Chapter 20: CH 19

Xuanmin was so tall that the little thief only reached his hip. The child was as skinny as a monkey and looked about nine years old at most. As Xuanmin gripped his collar, he struggled with all his might, kicking and screaming, but could not get any of his punches to land on Xuanmin. "Help me!" he cried. "I'm being mugged! Ahhhh–– Let go of me!"

Xue Xian was begrudgingly impressed with the kid who yelled Thief while being a thief himself. Xue Xian had never seen that before.

Unfortunately for the child, unlike ordinary monks, the bald donkey had no sympathy or compassion for anyone, and certainly didn’t treat women, children, and elderly people with any special care. With that unperturbed expression on his face and still clutching the child's neck, Xuanmin took out a talisman with his other hand and slapped it onto the little thief's forehead. "Silence," he said. 

The little thief: “...”

With nowhere to channel his bellowing cries, the little thief's face turned bright red with effort. 

Xue Xian's damp claws flew to his mouth as he winced with sympathy for the child. But because he had been soaked through, his hand accidentally became stuck to his mouth. He knew that if he tried to rip it away, he ran the risk of tearing his arm or ripping his mouth off. There was nothing he could do.

In the corner of his eye, all Xuanmin could see was that the niezhang had frozen in that funny-looking [a] pose.

Xue Xian closed his eyes: “...” His dignity had been destroyed. An entire lifetime of heroism, gone in an instant. Someone bring me a rope. If I hang this bald donkey, nobody will have seen me in this pathetic state.

Xuanmin turned to the little thief and calmly said, "Hands."

The talisman on the little thief's forehead quivered. Like a marionette, his hands shot out in front of him as he watched, helpless.

As Xuanmin extracted the golden marble from the little thief’s hands, the child's entire face turned an even brighter red, the color spreading across his neck and even to the contours of his eyes. He glared at the monk stubbornly, as though saying, What are you gonna do, beat me to death? He really did look like he deserved a beating.

Having gotten what he'd wanted, Xuanmin no longer needed to silence him. He removed the talisman from the little thief’s forehead and folded it neatly, then put it back into his robe.

Xue Xian stared at the marble in Xuanmin's hands, waiting for the bald donkey to return it to him.

He had never expected the bald donkey to help him, but now he managed to find a rare crumb of kindness in his heart. He thought, Alright, once I get my marble back, I promise to be good for the next few days and save the bald donkey some trouble. Maybe I'll even give him another of my dragon scales –– I still have a few.

Instead, Xuanmin studied the marble carefully, then suddenly frowned.

In that moment, a strange, inexplicable expression flashed across Xuanmin’s face –– it seemed to be a cross between thoughtfulness and cluelessness. 

After some time, he used his thumb to rub the marble. Then, frowning still, he brought it to his nose and sniffed it.

Xue Xian: “……”

Xue Xian rolled his eyes. Something didn't feel right.

Thankfully, his body had not healed to the point where he could feel that spiritual and bodily connection to the marble. Otherwise... With all that touching and smelling, Xue Xian would have long kicked the monk in the face.

Eight hundred curses welled up within him and he wanted to hurl them all at the bald donkey, but his hand was stuck to his mouth and refused to budge. He had no choice but to swallow it all back down. It was a miracle he didn't choke.

The bald donkey sniffed the marble again, then lifted his head, wearing that blank expression as always.

Contemplatively, he asked Xue Xian, "I will keep this marble for the time being. Do you mind?" 

Of course I mind! No! In your dreams!

Xue Xian was screaming as loudly as he could, but no sound came out.

"Good." Xuanmin had mistaken the silence for agreement. He put the marble back into the pouch on his hip. When he moved around, the shape of the marble could be seen through the fabric, but thankfully it was in a safe enough place and would not fall out.

Xue Xian's spirit shrivelled up. He hung his head. He feel like doing anything anymore. It wasn't that he was worried Xuanmin would steal his marble, but he had been searching for his body for half a year and had finally found it, only for it to be ripped away from him again.

As Xue Xian fell slightly limp, Xuanmin realised that something about the paper man’s pose was off. He looked strange with that hand in front of his mouth –– didn't he at least want to switch hands? Xuanmin suddenly realised why the niezhang was being so well-behaved. He was speechless for a moment, then asked the little thief, "Do you have a hearth?" 

Although the thief had had the audacity to steal Xue Xian's golden marble, he was still just a child. After Xuanmin had scolded him so thoroughly, he now displayed remorse.

He did not dare to ignore Xuanmin's request. Reluctantly, the little thief took one last look at the paper man, then slinked into the only bedroom in the courtyard. There was a crashing noise as he rifled through his belongings, then he returned with a battered-looking copper tub and slammed it onto the ground in front of Xuanmin.

"Thank you," Xuanmin replied neutrally.

In a corner of the courtyard, the only spot in the home that seemed shielded from the snow, there sat two piles of firewood. Any ordinary household would have thrown out these sparse bundles of skinny, bent twigs –– they could barely be called firewood. Xuanmin took a couple of twigs, lit them, and tossed them into the copper tub.

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It took some time for the dry twigs to catch flame, but eventually a healthy fire began to rage in the tub, bringing some relieving sense of warmth to the chicken-hut courtyard.

At first, the little thief stood there cowering from Xuanmin, but soon, drawn by the warmth, he shuffled closer to the tub and discreetly rubbed his hands.

Xuanmin had hung Jiang Shining and Xue Xian on the branch of a magnolia tree, [b] right above fire. They were close enough to feel the warmth, but not so close that they would be swallowed by the flame.

It was certainly enough to treat a pair of damp paper men. Xue Xian could feel himself slowly becoming dry. 

From his position on the tree branch, Xue Xian could spy Xuanmin taking out a folded sheet of paper from his pouch. All he could see was that the paper was covered in writing: some of the calligraphy was close-knit, some of it more separate. There was also... a drawing?

Xuanmin seemed to spot something on the paper, then, satisfied, tucked it back into the pouch.    

He asked the eight- or nine-year-old little thief, "Your surname is Lu?"

Xue Xian and the little thief were both stunned.

Cautiously, the little thief asked, "What do you want?" 

"It appears that I am right." Seeing the child's reaction, Xuanmin immediately understood. He asked, "Do you have a blind older brother?"    

The little thief Lu's eyes reddened as he burst out, "Who are you?! What do you want with Lu–– with him?" 

Perplexed, Xue Xian looked back at Xuanmin. So this bald donkey hadn't come to capture him after all. He had come looking for someone too? How could this be?

Suddenly, with a soft popping noise, Xue Xian’s now-dry paw fell away from his mouth. He could finally speak again.

"Where's Lu Shijiu?" [c] Xue Xian asked the little thief. "I need him to help me find someone from an object."

Xue Xian had only been here a couple of times, and though he didn't know the two brothers very well, he was still familiar with the facts. For instance, he knew that the boys' parents were dead, though he didn't know how. He only knew that the older boy had grown blind due to his innate affinity for yin and yang, [d] and that the other boy was hard of hearing after having been injured somehow. The boys had only had each other to depend on all these years, and their relationship wasn't great. They had no one to look after them, nor a family business to take care of –– they didn’t even have real names, only a nickname each based on their date of birth. The older brother was called Lu Shijiu, and this eight- or nine-year-old younger brother was called Lu Nianqi. [e] 

Lu Nianqi was young, but he wasn't naïve. As he heard Xue Xian speak, he said, "I know you. I've heard your voice before. You've been to visit Shijiu before."

Having been his brother's companion, the child had also been witness to all sorts of mystical [f] things. The fact that he had not been scared speechless by the paper man suddenly being able to talk showed that he had some spine.

"I've been twice. But this is the first time I've been treated in such a manner," Xue Xian replied. He thought back to that tub of cold water, and chuckled. "Alright, let's get straight to the point. Where's Lu Shijiu? Where did he go and when will he be back? Also, why did you randomly steal my stuff?"

But as soon as he spoke, Lu Nianqi began to cry fat, pea-sized tears. "I'm looking for him too. I've been searching for him for half a month. He... he's in the river."

Xue Xian: “...”

Wait… What do you mean, in the river?

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The author has something to say: 

Goodnight! Had some alcohol at dinner tonight and now I can’t stop feeling super tired. Tomorrow I’ll put up the names of people who gave money on JJWXC, saying thanks first =3=

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[a] Musuli uses 傻 (sha3), meaning “idiotic”.

[b] Musuli uses 迎春 (ying2 chun1), literally “welcoming spring”. This is a lesser-used name for 武当木兰 (wu3 dang1 mu4 lan2), also known as Yulania sprengeri (pamp.) or Magnolia sprengeri. 

[c] 陆十九 (lu4 shi2 jiu3) literally means “Lu 19”. In my original TL I translated this name because, as is discussed later in the novel, many cultures used to avoid giving small children "nice" names in case it's a bad omen that curses them to die early. “Shijiu” is not considered a real or proper name. A child would normally be given a real name later on in life, but the Lus were orphaned before this could occur.

[d] Musuli phrases this as 阴阳术 (yin1 yang2 shu4), literally “yin yang skill”. It is here used to vaguely refer to magical or mystical arts. Lu Shijiu’s soothsaying would be part of the geomancy magic system of Copper Coins, but marginal, as he was born with magical abilities that he honed through local or folk knowledge, rather than being adept at the rules of geomancy itself. 

[e] 陆廿七 (lu4 nian4 qi1) literally means “Lu 27”. In my original TL, I translated the name instead of transcribing.

[f] Musuli uses the phrase 怪力乱神 (guai4 li4 luan4 shen2), literally “strange forces, chaotic 神” where 神 usually means “god” but can also be used more broadly to vaguely describe anything mystical.

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