Let's Talk About It Tomorrow

Su Li glanced at Old Buck.

Although the old man looked thoroughly unwilling, under his wife's domineering ways, all he could do was swallow his anger and keep his mouth shut. He could only lower his head and gulp down his liquor, pretending he was deaf.

Then he looked at Sena. The girl's face was so red it looked ready to drip blood. She twisted the hem of her clothes tightly in both hands, yet she still hadn't said no.

In those eyes, besides shyness, there was even a tiny hint of... anticipation?

Su Li sighed inwardly.

"Since Auntie trusts me so much..." Su Li took a deep breath and forced a moved smile onto his face. "Then I'll accept. Don't worry, I, Su Li, swear to heaven that I'll behave myself and never cross the line."

"That's more like it!" Aunt Martha slapped her thigh, her face blooming with smiles. "Family should act like family. Sena, what are you standing there for? Hurry up and make a bed for your Su-gege! Find the thickest wool blanket!"

Sena came to her senses and gave an "Oh." When she stood up, her legs were so weak she could barely walk straight. She ran into the house with her arms and legs out of sync, forgetting even to kick the big black dog out of her way.

She just stepped right over it.

By the end of the meal, Aunt Martha was the only one in good spirits.

Old Buck drank himself into a stupor, muttering things like "my cabbage" and "a pig's rooting around" the whole time.

Night fell deep.

Wading Village sank into silence once more, broken only by the occasional chirp of insects.

Su Li stood outside Sena's bedroom, holding his bedding roll.

The threshold wasn't high, but to him, crossing it felt harder than stepping over a thousand-pound anvil.

He pushed the door open.

A faint fragrance wafted toward him.

It was the scent of dried lavender, mixed with the sweet freshness unique to a young girl's bedroom. The room was very dark, lit only by a small oil lamp with a bean-sized flame.

Sena was sitting on the edge of the bed, her back ramrod straight, both hands resting on her knees. She was as stiff as a block of wood.

The bedroll had already been laid out beside the bed.

"Um..." Su Li closed the door behind him, shutting out the night and Old Buck's snores. "I'm going to sleep now."

"Mm." Sena's voice was barely more than a whisper.

Su Li set down his bedding, took off his outer clothes, and lay down in just his trousers.

The bedroll was definitely more comfortable than the stable. At least it didn't prickle, and there was no donkey dung smell.

But the atmosphere was painfully awkward.

The air seemed charged with static. The slightest movement could spark a flare-up.

Su Li could feel a pair of eyes secretly watching him in the darkness.

Sena couldn't sleep at all.

That man was in her room. Less than five paces away from her.

She could even hear his steady breathing. It was like a dream—an incredibly daring, incredibly shameful, yet incredibly sweet dream.

"Su... Su-gege?" Sena couldn't help calling out, her voice trembling.

"Mm?" Su Li replied.

"Are... are you asleep?"

"Not yet."

"Oh."

Silence.

Su Li turned over and stared at the pitch-black rafters above. This couldn't go on.

The girl was so nervous her breathing was almost ragged. She might make herself sick by morning. He had to find something to talk about and dispel this charged, awkward atmosphere.

"Can't sleep?" Su Li asked.

"Mm... a little."

"Then I'll tell you a story." Su Li sat up and leaned against the wall. "Want to hear one?"

"I do!" Sena answered at once, a hint of excitement in her voice.

As long as she could hear him speak, she didn't care what he talked about.

"Okay." Su Li cleared his throat, searching his mind for material.

He definitely couldn't tell her any love stories. That could lead to trouble. He needed something strange and grand, something utterly unrelated to this place.

"This story takes place in a faraway land called the Great Tang of the East."

Su Li's voice was deep and magnetic, echoing through the small room.

"There was a mountain there called Flower Fruit Mountain. At its peak sat a stone that had absorbed the essence of heaven and earth, the sun and moon. One day, with a 'boom,' the stone burst open."

"Ah?" Sena cried out. "The stone exploded? Did it hurt anyone?"

"No one was hurt. A monkey jumped out of the stone." Su Li smiled and continued making things up. "But this wasn't an ordinary monkey. It could run and leap from the moment it was born, and golden beams shot from its eyes straight into the sky, startling even the gods above."

"A monkey... can become a spirit?" Sena was dumbfounded.

As far as she knew, monkeys were annoying creatures that screeched in trees and stole fruit.

"Of course. Later, the monkey learned all kinds of skills. It could transform in seventy-two different ways, and one somersault could carry it a hundred and eight thousand miles. It also carried a staff weighing thirteen thousand five hundred pounds, which it had stolen from the Dragon King under the sea..."

As Su Li told the story, Sena gradually relaxed.

She snuggled under the blankets, leaving only her bright eyes visible, and listened, enthralled.

That fantastical Eastern world, the lawless monkey, the monk who did nothing but chant scriptures, and the lazy, greedy pig... It was all so fresh and astonishing to her.

She had never traveled farther than the neighboring town, but now, in this man's voice, she seemed to see a vast, boundless world.

Su Li was thoroughly caught up in the tale. He'd made a few changes to Journey to the West, removing obscure Buddhist terminology and turning it into an adventure story that was easier to understand.

When he reached the part where Sun Wukong wreaked havoc in Heaven and stole Taishang Laojun's immortal pills, Sena giggled.

"That monkey is so naughty! Just like our big black dog. It's always sneaking food."

"Yeah, he's pretty naughty. But he's also pretty free," Su Li said with a sigh. "He does whatever he wants and fears no one."

The night grew deeper.

The oil in the lamp was nearly spent. The flame flickered twice, then finally went out. The room fell into darkness.

Su Li's story was nearing its end, too.

"...In the end, the monkey was pinned beneath Five Finger Mountain. It waited there and waited, for five hundred years, all to meet someone who could break the seal."

Su Li stopped.

Only their steady breathing remained in the room.

"What happened after that?" Sena asked softly, her voice heavy with drowsiness. "Did it find them?"

"It did," Su Li replied gently. "As long as you're alive, you'll always find what you're waiting for."

There was no sound from the other side.

A little while later, Sena's breathing grew slow and even. The girl had finally fallen asleep, probably with a smile still on her lips.

Su Li let out a long breath and lay back down on the bedroll.

He'd finally gotten through this hurdle.

He closed his eyes, but his mind couldn't help conjuring up the monkey pinned beneath the mountain.

Five hundred years. And that was just a myth.

What about him? How much longer would he have to struggle in this damned cycle before he could finally make it out?

"F-rank..." Su Li murmured to himself.

At any rate, in this world filled with the stink of fish and sweat, this room fragrant with dried flowers was a pretty good refuge for tonight.

Su Li gave a self-mocking smile and pulled the blanket over his head.

"Tomorrow..."

"Let's talk about it tomorrow."