Zhan Chun - Chapter 97
As the sun sank below the mountains, the evening glow spread out like paint poured onto rice paper, its vibrant red light tinging the rocks with a pale orange hue. Yang Shen had two steamed buns left in his pocket, and he was about to take a bite when, for some reason, he thought of Yichun. She still hadn't returned. Could it be that he really had to run five laps around the mountain as his master had said?
He simply packed up the steamed buns, got up, and left.
They walked until they were halfway up the mountain, when they saw a figure running towards them unsteadily in the distance, looking like she might collapse at any moment. Yang Shen stood by the roadside and waited for her to get closer. He saw that Yi Chun was soaked to the bone, covered in sweat, her face streaked with black and white, looking horribly dirty, and emitting a sour, sweaty odor.
He said, "Senior sister, Master has already returned to the manor, and no one is watching you. There's no need to run anymore, right?"
Yi Chun was so exhausted she could barely breathe. She shook her head and continued dragging her unsteady steps forward. Yang Shen followed behind her, pulling two steamed buns from his pocket: "Senior Sister, would you like something to eat?"
She shook her head without saying a word.
Yang Shen felt awkward for a moment, thinking she was just being stubborn, and almost stormed off. But he couldn't help turning back to look at her one last time. He always heard his master praise her for learning quickly and well, predicting she would become a formidable figure in the future, but at this moment, her figure running up the mountain with all her might looked no different from that of an ordinary girl.
The afterglow enveloped her, casting a long shadow. Her shoulders seemed about to collapse, yet she stubbornly held on with only one breath.
Yang Shen's heart skipped a beat, and his feet involuntarily followed her up the mountain. On the east side of the summit was a spring with a small waterfall cascading down from it; in the summer, they loved to come here to play in the water and cool off.
Yichun ran to the pool, and as if all her strength had left her, she fell into the pool with a "plop," splashing water all over Yang Shen's head and face like rain.
He wasn't annoyed. He wiped his face and sat down by the pool, scooping water to wash his face, saying, "It's not very hot yet, Senior Sister, be careful not to catch a cold."
She was completely submerged at the bottom of the water, and it took a long time before she was helped up. She floated on the surface like a corpse, and after a while, she turned her body around, spat out a mouthful of water, and sighed, "It's so refreshing..."
No sooner had she finished speaking than two steamed buns were placed in front of her. Yang Shen turned his face away from her, gazing at the still-bright sunset in the distance, his voice carrying a feigned nonchalance: "Eat up, no one will know."
Yichun was deeply moved. She held the steamed bun in her hand and sniffed, "...I just managed to stop having diarrhea. Will it start again if I eat this?"
Yang Shen glanced back at her, then suddenly smiled and said, "Wait a moment, I'll be right back."
He disappeared in a flash, then came running back a moment later with a handful of wild grass in his pocket, its leaves emerald green and covered with small purple berries.
“There’s a secret remedy for diarrhea in my hometown, and luckily we have this herb at the mountain resort. Pick the fruit, just boil the leaves into a soup, drink a bowl morning and night, and I guarantee you won’t have diarrhea anymore.”
He placed the herbs by the pool, and when he saw Yichun reach out to take them, he immediately stopped her, grinning and saying, "Although it was because my senior sister was unwell that I was able to win by chance, a win is a win. My senior sister owes me ten coins. Since we are fellow disciples, I won't let you suffer a loss. Give me ten coins, and I'll consider these herbs as a sale to you, and I'll even teach you how to brew them."
Yichun had little contact with him. The boy usually seemed very honest, so she was astonished to find out that he was so greedy.
Seeing that she didn't react for a while, Yang Shen put away the herbs and said, "If you don't want them, then forget it."
With a splash, Yichun jumped up to cover the herbs and said urgently, "Okay, okay, I'll pay you!"
She stood soaking wet in the pool, rummaging through her tattered clothes for a while before finally pulling out two copper coins. She handed them to him, saying, "I only have two coins on me. Take them for now, and I'll give you the rest when I get them from my home. Don't hoard the money like a miser; buy yourself some good food and fatten yourself up. If you need anything later, just tell me, and I'll take care of it for you."
Yang Shen, clutching the two damp coins, couldn't help but laugh again upon hearing her rambling.
"Senior sister, how many laps did you run?" He lay half-reclined by the pool, leaning against a rock, playing with the herbs in his hand repeatedly.
"One more lap to go."
"You're not planning to finish the race, are you?"
"Why didn't you finish the race?" Yichun found his question very strange.
Yang Shen laughed and said, "Anyway, no one is supervising you, and your master won't even know if you only run one lap. Why bother with all this? If it were me, I'd probably have gone back to my room to sleep by now."
Yichun shook her head: "I won't do that."
Yang Shen then turned to look at her: "If you don't know how to be flexible in life, you'll get very tired if you continue like this."
Yichun shook her head again: "It has nothing to do with flexibility. I just think that I will soon be fifteen years old, and it's time to go down the mountain to gain experience. I'm afraid no one in the martial arts world will ever ask me to run five laps around the mountain again, and I will never see these views on the mountain again."
He was at a loss for words; he simply hadn't expected her to say something like that.
Yang Shen suddenly became curious about what strange and wonderful ideas this seemingly silly senior sister usually had in mind.
Once you enter the martial world, no one will urge you to practice martial arts every day, and no one will be furious because your swordsmanship is not good enough. The punishments that you used to feel extremely painful and resentful will later become sweet and slightly bitter memories.
Indeed, compared to the unpredictable nature of human nature, what are these things?
Yichun took off her hair and washed it in the water from the pool. It was getting hot, and she was only wearing a tattered outer garment, which looked like her father's old robe. When it got wet, it clung to her body, and through the dark gray material, you could see the straps of her lotus-green bodice underneath.
A tuft of black hair held in her hand dripped water, tiny ripples spreading out in circles, brushing past her slender waist.
As if seeing her true face for the first time, Yang Shen didn't notice at first, then paused, and when he came to his senses, instinctively looked away.
Her hair was soaking wet and stuck to her ears, revealing her entire face. She didn't look bad at all, and she didn't look like the same person as that dirty and slovenly Ge Yichun.
Yang Shen suddenly felt a little flustered, his ears burning. He realized that the situation was very awkward and he should leave as soon as possible, but he was also reluctant to leave.
Yichun braided her washed hair into a long braid, and said, "Our days on the mountain are numbered. Didn't Master say that time is money? The days when we brothers practiced martial arts and studied together will never come again."
Yang Shenfei quickly stood up, dusted off his clothes, and said only, "It's too late, I'm leaving. You keep running."
Yichun waved to him from the water: "Don't go! You're already here, why don't we run together? They say time is money!"
He just laughed, not understanding it himself, a long-lost tranquility and joy welling up from the bottom of his heart, like two little hooks, pulling the corners of his lips upward.
He said, "I don't want to, you run away yourself."
Before he could finish speaking, Yichun had already jumped out of the pool, soaking wet, and grabbed him: "Your senior sister orders you to run with me!"
Yang Shen took off running, and she chased closely behind, shouting, "Let's go together!"
Time, like fine gold dust, fell in a dense, persistent stream, eventually covering up that clear, melodious cry.
But that's okay, things are fine as they are now.
There was wind, trees, moon, and mountains, with a rather pretty she-devil relentlessly chasing after them.