[Jin Xiao Yi Tan V2] Chapter 2 – Qi Qi

PLEASE READ! As you see, I’ve squeezed out a new chapter, but that doesn’t mean I’ll be posting regular updates anytime soon. While I was translating this chapter, I got stuck many times, and there were a few occasions I even thought of dropping this novel. I left this novel untouched for several months, and when I came back… I still wasn’t interested in translating this novel anymore. So we’ll see how this goes, and I’m placing this novel on indefinite hiatus (officially). I’ve been thinking of picking up a new project too, so… As I said, we’ll see.

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Originally posted on RBKTR Translations.
Author: Four Feet (四隻腳).
Translated by: Yujuan.

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The character Qi 齐 in Qi Qi means neat or tidy.

A Shen 蜃 is a shape shifting dragon or sea monster that causes mirages. Fata Morgana is called 海市蜃樓 in Mandarin, and 蜃樓 means ‘multi-storied building’, ‘clam castle’ or ‘high-house of clam monsters’.

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When I woke up once more, I was lying on a soft bed.

I seemed to be enveloped in someone’s gentle and soft embrace, my forehead wounds feeling cool, not as painful as before.

Blearily wrenching my eyelids open, blearily glancing out, I saw an extremely handsome face.

That person was holding me with one arm, another hand focused on applying medicine on me. Seeing me wake, he revealed a gentle and warm smile, asking, “Xiao Mo, you’re awake?”

Ah, this smile, this voice… How familiar… How nostalgic…

I subconsciously moved my lips, but nothing came out of it, just looking absent-mindedly at the person before my eyes.

My mind was still under a sluggish state, unable to operate, feeling as if this was just a dream. I couldn’t quite distinguish the sight before my eyes, was this reality, or an illusion?

“Xiao Mo, do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?”

That person touched my forehead lightly.

A roundish little head poked out from the side, tilting his head, asking with a face filled with distress, “Xiao Mo Mo, are you alright? Xiao Mo Mo, does it hurt anywhere? Ah Bao will help you rub…”

As he said this, the little guy carefully lifted up my hand wrapped by bandages.

I returned slightly to my senses, following which a fluffy black ball hopped onto my shoulder, twisting its body to rub itself against my face.

The itchy feeling brushed against my nose, and I sneezed lightly.

After I sneezed, I suddenly realized, this didn’t seem…

This didn’t seem like a dream!

The one who had jumped onto my shoulder was the yingyao, the one by my bed was Ah Bao, the one hugging me was…

Was… Was…

Fuck! It was actually Jiuye!

This shock was not a trivial matter, I jumped straight up from my bed, staring at the person before me, and after staring blankly for a long, long time, I still could not believe my eyes, asking with a mutter, “A-Ah Ye? It’s really… really you? Ah Ye?”

Jiuye lifted the corners of his lips slightly, revealing his signature gentle yet tranquil smile, saying unhurriedly, “Xiao Mo, I’m back.”

Hah? What? ‘I’m back’?

This guy, who had disappeared for an entire six months, had not had a single piece of news about him, could have died in some corner who-knows-where, had made me worry to death…

He had suddenly vanished, then suddenly returned… And now he was using a tone light as a feather to say ‘I’m back’?

He said it as if he had gone out for something as simple as a stroll at the supermarket!

Looking at his light, easy-going smile, I flew into a rage, throwing myself out to grab his collar, pushing him ruthlessly into the wall, asking him indignantly, “You bastard! Why did you leave without saying goodbye? Why did you leave for so long? Why didn’t you contact me? Why! Did you know… know that I kept on… kept on… waiting for you… I was scared… scared that… that something had happened to you… I-I…”

Saying this, my voice broke, a warm liquid starting to gather under my eyes.

I hurriedly lowered my head and covered my eyes, not wanting to let myself cry.

The room became silent.

After a long silence, I felt the back of my head supported by a hand, lightly pressed in his palm.

Jiuye gently pulled me into his chest, smiling, saying softly, “Mm, I know. I always knew you were waiting for me. Xiao Mo, I’m sorry, for making you worry.”

As his words descended, I couldn’t help but cry. 

I had never cried so hard, ever since I was old enough to attend middle school.

I seemed to have lost control of my tears, unable to stop them from streaming down, letting out all the emotions that had been repressed in my heart for the last six months.

Jiuye continued to hug me gently, lightly caressing my hair as if he was comforting a child. Ah Bao held out a box of tissues, the yingyao blinking its wide green eyes at me.

Under the gazes of everyone else, my face reddened in embarrassment, slowly sorting out my crumbling emotions.

My body still felt a little weak, but I did not want to lie down, Jiuye slowly helping me down the stairs.

However, to my surprise, I realized that everything in the house had been resumed to its original state, not a single trace of having been set on fire before this.

The walls were not blackened, the sofa was still in good shape, the window curtains and wooden staircase had not suffered any damages, and that golden chandelier that had almost crashed into me was hung up nicely on the ceiling at this very moment.

If not for my injuries exhibited very clearly on my self, I would almost suspect that the hair-raising fire had just been a figment of my imagination.

“Just what happened here?”

I looked at Jiuye in confusion.

Jiuye did not answer, just saying in a strict tone, “Qi Qi, apologize to Xiao Mo.”

“Qi Qi? Who are you talking to?”

I looked at my surroundings, where all was empty, without a single trace of a ghost to be found.

Just as I was about to ask again, a resounding and resonant song traveled over from behind me.

I jumped, turning my head to take a look. It turned out that the vintage gramophone placed on the cabinet not far away had turned on by itself, the source of the song had come from it.

But… But there weren’t any records… placed on the gramophone’s turntable…

The song became gradually resonant, echoing over and over through the house, and the lyrics repeated the same words—

“I’m sorry darling, it’s not that I don’t love you, I’m truly unwilling, to make you weep; I’m sorry darling, it’s not that I don’t love you, I’m really unwilling, to make you grieve.”

This was a classic song from a very old pop group.

As I listened to the lyrics, listened to the almost deafening musical composition, I couldn’t help but turn the corners of my mouth, hurriedly putting a stop to it, “Alright, alright, stop singing, I hear you, I hear you.”

The gramophone came to a spontaneous end, but following it, the television screen was switched on by itself.

On the screen was a very old and classic romance film, staging the classic scene of the male lead apologizing to the female lead.

The male lead knelt amid the hazy curtain of rain, crying, as he implored piteously—

“I’m sorry, it’s all my fault, please forgive me, alright… I won’t do it again, never again… I’m sorry, I hurt you, made you endure so much pain, it’s all me, I should be blamed… please, forgive me? I beg you…”

The ridiculous dialogue caused black lines to fall down my face, and I looked at Jiuye in bewilderment.

Jiuye laughed lowly, saying, “It’s begging for your forgiveness.”

I held my forehead, not knowing whether to laugh or cry as I said, “Alright, I forgive you, you can stop now.”

As I said this, the television screen turned off on its own, a cry suddenly jumping out of the radio by the side, “Yay! Hurray!”

I felt a little like laughing, looking at Jiuye to ask, “Qi Qi is a yaoguai, right?”

“Yes, that’s right.” Jiuye nodded.

So, the yao aura in the house that Ah Bao had mentioned must have been sent out by ‘Qi Qi’, right?

I pondered, saying, “Let it come out, then, there isn’t a need to hide anymore.”

Jiuye smiled and said, “It has never been hiding, it is always before your eyes.”

“Always before my eyes?”

I looked at my surroundings, asking suspiciously, “Could it be… that gramophone? Or that TV? Or… could it be that radio?”

Jiuye shook his head, smiling without a word.

Ah Bao ran over to pull on my sleeve, standing on tiptoe and moving toward my ear to whisper, “Xiao Mo Mo, right now, we’re all inside a yaoguai’s stomach.”

“What! Inside its stomach?”

I was taken aback, pausing a few seconds, and suddenly realized something, abruptly raising my head to look at the ceiling, then at all four corners of the wall. I backed away disbelievingly, saying blankly, “Hey hey, you guys, you guys can’t be telling me, this house… this house is actually a yaoguai?”

Just as I said this, a lively rap suddenly sprung out of the radio—

“Bingo bingo bingo! Your answer is right! Oh, my baby, you are always right!”

I couldn’t help the black lines falling down my face, then looked at Jiuye incredulously.

Jiuye smiled, a face full of profoundness, he did not deny it.

“Fuck! What’s going on! The house I lived in for a year is actually a yaoguai?”

I felt as if lightning had struck me, asking stammeringly, “So… Qi Qi is a house? Can houses turn into yaoguai?”

“No, Qi Qi is not a house, Qi Qi is a Shen yao.”

Jiuye took a seat on the sofa, fetching a blue and white porcelain pot, leisurely steeping a pot of fragrant tea, pouring a cup for me, and smiled, “Xiao Mo, you must know of Fata Morgana, right?”

“Fata Morgana?” I blinked, putting the textbook knowledge I had yet to forget to use, elaborating with earnest, “It’s a natural phenomenon that is produced by the light’s refraction under specific conditions, it usually appears at sea level or in the desert.”

“That’s a misunderstanding created by humans.”

Jiuye smiled lightly, seemingly lamenting, “Humans, they love to conclude a reasonable scientific explanation for the things they cannot comprehend.”

“Pft!”

I spat out a mouthful of tea, at a loss of whether to laugh or cry as I criticized silently: So everything I learned many years at school was just pseudoscience!

Jiuye looked at me, and said, “What a ‘Fata Morgana’ is, is actually a Shen yao blowing off steam, meant as illusions. And the mirages in the desert and at sea level, are two completely different things.”

“Eh, there’s a difference between the mirages at the desert and at sea? Then Qi Qi is…”

“Qi Qi is a Shen yao from the deep sea.”

“A yaoguai from the deep sea? Why did it come all the way onto the land?”

I was completely caught in suspense, eyes widened, full of curiosity as I looked at Jiuye.

Jiuye lowered his head to take a sip of his tea, saying neither too fast nor too slow, “Sea serpent, a big clam. In ancient times, a young pheasant entered the sea and transformed into a Shen, cultivating for a thousand years to become a yao. To explain it in the terms of you humans, a Shen yao lives in the deep sea, transforming into a yao from a giant clam.”

“Pft! A clam? You mean Qi Qi is actually a clam?”

“Yes, that’s right, Qi Qi’s true form is a clam.”

“In other words… we’ve always been… living inside a giant clam?”

As this image was just too intense, I suddenly felt the urge to laugh, and couldn’t help but glance at all four corners of the surrounding walls, then at the ceiling, but I couldn’t find a single clue of it.

I couldn’t find a single thing out of this room that identified it as a clam.

Jiuye looked at me in amusement, and continued, “A Shen yao is a yaoguai with an abundance of emotions, and a scrupulous mind. They live under the sea with no sunshine year after year, and only at random occasion will they secretly float up to the surface of the water to catch a breath, and the air they aspirate, will transform into the pavilions and buildings of the human world. This is what you all call a Fata Morgana.”

“Uh, so that’s what actually happens with a Fata Morgana…” I thought about it, then asked, “But why does the air aspirated by a Shen yao turn into buildings in the human world?”

“Because of their longing for the future.”

Jiuye said, “The Shen yao live in the deep sea, a much deeper area beyond the range of human understanding. That place lacks the slightest trace of sunlight, nor are there any living creatures, aside from the extreme darkness and cold, there is absolutely nothing. This is why the Shen yao long for the human world, they long for the human world that has the sunlight’s warmth and is full of life. As a result of this, some Shen yao choose to leave their homeland, their homes, to come to the human world, striving hard to survive in this world abundant with sunlight, warmth and brightness. And Qi Qi, is one of them.”

“I see, so that’s why the yaoguai from the deep sea come to the land…”

After muttering with a tinge of emotion, I looked at Jiuye.

Jiuye’s expression was as tranquil as usual, a slight smile seen in the curve of his graceful lips.

But I knew, things were definitely not as simple.

As expected, I heard Jiuye speak slowly, “However, after coming onto land, the Shen yao discovered the human world not to be as warm and beautiful as they had imagined, just the opposite, many filthy and repulsive things frequently battered their state of mind.”

Just as he said this, I couldn’t help but ask, “Qi Qi… transformed into a house in the human world, right?”

“That’s right, Shen yao are unable to transform into human form, they can only transform into houses and buildings.”

Jiuye took a slow sip of his tea, placing down his cup.

“Qi Qi’s first transformation was an ordinary farmhouse, which housed a family of three. They lived a life where the man ploughed and the woman weaved, and while it was not a wealthy life, their days were considered of good health. Qi Qi was extremely happy during those days. Later on, the man unfortunately contracted a lung disease, and they had no money to treat it. With no choice left, they could only sell the house to a rich merchant, but they would have never thought the rich merchant would transform the house into a brothel.”

“Transformed into a brothel? Was Qi Qi… willing?” I frowned.

Jiuye shook his head, saying, “At that time Qi Qi was just a small yao who had just taken its first steps into the human world, it did not understand what was meant by a brothel, nor was it able to completely comprehend, and so allowed the rich merchant to rebuild it. During the turbulent times of the early Republic, the brothel became incredibly popular once it was finished construction, especially with the warlords and bigwigs, but the girls inside were not treated very well. They were stars twinkling around a bright moon when they were young and beautiful, but became worn out shoes the moment they turned aged and faded. 

“The unpopular girls were secretly imprisoned in a lower chamber, neglected, until they gradually died of sickness, or when it became unbearable and hung themselves. Much crueler was as there were no contraception measures back then, nor was there sufficient medical skills, and so the prostitutes ten months into their pregnancy who were unable to receive patrons were dragged into the delivery room, and the procuress would throw the newly-born babies into the stove, burning them alive…”

“T-they burned the babies alive?”

I startled abruptly, covering my mouth in disbelief. Jiuye’s tone was always insipid, each and every word causing chills to run up my body. I didn’t even dare to think of the sight back then, it just made my blood boil.

“Qi Qi… probably didn’t think… the humans would do such a thing, right?” I muttered.

Jiuye smiled slightly, slowly pouring the tea, and continued his account indifferently, “As I said earlier, a Shen yao’s emotions are rich and delicate, they are able to gain a strong perception of the humans’ mood changes, especially intense negative emotions. In the brothel, no matter the girls who died of tragic circumstances imprisoned in the lower chambers, or the babies burned in the stove, they would all distribute a strong aura of loathing and resentment. Day after day, year after year, the vicious currents pervading the building accumulated, continuously stimulating Qi Qi, at last causing Qi Qi to be overwhelmed, and fall completely.”

As he said, this, Jiuye took a sip of tea, “When I met Qi Qi, I was a step too late, it had gone wild with vicious currents, and the entire building caught fire in one night. The fire was quick and violent, and they were unable to put out the fire, which burned everyone within the brothel.”

I listened to this account in silence, thinking of the fire that nearly burned me to death, and recalled that gloomy sealed room, recalled the overflowing blood on the floor, recalling the little hand prints on the walls, and the baby’s wails, as well as, that wretched and despairing shriek…

It seemed, I had found the root of the bewildering things that I had experienced before.

“What happened next?”

I looked at Jiuye curiously.

Jiuye just smiled, he did not answer.

I knew something must have happened between Jiuye and Qi Qi, so right now, Jiuye seemed like… he had… became Qi Qi, which is this house’s master?

Doubtfully lowering my head to think about it, I couldn’t help but ask, “I’ve been living in this house for such a long time, why couldn’t Ah Bao sense Qi Qi’s aura?”

“Because I sealed it.”

“Then why did it suddenly… suddenly…”

I momentarily could not find the suitable words to describe it.

Jiuye smiled slightly, saying, “Because I was gone for too long, and Qi Qi has been continuously receiving the influence of your emotions, so it momentarily lost control, going wild with vicious currents.”

“My influence?”

I felt perplexed.

Jiuye nodded, saying, “Xiao Mo, your emotions have been unstable in these recent days, haven’t they? Qi Qi can feel your anxiety and restlessness.”

“I…”

I bit my lip, not knowing what to say.

Clearly, Jiuye also understood the reason for my anxiety and restlessness.

Bai Ruize’s bottle of Yellow Spring Water!

The Yellow Spring Water Jiuye drank which would cause his five viscera and six entrails to corrode!

I constantly worried that something would happen to him…

Jiuye rubbed my head, comforting in a soft voice, “Xiao Mo, I know what you’re worried about, I’m temporarily fine at the moment, don’t worry.”

“Temporarily? What do you mean by temporarily?”

I grabbed onto him.

Jiuye gripped my hand, which was trembling slightly out of nervousness, uttering meaningfully, “The ‘temporarily’ that I speak of might be longer than your lifetime, because my lifespan is very endless.”

Hearing this, I stopped dead all of a sudden. 

Jiuye was still smiling, smiling so gently, and so very serene.

He patted my shoulder lightly, saying, “Xiao Mo, as matters stand, you might already know, I’m actually not—”

“I don’t care what you are!”

I cut him off agitatedly, standing all of a sudden.

Jiuye looked at me in astonishment.

I turned my face, avoiding his gaze, gripping my fist nervously and took a deep breath, saying stammeringly, “I don’t care… whether you are a human or a ghost… a devil or a goblin, I-I just know… You are Yuchi Jiuye, you’re my, Shen Mo’s friend, I don’t care about anything else!”

“Xiao Mo…”

Jiuye glanced at me, asking, “Aren’t you, scared of me?”

“Huh? Scared of you?” I lifted my head to cast him a glance, muttering quietly with exasperation, “Without me, you would probably starve to death, why would I be scared of you?”

Hearing my words, Jiuye couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

“What are you laughing at, am I saying anything wrong?” I glared at him with a frown.

Jiuye reached out both hands with a smile, pulling me into his embrace, lowering his head to say softly in an extremely gentle tone, “Xiao Mo, thank you.”

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