Chapter 10: The Dummy
Family disputes are always the most troublesome. As the saying goes, “Even an upright official finds it hard to settle family affairs.” When he went down the mountain in the past, Master had instructed him never to interfere in family entanglements, especially those between husband and wife or brothers.
So, did helping Li Qingya find her fiancé count as a family entanglement?
Du Yu sized up Li Qingya again. Her appearance was truly enduring; her features were just right, naturally formed, and the more one looked, the more one could perceive a kind of gentle and virtuous beauty. Her figure was also graceful and slender, not overly voluptuous like Gongsun Ruo’s, which sometimes seemed a bit vulgar. Li Qingya was tall and slim, wearing an indigo jacket on her upper body and a plain long skirt below, with several blue ribbons embroidered with exquisite porcelain patterns tied around her waist.
Could someone really bear to abandon such a beautiful fiancée? Du Yu was very curious.
Du Yu had once heard Master tell a story called “The Novice Monk Thinks of Tigers.” It was about a young monk who grew up in a temple. Before he went down the mountain, the old monk told him that the women down the mountain were tigers who would swallow people alive, and warned him never to get close. The young monk naturally took this as gospel. When the young monk returned to the mountain, the old monk asked, “What impressed you most during your trip down the mountain?” The young monk stammered, “I don’t think of anything else, only that man-eating tiger. I just feel I can’t bear to part with it in my heart.”
In the past, Du Yu only found this story absurd. Now, he suddenly realized that he was that little novice monk, and Li Qingya sitting opposite him was a tiger.
He lowered his head and blew on the tea in his cup, creating ripples on the surface, not daring to look at Li Qingya again.
“Little Daoist, can you promise me?” Li Qingya seemed to be smiling, though not obviously.
“Miss Li, you look quite young, not like someone who has a fiancé,” Du Yu said.
“At my age, I should have been married long ago. My cousin is already raising children.” Li Qingya’s eyes remained on Du Yu. “But for so many years, I’ve held a breath in my heart. I want to find him.”
“What for?”
“I want to ask him what exactly he was thinking.”
“To win him back?” Du Yu thought to himself that the word “love” really harmed people, making Li Qingya obsess over it for so long.
“No, I want to confront him face to face and then make a clean break.” Li Qingya’s answer surprised him. “From then on, I, Li Qingya, will have nothing to do with him.”
For some reason, Du Yu nodded and agreed. Perhaps he felt compassion for this pitiful woman, or perhaps he was simply fooled by her beauty. “I promise you. I need more information about your fiancé. When did he disappear? What does he look like? How tall is he? What is his name? How old is he? Any distinguishing features?”
Li Qingya’s eyelids lowered slightly. She took sip after sip of tea, seemingly in thought. Only when the chirping of sparrows came from outside the window did she seem to wake up and say, “I don’t know his name.” Seeing Du Yu’s confused face, Li Qingya explained, “Because the name he gave me wasn’t his real name. He didn’t even acknowledge that name himself, so telling you the fake name is useless.”
“He was born with good looks, handsome and quiet, and tall in stature. He disappeared about eight years ago.” Li Qingya spoke very slowly, with long pauses between sentences. Du Yu went down the mountain every year to give guidance and was experienced. He could sense that Li Qingya was filtering information, or rather, selectively telling him information.
Is there something she can’t say?
“He originally had a good personality too—steady, down-to-earth, gentle, and honest. I just didn’t expect him to be the kind of person who could easily abandon his wife and child,” Li Qingya said.
This information was too general. Du Yu rubbed his temples. “Miss Li, I need you to provide more detailed and specific information. If you want me to help find him, you can’t hide anything.”
“Then what information do you need, Little Daoist?”
“For example, what martial arts did he practice? Did he have any birthmarks or marks on his body?”
“He did practice his family’s martial arts, and he mastered them at a young age. I don’t know the specific name of the martial art, but I know it’s a leg technique, specializing in kicking.” Li Qingya answered quickly this time.
Du Yu frowned. The mainstream in Lotus Seed Town was to learn the Iron Palm Sect’s techniques; few learned leg techniques. Kicking? Did Du Yao kicking Du Ying count as kicking? Thinking of this, Du Yu shook his head and smiled.
“I remember he didn’t have any birthmarks or marks on his body either,” Li Qingya said. “At least he didn’t at the time.” She even omitted the humble self-address “slave family” now.
Du Yu gave her an extra glance. Li Qingya and her fiancé must have been so intimate that she could be so certain about whether he had marks on his body.
He felt somewhat disappointed in his heart. Not that Du Yu had any improper thoughts, but it was a man’s nature. Li Qingya was a beautiful little “widow,” and she would always arouse a man’s compassion, even if this man was a little novice monk who had just come down the mountain.
“Is he a native of Lotus Seed Town? Was there a formal engagement?” Li Qingya’s clues sounded strange no matter how he listened. It sounded like this fiancé wasn’t a proper person, but rather that the rice shop lady had privately pledged her life to him, and after the affair was exposed or the goal achieved, the man walked away.
“He should be considered a native of Lotus Seed Town, although he didn’t live in the town all year round.”
Doesn’t that mean he’s not a native of Lotus Seed Town at all? Just a complete outsider? Du Yu thought to himself. Li Qingya still had some feelings for that man, more or less. How could he tell? She would subconsciously speak well of him, even if her words were full of resentment.
“As for the engagement… there was indeed one. But my parents no longer recognize it. Little Daoist, please don’t try to confirm this with my family members. They don’t like to mention it, and I don’t want to make a big fuss about it.”
Du Yu understood the little widow’s thoughts. It concerned a woman’s reputation, so naturally, the lower profile, the better. As a model disciple of the Boundless Sect and a vanguard in protecting his Junior Sister’s reputation, Du Yu naturally knew the ropes. He immediately patted his chest. “Don’t worry, Miss Li. I will definitely keep it very low-key.”
Seeing Du Yu so confident, Li Qingya suddenly added, “By the way, he had a habit. He liked to zone out and daydream, staring out the window or at the sky at the drop of a hat. Sometimes he was a bit silly and dazed, and also a bit straightforward. I often called him ‘Dummy’.”
A very crucial clue. Personality traits are hard to disguise. Du Yu decided to use this “Dummy” as an entry point to inquire around Lotus Seed Town first.
“Miss Li, there is one thing I need to tell you beforehand. Your fiancé has been missing for eight years. In eight years, he might not even be in Great Liang anymore.”
Li Qingya nodded slightly. “I know. Please just do your best, Little Daoist. I’ve waited for him for eight years, which has been hard enough. I don’t want to wait for another eight years, and another eight years after that.”
Du Yu knew that the man had probably flown far away long ago, maybe even died in some shady inn by the roadside. But if… he meant if, they really encountered Li Qingya’s fiancé, what attitude should he and his Junior Sister take towards him?
“Miss Li, do you still miss him even a little bit?” Du Yu thought that if they met, a fight might be inevitable. Junior Sister’s martial arts were high, and she didn’t know how to hold back. If Li Qingya still cared for that man and they hurt him badly, it might be awkward if they met in the future.
Unexpectedly, Li Qingya took a deep breath and said through gritted teeth, “Little Daoist, I need you to use any means necessary to find my fiancé—that man who seduced me and then abandoned me, leaving behind his wife and child. He is despicable, shameless, obscene, hateful, full of wickedness, and guilty of terrible crimes. I don’t even know if the name he gave me was real. I am asking you to find him because I want to make a final break with him, to resolve the bitter hatred I’ve held onto all these years!”
