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墨書 Inktalez
"I am from Chang'an, having grown up in this city. Back then, during the Sui Dynasty, the Yan Family was still one of the most renowned wealthy families in Chang'an. As for my family, I have little to recall. I was born a concubine's child, my mother held a low status, and I was not favored by my father. I lived without worries about food and clothing, had the opportunity to read and write, and even had a dedicated teacher to impart business knowledge to us."
"But everything changed in that great fire fifteen years ago." Yan Shunqing spoke slowly, squinting his eyes as he fell into memories.
Fifteen years ago, a massive fire broke out in Luoyang, which became quite famous. The blaze consumed the county office in the heart of Chang'an City, specifically Daxing County, along with over a hundred households on the bustling Seven Streets. The flames were fierce, and countless lives were lost in the inferno. The Yan Family's residence and all their shops were located on those seven streets; thus, their entire fortune was destroyed in the fire, leaving only a few survivors.
That night when the fire started, everyone was still fast asleep. The wind was strong, causing the flames to spread rapidly. By the time people noticed, it was already beyond control.
Yan Shunqing's room was situated in a remote area; although it caught fire as well, he woke up to find it still manageable. He successfully escaped from his room. Upon bursting through the door, he was met with a scene that resembled hell itself—flames surged all around him, painting everything red, accompanied by screams and cries that sent chills down his spine.
He steadied himself and rushed toward the room where his mother and younger brother were staying. After navigating several turns, he looked up only to find that his mother's courtyard had already been engulfed by flames, making it impossible to approach. A wave of despair washed over Yan Shunqing when suddenly he heard a loud crash nearby followed by a piercing scream.
Turning around, he saw at the entrance of another house his legitimate sister being forced back inside by the collapsing door. This sister was dearly loved by their family and had always been spoiled; she had never treated him well. Yet at that moment, Yan Shunqing acted without thinking—he dashed into the flames and managed to push his terrified sister out of the house.
To his surprise, there was another person inside—a stranger.
The person was slender and struggling to support themselves against an unburned table inside the room. Bent over with one hand clutching their abdomen tightly, they were breathing heavily. When they saw Yan Shunqing, they lifted their head to meet his astonished gaze with eyes as clear as autumn water.
It was a woman with long straight black hair cascading down her back. She wore a neat black outfit with a deep purple collar peeking out from beneath it. Her skin was exceptionally pale, resembling delicate white porcelain—refined yet seemingly fragile. Her long eyelashes concealed a hint of sorrowful expression in her eyes; coupled with a white camellia tucked into her hair, she exuded an extraordinarily unique and mysterious beauty.
With a crash above them as more debris fell from the ceiling, Yan Shunqing stepped forward to grab her and pulled her aside just in time. The rubble landed at their feet with a thunderous sound; the heat inside was suffocating yet somehow her faint scent of camellia still reached his nose.
Twenty years of life had passed like water—plain and unnoticed; no one cared or paid attention. Even if he died, it would likely be without anyone knowing. Strangely enough, he felt neither fear nor sorrow at that moment. Looking at the woman, he said calmly, "It seems we might not make it out."
The woman shot him a glare and gripped his arm tightly to steady herself. She glanced around before using him as support to pull herself toward a side window. Suddenly tensing up, she struck out with her palm; miraculously, both window and wall crumbled away with a resounding crash.
With that deafening noise came a spray of blood from her mouth as she collapsed forward. Yan Shunqing hurriedly caught her and lifted her up before rushing out through the fallen wall.
"Go! Leave the county town and head for the mountains..." she finally spoke up, her voice hoarse and intermittent. "Someone is trying to kill me; hurry..."
It dawned on Yan Shunqing that his white robe had become soaked with her bright red blood after their brief contact.
Something wasn't right—she was injured. Whoever was after her must be dangerous! Yet inexplicably compelled by fate, Yan Shunqing obeyed her words and together they slipped into the night away from the chaos of the county town toward the mountains on its outskirts.
“She insisted on avoiding populated places, so we found an abandoned Mountain God Temple. It was in that Mountain God Temple that we spent a month together. This woman is A-Chun, and this month was all the time we had together.”
A-Chun rarely spoke, and even her groans while tending to her wounds were almost nonexistent. She had suffered a sword wound to her abdomen, fortunately missing any vital organs, but she bled profusely. Watching beads of sweat form on her forehead, Yan Shunqing decisively took the white cloth and medicine from her hands and began to tend to her injuries.
The woman showed no sign of discomfort. Yan Shunqing unfastened her black shirt, revealing the taut and graceful lines of her abdomen. The knife wound on her snow-white skin was shocking. Yan Shunqing was merely a scholar; aside from bandaging a rabbit's broken leg once, he had never done anything like this before. But he gritted his teeth and, under A-Chun's guidance, finally managed to dress her wound.
It was then that she told him her name: A-Chun.
It took a month for A-Chun's wounds to heal. During this time, Yan Shunqing did many things he had never done before, such as building a stove, starting a fire, cooking meals, and shamelessly going to nearby villages to beg for supplies.
The pots and dishes they used were all broken, either begged from the Village or scavenged. There was only one rough clay dish; although it looked crude, A-Chun held it in her hands and gazed at it for a long time before saying, “It feels like I can see my hometown.”
Yan Shunqing naturally wanted to know what her hometown was like, but she refused to elaborate. Time passed slowly; A-Chun's extremely pale face gradually began to show a hint of color. At first, when she was awake, she would quietly gaze outside at the sky, but at some point, her gaze began to intentionally or unintentionally follow Yan Shunqing as he moved around the dilapidated temple.
When Yan Shunqing accidentally cut his finger with a knife and blood flowed freely, he merely frowned and wrapped his finger with a piece of cloth. Unbeknownst to him, the woman who could now stand and walk gently tugged at his sleeve from behind.
“You can't do this,” she said softly in a melodious voice.
He had cut himself but felt no pain; the camellias outside were blooming yet seemed unremarkable; the world was vast but felt mundane—this was not right. Perhaps this was what she meant.
Having lived in this world for twenty years, he couldn’t recall when everything suddenly became bland—neither good nor bad. Life felt neither light nor heavy. The future seemed indifferent.
Yan Shunqing plucked a branch of blooming camellia from outside the temple and suddenly noticed that the flower was a vibrant red—so bright that it emitted a faint fragrance that stirred something within him.
It turned out that feeling ripples in his heart could invigorate his entire being.
He handed the red camellia to A-Chun, and for the first time, she smiled.
“Camellia—that’s my name,” she said with a smile as she tucked the flower into her hair. With a bright red camellia adorning her hair and a slight smile on her face, A-Chun looked stunning in the morning sun.
She never mentioned anything about herself except once in a dream when she murmured, “I can’t catch up with you anymore.” Who was she trying to catch up with? There was an illusion that she seemed like an immortal who had accidentally fallen into the mortal realm—a celestial maiden who missed her chance to return home and had no choice but to linger among mortals. Was she still thinking about returning?
Then could it be possible for someone like the legendary mortal men to treat her well and keep her in their world?
Her gaze was melancholic, yet not sad. She did not appear strong, but there was a firmness about her, as if she had a clear vision of her future without any hesitation. That sense of determination brought a calmness to the heart, inexplicably fostering hope for the future.
A-Chun's health improved remarkably, and soon she even began to help with cooking. The dishes she prepared had a unique flavor—somewhat mild, yet delicious. One day, Yan Shunqing returned from outside with Soba Noodles, and she surprisingly used her short knife, which she carried as a weapon, to make the noodles.
The cooked noodles were served in a rough clay dish, dark in color and quite unremarkable. A-Chun took out a small bottle from her belongings and sprinkled a red powder over the noodles.
Once the powder dissolved into the noodles, it became invisible. However, when Yan Shunqing took a bite, he found the taste to be extraordinarily complex—not simply delicious but intricately layered. You could never guess that such an ordinary-looking bowl of noodles would evoke such a medley of flavors that it almost brought him to tears.
"This is the taste of my hometown," A-Chun said. "Seven Spice Chili Pepper is a seasoning my mother taught me to make. Every time I taste it, I remember her. So whenever I come across the ingredients by chance, I always collect them and keep them with me."
"Seven Spice Chili Pepper" was something Yan Shunqing had never heard of before. The things A-Chun mentioned often felt like they belonged to another world entirely.
"Yan Shunqing," A-Chun called his name for the first time, "the world is vast, and many things are quite interesting. Just like this bowl of noodles; on the surface, it seems plain, but in reality, there are many flavors waiting for you to savor. Even in the most unbearable life, as long as you are alive, good things will come your way—things you could never imagine. Yan Shunqing, go out there and seek."
Yan Shunqing nodded. He had already begun to entertain such thoughts in his heart; perhaps what lay ahead was indeed promising. He wanted to keep her in his life. This desire suddenly felt so intense that it seemed as if his life had transformed completely.
However, just as A-Chun made him Seven Spice Chili Pepper Soba Noodles for the second time—marking the thirtieth since their fateful encounter in the fire—she vanished without a word, disappearing from his life as if she had never existed at all.
It has now been a full fifteen years.
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