Chapter 107: Chapter 105: An Old Acquaintance

Wu Liangchen’s eyes were downcast as he stood silently before Aunt Fan’s body. The snow was falling harder now, quickly blanketing his shoulders. Only then did Wu Liangchen slowly turn and walk out of the woods.

When she saw him walk out of the woods and saw the look on his face, Yang Lian’Er instantly understood. She then rushed inside, heedless of everything.

A moment later, a heart-wrenching cry came from the woods.

"Aunt Fan!"

Hearing the cry, Wu Mengchan, whose own face was streaked with tears, couldn’t help but ask worriedly, "Brother, should we go console her?"

Wu Liangchen shook his head. "You can’t console her right now. Just let her cry. She’ll feel better after letting it all out."

Despite his words, Wu Mengchan was still worried and turned to go into the woods.

Wu Liangchen stood outside the woods, watching the sky gradually lighten.

By the clock, it should have been seven or eight in the morning, but the sky had only brightened slightly. The thick clouds and endless snow kept everything shrouded in twilight.

In such harsh, cold weather, one wouldn’t dare stay outside for long, even while wearing a thick sable cloak.

But Yang Lian’Er remained kneeling in the freezing snow, unresponsive no matter how Wu Mengchan tried to persuade or pull her away. She seemed to be in a daze, staring blankly at Aunt Fan’s body as tears streamed down her face like a bursting dam.

"Brother, you have to try and talk to Sister Lian! She can’t go on like this, or she’ll break," Wu Mengchan said anxiously.

Wu Liangchen sighed softly, then walked over and gently patted Yang Lian’Er’s shoulder.

"If Aunt Fan’s spirit is watching, do you think she’d want to see you like this?"

Yang Lian’Er slowly raised her head to look at Wu Liangchen.

Wu Liangchen continued, "I know you can’t bear to part with Aunt Fan, but the dead can’t be brought back to life. What you should be doing now is thinking about how to handle her final arrangements."

A glimmer of light slowly returned to Yang Lian’Er’s empty eyes. "I want to take Aunt Fan with me," she said suddenly. "I don’t want to be separated from her."

"Alright. We’ll take her with us," Wu Liangchen said solemnly.

Despite the heavy snow, the branches were still dry. Wu Liangchen quickly gathered a large pile, and Aunt Fan’s body was placed in the middle of the kindling.

"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Aunt Fan, may your journey be peaceful."

With that, Wu Liangchen lit the firewood.

The flames quickly soared into the sky, engulfing Aunt Fan’s body.

Yang Lian’Er collapsed to her knees. Scene after scene of her time with Aunt Fan flashed through her mind, each one twisting her heart like a knife.

The fire burned for over an hour. Ultimately, Aunt Fan’s body was reduced to a small urn of ashes.

Yang Lian’Er carefully and preciously placed the urn inside her robes, as if by doing so she could remain with Aunt Fan forever.

Seeing this, Wu Liangchen sighed inwardly. ’It’s best not to say anything right now. We’ll wait until she’s calmed down a bit.’

"Let’s go. The map says there’s a village fifteen li from here. We’ll find a place to stay there for the night and get some rest."

Wu Mengchan, naturally, had no objections. Yang Lian’Er, meanwhile, was still lost in a daze, completely unresponsive to Wu Liangchen’s suggestion.

And so, the three of them set off once more, heading straight for the village fifteen li away.

Although the snow fell harder and harder, the fifteen-li journey was fortunately not too difficult.

By noon, they had arrived at the entrance of a mountain village called Red Leaf Village.

The village was relatively large, and it was even surrounded by an earthen wall built to defend against bandits.

Once inside, they found that besides a grocery store selling oil, salt, and other sundries, there was even a small eatery. For a mountain village, this was a rare find indeed.

Wu Liangchen led his sister and Yang Lian’Er into the small eatery.

The eatery wasn’t large, but it was very neat and tidy. Several large wine vats were buried against the wall, with only their top halves exposed.

Someone was preparing food in the back, and the aroma of wine mixed with the scent of cooking made one’s mouth water.

All three of them were exhausted and starving. This was especially true for Wu Liangchen; since his breakthrough, he had only eaten a single strip of dried beef. He was so hungry his stomach felt glued to his spine, and he felt like he could devour an entire cow.

So, upon entering the small eatery, he immediately called out, "Shopkeeper, what do you have to eat?"

A woman’s voice called from the back, "One moment, esteemed guests, I’ll be right out."

As she spoke, a sturdily built woman parted the curtain and walked out. "Esteemed guests, you... Mengchan?"

Wu Mengchan was just as shocked to see the woman. "Jin Cui? What are you doing here?"

"This is my husband’s home!"

That’s right.

This woman was none other than Jin Cui, Miss Jin, who had been Wu Mengchan’s best friend when she worked at the laundry shop.

It turned out that after she got married, the cost of living in the city became too high. After discussing it, she and her husband decided to simply return to his hometown and open this small eatery.

Who would have thought they would be reunited with an old friend here.

Jin Cui was incredibly excited. She grabbed Wu Mengchan’s hand and said, "I was just thinking about you the other day! I was hoping I’d get a chance to go to the city and visit."

"And now you’ve suddenly shown up here! Am I dreaming?"

"Of course you’re not dreaming! My brother and I are on our way to take care of some business and just happened to be passing through. I can’t believe we ran into you!" Wu Mengchan was also overjoyed.

Only Wu Liangchen remained silent.

He wasn’t sure if Jin Cui knew what had happened recently.

’If she does, we’d better leave as soon as possible to avoid trouble.’

"Oh, by the way," Jin Cui asked, "I heard there were refugees causing trouble in the city recently. Has that all settled down?"

"Er..." Wu Mengchan glanced at her brother.

Wu Liangchen relaxed slightly. ’Looks like the news hasn’t reached here yet.’

’It makes sense,’ he thought. ’Travel is difficult these days, and this place is deep in the mountains. News naturally travels slowly.’

The refugee uprising had happened a month ago, yet Jin Cui was only just now hearing about it.

"Yes, it’s been settled," Wu Liangchen said.

"That’s good, that’s good. And this young lady is...?"

"Oh, this is my cousin. She’ll be going back with us," Wu Mengchan said.

Jin Cui glanced at Yang Lian’Er in surprise. Though her expression was haggard, her delicate features still made Jin Cui sigh in admiration.

’It’s one thing for this brother and sister to be so good-looking, but are all their relatives this stunning, too?’

But Jin Cui, with her straightforward, almost manly temperament, quickly pushed such thoughts aside.

"Come, come, sit down! Have some tea first. The food will be out in a moment."

The tea was brewed, and then Jin Cui went to the back to get busy.

A short while later, she emerged carrying several plates of food.

"Here we go! This is chicken stewed with mushrooms. The chicken’s from our own coop, and the mushrooms were picked in the mountains. The flavor is really fresh."

"And this is fresh fish we just caught from the river out back. The fish are hiding deep in the water for the winter right now, so their meat is at its most tender and delicious."

"There’s also a plate of scrambled eggs and a dish of roasted pine nuts. You all start eating. I’ll go to the back and whip up a couple more dishes."

Jin Cui deftly placed the dishes on the table, brought out a pot of wine, and then left.

Wu Liangchen was indeed starving. He picked up his chopsticks and began to eat.

Although the eatery’s cooking wasn’t particularly refined, the freshness of the ingredients more than made up for it, making every bite taste wonderful.

But after eating for a while, Wu Liangchen noticed that Yang Lian’Er was sitting motionless, her eyes glazed over and her cheeks flushed bright red.

Alarmed, he reached out and touched Yang Lian’Er’s forehead.

Just as he’d feared.

Her forehead was burning hot.