Part 20: Farewell to the Past

When the voice of this outsider fades, the fated hour also arrives. Those among the crowd who drank the liquor undergo a transformation amidst chaotic screams, as each and every one of them becomes a Lùshǔ.
As Jiǔ Niángzǐ watches this irreversible scene, she is unaware that tears are already flowing down her face.
She has made no progress at all. Everything is no different now than it was a few years ago, when she was even more reckless and naive.
Jiu Niangzi: The Daoist told me that my mother was the ninth Lùshǔ from the very beginning of time.
Jiu Niangzi: Great, though, distant.
Jiu Niangzi: After all, except for the moment she turned from a human into a Yāo when she was leaving ...
Jiu Niangzi: I don't quite remember her.
Daoist: Your mother was the Xiángruì, the people's guardian.
Jiu Niangzi (Child): What is a Xiángruì?
Daoist: The spirit of auspiciousness, the great Yāo who protects and benefits people, like your mother once did.
Daoist: But a Xiángruì is not supposed to have any personal feelings. She fell because of you, because of the personal feeling. Remember that.
Jiu Niangzi (Child): What is a "personal feeling"?
Daoist: It's something she shouldn't have had, for you, either.
Daoist: But you shall keep to the path she left.
Jiu Niangzi (Child): What path?
Jiu Niangzi (Child): Is it like the dirt path we're walking on, or, or the stone path around the house?
Daoist: Neither.
Daoist: Stay in this city. Be their guardian. Be a Xiángruì.
Daoist: You shall understand when the day comes.
Jiu Niangzi: The Daoist brought me here, and left me here.
Jiu Niangzi: That's exactly what my mother, the former Xiángruì, did to me as well. So I took departure as the price of living in the human world.
Jiu Niangzi: Before I came into Pèi City, the Daoist guaranteed me that ...
Jiu Niangzi: "Be a Xiángruì, and then you will understand her."
Jiu Niangzi: How alluring was that! That's why I chose to stay here.
Jiu Niangzi: At first, I couldn't stop thinking about what the Daoist said, but I had no idea how.
Jiu Niangzi: Because I was never taught how by anyone.
Jiu Niangzi: I didn't have any other choice, so ...
Jiu Niangzi: So I started to recall my mother by piecing together the scattered words and descriptions from books and legends, to recall what a Xiángruì is.
Jiu Niangzi: I tried to be her, tried to replace her.
Jiu Niangzi: Just to meet her, once again.
Jiu Niangzi: If I got to meet her, I would ask her, "What was on your mind?"
Jiu Niangzi: If only you could see me doing such a great job as a Xiángruì, would you feel even the slightest twinge of guilt? For deserting me, for leaving me alone.
Jiu Niangzi: Well.
Jiu Niangzi: Looks like I've neither truly understood her, nor a Xiángruì.
Between the two people standing in the courtyard walkway in the silent rain, a decision is made.
Facao: Jiǔ Niángzǐ, are you really going to ...
As someone who has always been steadfast in his will, he rarely hesitates. He doesn't know which words to use to emphasize the danger of this matter to the person in front of him, or whether all words are powerless before her final choice.
And so, ultimately, he remains silent.
Jiu Niangzi: It's fine. I know there's no one who could jump over it. In order to stop me, Lǐzhèng even told me some stories, and they were ... not very suitable for children.
Jiu Niangzi: But I have to, because there is no other way ...
Jiu Niangzi: Only The Divination.
Jiu Niangzi: Well, you can't talk about Shuòrì without The Divination, right?
Jiu Niangzi: ...
Jiu Niangzi: Thank you for letting me go. You even brought me the clothes. But the Zhílǐ is not here. I'm not sure if I'm wearing it right ...
Jiu Niangzi: But it's ok. Even if it's wrong, it still looks new and colorful.
She pats the hem of her skirt aimlessly, then folds the cuffs, and finally folds back the silk drapes once more. When she cannot find anything else to fix, her farewell rises to the tip of her tongue.
Jiu Niangzi: Thank you. Thank you so very much. I-er, I ...
Jiu Niangzi: I'm leaving, then.
Jiǔ Niángzǐ steps back and places her hands beneath her forehead, palm to back. She bows farewell to Fǎcáo in the hallway and the Lùshǔ turned from Lǐzhèng.
A gesture of gratitude and an apology. She has never performed such a ritual before—this will be the first and last time.
Facao: Perhaps we will find another way. You don't have to ...
He doesn't finish. Because anything he wants to say would be untrue, an example of unwarranted comfort from a survivor toward their aggressor.
And so, Jiǔ Niángzǐ says nothing. She shakes her head as if she hadn't even heard his proposal, retreating into the rain, and then turns around and walks towards the outside of the Zhící.
Her footsteps have never been so relaxed before, with each step becoming faster and faster, almost evolving into a sprint toward the end.
She runs toward the outside of the city, but not to escape.
The rain has not stopped since the previous night.
Outside the city, Bessmert and Yenisei stand at the end of the broken bridge, gazing at the misty bank opposite to them.
Gětiān is perched on the tree above their heads. He has been here all along, arriving earlier than the others.
Bessmert: Mr. Gětiān, we ...
Bessmert: We are left with only one option, which is to stand here and pray for her, correct?
Bessmert: Pray that the Ask and Acquire, or The Divination, will answer us and give us what we want in a flash.
Bessmert: But is it really possible?
Getian: ...
Getian: I think not. We should go.
Bessmert listens to the advancing footsteps around her, emanating from all those who are walking toward the broken bridge, still remembering the auspicious significance of this New Year's Day.
At first, she tries to distinguish the voices that might be Fǎcáo and the others, but as the rain grows heavier and louder, she finally gives up.
Bessmert: I heard today is a special day for the locals, known as "Suìzhāochūn."
Bessmert: Mr. Gětiān, what is Suìzhāochūn?
Bessmert holds her wet fringe to one side, and tilts the oiled umbrella towards Yenisei.
The Lùshǔ silently approaches and leans against her tightly.
Getian: It comes from an ancient proverb, "Bǎizǎi Nánféng Suìzhāochūn."
Getian: It's the first day of a new year and the first day of spring.
Getian: Lìchūn, the beginning of spring, corresponds to the lower trigram of Kǎn in the direction of Gèn. It is the season of life.
Getian: A time when the weather is clear and Yáng fills the air.
Bessmert: They are pleasing to the ears.
Bessmert: But I don't know what to make of it when all these are put together.
Getian: Lìchūn is one of the 24 solar terms. It signifies the beginning of spring.
Getian: Suìzhāochūn is how people would call it when the first day of the Dùshuò Festival and the first day of spring happen to be the same day. It is a once-in-a-century good sign.
Bessmert: Indeed. It's also the first day of a new year. I like the coincidence.
Getian: Do you still find it equally pleasing if your teammates are not coming back?
Bessmert: Then, I will take them home as they are now and see what I can do.
Getian: ...
Bessmert: I know the words are hidden behind your silence, but this is the best option for now.
Bessmert: After all, as you just said, prayers are not enough to bring them back.
Getian: They could, for a time.
Bessmert: But that's only what happened in the past, as you just said. Good days only exist in our memories.
Getian: That was before the flood. The aftermath of that disaster lasted longer than I thought.
Getian: I was so wrong to think it was over.
Bessmert looks up. A drop of rain falls right onto the fabric she uses to cover her eyes. Then more falls, and more, gradually wetting the entire weaved surface.
She listens without intending any comment.
Getian: It all began with the unstoppable flood. At first, it was just a few unusual tides that no one noticed.
Getian: Then the flood came, followed by the destruction of the bridge.
Getian: The temple on the mountain thus lost its connection to its pilgrims. The prayers were no longer answered.
Getian: I do not understand what caused all these things. My people left the mountain to help with the situation, but they never came back.
Getian: And now ...
Getian: Even this river beneath us is gone, just like the Yuān Temple, forever lost in the fog.
Getian: ...
Behind them, the city residents gradually approach and carve words of divination onto the wooden sticks in their hands, just as they had in previous years.
They are prepared for the fact that there may not be an answer to their questions, but they know nothing of the reason why.
Bessmert feels the weight of the growing crowd. They gather and write in the rain, working tirelessly for a long time.
Is it the eternal fate of humans and arcanists to act upon desires they know cannot be realized?
Getian: It's useless. The god won't hear us, nor will It see us.
Bessmert: Please know that I don't mean to offend you with this question.
Getian: Please.
Bessmert: Can't you take those people to the other end of the bridge?
Bessmert: If the condition of The Divination is to go across the broken bridge ...
Getian: Though we are both outsiders in this place, you're more naive than I am.
Bessmert: Emm ...?
Getian: One can only meet the condition by going over the bridge oneself, even if the price is their life.
Getian: You might think it's cruel. But what good would it do if people were easily given what they asked for without paying a price?
Getian: Wouldn't it make others' suffering a joke?
Bessmert: ...
Gětiān lowers his head to look at Bessmert and the quiet Yenisei beside him, thinking that they perhaps do not believe his words.
He rarely needs to say so much to others in such a short space of time. But since he has already started, he might as well finish.
Getian: You don't believe me.
Bessmert: I'm ... trying to understand.
Getian: It's all the same. I can take you to the other side of the bridge, but you must not be disappointed if it ends up fruitless.
Bessmert: Pardon?
Getian: I can take you there.
Bessmert: Why? Why the change of mind?
Getian: Mm? Haven't I mentioned it before?
Bessmert: Mentioned what?
Getian: Your bones. Among all the others, you are the only one for whom I do not recognize the markings on your bones.