“Zigui, your senior brother is no longer a child.” Shangguan looked at her and said gently, “All along, whether it’s Sect Leader Wang, your senior brother, or even Zigui, everyone has ignored this fact. Do you think he will truly be happy if you keep covering his eyes and ears? He is already a person, and a person should choose his own path.”
She paused, looking at the baby face that was no longer carefree.
So that's why I had to look up to see my senior's expression. He did it so naturally that I almost forgot how much taller and stronger he had become.
"Young Master Shangguan, thank you." Unexpectedly, Eleven thanked him and said, "Junior Brother, let's go find a temple."
Although his eyes were still round and cute, they carried a maturity he had never shown before.
"Mmm," she replied, a soreness welling up in her chest.
"Do you resent it?" Shangguan asked from the side.
He shook his head. "Ziyu is right. We've always been reluctant to let our senior brother grow up, neglecting his feelings. So when he has to face reality, he'll be facing an even more intense growing pain."
She looked at the boy who was actively asking for directions not far in front of her.
The mountains and rivers are bathed in the glow of the setting sun; it's the day with the earliest sunset of the year. In the deserted temple, there are only a few strangers who haven't had time to go home.
Yu Zigui wrote down his parents' birth and death dates on the white envelope, then looked at Eleven, who hadn't written anything in a long time.
"Senior brother, why aren't you writing?"
"I don't know." The baby's face was full of distress.
My senior brother was very young when he left the capital, so it's natural that he can't remember. However, without knowing his birth and death dates, how could he have burned incense? Even if he had burned some prayers, it would have been difficult to convey them.
Seeing her subconsciously looking at him, Shangguan couldn't hide his joy. He walked to the incense altar, offered a tael of silver, took a slightly ornate white envelope from the temple keeper, and handed it to Eleven.
Prince Minhuai, whose personal name was Zhao, was born on the seventh day of the first month of the first year of the You era and died on the thirtieth day of the twelfth month of the ninth year of the Yuanning era.
The envelope reads as follows.
“Every temple has memorial tablets for virtuous ministers and famous emperors of past dynasties, for the people to worship,” Shangguan said.
“Isn’t it because I dared not write it down…” Holding the envelope, Eleven’s eyes reddened.
"What we dare not forget is the current emperor, but the people have never forgotten him." Although it was a lie, it sounded very real coming from Shangguan's mouth.
"Thanks."
Seeing Eleven nod happily, then hold up incense and candles and whisper to his deceased father, Yu Zigui whispered to Shangguan.
"I don't want a thank you."
His gaze lingered for a moment, then slowly moved upwards, finally settling on those dark eyes.
Taking the white envelope from her hand, Shangguan lit a candle and set it alight on the two piles of paper money in front of him and her. The flickering firelight illuminated their faces, and Shangguan smiled slightly, pulling her to kneel down.
"I only wish that on this day next year, I will no longer be nameless and unknown."
Upon hearing this, she was stunned.
"What, is there something amiss in Zigui?"
This man was smiling, but his smile concealed a dagger. One could tell at a glance that the dagger was extremely vicious; if I dared to nod, my fate would be utterly miserable.
Therefore, those who understand the times are wise, and they firmly shook their heads without saying a word.
Seeing this, Shangguan Yi took her slender hand and struck it heavily in front of the open flame.
"Now that this vow has been made, if I break it, I will have no face to see my parents after a hundred years and will go straight to the underworld."
His smile was faint as he spoke softly, as if it were not a powerful oath. But she knew the ruthlessness of this oath, enough to make those in the martial arts world who called him a divine prince gouge out their own eyes a thousand times over.
Just then, a deep, resonant drumbeat came from outside the temple.
Each sound, like the footsteps of a giant beast, resounded over the capital.
"The Great Nuo Dance!"
After finishing their evening prayers, the monks shouted as they walked toward the temple gate.
Outside the temple, the night was as thick as blood, and under the heavy sunset, accompanied by eerie drum music, masked dancers came from afar.
The winter solstice is the day when the yang energy is at its weakest, and dusk is considered the time when demons are most likely to appear. Therefore, every year at dusk on the winter solstice, dancers dressed as ghosts are divided into four teams and wander through the streets of the capital in all directions. Afterwards, the Fangxiangshi (a Taoist priest) beats a drum to drive them away, eventually expelling them from the outer city, symbolizing a year of favorable weather and abundant harvests.
"The Nuo dance in the palace pleases the emperor. The Nuo dance in the folk pleases the common people," Shangguan whispered in her ear.
Sure enough, after finishing their ancestral worship, the people of the capital came out of their homes, young and old alike, craning their necks in anticipation. Wealthy families even erected colorful tents along the streets, just to witness the "Great Nuo Dance" clearly.
She found the scene novel and was about to discuss it with Eleven when she saw his lips slightly parted as if he were murmuring something.
The surrounding area was bustling with noise. She tugged at Eleven's sleeve. Eleven was taken aback at first, then bent down and whispered.
"It was also the winter solstice that year. My third uncle took me out of the palace to see the Nuo dance performed by the common people. I was very happy because I am playful by nature. But I got lost on the way and was stuffed into a carriage. When I opened my eyes again, I saw my master."
I thought the memories would end there, but it turns out there's more to come.
"Junior brother, look over there."
Following Eleven's finger, Yu Zigui looked across. There stood a child on an adult's shoulders, excitedly gazing into the distance. Whenever the child lost his balance, a large hand would catch him.
"My third uncle treated me the same way back then, but in the end he let go. Luckily I survived and was held back by someone, but when I came to my senses, my third uncle was nowhere to be seen."
Zigui trembled, then concealed the hurt in his eyes before looking at Shangguan.
“Young master was wrong. It wasn’t Master, senior brother, or junior brother who covered my eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. I should choose my own path from now on.”
What will you ultimately choose?
He was eager to ask, but Shangguan grabbed him.
“This is his path,” Shangguan said.
"But……"
"Does Zigui not trust his senior brother?" Shangguan said, and Shiyi also looked over, his baby face full of grievance.
Concern leads to confusion.
She chuckled softly, inwardly mocking her own motherly mentality. The tourmaline on her earlobe shimmered with a dazzling red light as her body trembled slightly.
You search high and low without finding it, only to have it come to you effortlessly.
Several burly men in the crowd exchanged glances, then casually snatched the ghost masks from the stall and put them on their faces.
"Hey, pay up! Why aren't you paying?" the stall owner shouted.
Turning around, Zigui stopped laughing. He saw a hideous ghost face and several burly men breaking through the crowd.
I sensed something was wrong, but I couldn't quite put my finger on what it was.
“A northerner,” Shangguan said.
Yes, those men were robust and their appearance was not as slender as that of people from the Central Plains. Although there are many strong men in the martial world, it is not easy to find a man with a similar physique and who is also extremely burly.
Her moon-like eyes narrowed slightly as she looked again at the distinctive leather boots. Even though they were dressed in the clothing of the Great Wei Dynasty, they couldn't help but slip up in the details.
They are indeed Northern Barbarians, but what are they doing in the capital?
Suspicious, she saw the men flick their wrists, and the hidden weapon flew directly towards her location.
Using pebbles as concealed weapons—this technique looks familiar.
She can only protect a few people; at the very least, she must ensure the safety of Ziyu and her senior brother.
Yu Zigui squinted and caught most of the stones with a flick of his sleeve. The rest were caught in the crowd after encountering the colorful canopy along the way. Seeing that the stones were about to hit the child who had been separated from his family, Shiyi didn't have time to think and hugged the child in his arms. But there was no pain as expected. He turned around and couldn't even find the shadow of the stone.
Who offered a helping hand? My junior brother, or...?
Release the child from her arms and look to the side.
Amidst the chaos, Shangguan Yi remained untouched, her dark eyes focused solely on one person, as if she hadn't glanced at them once from beginning to end.
He probably misread it.
"Girl!"
Then someone called out, and the child in his arms pushed him away, crying as he ran towards the man. "Father!"
Thankfully, they hadn't gotten lost. Looking at the father and daughter, Eleven thought with relief.
"Senior brother!" Yu Zigui called out anxiously when he saw him sitting on the ground.
"It's nothing." He stood up and stepped aside, only to find that Xiao Kuang had joined the battle without him noticing. "Oh, Young Master Qiyang, you've come at just the right time."
"What a coincidence, Ah Kuang has been here the whole time." Just as he was wondering, he heard Shangguan Yi say in a low voice.
Has it always been there?
"Don't you know how arduous the journey from Zigui to the capital was?"
Although he was somewhat dazed, he could still hear the rebuke in Shangguan Yi's words. Now he finally understood that the reason Shangguan Yi had woken him up was not because of the compassion rumored in the martial arts world, but because of his junior brother.
"Even knowing the dangers of the martial world, I still want to seize the position of leader; even though I hate being an official, I will never hand over the official seal. If it weren't for Ah Kuang guarding me last night, how could I have slept peacefully? My heart and eyes are full of you, what a fool I am."
Shangguan Yi looked at him with jealousy and hatred, completely lacking the kindness and amiability she had shown when her junior brother was around.
"I just asked you to choose your own path, was that right?"
Upon hearing his question, Eleven suddenly realized that his earlier statement, "Does Zigui not believe his senior brother?" was merely a way to comfort his junior brother; this person had never believed him from the beginning.
That's really scary.
Despite thinking this, he still said sincerely, "Young master, rest assured, although Eleven is young, I am self-aware. Moreover, I would prefer Eleven to Junlin."
"very good."
Shangguan Yi glanced at him, making him secretly rejoice that she was on their side. No, to be precise, she was on his junior brother's side.
When we were talking about how our junior brother was completely focused on the sect, I wonder if Shangguan Yi noticed that he himself was completely focused on one person.
At this moment, Yu Zigui was surrounded by the northerners. Her long, flowing robe accentuated her waistline, and her movements were as graceful as a dancer's.
"Xiao Kuang?" Yu Zigui looked at him with slight surprise as he saw the broken formation.
As if the bruises had been transplanted directly onto his face, Xiao Kuang had dark circles under his eyes, as if he hadn't slept all night.
"The one who was crippled last time, Xianyu Geng, was the only son of the Southern King of the Northern Di, while these were Northern Di assassins."
Was she lucky?
It's all my father's fault for not explaining things clearly back then. If he had known that Gao Bizi had such a distinguished family background, he should have gone easy on him. At least he wouldn't have been so badly disfigured.
The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. He bent his left leg and clamped it between the masked man's powerful fist, while straightening his right leg and kicking the man hard.
The mask on his face shattered into pieces of wood, and his face was clearly twisted together. The man slid several feet on the ground until he hit the ghost chariot of the Great Nuo and then stopped.