Chapter 9: The book Snowy Mountain with a Peach Blossom Tree Volume II

Instead of returning to the garden before setting out again, we headed directly to Jinghe Palace. Based on the book in its current state, Ji Kai as Mo Yue was supposedly in seclusion in his own courtyard. He had moved to a remote courtyard, far away from the activities in Jinghe Palace. We were going to the part of the book set after Bai Zhen's attempt to visit Mo Yue, where Bai Zhen found out that Mo Yue was affected with a cold poison.

The fog around the boat cleared up to reveal a calm lake with floating pieces of ice. I stuck a hand out of the window and felt a chilly breeze brush caress my hand. Why did the writer of this book love winter so much? It was perpetually winter wonderland in here.

We hopped off the boat at a jetty surrounded by many unattended wooden rafts. Other than a roadside tea stall which provided simple food and drinks for weary travellers, there were no other buildings around the lake. There were only tall winter trees and majestic rocky mountains in our surroundings. A gust of cold wind blew in our direction and we shuddered.

"You did not say that it would be so cold here," Jin Mu shot me an accusatory look. Jin Mu and I were wearing long sleeves, but we were dressed in thin summer clothes made with sheer fabric.

I wrapped my arms around my torso and sniffed pitifully. "Don't look at me like that. I had a set of thick winter clothes but I left it behind at your place when you suddenly had to leave so hastily." Fortunately, I still had my small satchel bag slung around me, otherwise I would have lost the two books and Ji Kai's "medication".

Jin Mu carefully studied the area around us. "The air feels like winter is coming to an end so the temperature has risen a little. Otherwise, we will freeze to death and meet our maker instead of Ji Kai."

I sniffed again and tottered over to the elderly woman manning the tea stall. "Granny, do you know which way it is to Jinghe Palace?"

The elderly woman placed down the black teapot in her hands and looked at me with visible confusion on her face. "Did you travel from afar? You must be shivering in those clothing. Jinghe Palace is just up this jade mountain behind."

My teeth chattering, I managed a quick thank you and hurriedly pulled Jin Mu in the direction of the jade mountain. We were still some distance away but we could make out, through a thin fog enveloping the mountain, buildings erected across the face of the mountains—a cluster of white on every peak. By the time we reached the foot of the mountain, I felt warmer from the brisk walking. But the frigid air continued to pierce my lungs each time I inhaled through my mouth.

Wordlessly, we started climbing a long flight of stairs to get the gates of Jinghe Palace. Only the sounds of our heavy footsteps and strenuous breathing could be heard. I lost count of the number of steps that we had climbed but the figure was somewhere in the hundreds and close to a thousand. We paused to take a short breather before continuing the climb again. Eventually, we staggered towards the main gate which was guarded by two disciples of Jinghe Palace.

One of them lowered his halberd and restrained us from advancing forward. "Who are you and what business do you have here?"

"Hello," I gasped for air as I leaned against the wall for support. "We're here to see Mo Yue."

"Is the young master someone you can simply refer to by name?" The disciple waved us away dismissively. "Leave, leave. The sect leader has ordered that the young master does not wish to meet any visitors."

I felt around my bag for the metal token that Ji Kai had given to me during our last encounter. Pulling it out dramatically, I brandished it proudly in front of Jin Mu and the two disciples. "Sorry, I meant that I'm here to see my shifu. I brought back a renowned doctor who can treat him."

The two disciples exchanged glances.

"I didn't know that the young master had a core disciple," the disciple who had blocked us earlier whispered to the other in surprise.

"Are you going to let us in or let us freeze to death out here?" Jin Mu said impatiently.

"Yes, yes. Right away." The other disciple fumbled around and took out a small bamboo flute. He played a short, high-pitched tune before stepping aside to let us in.

Nodding appreciatively, I led the way into the compound. There was only a straight path across the large pristine white courtyard leading to an imposing and magnificent building. Built with polished wooden beams and white jade pillars, and decorated with golden cloud patterns, it illuminated some sort of radiant brilliance. A vertical gold plaque fixed above its tall opened doors had the words "Jinghe Palace" inscribed on it. This must be the main hall of the organisation.

I stopped in the middle of the empty open space feeling perplexed. There was not a single soul in sight. I had already expected that Jinghe Palace would have few disciples—as described in the book—but this place looked devoid of life.

"Are there supposed to be people coming to receive us?" I leaned towards Jin Mu and lowered my voice to a hushed whisper. Although there was nobody around us, I had a nagging suspicion that there were eyes and ears all around us.

He scanned our surroundings, a blank look on his face. "Are you sure we are at the right place?"

"Of course." My lips quivered as my trembling legs weakened underneath me. "Otherwise those guards wouldn't have let us in. Should we go back and ask them for directions?"

At that moment, three persons came running towards us from afar in an orderly fashion. They were wearing identical clothing and had their heads slightly lowered in a subservient posture. As they approached us, I noticed that the two young women behind the man were each carrying a folded piece of clothing.

"Greetings to both. This lowly one is Boqin, the steward at Yuhua Hall." The man bowed respectfully as he greeted us. "Our master has prepared some warm clothing for you." He gestured to the two maidservants behind him who took the cue and came forward to draped thick winter robes over Jin Mu and I.

Although grateful at the sudden warmth from having something to shield my body from the cold wind, I felt uneasy from the treatment I was receiving. "I knew they were watching us the whole time," I muttered under my breath but loud enough for the people around me to hear.

"Please follow me," Boqin said with a smile and guided us towards a sparse forest behind the main building. We climbed up and down more stone steps, crossed a wooden bridge that stood over a stream, and passed by a few smaller courtyards and halls where the disciples of Jinghe Palace were having their classes. As we shuffled past, many became distracted from their lessons and glanced over curiously. Some of their whispers were loud enough to be audible from a distance away.

"Look, they are the disciples from Yuhua Hall."

"Really?"

"Didn't you hear the tune that was played just now? That was the code for Yuhua Hall."

"I've never seen them before. They must be new?"

"But why would the young master take in new disciples when he already has one foot in the grave?"

"Shush! That's a taboo thing to say. You'll be expelled!"

"Even so, it is their fortune to be disciples in Yuhua Hall."

I kept my head down, not wanting to attract more attention to myself. Eventually, we were brought into a smaller but still magnificent building. Yuhua Hall was located on the peak that was furthest away from the main hall of Jinghe Palace. Boqin explained that a few months ago, Mo Yue decided to enter into seclusion after falling ill and moved his residence to a remote mountain peak. Even though he was the heir, he only had outer disciples. But recently, after Mo Yue returned from a secret excursion, he informed Boqin to be on the lookout of a new core disciple that he had accepted.

Other than a very spacious reception hall, Yuhua Hall only had a kitchen and two rooms adjacent to one another. One was a guest room and the other belonged to Mo Yue. When we walked past the guest room, I had a peek through the opened doors. The room appeared simple and minimalistic at first glance but it was well-furnished. There was even a dressing table with female hair accessories and make-up essentials sitting on it. Did Mo Yue already have a guest here?

Boqin knocked twice on Mo Yue's bedroom door. "Young master, I have brought Xiaoyu-guniang here. She has also invited a physician."

A series of dry coughs sounded from within the room as a familiar but weak voice said: "Let them in."

Boqin pushed the door inwards to let us in. On the bed, Ji Kai was propped up in a sitting position with a bamboo scroll in his hands. A thick blanket covered his lower body and a robe was draped over his shoulders. A huge brazier was placed beside his bed and emitted warmth that could be felt even from where I was standing.

He gave me a tired smile and said, "you're finally here."

Exchanging knowing glances with Jin Mu, we approached a sickly and frail looking Ji Kai. As Boqin closed the doors behind us, another gentle cough sounded from Ji Kai.

"It's good to see you again." I stood over the brazier to warm my hands, throwing an indifferent side-glance at him. "Before we catch up from where we left off, I brought you a gift. I heard that you have been ill, so I specially invited a doctor to treat you. Jin Mu is a doctor who is very proficient at curing poisons."

"Ah, a doctor?" Ji Kai remarked with a smile that faltered slightly. "Thank you for the kind thought, but many physicians have not been able to—"

"You won't know until you try," I rejoined and sat down on the edge of his bed. "Jin Mu is so proficient that he once fed my friend a pill that gave him immunity to all kinds of known poisons."

Beside me, Jin Mu nodded solemnly. Straightening up, Ji Kai pulled his attention away from me and studied Jin Mu carefully. After a moment of contemplation, he finally said: "If he is that proficient, can he cure amnesia as well?"

"Amnesia?" Jin Mu echoed, turning to me with confounded eyes.

Oh, right. I had forgotten to pre-empt Jin Mu that Ji Kai was currently under the impression that he was Mo Yue and that had no memories of the real world. Although I had the chance to do so earlier, it was difficult for me to explain the concept of world-hopping into books to Jin Mu. I was unsure if he would have understood and whether I could tell him about this secret. On the way here, we had been busy arguing about how he had concealed the fact that Ji Kai was immune to poisons in the fictional universe.

"Yes, yes. In fact he has the exact concoction of herbs right now to fix your problem," I interposed and pulled out a sachet of the tea leaves that Han Dong had given to me.

Jin Mu furrowed his brows and nodded at me with uncertainty. "Yes—yes, it's what is in her hands."

I ignored the indignation that flashed in his eyes and thrusted the sachet into his hands. Standing up, I pulled him aside and whispered so that Ji Kai would not overhear. "Make tea with this and feed it to Ji Kai. I'll explain it to you later. Trust me. I'm his friend and I won't hurt him."

"But, for some reason I feel like this goes against my principles as a physician—"

"Just go and make the tea," I hissed under my breath and pushed Jin Mu out of the room. No longer hearing his protests, I turned back to Ji Kai and stood by his side with a conciliatory smile.

Ji Kai pointed at the door and asked, "That doctor is so proficient that he does not even need to feel my pulse?"

I inhaled and nodded with a tight smile. Although I hated fibbing, I also hated making already complicated matters more complex. "I gave him an overview of your condition. You claimed to have been poisoned, but it's just fake news that you intentionally leaked out. The truth is that you have something wrong with your head. Remember that I can tell your future?"

"So you've already known?" He dropped his gaze sheepishly. "To what extent?"

I gave a vague response. "Not very much to be honest. Only that some time ago, you found yourself without your memories. That's why you pretended that you have been poisoned to avoid being in the public's eye."

"Have you known from the start?"

"Yes. That's why I suspected that you were the friend that I've been looking for."

Ji Kai remained silent and smoothed his hand over the creases on his quilt. Nervously, I looked about the room hoping that Jin Mu would return soon with the tea. It was a pointless conversation as Ji Kai would be regaining his memories. But that would also include the unpleasant memories that we shared.

"To think that I had sent people out to search for your friend when all along it was me..." Ji Kai said with an expression between a smile and a frown. "If I am your friend whom you call Ji Kai, then can you tell me why I have another identity as Mo Yue?"

He stared at me so earnestly that I almost felt guilty for the tales that I was spinning to keep him entertained. "That's because you are indeed Mo Yue, the heir of Jinghe Palace. One day, you disguised yourself as Ji Kai and came to Liuyuan Village as part of a mission. That was when I met you. You lived with us while concealing your true identity and even protected the villagers from the mountain bandits. But during the fight, you fell off a cliff and suddenly disappeared." I glanced at Ji Kai and paused. I assumed that he was following my story as he nodded along.

"Since then, I have been searching for you," I continued; "and when I saw someone that looked like you at the martial arts convention, I was really excited because I thought that I had found you. But when you looked at me as if I were a stranger, I doubted myself and thought that I must have approached the wrong person. However, because I have this talent to know about a person's future, I knew that this day would come when we would be reunited again. At that moment, I felt that you must be the person I was looking for."

Ji Kai's eyes that had been patiently fixed on me lowered as he said in an apologetic tone: "When I saw you back then, I actually thought that you gave off a familiar feeling."

He spoke in such a muted voice that I had to lean in closer to catch his utterance. It was a tone that sounded sincere but at the same time felt unnatural coming from someone like Ji Kai. If he were in his right mind, he would never use such a gentle tone with someone like me. He was someone who had said "Ew." when we became 'tablemates' for a brief fifteen minutes back in the second year of middle school. My nose quivered as it turned sour.

"What's wrong?" Ji Kai's unnaturally kind voice jolted me out of my reverie.

"Nothing," I shook my head and turned aside to hide my face from him. I did not know what kind of expression I had on but it was probably ugly. Patting my face with both hands, I repeated in my heart that I should not get used to such treatment from Ji Kai.

His face brightened up suddenly with child-like excitement. "Xiaoyu, if you are willing to be a disciple here in Yuhua Hall—" he began hesitantly, "I have already prepared your accommodation and daily necessities in the adjacent room."

My cheeks warmed upon hearing his proposition as conflicting emotions surged within me. Holding back the urge to laugh at this incredulous situation, I flashed a grateful smile. Anyone who had a glimpse of the adjacent room would have thought that the designer of the room had put in a ton of effort. If the other disciples of Jinghe Palace found out about this, they would be envious of this disciple whom Mo Yue pampered and indulged. Alas, it was a pity that Ji Kai would be recovering his memories and leaving this place soon, and there was no way that I would remain here. What a waste of time and money.

"Xiaoyu?" Ji Kai tilted his head, eyes expectant. The smile on his face did not falter, but in his eyes wavered and flickered with uncertainty.

I widened my smile. "I am eternally grateful to shifu that you would accept me as a student."

Since I was already humouring an amnesiac Ji Kai, I might as well go all the way.

"Shifu, please accept this disciple's bow," I raised my voice enthusiastically and prepared to give the lowest and most respectful bow I would ever give in my life. Stifling a giggle, I thought about how this would change my relationship with Ji Kai if it were to be taken seriously. As the saying goes, a teacher for a day is a father for a lifetime.[1] Not only would we be considered one family, but also of different generations despite being the same age.

Before my knees could reach the ground, Jin Mu returned with a teacup. As he handed it to Ji Kai, my rapidly beating heart burned with anxiety. Reaching out my hand, I helped Ji Kai to sit upright and hoped that he did not notice my trembling hands. A part of me hoped that he would recover soon so that I could return to reality, but a part of me wished that he would never regain his memories so that he would continue to treat me well. Taking the "medicine" from Jin Mu, Ji Kai looked at me trustingly.

I reassured him in a calm voice, "after drinking this, you will feel better."

Unquestioning, he brought the cup to his lips and lowered his head. I watched with bated breath as he sniffed the tea before taking a small sip. I was suddenly reminded of the times when I had to prepare tea for the book characters that had gained awareness. Until now, I still had no idea how the process work. Han Dong repeatedly and exasperatedly said that it had nothing to do with sorcery or magic but was something about 22nd century technology. In my mind, the movie genre about the secret life of Ji Kai was suddenly transformed from a fantasy to a science fiction one.

Ji Kai gulped down the tea to the very last drop before handing the cup back to Jin Mu.

"Please have a good rest now," Jin Mu responded habitually. But suddenly realising that he was not the one who prescribed the 'medicine', his extended hand stopped still in front of the empty cup.

Recalling what Han Dong said about how the strange tea would work, I nodded and chimed in, "the medicine will make you drowsy but when you open your eyes again after some sleep, you should regain your memories."

Jin Mu coughed and forced a smile. "We will be outside if you need us." Finally taking the cup, he grabbed me my the elbow and dragged me out of the room.

When the door was tightly shut behind us, he turned to me with a frown. "Now can you tell me what it was that you fed to Ji Kai?"

I crossed my arms and smirked. "I'm not telling."

"You didn't tell me that Ji Kai had lost his memories!" Mirroring me, Jin Mu gathered up his sleeves and crossed his arms disgruntled. "And just when I found out about it, you didn't even need my skills as a doctor. I feel so sidelined."

"Well, you didn't tell me that Ji Kai was immune to poisons from novels because you fed him some strange pill until we got on the boat. If I had known that you were going to be so useless, I would have come here directly from the Garden instead of making a detour."

The corners of Jin Mu's mouth twitched. He opened his mouth to say something in response but I snorted and turned away. As I strolled towards the room that Mo Yue had painstakingly prepared for his beloved disciple, I heard Jin Mu quipping behind me: "I am going to prepare a meal now and there will be none for you."

***

The sun was barely peeking out from behind the jade mountain when I woke up with a jolt. Disoriented, I rubbed my blurry eyes and saw Ji Kai soundly sleeping. I had fallen asleep at the table when I was watching over him during the night. Pale light streamed in through the half opened window and the clear sky was painted a light pastel pink. Looking around the room, I did not see Jin Mu. Then, I recalled that he was in the kitchen preparing some health boosting medicine for Ji Kai. In order to make himself useful, he had been squatting beside the stove, stoking the fire for the whole night.

Ji Kai had been sleeping for a day and a night now. I was getting worried that he may never wake up. I tiptoed to his bedside and peered over him. Sleeping or awake, Ji Kai was good looking. For the first time, I noticed that he had long eyelashes for a boy. Sticking out a trembling finger, I could not help but trace his pronounced facial features before touching those long lashes. Perhaps he might wake up if he felt someone stare at him creepily as he slept—as they always do in dramas. With a long sigh, I used a finger to poke his cheek hard, secretly amused by the indentation that my finger created.

Suddenly, Ji Kai stirred and his eyelids fluttered open revealing his sharp and beautiful eyes. Withdrawing my hand at lightning speed, I opened my mouth only to make incoherent utterances. His head lolled to one side on the pillow, he stared at me devoid of expression. There was that familiar cold glint in his eyes that appeared when he did not smile.

"You're awake?" I clambered to fetch him a cup of water.

"I woke up once in the middle of the night but I saw that you were asleep. I didn't want to wake you up so I stared up at the ceiling until I felt sleepy enough again."

I handed him the cup as he sat himself up to lean against the bed frame. Pulling a chair over to his bedside, I sat down to watch him cautiously.

Stabilising my rapid and uneven breathing, I asked with a smile, "are you feeling much better?"

"I'm still feeling a little drowsy." He rubbed his temple with a hand before running it through his loose hair. "Was the medicine supposed to help me recover my memories?"

"What do you mean?" I bit my lip with a frown. Did drinking the tea not cure him? Or was I supposed to have abducted him when he was unconscious and bring him back to the garden, where he would instantly return back to normal? "How about you tell me what your name is?"

Ji Kai narrowed his eyes. "Why, of course I'm Mo Yue."

As soon as the name left his lips, my heart trembled and sank.

*** 

[1]: 一日为师，终身为父 (yī rì wéi shī，zhōng shēn wéi fù): means that even if a person was one's teacher was for only a day, one must also treat said person as a father for a lifetime. Figuratively, this means that one should treat one's teacher with respect as one treats one's own father.