Chapter 99: Waking Restless Beneath the Heavenly River

(1)

“Just that night, a woman appeared with a furry face and fox ears, her pupils vertical, reflecting orange-red light.”

“Haaahh…”

Zhang Qiqi covered her mouth with her hand and yawned widely.

“So sleepy.”

“Awei, your ghost stories are so boring, not scary at all,” Zhou Chao teased with a laugh.

“You’ve just made everyone sleepy.”

“Damn, isn’t that scary? Hey? A human face turning into a fox’s face!”

“What’s scary about that?”

Zhou Chao hesitated for a few seconds, then asked doubtfully.

“Feels more like a story from Liaozhai,” Yang Lingfei nodded gently.

“Feels kinda romantic, like a poor scholar’s tale… not really scary.”

“You’re not wrong. If there really was such a fox lady, I’d want to try and see what it feels like. Would her chest be furry too?”

Fang Qiang rubbed his chin, completely ignoring the fact that there were girls present, spewing out a bunch of inappropriate remarks.

“Then maybe the fur down there would look nice?”

“Ugh, you guys are way too weird!”

“Fang Qiang, you’re disgusting—”

Zhang Qiqi dragged out her voice, her face full of contempt.

“Ha—ahhhaahh—”

Zhou Chao yawned widely again.

“So sleepy, damn it. Let’s sleep already!”

“Xiao Jing’s already asleep.”

Zhu Ying gently poked the peaceful cheeks of An Jing with her chubby little hand.

The latter let out a faint snore, showing no intention of waking.

“A Qiang, let’s carry An Jing back!”

Sun Wei immediately stood up with a vigorous wave of his hand from his chair.

“Why? She’s asleep, just let her sleep.”

Zhu Ying quickly stood guard.

“Tonight, she’ll sleep here!”

“Damn, but this is the girls’ sleeping area.”

“Uh, yeah, it’s not really appropriate. After all, it’s not just Zhu Ying sleeping here; Wang Ruo’s here too.”

Yang Lingfei chimed in.

“Xiao Ruo won’t mind, right?”

“Nope.”

Wang Xinru answered without hesitation.

“Damn it, no way! We have to carry this guy back. Otherwise, he’s having way too good a time! Damn!”

Sun Wei shouted.

“Aren’t you guys afraid he’ll do something bad tonight?!”

“You think Xiao Jing is the type of boy like you? She wouldn’t do anything bad~”

Zhu Ying smiled with hands on her hips.

“Anyway, you boys go sleep yourselves and mind your own business!”

“Let’s go. If you want to envy someone, envy An Jing’s looks. If you looked like that, you’d get this treatment too.”

Zhou Chao was the first to reach the door.

“Damn, looking like that, never mind… no manly vibe at all.”

“Ahem, Awei, you can’t say that.”

Fang Qiang shook his head seriously.

“But if I had to choose, I definitely wouldn’t want to look like him. Sigh, can’t help it, born this way.”

“Then back to your rooms to sleep!”

Zhang Qiqi began “issuing orders.”

“Everyone out, everyone out. Zhou Chao, help me push Qingyan into her room.”

“You can’t move yourself?”

Zhou Chao gave her a sideways glance with a smile.

“I’m too lazy!”

Zhang Qiqi retorted matter-of-factly.

“Dirty Jiji, truly deserving of the name. No shame at all.”

“Yeah, seriously shameless.”

“What nonsense are you two spouting? Believe me, when school starts, I’m settling personal scores.”

“Damn, you say it so openly. Your shamelessness far exceeds what I imagined!”

“Really.”

Fang Qiang played the straight man.

“You two idiots!”

Zhang Qiqi didn’t hesitate to flip them off.

“We’re just silly, you’re the real idiot.”

“…Stop it, you guys.”

Zhou Chao sighed helplessly.

“Hurry back to your rooms and sleep.”

“Wait, Zhou Chao, you’re going to Zhang Qiqi’s room, you’ll come back, right?”

“…Huh?”

“An Jing wouldn’t do anything bad, but you definitely would. One of them is disabled, you beast!!”

“…I damn well haven’t done anything yet!”

“So you’re really planning to—”

“You’re the worst, you little brat.”

Zhou Chao punched Sun Wei’s back with annoyance.

“Wait in bed, bro’s gonna ‘develop’ you tonight.”

“Damn, not even sparing men?”

“When it comes to creepiness, you’re number one, no one’s second.”

“Heh heh, flattered, flattered!”

***

(2)

A silent night.

No insects chirped, no owls hooted in the mountains, only a gentle breeze drifting by.

“Xiao Jing—Xiao Jing—”

Someone leaned close to her ear and whispered loudly.

“Mm…”

“Xiao Jing, wake up.”

“Mm.”

An Jing drowsily opened her eyes.

The bright moonlight flowing through the window faintly illuminated the ceiling.

“So sleepy…”

“Still sleepy?”

“Uh…?”

“You’ve already been asleep for a whole day.”

“Eh? Really, for real?”

An Jing sat up anxiously.

“Of course it’s true.”

“What time is it now?”

“Two-thirty in the morning.”

“Huh—?”

“Pfft, just kidding. But if you want to go have fun, wanna go?”

“Middle of the night… what the hell…”

An Jing lay back down on the pillow.

“No, no. I want to sleep…”

“Get up—come on—it’s rare—”

“Huh… what are we even doing…”

“Releasing sky lanterns!”

“…It’s Lantern Festival?”

“Yeah.”

“…Which part was lying to me then?”

“An An.”

Wang Xinru, standing by the door with her back to the moonlight, spoke softly.

“Yingying didn’t lie. It really is Lantern Festival.”

“…How many damn days have I been sleeping?”

“A whole day and night.”

“Wang Wang, you’re not lying, right?”

“Nope.”

“…Weird, I was so sleepy just now.”

An Jing rubbed her head and slowly got up.

“Maybe I slept too much? Now I have a headache.”

“Hurry up, put on your coat, we’re going outside!”

An Jing hadn’t fully woken up yet when Zhu Ying pushed her out the door.

The cold wind blowing in instantly blew away most of her sleepiness.

“Achoo!”

“An An, don’t catch a cold.”

Wang Xinru hurriedly handed over some clothes.

Zhu Ying took them and helped her put them on.

“Hiss—”

Wrapped in her school uniform jacket, An Jing shivered and sneezed again.

She turned to look at the open space in front of the main house.

There was flickering firelight casting two blurry silhouettes.

The wooden corridor creaked underfoot.

Wang Xinru walked ahead, An Jing in the middle, Zhu Ying at the rear.

“Feels like we’ve been called to the Underworld by the Black and White Impermanence,” An Jing muttered quietly without reason.

“Are you out of your mind from sleep?”

“Maybe a little…”

An Jing nodded honestly.

“Oh, someone woke An Jing up?”

Before anyone could answer, An Jing hurriedly asked, “Zhang Qiqi, did I really sleep for a whole day and night?”

“Yes!”

Zhang Qiqi answered quickly, sounding sincere—though her sly smile was no proof she wasn’t lying, since she always smiled like that.

Chi Qingyan looked expressionless as she glanced over An Jing’s face, then calmly stared up at the sky—her reaction was just as natural…

“What time is it now… Lantern Festival’s early morning?”

“About that.”

An Jing scratched her head, about to ask what they were going to do, then remembered what Zhu Ying told her half a minute ago.

She lowered her head to look at the sky lanterns on the ground.

They hadn’t been lit yet, their colors pale in the dim night, their shapes blurred.

“Guess why we’re lighting sky lanterns in the middle of the night?”

Zhang Qiqi suddenly asked with a smile.

“Uh… because it’s tradition? But what about the other boys?”

“They can just sleep.”

“Fewer people makes it more fun. Those guys are way too noisy.”

Zhu Ying nodded gently.

“Tonight’s sky is beautiful, isn’t it, Xiao Jing?”

“Ah? Oh—”

An Jing looked up.

The Milky Way overhead was dazzling, stars no longer simply white but glowing with faint blue, purple, even green hues…

Even in a small island village, such a starry sky was rare.

The stars spread across the whole night sky…

Already somewhat groggy, An Jing felt even more dazed now.

Was she standing on the ground or within the Milky Way?

Was she standing on Earth or gazing toward Earth from a distant part of the universe?

Was she dreaming or awake?

Everything was blurred and indistinct.

An Jing forced her eyes wide open, her body uncontrollably leaning backward.

If Zhu Ying hadn’t caught her in time, she would have fallen to the ground.

“What’s wrong?”

“Dizzy…”

An Jing shook her head hard, murmuring, “Like I’m drunk…”

“Here, sober up.”

Zhu Ying pressed her warm hand to An Jing’s forehead.

“We’re about to release the sky lanterns.”

“Are you making a wish?”

“Of course! Come write your wish on the paper.”

“Still have to write?”

“Definitely!”

An Jing yawned and walked over to the oil lamp, noticing Chi Qingyan and Zhang Qiqi folding their written wishes into paper cranes, stacking them to the side.

“Wrote that many?”

“No matter the wish, or how many wishes, you can write them all. Today you can be a little greedy.”

Zhang Qiqi pointed to the paper and pens on the stone table by the door.

“Write your own. Qingyan and I already finished.”

“Uh… wishes…”

“What does Xiao Jing want to write?”

“Uh… don’t look.”

“Tch, stingy.”

“Then what’s your wish?”

“Mine? Lots of wishes. Hmm—I’ll just write one first.”

Zhu Ying grabbed a cheap pen for fifty cents and quickly wrote a line on the colorful paper cranes.

“I want a star from the sky.”

An Jing peeked over and couldn’t help but twitch the corner of her mouth.

“That wish is way too unrealistic.”

“That’s exactly what makes it a wish!”

“Ah? Is that so?”

“Because if it’s something you can do yourself, you don’t need to wish for it!”

“Mhm.”

Wang Xinru nodded thoughtfully, then lowered her head and began writing.

An Jing tried to sneak a look but Wang Xinru suddenly covered her paper.

“An An, no peeking!”

“Tch—so mysterious.”

“If someone sees it, the wish won’t work.”

“But I saw Xiao Ying’s.”

“I—I’m not her…”

“Hmph, got turned away, huh?”

Zhu Ying laughed proudly.

“Here, look at mine. You can look at mine anytime. See how nice I am.”

“…That just makes it less interesting.”

“Flirty Xiao Jing!”

“Why flirty?”

“Just flirty, tsk!”