Lanpu

Kapitel 57

But aside from her unusual surname, she seemed gloomy and silent. I casually inquired about her, and her classmates and younger schoolmates told me that Cai Luojun was a bit strange, very timid, and would suddenly scream for no reason. Her high school classmates said that she was a notorious jinx and a liar, and had very poor interpersonal relationships.

Looking at her, I fell into deep thought. She belonged to the "scale ten" type, just as unlucky as I was. The "separation of humans and ghosts" performed by my senior master was of no use to her. Her unusual background and religious beliefs did not help her either; she could only keep what she saw and heard to herself, as speaking out would only invite resentment.

It's like seeing myself before, completely powerless and suffering.

Of course, I could ease her fear and ensure the school's continuation. But is that what she wants?

I've thought about it for many days, but I'm still hesitant.

But a month before winter break, Cai Luojun actually mustered up her courage, walked shakily to me, and softly called out, "...Senior." Her eyes avoided the desolation of lack of sleep.

Huang E, who had been yawning, stared at her curiously, which terrified her. I nudged Huang E and smiled as kindly as I could, "Don't be afraid, she won't bite."

"Am I a dog or a cat? Why do I bite everyone I see?" Huang E flapped her wing at me, and I punched her.

Cai Luojun's eyes widened as she looked at me, then at Huang E.

"Don't panic," I said gently. "Someone's watching."

Huang E reluctantly stopped, but still stared intently at Cai Luojun. "You can see me, and you can hear my voice, right?"

Cai Luojun flinched, looked around pleadingly, trembling, and nodded very softly.

“How strange, how strange.” Huang E kept clicking her tongue. “Such a pure constitution, looks delicious.” She shook her head regretfully. “Too big. I only eat babies and young men.”

"Who else do you want to eat now?" I looked down at Huang E. "I'm going to tell my master."

She muttered a few words and turned her face away.

Cai Luojun relaxed a little, "...Senior, am I not mentally unstable or schizophrenic?" Then she burst into tears.

I was speechless for a long time. Poor child. She wasn't a witch, but she possessed clear eyes and hearing. Knowing nothing, unable to admit it, yet forced to acknowledge the existence of the other world, she was caught in the middle and on the verge of collapse.

"Come with me." I led her to the small office.

She was terrified, but I don't know what rumors she heard that made her think I could help her. I struggled with this for a long time, but I wanted her to make the decision herself.

“Perhaps I can give you a letter of introduction so you can go to Tainan to find my master, who can seal away your talent.” I carefully chose my words. “But if you are willing to help me, perhaps you can coexist with this talent.”

She stood there for a long time, and I thought she would choose the first path. But she asked in a small, hesitant voice, "Then...then can I see that big tiger?"

Tiger? "You mean Nioh?"

"His name is Renwang?" Luo Jun laughed through her tears. "He's so majestic, so powerful, and so gentle. Several times when I was blocked from the road, he was the one who yelled at those who couldn't get through..." She chose her words tremblingly.

“The original inhabitants,” I said for her. “Their physical appearance may be a bit scary, but they’ve lived here longer than us, and apart from being a bit mischievous, they’re all very friendly.”

“The original inhabitants.” She took a deep breath. “Yes, Niou often helps me. I… I can see him, but not the others, right?”

"I'm sorry, no." I shook my head.

She clenched her hands tightly, looking extremely lost.

“What you see is not your mental instability, but something real, just that our reality is a little different from others.” I thought for a moment, “I work at night, do you want to come? Walk around campus with me, let’s see if you can accept it.”

She lowered her head for a moment, "...Will Niou come?"

"If you wish, I will invite him."

She nodded vigorously, a shy yet joyful expression on her face.

The poor child must be so lonely. He has never experienced any warmth or kindness... so much so that even the smallest act of kindness shown by Niou makes him so overjoyed.

That day I told Ren-wang, and he was flattered, "That child specifically asked me to go?"

Yes. She has always liked you and is very grateful to you.

You know about Niou. He was willing to fall into the animal realm and commit all kinds of sins that he should not have committed, just for the sake of his adopted son's call. How could he bear to disappoint such a poor and lonely child?

He came that night. Luo Jun was both happy and surprised. She asked in a trembling voice if she could touch Ren Wang. Ren Wang nodded. She squatted down and first gently stroked him, then buried her face in Ren Wang's neck.

Huang E remained silent for a whole day. Luo Jun's thoughts and ideas seemed to have greatly impacted her. Meeting Ren Wang made her thoughts bitter, sour, sweet, and painful, which made me a little dizzy. She was still sorting things out, so I only saw large clumps of color.

"...I'm so dizzy. I don't understand humans. I don't understand Nioh. I don't understand, I don't understand, I don't understand, I don't understand..." She suddenly lost her temper and ran away again.

But she wasn't going on a date. After a period of frequent dates, Huang'e said that her master was getting old and she couldn't keep him all to herself; they needed to maintain the relationship sustainably (she even understood that term...), so the dates became once a month.

She flew back to our house and curled up in bed, acting strangely about something. When I asked her, she just ignored me and put up a wall around her neck.

I don't understand monsters at all. I felt really annoyed.

"Let's go," I said to Luo Jun. "This is what my part-time job entails."

We walked forward, with Niou beside her. I looked at her as if I were looking at my past self. "You've seen my shikigami, Ara-gaku, haven't you?" I couldn't help but speak of the past, "But the cause of our karmic connection was unfortunate, both for her and for me."

The past was clear, vivid in my mind. But I kept interrupting her to explain the school's restrictions and the local residents who frequented it. Interspersed with stories, or perhaps it was Niou who reassured her, her fear gradually disappeared.

After the inspection was completed, I finally finished telling the beginning of my story.

"...And then?" she asked.

"Come patrol the campus with me tomorrow, and I'll tell you," I said.

She lowered her head for a moment, then looked at Niou. "...Will you come tomorrow too?"

Niou nodded and nudged her arm affectionately. "Child, if you need me."

She nodded frantically, tears welling up in her eyes.

Today's patrol was later than usual, and I rushed towards Tang Chen.

He's so kind. Even though I'm so late, he's not impatient at all. Instead, he asks me with concern, "Is there any trouble?"

Holding his arm, I looked at his increasingly mature face in the moonlight. On the day I had to let go, I didn't know if I could let go cleanly.

I pushed those worries aside and tried not to think about them. I said, "No...maybe I can find someone to take over my job."

We walked hand in hand to the bike shed, and even the terrifying high-speed descent didn't stop my incessant chatter.

"This is the main reason why humanity is so endearing and therefore so perpetually renewable," he said with a smile. "Because all knowledge and rituals can be passed down, though life is finite, it is also endless."

His words made me think for a long time.

That day when I got home, no matter how I tried to coax him, Huang'e wouldn't listen to me. Neither gentle persuasion nor threats worked.

I felt even more frustrated. As the saying goes, a woman's heart is like a needle at the bottom of the sea. Now I truly understand the feelings of those unfortunate men who are searching for a needle in a haystack.

When I finally got to the end, she lost her temper and asked me if I should go to sleep and leave her alone, or if she should just leave and seek refuge elsewhere.

…Wasn't everything fine? Why did it suddenly become cloudy?

Completely helpless against this queen bird, I could only give up, take a bath, and go to sleep. But she insisted on sleeping under the covers and even snuggled into my arms.

I really think she's sick. Which doctor should she see?

"Go to sleep! You're the one who's sick... paranoid!" she snapped at me fiercely, then closed her eyes and snuggled tightly into my arms.

Women are such a strange bunch of creatures, all races are the same…

Uh, I guess I'm a woman too. This fact doesn't really change anything, it just makes me a little sad.

***

The next day, Huang E returned to normal... outwardly.

She followed me around just as closely, paying more attention in class than I did, and even tried to teach me, though she often ended up throwing her pen at my head. "You can't even do this? Is your brain filled with water or has some structural problem?!"

...Please don't compare the intelligence of monsters to that of humans, thank you.

But when she patrolled the campus at night, she stopped swearing. She would just eagerly add to my stories when I recounted past events. After two weeks of patrolling, she had roughly finished telling me my story with Huang E.

Luo Jun's fear has subsided. She has gotten to know most of the local residents with us. She has made great progress, from being afraid to even look at them, to being able to raise her hand and greet them.

"Do you want to try patrolling yourself?" I encouraged her. "If you can't stand it, you can always shut down this talent."

She lowered her head and thought for a long time. "...Can Niou help me?"

“As long as you need it, child,” Niou said gently.

She smiled bravely and walked side by side with Niou into the darkness, beginning their patrol of the vast campus.

At that moment, tears welled up in my eyes. I handed the baton over, and a thin little hand took it. At least this school would be safe for the next four years.

What surprised me was that this tradition was passed down from one student to another, becoming a mysterious tradition at the school, and even evolving into a small secret society. Even after the principal changed and stopped providing this kind of part-time work, it continued quietly.

They memorized the school's rules and feng shui, knew every native, and, more importantly, accepted and acknowledged this seemingly useless talent, vowing not to use it for a living, thus maintaining a flame of kindness, generation after generation.

This secret society is called "Silence." The women call themselves "Silent Maidens," and the men call themselves "Silent Ones." They all respectfully serve the old man. There is no leader in the society; the old man is the one to be respected.

I won't find out about this for a long time, but that's another story.

After Luo Jun had been on patrol for a week, he shyly handed me a manuscript, neatly typed, containing the story I had told him.

My story.

It was so absurd and unbelievable, yet it was a part of my life.

With mixed feelings, I took it back. Tang Chen was deeply moved after reading it, but I felt very embarrassed. He gave me his old notes of modern Liaozhai, saying that this would make the story more complete.

Only Huang'e and I know that this story is incomplete.

We watched together, arguing about the small discrepancies in each other's memories. She insisted that she didn't dislike me that much, nor did she intentionally want to harm me, while I argued with her that she did.

We argued and bickered like this as we organized my story in front of the computer…

It should be said that this is our story.

We argued for a long time about who should be the title author of the story. She insisted on being the title author, and in the end, I gave in.

Although it is my life journey, she would be happy if it were called "Wilderness," so let's call it "Wilderness."

Huang'e is me, and I am Huang'e. We may not be as closely connected as before, even though she has cultivated to this level and we are practicing together, but our lives are intertwined and inseparable.

I deeply love this harbinger of mischief, the root of my illness. I also know she loves me.

"I didn't say that, you're talking nonsense!" She chased after me and hit me randomly.

I laughed so hard, "Huang E, you're not going to throw up?"

Her face, even the feathers on it, was flushed red, and she was completely enraged. "You miss me so much, don't you? Don't run away! I'll vomit on your face right now! What are you trying to hide from me for!"

I laughed until I was exhausted, but she vomited for a long time without being able to vomit anything, and then she got angry and started hitting me randomly.

You know, she's always been a proud and aloof bird queen.

Then an unexpected little incident occurred, which I had no idea would be the beginning of the "Silent" secret society.

At first, Luo Jun told me, puzzled, that a boy would secretly follow her when she patrolled the campus. I was also very worried. I had been patrolling alone before without any problems. Maybe I was being too strange. Although Luo Jun retained the features of a Tibetan and wasn't very beautiful, she didn't have the scary title of "supernatural girl" to hide behind her.