The hustle and bustle of the night market continued.
The artist put away his things and, seeing the child waiting so obediently, couldn’t help his laughter. He seemed to be a middle-aged man with an exceptionally ordinary presence, but he had a very easy-going smile. Releasing said smile and hooking his hand, he spoke: “If you want to hear the story, just follow me.”
What he said sounded very similar to what a child-targeting kidnapper would say, but fortunately or not for him, the dragon cub didn’t know this and so eagerly followed him.
The artist, seeing that he was actually being followed, laughed at his good luck as he walked and thought to himself: ‘It’s strange though, what family would let their son out alone at this time? Well, *snicker* I’ll have to thank them.’
Charles followed him slowly into Qingshi Alley, the weather was currently humid as it had rained recently and so the ground had a few puddles, some of which the unalert Charles stepped into. The dragon cub changed into new clothes and shoes after walking into one too many puddles, and then continued after the artist.
Hearing what he said and not telling stories, Charles shouted dissatisfiedly: “You don’t want to tell stories? I’ve already paid you, and I’ll bite you if you don’t say anything!”
Even though his tone was fierce, he still looked like a young and harmless boy, and so the artist remained largely unperturbed by his words.
Chuckling to himself internally, he decided to only do enough to keep the boy appeased, and so he spoke: “Don’t worry young master, the things behind this are just a lot more complicated.”
Charles was curious: “Why is it complicated?”
The artist continued: “The scholar did not have the courage to avenge his lover, and the Lin family noticed and took advantage of this by giving him hush money.”
“Scholar Qiao didn’t want to use the dirty money at first, but within two months, his parents died one after another of illness. He had needed to spend money on treatment and for the burial; note that his family was not wealthy at all, so after all of this, I have spent all my money. I don’t even have the money to go to the imperial city for scientific research!”
Charles curiously asked, “So, did he use the hush money?”
“Of course he used it!” The artist sneered: “With that money, Scholar Qiao travelled to the imperial capital for the scientific examination, and even paid for all of his expenses! He bought good clothes, ate well, and made sure that he looked handsome, and the Tianjia ordered him to be the third flower. His fortune was prosperous, he had climbed up to the prince, and was about to marry the prince’s daughter…”
They continued walking even as the artist spoke, and soon the short alley also came to an end. Eventually, they reached the back door of a theater.
The area was quite rambunctious, numerous people were around the area of the theater, which seemed to be holding a night show. Many people could be heard singing, and the front hall seemed particularly busy, with people coming and going with painted faces. The musicians in the troupe were seated in the backyard, enjoying the cool air.
A few actors who had not yet changed their costumes were standing in front of a stone table, removing their makeup. There was a delicate looking Tsing Yi painted with pink and tender makeup, but when he opened his mouth, he was revealed to be a big boy. The young dragon cub was startled.
The artist laughed and sat on the steps under the arch of the door: “Little Master, are you still waiting to hear the story? We’ve already arrived.”
Charles was immediately angered: “This doesn’t count, you haven’t finished telling the story! What happened next?” The artist raised his eyebrows: “What happens next… I haven’t written it yet! I’ve already accepted your gold. If you want to hear the full story, just wait until I write the ending.”
This is actually an unfinished story! Angrily puffing up his face and rushing to stand in front of the artist, he raged: “What do you mean wait until I write the ending?! You didn’t say before that your story was a half-written one! Return my money to me!”
The little boy next to him held the shadow puppet box in silence. Seeing the two begin arguing however, he calmly stepped back.
Charles angrily tugged at the artist’s sleeve, and the artist pulled his sleeve back in a bid to brush off the harmless young master. He didn’t expect the young master’s strength to be so strong that his sleeve ended up torn in half.
As he fell back due to the sudden momentum gained as a result of his pull, he collided with the little boy, the box in his grasp slipping out of his hold as a result of this clash to fall to the ground with a crash; shattering into pieces.
Charles, momentarily attracted to the broken box, squatted down and looked carefully at its contents: the shadow puppets on the ground.
Most of this leather was made of cowhide, and it outline was the silhouettes of a human.
The young dragon moved his nose, sniffing carefully, and suddenly perceived a very familiar scent…
‘This smell is the same as the one from the monster that appeared in my yard last night!’
He was terrified, but his fear gradually morphed into rage, his eyes gaining a bright red tint as he suddenly looked up at the artist, loudly shouting, “You’re that devil!” His draconic horns peeked out of his blond hair as he released a smoky breath.
“You’re that demon cultivator from the palace!”
Within a day, he had run into the person who had been pretending to be a ghost to scare him. Charles immediately reached out his hand to catch him, but the artist was an old, experienced hand with regards to these types of matters. A slippery individual by nature, the man lifted a hand, releasing a puff of dust.
Charles involuntarily inhaled the smoke and immediately began violently coughing, releasing a few harsh sneezes between his coughs. Lifting his now teary face, his gaze fell on a shadow puppet hanging in the air in an odd posture. A second later, the puppet rushed at him.
Charles was terrified of ghosts, and reacted by terrifiedly flailing his clawed hands. In response to his agitation at the approaching puppet, the nails in his palms extended to take the form of draconic claws, said claws anticlimactically ripping the puppet to shreds in an instant.
The remnants of the destroyed puppet crashed to the ground in a heap. It seemed to have lost its ability to move after being so haphazardly attacked by Charles. The dragon cub, who wasn’t certain of this, however, tiptoed over to the puppet to get a closer look..
‘Whu-?’
Closer inspection of the destroyed parts as well as Charles’s noting the sudden disappearance of the individual in question revealed to him that the boy who had been following himself and the artist was actually the shadow puppet that had attacked him.
Charles finally understood why Jiang Wuyi said yesterday that the being he had seen was not a ghost.
Folk artists like these also existed in the Continent of Noah and their tricks had always impressed Charles. To him, these people relied not on magic or spiritual power, but instead solely on their elusive craftsmanship and the secret techniques passed down from generation to generation. And usually, they had nothing to do with ghosts.
Following the disappearance of the artist, Charles noticed that the noise being made by the bustling crowd had suddenly disappeared, along with the crowd themselves.
Taking a second look around, he further realized that the theater had disappeared as well. There were no large structures, no costumed performers, no loud singers nothing. All that Charles could see around him was the barren outskirts of the city and the weeds that filled said outskirts.
A cold night wind suddenly blew past, bringing with it the sound of rustling leaves. The young dragon, meanwhile, had his downcast gaze focused on a dry well not too far from him. Sighing to himself after a few seconds, he turned around and screamed in shock.
“When did you get here?!”
A calm Jiang Wuyi stared back at the momentarily frightened dragon cub, lifting his gaze from his person to glance at their current location.
“What are you doing here?”
Hearing his question, much of the fear that had sprouted in his mind at the sudden appearance gave way to a despondent expression. “Jiang Wuyi, I was duped…” he said, his voice drained of energy.
Jiang Wuyi was someone who was very protective of those he considered to be close to him, so on hearing the words of and seeing the expression on the face of Charles, whom he had started seeing as an adopted child, his expression immediately chilled.
“Who was it?”
Charles mumbled a reply: “The shadow puppeteer… I don’t know where he went…”
Jiang Wuyi paused at his words and then looked down, taking a second look at the broken remnants of the shadow puppet that remained on the floor. Passing a sliver of his energy into it, he watched as it shuddered to life and rose from the ground whilst trembling heavily, looking at first glance like something that would crumble to dust at the slightest breeze.
An extremely frightened Charles watched from the side and as his horns started peeking out in response to his increasing agitation, Jiang Wuyi placed a palm on his head, ruffling his hair and speaking, “it’s okay.”
After reaching the closest thing to balance that the shattered remains of a shadow puppet could get whilst being held together by the energy of an elder dragon, it flew into the air, Jiang Wuyi stretching out his arm to embrace the dragon cub and then rise after it. Both figures took off into the city a second later, Jiang Wuyi following behind the puppet.
Both entities flew until they reached the backyard of a theater – an actual one – where the puppet landed, closely followed by Jiang Wuyi. As soon as the shadow puppet crashed into the backyard, the artist stumbled out in a panic, and as he saw the following duo land after it, his legs softened and he fell to his knees and kowtowed.
“Immortal Master! The little one is foolish and obsessed with money. I had eyes and could not see Mount Tai! I will return all of the gold to you. But I beg that you spare this little one!” As he spoke, he kowtowed repeatedly, such force behind each hit that it seemed like he would bash his own brains out even before Jiang Wuyi could decide what to do with him.
U
The artists’ shouts, however, succeeded in drawing the attention of the other people in the theater; taking up ladders and peeking from windows and open doors, they all watched the proceedings with entertained gazes. Among the numerous heads that appeared, a particularly distinct actor with half his makeup removed could be seen among those who were peeking from the walls.
This actor was particularly distinct because he was watching whilst chewing on a cucumber, and so looked quite ridiculous.
Authors Note!
Jiang Wuyi: The financial power of the family must belong to me!
Dragon Cub: =o=
EN: School has resumed so updates will be slow… Sorry.
