Luzhou Moon - Chapter 144
The dark yellow sand is from the seaside. It was already dry and dull, but it clumped together due to the dampness of the rainy day. It was rough and cold, like a knife wound rolling across the heart.
Yue Ruzheng's hands turned icy cold. For some reason, seeing this box of wrecked items that didn't match her memory made her breathing quicken involuntarily.
The scene before her was blurry and indistinct, replaced by a desolate landscape... Withered grass covered the sky, crows flew about in disarray, and the young girl followed the woman in front of her barefoot. Her little embroidered shoes had long been lost somewhere, and she could only stumble and fall on the mountain path, chasing after her aunt, stepping on sharp stones.
"Auntie, I can't walk anymore..." she said, pouting and trying to hold back her tears, hoping for some comfort.
My aunt, carrying a heavy box, turned around and scolded, "Why are you so delicate?! Hurry up and keep up, it's getting dark, and wolves will come out and carry you away!"
A gust of wind blew through the dense forest, and it seemed as if the mournful howls of wolves were echoing in the distance. Little Ruzheng trembled with fear, disregarding everything else, and stumbled along the gravel path, chasing after her aunt who she could never catch.
...Suddenly, a solitary lamp appeared. They had wandered to an unknown place and were now staying in an ancient temple. The wind chimes under the eaves made a soft, weeping sound in the evening breeze.
My aunt sat alone beside the ancient Buddha, playing a purple flute that evoked a thousand sorrows, her desolate figure cast on the moss-covered wall.
Xiao Ruzheng was used to this loneliness, and she would sit on the threshold and hum a lullaby.
A wind chime made of seashells swayed incessantly at the window.
The soft, melodious tune drifted in the dim light. As she sang, she reached out to pluck the wind chimes. Suddenly, her aunt stopped playing the flute and shouted sternly, "Zheng'er, don't touch them!"
Before Ruzheng could stop, her aunt rushed over and forcefully pulled her arm, but unexpectedly, she also broke the string of the seashell wind chime. The snow-white seashells scattered on the ground and immediately cracked.
Her aunt gasped, dropping Ruzheng and rushing over, frantically grabbing at the broken pieces, only to find it was too late. Ruzheng, realizing her mistake, shrank into a corner, biting her fingers and daring not to utter a sound.
"I told you not to touch it!" Auntie turned around angrily, her voice trembling slightly.
She shrank back further, almost trying to escape into the wall, and when she saw her aunt walking quickly towards her, she burst into tears, crying, "No, don't hit me..."
Her aunt's raised hand froze in mid-air. Ruzheng hugged her knees and sobbed. After a long while, she suddenly felt a warmth on her body. When she opened her eyes, her aunt was already holding her in her arms.
"My child..." The aunt hugged her tightly, almost obsessively, tears welling in her eyes, and kept murmuring.
"Aunt..." Yue Ruzheng felt as if she had been awakened from a nightmare. Her heart was pounding. When she looked again, she saw the same old box and empty thatched hut. Nothing had changed.
Lian Junchu has not returned yet.
With a loud bang, she slammed the box shut and fled to the other side of the bamboo couch, never wanting to look in that direction again.
As darkness fell and the rain stopped, Yue Ruzheng could no longer bear the environment and was about to open the door to look for Lian Junchu. But just as she was about to open the wooden door, a clear, cold flute melody drifted from afar, mournful and lingering, low and oppressive, like turbulent undercurrents and swirling eddies, or like endless, continuous rain.
Yue Ruzheng's heart skipped a beat. She held her breath and leaned against the wooden door, not daring to look outside. But the sound of the flute grew closer and closer, followed by the rustling of footsteps. Finally, the sound of the flute gradually faded away until it disappeared.
Yue Ruzheng endured for a moment, and when she could no longer hear any sound, she looked out through the crack in the door.
The wind blew away the clouds, and the new moon appeared, hanging in the sky like a silver hook. Under the cold moonlight, a white figure stood before Tang Yunlan's tomb, silent and motionless for a long time.
A feeling of fear and unease washed over Yue Ruzheng. Just then, she saw the white figure slowly circle the tombstone a few steps, muttering, "Madam Tang, you live here alone all year round. Don't you feel lonely and helpless? But thankfully, I'm here to keep you company, so at least you won't feel bored..."
Judging from the voice, although it was very soft, it was clearly a woman's. However, she had her back to the thatched hut, so Yue Ruzheng could not see her face clearly.
The woman in white held a long flute in her left hand, and her right hand, which had been resting on the tombstone, was now withdrawn. Yue Ruzheng noticed that she was haphazardly tidying her hair, as if she was fixing her makeup.
"Look, spring has come again in the blink of an eye. I've learned a new tune, and I'll play it for you. You can give me your feedback." After saying this, she lowered her head to play the flute again, her long sleeves fluttering slightly in the wind, and the flute music lingered softly among the pine trees and graves.
Inside the thatched hut, Yue Ruzheng's breathing became increasingly rapid, her fingers gripping tightly behind the wooden door.
As the music ended, the woman in white slowly raised her head, smiled at the tombstone, and said, "Tell me, have I made any progress in music theory...?"
Before she could finish speaking, a soft cry came from the nearby thatched hut, causing her to turn around.
Her clothes fluttered, and although her features still retained their former delicate beauty, fine wrinkles had long since appeared between her brows and around her eyes. Compared to her tall and graceful figure, she seemed like a completely different person.
Yue Ruzheng stood blankly outside the thatched shed, the wooden door behind her opening and closing repeatedly in the night wind, making a hoarse sound.
The woman in white suddenly took a few steps back, gripping her purple flute tightly, her eyes clear and bright.
"Who are you?!"
Yue Ruzheng took a shaky step forward and called out with difficulty, "Auntie!"
Chapter 88
The wind whistled, and round raindrops dripped from the pine needles, sprinkling onto Yue Ruzheng's long hair. She only managed to utter this one cry before she could no longer speak.
The woman in white trembled slightly, and after a long pause, she asked again, "Who exactly are you?"
With tears in her eyes, Yue Ruzheng said, "I am Zheng'er... Aunt, have you forgotten me?"
The woman's eyes, which had been clear and bright, suddenly became complicated after Yue Ruzheng finished speaking. She turned her face to the side, staring at Yue Ruzheng with her pupils shrinking to pinpoints.
"Zheng'er?" she murmured, then suddenly glared fiercely at Yue Ruzheng, raising her voice to rebuke, "You won't fool me! I know... you were sent by Lian Haichao to harm me... You kidnapped my child, and now you're pretending to be her, what are you trying to do?!"
"I really didn't lie to you!" Yue Ruzheng tried to walk towards her urgently, but she waved her arm, pointing her purple flute directly at Yue Ruzheng, and shouted sharply, "Get out of my way! Go back and tell Lian Haichao that if he doesn't return my Zheng'er to me, I'll make sure he suffers no good end, even if I have to go to heaven and earth!"
"Aunt..." Yue Ruzheng was heartbroken to see that her aunt seemed to have forgotten her. Desperate to reunite with her aunt, she snatched the necklace from her neck, clutched it tightly in her hand, and held it out to her aunt, saying, "Aunt, Aunt! Look at this necklace. Didn't you give it to me?"
The woman was startled, her eyes fixed on Yingluo. Suddenly, she lunged forward, grabbing Yue Ruzheng's wrist with all her might and desperately snatching Yingluo away.
She looked at Yingluo countless times, her eyes filled with fervent light.
"This is mine, this is mine..." She murmured obsessively, pressing Yingluo against her cheek. She seemed completely absorbed in her own world, ignoring Yue Ruzheng's calls.
Suppressing her grief, Yue Ruzheng approached her and said sorrowfully, "Aunt, do you only recognize Yingluo and not Zheng'er?"
"Zheng'er?" The woman snapped out of her daze, staring blankly at Yue Ruzheng. "My Zheng'er, how could she have grown so big?"
Yue Ruzheng forced a smile, tears still welling in her eyes. "Do you remember when we got separated at the inn? I jumped from the upper floor, lost my senses, and left Suzhou in a daze. Later, I was taken in by Yinxi Xiaozhu and stayed in Luzhou ever since..."