Chinese Almanac Master - Ch. 9

 

Chapter 9

"So if you ever encounter those things that are not human in the future, you must..."

"Kill."

When these somewhat gloomy words were spoken from Twenty-Five's mouth, Xiao Nanzhu's movements came to a halt. He seemed to be able to smell the thick scent of blood and hear the twisted screams coming from his nose and ears. Therefore, he was momentarily distracted. Twenty-Five thought that Xiao Nanzhu was unwilling to get his hands bloody, so he looked to the side and spoke with a lowered voice and a solemn expression.

"Disasters are lifeless beings, only with blood and flesh because they cling to human bodies. These recent days are nearing the end of the year, when evil spirits gather. You may have to handle a few of them yourself. The disasters on those people's bodies were all unformed, and I have already taken care of them myself. But there won't be a next time for this kind of thing. Your grandmother used to like to write down everything. You can go find out if she left any advice for you... As for Li Mao, who owes wages to construction workers, and Zhao Tiansheng, who gives all his money to his lover, don't help them anymore. They are full of evil spirits and look unlucky. If they do bad things for a long time, things will go wrong for them. Those evil spirits will only target people who have done bad things. They now only think that they have bad luck, but they don't think about what they did before. So don't help those people anymore in the future, otherwise, your grandmother will be furious if she knows..."

Twenty-Five lectured Xiao Nanzhu seriously, frowning tightly. He even forgot to shell the peanuts in his hand while speaking, looking worried. Xiao Nanzhu's eyes softened as he understood that Twenty-Five's intention was all about this. He was really helpless with the shy and stubborn temperament of this historical god. However, he had his own way of doing things. Although it might not be as clear-cut as what Twenty-Five required, he wouldn't go wrong. At this moment, he understood that it was better to appease Twenty-Five's eccentric and serious personality. Although his tone... sounded like his grandmother who passed away had forbidden him from skipping classes to go to game arcades.

"Okay, okay, I'll try my best."

Xiao Nanzhu's words, which carried a hint of compromise, relieved Twenty-Five, who had been worried about him for a while. He turned to look at the old clock on the wall and realized that it was almost midnight without noticing it. Because he had to hurry back to the almanac, otherwise he would miss the hour, Twenty-Five didn't finish his food and hurriedly left. Before leaving, he politely said goodbye to Xiao Nanzhu, and when he heard this, Xiao Nanzhu nodded and watched him turn into a bright light and freeze on Twenty-Five's calendar for that day.

After he left, Xiao Nanzhu sat in the once-again silent living room for a moment and suddenly laughed inexplicably.

"Ah, another day has passed..."

He muttered to himself, holding a cigarette and looking at his phone. Cao Chong, Zhao Tiansheng, and Li Mao had all sent him messages, but they were only about things related to their own interests, which didn't require guessing. Xiao Nanzhu glanced at them casually, noted them down, and put his phone aside. His mood was still good. After stretching and standing up, he suddenly remembered the issue Twenty-Five had mentioned about his grandmother's work records. After walking around the small room in his cotton slippers, he finally found a small, yellowed booklet on the toilet shelf.

His grandmother's habit of putting things in disorder had not changed for so many years, so it was not too difficult for Xiao Nanzhu to find it. After taking a shower, he lay on the bed and casually flipped through the slightly moldy booklet in his hand. The first thing he saw was his grandmother's exclamation about how the old man Liu who practiced Tai Chi with a sword in the park was so elegant and refined, and she must use a top-notch fan to catch his attention and prevent him from talking and laughing with the auntie who danced in the square.

"..."

He couldn't help but stifle a laugh at his grandmother's personality and temperament. As he continued to flip through, he could see scattered events that had happened on various dates, arranged in order by year and date. Since this record began fifty or sixty years ago, many things were not very clear. However, when Xiao Nanzhu flipped to the beginning where his grandmother, Xiao Ruhua, first started writing her diary, he found that the day he saw was actually the New Year's Eve of that year, and his grandmother had only left this sentence.

"This is the unluckiest New Year's Eve I've ever had, not because my father didn't come home for the holiday, not because Zhang Qiang, who runs the small grocery store at the end of the alley, brought his girlfriend home, but because New Year's Eve is just..."

The writing behind is hardly legible, but Xiao Nanzhu feels that his grandmother must have been in a bad mood when she wrote this passage. He inexplicably remembered how Twenty-four looked so taboo on this New Year's Eve, and his curiosity about that day grew stronger. However, there are still a few days left until New Year's Eve, and he is not in a hurry now. As he pondered about his grandmother's evaluation of the historical god who will appear tomorrow, he saw a full page of annotations from his grandmother about the origin of the Qixi Festival and Valentine's Day.

It turned out that Western Valentine's Day was only introduced to China due to cultural integration in the past two decades. At the beginning, it was always a completely Western holiday. It is said that in ancient Rome, many couples who loved each other were forced to separate because of a tyrant. A brave soldier died on this day in order to be with his lover, so this day became Western Valentine's Day.

To some extent, this story is somewhat similar to the story of the Cowherd and Weaver Girl that the Queen Mother of the West separated. However, Qixi Festival was originally a day for ancient women to pray for spiritual and manual dexterity. On this day, women would make Qiao Guo Er and Qiao Bing to share with each other. These crispy and sweet fried pastries are not expensive, and can be made by simply sprinkling sesame oil on dough and frying it. Although they are not as exquisite as roses, chocolates, or jewelry, they do match the festive atmosphere. Unfortunately, in recent years, people have gradually forgotten the true meaning behind this traditional festival. Except for some elderly people, few people are making Qiao Guo Er or similar snacks anymore. Some businesses even call Qixi Festival "China's Valentine's Day," leading to a serious conflict between the two holidays.

His grandmother didn't explain clearly what happened at the time, but from the description, it was clear that it was not a good thing. As he flipped through the notes in his hand, Xiao Nanzhu became more and more fascinated by the festivals that were very different from those of ordinary people in his grandmother's records, and he kept thinking about what kind of existence they were.

That night, he had a strange and bloody dream. In the dream, he was cooking a pot of dragon beard noodles. The noodles were soft and delicate, and the soup was delicious and fragrant, making it very tempting. But for some reason, a group of dark evil spirits suddenly appeared from the sky, accompanied by sharp, twisted screams and the agonizing pain of flesh being torn apart. To protect himself, Xiao Nanzhu had to tear open the shells of those screaming evil spirits with his hands, and the splattering red blood sprayed onto his cheeks. The twisted and distorted human-like faces made his breathing heavy. The blood in front of him also made his eyes blurry. He knelt on the ground, feeling the dirt and filth, and the feeling of being wrapped in flesh was so nauseating that he could hardly describe it. Perhaps it was because he had just killed so many living creatures that resembled humans with his own hands, so his heart was cold and he felt a strong sense of guilt. Xiao Nanzhu couldn't help but close his eyes. Suddenly, he felt a cold hand grip his chin and lift it up, and with a somewhat erotic movement, it slowly rubbed his dry lips.

"Very good."

The voice was as cold and chilling as the hand, without any emotional fluctuations even when giving praise. Xiao Nanzhu couldn't see the person's face clearly, but inexplicably, he felt afraid. This unfamiliar emotion made Xiao Nanzhu restless and want to stand up, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't resist the will of the person in front of him. And when he tried to open his eyes to see the face of this bastard, all he could see was the burning gold and red clothes that hurt his eyes and a-- Woof?...

The next day, when Xiao Nanzhu woke up, he had almost forgotten about last night's events. His memory still lingered on the moment he started cooking the dragon beard noodles. Therefore, he decisively gave up on the idea of having porridge for breakfast and prepared to make himself a bowl of noodles in the kitchen. However, perhaps due to his bad luck today, before he could finish cooking his noodles, an unexpected guest arrived right on time. When the god of history, whose body was exuding a pungent rose fragrance, saw Xiao Nanzhu, he gave him a subtle glance and then said with a familiar smile,

"Oh, good morning. Are you still a single dog? How are you going to spend your day today? Happy Valentine's Day, single dog! Hahahaha o(*≧▽≦)ツ"

Xiao Nanzhu: "(o#゜曲゜)o"

Author's note: I updated earlier than usual today. Please leave a comment and add this to your favorites. I've been feeling too miserable lately~~

TLN: Chapter not proofread :p we lack PRs... join early!