Jin Xiao Yi Tan Volume 1 Chapter 4

It's apparently the author's birthday today! Happy birthday!

Originally posted on RBKTR Translations.
Author: Four Feet (四隻腳).
Translated by: Yujuan.

When I woke up, it was already the noon of next day.

The beautiful sun rays flowed in through the window, shining onto me. It was comfortably warm.

My hangover felt awful, and my head spun, feeling short of strength throughout my entire body.

I sat up, holding my forehead, dimly recalling getting dead drunk last night, and probably kun supporting me out of the restaurant and carrying me on the way back. Tsk, I was really just too pathetic.

I was always troubling kun, and felt a little apologetic to him.

I sighed, then saw a ball-shaped thing under the quilt jumping here and there, struggling to get out of it. Lifting the quilt up, a black ma.s.s pounced out, jumping straight onto my face, and I mercilessly drove a fist down on it.

"You! You made me mess up my interview!"

I glared at it angrily.

The yingyao jumped onto the bed frame, blinking up at me. Its mouth cracked into a smile, revealing tiny little teeth.

I really couldn't do anything about it, just throwing it a big eye-roll.

If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I probably wouldn't have believed that there were such mystical creatures in this world.

But facing these strange things, kun would never puzzle over them, no matter what he heard or saw. He always kept an unflappable and self-composed demeanor, as if he was used to it…

Really, not just these fantastical beings, I had become interested in this person, kun. Come to think about it, I actually knew absolutely nothing about kun, even on the matter of his name. I just knew his online username, not his actual full name. I did not know where he had come from, why he was the only one living in such a huge house, and where his parents and relatives were.

All these, I knew absolutely nothing.

He felt like something unfathomable to me.

As I let my imagination run wild on things irrelevant, I yawned dazedly.

I put on my clothes, went down, and made myself a cup of coffee.

kun wasn't at home. I didn't know what he was doing so early in the morning on weekends, but he didn't say, and I didn't ask.

The yingyao hopped down the staircase step by step, jumping onto my shoulder. It tried to drink the coffee in my mug, but before I could chase it off, a knock sounded by the door.

"Is anyone at home?" A male voice rang out.

I put down my coffee, walking over to open the door.

Standing outside was an unfamiliar man, a paper box held in his hands, a professional smile pasted on his face.

"Good morning, may I ask if Mr. Yuchi is in?"

Y-Yuchi?

Yuchi who? Was it kun?

Before I could reply, the express delivery had already handed the package over to me.

"Here is your delivery, please sign here."

kun wasn't here, but something that was sent to his house would be his delivery, right?

But.. it needed a signature? What if it was something expensive?

I hesitated for a moment, at last opening the paper box. A small black box was placed inside.

I looked at it. The outer appearance of the box hadn't been damaged, so I took the pen and signed it.

After the delivery guy left, I stared at the box in my hands for a while.

The box was quite light, rectangular-shaped, compact. I didn't know what was in it, but its exterior was incredibly exquisite, with an interesting old-fashioned copper lock on it.

I couldn't find anything wrong with it, placing the box onto the tea table in the drawing room.

And two hours later, when I went to the kitchen to pour myself a gla.s.s of water, my eyes cast a glance towards the tea table.

Had the position of the box moved?

I could remember placing it in the middle of the tea table before this, but now, the box was at the edge of it, about to fall off.

I walked over to place it back in its original position, but realized that between the gaps of the box's opening, was a red string.

I couldn't help but freeze, was there originally a red string there?

The red string was extremely fine and felt slippery, like a silk yarn, but much st.u.r.dier than that. I pinched the string that had come out of the box, curiously studying it.

And then, the red string seemed to move a little.

I jumped, hurriedly pulling my hands away. The red string sat on my hands quietly, for one second, two seconds, three. Then, it moved again.

So I hadn't been seeing things, this red string was really moving by itself!

My curiosity grew, and carefully pinching the string, I slowly pulled it through the gap of the box.

But when I pulled it out halfway, it started to pull back itself.

There was a force in the black box contending against me. As I pulled it out a little, it would redraw back into the back a little, as I pulled even more, it would pull back more. This continued back and forth several times.

Suddenly, I used my strength, and with a slick, the red string was actually pulled out in one breath!

There was nothing at the end of the string, and I stared awkwardly at the red string in my hand. I couldn't stuff it back in, and not knowing what to do, I chose to put it on the tea table and ignore.

I was very interested in what the black box contained, but I couldn't do anything except wait for kun to return before asking him.

I scratched my head, having nothing left to try, and turned back to the kitchen for a gla.s.s of water.

Before I could finish drinking, a m.u.f.fled sound came from the drawing room. I hurriedly ran out to have a look, only to see the box on the ground.

The lock was broken, tossed to the side. The box was open, but there was nothing inside.

Then, a clunk-thunk sounded, the fragile exploding of gla.s.s.

I jumped, turning to see, and realized that it was the gla.s.s that I had drank from earlier.

How had that happened?

I looked around hurriedly and heard the sound of footsteps, of a small figure racing up and down the staircase. It had gone up to the second floor.

Eh, it sounded like a… child?

Why was there suddenly a child in the house?

I ran up the stairs after the child and saw a boy around five to six years old. He was completely naked from head to toe, just running around unclothed and with bare feet.

"Hey, stop! Don't run!"

I yelled as I ran after him, "Whose family are you from? How did you come in?"

That child ignored me, just persistently running forward. He even turned back to pull a face at me.

This brat was really unruly!

I quickened my footsteps, taking a big stride forward to grab at him, but he easily slipped out of my hands, as smooth as a loach.

The b.u.t.t naked boy stuck his tongue out at me, giggling as he sped far away. I could only continue chasing after him.

I chased him to the end of the hallway, and upon reaching a dead end, the boy glanced here and there, randomly choosing a room by the side to sneak into.

This was bad, that was kun's study! Not even I had gone in there before, who knew if there was anything precious placed inside.

"Hey, little imp, come out! That's not a place you can play in!"

I rushed inside urgently, and the moment I stepped in, a wave of dizziness. .h.i.t me.

A hazy fog lingered before my eyes, a light delicate fragrance wafting through my nose.

An incense burner was lit in the study, a complete Chinese-style set of wooden bookshelves arranged in picturesque disorder, and beside the bookshelves was a rattan plait recliner, as well as a sandalwood desk, with a row of brushes and ink on it.

Yes, I did not see wrongly, it was unmistakably brushes and ink.

A writing brush, and an inkstone.

Not many people used these things nowadays, especially youngsters.

The b.u.t.t naked boy giggled, chucking the writing brush at me.

I was unable to duck in time, only feeling something cool on my face. My face was now splattered with ink.

The boy burst into laughter, pointing at me.

"You stay right there!"

I roared and tackled at the boy, but the boy was much more nimble than I'd expected, actually tunneling out from under my arms, flipping over the inkstone on the desk along the way.

Crash! The inkstone shattered to pieces as it fell onto the floor.

It was over! I didn't know how expensive that inkstone was, how was I supposed to explain this to kun?

I frantically collected the shattered pieces, but saw the boy slink out the door. I could only find a place to keep the fragments, before chasing after the boy. 

The boy chuckled as it sprinted through the hallways, running up to the staircase, and with a light leap, sat on the handrail, turning back to wave at me, then slid down.

I stepped into thin air as I chased over, and with a stumble, almost fell down the stairs.

"You imp! Stay right there, do you hear me!"

I panted as I ran down, but the boy's face wasn't even red with exhaustion, as light and graceful as ever. Propping himself up with a hand, he pa.s.sed through the back of the sofa, flinging the cushions at me.

I lifted a hand to block them, only to hear a tearing sound. There were holes in the cushions, snow-white goose feathers spilling out of them.

The boy pointed at me, laughing unbridledly, the yingyao jumping here and there by the side watching the spectacle.

I was thoroughly angered, brushing away the feathers on my head. Rolling up my sleeves, I bellowed aggressively, "Don't think I can't catch you, you little brat!"

I jumped over the capsized chair, violently pouncing at the boy.

The boy by the entrance, pleased with himself as he glanced at me smiling, and seeing me rush forward, ran away in an instant. I couldn't bring myself to stop and was about to crash into the door.

At this time, the door opened.

I fell into someone's chest.

"Xiao Mo, what are you doing?"

A familiar gentle voice sounded by my ear.

I smiled in a somewhat desperate state, turning to point behind me, "A child ran in from somewhere."

"A child?"

kun stared blankly at me, then walked inside.

The house was in a state of disorder that is looked like it had been plundered, the tables overturned, white goose feathers floating through the air.

That naked child had climbed up to the chandelier, like a monkey, happily swinging back and forth.

But when he saw kun walking in through the door, the expression on his face froze, a trace of alarm shown through his round jet-black eyes.

kun looked at the empty box on the floor, then held up the red string on the side. He raised his head, gazing at the boy on the chandelier, unflappable as ever, and smiled slightly. He slowly and unhurriedly said, "Come down."

The boy stiffened, still not releasing his grip on the chandelier.

He looked at kun, head lowered and biting his lip, looking very wronged.

kun smiled, "You know that if I can catch you once, I can catch you twice."

The boy pursed his lips, and after a moment's stalemate, reluctantly loosened his hands, jumping down from the high chandelier. But after coming down, he immediately hid behind me, tightly grabbing onto my clothes, as if afraid of something.

kun approached with the red string.

I asked him in puzzlement, "What are you planning to do?"

kun smiled subtly, replying, "Nothing much. I'm just helping him tie a braid."

I couldn't understand, saying bewilderedly, "You want to help him tie a braid?"

kun only smiled, saying to the boy, "Come here."

The boy slowly shuffled over.

kun used the string in his hands to gather the strands into a braid at the top of the boy's head.

The moment the braid was tied, the boy slowly became smaller.

He shrank and shrank, at last reducing to…

A… a ginseng root?

My mouth dropped open, staring blankly at that small ginseng.

kun smiled, "Don't be so shocked. It is originally a ginseng, not an actual child. I went to the Changbai mountains before this and discovered a thousand-year-old mountain ginseng there. Mountain ginseng that have cultivated for a thousand years would be able to transform into a goblin spirit and turn into the appearance of a human child; capturing one isn't an easy thing to do. And after capturing one, you need to tie a red string around it for it to remain in its original form."

Finished saying this, he patted my shoulder smilingly, "Go wash the ink off your face then, or it might be hard to get rid of later."

kun placed the ginseng root back into the box.

And with a clap, the box shut close, leaving behind a room in complete disorder.

The next few days that followed saw the box placed on the cabinet in the drawing room. At times, when kun was not around, it would rumble and roll around a little.

When I turned to glance at it, it stopped moving, but when I turned my back, it started to become restless again.

"Hey, don't move so much, you'll fall."

I reached out a hand to move it back from the edge of the cabinet.

After a few seconds, a lowly cry sounded from the box. The 'boy' seemed to be weeping.

I couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong?"

"Xiao Mo Mo, I beg you, let me out, alright?"

Possibly having overheard kun call me, the little ginseng root knew my name.

I shook my head firmly, "No, you'll definitely cause trouble the moment I let you out. You messed up the house last time, I took a really long time to finish cleaning it up."

"No no no, I won't cause trouble again, let me out, I beg you."

The box moved slightly as if begging for forgiveness.

I shook my head still, and as I prepared to leave, I heard the child begin to cry really loudly, crying as he choked with emotion, "It's so dark in here… Uuuu… I'm scared… Uuuu…"

The pitiful sobs softened my heart, and after hesitating for a while, said, "Then you have to promise me, if I let you go, you won't go causing trouble."

"Mm! I promise I won't cause trouble!"

"You'll be obedient?"

"Mm!! I'll be obedient, I'll be really good!"

The boy used an infantile voice to promise me.

I sighed, and thought, maybe I could let him out to play for a while before kun returned?

With that, I opened the box.

There was no lock on the box, but the red string was still there, tied on an incredibly ordinary ginseng root, fastened into a knot. That knot was especially unique, nothing I had seen before. I didn't know how it had been tied either, and couldn't untie it even after spending a long time on it.

Just as I focused my attention on untying that knot, a voice came from behind my back.

"Heh, I knew you would want to let him out."

I got a scare, and turning, kun stood behind me.

"Uh, s-sorry…"

I scratched my head awkwardly, helping the child plead for leniency, "It's really pitiful to have him locked inside that box. Let's let him out, alright? He promised he wouldn't stir up something again."

kun shook his head helplessly, saying, "Honestly, you. I told you, you must not consider him a human child, he's just a ginseng spirit."

"But, he doesn't seem any different from a human child…"

I smiled pleadingly at him, imploring, "Go easy on him, alright?"

kun sighed, replying indifferently, "It's up to you."

With that, he turned to leave.

"B-but I don't know how to untie the string!"

As I hurriedly yelled out, I didn't expect the red string to fall apart the moment I turned back.

"Xiao Mo Mo! I'm out!"

A young and tender childish choice rang out from above my head.

A fully naked and completely unclothed boy fell from mid air above, and I frantically reached out to catch him into my arms.

"What are you called?" I asked.

The boy lifted his pink and soft face, fluttering his pair of wide jet-black eyes, and gave me a sweet little smile.

"Ah Bao. My name is Ah Bao."

Here's a pic of Ah Bao (and yingyao) hiding behind Xiao Mo's leg.

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