Chapter 281
Li Yundong left the old lama's quarters after apologizing profusely for all the trouble that he had caused . At one point, he had even offered to go into the mountain to track down the two serpents . The old lama denied the offer, saying that Li Yundong had more important things to focus on . When he asked the lama what those "important things" entailed, a cryptic smile was all he got in return .
Somehow, he had a feeling that the lama wasn't referring to his search for Su Chan .
Li Yundong arrived at the edge of the forest after a long walk . Surprisingly, the stretch of land in front of the pagoda was relatively undamaged even though it had been engulfed in Acalanatha's flames earlier . There were no signs of the giant arhat . Heck, there weren't even signs that a battle had recently taken place .
Weird . But he chalked it up to some super Buddhist magic .
A minute or two after he entered the forest, Li Yundong heard something: whispers coming from a thick undergrowth nearby .
Li Yundong frowned and crept towards the hedge .
Two loud shrieks sounded when he yanked the leaves apart . The frightened faces of two women stared back at him .
"Hey, it's you…" Li Yundong whispered .
Lanlan was there, but she wasn't the source of his surprise . The other woman was Liu Xia, the female tour guide whose life he had saved from the avalanche during his pilgrimage to Tibet .
Xiaxia . Liu Xia . Right .
"Wait a minute… Li Yundong narrowed his eyes at the two women . "You two . . . "
Guess he now knew who his mysterious "accomplices" were .
Liu Xia and Lanlan shared a glance with each other .
"You two were following me . "
His statement seemed to have jolted Liu Xia and Lanlan out of their stupor as they suddenly screamed and took off into the woods .
Li Yundong stared after the two women .
Well . Whatever .
Go back where you came from…
With a sigh, Li Yundong took off into the night sky and flew in the direction of Xiyuan temple . He had a riddle to solve and a girlfriend to find .
***
Shaobing .
The last time she had one of these, she nearly broke a tooth . Okay . That was an exaggeration . Master's cold shaobings weren't that bad . They were just… well, cold . And maybe a bit mediocre in the taste department . They were average . They weren't bad at all .
Really .
Su Chan had teased Master mercilessly the other day when Master snatched the bag of shaobing out of Su Chan's hands after she had compared them to Yundong's cooking . Then again, Master stopped calling Su Chan an ingrate after she herself had taken a bite of the shaobing . After that, the bag mysteriously disappeared, and Su Chan went back to teasing Master mercilessly .
That was then .
Now what she wouldn't give for a chance to taste Master's shaobing again, preferably fresh from the oven .
"Hey, young lady . Are you going to keep staring, or are you going to order something?"
Su Chan glanced up and saw the stall owner—an old man—staring at her strangely . It was almost midnight now; it surprised her that the old man was still out on the streets, bustling about . It was like he had consumed an elixir of youth or something .
"You've been staring at my stall for the past thirty minutes, you know?" The old man's face crinkled when he smiled . "Would you like to order something?"
Yeah . I would love to order something . Just that you would call me a thief afterwards and probably try to send me to those men with sticks . Why? Because the few miserable coins in my wallet says so .
Su Chan returned the old man's smile with a charming smile of her own .
Maybe she should just go . She shouldn't even have come out for supper . What was she even thinking?
"Look at these!"
The old man pulled out a tray of freshly baked shaobing . As if her stomach wasn't torturing her enough already .
"Crispy and tasty!"
"Oh . " Su Chan mumbled .
Okay . Time to go—
"Give her your best shaobing, sir," a voice sounded beside her . "Put it on my tab . "
Su Chan whipped her head around and saw a handsome man grinning at her .
Anger rose inside Su Chan . "You again…" she growled . "Why are you here?!"
This annoying man had been pestering her for days!
The man shrugged . "Treating you to shaobing, apparently . "
"No thanks!" Su Chan stormed off .
"Whoa, whoa! Young lady!" the stall owner shouted . "Do you still want your shaobing or not?!"
Su Chan ignored the stall owner and kept walking .
"Hey, wait up!" the young man yelled behind her .
Su Chan ignored the annoying man even though he had just offered to treat her to a bunch of freshly-baked shaobings (which practically had her name written all over them), and that was saying something .
"Go away!" Su Chan yelled over her shoulder . "And leave me alone!"
Apparently the young man was too dense to take a hint .
"Oh, come on… Wait up!"
The man suddenly grabbed her arm from behind .
Su Chan turned around and shot the man a glare . "Don't . Touch me . "
Su Chan fought down the urge to break the man's hand and then punch the smug grin off his face . But no . She shouldn't . She shouldn't get into trouble . Not when she was already in deep trouble .
"Tsk . Tsk . So feisty . " The man chuckled and removed his hand from her forearm .
Su Chan turned around and walked away again . Should she fly? Should she use a spell? What if there were Cultivators around?
Argh! This is such a paaaiiiinnn!
"Hey… I said wait!"
The man was suddenly in front of her again, blocking her path .
"Out of my way!" Su Chan shoved the man aside and stormed past him . "I already told you that I have a boyfriend!"
Persistence was probably the man's last name, because he was still following her .
"We should be friends," he said . "There's no harm in being friends, right?"
Su Chan ignored the man and kept walking .
The man matched her pace and kept yapping, blissfully ignorant of the Su Chan's murderous thoughts .
"How about this," said the man when they reached the corner of a street . "Let's exchange QQ addresses . "
She didn't even know what the heck QQ addresses were . All she had was a corn-door address . Not that she would tell him that .
"Not even a QQ address?" the man said exasperatedly . "Well . That's a bummer . "
God, this annoying pest!
"Ooh! I know . What about MSN? Surely you've got an MSN address, right?"
Su Chan suddenly stopped walking and elbowed the man's ribs . The man stumbled slightly but caught up to her again .
Gah!! Should've elbowed him harder!
"Come on, pretty girl," the man pleaded . "Won't you at least tell me your name?"
That does it!
Su Chan spun around and gave the man a hard shove . The guy stumbled backwards until his back crashed into one of those metal contraptions with rubber wheels . Cars! Damn it! Cars! There! She wasn't completely clueless when it comes to mortal-speak, thank you very much .
"Leave me alone!" Su Chan screamed, then broke off in a sprint .
"Hey! Don't go!"
What an annoying pest .
An annoying pest, who was still chasing after her .
Su Chan slipped into a small alley .
Shadow Mist!
With that, she flew into the night sky, away from the alley .
***
Su Chan floated around until she spotted a familiar sight: the semi-circular granite bridge near Mount Qili's entrance . She flew down and landed on the end of the bridge, then switched back to her normal form .
I'm hungry…
For a moment, Su Chan entertained the thought of catching fish in the river under the bridge and then cooking the fish back at the corn-door . But then she remembered the last time she tried to "cook" fish .
Nuh-uh .
She wouldn't have a place to stay if she blew up the corn-door .
She sighed and removed her shoes . Then, she leaped off the bridge and landed on the edge of the river . She sat down and dipped her feet into the water . The water felt cool, refreshing . A small comfort on a tough day .
As Su Chan paddled her feet in the water, her lips began to move . The soft tune of a song filled the dark space under the bridge . Master had taught her that song, saying that she could hum that song whenever she felt lonely, or whenever she missed someone dearly .
Right now, she was missing not one, but two people .
Su Chan paused in her humming and sniffed .
It's going to be okay . I'll figure something out… I'll find a way to help Master . Or at least I'll die trying…
Su Chan paddled her feet through the water and resumed humming .
"You should sing more often," said a voice . "You sing really well . "
The voice came from above the bridge .
No… It… It can't be…
Su Chan withdrew her feet from the water and stood up . She turned around and looked up at the bridge .
"B- Beloved…" Su Chan's voice trembled . "Is that really you?"
A loud thud sounded when the man leaped down from the top of the bridge .
The man smiled . "Yes, it's me . Don't you recognize me anymore?"
She might as well be incapable of recognizing him since her vision had long since been blurred by her tears .
"Y- Yundong…"
Yundong smiled and opened his arms . "Come here, Chan'er…"
Su Chan had never moved so fast in her life . Barely a second later, she found herself crashing into that familiar warmth .
And she didn't say a word .
There would be time for words later .
Right now, she needed this .
This was enough .
"It's okay, my Chan'er… It's okay…" Yundong's soothing voice matched the rhythm of his hands as he stroked her hair . "Everything's going to be alright, Chan'er . I promise . Everything's going to be alright . "