27. The Mrs. Long San Who Is As Strong As A Cow
Translated by Ju Hua | Edited by Pu Er
No matter how worried Feng Ning was or how much she didn’t want it to happen, Long San still lost consciousness and couldn’t reply to her words. In the darkness, where five fingers couldn’t even be seen with outstretched hands (basically pitch-black), Feng Ning tightly held onto him, and her heart was erratically “bam bam bam” beating. She was really afraid he wouldn’t wake up again, really afraid that he wouldn’t be able to stare at her, sigh, and wisecrack with her again. She tightly hugged him, and being so close, she finally heard his heartbeat and breathing. These barely audible sounds consoled her.
Feng Ning withdrew to Long San’s side, quietly, and remained motionless. Not knowing how long it’d been, she heard the sounds of numerous and disorderly horse hooves, and her heart jumped. Those people really turned back.
She could hear a person far, far away loudly cursing. “Mother, in this kind of place, where could they have gone?” Another person said, “This side has a slope, let’s go down to look.” And then, there were only the sounds of heavy stomping on the ground. A few people most likely jumped down from the top of the slope, and were frantically circling around the surrounding area.
The night was still, and the sounds traveled far. Even though they were separated by a distance, Feng Ning could still hear, those people were searching everywhere. After a while they actually turned towards the direction that Feng Ning was hiding in. Feng Ning lightly felt about, and found the sword. She gripped it in her hand, and leaned her body to block in front of Long San, ready for combat.
Two people approached nearby, and they raised their torches. The torch light was dazzlingly bright as it shined towards the entrance of the cave Feng Ning was hiding in. Feng Ning held her breath, and every nerve in her body tensed. Those two people went back and forth twice, and finally shouted, “There’s nothing.” Then they all got on the horses and left.
Feng Ning waited for a good while, and hearing no movement outside, she let out a sigh. She relaxed, and turned around to resume holding Long San. In the dark, there wasn’t a good place to grasp onto so when she hugged him, face touched face, and head faced head. Feng Ning was surprised, and couldn’t say for certain what the feeling in her own heart and mind was. She slowly tightened her hug, and rested her head on his shoulder.
After hugging for awhile, she felt his body start to heat up. Feng Ning was alarmed, and didn’t dare have any charming thoughts. She knew he was just as she expected; he was starting to get sick. At the moment she also didn’t know what the situation was like outside, whether or not that group of people would return and cause trouble. Feng Ning had no grasp on any of it, but leaving Long San alone, was not an option.
Feng Ning deliberated, and finally decided to leave Long San there. She would first scout out the road by herself. She carefully stuck her head out and attentively observed. Confirming it was safe, she crawled out, and turned around to tidy up the cave entrance. In her heart she said to Long San, “Wait for me, I’ll be back soon.”
Feng Ning fully utilized qinggong[1], urgently rushing the entire way. In one breath she ran close to ten li (roughly 3.11 miles), and finally saw a small peasant’s farm. Feng Ning had to restrain from getting too excited, and quietly walked over to the window to investigate the family inside. There was a humble middle-aged couple who were tidying up and getting ready to sleep. They were talking about some trivial matters and family gossip. Listening in, they seemed to be good people. Feng Ning circled around once more and confirmed that there was no danger nearby, then she turned around and rushed back to where Long San was hidden, spending a great deal of energy to carry him back here.
This time Feng Ning’s physical strength wasn’t as optimal as before, and after enduring about half the night, she had ran about 20 li (roughly 6.21 miles) back and forth. But most importantly, she hadn’t even eaten dinner, so when she carried Long San, Feng Ning felt like there was a huge rock weighing her down and nearly fell to her knees.
She gritted her teeth, took a few deep breaths, raised her energy to the highest capacity, and used everything she had to quickly stride over to the farmer’s house. This place was a remote area in the countryside with no one around, and there were even the sounds of some animals, bugs, and birds in the forest. Accompanied by the serene moonlight, it couldn’t be said that the atmosphere was great.
Feng Ning didn’t dare to brazenly walk on the main road. She was afraid those people would come back to find them, and instead chose smaller, hidden paths to climb through. However the more she walked, the slower her speed became, and the more she walked, the more she panted. Her two legs were so tired that it felt like they were glued to the muddy earth, and lifting her feet was really hard.
Feng Ning was panting on one side and on the other she was encouraging herself. Look, the farmhouse that was left earlier is one step closer. Once there, there will be a place to stay at. There would be a furnace, a bed, and blankets, and maybe there would also be something to eat. Another two steps, and it’s closer.
She was only counting the steps, and suddenly stepped onto a rock. She barely had any more energy, so she couldn’t maintain her balance, and fell down. This fall didn’t only cut Feng Ning’s palms and sc.r.a.pe her knees, it also dropped Long San awake. He groaned, and opened his eyes.
Feng Ning saw this, didn’t bother attending to herself, and furiously went to shake him. “Long San, Long San, you’re awake, how are you feeling?”
Long San looked at Feng Ning, slightly narrowed his eyes and took a moment to react to his current situation, then replied, “Falling down really hurts.”
Feng Ning patted his arm, and said, “It’s great that you’re awake.”
Her cow head not matching horse’s mouth[2] choice of words made Long San want to laugh, but he felt like he was cold and hot, his entire body was in pain, and in reality he couldn’t laugh. Feng Ning helped him sit up. “You’re sick, you can’t stay at the cave. I’ve found a farm, so we should be able to get some help. Right now we only need to get you over there.”
Long San tried to stand up, but his legs felt weak, and he actually couldn’t muster any strength at all. Feng Ning crouched in front of him, showing her back to him. “Come, you can only rely on me.”
Long San blinked, and words of grat.i.tude were in the end unspoken. On one hand he muttered, “I’m very heavy,” and on the other he climbed onto Feng Ning’s back. Feng Ning clenched her teeth and strenuously stood up. Sometime along the journey she nearly stumbled over again. She stopped to stabilize, breathing heavily, and while hooking onto Long San’s two legs she pushed him up. His body was long and his legs were long, and they dragged on the floor. Feng Ning complained, “You’re not only heavy, but you’re also tall. Carrying you is very inconvenient.”
The tone she used while complaining caused Long San to be amused. “I’m really sorry, I didn’t grow well.”
“Nevermind, I’m a very generous person, I forgive you.” With Long San awake, Feng Ning suddenly felt her own strength increase about 100 times. Having someone to bicker with was a good feeling.
She walked for a while, almost fell again, and had to pause to draw breath. Long San couldn’t bear it anymore, and proposed, “Why don’t you leave me here, go find a helper and then come back for me.”
“Not good, not good.” Feng Ning continued going forward. “It’s not much further, we’re almost there. If I left you here, what will I do if you get lost? I’ve already lost your family’s treasure, but in any case protecting that small box can be counted as paying it off. But if I were to lose you, what am I going to pay for it with?”
Long San didn’t speak. He leaned his head against her head, with his arms holding her shoulders, and his two legs half dragging on the floor. It was hard on her to carry him, and him being carried was also hard on him, but in this dark night, under such a situation his heart felt like it was at peace.
Feng Ning said, “Long San, say something ah. You don’t have to answer me, but saying anything is fine. Once you talk, I will have strength.”
Long San couldn’t help but laugh, he said, “I really don’t have any energy, don’t make me laugh.”
“What’s so funny.” Feng Ning murmured, but it did seem like they were moving slightly faster.
After a good while, Feng Ning couldn’t hold on anymore and had another question. “Long San, have you ever heard Hua Niang sing a ballad[3]?”
“Ah?” This question made Long San whose consciousness was slowly sinking away wake up a little. He needed to be careful in responding. Her next question wouldn’t be whether this Hua Niang sang well or not, what kind of songs did she sing, and which one was his favorite right?
Sure enough Feng Ning followed up with a question, but what she asked was, “Well you’ve heard so much, so you should know how to sing a song or two. I’m this tired carrying you, could you hum a ballad for me to hear, to give me a bit of strength encouragement, please?”
Long San choked up. He was obviously injured and poisoned, and was also sick and freezing, why would there be someone asking him to hum a ballad? He considered staying silent, and seeing whether or not he could make this crazy woman think he pa.s.sed out again.
“Long San, say something ah. You’re currently very conscious, can you hum a few verses?” Feng Ning was panting on one side, and on the other insisted in coercing Long San into chatting.
Long San didn’t know what kind of response would be appropriate to give her, and could only continue to weakly pretend he was deaf and mute.
“Long San, are you not going to sing? Is it because you haven’t heard many, or is it because you’ve heard too many?” Feng Ning’s words made Long San unable to endure from turning his head and biting her ear. When did he ever say he heard a lot of songs?
His bite wasn’t very hard, but Feng Ning made an “ah” sound and was scared out of her wits, then her face grew red and her ears turned scarlet. She was uncomfortable, and if it wasn’t for the big monster pressing on her back, she would’ve been jumping around in circles.
“Ah, ah, I don’t have hands, itchy, itchy…” Feng Ning couldn’t turn around, and couldn’t jump, she could only stamp the floor noisily.
Long San couldn’t laugh. He didn’t have any energy, and could only gasp. He stretched his hand out and helped her rub her ears that were so red it looked like blood would drip out. “Is it better?”
Feng Ning twisted her head into his palm, rubbing it. “This also seems to itch.”
And in this manner he continued to rub. In the moonlight, her ears were round, and her unruly hair was brushing against them, but her red ears were so obvious it made Long San want to laugh again. He rubbed her for a good while, and Feng Ning finally felt comfortable. She continued to walk forward in large strides.
After the two went through this small interruption, everything became quiet. Feng Ning silently put a lot of energy into walking. While Long San’s head was laying on her’s, he endured from doing anything inappropriate so as to not give her anymore trouble.
However Feng Ning really couldn’t stay quiet for long, and after a while, she was panting on one hand and on the other struggling to say, “Long San, what you did just now, could be considered as being disrespectful to me right?” Originally the tone of voice used when saying these words was to be a bit ashamed, and a bit angry, but Feng Ning was as tired as an old cow that had been plowing, and instead sounded more like a demand for payment for doing really hard work. Not even mentioning the atmosphere, but even the tone was wrong.
Actually, just now when Long San brought his mouth down, he was already regretting it in his heart. Clearly everything was already planned out. He would maintain his distance, and be rational in dealing with her however she always managed to make a mess of the situation. In a moment of impulse he grew intimate, and seeing that she had no kind of response, neither shame nor anger, he also felt his heart’s mood go down. Now that the boundaries between the two were questionable, it was somehow a tad beyond his expectations. But most importantly, the tone she used to ask him, really made him sort of want to laugh again.
Seeing that he did not speak, Feng Ning was anxious. “Are you sneakily laughing? Obviously you were wrong, and you still dare to laugh.”
This time Long San really laughed. “You told me earlier to hum a ballad for you, that was alsohara.s.sment[4].”
Feng Ning was momentarily speechless, and unconvinced she humphed. “Then was I hara.s.sing you? Did you sing a ballad? You obviously didn’t. But my ear was really bitten. Growing up to this age, my ears have never been bitten before.” In any case, no matter how you counted it, it was still her loss.
Long San really wanted to beg her, to stop making him laugh, but he knew begging her was no use, so he said, “This, it was my fault, I’ll apologize to you.”
“Humph. Such an important ear, and you think apologizing will make it okay?”
“Then what do you want?” Long San wanted to make her stop to regain her breath and then bicker, but he also knew that her condition right now was a forced struggle. If she stopped, he was afraid it’d be difficult for her to continue to move a step forward. He then suggested, “You should first stop being angry and stop talking, and wait until we reach the place then you can yell at me okay?
“Not okay, stop changing the subject.” Feng Ning’s gasping was like a cow’s, actually not letting it go. She strenuously said, “It’s fine that you’ve apologized! But explain to me, how many guniang jia’s[5] ears have you bitten?”
[1]Qinggong; original text is (輕功) (qinggong). It means “light skill,” where the user utilizes energy in the body to make themselves “light” and be able to move around as if they were flying or very fast. It’s a real thing, but in martial art novels it’s way exaggerated lol.
[2]Cow’s head not matching horse’s mouth; original text is 牛頭不對馬嘴 (niú tóu bù duì mǎ zuǐ). This is an idiom meaning besides the point. Similar idiom 驢唇不對馬嘴 (lǘ chún bù duì mǎ zuǐ), donkey lips not matching horse’s mouth.
[3]Ballad; original text is 小曲 (xiǎoqǔ). I wasn’t quite sure if folk song or ballad was more appropriate, or if there’s another word for it.
[4]Hara.s.sment; original text is 調戲 (tiáoxì). This term is normally used when a woman is being taken advantage of or being a.s.saulted with obscenities. I wasn’t sure the best way to word this so going by the context I went with hara.s.sment. If someone has a better translation, please let me know.
[5]Guniang Jia; original text is 姑娘家 (gūniangjiā). It’s pretty much a t.i.tle for unmarried women, like guniang. I think this is just more general and more proper.