6.3 - Snowy Mountain with a Peach Blossom Tree Volume I

"Xiaoyu, are you familiar with any martial arts style?" Mo Yue enquired, his chest heaving after demonstrating his swordsmanship as I had unabashedly demanded. Sheathing his sword, he approached the small bamboo pavilion where I was sitting with a broad smile on his face.

I thought about the basic self-defence movements that I learnt in the past and shook my head. My fighting skills paled in comparison to his.

I poured a cup of tea and offered it to him to show my admiration and appreciation. "Sit down and catch your breath."

Mo Yue sat down opposite me before gulping down the water thirstily. I looked around the courtyard in his temporary residence, preparing a list of compliments in my head. The residence was not very large—there was only one courtyard surrounded by rooms on its sides—but the garden was lavishly furnished. On one side of the garden, decorative rockeries, bamboo and bushes encircled a pond, over which a wooden bridge sturdily laid, and in the middle of the bridge was a small bamboo pavilion where one could admire the lovely scenery. On the other side, there were bare trees and a single path leading to the front of the house.

"In the future, you can learn from me—" he said but paused, slightly embarrassed at his abrupt offer. "After all, you called me shifu earlier; you can follow me back to Jinghe Palace after the Convention."

"Ah," I mused, folding my hands together. "I wish I could, but I have to return home. My family would worry if I did not return on time, as agreed."

Mo Yue's lips stiffened. I did not know what thoughts were on his mind, but a trace of disappointment flashed through his eyes before he broke eye-contact. Gazing down at the stone table with cast-down eyes, he asked: "When will you be leaving?"

"Before the sun sets today, if possible."

We both looked up at the dull grey sky. The sun was a weak orange glow behind the thick winter clouds, casting pale and long shadows on the ground. As I had gathered enough information, it was better to leave today and report back as soon as possible so that we could discuss the next step in our rescue plan.

"Didn't you request for me to help to look for your missing friend? The task is not yet complete." Mo Yue suddenly reminded me of the excuse I had used to attract his attention. "I'll need his background information as well as a description of his appearance."

I looked at the youth sitting opposite me and studied his face. I was 90% certain that Mo Yue and Ji Kai were the same person, except that Ji Kai had lost his memories in the process of becoming Mo Yue's substitute in the book. Even if Mo Yue investigated into "my missing friend", he would not be able to make any conclusive findings. Thinking about how I would be able to make Ji Kai work busily while wasting his time, I gave a conflicted laugh.

"His family name is Ji, and his given name is Kai. The character for 'Ji' is the same as that for 'seasons', and 'Kai' as in 'victorious'. He is 18 years old. We are from the same hometown. He is my childhood friend and we go to school together. But about—a few months ago, he suddenly vanished and I have not heard from him since then."

Mo Yue nodded along, taking a mental note of the information I was dumping on him. Perking up suddenly, he questioned, "and both of you are green plum and bamboo horse?"

I laughed incredulously. "How is that possible? We are still young—I am not interested in puppy love. We are just… acquaintances from young."

His face relaxed and a slow smile worked its way across his face. My right brow lifted subconsciously as I pushed a nagging suspicion to the back of my mind.

"Just an acquaintance? Then why are you so worried about him?"

"Worried? I'm not!" I scoffed. How could I be worried about someone like him— But if I wasn't worried, would I have volunteered to deliver assignments to him as a pretext for checking up on him?

I cleared my throat and inhaled deeply. It was difficult to explain the mixed feelings, especially when I was staring at his face. "Well, the thing is that we have some sort of misunderstanding that has jeopardised our friendship. Before he could clarify and make amends, he disappeared—maybe because he is avoiding me. I want to look for him so I can confront him about it."

"I see. Then what about his appearance? Any distinctive features?"

"That's easy. He looks exactly like you," I blurted out with a confident smile. "It may be a bit awkward going around asking others if they have seen someone who looks like you, but Ji Kai and you are truly splitting images of one another."

"We look identical?" Mo Yue looked at me with disbelief before muttering under his breath. "How could it be? Unless…"

I tilted my head at an angle, watching him curiously. "What are you whispering to yourself about?"

"It's nothing," he said quickly and poured himself a cup of hot tea.

In between sips, he asked a few more questions about the name and location of our hometown, about Ji Kai's hobbies and interests, and about his family. To which I answered that our hometown was Liuyuan Village across the lake, that Ji Kai enjoyed reading and studying, and that his family consisted of many people including his parents, siblings, and many servants.

Mo Yue fumbled around his waist before sliding his waist card across the table. I scrutinised the inscription on it. There was what looked like an organisation crest, but I could not make much sense of the words carved under it.

"Xiaoyu, I'm giving this to you. In about a month's time, come to Jinghe Palace with this in exchange for the information on your friend. Don't forget that you also have to demonstrate your talent as promised."

Gingerly, I took the cold piece of metal into my hands. Was this his way of saying farewell to me or his way of ensuring that we would meet again in the future?

"What if I don't appear for various reasons?"

We looked at each other for an instant; then his gaze fell away sharply. "The position as my student will always be open for you. Even if you don't appear in a month's time, I'll still be waiting for you," Mo Yue said quietly as a flush crept up his face, dyeing his ears a light pinkish colour.

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