Peach Blossom Land On Longyin Island Chapter 23
byReturning to the Village
Three days later, the hunting party set off back to the village with their abundant haul. An Le and An Xiaoyu returned to the village and had dinner at Father An and Mother An’s house, handing over the spoils of the hunt to Mother An. They briefly recounted the experience of being attacked by wolves. An Le really wanted to keep it a secret, but since so many people were present that day, he knew it would be impossible to hide, so he tried to downplay the danger as much as possible. Even so, after hearing the story, Mother An sternly declared that An Le was forbidden from hunting again in the future. Only after An Le nodded and promised never to go again did her smile return.
“Thanks to the Dragon King’s blessing, we escaped the danger,” Mother An said, clasping her hands together with a devout expression. “Tomorrow, our family will go to the Dragon King Temple together to thank the Dragon King for his protection.”
Although An Le felt the matter had little to do with the Dragon King and he should thank An Xiaoyu directly instead, he still agreed obediently to make Mother An happy.
The next morning, An Le was vigorously shaken awake by Su Su just as dawn broke.
“Brother! Get up quickly! We’re going to the Dragon King Temple today, and Mother told me to wake you up for breakfast.” Su Su, full of energy, climbed onto the bed and excitedly called An Le to wake up. An Xiaojin also enthusiastically licked An Le’s face.
An Le struggled for a moment, then finally surrendered and sat up, looking sleepy. “Where is An Xiaoyu?”
“Sister-in-law Xiaoyu and Mother are making breakfast,” Su Su chirped happily.
“It’s not ready yet? Then I’ll sleep a little longer.” An Le lay back down, covering his head with the quilt to block An Xiaojin’s excessive enthusiasm.
He was truly exhausted. He had barely slept well during the four nights of hunting. The bed board was too hard, and he would always wake up in the middle of the night; the arm pressing down on him was too heavy, making it hard to breathe; the heavy breathing near his ear was too loud, making it difficult to fall asleep. Finally, having made it home, he used two quilts to separate himself from An Xiaoyu and finally slept soundly and peacefully.
It was time to send An Xiaoyu away. An Le thought this vaguely in his drowsy state.
Su Su knelt on the bed, staring at the bulging quilt, frowning in thought for a long while. Then, her brows suddenly lifted and smoothed out. She happily jumped off the bed and ran out. An Xiaojin also jumped off the bed and merrily followed Su Su out.
An Le felt as if he had been granted a great amnesty and continued to sleep soundly.
Before he could fall back into a deep sleep, another series of cheerful footsteps sounded, approaching from a distance. An Le silently sighed, knowing he absolutely wouldn’t be able to sleep anymore. He threw off the quilt and resignedly said, “I’m up, I’m up, I’m getting out of bed now.”
The first person he saw when he opened his eyes was An Xiaoyu.
An Xiaoyu pointed innocently at Su Su by his leg. “Su Su said you wanted me to wake you up.”
An Le: “?”
An Le looked at the grinning Su Su, utterly confused, and asked gently, “When did Brother say that?”
Su Su tilted her head back proudly, looking smug. “The moment Brother opened his eyes, he asked where Sister-in-law Xiaoyu was. Doesn’t that mean you wanted to see Sister-in-law?”
An Le: “…”
An Le often felt he couldn’t understand Su Su’s thought process. After some consideration, he attributed it to the fact that a child’s brain hadn’t fully developed, so her comprehension ability was equivalent to half an idiot.
There was no need to explain too much to half an idiot.
But Su Su still looked self-satisfied. “Brother, wasn’t Su Su right?”
“Yes, yes, yes,” An Le replied perfunctorily. He slowly sat up from the bed and said, “I need to change clothes. You two go outside for a moment.”
“Does Sister-in-law have to go out too?” Su Su looked at An Xiaoyu in confusion.
An Le sighed again and said, “No need.”
He wasn’t so shy that he couldn’t change clothes in front of a man. An Le quickly took off his sleepwear and was about to put on his undergarments when An Xiaoyu suddenly stopped him, frowning as he stared at the bruises on An Le’s body. He said seriously, “Didn’t you say you weren’t injured? Why didn’t you mention the bruises?”
When the wolves attacked, An Xiaoyu had rolled around on the ground with him a few times, inevitably causing some bruises from the stones on the ground. Unlike the generally darker skin tone of this small fishing village, the original host’s skin was fair, making the bruises particularly noticeable. An Le looked down and said, “I wasn’t injured. There’s no bleeding.”
An Xiaoyu’s tone was displeased. “It’s not only bleeding that counts as an injury. I’ll go find Mother for some bruise medicine. Don’t put on your clothes yet.”
“No need, they’ll fade in a couple of days.” An Le decisively put on his clothes. “By the way, we have a boat now. Next, we need to focus on finding the map. I plan to suggest to Grandpa An that we renovate the Dragon King Temple, using that as an opportunity to…”
An Xiaoyu frowned, staring silently at An Le’s actions. When An Le still saw no reaction from An Xiaoyu, he frowned back and raised his voice. “An Xiaoyu, are you listening to me?”
An Xiaoyu raised his eyes to An Le’s face, slowly softening his expression. After a moment, he said, “If the map is truly in the Dragon King Temple, the Village Chief won’t agree to renovations.”
“That’s what I figured,” An Le shrugged. “So, if Grandpa An disagrees, doesn’t that confirm our suspicion? The people of Longyin Village are so devoted to the Dragon King, yet the temple is so simple. It’s very strange.” An Le finished dressing, got off the bed, and said, “Let’s go eat.”
The Dragon King Temple looked the same as the last time they visited: a simple wall, an old temple building, an exquisite Dragon King statue, and fresh offerings. Father An and Mother An devoutly lit incense, earnestly thanking the Dragon King for his protection. An Le and An Xiaoyu followed suit and kowtowed.
The smoke from the incense curled upwards, then dissipated in front of the Dragon King statue, vanishing without a trace.
“Father, Mother,” An Le asked, looking at the Dragon King statue after they stood up, voicing the question in his heart. “The Dragon King Temple is so dilapidated. Why hasn’t it been renovated?”
Mother An smiled. “Someone suggested it before, but the Village Chief said that gods reside in the heart, not in the temple. True gods won’t care whether the temple is old or not, but about the sincerity of the believers. The temple is just a place built by mortals for themselves to worship the gods, and since it’s built for themselves, there’s no need for extensive repairs. Only the statue, which is the medium for communication between mortals and the gods, needs to be treated with care. Therefore, every Village Chief, when taking office, must personally craft the Dragon King statue to show respect to the Dragon King and to seek the Dragon King’s approval for the new Village Chief.”
An Le’s heart sank upon hearing this. He thought, This is going to be difficult. Grandpa An has given such a high-sounding reason for refusing renovations. What reason could he possibly use to convince Grandpa An to undertake major repairs to the Dragon King Temple? He genuinely intended to dig three feet down to find the map!
An Le racked his brains for two days but couldn’t come up with a single reason that could refute Grandpa An and convince the villagers.
“Sigh—” It was early afternoon, the sky was high and the clouds were light, and the air was crisp and refreshing. An Xiaojin was being chased around the yard by a goose. An Le sat on the swing, his brow furrowed, his heart heavy with worry. He looked up and sighed, “Do I really have to go dig up the temple in the middle of the night?”
After exclaiming this, An Le suddenly had a flash of inspiration. Digging up the temple at night wasn’t impossible: according to Grandpa An’s logic, as long as he didn’t touch the Dragon King statue, even if he dug up the temple, it wouldn’t be a major sin, right?
“Hey, An Xiaoyu,” An Le called toward the kitchen on the west side of the courtyard. “Want to go dig up the Dragon King Temple tonight?”
An Xiaoyu was in the kitchen making milk tea using the method An Le had taught him. Hearing the call, he came out of the kitchen holding a bamboo cup with a bamboo straw inserted, and offered it to An Le’s lips. He asked first, “Try it. How is it?”
The bamboo cup contained caramel-colored milk tea. An Le lowered his head and took a sip. The sweetness of the milk tea dispelled the melancholy in his heart. A look of satisfaction spread across An Le’s face. He said contentedly, “Not bad, just a little bland. It’s a pity we don’t have sugar here. Next time, let’s try adding some fruit juice.”
An Xiaoyu smiled and sat down beside An Le. “Okay.”
An Le took the milk tea, gently swinging the swing, and brought up the previous topic again. “Shall we go dig up the Dragon King Temple tonight?”
An Xiaoyu turned his head to look at An Le and smiled. “Aren’t you afraid of being thrown into the sea to feed the fish?”
“We’ll just say you did it, and it has nothing to do with me,” An Le said without any trace of guilt.
An Xiaoyu’s tone lifted slightly. “We are husband and wife. If I’m gone all night, do you think the villagers will believe you knew nothing?”
“They will,” An Le shrugged, blinking innocently at An Xiaoyu. “After digging up the Dragon King Temple and finding the map, you immediately sail away and escape. Since you’ve fled and I’m still in the village, the villagers naturally won’t suspect me. Generally, the spouse abandoned by a heartless runaway is met with sympathy. If I cry a little and curse you a few times, I’ll definitely clear my name.”
Realizing An Le was joking, An Xiaoyu leaned back against the swing, his tone relaxed. “I don’t want to be a heartless man who abandons his wife and child. You’re the one who won’t come with me.”
“Mhm,” An Le didn’t want to continue the topic and replied casually. “I’m serious, though. Should we go dig up the Dragon King Temple?”
“And after we dig it up?” An Xiaoyu asked.
“Find the map and send you away,” An Le said matter-of-factly. “Aren’t you in a hurry to go back and find your family?”
“Are you sure we’ll find it if we dig?” An Xiaoyu said. “We only have one chance. If we fail to find it, I’m afraid neither of us will be able to approach the Dragon King Temple again.”
“Sigh, you’re right,” An Le sighed heavily. “I’ll still try to persuade Grandpa An to renovate the Dragon King Temple. It’s better to do it openly.” With that, An Le pushed his feet against the ground, stopping the swing. He handed the milk tea to An Xiaoyu. “You drink this. I’m going to find Grandpa An.”
Autumn is the season of maturity and harvest. Longyin Village was busy harvesting ripe crops. An Le first searched the fields and indeed found Village Chief An Mu at the edge of the plot.
The villagers responsible for the farmland were busy, and ox carts loaded with crops moved slowly and orderly along the field paths.
It was another year of great harvest, and Village Chief An Mu looked out over the fields with a joyful expression.
“Grandpa An,” An Le smiled sweetly. He walked behind An Mu, diligently massaging his shoulders as he spoke. “Look, my illness is cured. Young people my age in the village have started working. It wouldn’t be right for me to just eat without working, would it?”
An Mu glanced at An Le, smiling. “It’s easy to work. Go to the fields and start working now.”
“I’m not very good at farm work, so I shouldn’t go cause trouble,” An Le chuckled sheepishly. “I’ll do something else instead.”
An Mu asked with a smile, “What do you want to do?”
An Le gave a knowing grin. “A couple of days ago, Mother took me to the Dragon King Temple. I noticed the temple is a bit too dilapidated, Grandpa An. How about I go and repair the Dragon King Temple?”
An Mu turned around. Although he was smiling, his scrutinizing gaze held a light that seemed to see through everything. An Le felt guilty under the gaze and didn’t dare look at An Mu. He rubbed his earlobe, trying to think of a reason to fool him. However, before he could come up with anything, he heard An Mu agree with a hearty laugh. “Alright, then you can go repair the Dragon King Temple.”
“Ah?” An Le was surprised by the quick agreement. He blinked, confirming, “Really? I can go repair the Dragon King Temple?”
“Of course,” An Mu stroked his graying beard, a profound smile on his face. “If you want to repair it, go ahead. But it’s the busy farming season, so no one will be available to help you.”
“Hey, hey, hey, we don’t need anyone else. I can do it myself—oh, no, An Xiaoyu and I are enough!” The matter was progressing so smoothly that An Le was overjoyed. That very day, he dragged An Xiaoyu, brought An Xiaojin, and carried a hoe, rushing off to the Dragon King Temple.