Chapter 13:
Life Exchange Array
LU YUAN HAD BEEN a widower. Thirteen years ago, he’d moved from the Lu family’s old home to settle down east of the river. His wife had passed, so he was raising his two sons alone, supporting them with his small fishing boat. Despite a naturally fearsome face, he was an honest, straightforward man. He always smiled at others, which softened the ferocity of his features.
His neighbors often said that Lu Yuan’s sons didn’t look at all like him. Lu Yuan was tall and stalwart, with muscular, powerful arms from his years of hauling in nets.
His two sons were a different story. When he’d first arrived east of the river, his eldest son was four and his younger son was two. They were both thin and gangly.
Still, while his younger son was skinny, you could see a hint of Lu Yuan within him: He was spirited and full of vigor. Lu Yuan was a bighearted man, and Lu Nianqi was playful and unruly. He’d often get into trouble, so Lu Yuan had to discipline the mischievous boy frequently.
It was the first son who was truly nothing like Lu Yuan. Whenever the three of them were together, the eldest son, nicknamed Lu Shijiu, always stood out. He was far too pale, bordering on sickly. His personality was also very different from Lu Yuan’s. Lu Shijiu barely spoke, and he didn’t act like a child at all. Most of the time, he came off as very mature, but he’d occasionally make strange movements. That, combined with his ashen skin and frail appearance, gave him an unsettling air, so people tended to avoid him. The neighbors would tease Lu Nianqi from time to time, but they rarely did the same to Lu Shijiu.
What the neighbors didn’t know was that Lu Shijiu was not Lu Yuan’s biological son.
Lu Yuan had very little family; his older kin had long passed. After his wife had died, he’d fallen into deep depression for a year, and his home suffered for it. For that entire year, his son Lu Nianqi had very little to eat, and he turned gaunt and pitifully skinny. So Lu Yuan decided to lock up their old house and take his son to Wolong County. The riverside was good for fishing, which would provide them with enough to live.
Before entering the city, he and his son had rested at an old temple within the mountains. He’d encountered Lu Shijiu huddled there.
A child of around three or four hiding alone in an old temple wasn’t a normal sight. Lu Yuan asked Lu Shijiu a few simple questions, which were enough for him to guess what had happened.
Lu Shijiu had once lived over a hundred miles away in Ge County, but with the drought that year and too many mouths to feed, his parents had found themselves unable to support all their children, and they were forced to abandon a few. They’d probably wanted to sell them, but Lu Shijiu was sickly and weak, and his vision had been impaired from birth. No one wanted him.
Unable to find a buyer, they could only abandon him. If they dropped him too close to home, he might find his way back, so they took him a hundred miles away instead. Travelers would rest at temples from time to time. If he were lucky, a kind person might find and adopt him.
It was a foolishly optimistic thought. After all, there were far more robbers and wolves in the mountains than kindhearted souls. The likelihood of being captured or devoured was far greater than the chance of being adopted.
But Lu Shijiu had been lucky. He’d encountered Lu Yuan.
Lu Yuan thought that raising two sons wouldn’t be that different from raising one, and now Lu Nianqi could have a playmate, so he decided to bring Lu Shijiu home.
However, he soon realized that Lu Shijiu wasn’t a good playmate. The boy preferred to sit quietly instead of running around.
Still, he was a sensible child. He would feel his way around despite his poor vision, help Lu Yuan sort through fish and shrimp, or bring a stool to the stove so he could prepare soup. While Lu Yuan was strict with Lu Nianqi, he never touched a hair on Lu Shijiu’s head. Instead, he doted on him dearly.
Children loved playing with those slightly older than them, and Lu Nianqi was no exception. Despite Lu Shijiu’s reticence, Lu Nianqi would follow him around. Lu Nianqi saw it as helping, but Lu Shijiu only saw it as a nuisance.
For instance, one day, Lu Shijiu had boiled a tub of water to help his father wash their clothes and shoes, hoping to remove the reek of fish from them. Lu Nianqi scampered around the kitchen, excited to help, only to slip and land in the boiling water, bottom-first. He shrieked like a stuck pig.
On another occasion, the tree in the yard had become infested with insect shells, hampering its ability to produce fruit. Lu Shijiu took a wooden broom to sweep the shells away, and Lu Nianqi scampered over to help again, only to grow amused by the shells during their cleaning. He picked one up and blew on it like a whistle, and the clear, bright sound delighted him. Alas, by nightfall, his lips had swollen into sausages, causing him to wail again.
At first, just the sight of Lu Nianqi gave Lu Shijiu a headache, but as his eyesight deteriorated, he could no longer see Lu Nianqi anyway, so he grew used to his little brother.
Once Lu Shijiu’s vision faded nearly to nothing, he began to notice strange things and hear odd sounds. Sometimes, he couldn’t resist following the sounds outside, searching for their source. When he found nothing, he quietly returned to his tasks.
The year things changed, he was nine, and Lu Nianqi was seven. One day at noon, Lu Shijiu heard another strange noise and, unable to help himself, slipped out of the kitchen, feeling his way to the riverbank. Lu Nianqi had matured a little by then due to his older brother’s blindness. Occasionally, it occurred to him to look after Lu Shijiu.
The moment Lu Nianqi saw Lu Shijiu leave, he hurried after him, pestering him to come home the entire way. However, it was like Lu Shijiu had been bewitched; he didn’t seem to hear his younger brother at all.
That same afternoon, Lu Shijiu glimpsed a dragon’s shadow within the river’s misty depths. After yelling in astonishment, he slipped and fell right into the water.
Lu Nianqi instinctively leaped after him, wanting to pull his blind brother ashore. But, as had so often happened, Lu Nianqi soon discovered that his helping only caused more trouble, and he almost paid for it with his own life.
The stretch of river they’d fallen into was secluded, with no fishing boats around. If it hadn’t been for a couple selling vegetables passing by, they might have drowned without anyone the wiser. The old man didn’t know how to swim, but he recognized Lu Nianqi.
“By the time Dad arrived, Nianqi had stopped struggling,” Lu Shijiu recounted slowly. “The waters were turbulent. He couldn’t rescue both of us together. So Dad first held me up so I could breathe, then he pulled Nianqi ashore. When he returned for me, the wind picked up, bringing waves with it. I felt a vortex forming beneath my feet… It latched onto his ankle, and he began thrashing and choking on water…”
He sucked in a breath, frowned, then exhaled softly. “I was shoved ashore, while the vortex dragged him underneath. He never resurfaced. Dad was gone, and Nianqi became terrified of water. He also stopped following me around.”
As he spoke, he didn’t cry or show any strong emotions. His tone was placid, as if he were recounting a stranger’s story, and his eyes didn’t so much as moisten. For some reason, the listeners grew uncomfortable in his stead, as if they were feeling sorrow in his place.
Xuanmin put away the two rune-covered shards and spoke up. “I noticed a break in Lu Nianqi’s palm line corresponding to the age of six. But someone elongated it by force.”
Lu Shijiu’s eyes were on Lu Nianqi. He didn’t look up or speak.
After a long pause, Lu Shijiu said softly, “At that time, I didn’t really understand. I thought that things would be fine as long as I found a way to connect the lines. Even if… Even if it stunted his growth, he’d be alive at least. It’d be enough for him to keep living, no matter what kind of life it would be. But…”
When Lu Shijiu had lengthened Lu Nianqi’s life, Lu Yuan had met with disaster—an equivalent exchange.
Having finished his account, Lu Shijiu finally met Xuanmin’s gaze. “The tomb doesn’t end here. There’s still another section ahead that will take you to the exit. It’s not dangerous. Could you do me a favor and take Nianqi there?”
Xuanmin looked at him askance. “One final favor?”
Lu Shijiu tensed. “Mm,” he murmured before sighing. “Otherwise, I’ve taken this trip in vain.”
Xuanmin was about to respond when Xue Xian interjected from the pouch. “This hollow is at least thirty feet deep. How are we supposed to climb up and keep going?” Without waiting for an answer, he continued, “Should I spit the water back out so you can all float to the top? What a great idea! Saves us time and effort!”
Lu Shijiu fell into a shocked silence at Xue Xian’s interruption. It was Xuanmin who had to respond.
“No need to trouble yourself. You were the one who swallowed it all. Take responsibility and live with it.”
Xue Xian sputtered with fury but failed to reply.