Mythical Creatures Series 1: Ah-Jiang Chapter 2

Mythical Creature Series 1 Ah-Jiang

Chapter 02

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Even though the beauty in front of him was a man, our Constable Shi was still stunned by the sight.

The beauty wore a white rob. It was hard to tell whether the quality was good or bad, but his face was like just like the robe. It seemed to be blending in with a sky full of snow; it was so white that it could blind someone's eyes.

Yet his black hair was as dark as ink, all combed neatly behind his back with a jaded hairpin[1] that slightly held it up. At a glance, it looked just like soft silk.

Suddenly, a chilly wind raved in and even someone as strong built as Constable Shi shuddered from the cold. Seeing that the man in front of him was not wearing any thick material, Shi Tou quickly called, "This brother, come in, come in. Don't catch a cold!"

The beauty entered the house, bringing in a wave of cold air, but it was not able to stand against the warmth inside the house. In a short time, the coldness had completely dispersed.

There was freshly made hot tea in the house. Constable Shi poured a cup for the beauty and told him to hold it in his hands and rub it for some warmth.

The beauty sat down and quietly looked around the house. The place was not too big nor too small. Overall, it took up the space of two small courtyards. The kitchen and latrine were at the back; if he stood up and took two steps forward then turned, the bedroom would be right there. The room he was in now was used for welcoming guests: a little table and two little stool chairs were present. A hole was dug on the side wall for the charcoal fire. Behind the door was an upside-down blessing post with fading red paint. It's probably been years since it was first placed there, and it's still kept here to this day.

"This brother…how should I address you?"

The beauty looked over. He had a sharp chin as his profile carried a cold aura. The pair of gorgeous dark eyes were clear and clean as his eyelashes fluttered slowly like a butterfly. His lips had an unbelievable color of redness: they looked as if they were red plums growing out of the snow, adding a few more garish values to them out of nowhere.

"Ah-Jiang," the beauty said.

Since he was born with such a beautiful look, his voice wouldn't be too bad either. But, of course, it was different from those soft and diligent tone of young females. His tone was deep, sounding like a distant music note you get from fiddling with the thickest string of an instrument.

Constable Shi rubbed his two hands. At the sight of those red lips closing and opening, he did not know why but he felt a bit shy. He then beckoned, "Brother Jiang, drink tea, drink tea."

The beauty did not like to talk – he only sat there as if he was a frozen painting. But his eyes were alive; they looked around here and there with lips that slightly curled up, showing a pair of shallow dimples[2]. Then at last, he looked at Shi Tou who was on the side.

Then just like that, he kept on looking.

Constable Shi scratched his face and said, "What, what is there good about looking at me?" When he finished speaking, he almost wanted to slap himself twice to wake up. Constable Shi was the type of person that would act like an idiot who had no tongue at the sight of a beauty.

The beauty seemed to understand what he was thinking and smiled slowly.

Constable Shi was stunned again. He then lowered his head and peeked at the diligent hand of the beauty at the table.

That hand seemed to be bigger than his. It was wide, just like the beauty's shoulders. As for the height…he also seemed to be taller than him – he had to be at least eight feet tall.

Constable Shi looked like he just remembered something, and with a slap on the table, he asked, "Has Brother Jiang eaten yet?"

The beauty looked at him for a while then lightly shook his head.

Constable Shi quickly stood up and went to the back kitchen. The sounds of pans clashing went on for half of an incense stick; then the appetizing smell of food filled the whole room. Right after, Constable Shi came out with a big bowl of roasted pig trotters, two little side dishes, and a pair of chopsticks.

"Brother, come on, try this. This is Shi Tou'er's very own special dish."  Constable Shi's volume increased as he set the plates while handing over the chopsticks with his two hands. With a beauty that came knocking on his door in this cold winter, it was impossible not to treat the other warm-heartedly.

The pig trotters had been braised for two days, making it extremely flavorful; then they were stewed to an utmost tender texture. It could be said that it melted the moment it entered your mouth. Even though the beauty looked like he was not one to eat any greasy food like this, he showed much appreciation by ignoring the other dishes and going straight for the pig trotters.

Shi Tou grabbed the pocket that held his silver and went around the neighborhood for two bottles of liquor. When he came back, two pig trotters from the bowl were already gone.

Seeing that the beauty had eaten to where his mouth shined from the grease, Constable Shi was in an extremely good mood. He asked, "Brother Jiang, was that enough?"

The beauty did not act modest with him and shook his head.

Shi Tou laughed as he slapped his own thighs and brought over the rest from the pot in the kitchen. He sat on a small stool chair and poured liquor for both of them. He could not help but peek again. The beauty ate with much etiquette. The fingers that held the chopstick made Constable Shi think, that hand is one that could hold a pen – and also a sword.

"Who knows how long it will be until the snow stops. Since the river water frozen over, it's gonna take a while for people to be able to cross it. If Brother Jiang does not mind this place being too shallow, you could stay here." Constable Shi had drunk a few cups of liquor, and it toughened his guts, making him able to ask for the other to stay.

He thought of Ah-Jiang as a scholar who was going to the capital for an official test. He did not know if the other had used up all their travel money or what. But judging from the way he ate, it seemed like he'd been hungry for quite a while. The night was also cold. Who knows where else the beauty could find a door to knock on. Constable Shi was also under the care of a good person since he was young. He had a soft heart and knew that the great kindness he received would be hard to return. So, since long ago, he had decided to become a good person in the future.

"Then please excuse me." Ah-Jiang did not decline the offer. He went with the flow almost as if he had planned on staying here since the beginning, and now it was accomplished easily.

From then, the neighbors down the streets all knew that there was a guest in Constable Shi's house. For the entire winter, they stayed with Constable Shi. And even though the weather was extremely cold outside, Constable Shi's heart was currently in the springtime with flowers blooming everywhere.

Time passed fast. In the blink of an eye, white snow melted, and the ice and river were barely in contact with each other anymore.

As for Constable Shi's lifelong event, he had already thrown it to the back of his head since long ago. These days, every time he went back, Ah-Jiang was there. How was he even supposed to remember about getting a wife to look after the house?

Ah-Jiang did not do any type of chores in the house, yet he had an immense amount of knowledge. It could almost be said that he was good at any high-class talent[3].

Ah-Jiang spoke in a desolate tone all the time and always gave others a cold shoulder. He rarely walked outside the house during the daytime and would only go out to walk around for a bit during the night. Other than that, he would eat the dishes that Shi Tou'er made while having random chats with him.

Usually, Ah-Jiang never spoke and Constable Shi would be the only one talking. Ah-Jiang would only listen and smile. It looked as if he was a Samuume flower within the snow. He seemed elegant and high above just like them, yet, they would also bend over for the person in their heart.

Not just that, Ah-Jiang is able to tell the fortunes of ghosts and godly ways through the wind and water.

When spring arrived, a big case happened in the An Ling district. The magistrate's official seal was stolen!

A loss of the official seal was basically like losing the official's hat. Once the higher-ups find out, they won't be able to be the official[4] anymore. The magistrate was devastated, as if his heart was on fire. He had all the constables work overtime each day for it. Every time when Shi Tou returned home, he would just lay in bed with exhaustion; he did not even have the energy to cook.

The morning of a random day, Shi Tou woke up and saw that a person sat by the head of his bed. He jumped from shock and got up to see Ah-Jiang sitting by the head of the bed dressed in pure white clothing as his hand hung in midair. Now he remembered: earlier when he was in a deep sleep, he had felt something cold on his face. So, it was Ah-Jiang's hand.

Shi Tou's face turned red and said, "Ah-Jiang's room is over there."

He pointed to the other side. That place used to be the room he slept in. There was a comfortable low bed inside. All the table and chairs were newly bought as well because he thought that since Ah-Jiang was a scholar, he cannot be held back on his study for the test.

Ah-Jiang looked at him with dark eyes that seemed like they could suck away his soul.

"The thief is right by your side." Ah-Jiang left that sentence then stood up to walk away as if he was drifting, leaving the room full of chilly air.

Constable Shi thought for a long while and was still a little confused when he came to the conclusion that Ah-Jiang was talking about the theft of the official seal. When he went back to the Yamen, he told the old ban head that they've searched the whole district except for one place.

With a bamboo pole for smoking in his hand, the old ban head asked, "Where?"

"The Yamen," Constable Shi replied in a low voice.

The old ban head frowned and let out a mouthful of smoke; then he went to ask for the magistrate. To not stir the grass and startle the snake, they took advantage of the time when everyone else in the Yamen went to burn incense in the temple for spring. They selected a few people with tight enough mouths to search through the place extremely careful with them.

The official seal was found. It was in the magistrate's third wife's rouge box.

They did not make this known to the public and let the magistrate decide what to do. The magistrate interrogated his third wife in secret. Constable Shi and the old ban head went in to look, and the woman that usually had good manners seemed like she went crazy. She had to be hung up on the wall and punished harshly for her to spill the seed in the end; she turned out to be a spy from Lord Xiao Mansion from the capital.

When they came out of the prison, the old ban head asked, "Did you understand?"

Constable Shi scratched his head while saying, "She stole the official seal. Was she gonna sell it?"

The old ban head knocked him upside the head once in anger and then smoothed his beard. While staring at Shi Tou, he shook his head then said, "Knows how to act dumb – that isn't bad either."

The magistrate, Official Zhang, was a person with good morals. The current emperor of Da Zhan had deep trust in Lord Xiao. But at the same time, he treasured the natural talents of Official Zhang, so he transferred him to An Ling. He wanted him to stay far from the capital and wait for all the chaos to die down first, then he will call him back to the capital. But Lord Xiao wanted Official Zhang's life. Stealing the official seal was so that he could make a fake document under his name and frame Official Zhang.

Constable Shi acted dumb on the surface, but deep down he could see through the situation like clear glass.

But it was not his desire to know too much. He only had one dream──Protect and bring peace to An Ling, pay his filial piety to the old ban head, and make pig trotters for Ah-Jiang.

Shi Tou went back to his house and Ah-Jiang sat in the courtyard waiting for him. Ah-Jiang sat under the moon with a pair of slightly opened eyes. Around him seemed to be an aura of clear pureness. Constable Shi walked over and sat down to speak. "Could Ah-Jiang be a demon that's sucking in the moon's light right now?"

Ah-Jiang lifted his eyes and looked at him as he spoke, "Then could Little Rock tell me what kind of demon I am?"

Ah-Jiang was so weird, because even though he seemed to be the same age as him, he kept on calling him Little Rock. Someone that flaunts seniority and takes advantage of it, they're not a good birdie[5].

He looked at Ah-Jiang again and thought that he always seemed to be such a cold person in the day, but he also looked like a completely different person at night. His skin tone was extremely white, and his lips looked as if rogue was applied, making Shi Tou always afraid of looking at him too much. "If you were a demon, then you'll definitely be a Koi Demon."

"Oh?"

"White koi fish; they specifically eat males." Shi Tou remembered the wild rumors he'd heard when he was a child. He started to tell Ah-Jiang the tale.

A rumor said that within the deep waters of Pu Jiang, there originally lived a white koi fish. The white koi fish trained for thousands of years to finally be able to transform into a human, and it specifically sucked man's sperm for immortality.

Ah-Jiang had a slight smile. He just always had the natural air of a high-classed individual, yet he also seemed to be missing some common human air on him. He slightly raised his eyebrows, and there seemed to be a light tone of cyan there. Constable Shi suddenly thought in his head that the other did not look like a demon, but rather, a ghost.

He was shocked deep down by his own thoughts, and he slapped himself across the face! What an idiot, cursing for Ah-Jiang to die; he really deserved to be beaten! That's what Shi Tou had thought.

Just as he was about to slap himself again, he felt coldness on his wrist, and it turned out that Ah-Jiang had grabbed his wrist. Even though Ah-Jiang was a scholar, he had great strength and when Shi Tou was caught in his hand, he could not move at all.

"Little Rock, who would take their anger out on themselves?" Ah-Jiang furrowed his striking brows.

Maybe it was because he was stained by some evil influence earlier in the prison. Constable Shi quickly retorted, "I'm not little. I could even get married now!"

Ever since the early ages, for boys to have a family and become a dad at age fifteen wasn't uncommon. So, someone like him would honestly be counted as an odd one.

Who knew that not only did he not feel comfortable by the words he'd just said, it also made Ah-Jiang quiet as he let go of Constable Shi's hand and sat there with no words. Ah-Jiang was always like this – if you don't bother him, he could just sit there all day and all night long without eating or drinking at all.

Shi Tou's heart went soft. He was not one to have a soft heart for everyone. But up against Ah-Jiang, he felt like he had met his greatest enemy from his past life. If Ah-Jiang did not smile at him, then he would feel spiky pains in his chest. It was super unbearable.

"Let's not talk about this – such an irritating thing. By the way, how did Ah-Jiang know that the official seal was hidden inside the Yamen?" Constable Shi quickly changed the topic.

Ah-Jiang looked at him and was silent for a moment before saying, "I…predicted it by fortune telling."

"Fortune telling?" Shi Tou's face was in awe. "Could Ah-Jiang be a demigod?"

The demigods within the temple specifically told fortunes of people's lives. Just give them three wen, and they will spout out a bunch of nonsense about your previous and current life from their mouths. Women deeply believed in those things. Constable Shi never had anyone tell his life's fortune before except for the year where the old, bald donkey lied that he'd had thick blessings; later, he was deceived hard by him.

Constable Shi was suddenly excited and reached out his hand, palm facing up, against Ah-Jiang, then said, "Mighty god Jiang, please look at this little person here. Is my life good?"

Ah-Jiang saw the hand that appeared right in front of his eyes with no warning, and he peeped at it for a while. Then he held it up unconsciously.

Ah-Jiang's hand was ice-cold. Shi Tou wanted to take his hand back after feeling the cold sensation, but he was unable to yank his hand back. Ah-Jiang touched the palm of a hand that was a tad bit smaller than his – it was the hand of a martial artist. It was hot and warm. His fingers traced over the deeply engraved palm prints softly, and it was as if he had touched Shi Tou's meridian of life and had all his three lives[6] seized within his hand.

"Good."

"Ah?"

Ah-Jiang smiled and it seemed like he was really happy. "Little Rock has a good life."

Constable Shi's mouth lifted up. He did not believe in those type of words when it came from other people. He even doubted it when the old, bald donkey had said so. But when Ah-Jiang said it…he believed it without a single doubt.

Then he suddenly thought of something and asked right on the spot. "Then could Ah-Jiang help me look? Will I have a wife in my life?"

The smile on Ah-Jiang's face did not fade away, but it only darkened and deepened, showing an unpredictable expression.

Shi Tou originally wanted to say that it would've been fine even if he did not have any wives. He was content with having Ah-Jiang──but he did not know if he could say it. Those words seemed to be too affront, and he was always afraid of offending Ah-Jiang.

"Your marriage has already been decided by the heavens. Little Rock will have one wife in his life."

Ah-Jiang's voice was distant, like the river water.

"It's a male wife."

Author's note: This is actually just a story of a ghost abducting a kind male citizen XD This gives me a feel of writing about Bai Suzhen[7] =L=

Translator: Sencha

Proofreader: CSchick911

QC: Xiao

Xiao's Comments: Oh, so it says that Ah-Jiang is 8 feet tall…I believe this has to be some kind of mistake. There's no way Ah-Jiang is 8 feet tall…I don't care that he's a seme in a bl novel, he's not 8 fucking feet tall, okay? Especially in ancient China…anyway, I think they're using a different metric to measure height, but our translators couldn't figure out which or how…so if anyone knows, please let me know, thanks!

Translator's Notes:

[1] Hairpin – 玉簪, an image for reference; (this is just what I thought would suit him based off of the description, search up 'jade hairpin/fa zan' to get more examples if you'd like.)

[2] Dimples – 梨涡, literally means pear vortex and can be known as dimple, but Chinese people make a distinguish different of pear vortex(梨涡) vs wine nest/dimple(酒窝). The actual dimple is known to be slightly above the upper lip while the pear vortex described in the story is in the line of lower lip. Image; (the third from the left is pear vortex, fourth from left is wine nest/dimple)

[3] good at any high classed talents – 琴棋书画样样精通, literal translation would be "string instrument, chess, calligraphy, painting, (he's) good at all of them"

[4] Official – 父母官, the actual (and literal) translation of this would be "father and mother/parental official" which was another term for county magistrates since the were expected to rule in a disciplined but caring way.

[5] Not a good birdie – 不是好鸟, literal translation and it's basically used to describe someone that's not a good person, but the author was using it in like a joking and cute way (at least what I perceived) so I left the word 'birdie'

[6] Three lives – 三生三世, the literal translation would be 'three lives and three worlds' and the three lives is used to describe one's previous life, current life, and next life. Which it's usually used to describe eternity.

[7] Bai Suzhen – 白素贞, a fictional character from the Chinese Legend of the White Snake who is a snake demon. Bai Suzhen; , Legend of the White Snake;

                                                                                             Chapter 3

Chapter end