filled with anger, but when he carefully examined the appearance of this young man, his emotions changed. The person in his arms was about sixteen or seventeen years old, wearing a moon-white silk robe with luan[1] and auspicious cloud patterns embroidered with silver threads. A purple-gold jade belt was tied around his waist, with exquisite craftsmanship. His black hair was neatly tied up with an ornate jade crown, and his face hid the freshness of half-opened flowers. His snowy skin was more delicate than silk. His sword-shaped eyebrows were beautiful, and his lips were as if daubed with cream. Despite the heroic attire, his stature was a bit petite, and the weight in Su Qiuchi's arms felt surprisingly light. Su Qiuchi couldn't help but wonder why this young man, who was clearly a wastrel born with a gold spoon, would faint here for no apparent reason.
While still in doubt, Su Qiuchi suddenly felt a not-too-light impact on the back of his head, and a pebble bounced off. Su Qiuchi covered the back of his head and looked around. Except for the two of them along with the red and white horses, there was no one else.
Thwack! Another shot. Someone was hitting his head like pranking him. "Who?!" Su Qiuchi was furious, standing up and cursing loudly, "Who doesn't have eyes and dares to tease your Grandpa[2] Su!"
"Hey hey! Up here, up here!" a crisp voice came from above Su Qiuchi's head. He raised his head in surprise, only to see a guy floating in mid-air who was a carbon copy of the young man on the ground. His appearance, figure, clothing, and demeanor were an exact match.
Huh?... Twin brothers? But this thought was quickly dismissed because Su Qiuchi clearly saw that the guy in the air had no feet. Below the knees, there was only a translucent cloud in the shape of a snake tail.
"Oh my god! A ghost!" Su Qiuchi gave a weird cry, stumbling and falling to the ground.
"Don't faint!" the man in the air shouted urgently, scolding at the same time, "Imagine meeting a seven-foot-tall fella who's so gutless! Have you ever seen a ghost dressed so elegantly?! I see you're both blind and brainless; you deserve to have your lousy wine flask tossed!"
Being scolded like this, Su Qiuchi jumped up and pointed at the person in the air, yelling, "Say it again if you dare!"
"I'll say it a hundred times!" the man retorted without showing any weakness, his charming face turning red. Su Qiuchi rolled up his sleeves, ready to go and beat up the man.
"Hey, blind guy! Don't be impulsive!" Seeing his aggressive stance, the young man waved his hands and spoke in a more relaxed tone, "Let's settle personal grievances later. If you want to live up to the title of a manly man, you must save people from danger. Could…could you help me get back into my body? I'm not a ghost, just an out-of-body soul. Right now, I can't control my own actions and can't return to my physical body."
The phenomenon of a soul leaving its body was something Su Qiuchi had only ever heard about and never witnessed. Now that he saw it firsthand, he was still furious but also fascinated. Scratching his chin, he looked at the person lying on the ground and then at the one in the air. After a while, he suddenly clapped his hands in schadenfreude and laughed heartily, "Excellent, excellent! I knew a little rascal like you would get his just deserts. Haha, good job. Seeing you split into two is so damn amusing!"
Seeing that Su Qiuchi not only had no intention of helping but was also jumping for joy like a monkey, the young man's soul was initially very annoyed. However, he joined in the laughter a moment later and said, "If you don't want to help me, that's fine. But without me to guide you, I'm afraid you'll never be able to get out of this black bamboo forest in your life."
"Bullshit!" Su Qiuchi rolled his eyes at him and pointed behind him, saying, "I broke in in a straight line with no twists or turns, so there's no reason why I can't go back. Since you say so, forgive me for not accompanying you. Feel free to slowly float wherever. Goodbye!" With that, he turned to mount his horse, intending to drive Luer back the way he came. However, to his surprise, the straight path he had taken to enter had inexplicably disappeared, replaced by swaying clusters of endless black bamboo at some point, completely blocking the way out.
Those stupid bamboos that were standing there staring blankly resembled sly thieves who had succeeded in stealing chickens, each one smirking evilly.
Su Qiuchi rubbed his eyes hard, but what he saw remained unchanged; it was not an illusion. This was obviously a blatant scheme! He tugged on Luer, turning in circles, but the black bamboo branches were rigid and densely arranged, leaving no escape route whatsoever.
"You're so sinister!" Su Qiuchi returned to the original spot in frustration and pointed at the young man, cursing loudly, "You're not whole yourself, yet you want to drag me down with you! You vicious ba*tard! Tell me how to get out of this damn bamboo forest now!"
"Help me return to my physical body first."
"Tell me how to get out first!"
"You help me first, or we'll both live and die together!"
"You!"
"If you don't believe me, just try it!"
The final result of the bargaining was that Su Qiuchi followed the other party's instructions, lifting his physical body on his back. Following the young man's commands, he continuously changed direction and pace, swiftly maneuvering through the bamboo that seemed to move.
"Run faster! Why are you moving like an old lady!" The soul next to him had been maintaining a three-foot distance from his own body, and kept looking at the sky and urging Su Qiuchi incessantly.
Su Qiuchi became increasingly irritated. Before he could retort, the other party grabbed the chance and said, "You'd better not be angry! If we don't find what I need before the bamboo leaves above seal off the forest, we might truly become a pair of ghost buddies."
Amidst the increasingly violent rustling all around them, Su Qiuchi subconsciously raised his head. To his astonishment, the overlapping bamboo leaves above were rapidly growing at a frenetic speed, resembling an overwhelming swarm of locusts, swiftly devouring the sky. The light grew even dimmer due to the eerie padding of the bamboo leaves. Their encirclement was getting smaller and smaller. In no time, these suddenly growing bamboo leaves could completely seal them inside the forest like a lid.
"How can this be? What the hell is this place?" Su Qiuchi couldn't spare a moment for complaints or frustration, his feet swiftly weaving through the bamboo forest like wheels.
[1] A mythical bird related to phoenix.
[2] Chinese people like to use terms like laozi, laoniang, your grandpa/grandma etc. to refer to themselves in a somewhat arrogant or assertive way, usually to express anger or superiority. Here, it also has a confrontational tone. "Who doesn't have eyes" is basically "who is blind/stupid and…"
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