[Translation] I'm Not An Immortal (我不成仙) by Shi Jing (时镜): Chapter 004 — The One Returning at Night

 

“Are you really going back?”

Since they had started climbing the slope, Fudao Shanren had barely spoken. Seeing the melancholy on Jian Chou’s face, he finally could not help asking.

Before Jian Chou could answer, he added:

“You’ve already been buried, you know. Your villagers probably all think you’re dead by now. If you go back, you’ll scare half of them to death. Coming back from the dead is terrifying to mortals. Be careful they don’t capture you and tie you to a post and burn you alive!”

That was not impossible.

Jian Chou glanced back at him and asked, “Shanren, are you worried I’ll be burned to death?”

“Nonsense! You women always think too much!” Fudao Shanren snorted. “I’m only worried that the merit I finally accumulated will go to waste. If you get burned to death, wouldn’t that mean I saved you for nothing?”

“So you are worried I’ll be burned to death after all?”

Jian Chou could not help laughing.

Fudao Shanren’s eyes widened, and he was once again left speechless.

“This shanren can’t be bothered arguing with you ordinary mortals! And you still said you weren’t ungrateful. Are you bullying me because I haven’t been here for only a few hundred years?”

“A few hundred years?” Jian Chou exclaimed in surprise.

Fudao Shanren waved his hand dismissively, as though shooing her away.

“Grown-up matters. Little girls shouldn’t ask.”

The phrase “a few hundred years” carried a strange implication.

Though curious, Jian Chou did not pursue the matter further.

Fudao Shanren had a foul mouth, looked filthy, and carried an indescribably sleazy air about him, yet somehow his heart did not seem bad at all.

Jian Chou did not dislike him.

She resumed walking toward the road leading outside.

Fudao Shanren immediately started rambling again:

“Ah, honestly, you just won’t listen. What good can possibly come from going back, Princess of the Northern Underworld? What if there are still other people there? What if your house is gone? What if your husband is still there? And what if you see him embracing another woman?”

“...”

Jian Chou suddenly stopped walking.

After a moment of silence, she lifted her eyes toward Fudao Shanren.

“If that happens, I’ll kill him.”

Kill him?

Such a clean and decisive sentence!

Fudao Shanren had never expected those words to come from Jian Chou’s mouth.

She looked like such a delicate, gentle woman. How could she compare to a grown man?

And yet...

Why did it sound so satisfying?

By then, Jian Chou had already started walking again.

Watching her slender back, Fudao Shanren’s eyes gradually brightened. The thought that had been lingering in his mind resurfaced once more.

In truth, Fudao Shanren believed greatly in fate and karmic connections.

Meeting Jian Chou—was that not also a kind of destiny?

He stood there thinking for a long while. By the time he came back to himself, Jian Chou had already disappeared from sight.

“Where’d she go?”

Startled, he looked around and realized she had somehow gone far ahead.

“Why are you walking so fast? You just came back to life and you’re already jumping around. Aren’t you afraid you’ll die again? Honestly infuriating, absolutely infuriating! Hey, wait for me!”

Though he shouted all the way, his steps showed no urgency. He merely took a single stride, and in the next instant he appeared directly beside Jian Chou.

“Seriously, no consideration for the elderly!”

Jian Chou had already seen some of his abilities before, but witnessing him cross such a distance in a single step still made her eyes widen.

Fudao Shanren proudly raised his brows.

“Now you’ve seen it, haven’t you? This is called Shrinking the Earth to an Inch!”

Perhaps it was the name of a spell.

Was this the immortality that Xie Buchen had pursued?

Suppressing the shock—or perhaps amazement—in her heart, Jian Chou finally said, “It seems very impressive.”

“Of course it is!” Fudao Shanren immediately puffed up with pride.

Jian Chou merely smiled and continued walking.

Ahead, the outline of the small village had already become clear.

They stood atop the mountain, looking down into the valley below.

Evening gradually deepened into a hazy darkness.

One by one, lights flickered on within the little village, shining against the windows of each household. Looking carefully, one could even see shadows moving behind the paper windows. On the wind drifted faint traces of cooking smoke and fire.

Fudao Shanren sniffed eagerly.

“Oh! Someone’s roasting suckling pig! And wild chicken too! Smells amazing, absolutely amazing!”

The closer one came to home, the more timid the heart became.

Yet the instant Jian Chou saw the village from this height, an overwhelming emotion surged through her chest.

The place where she had once been stabbed by the sword seemed to ache faintly again.

Jian Chou suddenly could not wait to return and see what had become of the place.

They followed the mountain path downward.

Though it seemed close, by the time Jian Chou reached the village entrance, the night had already deepened and the slanted moon hung high overhead.

Fudao Shanren still followed leisurely at her side, glancing around as though searching for something delicious to eat.

Her home lay at the eastern end of the village, nearly requiring them to cross the entire settlement to reach it.

Along the village paths—some narrow, some broad—lay stacks of firewood prepared by the villagers for cooking. At the center of the village stood a huge ancient tree. In the summer, when its branches were thick with leaves, one could look up and see red ribbons of wishes hanging down from its limbs. The farther east they went, the fewer houses there were, until only scattered lights remained in the darkness.

Jian Chou walked slowly onward.

Though her footsteps were light, they still startled some villagers’ dogs.

“Woof! Woof!”

A bark rang out in the night.

Then came the sound of movement inside a house, followed by someone asking, “Who is it?”

Jian Chou halted and turned her head.

With a creak, the firewood gate of a nearby house opened, and a round-faced peasant woman poked her head out. The moment she saw Jian Chou walking along the road, surprise filled her face.

“Isn’t that Madam Xie? Why are you back? Didn’t Scholar Xie take you to the city to enjoy a good life the other day?”

To the city?

The other day?

Jian Chou froze for a moment, then immediately understood.

So the villagers did not know she had already died once. Xie Buchen must have told everyone he had taken her into the city.

A strange smile crossed her lips.

“Thank you for your concern, Sister Zhang. I forgot to bring a few things, so I came back to fetch them.”

“Oh, so that’s it.”

Sister Zhang did not seem suspicious. Everyone knew the young couple loved each other deeply, and Scholar Xie was destined to become a government official someday.

She smiled warmly and honestly.

“Even after you move to the city, remember to come back and visit us. And if you have any good food, don’t forget us villagers!”

“Of course.”

Jian Chou answered softly, though she noticed Sister Zhang’s gaze remained fixed on her the entire time, as though she could not see Fudao Shanren standing beside her at all.

Jian Chou found it strange.

Fudao Shanren merely lifted his brows smugly without explaining.

Sister Zhang noticed nothing unusual. In the darkness she could not see the bloodstains on Jian Chou’s clothes and simply urged her onward.

“Then hurry and get your things. At this hour of night, I wondered who it was. Remember to visit often!”

“All right.”

Only then did Sister Zhang withdraw back inside and shut the door.

The dogs stopped barking, and silence once more settled over the night.

Jian Chou stood there for a long while before continuing onward.

Ahead was her home.

A small courtyard lay in complete darkness, without the slightest trace of lamplight.

Fudao Shanren tapped his bamboo staff against the ground without making any sound.

“So everyone thinks you’re still alive after all. This is your house, right?”

Jian Chou nodded and stopped.

Before her stood a humble peasant courtyard enclosed by wooden fencing. In the middle was a south-facing gate made of rough timber, topped with thatched grass to shield against rain.

And now, hanging upon the two gate doors, was a small brass lock.

The gate was locked.

Boundless memories surged once more through Jian Chou’s mind.

She stepped forward and stood before the gate. Rising onto her toes, she reached inside the doorframe.

Her fingers touched something cold.

Jian Chou drew it out and opened her palm.

As expected, it was a key.

Even though Xie Buchen had lied and left, he had still hidden the key in the same place as always...

Jian Chou blinked. A wave of sorrow rose from deep within her heart, so overwhelming she nearly burst into tears.

The moment she saw the locked gate, she already knew Xie Buchen was not here.

But when she found the key, she also knew with certainty that the feelings they once shared had never been false.

“In this life, I have wronged you. If there is reincarnation through the Three Realms and Six Paths, then in the next life, you may come and claim my life.”

Jian Chou truly wanted to claim his life.

Thinking this, she forced the tears back into her eyes, unlocked the gate, and pushed it open.

Creeeak—

A long, soft sound echoed out.

The gate opened.

The courtyard was clean and tidy, almost without weeds. Against the western wall stood a fenced enclosure. Of the flock of large white geese they once kept, only one remained, curled up asleep in the corner. Opposite stood three rooms. The doors were unlocked, merely pushed shut, and beside one door still rested the green oil-paper umbrella Xie Buchen had carried home that day.

Jian Chou walked inside.

Fudao Shanren poked his head around curiously behind her. Seeing the poor, desolate state of the place, he could not help sighing repeatedly.

“Your house is really shabby. What’s even the point of coming back? Anyway, I already saved your life. Hey, how about you just become my disciple while we’re at it? I’ll take you across the ends of the earth. Maybe one day in the Nineteen Continents of the Six Paths you’ll run into him again. What do you think? As long as you’re willing—”

Before he could finish rambling, his footsteps suddenly stopped.

As he passed the goose pen, he spotted the fat white goose sleeping in the corner.

His eyes instantly lit up.

What a magnificent goose!

Glossy feathers, plump and fat—if it were plucked and cooked, it would make exactly one perfect pot!

Fudao Shanren swallowed hard and walked over to the fence. Lifting one leg, he climbed right over it.

At the same time, he did not forget to call out to Jian Chou:

“Well, as long as you let this goose come with me, I’ll even waive your apprenticeship fee!”

Jian Chou ignored him and continued toward the house.

Fudao Shanren did not mind. At this moment, the only thing in his eyes was the big white goose.

He crouched beside it carefully, stretching out a hand to stroke its head as though comforting a good child.

“What a fat goose...”

Meanwhile, Jian Chou had already reached the room and did not notice what Fudao Shanren was doing behind her.

She pushed open the door.

Darkness greeted her.

Following the familiar path from memory, she found a fire striker on the windowsill. With a gentle blow, a faint flame sprang to life, illuminating the simple furnishings she knew so well.

Three stools. A square table. An unlit oil lamp upon the table. Folded clothes. Half-finished needlework...

Jian Chou suddenly felt as though lead weighed down her legs, making it difficult to move.

She walked to the table, lit the oil lamp with the fire striker, then extinguished the striker.

A weak flame flickered upward. In the dim yellow light, shadows danced uncertainly across Jian Chou’s face.

She sat down and looked at the silent, empty room.

The opposite wall was bare.

The sword was gone.

And her heart felt equally empty.

She reached out and touched the clothes on the table. Every piece belonged to Xie Buchen, and the stitching on each garment was exceptionally fine. Inside the sewing basket rested a pair of scissors used for cutting cloth scraps.

Jian Chou reached out to pick them up.

But when she gripped the scissors and moved them aside, a tiny pellet drum was revealed beneath the sewing basket. Beside it lay a red cord threaded through a small silver lock engraved with the character “Xie.”

At that instant, Jian Chou’s hand began trembling violently.

The pellet drum was something she had bought from a peddler after learning she was pregnant.

The silver lock had belonged to Xie Buchen when he was a child. He had once said that when they had children of their own, they would pass the tiny silver lock down to them. That very day, she had found a red cord and threaded it through the lock.

And now, seeing these things again...

The scissors wrapped in red cloth slipped from Jian Chou’s hand and fell back into the sewing basket.

For a moment, it felt as though her heart were being torn apart.

Slowly withdrawing her hand, Jian Chou instinctively touched her flat abdomen.

Suddenly she turned toward the pitch-black courtyard outside and shouted loudly:

“Shanren! Shanren!”

In the courtyard, Fudao Shanren already had both arms wrapped around the white goose’s neck.

The goose sensed danger and immediately began honking frantically, flapping its chubby wings with all its might. Feathers flew everywhere, muddy water splashed in every direction, and in an instant Fudao Shanren was covered in filth.

This stupid goose actually dared resist him!

Fudao Shanren swallowed greedily and was just about to commit some unspeakable act upon the goose when Jian Chou’s shout from inside startled him so badly that he jerked upright and immediately withdrew his hands, raising them high.

“I wasn’t stealing the goose!”

Jian Chou had already stood up. Her footsteps staggered unsteadily, while behind her the dim oil lamp failed to illuminate her figure.

Fudao Shanren could not see her expression clearly.

“Shanren... I... I was actually pregnant. Could you... please check my pulse for me?”