Red Strings Chapter 3-4

Artist: Ibuki Satsuki

Woo, I’m slowly finis.h.i.+ng up this short story after such a long delay >.< hopefully="" part="" 5-6="" gets="" done="" soon="" as="">

III.

The life of rabbit A Chan is long, meeting numerous troubles, the times apologizing are as vast the sea. But Ling Xiaojun is the great G.o.d. She is only a puny rabbit immortal, let alone apologizing, even smiling apologetically has no door [no room].

Curiosity kills the rabbit, if one ignored the cause behind A Chan causing trouble, she was actually quite excited.

It's Ling Xiaojun, it's reportedly heard that Ling Xiaojun masterfully controlled the four seasons…

“Can I go visit the Purple Haze Mountain first?” A Chan asked when the immortal official marched her to go descend to the mortal realm.

“For what?” The immortal official shot a glance at her.

A Chan blushed, “I feel bad being empty-handed, Purple Haze Mountain has a lot of radishes/carrots, large and sweet ……”

“Ling Xiaojun does not eat radishes/carrots.” The immortal official coldly said.

The night fell, the silver moon wrapped the quiet sounds of the Three Realms, [and they]rode the clouds down to a garden in the outskirts of the capital. A Chan looked and only saw moonlight gleamed on the snow, and a delicately made tower before one's eyes.

“Go.” The immortal official said to A Chan..

A Chan looked at the lights upstairs on the tower, and hesitantly looked in the direction of the immortal official.

The immortal displayed a bit of revere and said, “Ling Xiaojun is here."

A Chan answered, summon her courage, and directed the clouds toward the tower.

The wind whistled in the ears, and seeing that the bright lights on the balcony is getting closer, A Chan suddenly felt a burst of astral wind[1] coming, as if her soul is pulling out and it has become lighter.

[1] Astral wind that immortals may ride according to Daoism

The next moment, she was shocked.

A Chan has transformed to her rabbit form, four hanging paws, and her ears are firmly held by hands.

The youth standing in front, bent down to look at her, and the moonlight shone on his white, but cold face that was as bright as jade.

Four eyes staring face to face, A Chan looked at him and he looked at her, within those beautiful eyes rose a flabbergast or perhaps… excitement?

“Duke! Don't stand near the cold window, come in!” A tapering sound came from the room.

Duke Guangling, no, Ling Xiaojun, turned around and looked at the side to loudly speak, "En, I've caught… ah!"

While he was distracted, A Chan quickly struggled to come down, and as fast as lightning, ran to hide under the bed.

Footsteps came hastily, “What?”

“A rabbit.” Ling Xiaojun's voice revealed happiness, “Before I was gazing at the moon by the window, and then suddenly a gust of wind blew, and I reached to block yet ended up catching a rabbit!"

“Rabbit?” A tapering voice was confused, “Where?”

“It hid under the bed!”

Rustling noises came near, A Chan huddled in the corner.

“There is no rabbit.”

“But…”

“Oh my, dear little immortal Duke of mine! You want to keep a rabbit, xiao ren[2]knows. But you cannot stand near the window and catch a cold ya! Let me see… Ai ya, the forehead is hot! If this reaches the ears of the prince, will this xiao ren be able to keep his life? Please go back with xiao ren to the room, I beg of you my lord…"

[2] self-address of someone at a low social status during ancient times

The sounds of nagging and footsteps drew away, and A Chan waited for the surroundings to be quiet before crawling out from under the bed.

Ling Xiaojun…she was surprised, not knowing what to do. A youth with no rhetoric or appearance, is he really an immortal G.o.d?,

A Chan thought while shaking off the dust in her fur, internally chanted the spell to turn to human form.

But after chanting several time, she is still an animal.

En? A Chan was fl.u.s.tered, and continued to chant…

“Useless, little sprite.” A lazy voiced sounded, “The heavenly barrier of Ling Xiaojun is determined by the heaven, once a small immortal come close, magic powers will be lost."

A Chan was surprised and turned around, saw a puppy lying down near the draperies, long golden ears, and eyes like bells.

“Who are you?” A Chan instinctively retreated two steps, her paws in defense were protecting her front.

The puppy did not answered, and sniffed the air, "En, the smell of the Jade Lake, there is still that Yue Lao… You are part of Yue Lao Palace?"

A Chan's ears straighten up, her two red eyes glared, and she stammered, "You… in the end who are you?"

“I?” The puppy stretched, smoothed his golden fur, cleared his throat, and proudly said, "I am the servant protecting Ling Xiaojun, the heavenly animal guardian Dun Yi!”

A Chan, “…”

Moonlight shone through the window, the room was warm and quiet.

On the bed, the youth is sleeping, his breathing lightly blew up and down on the quilt.

A Chan clung to the bed, and carefully pulled out his wrist. She chanted the spell to remove the red string, tried again and again, but no result came.

“Useless,” The puppy that claimed himself as the heavenly animal Dun Yi lied on the side while slowly speaking, "The magic of the power was erected by the Queen Mother, can you not see even a heavenly animal like I have become like this?"

“Why try to create a barrier? What is wrong with xiaojun?”

“Ling Xiaojun is sick." Dun Yi's eyes fell, it seems quite distressed.

“Sick?” A Chan was puzzled.

Dun Yi sighed, “It's a long story, do you know Tian Zhu?"

A Chan nodded, “I know.” Tianzhu at Kunlun, is heavenly and G.o.dly object[3]

[3] It's an object that helps protect the balance between the Three Realms

Dun Yi said, “… Last year Tian Zhu started cracking, the world tilted, Xuan Ming wind from the north blew in. Ling Xiaojun was ordered to repair, exhausted his power yet, was eroded by arctic, and after returning to the heaven realm, immediately slept without waking up."

“Sleeping without waking up” A Chan was surprised as she looked over the person sleeping on the bed, “Then…”

“Immortal G.o.ds have spiritual souls. In order to avoid the arctic poison, Ling Xiaojun's spiritual soul separated from the body, and then came to the mortal realm."

A Chan's eyes were wide open, and then for a while, said, "With Ling Xiaojun like this, in the heaven realm with so many G.o.ds are there not any G.o.ds caring? The Jade Queen Mother, Taishang Laojun are all mighty G.o.ds!"

Dun Yi smiled, “Xiaojun is also mighty, the arctic poison that can attack xiaojun is the evil energy left behind when the world was in chaos. Even if the Jade Queen Mother is there, cannot help and only xiaojun himself can disperse it."

A Chan gazed at the falling snow, and whispered, “Then Ling Xiaojun … ah, I mean Duke Guang Ling, does he know who he is?"

Dun Yi shook his head, “He does not know who he is, has no G.o.dly powers."

A Chan bowed her head in silence.

Dun Yi looked at her, “If not, I can let you pay a formal visit to Queen Mother?”

If meeting the Queen Mother, then the situation that the immortal officials and underworld tried to conceal will be brought to light.

A Chan drooped her ears and whispered, “No need.”

IV.

When the youth woke up, he saw a rabbit lying on the bed, its fur white like snow, like a white dumpling.

He sat up, and looked at the white rabbit in alarm and fondness, "It's you! You are the rabbit that I've caught last night?"

The white rabbit looked at him, two s.h.i.+ny red eyes, like rubies given as tribute from overseas.

The youth looked and like it even more. He raised his hand to hug the white rabbit. The white rabbit did not struggle, and was hugged in his embrace, only its two ears moved.

“Obedient, even more so than A Huang[4]!” The youth smiled.

[4] Huang means yellow, A can be use in front of names to show fondness

Under the bed, the puppy side glanced him, and angrily turned away to continue sleeping.

In the Duke's villa at the suburbs of Beijing, an extraordinary thing has occurred. Somehow a rabbit has emerged in Duke's residence in unfathomable mystery. Duke likes it very much and would take it wherever he goes. Not only is that, that rabbit can eat lavishly, every day it can eat a cart full of radishes/carrots.

“The fate of Duke is to call upon animals?” A group of chamberlains who are informed started discussing, “Last time it was a yellow puppy, suddenly appeared silently and wordlessly by Duke's side, I do not know where it came from."

“Duke has no brother or sister, really is lonely ya.”

……

“When will you go back to heaven?” Dun Yi angrily said as he looked at the squatting content A Chan gnawing a radish/carrot.

“Cannot return yet.” A Chan chewed the carrots/radishes, cheeks puffing out, "I have yet to untie the red string."

Dun Yi disdainfully and coldly huffed, “Then wait to how long?”

A Chan declined to comment.

“I say, how can you be so greedy,” Dun Yi continued whining, “We are already immortals.”

“Eh, I was formerly called A Greedy[5],” A Chan replied, “But elder said that name was inappropriate for an immortal, and so changed it to A Chan."

[5] 馋chán: gluttonous; greedy || 婵 chán: beautiful; graceful

A Chan's name take the second character shown. It is a play on the p.r.o.nunciation of her character with another character that means greedy.

Dun Yi: “…”

Go back to heaven what. A Chan secretly thought, even if the red string is untied she does not want to go back to the heavenly hall. This place is good ya, want as much carrots/radishes as one can want. This was the treatment of the Jade Rabbit that A Chan has dreamed of, A Chan simply would not have to worry or think so much.

Duke Guangling has raised the rabbit for many days, liking it more and more. When the night is cold, he would simply hold the white rabbit and sleep together.

To be honest, A Chan was very embarra.s.sed.

Because of cultivation objective, her rabbit life is very pure, from birth to the present, it has been a millennium. Even the small paw of male rabbits she has not once touch before.

Under the contemptuous eyes of Dun Yi, she is held by Duke Guangling in his arms and then covered with the blanket. When the lights are off at night, she would lie on Duke Guangling's chest, and would feel warm and comfortable. Looking up, it's the face of a delicate and quiet youth with long tidy eyelashes like a feather.

"Thump thump" sound would echo, A Chan can hear two heartbeats. The big one is Duke Guangling and the small one is her.

Such sounds would ring beat by beat like a lullaby, and A Chan would slowly close her eyes.

Before falling asleep, she thought, being hugged by someone when sleeping isn't so bad…

Mist loomed, a fantasy-like dream.

A Chan opened her eyes and found herself standing in a strange place. It's surrounded by snow-covered mountains, trees and rocks would look like an old man, and only a gurgling clear spring flowed, the sounds of clear water.

A Chan "ah" one breath, white white, yet she did not feel cold. Looking down, she was wearing clothes, wide sleeves and a long garment, she is actually in human form.

The sounds of a flute scattered amongst the wind, A Chan followed, leaving behind one by one small exquisite footprints in the snow.

Plum blossoms bloomed, petals frozen in ice, crystal clear yet beautiful. Trees and flowers about, a white robe youth sat on a boulder, slightly bending, and concentrated on blowing a jade flute.

The sounds are pleasant to hear but drawn-out, like wind and water, lingering incessantly.

A Chan was stupefied, the young man is none other than Duke Guangling.

Seemingly realized there is movement, the youth looked up, and the flute music halted with a grunting sound.

A Chan looked at him in surprise and said “Duke Guangling?"

The youth let go of the jade flute.

“Duke Guangling?” He smiled and shook his head, his voice as clear as spring water, “I’m Ling Xiao.”

Ling Xiao? A Chan ignorantly blinked, a moment later said, "My name is A Chan."

“What are you doing?” A Chan looked around, felt this place is lonely and desolate.

“Playing the flute.” Ling Xiao answered, after finish speaking, lifted the jade flute, “Does it sound nice?”

A Chan nodded, “Sounds nice.”

Ling Xiao smiled, “Then can you sit down here with me? I have sat here blowing the flute for such a long time, have not met a single person."

“Good ya.” A Chan nodded.

The two sat on the boulder, and Ling Xiao blew the jade flute. A Chan listened, and felt that the flute music is so beautiful to the point of making one spellbound.

“Why do you want to play the flute?” After a verse, A Chan asked.

“I play the flute, the flowers here will bloom.” Ling Xiao said, pointing at a peach tree beside.

A Chan looked at the peach tree branches, there has been a few buds with faint pink.

“When spring comes, they will open.” A Chan said.

Ling Xiao's handsome brows became mixed with a layer of sadness, "But spring has not come, I have to summon spring to come."

A Chan saw that he was melancholy, could not bear it, and said, "This skill of yours, I have it too."

“Oh?” Ling Xiao looked at her, his eyes clear, "You do?"

A Chan nodded, took a seedling from the sleeves, brush off the layer of snow into the ground, and then murmured. A ma.s.s of clear light shone from her fingers and landed on the seedling.

The leaves grew higher from the seedling, not for long it's halfway tall.

A Chan smiled at Ling Xiao, carried the clumping foliage up, underneath is a fat white radish followed by the uprooted mud.

“Ah!” Ling Xiao laughed and stood up.

“For you.” A Chan gave the radish to him, her face somewhat embarra.s.sed, "It's unfortunate that I can only plant radishes/carrots."

Ling Xiao shook his head, smile when accepting the radish, and harmonically sounded said, "Nice, it's the first time someone has given me a radish, thank you."

A Chan smiled, her pale tender face has a blush of faint pink…

The fog dispersed, the plum blossom, the peach tree, the water along with Ling Xiao all disappeared into a black darkness. A Chan woke up and found out she was dreaming.

She was lying on Duke Guangling's chest, the two heartbeats still beat. The faint morning light shone through the window, Duke Guangling is still sleeping quietly.

A Chan informed Dun Yi about the dream, not surprisingly, he was quite shocked.

“Your magic was sealed, yet you can still enter dream?”

“It's not the magic of entering dream,” A Chan thought, and said, “Elder has said, it's called escaping into dream, an ability from birth."

“Natural ability?” Dun Yi was doubtful, “Isn't innate ability of the rabbit tribe is to eat radishes/carrots?”

A Chan scratched her head, “I do not know, he said this is only something a rabbit can do, out of the many rabbits only one rabbit can, and coincidentally that's me…"

“Okay, okay.” Dun Yi interrupted her nonsense, and said, “So that’s a good thing. Ling Xiaojun's soul is asleep, if you can help him wake up, then that's even better." Finished speaking, he patted A Chan's shoulders, “Great! If the Queen Mother knew …”

Only spoke halfway, he suddenly realized that two chamberlains on the porch were dumbstruck while looking over here.

Dun Yi, “…”

A Chan, “…”

When they attempted with great effort to act out a puppy playfully chasing with a rabbit, then the two chamberlains finally went away.

“I have trickery of the eye? Why do I feel that the dog and rabbit are talking to each other?”

“Look at that, the dog also patted the rabbit's shoulders.”

“Duke trained it, right?”

“Duke's really powerful ya…”