Nine Nights Owl Song

The third day of the first month of the eighteenth year of Yong'an. Cangwu Mountain.

Su Jiuge stood on the roof of the Dark Pavilion's main altar, looking at the sea of ​​clouds in the distance.

The Cangwu Mountain was quieter than usual during the New Year. There were no firecrackers or children's laughter, only the whistling of the wind through the pine forest and the roar of the distant waterfall.

The snow has been falling since New Year's Eve, covering the mountains and fields in a blanket of white.

Ghost Hand climbed up from below, carrying a bowl of steaming dumplings.

He had been in the Dark Pavilion for thirty-one years and never imagined that one day he would be carrying dumplings to the top of the main altar.

"Master, have some dumplings."

Su Jiuge took the dumpling and ate one.

The sauerkraut and pork filling was made by Shen. She brought several large bags with her when she came to Cangwu Mountain, and they were frozen outside the kitchen, enough for everyone in the Dark Pavilion to eat for several days.

"Vice Pavilion Master," Su Jiuge called to him.

Ghost Hand hummed in agreement.

Su Jiuge said, "Happy New Year."

Ghost Hand's lips twitched.

He spent thirty-one New Years in the Dark Palace, and no one ever said "Happy New Year" to him.

In the past, he would simply sit alone in the stone house during the New Year, drink a pot of wine, wipe his knife, and then go to sleep.

Someone wished him a Happy New Year this year.

He turned his head away, his voice slightly strained:

"Happy New Year."

Shen Qing stood on the training ground practicing his sword.

He practiced swordsmanship on the first day of the new year, he practiced swordsmanship on the second day, and he was still practicing on the third day.

A man, with only a sword, practiced his moves one by one in the snow, from dawn till dusk.

His severed left arm affected his balance, so he used his waist and legs to compensate. If one attempt didn't work, he would try ten times; if ten attempts didn't work, he would try a hundred times; if a hundred attempts didn't work, he would try a thousand times.

The sword light drew silvery-white arcs on the snow, each strike carrying the solitary and tenacious strength he had accumulated over the years.

The ghostly figure stood under the eaves watching Shen Qing practice his sword.

She was also wearing a black veil, only revealing her eyes.

After leaving Liangzhou, she dealt with the remaining forces of the Blood Hall and then came to Luojing.

Su Jiuge said that the Dark Pavilion was short of people, so she came.

There was no particular reason; as she said, she was looking for a thread, and she wanted to find that thread again.

"The sword is good. The person is not."

The ghost's voice was hoarse and low.

Shen Qing stopped, turned his head and looked her up and down.

"You think you can do it?" The ghost didn't speak, but drew a soft sword from his waist.

The sword is as thin as a cicada's wing and is almost transparent in the sunlight.

She walked to the center of the training field, flicked her wrist, and the soft sword moved through the air like a silver snake.

His moves were unpredictable, his movements elusive, and each sword strike came from an angle that no ordinary person could anticipate.

She practiced for the time it takes to brew a cup of tea before sheathing her sword.

Shen Qing looked at her, remained silent for a moment, and then said only two words:

"Again."

The stubborn refusal to admit defeat was evident at the corner of his mouth.

Su Jiuge stood on the roof of the palace, watching this scene unfold on the training ground.

Very good, the Dark Pavilion finally has some life in it.

It used to be like a tomb, but now it's at least a place where a person can stay.

Hades was not involved in these matters.

He locked himself in a small room behind the main hall and became indifferent to worldly affairs.

When Su Jiuge went to bring him dumplings, he was sitting on a futon with his eyes closed, resting.

She was thinner than before, her skin was almost transparent, and bluish veins meandered like rivers beneath her skin.

But his movement of opening his eyes was still as steady as ever, and there was a light in his cloudy eyes that Su Jiuge had never seen before—calmness.

Like an ancient well, it is finally no longer being pelted with stones.

"Happy New Year," Su Jiuge said.

Hades looked at her, remained silent for a long time, and then said:

"it is good."

Su Jiuge placed the dumplings in front of him, then turned and left. She didn't want to bother him; he had been bothered far too much in his life.

The fifteenth day of the first lunar month is the Lantern Festival.

Su Jiuge returned to Luojing.

Cangwu Mountain was lovely—cold, quiet, and no one bothered her. But the Shen family was waiting for her, and the old drunkard was waiting for her.

Xiao Yan was waiting for her at Tingyu Pavilion.

As soon as she entered the room, she saw a bowl of steaming hot glutinous rice balls on the table.

Bai Yu smiled at her from the side, then tactfully got up and left.

Xiao Yan was dressed in a moon-white casual robe, his hair held up with only a hairpin, and he held a cup of tea in his hand.

Happy Lantern Festival.

Su Jiuge sat down opposite him.

"How did you know I went back to Luoyang?" Xiao Yan put down his teacup and looked at her.

"It was investigated by Qianji Tower."

Su Jiuge picked up the bowl of glutinous rice balls and ate one.

It has a black sesame filling, is very sweet, and a little hot.

Xiao Yan watched as she eagerly bit into the glutinous rice ball, her lips slightly red from the heat, but she said nothing.

He took a handkerchief from his sleeve and handed it to him.

Su Jiuge took it and wiped her mouth—the lotus-colored handkerchief had an orchid embroidered on the corner, exactly the same as the one Shen had given her.

"Your mother asked someone to bring this to me. She said you have a handkerchief but don't use your own, you use someone else's."

Su Jiuge paused for a moment when Xiao Yan said this.

She had casually used Xiao Yan's handkerchief when she wiped her mouth last time—that day after her coming-of-age ceremony, while watching fireworks under the eaves, Xiao Yan had handed her the handkerchief, which she had used and forgotten to return.

Xiao Yan didn't urge her to repay the debt, and she didn't even think about it.

Now, Madam Shen asked someone to pass on a message, saying that the person was too embarrassed to ask her directly, so they used Madam Shen's words to get the handkerchief back.

Su Jiuge took the handkerchief from her sleeve and placed it on the table. "Yours." Xiao Yan looked at the handkerchief, picked it up, and put it back into his sleeve.

The two remained silent for a moment.

The sounds of the Lantern Festival drifted in from outside the window. Children ran around in the streets carrying lanterns, their laughter as clear and crisp as shattered crystals.

The stalls where people guessed lantern riddles were surrounded by crowds, and bursts of cheerful shouts erupted from time to time.

The vendor selling candied hawthorns shouted at the top of his lungs, his voice loud and clear.

Xiao Yan suddenly spoke: "What do you want now?"

Su Jiuge did not answer.

She picked up the bowl of glutinous rice balls and ate them slowly. There were still three rice balls left in the bowl, and she ate them one by one, very slowly, as if she was thinking about something, or as if she wasn't thinking about anything at all.

What did she want? Before, she wanted revenge, she wanted to become stronger, she wanted to survive, she wanted the old drunkard to live, she wanted the Dark Pavilion to be destroyed. And now? She's taken her revenge, she's become stronger, she's alive, and the old drunkard is alive too.

The Dark Pavilion was not destroyed; it has now become her Dark Pavilion.

What does she want? Su Jiuge put down her bowl.

There was still half a glutinous rice ball left in the bowl, and she couldn't eat anymore.

It wasn't that she was full, it was that she didn't know how to answer the question. She stood up.

"I should go back now; my mother is still waiting for me."

Xiao Yan looked at her but did not ask any further questions.

He stood up and saw her to the door.

Su Jiuge nodded and walked out of Tingyuxuan.

Xiao Yan stood at the doorway behind her, watching her figure disappear into the lanterns of the Lantern Festival.

Outside Tingyu Pavilion, Su Jiuge walked on the streets of Luojing City, surrounded by passersby.

She walked very fast, faster than usual.

It was as if she was running away from something, but she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was.

The lanterns of the Lantern Festival stretched her shadow very long.

She suddenly stopped and looked back.

The lights in Tingyuxuan were still on, and the figure was still standing at the door.

What do you want? She closed her eyes.

She did not answer.

She didn't want to answer, and she didn't know how to answer.