Jiu Jue did not take them back to the black bamboo forest, let alone fly away to some far flung place for refuge. Instead, they settled in a residence in Bucket Lane, Chang'an. The more people there are, the easier it is to conceal our presence. The closer to the enemy, the more likely it is to be overlooked. Jiu Jue said so.
Su Qiuchi kept worrying about what Li Zhun had said, afraid of causing trouble for his family. He didn't dare to return to the Su Mansion immediately, intending to wait for some time to pass and make sure there were no suspicious movements before returning home. Lan Ting also followed them, carefully taking care of their daily lives.
On the third day of staying in the humble abode in Bucket Lane, Li Zhun and Su Qiuchi, who had disguised themselves and went out for some fresh air, discovered that there were many refugees who had fled from the border to Chang'an. They were all so exhausted that they could barely stand, each and every one of them covered in injuries. The young children in the arms of their mothers were all as thin as twigs, and some even had broken limbs, incessantly crying in misery. Li Zhun and Su Qiuchi felt heavy-hearted, and after helping them with everything they had, they returned in silence, feeling extremely depressed.
Not long after, news of the armed rebellion of the twenty-four chieftains of the Eastern Turks spread throughout Chang'an, and the flames of war erupted on the border. What followed was the battle reports of the Tang army retreating in defeat little by little. In this critical situation, the imperial court mobilized more troops, and following the advice of Empress Wu, the Emperor led a 300,000-strong army to counterattack the Eastern Turks.
It was the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival. Despite the raging war on the border, Chang'an City was still decorated with lanterns and colorful banners, and was full of joy. That evening, they heard two pieces of news — first, Pei Xingjian's army[1] will launch an attack against the Turks tomorrow. Second, the Emperor has dispatched a large force to surround the Su Mansion and the Prime Minister's Residence where Su Qiuchi's maternal grandfather lived, claiming to have found Turkic spies in these two places.
Lan Ting prepared a grand feast, and Jiu Jue poured wine for Li Zhun and Su Qiuchi. Even with the two opponents present, the meal was unusually quiet, without a word being spoken.
Jiu Jue, also in a somber mood, after carelessly drinking a few cups of wine, said, "It's the Mid-Autumn Festival, so there must be some festive celebration. I've prepared a shadow puppet show for you. Come out and watch. After watching, you can do as you please."
Su Qiuchi and Li Zhun put down their bowls and chopsticks, staring at him in bewilderment.
In the courtyard outside, the stage was already set up, and two puppeteers were arranging the puppets as thin as a cicada's wing in the boxes. Two musicians were tuning the erhu and recorder for the performance.
Su Qiuchi and Li Zhun had never seen this play before. The plot was quite unique — In the heavenly realm, there was an immortal boy in charge of brewing wine. Due to accidentally killing a snow civet cat that stole the wine of the gods, he incurred the revenge of the cat's owner, the Guardian Star Lord responsible for the four Heavenly Gates. This Guardian Star Lord, relying on his power as the younger full-sibling of the Empress of Heaven, idled about all day. He was sinister and had an eccentric personality. In order to vent his anger for his pet civet cat, he not only beat back the immortal boy, a demon before he cultivated to immortality, to his original form without the knowledge of other heavenly immortals but also intended to throw him into an alchemical furnace to destroy him completely. Fortunately, the powerful Golden-armored God, Protector of the Northern Heavenly Gate, was passing by and intervened just in time. Although this Golden-armored God held a low-ranking position and was known for being a heavy drinker with few friends, the immortal boy recognized his loyal and upright nature. He also understood that despite his recklessness, the Golden-armored God had a kind heart, so he often shared some immortal wine with him to satisfy his cravings, and they became close friends over time. The Golden-armored God reported the misdeeds of the Guardian Star Lord to the Emperor of Heaven. The Emperor of Heaven was furious, but out of consideration for the Empress of Heaven's prestige, he only punished his wife's younger brother to "shut yourself away and reflect on your mistakes." While the immortal boy dodged a bullet, the Golden-armored God wasn't as lucky. On a Mid-Autumn Festival night, the Golden-armored God was once again blind drunk and sleeping soundly under the Heavenly Gate. The Guardian Star Lord seized the opportunity to push him down to the mortal world. Not only did he send him into the Six Paths of Reincarnation, but he also used sorcery to split the Golden-armored God's soul in half, vowing to ensure that this eyesore would never return to the heavenly court. Later, when the crime was exposed, the Emperor of Heaven, disregarding the Empress of Heaven's entreaties, banished the Guardian Star Lord into the cycle of reincarnation, and he was forbidden from setting foot in the heavenly realm ever again. And the Golden-armored God, whose soul was split into yin and yang, was reincarnated as a man and a woman, stranded in the mortal realm in endless cycles. The immortal boy cultivated hard for many years and finally became the God of Wine-making, now able to undertake his task independently. He sought the reincarnated man-woman pair of the Golden-armored God in the mortal realm, under the pretext of searching for ingredients for wine-making. However, since the Golden-armored God accidentally fell into the mortal realm and did not have the Mark of the Fallen on his body, finding him proved to be a challenging task. For centuries, 999 years to be exact, the God of Wine-making has been roaming the mortal world, knowing that only by locating the man and woman reincarnation of the Golden-armored God and extracting the yin and yang souls from their bodies on the Mid-Autumn Festival night, could he merge the souls into one, thereby allowing the Golden-armored God to return to the heavenly realm and resume his duties as an immortal.
The shadow puppet play finished with the God of Wine-making encountering a man and a woman on a mountain called "Cuiwei."
After dismissing the shadow puppet troupe, only Jiu Jue, Su Qiuchi, and Li Zhun remained in the courtyard, along with the crescent moon that hung in the sky like a sickle. Su Qiuchi and Li Zhun stared blankly at the spot where the backdrop had been, as if the shadow play were still ongoing.
"Is it real?" The two of them once again spoke in unison.
"I've spent nearly a thousand years gambling on whether I could find you," Jiu Jue's blue hair shimmered with a strange light in the night, "and clearly I've won."
"How...how can there be such a thing?" Li Zhun slapped her face hard and looked at Su Qiuchi, "He and I are halves of a god's soul?"
Jiu Jue nodded and said, "Mighty Golden-armored God, come back with me to the heavenly court and resume your duties." As he spoke, he reached out his hand towards them.
"Wait!" Su Qiuchi suddenly blocked his hand, jumping aside as if avoiding a poisonous snake. "I have no plans to go back to any heavenly court with you." Jiu Jue was stunned.
"I don't know Golden-armored God or whatever. I only know that my name is Su Qiuchi, and my father and grandfather, as well as hundreds of members of my Su family are currently being held at knifepoint. This must be Empress Wu's sinister plot. There's no way I'll ignore my family's life or death and follow you to some lousy heavenly court to become some lousy immortal!" Su Qiuchi had never before spoken in such a solemn and prudent tone. "All I've been thinking about tonight is how to save my family from danger. I have no interest in anything else."
For the first time, Li Zhun looked at Su Qiuchi with admiration and said, "It doesn't matter whether what was said in that play is true or false. What I know is that the past and the future are not important to me. The past is already set, and thinking too much about it is useless. The future has not happened yet, and thinking too much about it is also useless. What I value is only my present. What I can control is also the present. The past me, the future me, both are not as important as the present me. Jiu Jue, I understand and appreciate your kindness." She gave him a bright and beautiful smile. "I have never been so sure about what I want to do as I am now. If possible, can we just treat that shadow play as nothing more than a shadow play?"
"The past me, the future me, both are not as important as the present me..." Jiu Jue murmured, repeating Li Zhun's words.
Li Zhun and Su Qiuchi finally had a genuine tacit understanding in their lives. After exchanging a glance, they walked decisively towards the door. At that moment, Lan Ting suddenly appeared, holding two cups of wine, blocking their way.
"Is that a farewell toast, kid?" Su Qiuchi cocked an eyebrow.
"Take good care of your master in the future. He's a good person, or rather, a good immortal," Li Zhun whispered to Lan Ting. After saying this, the two of them picked up the two cups of fine wine reflecting the night scene. However, Jiu Jue swiftly stepped forward and knocked over their wine cups. As they looked on in confusion, he turned his back and walked towards the house, throwing a single word at them: "Go!"
As the dawn approached, Lan Ting stood in the room where the candles had been extinguished, looking at the tall figure standing by the window. He asked, "As long as those two die, the souls of Golden-armored God can be freed, and you can bring him back to the heavenly realm. Why not let them drink the poisoned wine? It's the only way for Golden-armored God to return. Now that the opportunity has been missed, there's no second chance... Alas! You've waited for 999 years! When I saw you being so close to them, I was worried that you couldn't do it. Just as I expected..."
"Lan Ting..." he called softly, his voice exceptionally hoarse, "What they said just now reminded me. I seem to have made a mistake."
"What mistake?"
"He is Su Qiuchi now, and she is Li Zhun now. What does it matter whether they are Golden-armored God or not?" The first light of dawn on the horizon gently brushed Jiu Jue's handsome yet slightly pale face. "What's important is the present, not the past, nor the future. It's such a simple truth, and I only understand it now."
Before he could finish his words, he suddenly felt dizzy, his body swaying, and everything in front of him turned into a blurred haze.
"Master!" Lan Ting cried out in fear, rushing towards him.
[1] Pei Xingjian was a Tang dynasty general and politician.
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