Mortal Dawn and Dusk, My Eternal Life - Chapter 26
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- Mortal Dawn and Dusk, My Eternal Life
- Chapter 26 - Dust Settles and the Legend of Wushui Town
When Su Mingyue emerged from the deep underground and returned to Huang Yingying’s room, the horizon was already showing the faint white of dawn. After a night of turmoil, she was covered in some dust, and a trace of undeniable weariness lingered between her brows, yet her clear eyes appeared deeper and more serene than ever before.
In the room, the dim oil lamp still flickered. Huang Baiwan and his son Huang Mingyuan, along with Madam Huang, anxiously guarded the door, having not slept all night. They vaguely heard a few dull thuds from underground, as well as Su Mingyue’s clear cry from earlier, but they knew nothing of what precisely happened, only enduring a night of endless worry.
“Creak—”
The door was gently pushed open.
The Huang family abruptly looked up. When they saw Su Mingyue emerge, Huang Baiwan rushed forward in one stride, his voice trembling: “Daoist Su! You… are you alright? Yingying… how is Yingying?” Madam Huang was so nervous she covered her mouth, tears welling in her eyes.
Su Mingyue looked at their faces, etched with anxiety and anticipation, and nodded slightly. Her voice was somewhat hoarse, yet it carried a relieved calmness: “Old Master Huang, Madam Huang, I am fortunate not to have failed in my task. Your daughter… is alright now.”
“Re-really?!” Madam Huang cried tears of joy upon hearing this, almost collapsing to the ground, thankfully caught in time by Huang Mingyuan. Huang Baiwan was also overcome with emotion, tears streaming down his face, bowing repeatedly: “Thank you, Daoist Su! Thank you, Daoist Su, for saving her life! I, Huang… I, Huang, will never forget this kindness!”
Su Mingyue turned sideways to avoid his profound bow, saying, “Go in and see her.”
The Huang family eagerly surged into the room. They saw Huang Yingying, who had originally been lying unconscious and pale in bed, had now opened her eyes! Although her face was still somewhat weak, her eyes had regained their former liveliness and clarity, no longer the cloudy and fearful look she had when troubled by evil spirits. She saw her parents and brother enter, and smiled weakly, her voice thin as a mosquito’s buzz: “Father… Mother… Brother…”
“Yingying! My Yingying! You’re finally awake!” Madam Huang rushed to the bedside, tightly clasping her daughter’s hand, sobbing uncontrollably. Huang Baiwan and Huang Mingyuan were also overjoyed, surrounding the bed, inquiring with concern. After so many days of fear and despair, the family finally welcomed a long-awaited reunion and joy.
Su Mingyue stood quietly to the side, watching this warm scene, a hint of imperceptible tenderness flashing in her eyes. Perhaps this was one of the reasons she intervened in these mundane mortal affairs again and again. To personally dispel the gloom that shrouded people’s hearts, to bring laughter back to broken families—this feeling allowed her heart, which had long grown numb from endless ages, to feel a flicker of warmth.
After the Huang family’s emotions had somewhat calmed, Su Mingyue spoke: “Old Master Huang, the evil spirit within your daughter has been removed, but her body is greatly weakened. She still needs careful recuperation for a period of time before she can fully recover. I have a few calming talismans here; have her wear them close to her body, and they will protect her from all evil in the future.” As she spoke, she took out a few pre-drawn yellow talismans from her embrace and handed them to Huang Baiwan.
“Thank you, Daoist Su! Thank you, Daoist Su!” Huang Baiwan took the talismans as if they were priceless treasures, carefully putting them away. He paused, then asked with some hesitation: “Daoist Su, what… what was the evil spirit that harmed my Yingying? Why… why did it attach itself to my daughter?”
Su Mingyue pondered for a moment, not revealing A-Mu or the Tang Dynasty memory. That past was too heavy and too extraordinary; speaking of it would only add unnecessary trouble to the Huang family. She simply said: “It was a malevolent yin qi that had resided beneath your mansion for many years, which, by chance, coalesced into an evil spirit. Your daughter’s birth characters were relatively weak, and she inadvertently disturbed that malevolent qi, thus attracting this unprovoked calamity.” She paused, then added: “However, Old Master Huang, please rest assured, the source of the evil spirit beneath the ground, as well as the abandoned dry well leading underground, I have completely sealed. In the future, as long as that seal is not disturbed, there will be no further problems.”
Huang Baiwan listened, his heart pounding, and quickly said: “Yes, yes, yes! Daoist Su, rest assured! I will dispatch people tomorrow… no! Today, I will have that dry well completely filled in! To eliminate future troubles forever!”
Su Mingyue nodded: “That would be excellent. However, when filling the well, remember not to damage the seal I left. Just fill it solid with clean earth and stones.”
Having handed over these instructions, Su Mingyue prepared to take her leave. Huang Baiwan would not allow it. He quickly pulled out a thick wad of silver notes from his embrace and offered them with both hands: “Daoist Su, this is a humble gift, insufficient to express my respect! Please accept it! If not for Daoist’s help, my Huang family… my Huang family would probably be ruined!”
The wad of silver notes was at least a thousand taels, enough to ensure a common family’s livelihood for several generations. Su Mingyue glanced at the silver notes, then simply smiled faintly, extracting only the note with the smallest denomination—fifty taels.
“Old Master Huang,” she said, “When I travel the world, I only take what I need. This much is enough.” She paused, then added: “Although your daughter’s ordeal was unexpected, it is also related to some of the Huang family’s past actions. In the future, I hope Old Master Huang will do more good deeds and accumulate virtue, which will ensure your family’s peace and lasting blessings.”
With that, she didn’t wait for Huang Baiwan to say anything more, and gracefully departed, leaving behind only a calm and resolute back.
Huang Baiwan, holding the remaining silver notes, stood stunned for a long moment before recovering. He looked in the direction Su Mingyue had left, his eyes filled with admiration and gratitude. This Daoist Su, so young, yet possessing such profound abilities. And after achieving such success, she was so indifferent to fame and fortune, unmoved by money. She was truly a reclusive master of this world! He secretly resolved to diligently follow Daoist Su’s teachings in the future, performing more good deeds to accumulate blessings for the Huang family.
After leaving the Huang Mansion, Su Mingyue did not linger in Wushui Town. She returned to the Yuelai Inn to retrieve her simple luggage, bid farewell to the plump auntie, and quietly left the small town where she had stayed for only a few days. She arrived unknown, with nothing to her name. She left still alone, but she left behind a magical legend of “Daoist Buyu” in Wushui Town.
A few days later, the Huang family indeed sent people to fill in the abandoned dry well in their backyard. The craftsmen, following Daoist Su’s instructions, meticulously avoided the ancient-looking stones at the wellhead (which were the foundational stones of Su Mingyue’s seal), pouring basket after basket of clean earth and stones into the well. Just as the dry well was about to be filled, suddenly, a bone-chilling gust of cold wind, without any warning, violently surged upward from the well opening that was about to be sealed! The cold wind came so suddenly and fiercely that everyone present shivered, their hairs standing on end, as if they had instantly fallen into an ice cellar! Several timid craftsmen were so frightened they collapsed on the spot, scrambling to escape.
Fortunately, this cold wind came and went quickly, disappearing without a trace in an instant, as if it had never appeared. However, the bone-deep chill left everyone present with lingering fear, and they no longer dared to approach the dry well even half a step. They didn’t know that the cold wind might have been the last sigh of a soul sealed for a thousand years before it finally succumbed to eternal silence…
From then on, the people of Wushui Town, besides discussing the mysterious and powerful “Daoist Buyu” after their meals, also had a new legend about the “Ghost Well” in the Huang Mansion’s backyard. It was said that a powerful demon was suppressed beneath the well, not to be easily provoked. And the Huang family, due to this experience, became even more benevolent and charitable, and their reputation in Wushui Town grew increasingly good. All of this, with the passage of time, gradually became a small wave in the long river of Wushui Town’s history.
And Su Mingyue had long since embarked on a new journey. After A-Mu’s affair, her state of mind also underwent some ineffable changes. She was still searching for the answers to her origins, still longing for the “birth, old age, sickness, and death” of ordinary people. But her eyes now held more resolve than before, and also a sense of… release.
Perhaps, eternal life was not entirely a curse. As long as there was something in her heart she wanted to protect, as long as she could bring a flicker of light and warmth to this world, then this eternity, too, held its meaning.
The road ahead was long; she didn’t know what kind of people or events she would encounter. But she knew that she would keep going. Carrying the pride and tenacity that belonged to “Su Mingyue,” and also carrying the weighty sense of guardianship she had felt from A-Mu, spanning a thousand years.