The hao-chong were rats. After Jiang She put it that way, and Li Bai confirmed that the people in the dream truly couldn't see him, he found himself growing rather mischievous.
He picked up a jade chopstick from the table, dipped it in the sauce, and wrote on Yuan Danqiu's face.
"The mind of the lady loves purity, but the heart disturbs it..."
When the "ink" faded, he refreshed it with more sauce from the shallow dish.
For some reason, Yuan Danqiu's face itched terribly. He scratched at it, but the itch wouldn't go away, and his brows drew tightly together. Without knowing why, he instinctively glanced at the Right Chancellor nearby. Only when his gaze met the lavish embroidery on the man's lapel did he come to his senses.
How strange. Why was he looking at the Right Chancellor?
The Right Chancellor looked over, too.
Yuan Danqiu poured wine and lifted his cup, pausing for a breath in midair to apologize for his earlier discourtesy.
Li Bai was also taken aback. He stared at the crooked characters in sauce on Yuan Danqiu's face.
The few of them had sought the Dao together and had long since become friends. Li Bai and Yuan Danqiu were close, and after they met Meng Haoran, the three lived together in Xiangyang, lodging beneath Lumen Mountain. Every so often, they climbed the mountain to gather herbs, then returned singing, free and carefree.
"Even in the dream, they can sense a little of what's happening?"
Old Deer Mountain God lifted his cup as well.
He studied the official who had just come to his senses.
As a mountain god, he naturally knew where they were now. The people outside who had entered the dream were under his protection.
The more he understood,
the more astonished he felt.
The mountain god said, "That is precisely what makes the gentleman so formidable."
Old Deer Mountain God dipped a finger in the wine and traced a wet line across the table. Watching the wine slowly vanish, he found that he simply couldn't bring himself to say what came next.
Jiang She said, "Just a few minor tricks. Nothing worth mentioning."
While the few of them watched the wine dry, it seemed that several more days passed in the dream. Time flew, and the auspicious day of Lu the Eldest's grand wedding had arrived.
Lu the Eldest had won a princess as his wife.
His splendor blazed like the sun; in his carriages, clothing, outings, banquets, and retinue, he ranked just below the king.
Several years passed in the blink of an eye. The dreamers had risen to high office, serving as prefects of their respective regions. He recommended several of the people who had been with him on the terrace that night for official posts, and Yuan Danqiu became Minister of Agriculture. He spent his days urging the people to farm and raise silkworms, his abacus work leaving his head spinning.
"If I'd known it would be like this, why take the damned post?"
"I wish I could throw up my official cap and roam the world..."
Meanwhile, Lu the Eldest's standing grew ever more exalted, and he was promoted time and again until he received a fief. He and his wife had five sons and two daughters. Their sons were appointed to office through their father's privilege, while their daughters married into the royal nobility. As time went by, in the Ancient Locust Kingdom he came to rival princes and lords in wealth and status.
Twenty years passed. A neighboring kingdom invaded, its troops reaching the city walls.
Even the Minister of Agriculture had to oversee provisions now, defending the isolated city. Yuan Danqiu was on the ramparts when ten thousand arrows pierced him, and he died.
The villagers who had once served as officials alongside him watched in terror. Under cover of night, one of them slipped out through a postern gate with his belongings, but the enemy spotted him. A single blade ran him through, and he died before the enemy army.
Lu the Eldest took personal command and earned merit in putting down the rebellion. His achievements were so great that the ministers at court were all alarmed. Memorials impeaching him came rolling in like snowflakes in winter. His official rank was cut again and again, and both his fief and title were reclaimed by the court.
For Lu the Eldest, it was five years of hardship.
But in the eyes of Jiang She and the others, it had been no more than a morning.
His former glory and favor vanished like smoke.
The king grew wary and resentful of him, summoned him to the palace, and in truth laid an ambush.
Jiang She and the others stayed in this dream for seven days.
This was Li Bai's first time seeing the king of the Ancient Locust Kingdom. The man looked solemn yet gentle, and seemed approachable. Setting aside the complicated feelings stirred by seeing Yuan Danqiu die right before his eyes, Li Bai exclaimed in surprise, "Isn't that the young apothecary who was with Physician Luo?"
"He was actually the emperor?"
"Where's Physician Luo?"
"Seven days ago, he was the one selling fortunes outside the Daoist temple."
Li Bai mulled it over. "Those three swindlers became Daoist priests, while Physician Luo, a descendant of Immortal Sun, became a wanderer of the jianghu."
"Life and death."
"Glory and disgrace."
"Could they really hinge on a single thought?"
Jiang She did not answer.
Old Deer Mountain God was contemplating the mysteries in his heart, too, and likewise gave Li Bai no answer.
When Li Bai looked again,
all he saw was Lu the Eldest's corpse.
A horse dragged a coffin, swaying as it made its way back to his hometown. The wheels rolled over the yellow earth, leaving the prefectural city where Lu the Eldest had once served. They passed through the city gate where Yuan Danqiu had been pierced by arrows and shot dead.
They left the Ancient Locust Kingdom.
The heavens suddenly opened wide.
Sunlight broke through the drifting clouds, shining brilliantly upon them. First came the cries of birds and insects. When they looked up, the things around them abruptly grew larger. The familiar courtyard walls stood there, just as before.
Green tiles and whitewashed walls, moss creeping over the steps.
It all felt as if a lifetime had passed.
Bathed in the warm sunlight, everyone felt an inexplicable urge to weep.
Li Bai stared blankly for a long while, then sneezed without thinking.
Only then did he realize
that after all this time, his clothes were already stained with dust.
He shook the dust from them. In the light, he saw it drift and float through the air. Beneath the locust tree still sat the carrying basket he and Young Master Jiang had set aside earlier. The extraordinary things Old Deer Mountain God had given them were still there; the spring bamboo shoots and wild berries could still be eaten.
But the fish was dead.
Its gills gaped, its scales shriveled. Its mouth hung open, and it was quite dead.
Jiang She looked slightly startled.
He sighed and apologized to Old Deer Mountain God. "I forgot about the fish. I've wasted the mountain god's kind gift."
Old Deer Mountain God was still marveling at the dream he had just witnessed.
"What does that matter? It's nothing at all."
"If the gentleman would like, I'll have them catch a few more. Boiled or roasted, they're both excellent."
Jiang She did not refuse.
"Then I thank you, mountain god."
Seven days in this world.
Yet Meng Haoran, Yuan Danqiu, the six guests in the courtyard, the three servants, one steward, Lu the Eldest, Grand Matriarch Lu, the two young apothecaries, and the three swindlers—the false Daoist master and his apprentices—
nineteen people in all—
had each lived through an entire lifetime.
Now that all nineteen had awakened, seeing the familiar courtyard before them and hearing the birds and insects of this world, they only then slowly came back to themselves.
Physician Luo was the first to speak.
"This is..."
"Where's Yunniang? Has she been settled in?"
"That worshipper from earlier hasn't paid yet. Qingyu, bolt the door and don't let him leave... Huh? This is..."
Lu the Eldest had yet to come to his senses. The terror of being suddenly stabbed to death still lingered in his heart. He had just had a dream, and everything in it had been so vivid he could remember each child's face and temperament, as well as how the king had ordered his death.
"This is... a dream?"
It had felt so real. Could it really have been a dream?
Forty years in the dream had passed in an instant.
He pushed himself up from the ground. His body swayed, and his head felt heavy and light at once.
Yuan Danqiu pressed a hand to his chest, still shaken by the feeling of a sharp weapon piercing him. A dozen breaths passed before he and Meng Haoran pulled each other to their feet.
Their hearts were in turmoil, and they could not put it into words.
"You're..."
"You, too...?"
They looked again at the young man seated beside the table in the courtyard, dressed in a blue robe, his expression easy and untroubled.
Beneath the green shade, he rinsed a teacup and poured himself a cup of tea.
He took a sip.
Jiang She furrowed his brow, sounding helpless. "I left it to steep too long. It really is a little bitter."
He looked around at everyone in the courtyard. Some gazed at him strangely, some were still savoring the dream, some stood dazed and distracted, and others stared up at him.
He set down his teacup.
"Everyone, it's time to wake up."
Before you continue