Chapter 49: Those who love are mocked by those who do not (X)

The scene of drawn swords and bent bows was like firewood that had been pulled from the furnace, the hissing sound causing the joyous racket from just then to be suppressed. Li Shiyi raised her gaze to look at this military gentleman, with a beard in the shape of the character eight and squinting eyes, slender and lean; when he spoke, he couldn’t cover the mouthful of large, slightly yellowed, incisors, and the neat, military overcoat that he wore in the great heat was faintly distended by a beer belly, the brim of his military hat orderly and facing forward. Although his voice was loud, in stature, he was a bit shorter than Li Shiyi, and at that moment, raising her head to size him up, she let her eyelids fall once more, making an effort to express a disdain beneath contempt with posture and a look askance.

When the gun barrel pressed against Li Shiyi, Wu Qian took a few steps forward, and reached into the inside of his suit, drawing out a short pistol; separated by two or three metres, he precisely and firmly turned it towards the military gentleman’s temple.

Tu Laoyao followed after pulling something out, but there wasn’t anything in his pocket, and so he strengthened his nerves and pulled out a liquor bottle, smashing it on the table with a clear and loud bang, startling, the place; A Yin covered up her chest and glared at him, a “you show-off” held on the tip of her tongue,; Tu Laoyao took the broken half glass and waved before him, shouting loudly, “If you have something to say, say it properly!”

The military gentleman frowned and shot a glance at him; Tu Laoyao pointed at Li Shiyi, and said loudly, “You…you^[1] look carefully, she’s a woman; two women acting as sisters, taking a dance, it’s not worth grabbing blades and guns.”

Li Shiyi raised one corner of her lips, seeming to smile without smiling. Song Shijiu, seeing that she wasn’t anxious, loosened the hand she had curled into half a fist, glancing at the two people at the other side; A Luo who was half standing, half sitting on the sofa, supported by a hand, smoothing the hem of her skirt, and A Yin, at her side, looked without exerting herself much, the handkerchief in her hand gripped with a slight tightness.

Song Shijiu saw Li Shiyi cast a glance at her. Then she heard the military gentleman tug at Yunyun, dragging her to his own side, crooning, “What a coincidence that is; this Eighth Concubine of mine has always loved women.”

The new concubine this dance hall had welcomed back was as beautiful as a demon, yet she was also incredibly troublesome—he remembered when wives didn’t create any mischief; because it was novel, he’d indulged it a few times, but nowadays, the laughing rumours had spread through half of the Bund, and one needed dignity; no matter what, there always needed to be rules established.

—because of this Eighth Concubine, you needed to have discipline, Tu Laoyao didn’t have the courage to say; thinking of Li Shiyi’s alluring conduct, he also didn’t have the face to say it; therefore, he wrinkled his nose and waved the liquor bottle forward, just hesitating about whether or not he wanted to cast a signal at Wu Qian when he saw Li Shiyi languidly raise her neck, knocking in return at the gun barrel, and then, before the military gentleman’s unreacting expression, let her face go cold, raising her right hand, a piece of paper pinched between her fingers, sticking it to Yunyun’s forehead with astonishing speed.

The paper went up in a blue blaze, and Yunyun howled in anguish, frozen on the spot; her pretty figure was delineated with gold around the edges, bright rays strong for a moment, and then weak the next, edges starting to fade, and, unexpectedly, after a few moments, they were faintly transparent, as strange as if having been eroded away by water. A few women without much courage covered up their mouths and began to shriek.

Li Shiyi, in the middle of the ruckus, turned pleasantly to the military gentleman, and said, “She was a ghost.” She smiled, her bearing innocent, and added, “I capture ghosts.”

The hand the military gentleman was holding Yunyun with seemed as if it had been burnt, veins pulsing; he had to take into consideration maintaining a military man’s demeanour, and absolutely couldn’t show timidity. Therefore, without his face changing colour, he held onto Yunyun’s shoulder, and then unhurriedly drew his hand back, squinting and staring at Li Shiyi for a good dozen or so moments; then, suddenly, he laughed like a crack jolting the sky, laughing so much that his moustache shook. He cast a side glance to command the aide-de-camp to draw back the gun, and clapped his hands as he said, “Li-xiaojie! We’ve made friends through conflict!”

The sound of the gun barrel falling to the ground was neat and tidy, and the foot soldiers drew back orderly, like the tide. In the midst of the sound of his clothes rustling as he rubbed them, the military gentleman gazed at Li Shiyi, and inclined his head, taking on an elegant and courteous stance; then he turned around, laughing hollowly a couple times with the aide-de-camp, hands on his waist, and said to Li Shiyi, “Today I offended you; how about we go to my residence, and have a couple drinks?” It was a clear invitation, yet he’d used “my residence”, the modest word and honorific a total mess; but the words came from a gun barrel, and so therefore they had a good degree of efficacy.

Li Shiyi wasn’t willing to have a conflict here, but she also wanted to take Yunyun and leave, so she nodded, accepting the invitation. The military gentleman saw that she had made a signal to that woman hidden away; that woman tore a red thread from her wrist, and, from her hairbun, drew out a few copper coins, and strung them up on the thread, and then walked out into the lit area. She’d only just taken a single step when she was stopped by A Luo’s outstretched hand; A Luo took the strung-up red rope and gave it to Wu Qian, ordering him to go and bind up Yunyun, and then pulled A Yin to stand in the darkness again.

The military gentleman watched Wu Qian’s adept actions as he tied up the ghost, and was stunned by the scene; his mind was half confident, and half lingering fear. In the midst of the motions, Song Shijiu came forward to seek out Li Shiyi; the military gentleman looked at Song Shijiu’s features, and his fear dispersed entirely in two or three moments; showing a few hard to find tricks, he caressed the leather belt at his waist, and with a wry smile, asked Li Shiyi, “This is…?”

Li Shiyi reached out and pulled Song Shijiu over. “Also a ghost.”

The military gentleman quivered, his careless smile going rigid on his mouth, and he unconsciously took a half step backwards and grasped the gun. Then, seeing Song Shijiu’s lowered head, a headful of black hair covering half of a small, fair and clear face, he really felt he couldn’t dare to look closely; he coughed a couple times, turning his head to look at the scene, and saw that the crowd of people had been orderly settled, and with a wave of his hand, he indicated that they retreat.

Leaving and waiting for a car, the military gentleman’s address for Li Shiyi went from “Li-xiaojie” to “Madam-xiansheng”, and he even invited her very courteously to the residence and clean up, and judge the fengshui along the way, and see whether this Shanghai Bund was suitable for his natal chart of a feilong in the heavens.

Li Shiyi didn’t agree but also didn’t refuse, only listening in silence. Once the cars came to an orderly stop, the military gentleman went ahead and sat in the car at the head, and the one following closely behind was arranged for Li Shiyi and the two female ghosts; he even generously arranged a car for the friends of the Madam-xiansheng, and commanded the chauffeur to escort Wu Qian, Tu Laoyao, A Luo, and A Yin back to the residence.

Li Shiyi held the car door and stood still; only on seeing that the military gentleman had driven off in a cloud of dust without a second thought for those left behind did she pause, and walked to the back to knock on the window of the car a couple times. A Luo rolled the car window down, and Li Shiyi cast a glance at A Yin inside, and said to A Luo and Tu Laoyao, “Go back and rest thoroughly; there’s no need to wait for me tonight.” She spoke halfway, the remainder exchanged with A Luo by expression.

A Yin frowned; A Luo nodded, and agreed. “Alright.”

Li Shiyi didn’t want to talk, and A Yin was never one to be talkative, so even this time when they’d come looking for Yunyun, she hadn’t asked for the reason; but just then, Li Shiyi and A Luo had a tacit understanding in a deep connection, and she perceived faintly that there was something not right about it. Li Shiyi was concealing something from her. She raised her gloved arms and pressed a finger against the edge of her nose.

The night was deep and the roads were silent; the scenery raced past, and the plane trees cast shadows by the streetlights, thrown long and short against the glass, making Li Shiyi’s features clear at one moment and hidden at the next. Song Shijiu sat a palm length distance away, and drew her gaze away from Yunyun, riding in the auxiliary, and, as was her habit, settled it on the side of Li Shiyi’s face.

It was a long time from Xianyuesi to the military gentleman’s residence, and she was incredibly bored, and she was full of questions she wanted to ask Li Shiyi; yet seeing her closed eyes as she rested, she was afraid that she was incredibly tired, and held back, not making a sound.

The gaze seemed to have some substance, and nudged Li Shiyi’s face; having some reaction, she opened her eyes, and raised her brows in inquiry. “Did I dance well?” Song Shijiu had practised dancing, and first asked an insignificant phrase.

“Not too well.”

Song Shijiu nodded, not even slightly discouraged, as if the words from then were only a primer. “Then, how is it that you dance like this?” Sure enough, it was an opening; the lead was to probe into Li Shiyi’s past.

Li Shiyi leaned her head against the glass, involuntarily swaying along with the movement of the car, and smiled thinly. “In the past, when robbing a tomb, there would always be dealings with people of high rank; if one is too shameful, the prices would be lowered.” She hadn’t answered on the face, yet by chance, had replied to what Song Shijiu’s heart had been searching for. This sort of deft understanding of others, did it also come from practice dealing with people? Song Shijiu supported her chin with large, shining eyes.

Song Shijiu cast an eye at the chauffeur, who was fully focused, and shifted closer to Li Shiyi, saying to her in a quiet voice, “When did you know Yunyun was a ghost?”

Li Shiyi paused, and shook her head. “I didn’t know.”

Song Shijiu was astounded; her large, round eyes were wide and nearly circular.

Li Shiyi lowered her voice, and with some exasperation lowered her head to look at her. “I held a talisman forward, and cast a glance at you.”

Song Shijiu nodded; at that time, because of that look, she’d been both nervous and had a racing heart, her mind buzzing for a good while. Li Shiyi cleared her throat, and moved her head to Song Shijiu’s ear, breathing out, “Originally, I wanted to make you stop her, and use a flashy trick.”

Song Shijiu startled; it was partially because of regret for a lack of tacit understanding, and half that Li Shiyi’s cold, thin lips were pressed against her ear; a faint breath tickled, causing the fine hairs on the back of her ear to shiver and take cover. She raised a hand to cover her ear, turning her head and gazing at Li Shiyi with a hidden grudge; Li Shiyi retreated, gazing at her and letting out a sigh. It was as if she was saying, fortunately, I acted without thinking; that Yunyun, unexpectedly, truly was a ghost.

Song Shijiu was a bit disheartened; the first time she could be of use to Li Shiyi, she hadn’t even reacted the slightest bit; she poked her earlobe, which felt a bit feverish, like a kitten which had had its head swatted in reprimand. Li Shiyi, seeing her appearance, pressed her lips together in a smile, and before long, closed her eyes once more, leaning against the car window to rest as before.

The moving tree shadows fluctuated through ten more, and she heard Song Shijiu, at her side, say in a delicate voice, “Today, you also used a flashy trick on me.”

Li Shiyi didn’t open her eyes; the space between her brows twitched. Song Shijiu pressed her lips together, knowing she was listening. “Yesterday, when I went out, the window was wide open, but when I returned to the room, it was closed; you and I live on the same floor, and you definitely came to see me. Seeing I wasn’t there, you didn’t make a sound to look for me, so, thinking of it, you saw me practising dancing.” Also, there were drips by the side of the window that hadn’t dried, and the same scent as Li Shiyi’s hair remained in the room. “You clearly knew I practised dancing, yet today you asked whether or not I could dance, and why I wanted to dance.” Song Shijiu looked at her, her thick eyelashes trembling faintly, and said, “You asked a question, already knowing the answer.”

The line of Li Shiyi’s lips parted, then closed again, the meridians on her neck drawing inwards. Song Shijiu’s face turned faintly pink, and she thought a moment; with great courage, she said quietly, “You already knew the answer was that I like you.”

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Translator's notes:

[1]: Tu Laoyao switches from the informal to the formal “you” here.