(2) Sending the Buddha All the Way West

One immortal girl and one mortal girl walked hand in hand toward the carriages with brisk, confident strides, the only incongruous note being the violet silk gauze veiling Anu's face. With A-Gui present, Anu had to keep her face covered—even celestial beings might not have the composure to look upon Anu's true face unmoved, and A-Gui was but an ordinary mortal. Anu dared not disobey her mother's command, and besides, she cared too much about her little sister's hard-won happiness to risk anything.

　　A-Gui had once asked Manchun why Anu always kept her face covered. The answer, naturally, was the one they had rehearsed beforehand: Anu was the daughter of a great and wealthy family, and it simply wouldn't do for her to show her face in public.

　　A-Gui was half-convinced, half-doubtful—what would the daughter of a great family be doing befriending common folk like them? But given the scale of what had just been arranged, it seemed unlikely anyone but the daughter of a great family could have pulled off such a feat, so he didn't press further.

　　Might as well let the story stand as told.

　　In the distance, two carriages traveled one behind the other, A-Gui walking beside the front one and Xing'er beside the rear. Watching Manchun in her red wedding gown, her face done up in bridal rouge, A-Gui's face lit with joy.

　　"You're so beautiful," he said.

　　A-Gui led Manchun by the hand up into the front carriage; Anu smiled, took Xing'er's hand, and hopped up into the one behind. She had made up her mind to see this good deed through to the end, escorting the young couple all the way to their new home, so that she might visit Manchun again in the future rather than lose touch entirely.

　　They traveled on, stopping and starting, until after several days the four of them finally arrived in Yan City. Yan City was far larger than Qingxi Town, even larger than Shuishi City—crowded with people and horses, merchants coming and going without end, its streets wider than Qingxi Town's by many times over. Manchun had never left Qingxi Town in her life, and now, lifting the carriage curtain, she stared wide-eyed, gazing about in wonder.

　　"I came to Yan City once before with my employer, so it's not entirely unfamiliar to me," A-Gui said, pointing out shops and streets to Manchun. Manchun found it all dazzling, almost too much to take in—what a glittering world this was. Was this really to be the place where she and A-Gui would build their life together from now on? Truth be told, a part of her was frightened.

　　The carriages slowed once they entered the city, but still made their way straight toward the western quarter, until they stopped before a dilapidated, seemingly abandoned courtyard house.

　　"No one's lived here for years. We'll settle here for now, and once we've saved enough we'll buy a proper house of our own—everything happened so quickly, there wasn't time to prepare properly. Please bear with it a little while," A-Gui said, leading Manchun down from the carriage, his face full of guilt.

　　"Don't say that. Given how hastily we had to decide, having any roof over our heads at all is more than enough. As long as the two of us support each other with one heart, there's no hardship we can't get through." Manchun gripped A-Gui's hand firmly, her voice resolute. "Let's get the things down from the carriage first, so the driver can rest."

　　So the four of them, along with the driver, set to work carrying the trunks and cases into the courtyard. Everywhere they looked, weeds grew wild, the roof sagged faintly in places, the wicker gate hung precariously and creaked with every gust of wind, and the paper on the windows was torn through with hardly a whole patch left… Anu looked at Xing'er and shook her head—relying on mortal strength alone, how long would it take to make this place fit to live in? They had come here for a wedding feast, after all; how long would they have to delay for that? She sighed, walked over to Manchun, and murmured a few words in her ear.

　　"Find some way to get A-Gui out of the way. Xing'er and I will work a little magic, and before long this place will be spotless, and we can dress it up too—simple enough to hold a wedding ceremony here after all."

　　"Even if I get A-Gui away, he'll still come back eventually—if this whole rundown place gets fixed up in just a little while, of course he'll get suspicious!" Manchun shook her head, her face plainly saying it wouldn't work.

　　There was no way to avoid arousing some suspicion entirely, but there was a middle ground.

　　"Just trust me—get A-Gui out of the way first, that's all. Aren't I supposed to be the daughter of a great family? If I can conjure up a gang of bandits, can't I also find people to help clean up a house?"

　　Manchun thought this made a fair amount of sense. Whether A-Gui fully believed it or not, as long as no one said otherwise, who could guess Anu's true identity? So she went over to A-Gui and said, "Is there anything else you're missing? Why don't you go into the market and see to it? Anu says she can find some people to help fix up the house—we'll split the work, and things will get done much faster. With just the four of us, we'd struggle to even find a place to sleep tonight."

　　Hearing this, A-Gui's brow furrowed slightly—did that girl Anu have acquaintances here in Yan City too? To be able to summon help in a place they'd only just arrived in, she must be someone of no small standing. He glanced over at Anu, her face still veiled, doubt stirring in his heart—but then he thought of how, without Anu's help this whole way, he and Manchun would never have made it to Yan City so smoothly. In the end, a person of true worth doesn't need to show it off. Though many questions remained, her generosity was plain, and clearly she meant no harm—she was Manchun's friend, after all, and whatever her true identity, her purpose here was to help the two of them. He was grateful enough as it was; how could he afford to harbor suspicion?

　　"Well then… all right. There are indeed a few things I need to get. I'll go out to the market, and I'll leave things here in Miss Anu's hands."

　　"Go on, then—don't stand on ceremony with me." Anu waved her hand, gesturing for A-Gui to go on without worry. At the same moment, A-Gui caught sight of Manchun wearing the same expression, and though doubts still lingered in him, he had no choice but to trudge reluctantly out the door.

　　There was nothing else for it—if Manchun said so, whom else would he trust, if not her? Wasn't she the one he'd decided to spend his whole life with?

　　Watching A-Gui walk away, Anu and Manchun couldn't help bursting into laughter, while Xing'er wore a look of displeasure—Anu's temperament really was a headache sometimes.

　　"All right! Don't look at me like that—go and check the area around us instead, make sure no one notices anything odd." Anu pushed Xing'er toward the door. "I know this is the mortal realm, I'll play the part properly. Don't keep making that face at me…"

　　"If the Asura King ever skins me alive one day, it'll be your fault!" Pushed out beyond the courtyard wall, Xing'er kept muttering resentfully through gritted teeth. She wandered around the neighborhood for a while; being near the outer edge of the city, it wasn't as bustling and noisy as the city center—there were people living about, but sparsely scattered, everyone busy with their own affairs, children playing carefree, lending the place a certain quiet charm. Perhaps because the courtyard had stood abandoned for so long, the passersby paid it no particular attention.

　　Returning to the derelict courtyard, Xing'er reported what she'd seen to Anu, who tilted her head in thought for a moment before wiggling her fingers and beginning to cast a spell. Before long, several groups of people came walking up outside the courtyard wall—men and women, old and young, quite a lively bunch. They carried cloths, feather dusters, brooms, buckets, basins, and all manner of tools for cleaning, along with materials for papering windows, mending doors, and repairing roofs, and one by one they approached Anu and bowed in greeting.

　　"Well then, let's get started," Anu said with a smile. This was all for show, a piece of misdirection—it wouldn't do for the house to transform in the blink of an eye, would it? Who would believe that?

　　And so, in plain view of everyone, the "crowd" busied themselves putting on a show of labor for two or three days, and by the end the house, while hardly resplendent, looked thoroughly refreshed. The commotion drew the attention of the neighbors nearby—some came to chat, some pitched in to help, and altogether the place buzzed with activity, warm and convivial.

　　"Well, let's call this the young couple's wedding gift," Anu said, satisfied, turning to Xing'er with a smile.

　　By the evening of the third day, the young couple's long-held wish was finally fulfilled—before the assembled neighbors and with Anu and Xing'er as witnesses, they bowed together as man and wife. The bride's wedding gown was ready-made; the groom's had been hastily sewn by Manchun herself. Though everything was done simply, the joy and happiness radiating from the young couple's faces was truly heartwarming, and amid the celebration, Anu raised her cup along with everyone else and drained it in one go—startling Xing'er beside her into a cold sweat.

　　"You can't drink…" Xing'er tried to stop her, but a moment too late. The Asura Clan had no tolerance for liquor—one cup and they were drunk. Not even Asura men touched wine, let alone Anu, which was exactly why this unguarded cup going down Anu's throat left Xing'er utterly at a loss.

　　The Queen, before they'd left, had specifically warned her never to let Anu touch a drop of wine.

　　"You… you… you…" Xing'er, panicking, hurriedly hauled Anu off toward the room where they were temporarily staying. If they were too slow, who knew what state Anu might be in once the drink truly hit her? There was no telling what secrets she might blurt out—Xing'er didn't dare risk it, and dragging her away seemed the safest course.

　　"Why show off when you can't hold your liquor?" she muttered as she pulled Anu along.

　　"I'm happy…" Anu giggled foolishly.

　　"You're already drunk, aren't you?" Xing'er's face was full of displeasure.

　　Perhaps Anu really was drunk—no sooner had she said she'd drunk out of happiness than she began murmuring incoherently, words that now were clearly steeped in sorrow.

　　"Worst comes to worst, I really do miss Mother… and Fourth Brother… I could still go back… back to the palace… to see… but even if I want to… die… I still can't… can't see… see you. Five hundred years… what kind of thing… is five hundred years? I've waited… too long… too long… I'm almost… almost… forgetting you…"

　　Anu's steps grew unsteady; squinting, she pointed up at the moon and went on murmuring, swaying her head. "It wasn't easy… coming back… coming back… and then… then you left me… behind… you… you… me… me… can I stop… stop… waiting?"

　　As she spoke, her feet gave way beneath her and she tumbled onto the bed, her mind already too clouded to know. "But I… I want… want to go home… I'm still… still waiting… for you… you… you… who never… lied to me." No sooner had she finished than she fell completely unconscious, dead to the world. Xing'er went over and settled her properly, tucking the blanket around her—and there, at the corner of her eye, caught a glimpse of a single trail of clear tears.

　　So had she truly drunk out of happiness? Or had something deep within her been struck, some overwhelming welter of feeling that had driven her to drown her sorrows? Who could say? Xing'er, of course, knew perfectly well that the "you" Anu spoke of was Xiaoyi, not the moon. Though she herself had not been present for all that had passed between them, from the scattered gossip of the Mist Forest's spirits pieced together over time, she had come to understand perhaps seven or eight parts of the whole.

　　In the end, fate loved to play its cruel tricks. The road of love between these two had been rough and uneven, the time they'd spent apart far outweighing the time they'd spent together. In the two hundred years since she had taken human form, Xing'er had never once heard Anu bring up Xiaoyi's name—but now it seemed this wasn't indifference, but fear: fear that the moment she spoke that name aloud, the longing and pain buried deep within her would come tearing loose, breaking free like a dam bursting, impossible to contain. And unlike herself, who had been born and raised in the Mist Forest, Anu's home was the Asura royal court—her parents and brothers were there, and what she yearned for above all else was to return and be reunited with her family. From the drunken words she'd just let slip, it seemed Xiaoyi had once made her a promise to take her home—a promise worth more than any fortune. It was the very thing Anu longed for above all else, and yet it required an agonizing five hundred years of waiting.

　　Those who did not understand might dismiss it as empty talk. Five hundred years! How distant, how hollow a span of time. Untouchable, unseeable, like nothing more than a shadow floating in the air, never to take solid form as a living person. After all, however meager the comfort, a real, flesh-and-blood person at one's side could at least share warmth, offer care, ask after one's wellbeing—what good could a mere insubstantial shadow ever do?

　　But perhaps it was only outsiders who failed to understand. She and the other spirits of the Mist Forest all knew of the helplessness in Xiaoyi's circumstances, and the five hundred years of separation from the one he loved was the most helpless thing of all, born of a helplessness with no way around it. Having met Xiaoyi only once herself, she had understood at once the sincerity of his feelings for Anu, without a shred of falsehood in them. If it were not truly unavoidable, how could he possibly be willing to let himself and the one he loved most endure five hundred years of longing apart?