The Old Beggar's Bone

A-Xu had spent three years cultivating in Weiyang Palace.

She had followed her teacher to the Northern Kingdom Grand Ceremony and had also attended the mountain-sealing ceremony of the southern Aristocratic Clans.

That chattering little girl had gone through a lot over the past few years, becoming quieter and more aloof with each passing day.

Much of the time, she wore a plain white robe and carried a book basket on her back as she followed behind her teacher.

An old man in hemp robes and a young woman in white crossed plains where orioles flew and grass grew lush, and climbed over one uninhabited old forest after another.

It seemed that countless people had seen that pure, otherworldly young woman over those years. She came from the Tang Kingdom's imperial family, from within Weiyang Palace, and practiced the Dao under Grand Secretary Du.

At that time, Li Shiyi was still a lazy, aimless young master from a wealthy family.

Life in Luoyang City was calm and uneventful. The gentle spring days hung silently in the sky.

The grasslands and wilderness, the willow trees and streams-none of it had changed. Everything remained just as peaceful and carefree as before.

Only, every now and then, Li Shiyi would have one of his spells and skip class to bask in the sun beneath the willow tree on the back hill, or hide in the Mid-Lake Pavilion to read and fish.

The old tutor at the private school couldn't keep him in line, because at the start of the year, Li Shiyi's father and mother had moved to Chang'an City. The sprawling Li Residence was left with no one but him.

Li Shiyi's mother had returned to Chang'an City because her maternal uncle had passed away, and the merchant guild that spanned the Tang Kingdom needed her to take charge.

His father had returned to Chang'an because Great Ancestor had gone to the Cloud and Mist Mountain Range, leaving the nation's fortune unstable. His father needed to take command of the Tang Army again.

And so, Li Shiyi was the only one left in Luoyang City.

In fact, Li Shiyi had been among those who went to Chang'an City at the start of the year.

He went as an imperial grandson to the border between Tang territory and the Cloud and Mist Mountain Range, where he joined the Tang imperial clan in bidding farewell to Great Ancestor.

The Cloud and Mist Mountain Range lay at the center of the entire continent. It was boundless, mysterious, and ancient.

Legend had it that the tombs of every Great Emperor in Human Race history had been built in a forbidden zone on the outskirts of the Cloud and Mist Mountain Range.

No one had ever ventured deep into the Cloud and Mist Mountain Range, and no one knew just how vast it was.

But after Li Shiyi returned from the Cloud and Mist Mountain Range, he fell ill and coughed nonstop from dawn to dusk.

The imperial physicians said he had merely caught a chill and that it was nothing serious.

Li Shiyi said nothing. He only nodded and gave me a silly grin.

That spring passed very slowly. Mourning cloth and hemp robes often hung across Luoyang City.

The elderly passed away one after another, and the old shops throughout Luoyang City withered away that spring like dead branches and fallen leaves.

I still often went to Li Residence to see Li Shiyi, but I gradually noticed that unfamiliar young faces were appearing in his estate.

The old servants also passed away, one by one, without anyone noticing.

Li Shiyi kept coughing. All day long, he sat in the pavilion at the center of the lake, staring blankly at the distant sky, his thoughts a mystery.

He was no longer as carefree as before, joking and clowning around. He had grown accustomed to staring into space and keeping silent.

Only, whenever he saw me, he would still grin, pretending nothing had happened.

That was when I began to feel afraid.

The swaying carriage finally stopped in front of Luoyang City's gates.

The caravan's leader was handling the entry formalities with the guards at the city gate.

The old merchant got down from the carriage alone, his hands tucked into his sleeves. He silently gazed at the towering city wall and the white willow catkins drifting up over the plains outside the city.

He looked like an old trader who had traveled a long way and finally returned home, his face covered in dust, yet still wistfully nostalgic for this familiar land.

Gu Baishui also got down from the carriage and looked up at the vast, weathered old city before him.

The city gate was wide and heavy, and the stone walls were mottled with age. Outside Luoyang City stretched an endless plain. Two tributaries of the Luo River wound around it, cutting through the fertile grassland and flowing into the distance.

The Little Beggar was alone, leaning over the carriage window ledge. He stared blankly at a Big Stone by the city gate, lost in thought.

The breeze picked up. The old merchant brushed his sleeve, straightened his clothes, and then walked toward the city gate with a calm expression.

At last, he had reached Luoyang City. In the season when willow catkins filled the air, the old merchant had come to pay his respects to a departed old friend, and also to see a young friend off on his way.

A long line had formed outside Luoyang City's gate.

Perhaps, just as the old merchant had said, Luoyang was at its most pleasant for sightseeing at this time of year. That was why so many strangely dressed outsiders were waiting beyond the city gate.

Gu Baishui glanced around for a while before realizing that all kinds of travelers had gathered outside this prosperous old city.

There were wandering rangers with long swords hanging at their waists,

fair-faced scholars in embroidered robes,

unkempt men with their chests bared,

and lazy, absent-minded old fishermen.

They seemed to have come from every corner of the land, gathering outside Luoyang City in this season of drifting willow catkins. No one knew why they had come, and no one asked where they were headed.

A ragged old beggar emerged from behind a willow tree by the roadside. He supported himself with a crooked wooden staff in one hand and shielded a chipped, battered porcelain bowl with the other. Dragging his weary, powerless body, he slowly made his way to the back of the caravan.

The old beggar looked very old, with disheveled hair and a face covered in dust and grime.

The travelers waiting outside the city paid him no mind, and the old beggar seemed to have no intention of begging from them.

And so, Gu Baishui watched as the stooped old beggar made his way through the crowd, step by step, until he finally stopped in front of him.

The carriage curtain stirred.

Gu Baishui looked at the porcelain bowl extended before him and fell silent for a moment.

He had no idea how this old beggar had picked him out.

There were so many wealthy travelers outside the city, yet the beggar had chosen him, the poorest of them all.

Was this old beggar new to the trade?

Couldn't he even tell who might give him money?

"I don't have any money."

After holding it in for a long while, Gu Baishui finally muttered those words.

The old beggar froze for a moment, then shook his head and stubbornly moved his porcelain bowl closer to Gu Baishui.

Gu Baishui scratched his head helplessly. After hesitating for a long while, he reached into his chest and pulled out half a hard, half-dry steamed bun. He reluctantly placed it in the old beggar's bowl.

It was the last of the food he had left over from this morning.

The old beggar fell silent for a moment. Looking at the innocent-faced young man in green across from him, he seemed to understand.

He coughed lightly a few times, then lifted the piece of steamed bun from his porcelain bowl with a look of distaste and pointed at the young man's right hand.

Gu Baishui didn't understand, but he still held out his hand, palm up, with some hesitation.

The old beggar turned the bowl upside down, and a bone that looked as if it had been gnawed clean fell into Gu Baishui's palm.

The surface of the bone was pitted, and a few strands of hair were caught in its tiny crevices. It looked rather dirty.

Gu Baishui's face darkened. The corner of his mouth twitched as he looked at the old beggar who was making fun of him.

But the old beggar remained calm. He even coughed violently a few times before speaking in a hoarse voice.

"Don't go into Luoyang. Take this bone and run as far as you can..."