Xia Lan: From Meeting a Martial Arts Girl

Chapter 58 Desert Tavern

Southern Wilderness.

Su Nian has been here for almost a week.

This land, located at the southernmost tip of the continent, was not quite what she had imagined.

Before coming here, she thought it was all tropical rainforest, with towering banyan trees, tangled vines, and venomous snakes and spiders hiding behind the leaves.

But in reality, she landed in a semi-arid desert.

Sparse bushes are scattered in the distance, and occasionally a few crooked bread trees can be seen.

It's very windy.

It hurts a lot when it hits your face.

Su Nian pulled her scarf up to cover half her face and pushed open the tavern door.

The tavern was much darker inside than outside.

The light bulbs were covered with a layer of dust, and several tables were scattered in the small space. The chairs were made of wood and plastic, and were different colors, as if they had been picked up from different places.

A faded poster with a beer brand logo was pasted on the wall.

Su Nian found a table in the corner and sat down, placing her backpack at her feet.

The proprietress was a white woman in her fifties, with a robust build and arms thicker than Su Nian's thighs.

She walked over and asked Su Nian what she wanted.

Su Nian pointed to the only brand of liquor bottles she recognized among the row of bottles behind the bar.

The proprietress nodded and turned to get the wine.

Su Nian looked around.

There weren't many people in the tavern, only seven or eight, all men, all white, and all looking like they had been tormented by the sun and sandstorms.

They all had rough skin and large finger joints.

Herdsmen.

There are no farmlands or pastures in this desert, only scattered herds of livestock over a radius of several hundred kilometers.

These men spend most of the year driving their livestock from one pasture to another.

He spent the remaining six months drinking away all the money he had earned in the town's taverns.

The proprietress placed the wine on the table.

Su Nian picked up her wine glass and took a sip.

He frowned.

It doesn't taste good.

But she didn't put down the cup; she took a second sip.

It wasn't for the drink; it was to make myself look like someone who came to the tavern to kill time.

The shepherds at the table next to the bar were talking.

The sound wasn't loud, but the tavern was small, so Su Nian could hear it clearly.

"Have you heard? That mine up north?"

Which mine?

"It's that mining company, the one that blasts rocks at the foot of the mountain."

"Oh, that. What's wrong?"

Something's happened.

"What is it?"

"Lightning strike. For three consecutive days, once a day, precisely at 2 PM, it struck the crater they blasted out."

The speaker lowered his voice, but the excitement in his tone was unmistakable.

"On the first day, they killed two engineers; on the second day, they destroyed an excavator; and on the third day, they burned down their temporary warehouse."

"fire?"

"Yes, a big fire."

"It burned all night long, detonating all the explosives stored inside, and the whole hillside shook."

"Oh My God."

"That's not all."

"What else?"

"The plane. Do you remember that route? The little plane that flies in from the north twice a week, the one that delivers things to town."

"I remember, didn't they say a couple of days ago that they weren't going to fly?"

"Yes, it's not flying anymore. Not because of the weather, but because the flight route has been changed."

"The airline said there was unusual electromagnetic interference in that airspace, causing the navigation system to malfunction, and the plane had to detour."

Electromagnetic interference.

Su Nian's fingers tightened slightly as she held the wine glass.

"Some say," the shepherd lowered his voice even further, "that the mountain spirits have been disturbed."

"Gods?"

"Yes. People have said before that this mountain must not be moved, or you will suffer retribution."

"The mining company wouldn't listen and insisted on bombing it. Now they're getting their comeuppance."

"So what do we do now?"

"have no idea."

"I heard that the mining company brought people from the capital to investigate the cause."

"Investigate what reason? Isn't it obvious?"

"What do you know? Their research is scientific, not our superstition."

The two of them laughed at the same time.

Su Nian lowered her head and looked at the half-full glass of wine remaining in her cup.

The plane that was diverted.

She knows her.

To be precise, it was a supply ship arranged for her by the sniffing organization.

A week ago, she landed at the airport in the capital of Southern Wilderness State, then transferred to this small plane, which took nearly four hours to reach this small town whose name is almost nowhere to be found on the map.

The pilot was a member of a sniffing organization and had excellent flying skills; he barely felt any vibration during landing.

He said as he left that he would return in a week with supplies and intelligence.

He's not coming back now.

Su Nian finished the wine in her glass and took out her phone from her pocket.

The signal strength is only one bar.

She dialed that number.

It rang three times before being answered.

"dad."

The voice of Yi Songjin came from the other end of the phone, sounding visibly tired.

"Su Nian, how are things on your end?"

"We've arrived in town."

"Did you find the item?"

"not yet."

"I heard some news that the mining company blasted a crater at the foot of the mountain to the north, and then strange things started happening."

"What's wrong?"

"Continuous lightning strikes, and electromagnetic interference."

There was a few seconds of silence on the other end of the phone.

"Su Nian, don't act yet."

Why?

"I've found some information that might be related to your situation."

"What is it?"

"It's not convenient to talk about this over the phone. Anyway, stay in town for now and don't go into the mountains alone. I'll send someone over again."

"Who should we send?"

"It's not decided yet."

"Baozi and Xiaoman went to Fusang with Lu Siye, and I don't have many people I can mobilize right now."

"I see."

"Su Nian".

"Um?"

"be safe."

"it is good."

The phone hangs up.

Su Nian placed her phone on the table and stared at the screen until it automatically turned off.

She picked up her glass to take another sip, only to find it was empty.

A shadow fell on the table.

"Hey, Oriental beauty."

Su Nian raised her head.

A man was standing next to her table.

Whether you're in your forties or fifties, you can't tell the difference here; the wind and sand have worn everyone's age into the same shape.

He was wearing a dirty plaid shirt that revealed a patch of chest hair.

His hair was brown and greasy, plastered to his scalp, and he hadn't shaved for days.

Holding a glass of beer, he swayed slightly, clearly having drunk quite a bit.

"Alone?" he asked, a smile he thought was charming playing on his lips.

Su Nian did not answer.

She shifted her gaze from the man and returned it to her phone.

The man did not leave.

He took a step forward, getting closer.

Su Nian could smell his scent: alcohol, sweat, and an indescribable sour odor.

"Don't be so cold," the man said, placing his beer glass on her table, resting his hands on the edge of the table, and leaning forward. "I just want to chat with you."

Su Nian's fingers rested on the edge of the phone, without moving.

"Are you a tourist?" the man said to himself. "Doesn't seem like it. There's nothing fun in this run-down place."

"What are you here for? Looking for someone? Or...?"

His gaze moved down from Su Nian's face.

Su Nian was dressed very conservatively.

A loose-fitting khaki long-sleeved shirt, with the collar buttoned up to the top and the sleeves rolled up to the elbows.

He wore a pair of multi-pocket cargo pants in the same color, with the pant legs tucked into high-top desert boots.

Apart from his face and hands, almost no part of his skin was exposed.

Even so, her figure was still undeniable.

A slender waist, long limbs, and the subtle, understated curves unique to Eastern women.

In this dilapidated town on the edge of the desert, among a group of old men whose skin has been roughened by the wind and sand.

She was like a piece of jade casually tossed into a pile of gravel, quietly and imperceptibly shining.

The man's gaze lingered on her for too long.

"You have a nice figure," he said, with an uncomfortable, self-assured flippancy in his tone, "even though you're wearing a bit too much."

Two more people walked by.

One was wearing a dirty shirt similar to the first man's, while the other was wearing a sweatshirt with a football team's logo on it.

The three people surrounded Su Nian's table.

The other people in the tavern glanced at it a few times, then looked away.

In this place, nobody cares about what others do.

"Hey guys," the first man spoke up, glancing back at his companions, "do you guys think all Eastern women are this aloof?"

"It's not that you're aloof," said the one in the tracksuit, his gaze sweeping unabashedly over Su Nian. "It's shyness. Right, little beauty?"

The third person didn't speak, but just stood to the side, holding a wine glass, with an expression on his face as if he were watching a good show.

Su Nian removed her hand from her phone and let it hang down under the table.

Her right index and middle fingers were brought together, and a faint trace of primordial energy was gathering at the fingertips.

She didn't want to cause trouble.

But if they take another step forward, she will intervene.

"You guys."

A voice came from the direction of the bar.

"Go back to your seats."

The three men turned their heads at the same time.

An old man was sitting in the far corner of the bar.

He was wearing a gray jacket and a baseball cap pulled low over his head, but the hair peeking out from under the cap was an unnatural red.

She has many wrinkles on her face, but the contours of her features are still visible.

He must have been a good-looking man when he was young.

He is of East Asian descent.

In this small town tavern where everyone is white, an old man from the East sits, drinking some kind of liquor, watching everything unfold.

"None of your business, you old man," said the first man.

The old man wasn't angry.

He pushed his hat up a little.

"I just think," he said, his voice low but each word clear, "that it doesn't look good to have three big men surrounding a girl."

"You fucking!"

"Boss," the old man said, turning to the proprietress behind the bar before the other man could finish his rant, "put these three's drinks on my tab."

The proprietress wiped the glass in her hand and watched the scene with a blank expression.

Then she spoke.

"Your account has been in debt for almost three months."

The old man's expression froze for a moment.

But he quickly regained his composure, cleared his throat, took a wallet from the inside pocket of his jacket, and opened it.

The wallet was empty except for a crumpled receipt and a coin whose denomination was illegible.

He glanced at his wallet, then at the shopkeeper, then closed it and stuffed it back into his inner pocket.

"Then please remember this for me," he said, "we'll settle it together next month."

The proprietress didn't say anything more, but her eyes said it all.

The three men watched this scene and burst into laughter.

"Hahaha, old man, you can't even afford the drinks but you're trying to be a hero and save a damsel in distress?"

"Alright, alright," the first man waved his hand, his smile fading, and turned to look at Su Nian. "You're lucky today."

The three men left with their wine glasses.

Su Nian loosened her grip under the table, and the vital energy at her fingertips dissipated.

She didn't look at the old man.

The old man didn't even look at her.

The tavern returned to its previous atmosphere.

The herdsmen continued their conversation, while the landlady continued wiping her cups.

Su Nian remained silent for a while.

Then she stood up and walked to the bar.

"How much?" she asked the proprietress.

"You drank this?"

"And his too."

Su Nian raised her chin in the direction of the old man.

The proprietress glanced at her, then at the old man, her lips twitching as if she wanted to say something, but in the end she said nothing.

She pulled a notebook from under the counter, flipped through it, and scribbled a few lines on it with a pen.

"Forty-seven in total."

Su Nian took her wallet out of her pocket.

She exchanged some local currency before coming, but not much, and she had to carefully calculate the cost of each bill.

She counted out forty-seven and placed them on the counter.

The proprietress took the money away.

Su Nian turned around and returned to her seat.

The old man was still sitting in the corner of the bar, his glass empty.

He just said he would treat those three people to drinks, but they didn't actually order any, so he didn't lose anything.

Aside from the face.

Su Nian sat down again, picked up her backpack from beside her feet and placed it on her lap, opened one of the pockets and checked the contents.

An atlas, a compass, and a small bag of dry rations.

And two hundred local currency.

She frowned.

Forty-seven isn't a lot, but in this small town where prices aren't cheap, it's enough for her to have several meals.

She originally wanted to repay the old man, but she almost emptied her own wallet in the end.

Su Nian zipped up her backpack and placed it at her feet.

She didn't look at the old man, nor did she say thank you.

She's not very good at saying those kinds of things.

I wasn't good at it when I was a child.

Yi Songjin had taught her many times to say thank you, to say sorry, to say please, and to be a polite person.

She learned it and remembered it, but she always felt awkward when she said it out loud.

That's why she rarely talks about it.

It's not that I don't want to talk about it, it's that I don't know how.

But her actions spoke louder than her words.

For example, when I paid for the drinks.

"girl."

The old man's footsteps drew closer.

Su Nian raised her head.

The old man stood beside her table, holding an empty wine glass, his expression somewhat complicated.

"Um," he said, in slightly accented Mandarin, "thank you for earlier."

Su Nian looked at him without saying a word.

The old man felt a little uneasy under her gaze. He cleared his throat, placed the empty wine glass on the table, and rubbed his hands together.

"I mean, you don't need to pay for my drinks. Really, I'm used to keeping track of things at this tavern. The proprietress may not like me every day, but she won't really kick me out, because I'm the only one in town..."

He paused, as if searching for a suitable word.

"...A cultured guest?"

Su Nian remained silent.

The old man touched his nose, and a few strands of red hair peeked out from under the brim of his hat.

Anyway, thank you.

He turned to leave.

Su Nian spoke.

Your cup is empty.

The old man stopped and looked down at the empty cup in his hand.

"Ah, right, it's empty."

"Let's have another drink."

The old man paused for a moment, then turned around, his eyes lighting up.

"That......"

"My treat."

Su Nian regretted saying those two words as soon as she did.

She glanced at the backpack at her feet; there were less than two hundred Southern Wilderness Coins left inside.

After drinking that glass of wine, she only had a little over a hundred dollars left.

But words spoken cannot be taken back.

She is never the type to take back what she says.

The old man had already sat down.

He sat in the chair opposite her, placed the empty cup on the table, and put his hands neatly on his knees, like a primary school student waiting for the teacher to give him candy.

Su Nian called over the proprietress and ordered another drink.

It wasn't for her, it was for the old man.

The wine has arrived.

The old man picked it up, took a sip, and let out a satisfied sigh.

"Good wine," he said. "The wine here may not taste good, but it's good to be able to drink it."

Su Nian looked at him.

The old man sensed her gaze, looked up, and met her eyes.

"What's wrong?"

Su Nian shook her head.

"What's your name?" she asked.

The old man hesitated for a moment.

"Just call me Lao Hong."

"Old Red?"

"Yes, look at my hair," he said, taking off his hat to reveal unevenly dyed red hair, which appeared even redder under the light. "Isn't it quite red?"

Su Nian looked at his hair for two seconds.

"Dyed."

"Yes, it was dyed."

"Why is it dyed red?"

The old man put his hat back on and thought for a moment.

"Because my wife likes red."

Su Nian did not speak.

The old man took another sip of wine, his eyes fixed on the swirling liquid in the glass, and his voice suddenly softened.

She's been gone for many years.

The noise in the tavern seemed to fade into the distance at that moment.

"The years I spent with her," the old man said, his voice soft but clear, "were the best days of my life."

Su Nian sat quietly, without urging or interrupting.

She just listened.

"When I was young, I was ignorant and did many wrong things," the old man said, his fingers slowly sliding along the side of the cup. "I offended a lot of people and hurt a lot of people."

"But she never blamed me."

"She is a very gentle person."

As the old man finished speaking, a smile appeared on his lips.

"She likes to draw. Not professionally, just for fun."

"She carries a notebook and a pencil with her wherever she goes, and she draws beautiful scenery and flowers whenever she sees them."

"Once we saw a field of wildflowers on the road, purple, a large patch, like a carpet spread on the hillside. She was as happy as a child, squatting there and drawing for a whole afternoon."

"I just sat next to her and watched her."

"She is very focused when she draws, and sometimes she will laugh to herself while she is drawing."

I asked her what she was laughing at.

She said, "I won't tell you."

Old Hong smiled.

As she laughed, her eyes welled up with tears.

"She loves small animals. She wants to take stray cats and dogs home."

"Our place isn't big, but she still keeps two cats, a dog, and a potted plant that she calls a flower but looks more like grass to me."

"That plant actually did bloom later. It was small, white, but very fragrant."

She was happy for several days.

Su Nian's finger moved slightly on the table.

"She's afraid of the cold," Lao Hong continued, his voice starting to tremble slightly. "She always snuggles into my arms, saying my body is as hot as a furnace."

I took off my coat and put it on her, then wrapped her in my arms.

"She was much shorter than me; her chin rested just on my shoulder."

"Every time she falls asleep in my arms, I don't dare to move, for fear of waking her up."

He put down his glass and covered his eyes with his palm.

"I was injured once," his voice muffled behind his hands, "and badly."

"She came to me crying and stayed by my side, repeatedly saying, 'Don't be hurt, don't be hurt.'"

"When I woke up, I saw that her eyes were swollen like peaches and her face was covered in tear stains."

"I panicked immediately."

Old Hong removed his hand from his eyes, which were red, but he didn't cry.

I told her, "Please don't cry, okay? It makes me sad too when you cry."

"Then she cried even harder."

Old Hong smiled.

His laughter was tinged with sobs.

Su Nian silently pulled a handkerchief from the side pocket of her backpack, placed it on the table, and pushed it in front of Lao Hong.

The handkerchief was white, neatly folded, with a small orchid embroidered on the corner.

Old Hong glanced at the handkerchief, then at Su Nian.

He picked up the handkerchief, but instead of wiping his eyes, he placed it in his palm.

"Thank you, young lady."

Su Nian shook her head.

"And then?" she asked.

"Later," Old Hong took a deep breath, suppressing the surging emotions, "later she..."

"She still left."

Lao Hong's voice was calm.

"Before she left, she told me to live well."

"I said okay."

"And then I've lived to this day."

Old Hong raised his head and looked at Su Nian.

"Girl, do you know what she drew in the end?"

Su Nian shook her head.

"it's me."

Old Hong's eyes reddened again.

"She drew me sleeping."

She said she loves watching me sleep because I only don't frown when I'm asleep.

Old Hong finished the rest of the wine in his glass in one gulp.

"Alright," he said, "I'm not going to say anything more, you wouldn't want to hear it anyway."

Su Nian wanted to say something, but when she opened her mouth, nothing came out.

She's not good at saying those kinds of things.

"Are you hungry?" Old Hong suddenly asked.

Su Nian looked at him.

"I haven't eaten in a long time," Lao Hong rubbed his stomach and gave an embarrassed smile. "The drinks here are expensive, and the food is even more expensive. I've been eating bread scraps for days."

He looked at Su Nian pitifully.

"Girl, could you please..."

Su Nian pursed her lips.

This old man doesn't look like a bad person.

Even though he had almost emptied her wallet.

"Can."

Su Nian regretted it as soon as she said it.

But she still called over the proprietress and ordered two meals.

The proprietress glanced at her, then at Lao Hong, her eyes conveying a clear meaning.

Girl, are you sure?

Su Nian nodded.

The proprietress shook her head and turned to go to the kitchen.

Old Hong clasped his hands together and bowed to Su Nian.

May good people have a peaceful life.

Su Nian did not answer.

She lowered her head, picked up her backpack from beside her feet, opened one of the pockets, and counted the money inside again.

One hundred and twenty-three Southern Wilderness Coins.

She sighed inwardly.

I need to call Yi Songjin again later.

Su Nian zipped up her backpack, placed it at her feet, and looked up.

Old Hong was looking at her, and there was something indescribable in his eyes.

"What's wrong?" Su Nian asked.

Old Hong shook his head and looked away.

"It's nothing."

He paused, then said another sentence.

You remind me of someone.

The sound of frying meat came from the kitchen; the oil sizzled in the pan, and a delicious aroma wafted out.

Old Hong took a deep breath of the aroma, and the wrinkles on his face smoothed out.

"It smells so good."