Chapter 16: A Night Visitor
After some light rains a few days later, autumn arrived in Yidu.
Song You went out as usual to listen to storytelling.
He spent more than ten wen on tea in the afternoon and drank until he was half-full. When the old storyteller reached the most exciting part, he gave a few more wen, spending exactly a total of twenty wen.
He stepped on wet stone slabs and fallen damp leaves to return to the little courtyard house. As soon as he opened the door, the calico cat ran from the kitchen towards him. As she got closer, she slowed down and looked up at him. Like this, she looked no different from an ordinary house cat, but she was enlightened and could speak human language.
“Daoist priest, where did you go again?”
“Same as a few days ago.” Song You answered honestly. “Would you like to go again? I'll take you with me tomorrow.”
“Uh…” The calico cat hesitated a little but didn't answer. Instead, it shifted its gaze. “What are you holding in your hand?”
It seemed this cat didn’t like storytelling.
Song You thought so and brought out what he was holding.
There were new mandarin oranges available around Yidu. On his way back, he saw someone had set up a stall by the road and was selling them very cheaply, so he bought two catties. Then he also heard someone hawking candied haws.[1] He didn’t really crave them but he hadn't tasted them for many years, so he couldn't resist buying a skewer.
The man and the cat gathered around the stone table.
Song You knew that most cats didn’t like the scent of mandarin oranges, so he put the oranges aside. He picked up the candied haws and took one off with his hand first.
“Do you eat candied haws?”
“Fruit.”
“Yes, it is fruit. Hawthorn.”
“Cats don't eat fruit.”
“Surely sometimes they do.”
The calico cat turned her head and gave him a look that seemed to say, “Are you the cat, or am I the cat?” After pondering for a few seconds, she said, “Calico cat won't be eating it.”
Song You thought this over carefully for a while then understood that “calico cat” was likely equivalent to “Lady Calico,” her self-reference.
“You really won't eat it?”
“Not tasty.”
“I think it's tasty.”
“Then I’ll try one.”
Seeing the candied haw in front of her, the calico cat stretched her neck to sniff it carefully. She looked at it, then looked at Song You. Both her sense of smell and reason told her that this wouldn't taste good. However, after some hesitation, she still opened her mouth.
She gently took a bite.
Her small canines smoothly pierced the candied haw. The outer sugar layer had a crisp texture, and the hawthorn inside was also bitten off.
The calico cat chewed alternately with both sides of its teeth.
Song You didn’t look at her. He minded his own business and took another haw for himself. He put it into his mouth.
He bit through the sugar coating easily and it made a slight cracking sound in his mouth. Then the hawthorn exploded with both sweet and sour flavors. The hard hawthorn seed kept colliding with his teeth, producing a crunchy sound.
Song You couldn’t help closing his eyes.
This era might need more than a thousand years to reach modernity. Yet, the taste of this snack wasn’t much different from his memory.
For a moment, he forgot he was a stranger in a foreign land.
After a long time, when the sweet and sour flavors had dissipated in his mouth, Song You opened his eyes.
The calico cat had also finished eating the candied haws, leaving only a few hawthorn seeds on the stone table. Two of them had been bitten open, possibly partially swallowed.
Song You gathered all the hawthorn seeds spat out by the cat. He added the ones he spat out himself, and put them all together in his palm. Then he looked at the cat. “Was it tasty?”
“What’s the outer layer?”
“It's sugar.”
“Sugar is tasty.”
“Hawthorn isn't tasty?”
“Fruit isn't tasty.” The calico cat observed Song You’s expression. “Do you like eating it?”
“Yes.”
“I guess monkeys like fruits.”
“Will you eat more?”
“Can I just eat the sugar?”
“Then who will eat the fruit?”
“You eat it. You like it.”
“Then I'd have to eat what you licked?”
“It's just been licked.”
“It has your saliva.”
“It's just saliva.”
“I'm afraid not.”
“Then I won't eat any more.” The calico cat’s tone was clear and forceful. After speaking, she turned and jumped off the stone table. She swayed her bottom as she walked away.
Song You didn’t mind and continued savoring the snack.
“Knock, knock, knock...”
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door outside.
“Hmm?” Intuition told him it was Constable Luo.
Song You had just finished the last candied haw. He placed the bamboo stick on the stone table before getting up to open the door.
Sure enough, Constable Luo stood outside.
Constable Luo was still wearing the same attire that day but he had an iron ruler at his waist and two men in black clothes and boots behind him.
Upon seeing Song You, he cupped his hands. “Greetings, Mister. I am here to thank you and bring gifts.”
After a slight pause, he turned to the men beside him and said. “Quick, pay your greetings.”
The two men behind him immediately cupped their hands and greeted him.
“Please come in.”
Song You let them into the courtyard and closed the door. He led them through the courtyard to the hall where they sat down.
He then brought out the tea cups Constable Luo had given him a few days ago. He placed them in front of them. Without his visibly pouring tea, the cups seemed to fill gradually with tea on their own.
The three were immediately amazed.
Looking closer, they saw the tea in the cups was jade-green with white froth. The tea aroma was enticing, clearly a fine tea.
“Please enjoy the tea.”
“You truly have the methods of an immortal!”
“Thank you, Mister.” The three quickly thanked him and lifted their cups to sip the tea.
“From what you said, you have caught the earth-traversing burglar?” Song You went straight to the point.
“Indeed!” Constable Luo reluctantly put down the tea cup. He turned excitedly to thank Song You. “You have incredible foresight. Without even meeting the burglar, just a few words of guidance made his art of earth-traversing method ineffective. It’s truly admirable.”
“Did the arrest go smoothly?”
“Very smoothly.” Constable Luo said, “Three days ago, we encountered the burglar and shouted the words you taught us. When we found his hiding place again yesterday during the third watch[2], he tried to escape using his earth-traversing technique. However, he had only entered the ground halfway when he got stuck there, allowing us to capture him on the spot.”
“That’s good.”
“You’ve eliminated a menace for the people again.” Constable Luo paused and fished out a red cloth bundle from his bosom. “As we agreed beforehand, we’re treating it as if you were the one who caught the burglar and the reward should go to you. Here are the twenty taels[3] reward as stated in the notice, and the remaining ten taels are a personal gift from my superior. Nobility in the city have been repeatedly pressuring us recently. My superior also had a hard time but couldn’t express it, so he wanted to thank you for helping him out of trouble.”
Song You took the red cloth bundle and opened it. Inside were three pieces of girdled beehive silver[4], each stamped with the characters “ten taels.” They were Great Yan’s officially minted silver.
They were heavy in his hand, and his heart felt heavy too.
Paper money really cannot compare with this feeling, let alone a string of digits on an electronic screen.
However, Song You only took two pieces and handed the remaining one back to Constable Luo.
He didn't say that he only provided a stratagem and didn't deserve these twenty taels. Nor did he say the constables had worked hard day and night and should share the reward. It would be tiresome to do things that increase his obligations. Other than the reward of twenty taels that they had agreed upon beforehand, he didn’t want to take the ten taels personally gifted by the county head magistrate.
It was for the same reason. He didn’t want to increase his obligations.
Constable Luo immediately understood. He looked somewhat troubled but dared not go against the wishes of such a master. He had no choice but to put it away. Then he said, “However, Magistrate Liu greatly admires you upon hearing about your deeds from me, and wishes to host a banquet to thank you. If you would do us the honor, it would be scheduled for noon tomorrow at Tianxiang Restaurant. I don’t know if you...”
Perhaps Constable Luo himself hadn't noticed, but his tone and attitude had unconsciously become very respectful in front of Song You.
Even though Song You hadn’t done much.
“No.” Song You refused bluntly with a slight smile. “I am just an idle cultivator from the mountains who is only fond of peace and quiet. I am not worthy of such favor from your superior.”
“I understand.”
“Thank you for your trouble.”
“It’s no trouble at all.” Constable Luo respectfully finished his tea. “We still have duties to attend to, so we won’t disturb you any longer. I will report back to the county head magistrate. If there are any future developments in the case that might involve you, I will certainly come to inform you.”
“Thank you, Chief.”
“I’ll take my leave.” The other two also hurriedly rose with him.
Yidu was the seat of Yizhou, the third largest city in the country. The constables here had seen much, but they couldn’t help feeling uneasy facing a real master like this.
The three didn’t feel embarrassed either. The county head magistrate wanted to get to know Mr. Song but even he needed to carefully get Constable Luo to act as go-between.
“Creak…” The creak of the wooden door’s hinge was still rusty and drawn out.
It was quite annoying to hear.
Song You frowned as he stood at the door.
Upon turning around, he saw the calico cat had jumped back onto the stone table at some time. She had lowered her head to lick the bamboo stick he had finished where some sugar remained.
Song You shook his head and went inside to do the accounts.
He had been in Yidu for a while. The city was prosperous and prices were high. Living expenses in the city were considerable. Adding rent and purchases made after moving in, and also frequently going to the goulan washe recently to listen to stories, he had spent almost several thousand wen.
He should spend less in the future.
These twenty taels should last a long time, right?
***
Two nights later.
The weather was cool and refreshing, perfect for sitting idly.
Song You lit an oil lamp and quietly read by the window.
The window in front of him was wide open. A full moon hung in the night sky, already rising above the city. There were no neon city lights and no traffic noises. There were only the eaves of the ancient-style buildings and the full moon sharing a mutual loneliness. The dark roof tiles reflected the moonlight, with the pure darkness bearing the pure bright moonlight.
Behind him, the calico cat lay quietly, eyes half-closed.
The night was so quiet that only the sound of pages turning could be heard.
This book Yudi Jisheng also had a style unique to this world. In addition to recording famous mountains and great rivers, renowned Daoist and Buddhist temples, and popular scenic spots visited as well as eulogized in poetry and essays by famous literary figures past and present, it also detailed some mysterious, fantastic and mystical places.
For instance, Yunding Mountain, which is rumored to have been frequented by immortals.
Dihuo City, where the fire god hibernates in mythology.
The descriptions were very detailed.
He didn't know how long he had been reading. The night grew deeper, and the smoke from the oil lamp stung his eyes. Song You decided to call it a night and go to bed.
He blew out the reading lamp, and was bathed in moonlight.
As he closed the book in the moonlight, he saw the calico cat behind him had woken up at some time. She crawled closer and jumped onto the desk, eyes fixed outside the window.
“Hmm?”
Song You had also noticed the sound outside.
Scratching sounds came from outside the courtyard wall as if someone was climbing the wall.
However, the sound was unlike climbing, more like hard objects bumping into the wall and sharp things scratching the wall. The night wind carried faint panting noises and there was the clatter of tiles falling and breaking. An enormous, ferocious head outside the courtyard wall swayed and reflected the moonlight.
1. Tanghulu, or candied fruits on bamboo sticks dipped in sugar syrup. ☜
2. Between 11 p.m. and 1 a.m. Refer to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traditional_Chinese_timekeeping#One-tenth_of_a_day:_g%C4%93ng☜
3. Chinese unit of weight for silver currency. ☜
4. A kind of pitted silver ingot. Refer to https://img-issue.yunnan.cn/uploadfile/test/2023/0130/202301301022113948.jpg ☜
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