Not Realizing Another Year Has Passed

The cold winter months, firewood for warmth, petting the cat and admiring the flowers – Song You's leisurely life in Yidu continued day after day.

One more item was added to his daily routine—

Caring for the horse.

His expenses also increased slightly.

Keeping a horse in the city was troublesome.

Northern Yuan horses were originally known for their strong digestive capabilities and could tolerate coarse feed; they didn't need refined grains unless doing heavy labor. However, since he couldn't gather grass in the city, he had to buy fodder and also clean up after it regularly. Fortunately, after Song You spoke to the horse, it remained quiet, which was a relief; otherwise, disturbing the neighbors, besides causing trouble, would have made him feel uneasy.

The twelfth lunar month was nearing its end.

Soon, it would be Song You's first solo Spring Festival since arriving in this world.

A few days prior, the Daoist priests from Fuqing Palace had sent a message via a pilgrim residing in Yidu. They invited Song You to Qingcheng Mountain for the New Year, asking him to arrive by the twenty-eighth. Song You considered it but ultimately declined. However, he had no way to send a reply to the Daoist priests, and he wondered how long they waited for him at the mountain gate that day.

Constable Luo also extended an invitation, which Song You politely refused.

Even Prefect Yu sent a message.

Song You declined them all.

The Winter Plum Blossoms had bloomed for a long time, and by New Year's Eve, the flowers were still present, braving the frost and snow, standing tall against the cold.

Song You was contemplating the days in the courtyard. Three Flower Lady, though transformed into human form, still couldn't shake her feline habits, loving to walk along the eaves of the courtyard walls.

The timing for this year's New Year was quite suitable; the beginning of spring would arrive just a few days after the festival.

He remembered arriving in Yidu after the start of autumn. After the beginning of spring, roughly two seasons, autumn and winter, would have passed.

A voice came from the courtyard wall above his head.

"Are we leaving?"

Song You looked up and saw the little girl standing barefoot on the rain-soaked eaves of the courtyard wall. The eaves were narrow and slippery, yet she stood there with incredible stability, staring down at him.

This cat truly had a pair of discerning eyes.

"I told you, Three Flower Lady, don't climb on the rooftops and walk around when you're in human form. People will mistake you for a monster."

"Three Flower Lady is a monster."

"It will disturb the neighbors."

"There's no one in the houses here."

"It's impolite."

"Alright, alright."

Despite saying this, she showed no intention of coming down, continuing to stare at him:

"Are we leaving?"

"After the beginning of spring."

"How long until the beginning of spring?"

"A few more days."

"Why do we have to wait until the beginning of spring?"

"The beginning of spring marks the start of the year, when vitality is abundant and all things revive. It's a good time to begin a journey."

"I don't understand."

"Come down quickly."

"Get me a ladder."

"You can clearly jump down."

"I'll be mistaken for a monster."

"..."

Song You went to fetch her a ladder and brought her shoes.

Three Flower Lady felt awkward wearing the shoes. She looked around the room with a sense of reluctance.

Half a year was a long time for a cat.

This place was now filled with her scent.

"What will we do these next few days?"

"We have to ask the landlord to inspect the house."

"What's house inspection?"

"It means this is someone else's house that we rented. So, when we return it, we have to ask them to check if we've damaged anything."

"And after the inspection?"

"We have to say goodbye to the storyteller."

"What else?"

"Chinese New Year."

"Three Flower Lady knows about Chinese New Year."

"Three Flower Lady has great wisdom."

"That's right."

"This journey will take me further and further from home."

"I don't know what home is."

Song You turned his head to meet her gaze. After a moment of silence, seeing only pure clarity in her eyes, he fell silent again, unsure of what to say.

The fourth day of the new year was the start of spring.

The fifth day marked exactly six months since he had rented the courtyard.

Song You thought about it. It made no sense to ask someone to inspect the property on the first day of the new year. According to Yizhou customs, the second day was for visiting ancestral graves and paying respects to the deceased elders. After that, there were visits to his wife's family and other relatives and friends. He figured he wouldn't be free until the fifth or sixth day. Calculating it this way, the time after the new year wasn't as convenient as the time before it.

He decided to ask the landlord to come over today.

About an hour later, the landlord arrived.

The landlord was a man in his thirties, dressed like a scholar. His name was Tang Zhong, courtesy name Xincheng.

He had heard that the tenant here was a master. In fact, he was the only tenant who had lived in the courtyard for an extended period in recent years. He had even approached Song You for a talisman. Naturally, he was full of respect now.

Mustering his courage, he conducted a brief inspection. The small courtyard was undamaged.

"Mister, everything is in order."

"Then I'll be leaving on the fifth."

"Tang has one more matter to ask of you, Mister..."

"Please, go ahead."

"Previously, in this courtyard..." Tang Zhong looked around. Although he felt no discomfort, he still felt a chill. He spoke hesitantly, "Previously, in this courtyard... it was a bit... unclean. I heard that you, Mister, have profound Taoist cultivation. I wonder if you have... if you have already removed it?"

Song You glanced at him and simply said:

"That was merely a wisp of a lingering soul's obsession. If you have no guilt in your heart, there's no need to fear it."

Song You had seen at a glance that the female ghost had not harmed anyone and lacked the ability to do so. He was merely a passerby, staying here temporarily, and was too lazy to delve into her story.

It was only after he had lived here for a long time, perhaps at the end of last month, or perhaps at the beginning of this month, that Constable Luo happened to mention it to him.

This woman had originally been a singer in a brothel, and later married the eldest son of the Tang family. Her husband was the elder brother of the Official Tang before him. The couple loved each other dearly, and their story became a beautiful tale. However, later, war broke out in the north. The eldest son of the Tang family followed a familiar general to join the army, hoping to achieve merit and defend the country. But after a few years, all contact was lost. The woman, left alone in her chambers, missed her husband, grew increasingly depressed, and soon passed away.

This story had moved many people in Yidu.

This courtyard belonged to the eldest son of the Tang family and her.

Now that the male owner was missing and the female owner was dead, Tang Zhong, as their only remaining relative, naturally took possession of the courtyard. However, the woman's obsession was too deep, and her spirit lingered for a long time. No one dared to live in the courtyard, nor could it be sold. Tang Zhong was helpless.

When Song You first heard the story, he was also deeply touched.

He was touched by the rare love that truly existed in the feudal era, an obsession that transcended life and death. He also pondered that the story was different from what he had originally imagined.

The remnant soul of this woman hid very deeply, making it difficult to find. It could indeed stump many folk masters who made a living from such things. But Yizhou was vast, and there were capable people. Yet, she had remained here for several years. Song You had originally thought there must be some hidden secret, like stories in novels, where either the woman had an unusual identity during her lifetime, or something else was involved, with many twists and turns. He never expected that the reason the woman's remnant soul and obsession had persisted here for years without being resolved was simply the widespread sympathy and admiration she received from the surrounding community.

Accustomed to thinking in complex ways, he was momentarily hesitant to believe it was merely people's simple, pure goodwill.

Thus, Song You suddenly understood. Thus, Song You praised it. Thus, he once again clearly recognized that this was a real world. Even though this era was backward and ignorant, it also had warmth and color.

Although there were differences between ancient and modern times, human hearts were connected.

In terms of understanding the female ghost's life before her death, Song You knew less than the neighbors. In terms of the impact caused by the female ghost's presence, Song You was less affected than the neighbors. Since the neighbors were all tolerating her with understanding, and Constable Luo, who lived diagonally opposite the courtyard, had chosen to turn a blind eye given his personality and duties, Song You had no reason to remove her.

Tang Zhong was immediately extremely disappointed, yet he still did not give up.

"Mister, is there a way to remove her?"

Song You did not answer, only looked at him and shook his head.

"Alas..."

Tang Zhong sighed deeply and waved his hands repeatedly. "It's no use, it's no use. I've tried everything for these past few years, and I accept it. Let her stay here. Mister, I'll take my leave now."

"Wishing you a Happy New Year."

"And to you, Mister, Happy New Year."

The wooden door creaked open and creaked shut again.

Song You sat in the courtyard for a while longer. When it was nearing evening and time to start cooking, he finally returned to the house.

Stepping onto a stool, he took down a piece of cured meat and a section of sausage from the beam, and also got a piece of air-dried fish. He boiled water and washed them carefully. The cured meat was smoked, so he had to scrape off the black ash from the surface with a knife. The creaking sound was just like the arrival of the New Year.

"Taoist priest, why aren't you eating grass today?"

"Chinese New Year."

"Oh, right."

Three Flower Lady had somehow turned back into a cat. As Song You washed vegetables and got water, she ran around behind him, chasing after something for no apparent reason. When Song You lit the oil lamp, her shadow flickered as he busied himself. She began chasing his shadow on the ground, pouncing and leaping, completely engrossed in her play.

"Three Flower Lady, help me with the fire."

"Hm?"

"Go find some clothes, take human form, and help me stoke the fire."

"Why?"

"We should be making the New Year's Eve dinner together."

"Oh, right."

The little cat immediately ran out.

Wisps of cooking smoke curled upwards, and ten thousand lights twinkled. Every door and every house in the city had lit lanterns, and the sounds of music and revelry drifted in from outside.

Fragrance gradually began to waft from the courtyard.

After cooking the sausages, Song You patiently sliced them thinly. His peripheral vision caught the little girl stoking the fire at the stove, craning her neck and staring expectantly. His movements paused, and his heart was touched. He smiled and, when only a small piece remained at the end of the sausage, he stopped slicing and held it out to her.

Three Flower Lady leaned in to sniff, then looked up at him.

"Is this for me?"

"Yes."

"We haven't eaten yet."

"Children can eat first."

"Oh."

Song You couldn't help but look reminiscent.

"Three Flower Lady, do you know? When I was little, every New Year, the adults would be busy chopping vegetables, and I would always love to hang around them. As they chopped, they would always leave a piece for us. I always thought it tasted better than what was on the table the next day at noon."

"Mmm..."

Song You didn't seem to expect an answer. He was lost in thought, and now, looking back, that time was truly incredibly happy and blissful.

Today, he would pass that feeling on to Three Flower Lady.

Not long after—

On the table was a bowl of preserved sausages, a bowl of preserved meat stir-fried with garlic sprouts, and a bowl of preserved fish. The pig trotters bought this morning had stewed into half a pot of soup. It wasn't a lavish spread, but in fact, there was more than they could eat. The large and small figures sat opposite each other by the lamplight. The oil lamp's glow could only illuminate a very narrow area, casting rings of patterns on the rough pottery bowls.

No one spoke; they just ate silently.

Song You didn't feel lonely. In the years he'd spent at the Taoist temple, there had only been him, his master, and that old mynah bird. He was already used to it.

Before long, fireworks began to light up the sky outside.

Unknowingly, another year had passed in this world.

Thanks to "Xu Qiu'an" for the Grand Alliance Leader, Abs Sister is forever god, bowing and baring chest!