Where Immortals Once Walked

The courtyard of the new house was much larger than the one in Panlong City; it was at least sixty square meters. Beneath the eaves sat a large water vat, big enough to fit an adult inside with room to spare.

In this freezing weather, Ms. Sun was, of course, not in the water. She was standing beside the vat, drawing water.

He Lingchuan stepped forward and very consciously picked up the bucket, carrying it into the house.

In the living room, the firepit was blazing merrily. The moment he walked in, warmth wrapped around him from head to toe.

A large basin rested over the firepit, big enough for bathing a child. Soaking inside it were several dozen thin bamboo strips.

Sun Fuling pointed at the basin. “Pour it in.”

He Lingchuan lifted the bucket and poured the water inside. Then he fished out one bamboo strip to test it. It was very thin, but quite resilient.

He sucked in a cold breath. “Are the students so naughty that you need this many pointers[1]?”

Getting smacked across the palms with bamboo—there was a childhood memory frozen in time.

Sun Fuling picked up a clean strip of bamboo and lightly flicked it across his back. “They’re all for taking care of you!”

He Lingchuan straightened his back and patted his chest. “Not to brag, but even if you broke all these bamboo strips on me, you still wouldn’t hurt me. You’d need something more formidable.”

With his current physical toughness, a bamboo strip landing on him would only tickle, not hurt.

“Oh, your skin’s itching, is it? Are you that eager for a beating?” Teacher Sun laughingly scolded him, then swatted him again, this time squarely on the backside. She used a bit more force, but a certain someone’s hide was thick, so he still felt nothing. “If all students were like you, academies really wouldn’t need to stay open!”

“What are these actually for?”

“For making paper kites.” Ms. Sun picked up one bamboo strip that had been soaking for a while and wiped it dry. “The wind will pick up in two or three days, just right for taking the students outside the city to fly kites. It would be best if the West Luo and Changhou children could play together.”

He Lingchuan saw several stacks of white paper on the table. “How can something this childish dare trouble our Academician Sun?”

“The academy is short-handed, and the craftsman who usually makes the kites fell ill these past few days. Hence, the work had to be assigned out. Each teacher has to make ten.” She split the bamboo strip in two with a small knife, slicing so cleanly and smoothly that it looked as if she were peeling asparagus, not slicing hard bamboo. “Sigh. I used to think that being a teacher meant I only had to teach. Who knew there would be endless miscellaneous tasks, most of them unrelated to teaching?”

Her lips pursed slightly. She seemed a little unhappy.

Clearly, everyone hated trouble that fell outside their actual job.

It was the first time He Lingchuan had heard her complain to him. She was no longer quite the ethereal, untouched-by-the-world figure she had once seemed.

“Teaching is already hard enough,” He Lingchuan agreed readily. “The students at your academy are all like wild monkeys.”

He had been to Yuheng Academy. The moment class was dismissed, the place turned as noisy as a mountain full of monkeys, making his head buzz.

“Mm-hm, more or less like you.” While the hot water softened the bamboo, Sun Fuling quickly bent a strip into a diamond-shaped frame and tied it tightly, forming the classic shape of a kite.

She complained, but her hands did not slow in the slightest.

“You seem very practiced at this, Ms. Sun.” What kind of woman can’t cook, but has frightening knife skills and knows how to make paper kites?

“When I was little, I often made these with my father. The kites we made for competitions always flew the highest and the farthest.” Sun Fuling glanced at him. “Do you know how?”

He Lingchuan also picked up a small knife and helped her shave the bamboo strips. “Child’s play. I can even make a big dragon!”

Sun Fuling let out a soft snort of laughter and said nothing, but her meaning was perfectly clear.

“Huh? You don’t believe me?” He Lingchuan glared at her. “Want me to make one for you?”

“Make a few small paper kites first and let me see.” Sun Fuling pointed at the bamboo strips. “You haven’t finished even one yet.”

“Fine, fine.” This thing could not stump He Lingchuan. When he had been young back in the countryside, he had made scarecrows, paper kites, and grasshoppers out of straw. The craft prized deftness and speed.

He quickly made a falcon shape, a swallow shape, and even a batfish and a cobra.

This time, Sun Fuling believed him, because in an outsider’s hands, those bamboo strips would never bend into the right shapes. Much less be made so quickly and so well.

“Don’t make them too complicated, or they’ll be hard for me to paint.” She took the finished bamboo frames, applied glue, then stretched wet paper taut over them and carefully trimmed the edges.

Once the paper dried completely, she would still have to paint on it. Some would also need long tails tied on. Only then would they be complete kites.

“Why paint them at all?” He Lingchuan pointed off to the side. “Hand me that red paper!”

Sun Fuling glanced at him and passed the red paper over. This kind of red paper flecked with gold was generally used for formal visiting cards. It was expensive and stiff.

He Lingchuan picked up a brush, dipped it in ink, and wrote on the red paper in one bold, sweeping breath: “Read the Three Books every day, and don’t neglect your lessons.”

“The greatest truths are the simplest. Just paste this onto the back of the kite! I guarantee whichever kid gets it will be so moved they’ll cry.”

The “Three Books” were the teaching materials Shumin Academy had designated for students under twelve, and all three were hefty tomes. Stacked together, the books weighed about two kilograms.

Sun Fuling did not know whether to laugh or be angry. Even the hand holding her paintbrush trembled. “You, you really...”

She also believed that whichever child received this would most likely cry.

He Lingchuan admired his own handwriting, thoroughly pleased with himself. Not bad at all. “Education through entertainment. Isn’t it perfect?”

Sun Fuling bit her lip, suppressing a smile. Then she leaned over and added a smaller line beneath his words: “-Yuheng Commander He Lingchuan.”

She absolutely was not carrying this blame.

She was so close that He Lingchuan could see her lovely face right before his eyes, and a faint fragrance drifted around him. His heart began itching uncontrollably.

By the time he realized what he was doing, he had already planted a kiss on the beauty’s cheek.

Sun Fuling froze at once. She turned her head to look at him, her bright eyes misty.

He Lingchuan’s mouth went dry. “Ah, I...”

He had just been about to pour out his heart when a bamboo strip on the table suddenly sprang up and snapped across Sun Fuling’s face with a loud crack.

It turned out that the bamboo frame he had tied was not secure enough, and one of the strips had snapped loose.

Still, the timing on that was far too crazy, wasn’t it? The bamboo strip shot out so fast it nearly left an afterimage behind. Both he and Sun Fuling had their minds on each other, and neither of them had blocked it.

Smack.

The sound was rather loud, almost enough to shatter He Lingchuan’s heart.

Sun Fuling was badly startled, and she really did jump. One hand covered her face, and her eyes were full of shock.

“Does it hurt?” He Lingchuan immediately rushed to make amends. “Let me see, let me see!”

Sun Fuling lowered her hand. A conspicuous red welt had appeared on her soft, tender cheek.

Ah...

It’s over!

“Ah, I have medicine!” He hardened his scalp and pulled a salve from his robes, scooping up a little and carefully smoothing it over her cheek. Since he was always out on field duty, he kept burn and pain-relief ointments ready on him at all times.

Her face was delicate and tender, and once the salve had been applied, it was even smoother than congealed cream.

Only that red mark was horribly in the way.

She did not say a word. Her cheeks were slightly puffed out, though he did not know whether from anger or swelling. However, the mist in her eyes had vanished.

Ah, so this is what she looks like when she’s angry. He had finally seen it for himself.

Watching as Sun Fuling’s expression shifted from clear skies to overcast, He Lingchuan feared it would turn into a torrential downpour next. He hurriedly flung aside all unrelated thoughts and said, “I’m truly sorry, truly! How about this? For the rest, you won’t need to lift a hand! I’ll take care of all ten paper kites. You just supervise from the side. How does that sound?”

1. He’s referring to the whip-like things that used to be quite prevalent and still are in some places. ☜

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