After sending the message, Huaiqing, who happened to be free, was the first to reply:
【A message was sent from your residence to the palace. Were you summoned back because of this matter?】
Using his finger in place of a pen, Xu Qi’an was just about to reply when Li Miaozhen beat him to it and demanded:
【TWO: What were you going into the palace for!】
To keep my sister-in-law company… Xu Qi’an sent back:
【THREE: That’s not the point. The point is the Gu God’s message.】
【FOUR: ‘Autumn Dew’ is a solar term, it symbolises the beginning of autumn. Xu Ningyan, you don’t even know that?】
Chu Yuanzhen found it unbelievable.
Ah, so Autumn Dew is a solar term? There wasn’t one like that among the solar terms in my previous life… Xu Qi’an replied:
【Of course I know that. What I mean is, why did the Gu God deliberately mention Autumn Dew?】
He normally paid little attention to the calendar, and didn’t know much about the seasonal terms of this world.
Xu Qi’an had even thought “Autumn Dew” referred to some kind of heavenly treasure, or else literally autumn dew.
【SEVEN: Obviously, it represents the timing of something, or some relatively important point in time. As for “if not turned to gu, the great calamity cannot be escaped”, I don’t need to explain that, do I?】
The Holy Son, busy with countless affairs, took time out to reply with a single line.
【ONE: I think we should first distinguish whether the Gu God was speaking to Ningyan through Lingyin, or whether It was simply speaking to Lingyin.】
Ningyan?! Li Miaozhen instinctively raised an eyebrow.
That woman Huaiqing had almost never addressed Xu Qi’an like that in public.
Then, thinking of how Xu Qi’an had come home from the palace, Lady Flying Swallow immediately ground her teeth.
Huaiqing continued:
【Since Autumn Dew was mentioned, some time ago Wei Yuan submitted a secret letter. It mentioned that the Buddhist sect planned to hold a Dharma Assembly at the beginning of autumn, and was widely spreading the word to summon believers.】
【EIGHT: So Autumn Dew is connected to the Buddhist sect’s Dharma Assembly?】
Seeing the topic turn to Buddhism, al-Asura, who had been peeping at the screen, couldn’t resist popping up.
Zhuangyuan Chu analysed:
【FOUR: If the “Autumn Dew” mentioned by the Gu God is related to Buddhism, then this sentence was conveying some sort of message to Ningyan through Lingyin.】
The reason was simple. The Gu God couldn’t possibly be passing information about Buddhism to Lingyin. She was still only a child.
There was no point in doing that.
In that case, there’s definitely something wrong with the Dharma Assembly. The Gu God is warning me? Or perhaps using my hand to sabotage one of the Buddha’s plans, and that plan is connected to the Dharma Assembly… Xu Qi’an fell into thought.
【TWO: But the second sentence clearly wasn’t said to that bastard Xu Qi’an.】
Li Miaozhen sent the message full of resentment.
How did I suddenly become a bastard… Xu Qi’an replied, affirming Lady Flying Swallow’s words:
【I think so too. The Gu God seemed to be reminding Lingyin, telling her that if she doesn’t become gu, she won’t escape the great calamity. Now that’s interesting.】
The information revealed in this sentence was connected to the great calamity. The Gu God said that if not turned to gu, the great calamity cannot be escaped. Put the other way round, if one became gu, one could survive the great calamity?
And besides, what would happen to those living beings who couldn’t become gu?
【ONE: I’ve suddenly remembered something. Do you still remember what Lina once said? The prophets of the Heaven Gu tribe once foretold that, on the day the Gu God awakens, all Jiuzhou will become a world of gu.】
!!!
Huaiqing’s words instantly pulled everyone’s memory back two years.
Back then, when Lina had shared within the Heaven and Earth Society the information that “the Confucian Sage’s statue has cracked”, she had mentioned that guarding the Gu God was the shaman clans’ eternal and unchanging principle, because the prophets of the Heaven Gu tribe had once foretold that when the Gu God awakened, the whole of Jiuzhou would become a world of gu.
Could what the prophets of the Heaven Gu tribe foresaw have been the content of the great calamity? Or rather, the part related to the Gu God within the great calamity… Chu Yuanzhen’s thoughts raced, and he felt he had guessed the truth.
If one doesn’t become gu, the great calamity cannot be escaped, so the Gu God wants to turn Jiuzhou into a world of gu? So without realising it, we’ve already glimpsed one corner of the great calamity… After linking the clues together, Li Miaozhen felt a chill crawl down her spine.
Amitabha, so that’s how it is… Master Hengyuan, silently peeping at the screen, suddenly understood.
So the Gu God wants Lingyin to cultivate her gu arts to a profound level as early as possible, perhaps even transform from a human into gu? Otherwise, when the great calamity arrives, she won’t escape death? What sort of blasted master-disciple devotion is that… Xu Qi’an grumbled inwardly.
Although al-Asura and Li Lingsu had joined the group early, they had got internet access the latest. This was the first time they had heard of it, and they were both shocked and astonished.
【FIVE: I did say something like that, but what does it have to do with the Gu God entering Lingyin’s dream? And what does it have to do with that final sentence?】
While everyone was letting their imaginations run wild and feeling rather conflicted, Lina, who had been peeping at the screen for a long time, voiced her doubt.
No one paid her any attention…
【NINE: I keep feeling there is a deeper meaning behind the words, “if not turned to gu, the great calamity cannot be escaped”. I just can’t sort my thoughts out for the moment.】
Last night, Daoist Jinlian had frolicked with the neighbourhood cats across rooftops, lanes, and walls, enjoying himself so much he forgot all about going home. When dawn came and the cats dispersed, the Daoist had dozed in his own courtyard, basking in the sun.
Originally he hadn’t wanted to pay any attention to the Heaven and Earth Society group chat, but the younger lot just wouldn’t stop chatting. The constant heart lurches made it impossible for him to nap, so the Daoist had no choice but to join in.
He hadn’t expected the information being discussed to be of such a high level.
【TWO: Daoist Leader, you’re out at last. I thought you’d gone into seclusion again. We’ve been talking for so long and still hadn’t seen you show up.】
Everyone greeted him one after another, while inwardly grumbling:
Daoist Jinlian couldn’t have possessed a cat again and gone out messing about in the night, could he…
【THREE: Daoist Leader, did you spend last night frolicking with she-cats?】
Only Xu Ningyan would dare say something like that so recklessly, not giving the Daoist Leader the slightest face… the others all thought to themselves.
Why isn’t anyone replying to me? What’s going on… Lina thought gloomily as well.
【NINE: Nonsense! This matter is of great importance, so naturally I’ve spent rather more time thinking it over. Let’s put the matter of “becoming gu” aside for the moment. “Autumn Dew” should refer to the beginning of autumn. What the Gu God wanted to say should be that, at the beginning of autumn, the Buddhist sect will make some move.
【In other words, the “Dharma Assembly” Number One just mentioned. The Gu God is probably trying to use your hand to carry out some sabotage directed at the Buddha.】
Daoist Jinlian’s guess happens to coincide with my own… Xu Qi’an nodded inwardly.
【SEVEN: Why couldn’t it be the time when the great calamity arrives?】
The Holy Son put forward a bold conjecture.
【THREE: If it were the date of the great calamity’s arrival, would the Gu God reveal that to me? Don’t forget, we are Its enemies as well.】
Li Lingsu was convinced.
After a bit more simple discussion, once the two sentences had been given a basic conclusion, Xu Qi’an “left the group chat”, put away the Earth Book fragment, and turned to look at his little sister beside him.
Xu Lingyin was like a gluttonous little belly, her lips wriggling as she ate the fragrant, sweet pastries.
“Take the pastries and go out. Big Brother wants some quiet alone.”
Xu Qi’an sent Little Pea out, then sat alone by the table in silent thought. The sunlight outside the window gradually slanted westward and turned orange.
Only after a long while did he come back to himself. He glanced at the water clock in the corner. It was already nearly six.
Just then, the door to the study opened with a creak, and Lin’an’s senior palace maid stepped in, saying in a soft, gentle voice:
“Prince Consort, Her Highness asks you to come to the hall for dinner.”
Xu Qi’an nodded mildly. As he rose, he asked:
“Where’s Her Highness?”
He had sat in the study all afternoon, yet Lin’an hadn’t come to look for him? Had the love vanished?
The senior palace maid answered in a soft, creamy voice:
“Her Highness is in the hall playing Go with Madam Mu.”
Auntie Mu was what Xu Qi’an called her. The servants addressed the Flower God as Madam Mu.
Madam Mu was plain-looking and past forty. It was said she was a widow. Because she was very close to the mistress of the Xu household, she was staying there as a guest.
Among the servants of the residence, there was a rumour going round that Madam Mu was Silver Gong Xu’s lover, and that the two of them had an illicit relationship hidden from the light.
Recently, Princess Lin’an had been trying every possible way to probe Madam Mu’s background and picking at her at every turn, precisely because she’d believed those bits of gossip.
After leaving the study, passing through corridors and courtyards, and walking through a garden thick with drifting floral fragrance, he arrived at the inner hall.
He saw Auntie standing beside a tall stool in the corner, watering a cluster of lush and pleasing green ivy.
He saw Xu Lingyue with her head lowered, her slender fingers pinching needle and thread as she focused on embroidering exquisite cloud patterns onto an azure robe.
He saw Lin’an and Mu Nanzhi leaning over the Go board, their expressions stern, brows slightly knit, evenly matched in battle and utterly locked together.
He saw Yeji sitting beside Lin’an, watching the clash of bronze with a smile on her face, while opposite her sat Xu Yuanshuang.
He saw Lina sitting by the table with her chin propped in one hand, bored out of her mind as she waited for dinner.
He saw Ji Baiqing holding a book, drinking tea as she read…
He stood there, suddenly not quite daring to go closer, afraid of breaking such a harmonious, such a warm scene.
At that moment, Xu Lingyue raised her head. Seeing her elder brother standing outside the hall, her beautiful eyes lit up and she said sweetly:
“Big Brother~”
The women all looked over and smiled at once. In that instant, it was like a hundred flowers blooming in rivalry.
Xu Qi’an stepped into the inner hall, pretending not to see the contest between Lin’an and the Flower God, and said:
“Mother’s dining here tonight too?”
Ji Baiqing nodded.
“Yuanhuai will be coming over later.”
Xu Qi’an looked around, then at Auntie, whose oval face had become even more beautiful and moving after taking the beauty-preserving pills.
“Where are Second Uncle and Erlang?”
The time to leave work had been at the start of shen hour, several hours ago now.
Auntie clearly didn’t care much about her son and husband. She continued fussing over her beloved potted plants and replied casually:
“They’re probably out socialising.”
Whether it was Erlang or Xu Pingzhi, the higher their official rank and status, the more dinner engagements they would have.
Auntie felt that so long as her son and husband weren’t fooling around at the Jiaofangsi or brothels, she couldn’t be bothered to interfere.
Of course, Goulan were out of the question too. It was just that such places were too low-class. How could the men of the Xu family possibly go somewhere so cheap to squander themselves in drink and women? So they weren’t even within Auntie’s range of consideration.
As aunt and nephew were talking, Second Uncle came back.
He was wearing the light armour of the Imperial Blade Guard, a sabre hanging at his waist. His steps rang with the clink of armour plates. One hand rested on his sabre, while the other carried a paper bag stained with grease.
“Oh, bought green oranges again, have you?”
Auntie was long used to it by now and said, “We’ll boil them into soup later for Lingyin. Good for strengthening the spleen and whetting the appetite.”
Second Uncle nodded. Seeing his nephew casting a sidelong glance at the green oranges in his hand, he felt no stir in his heart at all, and was even a bit disdainful.
“Ningyan wants some too? Fine, I’ll have your aunt prepare you a bowl as well later.”
Xu Qi’an, whose own hands weren’t exactly clean, silently turned his head away.
“Mum, my tummy’s hungry!”
At that moment, Xu Lingyin came running in cheerfully with Baiji perched on her head. From far off, she spotted the green oranges on the table, and her merry steps abruptly halted.
A wary expression appeared on her face, as if she were confronting a great enemy.
“Your tummy’s hungry? Come have a green orange to fill the gap.”
Second Uncle hastily peeled one for his daughter, spraying citrus juice everywhere and assaulting the noses of Auntie and the women in the room.
“Who eats green oranges to fill their stomach?”
Xu Qi’an thought, Second Uncle, be a human being, won’t you?
Second Uncle hadn’t really intended to make his daughter eat it anyway. His goal had already been achieved, so he nodded at once and said:
“Then throw it away.”
Throw it away… Xu Lingyin silently took the green orange, stuffed it into her mouth, then swallowed it down with a twisted expression.
After she’d finally managed to finish that green orange, Xu Erlang came back too, carrying a bag of green oranges in his hand.
“Are these green oranges really that tasty?”
Ji Baiqing stared at the bag in Xu Erlang’s hand, confusion in her eyes.
If she remembered correctly, Yuanhuai had also been buying green oranges every day recently, and eating every last one.
Ji Baiqing hadn’t paid much attention at first, but today, seeing Xu Pingzhi and Xu Xinnian bringing green oranges back one after another, she found it rather strange.
Auntie and Lingyue were already used to it. The former said:
“Green oranges are medicinal. They don’t taste very nice, but they’re good for the body.”
That was the idea the three Xu men had instilled into Auntie.
Xu Erlang stuffed the bag of green oranges into his little sister’s arms and instructed:
“Remember to finish them.”
Then he went and sat down at the table as if nothing had happened, taking the hot tea Lyu’e handed him and using it to moisten his throat and quench his thirst.
Little Pea looked at the bag of green oranges on the table, then at the bag of green oranges in her arms. Her faint brows rose, and a grave expression appeared on her face.
Her record was three bags of green oranges. She’d seen storms and waves.
Right now there were only two bags. It was—it was still alright…
Besides, Master and Baiji at home would help her eat them.
Ji Baiqing looked towards the hall entrance, and suddenly smiled.
“Yuanhuai’s back.”
Outside the hall, on the bluestone path, Xu Yuanhuai was wearing a Nightwatcher’s uniform, a bronze gong hanging from his chest and a regulation sabre at his waist. In his left hand was a bag of green oranges…
Xu Yuanhuai stepped into the inner hall, only to realise that everyone was staring at the bag of green oranges in his hand with odd expressions on their faces.
Ningyan told Yuanhuai how the green oranges were to be used? Second Uncle revealed a look of sudden understanding, feeling sincerely gratified.
He felt that all the younger members of the Xu family had inherited his legacy.
That idiot of an elder brother, a method shouldn’t be passed to six ears, and yet he’s teaching people everywhere. What if it gets exposed? Bah, crude martial brute… Xu Erlang’s thoughts were more delicate.
This kind of “secret method” was something he had no wish to teach to his cut-price cousin.
Why are everyone’s eyes so strange…? Xu Yuanhuai couldn’t help being taken aback.
Then he noticed that the little sister from the second branch was also holding a bag of green oranges in her arms. Her gaze was vacant as she stared blankly at his green oranges, looking as though she were about to cry.
She wants to eat them… Xu Yuanhuai’s heart stirred. He forced out what he thought was a friendly smile, then stuffed the green oranges into Little Pea’s arms.
“Waaa waaa waaa…”
The Xu family’s evening meal began amid Xu Lingyin’s wailing.
…
Late at night, Xu Qi’an and Lin’an finished their dual cultivation. Rarely, he felt a trace of drowsiness and couldn’t wait to fall asleep.
For a master at his level, sleep had long since become something optional.
A martial artist’s danger sense? No, it was a warning from the national fortune!!
Xu Qi’an immediately grasped the key point. The national fortune had warned him before, and that had been when the Jianzheng was sealed and the Great Feng was facing the danger of national destruction.
Without hesitation, Xu Qi’an immediately followed his instincts and sank into sleep.
In boundless darkness, he saw in the west a great sun that illuminated the world slowly rising, dispersing the dark.
And in the north-east, heavy black clouds covered the sky, rolling layer upon layer. The black clouds gathered into a human face that looked down coldly and emotionlessly upon the earth.
Far to the south, there was a pair of blood-red eyes, gazing northward across mountains and rivers.
Further south still, in a place even more distant, twisted shadows bared their claws and fangs, their exact forms impossible to make out.
The dream shattered abruptly. Xu Qi’an rolled over and sat up, cold sweat soaking through his nightclothes as he gasped for breath as though starved of air.
Comments for this chapter. You will need a GitHub account. Please follow all terms and conditions of GitHub issues and maintain etiquette in the comments. Cookies are required for this functionality.
If you want to talk with other readers about Nightwatchers (or other cultivation type books) you can join our cultivation groupreading discord server!
I also have a Kofi, which for legal reasons is definitely for supporting my digital art only (promise!): ko-fi.com/yanxin ... plus I guess server space isn't free, and I don't want to put ads/trackers... ever, so thank you if you do!