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墨書 Inktalez
Once upon a time, there was an old man named Meng who was skilled at growing gourds. Of course, he did not live in the mountains, nor had he ever provoked a snake spirit—let me clarify, this is not the story of Calabash Baby!
Old Man Meng was a bachelor, so his neighbor did not have the surname Wang (what kind of logic is that?), but rather, his neighbor's surname was Jiang. That year, the gourds grown by Old Man Meng thrived exceptionally well, climbing into the yard of the Jiang family. Since the two families had a good relationship, they agreed to split the gourds equally.
However, despite the vigorous growth of the gourd vines, only one gourd formed, hanging on the wall between the two yards. As the gourd grew larger, suddenly, a baby's cry came from inside it.
Old Man Meng carefully cut open the gourd with a knife and found a chubby baby girl lying inside. With no children of his own, Old Man Meng felt this was a gift from above and was very pleased. However, Old Man Jiang was not happy; they had agreed to share equally, so how could Old Man Meng keep her all to himself?
This disagreement escalated between the two men. Eventually, someone in the village suggested that they should simply merge their families since they already got along well.
After some thought, both old men agreed to this idea and began a happy life together with the little girl (two old men? What a strange image!).
The girl was named Meng Jiangnu. As time passed, Meng Jiangnu grew into a beautiful young woman. One day, while playing with butterflies in her yard, she accidentally fell into a pond.
A passerby named Fan Xiliang heard Meng Jiangnu's cries for help and jumped over the wall to rescue her.
At that time, it was considered disgraceful for a man to touch a woman’s clothing; moreover, Fan Xiliang had pulled Meng Jiangnu out of the pond. Of course, such things are no longer an issue today; otherwise, I would have become a lifeguard long ago!
Fan Xiliang was no ordinary person; he excelled in poetry and various arts. With his good character as well, both families decided to betroth Meng Jiangnu to him.
Seeing that her family approved of the match, Meng Jiangnu agreed. However, there was another man in the village who had also set his sights on her. This man frequently visited the Meng household to propose marriage but had a bad reputation as a bully who colluded with officials. Upon hearing that Meng Jiangnu was going to marry Fan Xiliang, he became furious and thought to himself that he could not let someone else take what he had worked hard to cultivate.
Thus, he conspired with officials and on the day of Meng Jiangnu and Fan Xiliang's wedding, he had Fan Xiliang captured to work on building the Great Wall for Qin Shi Huang. Poor Meng Jiangnu and Fan Xiliang were separated before even lifting the red veil.
Not long after, winter arrived. Concerned that Fan Xiliang might not be wearing warm clothes, Meng Jiangnu traveled great distances to deliver him some autumn pants.
After traversing countless mountains and asking many laborers for directions, she finally learned where her husband was.
However, tragically, Fan Xiliang had died just before Meng Jiangnu arrived; his body was buried at the foot of the Great Wall.
Meng Jiangnu was filled with grief and anger, crying day and night against the Great Wall, refusing to eat or drink, and her tears eventually brought down the wall, revealing the bones of Fan Xiliang.
Later on, a soup-making Meng Po appeared on the Bridge of Helplessness.
All the deceased must cross the Bridge of Helplessness, so Meng Jiangnu lingered there for thousands of years, longing to see Fan Xiliang again, hoping he would help her remove that Red Veil.
This is the origin of Meng Po.
Every soul that crosses the Bridge of Helplessness forgets their past life due to that bowl of soup. As those who have drunk Meng Po Soup re-enter Reincarnation, a new Ghost Flower will bloom by the Three Rivers Water at the edge of the Bridge of Helplessness. For thousands of years, Meng Jiangnu has seen countless Ghost Flowers but has never been able to see Fan Xiliang again.
This was not my first time hearing the story, but it was my first time hearing it from its protagonist. Meng Jiangnu's voice was devoid of any ripples; even when she mentioned Fan Xiliang's name, it was as if she spoke of an ordinary stranger.
"Do you still remember what he looked like?"
"I have almost forgotten." Although Meng Jiangnu's tone was flat, one could sense the sorrow and loneliness that spanned millennia.
The most terrifying thing is not the pain itself but rather forgetting even that pain as time passes.
"What about the Death Register?" I asked; surely there would be records for all who had died.
"I've looked at it countless times," Meng Jiangnu replied with a cold smile.
The Death Register also contains names of those without identities, those whose fates were uncertain before their deaths, and those whose souls had already scattered.
I was never good at comforting others, especially not a thousand-year-old elder sister.
As night gradually grew cooler, Meng Jiangnu ladled a spoonful of Hot Soup into a bowl. "Want to try?"
"No thanks," I quickly waved my hand. If I drank it and forgot everything that happened before, I would be at a great loss.
Meng Jiangnu dipped her finger in a bit and lightly touched it to her tongue.
Although it felt quite unsanitary for Meng Jiangnu to do this, I thought about it and realized that she wasn't worried about food safety on the Bridge of Helplessness. Could it really kill her?
"No one knows what Meng Po Soup tastes like, except me." Meng Jiangnu lifted the pot and walked out, saying, "Ah, Meng Po Soup is bitter."
I was left alone on the playground, savoring Meng Jiangnu's last words.
I don't know how long it had been, but when I looked up at the sky, wow, the stars were out; it was already past nine in the evening. I stood up, brushed off the dirt from my clothes, and turned to head home.
Meng Jiangnu was serving soup to the students one by one, and after reporting back to Uncle Xing and the others, I went home to sleep.
The moon wasn't big, but there was still a faint moonlight casting down on the ground, barely illuminating the path. I initially thought about stopping by Boss Lady Ah Wan's place for something to eat, but then I realized they were probably just about to close, so I decided against causing any trouble.
There were still some shops open on Food Street. I found a bun shop and bought three steamed buns. As I walked and ate slowly, I made my way towards the district.
The buns had already cooled down and were quite hard, but they still tasted pretty good.
Generally speaking, we cultivators are particularly sensitive to our surroundings; we can almost catch any movement or sound. Just then, I heard rustling from a nearby bush that seemed to be coming toward me.
Damn it, is this never-ending? After causing trouble during the day, they want to come at night too? I quickly drew out my Peach Wood Sword, skillfully wrapping it with my magic and the Golden Light Spell.
Holding the wooden sword in front of my chest, I slowly released my grip. The sword floated in mid-air. With a flick of my finger, the wooden sword obediently flew in the direction I pointed.
What kind of monster are you? Show yourself!
The wooden sword shot into the bushes with golden light and a whirling sound. A dark figure jumped out in response to the attack of the wooden sword.
Hah! Luckily I'm quick on my feet; if that thing had gotten hold of me, my reputation would have been ruined!
The moonlight was faint, and I could only see a shadow in the shape of an animal. So, they failed to attack with a corpse and switched to using an animal instead. The shadow was small, resembling a four-month-old stray dog, standing on all fours. I was almost certain this wasn't a pet; cats don't have such thick tails, and if a dog were to be beaten out like this, it would at least bark a few times while running away, right? However, after landing, the shadow turned around and charged at me.
With a flick of my finger, the wooden sword flew up in an attempt to block the shadow. The shadow nimbly dodged the wooden sword and headed straight for my chest. I raised my hand to block it, but its sharp claws left three bloody scratches on the back of my hand.
Damn! I underestimated it.
After landing again, the shadow surprisingly stopped attacking and just stood there, staring at my hand.
My hand throbbed with pain, but it didn't feel like I had been poisoned or invaded by Evil Energy. What was going on?
Seeing that the shadow seemed to be motionless, I took out my phone and turned on the flashlight to see what this thing really was.
Under the light, a furry creature blinked its bright eyes at me, holding its hands in a gesture of congratulations. Its tail dragged behind it, and there was a shiny drool hanging from its mouth.
What the hell! Instant Noodle-kun?
Indeed, this shadow turned out to be a greedy raccoon, staring at the bun in my hand with drool dripping from its mouth.
I got hurt by this thing?
My half a lifetime of reputation!
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