SES Chapter 229

Chapter 229

Cao Yanhua?

When Mu Dai turned around, she almost tripped over herself. The headlights facing her were so blinding that she couldn’t open her eyes. Through the glare, she vaguely made out Cao Yanhua’s familiar figure darting left and right through the stream of cars.

Xiao Qi chattered beside her, “See? I didn’t lie to you. Didn’t you find your friend? I told you the truth!”

Cao Yanhua rushed over, sweat glistening on his face. He was smiling, but when he opened his mouth, his grin looked like it might collapse into tears.

“Little Master, you have no idea what I just went through. I was posing for a photo, and suddenly you all froze up. It scared me to death…”

Mu Dai laughed too. But as she laughed, her vision blurred. “Fatty Cao, let’s get out of here first. Xiao Qi said we can’t stay in the ripple-shadow too long…”

As she said it, something jolted in her chest.

Can’t stay too long? She’d been riding the cable car—it felt like she’d been on it all day.

When she questioned Xiao Qi, it answered confidently, “Yes, yes! Look at the water clock—there’s barely any left! Of course, you have to hurry!”

Mu Dai wasn’t fooled. “Xiao Qi, sand doesn’t run in the ripple-shadow. I remember—only in the corridor, when I’m walking or running, does the sand move.”

Xiao Qi cried out, “Ah!”

It raised both arms and covered its face shyly. “You caught me again!”

Before Mu Dai could speak, Cao Yanhua suddenly leapt up and kicked Xiao Qi flying. “Little Master, that’s a ferocious slip. Can you trust anything it says?”

Xiao Qi’s long, thin body flew through the air, hit the roof of a car, rolled off, then stood up, cackling strangely as it darted away through the congested traffic and vanished.

Cao Yanhua was still fuming. “Running its mouth like that… I’ll kick every single one I see.”

Kick every single one—he meant it. Before meeting Mu Dai, he had already kicked one away.

At first, his experience had been the same as hers.

—“A few shadowy figures, chattering away, annoying as hell, saying we lost.”

—“Can you believe what a ferocious slip says? I got mad and grabbed one to hit. There were seven of them, all of which looked the same. I don’t even know which one I hit.”

It was true. At the time, one of the slips had even clutched its head and screamed, “You already hit me! Stop! That’s the third time!”

Mu Dai burst out laughing.

Since entering the Illusory Pavilion of Four Mirages, this was the first time she had laughed so freely. The sky was still heavy and overcast, but Cao Yanhua’s appearance felt like someone had peeled back a corner of the heavens, letting in a streak of brightness and warm sunlight.

Cao Yanhua continued.

Later, with a thunderous boom, the peak of Fengzi Ridge spewed fire, and the Illusory Pavilion appeared. The ferocious slip shouted as if sending off a plague god, “Go! Enter through the entrance, run to the end, and you’ll get out!”

Cao Yanhua snorted. “Like I’d believe that, Little Master. Is it that simple? Just run track and field, and you’re free?”

When he entered, one of the slips tried to follow him in ingratiatingly. He kicked it far away.

“You can’t let bad guys stay by your side. They’re bound to cause trouble!”

Mu Dai said, “What they say is half true, half false. Some parts are worth listening to.”

Cao Yanhua scratched his head. “Anyway, I didn’t let it follow.”

He wandered in confused, saw the sundial and the water clock, and had no idea what they meant. The cave was pitch dark at first. He felt his way carefully. The ripple-shadows beside him were like moving images brushed casually by hand, frame by frame, sliding past his elbow.

“I realized they were scenes from my life, from childhood till now. I thought they were like touchscreens, so I swiped one. I wasn’t paying attention and got sucked in. I saw myself as a kid. It was kind of fun. I tugged at it again and whoosh—it felt like it attached to me. Scared me half to death. Luckily, after trying a few times, I figured out how to get back out.”

So he reasoned that if he just kept walking down the corridor, all the way to the end, maybe he’d reach the campsite at Fengzi Ridge. And then he could meet up with his friends.

“So I walked, and walked, watching as I went…”

He paused.

Mu Dai understood. “When did you finally stop?”

Cao Yanhua looked embarrassed. “When I saw myself climbing onto the roof with a basin tucked under my arm.”

Back then, he had run away from marriage and hadn’t spoken to his family for over a decade. The last time he returned to Cao Family Village, he heard gossip about Cao Jinhua—that she had suffered because of him and never married.

“Looking back, what was the point? Was it worth turning father against son over something so small? Couldn’t we just sit down and talk it through?”

He hesitated—and stepped into the ripple-shadow.

There was no rooftop climbing and no banging a basin, but his “open talk” with Old Man Cao failed. He had meant to speak candidly, but barely halfway through, his father grabbed a rolling pin and chased him around the courtyard.

“You unfilial brat!” his father yelled. “Jinhua’s a perfect match for you—plump, healthy, good for bearing children. Her family’s got a tractor. Once we’re in-laws, we can borrow it to plow fields and haul goods!”

Mu Dai yelped with laughter, clutching her stomach and bending over.

“As the saying goes, summer insects can’t be told about ice,” Cao Yanhua said in a mock scholarly tone. “Little Master, if you can’t communicate, you just can’t. The generation gap is as deep as the Earth’s core. I thought at the time that the mountains were too closed-off. People need broader horizons. I should go to a big city and see the world.”

Mu Dai’s heart stirred. “So you still ran away?”

“I left a note saying I was going to the city to work.”

He paused, then added, “Before I left, I talked to Jinhua. I figured just walking away wasn’t honorable. If I didn’t want to marry her, I had to say it clearly.”

Mu Dai nodded. “And?”

“It went well. I even encouraged her to leave the village and see the world. She was scared at first, said she didn’t have much education and might not survive out there. I told her, you can learn. The outside world needs all kinds of jobs—sweeping floors, washing dishes, sales, real estate, insurance—there’s something for everyone.”

He looked pleased with himself, then suddenly remembered something. “Oh, Little Master, there’s something my Grandmaster would definitely be happy about.”

“What?”

“I stopped being a thief!” he said proudly. “I realized I was heading down the wrong path and pulled myself back in time. I thought, I’m someone who’s going to subdue ferocious slips someday. My morals can’t be bad. I’m not like Brother Sansan. When he was homeless, he was young—he cheated and stole to survive. Me? I’ve got hands and feet. I can earn money doing anything. Sure, it’s tiring, but why steal?”

A strange feeling rose in Mu Dai’s heart.

Cao Yanhua’s life had already changed long ago.

She tested him carefully. “So how did you make a living afterward?”

“Working odd jobs. Didn’t I help out at the bar and at Phoenix House? Waiting tables, kitchen work—I can do it all.”

Something still felt wrong.

“Did you come to the cable car to find me?”

If Cao Yanhua had the same intention she did, they should have met during the day. She had spent the entire day on the cable car and hadn’t seen Luo Ren or Cao Yanhua.

The question stumped him.

He opened and closed his mouth, thought for a while, then said, “No… no, Little Master. I think I just came out for a walk.”

The last three words were soft, almost guilty.

“I was out walking and saw the cable car. It felt strange. Like it had something to do with me. So I walked around it a couple of times. Then I saw you—and I just ran over.”

Mu Dai tried to piece it together. “You were just out for a walk?”

“Yes.”

“You weren’t thinking about finding me? Or going to Jusan Suiyuan to look for us?”

He looked embarrassed but nodded firmly. “No.”

A chill spread down Mu Dai’s spine. She suddenly shouted toward the traffic, “Xiao Qi! Come out, Xiao Qi!”

Strange laughter echoed in midair. Xiao Qi’s shadow seemed to streak upward into the sky in the distance—and then it was gone.

Mu Dai grabbed Cao Yanhua. “Let’s go.”

They retreated into the corridor together.

But there was no path.

Ahead was solid rock. Only one ripple-shadow remained, pressed close against the wall.

It was Jusan Suiyuan.

Cao Yanhua grew nervous. “Little Master, what’s going on?”

Mu Dai reached out and touched the cold, solid stone. “We can’t go any farther. This is the end.”

No farther. The end.

Xiao Qi had told some truths—but more lies.

The Illusory Pavilion of Four Mirages was not about reliving one’s life. It was about piecing together all the possible modules of a life. Like back at the orphanage: Huo Zihong could have adopted her—that was module A. Or not adopted her—that was module B.

The Pavilion was like a Rubik’s Cube, flipping different modules into place.

At first, Xiao Qi had advised her not to interfere—just lower her head and run forward. If she had done that, ignoring the ripple-shadows, her ending would have been a scene even she wouldn’t recognize.

But interfering carried risk too. Life’s trajectory might miraculously align—or diverge completely.

Cao Yanhua had said he was just out for a walk. The cable car felt connected to him.

He had changed part of his life by choosing not to steal. And at the same time, he had forgotten parts of the real world—the five of them, his first meeting with Mu Dai on the cable car, the inn in Lijiang called Jusan Suiyuan. Only a faint impression remained until he coincidentally saw Mu Dai herself. To him, she was a reminder from the real world.

Why had so many tried, yet none reached the end?

Whether you interfered or not, both carried enormous risk. Five people playing the same game—how could the board not change beyond recognition?

Mu Dai’s lips trembled. She turned and ran back the way they had come—two steps in, she slammed into stone again and fell hard to the ground.

Cao Yanhua rushed to help her up, but she didn’t move. After a long moment, she let out a hoarse cry and slammed her fist into the floor.

The road ahead was sealed. The path behind could not be retraced.

Cao Yanhua panicked. “Little Master, what’s wrong?”

They couldn’t go back. Couldn’t fix it. Only one ripple-shadow remained. They could no longer freely traverse into the past. She couldn’t look for Wan Fenghuo or Ma Tuwen to ask about Luo Ren. She couldn’t step into the future where she would meet Hongsha.

Where her and Cao Yanhua’s trajectories had collided, illusion faded and reality arrived.

And this new layer of reality was their endpoint.

They sat for a while between the narrow stone walls. The ripple-shadow flickered before them, light washing over their faces.

After a time, Cao Yanhua said softly, “Little Master, let’s go in.”

Exhausted, Mu Dai stood. She let him take her hand and stepped into the final ripple-shadow.

There were so many tourists, crowded shoulder to shoulder, vendors shouting nonstop.

Mu Dai kept thinking about Luo Ren.

There were many things in his life he would want to change.

He would want to save his uncle Luo Wenmiao. He would want Pinqing not to be possessed by a ferocious slip. He would want Tasha to live safely. He would want his brothers in the Philippines not to die in vain.

If given another chance, who wouldn’t want to seize it?

Even Cao Yanhua had wanted to correct his small regret—“just walking away isn’t honorable.” How much more so matters of life and death?

Mu Dai murmured, “But you can’t erase me.”

The bar’s exterior was already decorated—bottles of all shapes and colors gleamed sharply in the sunlight.

When she pushed open the door, the white-haired bartender was practicing flair bartending. He had moved from behind the counter to out front, pushing aside the tables and chairs to claim a large space, spinning and tossing bottles like a street performer.

Cao Yanhua looked around blankly. “Where’s Brother Sansan?”

Before the words finished, Uncle Zhang’s booming voice rang out from the side. “The little boss lady’s back! And who’s this chubby fellow?”

Mu Dai forced a smile. “He’s… here to work at the bar.”

Uncle Zhang laughed. “Well, that’s funny—another one looking for work. A girl came a couple of days ago, begged to work here. The boss said the bar wasn’t hiring. She said she didn’t need pay—she’d even pay to work!”

Mu Dai frowned. “Who?”

A scream came from the staircase.

Mu Dai looked up and saw Hongsha—long unseen—rushing down like a whirlwind. She kept screaming as she barreled forward, knocking over the bartender. A bottle rolled across the floor into the corner.

Cao Yanhua shouted too, “Hongsha!”

He spread his arms and ran toward her joyfully.

At the last second, Yan Hongsha ducked under his arms without slowing and threw herself straight at Mu Dai, wrapping her in a tight hug.

Mu Dai lost her balance and slammed into the table behind her.

“Hongsha—my back—my back, I hit my back!”