Stranger Danger

“Water in the sky, water in the sky...”

Ye Qing thought long and hard while staring blankly at the dark skies above his head and tapping the ground with his fingers.

Rumble!

It was at this moment he heard a distant thunder. The sky was absolutely jam-packed with black clouds, and the wind howled like a furious god.

“It’s going to rain soon,” Ye Qing sensed the humidity in the clouds when suddenly, his eyes lit up. “The rain? That’s the ‘water in the sky’, isn’t it? It has to be!”

He looked down on the ground. “If the first line of the riddle refers to the rain, then the second line must mean the moon’s reflection!”

Sometimes, the answer came very easily once you had gotten your first breakthrough. A new question quickly confounded Ye Qing though. “But what does it mean, really? So, the water in the sky refers to the rain, and the moon on the ground refers to the moon’s reflection in a pool of water. But... how can the moon appear in a clouded sky like this?”

Ye Qing scratched his nose for a moment before snapping his fingers in realization. “I get it! When the rain ends, and the sky clears up, the moon’s reflection will appear in the puddles on the ground. Only then can both conditions be met.”

So, he waited. Rain droplets soon fell from the sky, but unlike the soft, comfortable drizzle of Luo Shui, the rain of Northern Xinjiang was violent, wild, and reeked of the earth due to its powerful winds. Unfortunately...

“The rain’s too small, and this is the peak of the mountain. I won’t find a puddle in this place.”

Longevity Mountain was a series of barren hills with little vegetation and extremely dry soil, so it was difficult for puddles to accumulate in the first place. This was doubly true in tall places where the rain was at its weakest.

That was why he needed to travel to the lowlands where the rain was at its strongest. Only then there was a chance he might find the puddle he was searching for.

Ye Qing kicked off the ground with his movement art and began speeding toward the center of the black clouds.

Luckily for him, he found a suitable spot where the rain was stronger, and the ground was low-lying just a teatime later. Despite standing in the middle of a raging downpour, his astral qi kept the rain from wetting a single hair on his body. The patch of ground he was standing on was perfectly dry as well.

The rain of Northern Xinjiang left as quickly as it came. It wasn’t long before the raging downpour came to a complete halt, though the sky remained as clouded as ever.

“Let’s hope there’s going to be a moon tonight!” Ye Qing shrugged helplessly as he stared at the thick clouds above his head. He wanted to locate the Longevity Village and rescue Yi Pin as soon as possible as well, but what could he do if the weather refused to cooperate with him[1]?

Luckily for Yi Pin, the heavens decided to be less cruel to him today. The dark clouds dispersed just four hours later, and a beautiful moon burst out into the open. The puddles immediately started glittering with light as well, phantasmal and beautiful.

A few seconds later, what looked like a village appeared in the wobbling puddles. It was well-lit and seemingly peaceful.

“Is that... Longevity Village?!”

Ye Qing narrowed his eyes. Longevity Village exists inside the water?! I thought the rumors said that it’s somewhere in the mountains?

When Ye Qing carefully probed the puddle with his demonic thought, the wobbling abruptly grew much more intense. However, the image of Longevity Village only grew bigger and clearer as if it was crossing over from a world of illusion into reality. Words couldn’t describe how strange and unusual the process was. It kept growing and growing and growing and finally, a few breaths later, a small village appeared at the center of the hills as if it had always been there.

“So that’s Longevity Village!”

Ye Qing watched the village for a moment. It looked well-lit and very peaceful. Like a light of hope amidst the overwhelming darkness of the night, it was overflowing with vitality, warmth, and the promise of comfort. His demonic thought couldn’t sense a shred of anomalous or evil energy from the village either. As far as he could tell, it was a perfectly ordinary village.

A moment of observation later, Ye Qing decided that he couldn’t glean anything from where he was standing and began walking toward the village. It looked like the only way he could rescue Yi Pin was to enter the village as well.

As soon as he stepped through the entrance, he felt as if he had entered a different space. The winding hills behind his back suddenly vanished into nothing, and his demonic thought failed to sense the exit that was right behind him until a moment ago.

It was too late for regrets though, and frankly, Ye Qing wasn’t too worried about his safety. He continued to venture deeper into the village.

“Huh? Where are you from, boy? The hell are you doing at our humble village?”

Suddenly, a childish but strangely mature voice rang beside him. When Ye Qing looked, he saw a boy about twelve to thirteen years old smoking from a pipe and watching him on a stone bench in front of a house.

“You should speak to your elders politely, boy,” Ye Qing chided him while wondering how precocious the children of this region were. It wasn’t every day he met a young boy smoking a pipe like no tomorrow after all.

“Who are you calling a boy?! I’m old enough to be your dad, boy! How rude can you be?!” The boy flew into a rage and pointed his smoking pipe at Ye Qing’s face. He looked like he might smack Ye Qing in the knee at any moment.

“It sounds like he’s swearing at me, but nah, that can’t be!” Ye Qing muttered under his breath before continuing in a kind tone, “Someone as young as you shouldn’t boast, boy. It’s going to be a bad habit in the future.” And it’s going to get you an ass-kicking if you’re not careful.

“Boasting? You think I’m boasting?!” The boy turned beet red with anger. “Wait right there!”

He then turned toward the entrance and yelled, “Woman! Will you round up our son and daughter-in-law and come out right now?!”

“I’m busy! What’s the problem?” An impatient voice came from inside the house.

“Just do as I say, woman! Less words, more action!” The boy yelled louder.

“Fine, fine. Seriously, what’s the hurry?” The second voice replied with growing impatience. Then, a girl about twelve to thirteen years old stepped out of the door. She was followed by a younger boy and a girl who looked to be around seven or eight years old.

“What’s gotten into you, old man? Don’t you know that I’m cooking?” The older girl spat while glaring at the boy.

The younger boy and girl behind her also asked, “Yeah, dad. What’s the matter?”

The boy took a puff of smoke and side-eyed Ye Qing with disdain. “It’s nothing big. I just wanna introduce our family to a guest, that’s all.”

“Are they your wife, your son and his wife?” Ye Qing blinked in disbelief. Surely they’re just playing house!

“Who else can they be? I’m sixty-nine this year! Of course I have a wife, a son and a daughter-in-law! It’s perfectly normal, isn’t it?” The boy watched Ye Qing calmly.

Ye Qing: “...”

Normal?

I’m an adult, and I don’t even have a girlfriend, and you, a kid, are telling me that you have a wife, a son and even a daughter-in-law? Does that make sense to you?

Wait—sixty-nine?

Ye Qing’s brain started up again. “Did you just say you’re sixty-nine years old?”

“But of course!” The boy took another puff of smoke. “I’ll be seventy in a couple more days. It’s also me and my beloved wife’s anniversary!”

“Why are you telling an outsider about this?” The girl standing next to him turned a little red and punched him lightly.

“Why not? It’s not like it’s a secret!” The boy chuckled and held her hand gently. “By the way, you’re free to attend our anniversary if you want to, boy!”

Ye Qing: “...”

This feeling of being one-upped by kids is...

“You don’t think I look sixty-nine, do you?” The boy suddenly let out a chuckle. “Do you know where you are right now?”

“The Longevity Village!” Ye Qing exclaimed in realization. This was the Longevity Village, and anyone who entered this place would enjoy a lifespan that was several longer than their ordinary counterparts. It made sense that the villagers were just as long-lived, if not more so.

A sixty-nine years old man who looks like twelve is insane though. Like wow.

“Ahem... sorry for my poor attitude. I hope you’ll accept my apology,” Ye Qing bowed and apologized to the “children”.

Right now, he had no idea what kind of place Longevity Village was. Naturally, he wasn’t going to leap into a hissy fit or something, not to mention the children—the old children—didn’t seem to harbor any malice toward him. He should lie low and try and squeeze as much information as possible from them.

1. Yeah, I’m sure we’re all thinking the same thing... bro use your fucking Cloud Vaporization Style or just punch the clouds, really. ☜

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