The Song of Spirits Volume 2 Chapter 30

The second day, Ye woke up before the sun came out. He went to the kitchen to cook. By the time the sun shone on the earth, he had prepared many dishes on the table. Lotus had lost sleep for the whole night. She heard his movements, but didn’t get up to ask. When he came to knock her door, she went out and found the dishes with surprise. “Why did you cook so many dishes?”

Ye was about to answer her, but he found her depressed expression and saw the tracks of tears on her face. He was shocked and asked, “You cried?”

Lotus denied this. “No, I didn’t. I just, I just got a bad sleep.”

He bent down to take a seat. “Are you missing your mother?”

She nodded without thinking too much.

He sighed. “Sometimes I also miss my parents. If they were still alive, seeing I have such a beautiful wife, they would be very happy.”

She thought of his parents' deaths. “You mentioned to me that they were killed by the betrayers of the White Cloud Clan. So, you want to revenge for them in the future?”

Ye nodded. “Sure. If I can’t make up for their lives, how can I still live in this world? I will find the killer one day and kill him by myself.” Then he looked back at Lotus and said softly, “After that, I will go back here with you to live a peaceful life, okay?”

She suddenly became silent. She found Ye was like Canyi; they both couldn't give her the peaceful life she wanted. She hesitated again, asking herself in her heart again and again, Shall I marry Ye? Shall I forget Canyi?

But Ye smiled at her and changed the topic. “Do you remember what date today is?” Lotus shook her head. “Maybe you already forgot. This day is the day we first met each other. The day when I saw you on Mt. Huangshan, when I didn’t guess that you would be the most important person in my life. Now you will be my wife, and life is so interesting.”

Lotus was stunned for a while, with her brain blank. She didn’t believe that he still remembered the day they met. The day was so important to her, but she had already forgotten it, as Ye said. In a minute, Lotus was moved by his heart. She felt like she saw the brave boy raising his arms to bar the way of Black Finger.

At this moment, Lotus made up her mind to forget Canyi.

She smiled with a look of release. Seeing her smile, Ye felt so happy that he put some vegetables into her bowl. Lotus ate the dishes carefully, and also got the same feeling of happiness.

In a short time, the wedding date came. The day before the ceremony, the old leader took Lotus to his own house and said, “How can a bridegroom take his wife from his own house? You should go to my house tomorrow morning, with a large sedan chair carried by eight people.”

Uncle Wang prepared a new bed in their new house and put peanuts, dates, longans, and some lotus seeds on the bed. Ye was confused by the arrangement. Uncle Wang laughed at Ye, and said, “You are inexperienced. You should have someone with parents and a son to arrange the new bed for me. I am the most qualified. Besides, those dried fruits mean having a baby soon. Wish you and Lotus will have a son as soon as possible.” Ye’s face turned red immediately. All the people around laughed at him.

That night, many of the residents came to help Ye prepare the new wedding house. Lotus, however, slept at the leader’s family. Aunt Wang also accompanied her to live there, and brought her to a room with a big, red wooden box. She said, “Lotus, girls should have a good dowry on the wedding. You don’t have any relatives here, so I prepared this box for you. Please don’t despise it, as it is poor and simple.”

Lotus didn’t have anybody care for her after her parents' death. Though she was indifferent to many things, she couldn't feel untouched at this moment. Her eyes became red and the tears almost came down. Aunt Wang took out a comb to help comb her hair, and said gently, “You will be someone else’s wife after tomorrow. So you can’t be an unruly girl anymore.” Then she began to mutter the rules for being a woman and what she should do after the marriage. However, Lotus didn’t feel annoyed with this village woman’s burbling. She enjoyed the warmth of being cared about so much.

After finishing all the teachings for Lotus, Aunt Wang left and slept with the leader’s granddaughter, Xi. Sitting alone in the room Lotus took out the medicine pack and said lowly, “Ye, I give my whole life to you.”

The next day, many of the residents rushed into Ye’s new house, and helped him to get dressed in the wedding clothes, and they carried him in a carriage to the leader’s house. His granddaughter Xi hid Lotus' shoes to let Ye search for them. After a while, Ye found the shoes, and he was allowed to enter the house to take his wife.

Xi supported a red umbrella for the new couple, and spread rice everywhere, speaking wishes all the way. The residents all ran to view the wedding. By taking the carriage, they circled the whole village, and then they released Ye and Lotus back to their own yard.

Long and some other children lit up some fireworks to make lucky noises. Then Ye and Lotus were led to the hall to do the ceremony. The leader stood in the hall to host the wedding, and he yelled, “The happy time is arriving! Let the new couple hold on for the ceremony.”

Long and Xi led some children to cheer for them. Though the adults asked them to keep quiet, they became even naughtier.

In all the noises and laughter, the leader called, “First, the new couple will bow to the heaven and the earth.”

Ye felt his heart miss a beat, and his head was dazzled. He couldn’t believe that Lotus would become his wife. He bowed rigidly. This stiff movement made the children laugh loudly at him.

The leader couldn’t help but laugh for a moment, but he soon turned serious. Since the new couple didn’t have parents, the leader asked them to bow before their parents' spirit tablets as the second step.

Then, the leader yelled, “Bow to each other!”

Ye and Lotus turned to face each other. Seeing Lotus was in a beautiful wedding dress, Ye suddenly thought of the last night they had spent in the Blood Gone Cave. His eyes were full of tears. He said to himself, From now on, Lotus will become my wife. I won’t let her suffer anything, nor allow anyone to hurt her. Though she is not a human being, I love her, and that’s enough.

Staring at Lotus with a deep affection, he bowed to her sincerely.

However, Lotus’s body suddenly trembled and she fell to the ground.

This change was so strange that everybody was shocked. Ye hurried to take hold of Lotus and took away the wedding cover on her head. He saw Lotus’s face was pale and her eyes closed. Ye called her anxiously, but she didn’t answer.

Soon the residents came up to help. Someone asked the children to bring some water, and someone asked Ye to push her philtrum. A man yelled loudly, “Sister Three, come and take a look.”

Sister Three hurried to the front, and squatted down to ask with a choking voice, “What’s wrong with her? It is not good to sleep on the cold ground. Take her to the bed.” 

Ye heard this and he carried Lotus back to her bed. Sister Three followed them in.

The leader stopped the rest of the people, and ordered, “Sister Three is our doctor. Let her check alone. We’d better wait outside.” 

The people nodded and stopped outside the door, but they were still talking with each other with some loud voices.

Sister Three was angry with them and came out to drive them away from the house.

Ye had already brought Lotus to the bed, and he asked, “Sister Three, what’s wrong with her?” 

Sister Three touched Lotus’ neck and then her pulse. She shook her head and said, “Her pulse is so complicated, I don’t understand.” 

Ye was anxious, and asked, “Then what shall we do now?”

Sister Three thought for a moment, and then said, “Brother Ye, I . . . I may be able to heal her. I know you are a practitioner, so I can’t cheat you. But . . . please don’t tell the others.”

Ye replied with worry, “Never mind, Sister Three. I agree to all your requests.”

Sister Three nodded. “The residents call me a doctor, but in fact, I am not a doctor. I just learned from the medicine books after studying for many days. If meeting with some difficult illness, I have no way to solve the problem. However, I met a walking doctor and he taught me . . . some . . . some . . . witchcraft. I used that witchcraft to heal the residents usually, and it did help. The people here don’t know that what I was using was witchcraft. But you are a practitioner, so I can’t hide this from you.”

Ye comforted her quickly. “Sister Three, don’t worry about this. I will not tell them.”

Chapter end