When it came to escaping, Su Qiuchi was also a top-notch expert in the city of Chang'an. After madly dashing all the way for who knows how long, he'd just wormed his way out from between two entangled black bamboo, when he felt a bright light before his eyes. A refreshing and impressive aura with a hint of moist warmth hit his face, and the sound of gurgling water also reached his ears — a vast open space in the mountains appeared before him. Dense rocks and trees surrounded an oval pond, where ripples danced and the bluish green water shimmered like jade. A not-so-majestic waterfall hung in the air like a silver chain, its snowy white color unexpectedly brightening the already dusk sky. Large birds that he'd never seen before glided through the air from time to time displaying their long, colorful tails. Su Qiuchi never imagined that there would be such a slice of paradise hidden in the small bamboo forest.
"Fool, go get that silk brocade bag quickly!" The handsomely dressed young man suddenly pointed to something red revealed among the pile of rocks in front of him on the left. "There's a Seven Alert sound arrow inside. Release it! Hurry!"
Su Qiuchi hurried to comply. But on seeing the sound arrow shoot straight into the sky and bursting into seven different colored flowers in the air, Su Qiuchi asked, "Asking for help?! This is the way to get out of the bamboo forest you mentioned?"
"What else?" The other party spread his hands, "Did you think I can lead you out?"
"Isn't that what you've been implying all along?!" Su Qiuchi exploded.
"My knowledge of Daoist techniques is limited, but I do know that this bamboo forest should not exist in this space and that each bamboo and stone here is arranged according to Fuxi's[1] Natural Eight-Trigram Battle Array. Once you enter, without expert guidance, you can only die trapped inside. My skill can only lead you back to the way I took before, and find the sound arrow to seek help." The well-dressed young man was much calmer than him, eyes gazing at the sky. "I hope they can find me before we starve to death."
Upon hearing things like "space" and "Fuxi's Natural Eight-Trigram Battle Array," Su Qiuchi's mind was instantly blown.
"Sit there and wait. Maybe later I'll have to trouble you to carry me." The well-dressed young man pointed to a large bluestone nearby. "Also, what's your name?"
"Laozi's name is none of your damn business!" Su Qiuchi sat down with a huff, shooting him an irritated look. "But telling you won't hurt. I'm Su Qiuchi, known as Little Overlord of Chang'an, hmph!"
"I am Li Huai[2], a native of Chang'an." The young man introduced himself with poise. "So, now that we've met and can also be considered comrades in adversity, if I've offended you before, please don't take it to heart. Today, I came out for an outing, but I didn't expect to mistakenly enter this place, and ended up involving Gentleman[3] Su. It was really not my intention."
At least this guy spoke some human words. Su Qiuchi's anger subsided a lot, and he asked with a straight face, "How did you end up in this damned place and even had your soul go out of your body?"
"Well, I came down from Cuiwei Mountain. Seeing this novel and interesting bamboo forest, I came in to take a look and walked all the way to the pond. I saw that the water in the pond was clear and lovely, so I took a few sips. Since there was nothing else around, I decided to go back the same way. But something went wrong as I was walking back. The world spun, my body felt like it was on fire, and then I lost consciousness. When I woke up, I became like this, and I also lost the silk brocade bag with the sound arrow. And I found out that my soul cannot leave my body within a ten-foot range. Fortunately, you broke in. Otherwise, in my current state… Alas!" Li Huai lamented, "If I had known earlier it'd be like this, I would have stayed in the palace... I mean, I would have stayed at home and not come out."
"Bah! You unlucky trash!" Although Su Qiuchi cursed with his mouth, he also felt strange in his heart. Could this place be enchanted by some sorcery?
At this moment, a colorful bird descended from the sky and landed next to the pond between two large stones facing each other, singing melodiously. Observing the two stones, each the height of a person, translucent like jade with a faint blue glow, they were quite beautiful.
Su Qiuchi was attracted by the bird and the stones, unable to resist approaching for a closer look. Upon closer inspection, relying on his experience of playing with antique jade for many years, Su Qiuchi concluded that these were just ordinary stones. However, on the chessboard-like smooth surface on top of the stones, there was a pile of bamboo leaves arranged in the shape of human figures. Two bamboo leaf figures, each on one of the peculiar stones, and clearly in a confrontational posture.
"What's this?" Su Qiuchi found it strange. He randomly picked up the bamboo leaf figure on the right stone, lifted its "right arm" in passing and inspected it. Hey, it's a genuine bamboo leaf. Who's so bored to arrange them like this?
While Su Qiuchi was wondering, a white mist suddenly spewed out from the bamboo leaf figure that was missing an "arm." Accompanied by a furious roar of "hateful!" a monk in white robes unexpectedly emerged from the white mist, holding his right shoulder with his left hand, glowering at Su Qiuchi. On the stone opposite the monk, the same thing happened to the other bamboo leaf figure at the same time, and a man's figure slowly emerged from the white mist… Su Qiuchi exclaimed and fell awkwardly to the ground, pointing at the two figures that appeared out of thin air on the stones, too shocked to speak.
"Evil creature, today it's your damn luck! Next time won't be so easy!" The monk wrathfully declared to the man opposite him, then gave Su Qiuchi a fierce glare, muttered something, and turned into a burst of greenish black smoke, disappearing into the air.
"No matter how many lifetimes pass, some things never change." The man shook his head, shook his green robe, and jumped down from the stone.
"You..." Su Qiuchi wasn't sure if the man in front of him was human, ghost, god, or demon. All he could see in his line of sight were those lake-blue strands of hair and the clean, delicate, refined as jade face. If this man was a human, with such good looks, not only men, but even women would be envious.
"Don't be afraid, Gentleman Su." The blue-haired man politely extended his hand towards Su Qiuchi and smiled. "Get up quickly. Today, I truly must express my gratitude to you and Gentleman Li. If you hadn't intervened from the side, disrupting that bald donkey's formation, I might not have escaped unscathed."
"You..." Su Qiuchi stared blankly at the man. Feeling that the man's gaze was only friendly and not dangerous, he allowed the man to pull him up. After regaining his senses, he immediately jumped aside and questioned loudly, "What are you?"
The man smiled and clasped his hands towards Su Qiuchi. "I am Jiu Jue, a mountain villager[4]." Su Qiuchi was surprised. "How did you know my surname is Su?"
"I overheard your conversation. How about helping Gentleman Li get out of trouble first." Jiu Jue walked towards Li Huai, who was anxiously looking around on the other side. Because that guy was bound to his physical body, he couldn't follow Su Qiuchi to the gap between the two stones and got all worked up, pacing and gesturing.
Su Qiuchi and Li Huai both felt that Jiu Jue didn't do much. He merely dipped his fingers into the pool, drew two strokes on Li Huai's forehead, flicked the remaining water droplets onto Li Huai's soul, leaped into the air to grab the hand of Li Huai's soul, and then moved it towards his physical body. In an instant, the seemingly lifeless body regained its breath, jumping up lively. Li Huai exclaimed in delight, patting his hands and feet, shouting, "Great! Great! I'm alive! I'm alive!"
"The pool of water is not for mortals to drink." Jiu Jue glanced at the green pool and smiled. "This pond is named Wuyou[5]. If an ordinary person drinks the water directly, their soul will leave their body. If not rescued, they will have to remain as a lonely soul here for the rest of their life."
Su Qiuchi and Li Huai broke into cold sweats after hearing this. Li Huai muttered, "The name sounds rather nice, Wuyou..."
"All earthly troubles stem from this mortal flesh. If you throw away this shackle and free the soul, you can see things much more clearly, and naturally, everything becomes worry-free." Jiu Jue laughed heartily, changing the subject. "If you two trust that I am not a bad person, please follow me to my humble abode for a short rest. I have some aged fine wine that can be used for my distinguished guests." His gaze turned to the mountain forest behind the waterfall as he warmly invited them.
"Let's go, let's go! I'm in!" As soon as he heard that there was wine to drink, the wine bug in Su Qiuchi's belly began cheering incessantly, caring about nothing else. Li Huai gave Su Qiuchi a disdainful look and called him a "drunkard," but didn't object to Jiu Jue's invitation. To be honest, the bizarre events they had encountered throughout the day had left them exhausted. At this moment, resting somewhere and having a few drinks seemed like the perfect solution. The trio followed along the Wuyou Pond, heading towards the mountains behind the waterfall, led by Jiu Jue.
"This chap says this bamboo forest shouldn't be in this space. How did you and the monk end up here? How did you emerge from those bamboo leaf figures?"
"It would be better to discuss these things when we get to my place. Then I’ll talk about it one by one with Gentleman Su."
"Why is your name so strange, Jiu Jue? Is there such a surname as Jiu? Is your older brother named Ba Jue[6]?"
"......"
"Su Qiuchi, say one more word, and I, Li Huai, swear that I'll throw you into the pond to feed the fish!"
"Shut up, you brat! If it weren't for me, you'd still be a lonely soul in the bamboo forest!"
"I'll definitely cut off your head when we get back!"
"You turn hostile even faster than a woman! You just said we're comrades in adversity, and now you want to cut off my head. Let me tell you, my grandfather is the current prime minister. It's uncertain who will be cutting whose head. Also, you broke my wine flask that I bought for 800 taels of silver. Pay for it!"
"You dumb goose, who asked you to block my way? I've already done you a big favor by not trampling you to death."
Along the way, Su Qiuchi and Li Huai were tit-for-tat at every turn, as if destined to be sworn enemies, thoroughly destroying the peaceful and distant atmosphere around them.
Watching these two restless young gentlemen, Jiu Jue just smiled and remained silent.
Footnotes:
[1] Fuxi or Fu Hsi, legendary Chinese emperor, mythical creator of fishing, trapping and writing.
[2] 李淮: Li (surname), li means plum. Huai is the name of a river.
[3] The word 公子 has been used a lot in this story arc. I've used "young man" and "gentleman" as I saw fit. Gongzi is son of official/nobility/privilege; scion; a title used to address young men in historical dramas.
[4] Metaphor for a recluse.
[5] No worries.
[6] Jue means to faint; to lose consciousness; his; her; its; their. Jiu means 9, Ba means 8. In addition to the number joke, "八厥" (Bajue) and "八戒" (Bajie) sound somewhat similar when spoken aloud. Bajie is the famous Piggy or Pigsy in the English version of Journey to the West.
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