Cangmang Asks the Way 1: Guardian of the Lamp

After wishing Grandma Liu a Happy New Year, dusk had already spread like ink-soaked Xuan paper, seeping into the low houses of Xiqiao Village until the sky and earth were a dull gray-blue.

It was getting late, so Su Yumei took Cang Lifeng, Cang Xiangyang, and Cang Xiaohua home to prepare dinner, while Cang Zhenye and Tianci headed towards Wang Xiuzhu's house.

Passing through several houses, a neat brick and tile house came into view. The courtyard wall was half-painted with mottled whitewash, and the window frames were newly painted green, standing out conspicuously in the twilight. This was Wang Xiuzhu's house. Wang Liguo had recently transferred back to his hometown and was assigned to the county education bureau. Although it was not a prominent position, he was already a remarkable "public servant" in Xiqiao Village.

After knocking a few times, Li Shulan opened the door. She wasn't surprised to see Cang Zhenye and his son. Ever since that summer when her daughter Wang Xiuzhu saved Tianci's life, Cang Zhenye would bring Cang Tianci to her house to pay New Year's greetings every year on the first day of the Lunar New Year.

Upon seeing Li Shulan, Cang Zhenye immediately greeted her with a smile, "Happy New Year, sister-in-law! Is Liguo here?"

Tianci quickly followed up, saying, "Auntie...Auntie, Happy New Year!"

Li Shulan greeted them warmly, "Zhenye, Tianci, please come in! Liguo is here."

Stepping into the house, a warm and cozy feeling wafts over, clashing with the crisp chill outside. The main room is brightly lit by electric lights, the light illuminating every piece of nearly new furniture and the certificates of merit such as "Three Good Student" and "Five Good Family" pasted on the walls.

A brazier of charcoal was burning brightly, its red glow illuminating the surroundings. Wang Liguo, dressed in a brand-new dark blue Zhongshan suit, sat ramrod straight, his posture reflecting the unyielding habits of a soldier. He was reading a copy of "Reference News" by the fire.

Cang Zhenye and Tianci quickly stepped forward to wish Wang Liguo a Happy New Year.

Wang Liguo stood up and warmly greeted them: "Brother Zhenye, Tianci, Happy New Year! Please have a seat!"

He turned to Wang Xiuzhu, who was sitting quietly reading a book, and said, "Xiuzhu, go and pour a cup of tea for your Uncle Cang and Tianci."

Li Shulan quickly brought a plate of fruits and snacks from the inner room and placed it on a tea table next to the stove. Wang Xiuzhu also soon came over with an enamel tray printed with the red double happiness character, on which were placed two cups of steaming tea.

She gently placed the teacup on the small stool in front of the father and son and said softly, "Uncle Cang, Tianci, have some tea."

"Good, good, Xiuzhu is becoming more and more sensible." Cang Zhenye praised, rubbing his hands together.

Tianci looked up at Xiuzhu. The firelight danced on her profile, outlining soft lines. The moment she raised her eyes, the clear pupils reflected the glow of the embers, like stars reflected in a tranquil pond on a summer night.

Tianci was somewhat lost in thought when Wang Xiuzhu, her face slightly flushed, gently reminded him, "Tianci, the tea is hot, be careful." He suddenly realized what was happening, his face burning instantly. He hurriedly lowered his head, thanked her, and picked up the warm teacup with both hands. The rising steam temporarily blurred his vision and concealed his momentary panic.

His subtle lapse in composure did not escape Wang Liguo's notice. Wang Liguo frowned almost imperceptibly, his gaze sweeping over the cane Tianci was leaning against the stool, and asked, "Brother Zhenye, what happened to Tianci's leg?"

Cang Zhenye put down his teacup and said, "Lao Liguo is worried. He injured himself because he practiced too hard. He's being treated by a master now and is much better!" He paused, then continued, "That kid is just too competitive... But all his hard work paid off; he won a gold medal for Ji County in the city's youth martial arts competition!"

"Oh?" Wang Liguo raised his thick eyebrows. "A gold medal in a city-level competition? That's impressive! That's real skill in a head-to-head competition!"

Li Shulan smiled and praised, "What a good child, you've made something of yourself! Martial arts training is tough, and you must take good care of yourself after any injuries!"

Standing behind her mother, Wang Xiuzhu looked at Cang Tianci with a newfound admiration in her eyes.

He was pleased to be praised by Wang Liguo and his wife, but he said modestly, "He's just an honest kid who only knows how to work hard. He can't compare to Xiuzhu's intelligence."

At this point, he looked at Wang Xiuzhu and asked, "Your Xiuzhu has always had excellent grades; she'll probably be far ahead again in the final exams, right?"

Mentioning his daughter, Wang Liguo couldn't help but smile with pride: "Xiuzhu? Still in first place. However, this time Wang Yaowu caught up with her, and they're tied."

"You've really raised a wonderful daughter. She gets such good grades and is so sensible!" Cang Zhenye praised her sincerely.

Cang Tianci looked up at Xiuzhu. He was happy for her. This achievement was worthy of her kindness and intelligence. He tried hard to force a smile, to offer a congratulatory smile to the shyly smiling girl. But the three words "Wang Yaowu" uttered by Wang Liguo were like three poisonous thorns tempered with ice, driven deep into the muddiest depths of his memory—

"Thump—"

The icy, bone-chilling pond water, reeking of rotting aquatic plants, suddenly poured into my mouth and nose!

Above my field of vision was the swaying, distorted light of the sky, and that face embedded in the halo of light, with a cruel, sinister grin!

Suffocating despair gripped my throat like an iron clamp!

Bamboo rake... Xiuzhu's cry... a dying struggle...

The barrier between illusion and reality crumbled with a deafening roar. Wang Liguo's radiant smile, Li Shulan's relieved expression, Xiuzhu's shy face, the bright light in the room, the rising steam from the teacup… all the vibrant colors and warmth were instantly stripped away, frozen, distorted, and faded into a cold, black-and-white image. In their place lay the bone-chilling cold, the near-death fear, and that face branded into the deepest recesses of childhood nightmares—a memory etched in the very fabric of sensory memory.

Wang! Yao! Wu! He committed such evil deeds, how can he be ranked first alongside Wang Xiuzhu? How?

A tremendous sense of absurdity, enough to freeze one's soul, surged forth like a glacier that had remained frozen for millennia deep within the earth suddenly bursting open, carrying with it a chilling intent to destroy everything. It abruptly shattered the mental dam in the thatched hut, which had only begun to take shape after being tempered day and night by the "Dragon-Hibernating Technique," and submerged and devoured all the tranquility he had tried to cultivate, the blueprint for the martial arts school drawn up by his elder brother, and the warmth of the tofu passed down by his parents.

"what goes around comes around"?

These eight words burned and twisted wildly in his heart at that moment, and finally turned to ashes, leaving only a huge and cold question mark, a bottomless black hole.

His hands, resting on his knees, unconsciously clenched the rough fabric of his trousers, his knuckles turning white from the extreme force, as if he wanted to crush the cloth.

The old injury on my right knee seemed to be tightly bound by the cold water plants from my memory again, sending a piercing, almost real phantom pain through me!

Wang Liguo and Li Shulan were still warmly greeting him. Li Shulan even got up, grabbed a handful of roasted peanuts and sunflower seeds, and stuffed them into Tianci's hand without saying a word.

Wang Xiuzhu seemed to keenly sense Tianci's sudden emotional shift and physical stiffness. Her clear gaze first swept over her father's indifferent face when he mentioned "Wang Yaowu," then, with a hint of understanding, apology, and deep worry, gently landed on his lowered profile. Her lips moved slightly, as if she wanted to say something, but in the end, she said nothing, only unconsciously tightening her grip on the hem of her clothes.

Cang Zhenye also noticed his son's silence and sudden coldness. He assumed it was due to discomfort from his leg injury, exchanged a few more pleasantries, and then got up to take his leave. Mr. and Mrs. Wang Liguo warmly saw him to the door.

Stepping out of the warmly lit, exceptionally respectable gate of the Wang family's courtyard, I once again entered the twilight of Xiqiao Village. The biting wind lashed my face like a knife, but it couldn't dispel the heavy, icy weight in my heart, the weight of the name "Wang Yaowu."

Cang Zhenye patted his son on the shoulder: "What's wrong? Is your leg hurting again? Or are you feeling down?"

Cang Tianci shook his head, silently leaning on his cane, following behind his father. In the darkness, he seemed to see again Wang Yaowu's face, filled with contempt and malice, and the glaring "First in Grade" next to his name. Good deeds are rewarded, evil deeds are punished? These eight words, at this moment, felt like a huge, cold irony to him.

He touched the peach wood amulet given to him by Lin Wanqing, hanging on his chest, trying to draw a trace of warmth, but only felt that the wood was also icy cold. The boundary between good and evil was blurred to a suffocating degree at this moment.

He suddenly thought of Sister Liu Qing, who was about to return to her hometown—that sister who had read many books and understood many principles. Living in such a high place, could she see the injustice in this mud? Would she have the answer? This thought was like a firefly in the darkness, weak, yet stubbornly shining.

"Dogs have their way, cats have their way." Cang Zhenye's deep voice rang out in the cold wind, carrying a sense of helplessness and simple wisdom born of experience. "Some people's paths are beyond our comprehension, and we can't follow them. We should just walk our own path. Tianci, don't get stuck in a rut."

Cang Tianci remained silent, but the knuckles of his hand gripping the cane loosened slightly.