New Grave

The Night Sanctum remained bright through the night. The truth had been revealed, so the days of investigation had come to an end. Liao Xingjian’s case had been cracked.

Song Caitang returned to her residence and had a good rest.

She still woke up in the middle of the night and wasn’t able to sleep till the next morning, but she had slept really well. Despite only sleeping a few hours, she still felt energized the next day.

Guan Wan was in good spirits too.

The case had been cracked and someone as important as the surveillance commissioner was here, so they didn’t need to worry about their safety and they would definitely be allowed to leave now! She was no longer distressed, so she had the mood to dress up, check out local ingredients and cook to her heart’s content.

This was the first time she was in this place, so how could she leave without gaining a greater understanding of the local produce? The Night Sanctum’s territory was in an excellent geographical location. It was surrounded by deep mountains and meandering rivers, plus she had spotted vegetables she’d never seen before on the dining table!

Besides, it wasn’t like they were going to leave in an hour or something…

And it was true that they couldn’t leave just like that.

As long as you lived among people, you had to observe certain social etiquette and all that. Ye Nan had pretty much kidnapped Song Caitang and she felt bad about that. Song Caitang had also done so much to crack the case, so Ye Nan had to thank her for her efforts. On top of that, during their short time together, Ye Nan felt that Song Caitang would make a worthy friend and really wanted to be friends with her…

Of course, Song Caitang had to respond to Ye Nan’s show of gratitude.

After all, it was great to have more friends.

Even the elder sect leader forced himself to get out of bed despite how frail he was and personally hosted a meal for Song Caitang to thank her.

The two girls had to stay for at least another two days.

Their trip to the capital was not urgent and they had already written to Guan Qing to tell her not to worry, so everything was settled.

Song Caitang and Guan Wan had written thick letters to Guan Qing and wanted to send them together. Not only did the Night Sanctum allow them to send their letters, but they also made sure that these letters reached their destination safely.

When she finally had time, Song Caitang asked Zhao Zhi what was going to happen next for this case.

The killer, Zhuang Qingyu, was clearly guilty, plus he had admitted to the whole thing himself. But Ye Nan did not kill him and seemed more like she wanted him to have a taste of his own medicine. She let him live so that he would be forever tortured by what he had done.

It didn’t seem like she intended to hand him over to the authorities at all.

But a murder had happened and a horrible killer had been found. What would the authorities do?

Zhao Zhi gave her an answer after thinking about it for just two seconds.

Matters within the martial arts world ought to be settled within the martial arts world. The country had laws, but they also followed precedents. Revenge killings among martial artists was a sensitive issue, so as long as they did not kill anybody unrelated to the matter, did not harm civilians and did not cause a commotion, the authorities would usually let them be.

And many times, the martial artists would make sure they did not go overboard, so the courts would not need to be involved.

It looked like the two worlds refused to interfere with one another, but it was actually their way of co-existing in peace and harmony.

Following precedents made sense sometimes.

Song Caitang nodded.

She was just a coroner who enjoyed conducting autopsies and making conjectures based on the evidence found. She had no dreams of becoming a court official or anything like that, so she didn’t probe further into this.

In any case, a killer like Zhuang Qingyu would not live well. A punishment proportionate to his crimes would await him.

After staying for an extra two days, it was finally time to leave.

The Night Sanctum had prepared many gifts and they were still being wrapped up, so Zhao Zhi asked Song Caitang, “Do you want to look at the autumn leaves near the mountain while waiting?”

They were well into autumn now and the maple leaves here were gorgeous. The mountain was covered in huge patches of fiery red leaves. If they didn’t catch the leaves now, they might not come across another place that was as beautiful.

That was something that Zhao Zhi knew for sure, and Song Caitang understood as well, so she smiled and nodded, “Sure.”

They walked toward the mountain together.

The forest was quite deep and a thin mist swirled around them.

The sun couldn’t shine brightly within the forest, so the red color of the leaves seemed even brighter. Amidst the dim forest grounds, it was the only bright color, so the red seemed redder than it actually was.

Sometimes, they would hear the crunch of dry branches beneath their feet, or the clear song of a bird from afar. Their noses were filled with the damp smell unique to such forests…

It was hard for one to be in a foul mood in such a place.

“It’s so pretty.” Song Caitang pointed to a maple leaf sticking out from a tree branch, then pointed to her hand. “It looks like a hand.”

The red glow of the maple leaves made her fair, supple and slim fingers look even fairer than usual. It took Zhao Zhi a few extra seconds to finally reply with a “Yeah”.

This man was always very quiet when he was alone with her and she was already used to it, so she wasn’t particularly bothered if he responded or not. She pushed the branch sticking out aside and kept walking.

“Does the capital have places with such beautiful scenery?”

She had never been to the capital, so she was a little curious.

She thought he would remain silent and not give her any satisfactory answer, but to her surprise, Zhao Zhi gave her a proper answer after just a short moment of silence.

“Yes, it does.”

He used his long arms to help her push away the branches in her way. His voice was low and quiet, like the deep currents in a river, “The southern part of the capital has a mountain covered in peach trees. Every March, peach blossoms bloom across the mountain and everybody loves them. But I know of an even prettier place.”

He looked intently at her side profile and said, “In May, I know of a garden with the most beautiful pomegranate flowers. They bloom such a brilliant, fiery red.”

Just like all the young ladies he knew, Song Caitang liked flowers. She liked anything that was pretty and pure. But he knew that she loved the color red above all.

The deeper and brighter the red, the more she loved it.

“Really?” As he expected, Song Caitang immediately turned to look at him with a sparkle in her eyes. “If there’s a chance, you must be a good host and bring me there, alright?”

“I will.”

Song Caitang froze for a moment.

Zhao Zhi had not said those two words very gravely, but it sounded like a promise of sorts.

When she looked carefully, his gaze seemed to contain so much. It was as though it contained the universe, as though he was staring at her from thousands of miles away. Yet, he also seemed to be staring right through her, as though he could see someone else in her.

Her heart suddenly fluttered.

Who… was he looking at?

Before she could figure it out, a wind blew in her direction, bringing the smell of burning paper with it. A half burned piece of yellow paper came flying toward her as well.

As she watched the yellow paper with burned edges slowly land on the ground, she realized it was paper that was burned for the dead. She quickly put two and two together, “Liao Xingjian is… buried nearby?”

Immediately after the case was cracked, a funeral was held for Liao Xingjian and he was promptly buried.

Song Caitang’s sense of direction was poor, so she looked at Zhao Zhi for help.

Zhao Zhi immediately nodded.

But his expression was a little stiff.

Of course, he had a good sense of direction, but he had allowed Song Caitang to walk in any direction she wanted and he had been too distracted by her to notice where they were going. He totally forgot all about this…

Before he knew it, Song Caitang had already picked up her skirt and started walking toward where the yellow papers were coming from.

As she pushed the branches away, the view in the distance grew clearer and clearer.

A new burial mound and gravestone stood right ahead. Ye Nan was sitting in front of the grave with a white porcelain wine flask in hand. She was pouring herself a drink.

Perhaps she was too focused, so she didn’t notice that someone was approaching her.

Song Caitang noticed that besides the cup in her hand, there was one more on the ground that was full of wine. Next to the porcelain flask were a few plates with some fruit, grain and a rather large, braised pig’s head.

A freshly made pair of bamboo chopsticks was placed right next to that plate.

The wine was very strong, so she could smell its fragrance from afar.

It wasn’t the right occasion, but Song Caitang couldn’t help but think that Liao Xingjian’s taste in food was truly befitting of a martial artist.

“The sect’s matters… are so messy and so annoying… how did you do this?”
“Why didn’t you… teach me how to handle them?”
“You did so much, but you never talked to me about it. Every time I asked you, you just coaxed me and kept me happy…”

Ye Nan took a sip of wine, clinked her cup against the one on the ground, then sat with her back against the gravestone and hugged her knees as though she was sitting back to back with another person.

“The doctor says… my father doesn’t have many more days left to live…”

As she spoke, her voice suddenly choked up. She put the cup down and burst into tears.

“Now I realize how much everyone has doted on me… my father let me do what I wanted, and you doted on me too… you helped me to do everything, you took on everything for me… I’ve never thought about whether my father would be sad or if he would be disappointed, or whether you’d feel tired… I’ve just been stuck at how I was since I was in my teens and I’ve never grown up… My father used Xin Yongwang to hone my technique, while the Night Sanctum is a home that you’ve worked hard to maintain for me… I used to blame you and my father for being awful, for being too restrictive… but I understand now, I get it now, I’ll be good now… but why… why do both of you have to leave me…”

“I’ll be good… I promise…”

Her tears fell onto the granite gravestone and formed a puddle. And there was no sign of her tears stopping.

The dead had gone, but the living continued to grieve.

The wind suddenly grew stronger, blowing at her clothes and her hair, but it wasn’t so strong that it felt uncomfortable, as though…

…someone was gently hugging her from behind.

“Xingjian… Xingjian…”

Ye Nan shivered. She buried her face in her knees and refused to get up.

“I know it’s you… I won’t lift my head, just promise me you won’t leave me… please…”

But the wind suddenly stopped.

It stopped as suddenly as it came.

Ye Nan wailed even louder.

But this time, she didn’t cry for long.

She bit her lip, wiped her tears, picked up the cup on the ground and downed it in one go.

Then, she turned slightly to lean her side against the gravestone as she caressed the corner like it was her lover’s face.

“Don’t worry… I will learn to become independent… Even though there are so many things to do every day, I will learn how to handle them and I will deal with them properly… Our child is very obedient and he’s just like you. He doesn’t say much, but he’s very sweet, very resilient and very clever. Once he’s old enough to take care of his own family and take over the Night Sanctum, I’ll go to where you are, alright?”

Her voice was extremely gentle, like the way lovers spoke to one another.

“What did you say? What about his wife and children? I don’t care about that. Both of us got to choose each other, after all. I just hope that our child will live a smooth and wonderful life, and find that special someone he can share his life with… I’m not going to interfere with that part. This is his life, so he can live the way he wants to. I’m not going to be protective and strict like you. Otherwise, he’d end up like me – a silly girl in her twenties who doesn’t seem to know how to do anything.”

“Wait another… at most… 15 years for me? I’ll look for you on the other side.”

The smoke from the burning papers blurred her face as well as her tears.

She seemed to be smiling, but her entire body emanated sadness.

The brilliant red leaves swayed gently in the wind, as though they were alive.

Song Caitang was suddenly overwhelmed by her own thoughts.

All this time, she hadn’t felt very much about Ye Nan and Liao Xingjian’s love. Even though she had a heart to heart talk with Ye Nan in the forest when she first started investigating the case, she had listened intently to Ye Nan out of respect, but Ye Nan’s words hadn’t really touched her heart. Until now.

Ye Nan said that life was only complete if you liked someone.

This someone was rare and might even take a few lifetimes before appearing. But once you met this someone, there would be no space in your heart for anybody else. That was why the meeting of two people who fell in love with one another was something incredible, a luxury of sorts.

Life could become extremely exciting, interesting, be filled with ups and downs because of this someone. At the same time, this person might also bring your life pain. But not having such a person would be one’s greatest regret.

Song Caitang felt her eyes tear up a little.

After she remained silent for quite a while, Zhao Zhi turned to look at her. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Song Caitang turned to avoid his gaze, “I was just wondering how the wine in that cup tastes like.”

Ye Nan said before that even after she had gone through so much with Liao Xingjian, including times when they risked death, the wine they shared when they sat down together to admire the moon was the most delicious. When Song Caitang ran into Ye Nan that day, Ye Nan said that she didn’t want to treat her to a round of drinks because she wasn’t in a good mood. The wine that day must have tasted bad.

What about now?

Did the wine inside her cup still taste bitter?

But regardless of the taste, Song Caitang knew Ye Nan’s decision.

She was going to carry this heavy burden and keep moving forward. She wasn’t going to give up.

After all, if the one crying at the grave right now was Liao Xingjian, he would have chosen to do the same thing.

Before long, the papers burning in the pot were no longer the yellow ones for the dead, but white papers with words written on it in black ink.

The wind blew a small unburned section toward Song Caitang.

She only needed to take one look at the few words on the paper to realize what this paper was, and what the rest of it said.

Wait for me. Wait for me to finish everything and I’ll be able to focus on loving you.
I’ll definitely protect you and I won’t lose you again.
I love you very much and I’m sure it’s the same for you.
I just want you to be safe and healthy, to live a long and wonderful life.

Song Caitang felt tears come to her eyes again.

Unlike what Liao Xingjian had requested of her in his writings, Ye Nan did not choose to only visit his grave once every few years. Instead, she chose to bury him right by her side, at the foot of the mountain just behind the sect grounds. She could visit him every day if she liked.

These notes should have been very important to her, so why was she burning them? Perhaps because she, too, didn’t need to express her emotions so clearly. What she was burning along with these notes was her promise, her determination.

Song Caitang closed her eyes slightly as she subconsciously put her left palm over her heart.

Her heart was beating very quickly.

For some reason, she suddenly felt as though she could completely empathize with this situation.

It was as though she had personally gone through something like that before.

But that wasn’t possible.

She was probably just… really moved by this whole case.

Zhao Zhi had read those notes with Song Caitang, so he knew the rest of the words on these papers too.

I love you very much and I’m sure it’s the same for you.
I just want you to be safe and healthy, to live a long and wonderful life.

Those two lines really hit him hard.

He clenched and unclenched his fists a few times and his gaze flickered before he turned to look at Song Caitang. “Are you also hoping to…”

He didn’t need to finish his sentence for her to understand what he wanted to say.

Did she also hope… to be in such an intense and unforgettable relationship with someone?

“I think…”

Before Zhao Zhi could complete his sentence, Song Caitang was already shaking her head.

And she shook her head quite resolutely.

“No. No thanks.”

She was still thinking about how quickly her heart had been beating earlier. “It’s too painful, too hard to bear. I wouldn’t want something like that to happen to me at all.”

“I prefer to have a heart that remains nice and calm at all times.”

She turned back to smile sweetly at him.

Zhao Zhi felt like he had been stabbed in the heart.