Chapter 94: Little Sister
This novel is translated and hosted on bcatranslation.
“Dad! Dad! I’ve failed you! I couldn’t even protect your final resting place.” Song Yu sprinted, his heart pounding as he approached the desecrated gravesite of his ancestors. The sight was so devastating he felt he might collapse on the spot.
His father had ominously predicted disaster when he turned fifty, and tragically, it had come to pass. The prophecy of the blind fortune-teller had proven chillingly accurate. Even in death, his father found no peace; his grave was desecrated, his body left exposed to the elements, and his head grotesquely used for cruel games.
A painful lump formed in Song Yu’s throat. The memory of inadvertently kicking his father’s skull overwhelmed him with disgust and sorrow. The once formidable leader of the Fufeng Mountain bandits was now so emotionally crushed that he struggled to draw breath.
With a sorrowful expression, Lu Chao Chao hesitantly asked, “Is it… really your dad?” Scratching her head in confusion and guilt, she murmured, “Sorry, I sowwy…” She then carefully placed the skull back into the coffin, trying to provide some comfort, though her words were clumsy. “It’s not too bad. You kicked the skull too. Daddy’s head, you kicked it too…” Her attempts at consolation inadvertently intensified his fury.
“Your father warned of a severe calamity that would devastate the Song family. Are you sure you don’t want to send her away from the mountain?” Song Yu’s mother asked gravely.
Feeling dizzy and overwhelmed, Song Yu listened as his lieutenant questioned softly, “Send her down the mountain?” He paused, then with clenched teeth, firmly stated, “No!” His determination, once steadfast, now wavered under the emotional toll. “She’s just a one-year-old child. What harm could she possibly cause? Overthrow Fufeng Mountain?” Song Yu doubted it. He then turned to the grave and commanded, “Bury my father again,” bowing repeatedly. “Dad, you were generous; please forgive her. She’s young and doesn’t understand the turmoil she caused. Fortunately, she didn’t end up feeding your skull to the dogs,” Song Yu said, wiping the sweat from his brow.
Yuan Man, who had overheard the conversation, sighed quietly and whispered, “I thought you’d get a beating for your boldness in disturbing the boss’s ancestral grave.”
Lu Chao Chao, noticing his whisper, gave Yuan Man a look that seemed too mature for her age. But shortly after, she reverted to her childlike demeanor, looking down and noisily sucking on a milk bottle.
As Song Yu carried Lu Chao Chao back to the camp, they encountered a group escorting three disheveled and frightened women down the mountain. These women had been abducted alongside Lu Chao Chao.
“I want dem,” Lu Chao Chao pointed at the women. The men immediately knelt, visibly trembling, their hands clutching their skirts tightly.
Pausing, Song Yu frowned slightly but then decided, “Since Chao Chao likes you, you can stay.”
The women, now dressed as maidservants, breathed a sigh of relief.
Song Yu’s stern gaze swept over them, causing them to shiver. The bandits hesitated before reluctantly departing.
“You will attend to Chao Chao’s needs. Any illness she suffers will be your responsibility,” Song Yu instructed as he positioned guards outside the door to watch over Chao Chao.
As the bandits left, the women collapsed to the ground, exhausted. They hugged their knees, biting their lips to stifle their sobs, tears streaming down their faces. One of the maids, dressed simply, turned pale, regretting her earlier attempt to flee.
“Chao Chao, you remind me of the boss’s daughter who died young. The boss seems unwilling to let Chao Chao see his harsher side. He intentionally had us sent down the mountain in front of Chao Chao,” one maid analyzed, her eyes filled with tears but trying to suppress her fear. “But this mountain is crawling with bandits. How could we possibly escape unharmed? These villages have been kidnapping for generations.”
Before they even left the village, the bandits had started to mistreat them, even tearing at their skirts. If not for Chao Chao’s timely intervention, they might not have escaped the village unscathed.
“My name is Xuan Yin, what are yours?” the maid asked, her eyes red.
“I’m Yanzi. I’m the eldest at home; my parents are farmers,” another replied.
“My name is Qiu’er; my father is a scholar,” the literate-looking girl added. “I wonder how my family is faring now. Stuck in this den of wolves, there’s no good to be found here,” Qiu’er swallowed nervously, hoping that staying with Lu Chao Chao might offer some safety.
“My family will surely send someone to rescue me,” Xuan Yin stated confidently. “If only Chao Chao were older. If the boss trusted her, perhaps she could help us. But she’s…just one year old,” Xuan Yin sighed deeply.
On Fufeng Mountain, a stronghold of bandits, how could these three delicate women possibly find a way to escape?
As Lu Chao Chao started to doze off, they dared not continue speaking, wary that the walls might have ears. They gently picked up Chao Chao to wash her and lull her to sleep. Xuan Yin’s face was grim; although the boss did not openly support kidnapping, he was implicitly complicit. For now, being by Chao Chao’s side seemed to offer them some protection.
In the dead of night, all was quiet. The three women huddled together on a couch, their expressions troubled even in sleep. But quietly, Lu Chao Chao opened her eyes. She wore nothing, her bare feet touching the cold floor.
Using her hands and feet, she climbed onto a chair and then onto a table beside the window. From this high vantage point, she could dimly see scattered starlight mid-mountain. Each point of light represented a household. But these lights did not convey warmth; they symbolized despair and suffocation.
She seemed to hear the echoes of sticks beating on flesh, “How dare you run, how dare you run, keep running and I’ll break your legs! Once you’re on Fufeng Mountain, just settle down and bear me children! From now on, you’ll wear a neck chain, be my family’s watchdog. How dare you run, why couldn’t you just be a good person, insisting on being a dog!”
“Please, let me go, please, let me go home…” the voice whimpered.
Amidst the cacophony of curses and beatings, numerous voices flooded into Lu Chao Chao’s ears. She quietly watched and listened. A bird landed on her shoulder, whispering something to her. Lu Chao Chao casually plucked a leaf from near the window. The leaf was green, and when it fell into her hands, it seemed to be coated with a layer of gold.
“Little leaf paper, hush, blow on it and no more pain,” Lu Chao Chao whispered gently. “Go. My birthday is coming. Invite all the beasts to celebrate,” she murmured softly, and the leaf fluttered away with the wind.
The trees in the forest, the birds on the branches, the unseen wind, the cold moon—all seemed to respond to her. Clumsily climbing down from the table, she stood in front of the three sisters. The sisters slept restlessly, their faces etched with fear. With a small wave of her hand, a streak of golden light leaped into their dreams, instantly relaxing their furrowed brows. Their expressions softened into ones of relaxation and joy.
Dispel the fear in their dreams. Let this dream come more fiercely. She was a child. But not a fool.
Lu Chao Chao’s eyes emitted a strange glow. She thought, make it even more fun!
It is about to go down