Chapter 175

Chapter 175 - 175 168 The Hidden Circumstances of Ah Nas Death Chapter 175: 168: The Hidden Circumstances of Ah Na’s Death, Changling’s Father (First Update) Chapter 175: 168: The Hidden Circumstances of Ah Na’s Death, Changling’s Father (First Update) Xie Shang returned, but did not see Wen Changling.

“Changling.”

She was not in the yard or the house, Wen Changling’s cellphone was under the pillow, not taken with her. Xie Shang immediately went out to look for her. He did not come across her on the way back by car, so she must not have taken that road.

There was a small path to the left out of the yard. Xie Shang walked up the path into the mountain. The further he went, the more forks in the path there were. It was his first visit to Wind Town and he was not familiar with the area. He chose the path that led upwards as it had signs of trampled undergrowth. He searched while calling out Wen Changling’s name, the sound resonating repeatedly in the quiet mountain.

Halfway up the mountain was a towering tree.

Wen Changling heard Xie Shang’s voice and walked out from behind the tree.

“Xie Shang.”

Xie Shang rushed over, his forehead sweaty, “Where did you go?”

“I felt a bit stifled, just out for a walk.”

Wen Changling had visited the place where Xie Qingze had accidentally fallen off the cliff, the same as before, unchanged.

Extreme anxiety can cause a suffocating feeling. Xie Shang took several deep breaths. His mind had just run through too many worst-case scenarios, leaving him with lingering fear. When he hugged Wen Changling, his fingertips were still trembling slightly.

“Why didn’t you tell me before you went out? What if you got lost?”

Wen Changling’s hands hung by her sides, “I won’t get lost on this road.”

She had walked this road countless times after Ah Na’s death.

Xie Shang touched her hand, which was very cold, like a block of ice, “Why are you so cold?”

“The temperature in the mountains is low.”

Xie Shang took off his coat, dressed her in it, and then helped her put on the hoodie’s hat and tied the strings tight, “Shall we go back?”

“Mm.”

By the time they got home, it was already late.

Xie Shang bought many things they needed and started boiling water in the kitchen. Wen Changling lay on the slate padded with straw, quietly watching the sunset.

The straw, it was uncertain whose it was, might have been presumed that the house had no owner, as there were many stacks of straw and firewood in the courtyard.

“Changling.”

Xie Shang said, “The water is ready.”

Wen Changling went to the bathroom; she was too cold and needed a hot shower.

The taps and locks in the old house, uninhabited for a long time, were broken. Xie Shang was about to knock when he saw Wen Changling’s hand through the crack of the door, holding a pair of scissors.

Xie Shang immediately pushed the door open, “What are you doing with scissors?”

Her expression was calm, “Cutting the tag off the towel.”

Xie Shang didn’t know why he was so jumpy, for in that instant, he had even thought Wen Changling might use the scissors to harm herself.

He took the scissors from her hand and cut off the towel’s tag.

“I’ll step out. You hurry and wash, don’t wait for the water to cool down.”

He had just turned around when Wen Changling pulled him back.

“Xie Shang,” she took the scissors from Xie Shang’s hand, tossed them aside, and took his hand to her waist, “Could you hurt me?”

Xie Shang knew Wen Changling had masochistic desires; it was evident when they were close. If her skin were broken, if she bled, she would be excited. But previously, it was always her acting on him.

“Changling, tell me what’s wrong?”

The wind of Wind Town blew her mind clear; the old places made old memories more profound.

She was in agony.

She should not have burned the Daydream Fragrance, should not have been moved.

Ah Na died because of her; it was because she wore Ah Na’s raincoat that Xie Liangjiang identified the wrong person. The one who should have died was her; how could she be kind to Xie Liangjiang’s son.

She was unforgivable.

“It’s nothing, I just wanted to play something exciting.”

With the most indifferent tone, she requested of Xie Shang, “I want you to hurt me.”

Because he couldn’t bear it, Xie Shang was very restrained.

But it was still the roughest they had ever been.

*****

“What are you thinking about?” Xie Shang wrapped the blanket around Wen Changling and lay down with her in the zipped-up tent, “Changling, will you tell me, please?”

“I’m thinking about my family.”

Wen Changling closed her eyes.

This time, she didn’t call Xie Shang’s name. She wanted to break this bad habit.

The next day, the weather was fine, with clear, autumn skies.

Fragrant City was known as Flower City, and many flowers would bloom in this season: angelica flowers, sunflowers, begonias, roses, and hibiscus flowers. Wind Town had many tourists, but all of them stayed at the terraced fields below, where there was a sea of flowers, so they didn’t climb up the mountain. Wen Changling took Xie Shang’s car to the supermarket at the foot of the mountain, bought fruit and flowers, packed them in a bamboo basket, and told Xie Shang she wanted to go out.

“Where are you going?”

“I’m going to visit my mother and brother.”

Xie Shang offered to carry the basket for her: “I’ll accompany you.”

Her expression suddenly turned cold: “You cannot come.”

His hand froze, then slowly dropped: “I’ll wait for you at home.”

Wen Changling left, and Xie Shang sat in the yard, guarding this house which was very unfamiliar to him.

The people of White Peach Village thought the Wen family brought bad luck and did not allow them to be buried in the village cemetery. Wen Yuan and Ah Na were buried in the same place, a mountain privately owned by Wen Changling’s already deceased grandmother.

There was a man in front of the grave, wearing glasses, with a Qinan bead bracelet on his wrist.

The man heard Wen Changling’s footsteps and turned to look at her.

As their eyes met, Wen Changling approached: “Are you Qin Qi?”

He was surprised: “You know me?”

Wen Changling took the fruit and flowers out of the basket, spoke with a common tone, her head quietly lowered, and told the man, “My mother called out the name Qin Qi before she passed away, you’re the only outsider I’ve seen come to visit my mother.”

Qin Qi sized her up, his gaze gentle and benevolent: “Are you Wen Yuan’s daughter?”

Wen Changling lifted her head to meet Qin Qi’s gaze and nodded: “My name is Wen Changling.” She hesitated before asking, “Are you my father?”

Qin Qi was taken aback, then said the truth: “I don’t know.”

*****

It was nearly dark, and Wen Changling had not returned. Xie Shang called her phone, but she did not answer.

Xie Shang asked the people of White Peach Village how to get to Wen Yuan’s grave.

The auntie being asked sat by the roadside plucking vegetables, scrutinizing the distinguished-looking outsider: “Young man, what do you want with Wen Yuan’s grave?”

Xie Shang did not respond.

“You’d better not go.” The Wen family’s girl was said to cast spells. The auntie didn’t voice this thought.

Without further explanation, Xie Shang politely requested: “Can you please show me the way?”

Indeed, odd things were happening today, with two men asking for directions to Wen Yuan’s grave, and saying the Wen family’s girl didn’t cast spells, who would believe that. Yet the auntie still pointed the way.

Wen Yuan’s grave was quite far from White Peach Village. Not familiar with the area, Xie Shang walked for almost an hour to get there. He saw Wen Yuan’s and Ah Na’s graves, and the photos on the tombstones. But Wen Changling was not there; the flowers placed by the tombstone had long been withered by the sun.

The funeral portraits were free of any dust, likely wiped recently. The two tombstones leaned against each other, with large swaths of Hooked Cymbidium growing behind them, flowering with yellow blossoms.

Xie Shang walked up to Ah Na’s tombstone, stood for a while, said nothing, then descended the hill.

He kept waiting in the house where Wen Changling had grown up, waiting through the darkness and into the dawn, but he did not wait for Wen Changling to return.