Yet even Hongjun could see that as a child, his aura and appearance had been distinct from ordinary mortals’. As for Li Jinglong, he wasn’t nearly as handsome as a child as he was now. Li Jinglong’s mother had passed away when he was young; no one had spared much thought for his food and clothing. It wasn’t until he reached his teens that he picked up the mannerisms of a young master, and only after joining the Longwu Guard did he gain the charisma and heroic bearing that came with his rigid self-discipline.
The boy they saw before them now was slovenly in both dress and manner, with a furtive air about him. This Li Jinglong seemed the opposite of likable, a half-grown brat prone to mischief.
“That was your first meeting,” Lu Xu said.
“Seems pretty normal,” Hongjun mused. “But we didn’t speak, so it doesn’t count.”
“Let me look again.”
Lu Xu closed his eyes, radiating light, and the scene was replaced with a crisp autumn day shortly after the Kong family moved to Chang’an. Little Hongjun, evidently bored, was rummaging through the boxes and other miscellany that remained piled in the courtyard. He dug up a book—the very same illustrated book on various yaoguai he would later give to Li Jinglong.
Lying back in a makeshift nest of cloth, he flipped through the book for a while before drifting off. Li Jinglong happened to be climbing the camphor tree in his family’s courtyard, intent on stealing eggs from a bird’s nest, when he turned his head and spotted Hongjun sound asleep in the warm autumn sun. The nest promptly flew from his mind, and he lay down on the branch, craning his neck to peer down at the boy below.
After watching Hongjun sleep a while, Li Jinglong called out, “Hey!”
When he received no response, Li Jinglong tossed down a pebble. This time, he succeeded in startling the other boy awake—but little Hongjun merely shot him a wary look before scurrying back inside.
“That’s your first conversation,” Lu Xu said. “Also quite normal.”
Hongjun had imagined their childhood encounters would be marked by some sort of profound significance; he hadn’t expected them to be as mundane as any of the countless trivialities occurring across the world on most ordinary days and nights.
“What about the first time I spoke to him?” Hongjun asked.
“It’s probably…”
“I get it,” Hongjun said, exasperated. “Chances are, it’s completely normal as well. But I still want to see it.”
With another flash of light, they were once again looking at the courtyard wall.
Little Hongjun was gazing up at the cerulean sky on the other side of the wall. On the large gate of the courtyard, there hung a heavy lock. The boy pressed his ear to the gate, listening to the clamor outside. He had the forlorn look of a caged bird.
After listening a while, the child pulled out a grappling hook.
Lu Xu stared. Hongjun pressed a hand to his forehead.
“At that age, I was still digging up earthworms in the snow,” Lu Xu mused. “Meanwhile, you were already scaling walls.”
“Please stop talking…”
Little Hongjun threw out the grappling hook a few times without success, the hook clattering uselessly to the ground. Struck by a bolt of inspiration, he turned to try the same maneuver on his neighbor’s courtyard wall. The roof tiles over the gate were too slick to find purchase, but he succeeded with the craggy courtyard wall.
He kicked off the wall and began to climb. It was a brilliant plan, using the barrier between their houses to sneak out. Just as he reached the top, panting, a head popped up from the other side.
Hongjun squawked in fright and reeled back, causing little Li Jinglong to yelp loudly in response—to think someone else had been climbing up the other side of the wall at the same time!
Li Jinglong’s hand shot out, grabbing Hongjun before he could fall.
“What are you doing?!” Hongjun demanded.
“Fine, I’ll let go,” Li Jinglong said expressionlessly.
“Don’t!” Hongjun cried at once. “Don’t let go!”
“Call me Gege,” Li Jinglong said, then added, “Your lips felt so soft when we kissed just now.”
Hongjun’s cheeks heated. The boy’s face had been just an inch from his own, but he was sure there’d been no contact between them. “We didn’t!”
“We did.”
“Did not!”
“I’m letting go!”
Hongjun had never been bullied like this before. He promptly burst into tears. Clinging to the wall with one hand, Li Jinglong quickly said, “Okay, we didn’t! We didn’t!”
The moment Li Jinglong backed down, Hongjun conceded as well, tears streaming down his face as he sniffled. “Gege…”
Li Jinglong’s face lit with happy surprise; he hadn’t expected Hongjun to actually say it. He hauled himself up and threw a leg over the wall before pulling Hongjun up into a hug, earning another yelp. Then he scooped Hongjun up and, holding him to his chest, hopped down on the other side of the wall.
Hongjun and Lu Xu watched curiously from where they hovered in midair.
“Here, eat this. Stop crying…”
“Here, I’ll give you a kiss too, don’t cry…”
“Hey, hey, hey, c’mon, stop crying already!”
“I want to go home…” Hongjun whimpered.
“Try this first. I’ll take you home after.”
The sound of sobbing faded as Hongjun chewed on some unknown snack. Li Jinglong squeezed in beside him, and Hongjun pushed him away. The two children sat with their backs to the wall, shoving each other back and forth. Li Jinglong seemed to find the whole thing funny and began to laugh. “What’s your name? You’re Chouxing, right? Doctor Kong’s son.”
And after another moment: “Don’t go. I have more, look—this is even more delicious than the last one. That’s right, come back over here. I’ll share.”
The leaves of the camphor tree rustled beneath the summer sun. As time went by, Li Jinglong and Hongjun flickered in and out of sight in every corner of the Li family’s backyard. Sometimes, they played chuiwan, while at others, they settled down before the pond to catch shrimp. When it snowed, they even built a snowman.
The courtyard wall that separated the Li and Kong families’ residences was gradually demolished and replaced with a row of trees. At dusk, Kong Xuan would stand before the trees and call for Hongjun to come home. Hongjun would wave to Li Jinglong before heading in for dinner.
As soon as Hongjun left, the Li family’s courtyard would grow desolate, their home completely empty save for one child.
“Where’s his dad?” Lu Xu asked.
“Probably out on a military campaign,” Hongjun responded. “Or maybe things are busy at the yamen. I think he mentioned his dad was a military official.”
On those days, Li Jinglong returned to his room, where he ate a few pastries before lying down in the corridor to stare at the sky. Hongjun’s mother’s laughter floated over from next door. Listening carefully, he could hear Kong Xuan jokingly say that Hongjun looked like a plucked chicken. Li Jinglong couldn’t help but laugh at the image.
The sky grew dark. Now Li Jinglong lay sick in bed, his forehead damp with sweat and his breath coming in harsh gasps. Hongjun slowly approached the ailing Li Jinglong through the gloom of the dimly lit room.
Li Jinglong couldn’t seem to catch his breath even as he turned to look at Hongjun. “Mom… Dad…” he murmured.
Hongjun studied him, watching the laborious rise and fall of his chest. Then he pulled Li Jinglong into his arms, pressing their bodies together and listening to his heartbeat as he held him quietly.
“I’m so cold…” Li Jinglong said. “Where’s…your dad?”
“He left on a trip,” Hongjun answered softly. “He’s been gone for a long time. Gege, what’s wrong with you?”
“I’m dying,” Li Jinglong said, his chest wheezing like a bellows. “Stay with me—don’t go…”
Hongjun hopped down from the bed and hurried out. When he returned, he was clutching a bag of medicinal ingredients. He sat right down on the floor and began preparing medicine for his patient. Li Jinglong opened his eyes, gazing blearily into the distance as he absently clenched his hand.
At last, Hongjun climbed back onto the bed to feed him the medicine. Li Jinglong’s face was white as a sheet, and his entire body was shaking. He gritted his teeth, but he couldn’t swallow; the bitter liquid flowed from the corners of his mouth and dripped onto the bed. Hongjun tried again, then again, but each attempt ended in failure. Li Jinglong breathed out but couldn’t draw in any air.