Once they settled quietly in one place, rising to work at sunrise and resting at sunset, the pastoral surroundings seemed to slow the rhythm of life ever further.
Such days were leisurely enough for Jiang Lang, but one month passed, then two, and after several months in the Yi Household...
"I can't take it anymore-"
Behind the Mountain God Temple on Broad South Mountain one evening, Jiang Lang roared into the mountains. Waves of sound swept across the wilderness, carrying faint echoes of a dragon's cry and frightening the mountain animals into either frantic flight or frozen stillness.
Huang Hongchuan stood beside Jiang Lang, digging in his ear with a little finger.
"Why shout so loudly, Dragon King Jiang? You've frightened all the animals in the mountains!"
After that roar, Jiang Lang took several deep breaths before turning to Huang Hongchuan.
"Ah, I lost! I lost to Old Yi and Hui Mian!"
Huang Hongchuan switched hands to dig in his other ear, then blew across his fingernail with a soft puff.
"Surely not? It's only been a few months."
The so-called wager did not really involve Yi Shuyuan. It was chiefly between Jiang Lang and Hui Mian; Huang Hongchuan and the Land God of West River Village had merely heard about it.
Jiang Lang had thought he could wait in perfect leisure until Yi Shuyuan set out again. That was all they had wagered on, with no stakes attached.
"Ah..."
Jiang Lang looked rather dispirited.
"It has only been a few months. Normally, I can sometimes sleep for months at a stretch, but it's different here. Getting dressed and rising every day, undressing and going to bed, doing the occasional bit of work and eating together. Every day unchanged, every day the same. It's really..."
Huang Hongchuan shook his head,