Chapter 13: Return to the Living

14TH JAN 2022~ VERALUCTL

He knew that youth. Twenty years ago, An Yin Hu looked like that: young, pretty to the point of being delicate, unnoticeable, hiding near corners and doors when there were too many people.

But that was twenty years ago; men couldn’t live forever.

Zui She swallowed. “Your surname is An?”

How strange.

Hearing that, the youth raised his eyebrows. Even his twitches were the exact same as the person in his memories. Zui She couldn’t understand. Ever since Mu Lian had gone, Yin Hu had vanished from their sight. He could still remember that An Yin Hu- his sunken cheeks, the wave of his hand with his back to them as he walked away, the way he didn’t look back, those slim shoulders holding an indescribable sense of despondency… There was no way that after ten years he would become more… er, well, tender.

“Then are you…” Zui Shen estimated the age of the youth in front of him. “Yin Hu’s son? Or brother?”

The youth couldn’t hold in his laughter and pointed at the followers behind Zui She. “They stay here. Don’t let anyone disturb us; I have something to say to you.”

In his words, there was the certain commanding tone of someone used to giving orders. If this was a brat raised in the An household, they might have the arrogance to do so.

Zui She’s face showed some interest. “Stay here and keep watch, don’t let the doctors disturb us.” 

Then, he followed him in.

====================

Five minutes later…

“Say again?!”

“I knew you wouldn’t believe me.” An Jie sat on the windowsill, one leg dangling down, thinking that regardless of what happened, it was worth it, seeing that sneak Zui She with such a shocked expression. “I don’t blame you- I tried slapping myself first but unfortunately, I didn’t wake up.”

Zui She stared up and down at the young man in front of him with his right eye, his only eye. They were similar, very similar, and he would have agreed in the blink of an eye if someone had said that this was the An Yin Hu from ten years ago. He was his brother; they had gone through life and death together; there was no way he wouldn’t recognize him, but…

“If I remember correctly, An Yin Hu should be halfway to becoming an old geezer by now?”

“Screw off, you’re the geezer!” An Jie retorted, then laughed. He raised his left hand, showing the inner side to Zui She. “Still remember this?”

Zui She’s expression changed as he grabbed his wrist, his eyes opening wider and wider as if trying to see through it. “This… How is this Shougong sand1 still here?!”

Zui She recalled how when they were young, everyone would laugh at Yin Hu for that mole, saying that it was like the Shougong sand on women in wuxia novels. Yin Hu was normally someone who didn’t care about little things, but everytime it was brought up, he would get furious. At first, he insisted on getting it removed in the hospital, but his woman held him back, saying that those with a vermilion mole were devoted and that their relationships would last forever.

After that…

“After she left, it was just an eyesore. I thought all that talk about forever was bullshit, so I dug it out myself,” An Jie said quietly. “But that was ten years ago.”

Zui She took in a deep breath, let go of An Jie’s wrist, and sat down in a nearby chair. “Did you really get attacked by aliens? Or… Yin Hu, we’re brothers, tell me the truth. Are you an alien yourself?”

An Jie’s expression became serious. “I shouldn’t have kept it from you all this time… In truth, I’m a Saiyan2…”

Zui She grabbed the hospital bed’s pillow and flung it at him.

“Ahem, just kidding, just kidding. You’d be stressed too if you became like this, wouldn’t you?” It seemed like it had been years since he had been this relaxed. An Jie caught the pillow and cushioned it behind him, moving both of his legs onto the windowsill. “A while ago, I suddenly wanted to see Tianjin City…”

Twenty minutes later, An Jie had given a full recount of his legendary adventure in the great desert, and poured himself a cup of water. Zui She stared at him dumbly, his mouth agape. A while later, he suddenly reached up and slapped himself.

An Jie asked calmly, “Does it hurt?”

“It hurts.” When Zui She wasn’t trying to play games, he was quite a reliable person. “You… you were scalded by the liquid in those beads, and then shrunk by about twenty years?”

“Mm.”

“And then those cursed beads vanished and you ended up in this town?”

Mm.”

“You said there was a woman singing in that ghost city, and there was a prophecy written in blood?”

“Mm.”

“And then that Shen-something bastard said a bunch of crap about immortality and curses… and you thought that he was joking, but then you proved yourself that it wasn’t all bullshit, or at least that… parts of it wasn’t bullshit?”

“Mm.”

“‘Mm’ my ass!” Zui She started cursing again. “An Yin Hu, did your head get crushed by an elephant? What the hell were you doing in the great desert? And going to the desert wasn’t enough? You had to follow a bunch of bookworms that know shit-all else into a monster den?”

“I was just curious; I’ve never seen anyone dig open a grave, you know?” An Jie’s eyes were resigned.

“Curious my ass, curious!” Zui She stood up and paced impatiently before he stopped. “Immortality: the thing that scammed so many idiots ever since the Qin and Han dynasties. And your situation now…”

“It’s just that my age was pushed back a little, I’m still a normal human. The doctor said that my metabolism was normal… Just another normal box of ashes in eighty years.”

Zui She was a little uneasy. “Are you sure?”

An Jie thought about it and nodded. “I’m certain that right now, I’m not feeling anything inhuman.”

“That’s fine then…” Zui She considered before scratching his head in irritation. “I say, what are you planning to do now?”

An Jie sighed, averting his eyes to the side. Professor Mo’s wallet was open on his bed, the children inside smiling naively. He recalled the words of remembrance in the final moments of the old professor; recalled his longing and uncertain eyes; his resigned expression when he brought up his children, and suddenly said, “I want to go to Beijing.”

“To do what? Look for zombies in the Ming Dynasty Tombs?”

“Screw off.” An Jie jumped down from the windowsill and picked up the old professor’s wallet. “Zui She, do me a favor and get me a new ID card and passport. I want to go to Beijing… hm, and try to get into a university.”

Zui She looked strangely at the wallet in his hand. “For this old man?”

“I owe him my life.”

Zui She laughed. “Oh, you owe so many people your life, since when did you develop a conscience?”

An Jie smiled. “I’m old, so I think more now. Think of it as me saving up karma points for my next life.” He splayed his hands. “What else would you have me do? I’ve got nothing here, so I might as well tour the world for some good scenery…”

“Bullshit! You’re touring the world looking for death.”

An Jie stopped talking and looked helplessly at Zui She.

Zui She thought for a moment. “It’s not a bad idea. Looking after kids is better than looking for death, and getting a passport isn’t too difficult either. Right, and what name should I write on the passport? It can’t be An Yin Hu, yes?”

An Jie couldn’t help but smile. “It’s been so many years, why can you still not remember my real name?” He reached out and wrote in the air, “My name’s An Jie, An for peace, and Jie for speed.”

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This city, behind its staircasing skyscrapers and the constant coming and going of cars on Chang’an street, was filled with countless old affairs. In those occasional forgotten alleyways, behind their narrow and humid tiles and bricks, there seemed to be a piece of tattered paper brimming with stories of the past and present, colored a defeated grey from the heavy load it bore.

The streets were all either directly north to south or east to west; there was no other region in China with people with a better sense of direction. All four cardinal directions were arranged in detail, and though the city wasn’t honest per say, it was filled with the aura of kings and righteousness, as it had been since the establishment of the Yuan Dadu3. With the renewed vermillion and grey, it formed its never-changing colors.

When An Jie arrived in Beijing, it was already autumn.

Autumn came late this year and its hot spell wasn’t polite at all. Not a shred of cool air could be felt on the streets, and the sky was covered by a grey blanket.

An Jie leaned against the door. He had just rented the unit and had yet to finish unpacking. He went to borrow something from the house opposite him, making it in time to see two men in black suits ringing the doorbell.

After a long while, the inner door opened. A girl around fifteen years old looked cautiously through the entrance at the two strangers. She had yet to mature fully, a bit on the thin side, her small face very pretty with a large pair of black bean-like eyes. She frowned and asked, “Who are you looking for?”

“Excuse me, is this Professor Mo’s house?”

The girl nodded hesitantly. “My dad isn’t here.”

The person was silent for a while. “Are you Professor Mo’s daughter?”

The girl nodded. “I’m- I’m Mo Yu.”

The two men looked at each other. “Can we have a chat inside? It’s about your father.”

Mo Yu paused and said reluctantly. “Sorry… I’m the only one at home right now.” She looked back and pursed her lips, blinking her large eyes at the two strangers, a little apologetic and a little cautious, reminding one of certain small animals where just a glance at them could quell one’s anger.

Professor’s Mo’s daughter, Mo Yu… was already this big. An Jie silently shut the door to his unit. The archaeology team went into the desert and was never heard from again. These people probably came here to let the Mo family know. He suddenly didn’t want to know what expression that girl would make.

If she was grief-stricken, he would remember the old professor’s final expression and feel guilt, and if she was cold and uncaring… then he would just find it sorrowful.

Author: Good, we’ll just write up to here today.

1A red dot drawn onto a woman’s inner arm or navel to test whether or not she’s had an affair. A gecko or lizard is fed cinnabar until its body becomes red, is ground up into a fine sand along with other materials, and the mixture painted onto the person. The resulting dot looks similar to a mole and supposedly can’t be washed away, but vanishes instantly once one has had sex.

2No literally, that’s what it says. Saiyan as in the extraterrestrial race from Dragon Ball which Goku is, and if that’s not enough for you, I’m afraid I don’t know how to explain it.

3Directly, ‘the capital of the Yuan dynasty’. It’s also known as Khanbaliq. Khanbaliq was the original city that grew into Beijing today; so it’s saying that ever since the city became the capital of the Yuan dynasty, it’s been filled with the aura of kings.