"Watch your step on the road, and give us a call once you get home."
Tahe in November was a world of ice and snow.
The biting frost cut like blades and whirling snow howled. At the railway station, Qin Yuhu's whole family was seeing off the youth who was about to return home.
Even though Lian Youming did not feel particularly cold, he still had to keep up appearances. After all, he could hardly go around in a thin shirt. As usual, he bundled up in a thick padded coat and pulled on a cotton cap; combined with his towering, robust physique, he looked just like an old bear emerging from its den.
He was leaving half a month later than the educated youths from Beijing and Shanghai. He had stayed behind to handle a few trivial matters, such as mailing packages to Yan Lingyun, writing her a letter to say he was returning to the city, giving her his home address, and asking how to handle the tiger bones and Eastern pearls.
Originally, he had wanted to make a phone call, but with one of them in the far north and the other in the south, separated by such a great distance, he had dialed five or six times without getting through. In the end, he could only rely on letters to communicate.
"Don't worry, everyone." Lian Youming had not carried back the pack he had brought when he first arrived. The main reason was that he was carrying far too many things on this trip—what with the tiger bones, tiger pelt, and a whole heap of assorted odds and ends, his hands were already completely full. "Uncle, if you have time later, come visit our parts."
He glanced again at Qin Hongxiu, who had returned home on holiday. Not having seen her for half a year, the chubby girl had grown even rounder.
And there was the baby under a year old, Qin Kaixuan.
A name like that was entirely in keeping with the mainstream spirit of the era.
After exchanging a few pleasantries, Lian Youming watched the train rumbling in from the distance and smiled, calling out, "It's freezing cold—you all head back now. Sis, when you get married, don't forget to let me know! When the time comes, I'll bring the two little ones from my family over so you can meet them."
Qin Hongxiu remained her usual boisterous self. "Davay, goodbye!"
Unlike when he had first come, the moment Lian Youming stepped inside the carriage, he saw a thick layer of white frost coating the walls from top to bottom. A cloud of chilling mist drifted through the train car, and even the hard wooden benches were frozen like iron, freezing cold and rock-hard. Some were even crusted with ice, looking just like ice sculptures.
It really was too cold.
The passengers inside were freezing half to death as well. Most had boarded at Mohe; every one of them shrank into their coats with hands tucked inside their sleeves, their brows and eyelashes coated in white frost, puffing clouds of steam with every breath like smoking pipes.
Fortunately, there were not many people.
Lian Youming found a window seat and sat down. Wiping away the white frost on the glass, he waved to Qin Yuhu and the others.
Yet after only a single glance, frost rapidly coalesced once more, veiling their figures in the blink of an eye.
As the military reclamation battle song played over the station loudspeakers, the train slowly chugged into motion.
Once Lian Youming settled into his seat, however, he suddenly felt uncomfortable. Perhaps because he had practiced his martial arts for so long, staying still made him feel restless.
With no other choice, he picked up his bundle and walked over to the vestibule connecting the carriages. Planting his legs into a stance, he used the rocking motion of the train to hone his martial skills while passing the time with his copy of Journey to the West.
The journey was long and uneventful. Outside, the scenery was blanketed in snow and frost, offering little to see. Lian Youming simply guarded his own small plot of space, utterly engrossed in his training.
The train stopped and started as passengers of every stripe came and went. The farther south they traveled, the more the clinging frost began to melt into sparkling beads of water.
Lian Youming had no idea how long he had been standing there when he flipped to the final page of Journey to the West once more. Looking at that verse, "True and Wondrous Formula of the Manifest and the Esoteric," he could not shake the feeling that something about it was peculiar.
Where did the peculiarity lie?
His mind stirred, and Lian Youming suddenly realized: this alchemical formula originally appeared near the beginning of the novel, yet here it had been moved to the very end.
Was there some purpose behind this?
Lian Youming looked on thoughtfully. Flipping a page at random, to his surprise, he made another discovery.
"Hm?"
It turned out that reading from back to front actually made sense too.
What connected smoothly was not the text, but the seventy-two small illustrations.
Coupled with this alchemical verse, the tale revealed in the pictures took on a completely different meaning. Here, Sun Wukong seemed to abandon Buddhism to become a demon, turning from good to evil. A terrifying, malevolent aura enveloped him that seemed to pierce heaven and earth, staggering and horrific—as if he had turned his back on the Buddhas of the Western Heaven, slaughtered multitudes of demons, and wiped out myriad devils, before bursting skyward from beneath the Five Fingers Mountain to wreak havoc in Heaven, reversing yin and yang, altering life and death, and finally vanishing into Mount Huaguo to frolic with his troop of monkeys, paying no heed to worldly affairs.
Bizarre!
Lian Youming knitted his brows tightly, his breathing growing hurried.
Reading forward, the monkey in the drawings possessed a ferocious countenance, yet gradually subsided into peace and tranquility. But read in reverse, he seemed born with malice in his very bones and malice in his innate qi—a wickedness so intense it made one's scalp tingle, yet culminating in an air of returning to original purity and truth.
One forward, one reverse; one Buddha, one demon. Demonic form with a Buddha's heart, a heterodox path harboring the true Buddha—though differing from each other, they blended and intersected, mutually dependent, each contained within the other.
"Buddha and demon? Yin and yang? Hard and soft?"
Lian Youming felt as though his spirit had drifted beyond the heavens, muttering incessantly under his breath.
"Pictographic boxing?"
Staring at the savage monkey face in the drawing once more, he suddenly dropped his shoulders and drew his body inward, bending his elbows and raising his arms while hooking his hands inward. Resembling an ape or monkey, every glance and movement was alive with vibrant grace.
This was no Monkey Form boxing of the Xingyi martial art, but rather the Ape Frolic, one of the Five Animal Frolics that Yan Lingyun had mailed to him.
It was simply that the monkey in the drawing was so vivid, its tragic, malevolent aura threatening to leap off the page, that it compelled him to mimic it.
To the other passengers, however, such posturing looked entirely like the antics of a half-wit.
Feeling self-conscious under their stares, Lian Youming gave a grin toward a child clutching sesame candy. Yet perhaps because he had been so enraptured by the monkey's ferocious expression, he subconsciously blended a touch of that snarling, savage look into his smile. The toddler shuddered, whipped his head away, and burst into wails of terror.
Under the mother's hostile glare, Lian Youming got a massive headache, feeling as if he were sitting on pins and needles, thorns digging into his back.
He only breathed a sigh of relief once the mother and child got off the train.
"Malevolent qi? Aura? So that's how it works."
Lian Youming had no appetite for food. He felt as though he had grasped something, teetering right on the brink of an epiphany, yet tantalizingly short by just a sliver—invisible and intangible, it vexed him to no end.
With these thoughts in mind, he pulled out Yan Lingyun's letters again, focusing on the Five Animal Frolics as he compared them against the seventy-two illustrations.
Glancing out the window, he saw that dusk had fallen without him realizing.
As twilight settled in, the gently drifting snow suddenly turned chaotic. The howling white-haired wind swept across the ridges and snowfields like a monstrous dragon churning up waves, whipping the dense veil of snow into turbulent disarray.
Lost in his contemplation, another night slipped by.
Except for buying three boxed meals during the train's stop in Harbin, he barely moved the entire time. He seemed possessed, muttering under his breath and frightening the other passengers into giving him a wide berth, as if they had crossed paths with a madman.
By the time the train pulled into the capital, it was the following morning.
Carrying his bundle, Lian Youming squeezed through the crowd. Instead of rushing to buy a ticket, he sought out a few ticket scalpers to inquire about Sun Duhe.
The man was his benefactor, and more importantly, a good sort.
When the two met up at a state-run restaurant outside the station, Sun Duhe first gave the youth before him a deeply suspicious once-over, then spun around and bolted without a word, assuming someone had come to beat him up.
Dumbfounded, Lian Youming hastily called out, "Hey, what are you running for?"
As he spoke, he quickly pulled out the old book.
At the sight of the familiar old book, Sun Duhe finally remembered Lian Youming. He trudged back and collapsed onto a bench, gulping down a cup of tea like an ox. "Damn, I thought you were a hired thug sent by those bastards on West Street! With that build of yours, you nearly scared the piss right out of me... Not seeing you for a year, how did you get so damn muscular?"
Seeing that Sun Duhe remembered him, Lian Youming chuckled. He had worried that the fellow might have completely forgotten their chance acquaintance.
As long as he remembered, that was enough.
There was no way he would return the martial arts manual concealed in that old book, but the least he could do was treat the man to a hearty meal.
Lian Youming casually ordered several dishes: braised lion's head meatballs, shredded pork in sweet bean sauce, cuttlefish egg soup, braised pork belly, plus two cold platters, spending a small fortune to lay out a sumptuous spread across the table.
"How have things been lately?"
Looking somewhat embarrassed, Sun Duhe pulled a long face and sighed. "Don't even mention it. The day I got back, I was nabbed. If my family hadn't pulled some strings, I'd still be locked up inside right now. But practically everything I had was confiscated—all I've got left are two watches."
Lian Youming had originally planned to ask whether the Eastern pearls could be sold here, but hearing this, he immediately dropped the idea.
"So how are things with your family?"
Sun Duhe gave a bitter smile. "The old man nearly beat me to death. He won't even acknowledge me as his son now."
Lian Youming was not the least bit surprised by this outcome. If he had dared to peddle illicit goods on the black market, his family would probably react the same way—let alone getting caught red-handed.
"It'll be fine. You'll pull through."
Sun Duhe chuckled and picked up food with his chopsticks, eating as he spoke. "You bet. If you'd come any later, we probably wouldn't have seen each other at all."
Lian Youming was surprised. "Why do you say that?"
Sun Duhe said in a low voice, "I plan to take my sweetheart south and try our luck. Word is things are opening up down there, so maybe there'll be opportunities. I don't want to rot away in some factory like my brother, living out my whole life without ever seeing the world, having everything arranged for me... As long as they don't crush me to death, I'm going to make a name for myself, damn it."
By the time he finished, his eyes were bloodshot.
Hearing this, Lian Youming could not help taking a closer look at him, only to notice that his big toe was poking through one shoe and his clothes were grubby. He was far more down on his luck than before.
Outside the restaurant, a gentle, refined short-haired young woman stood fidgeting uneasily, peering in their direction from time to time. She was dressed quite thinly.
"You bastard! The girl is willing to follow you south, and here you are sitting inside while leaving her watching from out in the cold?"
Sun Duhe looked back in confusion along Lian Youming's gaze, then chuckled sheepishly. "Don't worry, nobody's here to jump me. Come on in!... When I heard someone was looking for me, I told her to run far away. Who knew she'd sneak back and follow me."
At his words, the short-haired girl walked inside briskly. Looking well-behaved, she was pulled down to sit beside Sun Duhe, who casually wrapped his own overcoat around her shoulders. "This is my future wife. We grew up in the same courtyard. She's a teacher graduated from technical secondary school... Damn it, after bumming around all these years, my crew of brothers scattered to the winds, yet this girl would rather fall out with her family just to follow me wholeheartedly. Sigh!"
Hearing the word "wife," the girl blushed and nodded shyly to Lian Youming.
After his introduction—a mix of chuckles and sighs—Sun Duhe took a deep breath and said earnestly, "Right now, both men and ghosts despise me. Just for this meal alone, I'll remember you to my dying day."
Lian Youming smiled. "The way you put that gives me the creeps."
After some thought, he pulled out two hundred yuan and shoved it into Sun Duhe's hands. "Take this money. Don't look down on it. Buy some food and drink for the road, get yourselves some fresh clothes, and take good care of your wife."
Sun Duhe originally intended to refuse, but glancing at his girlfriend whose face was pale from the cold, the words caught in his throat. His eyes reddened. "Holy shit, you kid... All those bastards who called me their brother in good times ran away the second trouble hit. Who would've thought that after meeting only once, you'd be willing to give me a helping hand? It's absurd as hell... Say no more. Your buddy will keep this in his heart."
Lian Youming brought over another set of bowls and chopsticks. Seeing their sickly complexions, he knew they had likely been living hand-to-mouth. "A fall into the pit, a gain in your wit. Watch your step from now on."
Glancing at the time, he did not touch his chopsticks, but wrote down his home address and left it with them.
"Once you reach the south, give me a call. Good or bad, make sure you call."
This was not merely out of conscience; rather, Lian Youming felt that this man had great potential.
In these times, only those who refused to stay settled could get ahead. Moreover, Sun Duhe came from a military family, had a decent temperament, and valued brotherhood and loyalty; he was unlikely to stray into crooked paths. Perhaps, once down south, he really could carve out a world of his own.
Besides, Lian Youming himself would have to head south sooner or later.
"Alright, I have to go. Take care of yourselves."
Nodding to the pair, Lian Youming settled the bill, hoisted his bundle onto his shoulder, and departed.
He had originally thought about having Sun Duhe help him procure a train ticket home, never expecting the man would be down on his luck to such an extent.
The ways of the world were truly fickle.
Yet when he arrived at the ticket booth, Lian Youming felt as though the sky had collapsed.
Before him was a dense, dark sea of people. He had to wait in line for over an hour just to buy a ticket, and by the time he boarded the train, it was nearly dusk.
Falling right at the end of the year, it was truly a mountain of people and a sea of humanity.
Lian Youming once again squeezed into the vestibule between carriages, sitting in a corner and idly taking out the novel to pass the time.
As the sun sank behind the distant mountains on the horizon, the sky gradually deepened into darkness.
After several stops along the way, the aisle inside the carriage finally cleared up a bit.
Yellowish light fell upon tired, weary faces.
Lian Youming was among them, resting his eyes while keeping a hand on his bundle.
"Classmate Lian."
A soft chuckle suddenly rang out nearby.
Lian Youming looked toward the sound and saw a girl in a blue sweater and a scarf standing before him with a thermos in hand.
"You are?"
Seeing his puzzled expression, the girl pulled down the scarf covering her face. "It's me! I'm Zhao Xiaozhi, don't you remember?"
Lian Youming examined her carefully, only then recalling that she was the female educated youth who had gone into the mountains with Yang Shuang. Just a few days ago at the forest farm, she had even performed a dance.
"Didn't you all return to the city ahead of time?"
He remembered she was from Beijing.
Zhao Xiaozhi pointed toward another carriage. "That's right, I've been back for several days already! Right now, I'm going on a trip to Tianjin with some classmates."
Just as Lian Youming was about to speak, Zhao Xiaozhi lifted the thermos in her hand. "Take out your canteen, and I'll pour you some hot water. Riding the train must have exhausted you—when I rode back, my legs were like jelly. Oh right, I've even got some malted milk extract..."
Lian Youming quickly said, "Just hot water is fine. Thank you."
Zhao Xiaozhi gave a squinting smile. Sensing that Lian Youming was not in the mood for conversation, she did not press further. After filling his canteen with hot water, she returned to her seat and chattered away with her classmates.
Clasping the canteen, Lian Youming leaned back again, his mind still turning over those small illustrations. He rubbed his throbbing temples and swept his gaze over the noisy throng of passengers. Just as he closed his eyes again, his brows knitted and he instantly snapped them open.
At the entrance of the carriage to the left, someone had exchanged a few sharp words, and two figures were walking over.
The two came side by side. On the left was a petite old woman with a withered, bark-like face, wrapped in an ill-fitting gray padded coat. Her pant legs were bound tightly, and she wore a pair of traditional cloth shoes with layered soles. Over her right arm hung a small basket covered with a towel.
There was nothing overtly unusual about her, but Lian Youming recognized the person on the right—he had seen her just that very day.
It was a young woman of modest height with short hair, quiet and refined with a scholarly air. She was bundled in a grubby military overcoat—none other than Sun Duhe's sweetheart.
Didn't they say they were heading south? How did she end up on this train all by herself?
Lian Youming looked again at the girl's unsteady, drifting steps and her vacant, dazed eyes, and the corners of his mouth twitched.
What was more, the petite old woman had a hand supporting the girl's shoulder, gripping with considerable strength.
Had she been drugged?
Surely Sun Duhe hadn't sold his own wife.
He stretched his limbs and let out a sigh.
Where was the jianghu?
Right before his eyes.
Chapter 52