Love on the Turquoise Land

Yan Tuo began recounting everything from the moment he received Nie Jiuluo's self-destructing message.

Nie Jiuluo was the type who didn’t bombard others with questions, but when it came to matters involving herself, she naturally wanted more details.

Her first question was: “You put me in a box? The same one used for Chen Fu?”

After Yan Tuo confirmed it, she felt a bit indignant—she had actually shared a box with Chen Fu.

But she couldn’t really complain. It wasn’t like she could demand Yan Tuo provide a fresh box for each use.

As she listened further and learned that Lü Xian had treated her, her second question arose: “This Lü Xian—how old is he?”

Yan Tuo: “Around twenty-seven or twenty-eight.”

“Only twenty-seven or twenty-eight, and he’s already a doctor?”

Yan Tuo retorted, “You’re not even twenty-seven yet, and you’re already an ‘artist,’ aren’t you?”

Nie Jiuluo: “That’s different.”

A doctor’s qualifications and experience were crucial—it was a profession where seniority mattered, where the older you were, the more respected you became. People often heard of prodigy painters or sculptors, but had anyone ever heard of a prodigy doctor?

Yan Tuo said, “If Lü Xian were working in a proper major hospital, at his age, he wouldn’t even qualify as an attending physician. But since this was an ‘irregular operation,’ he’s been performing procedures for years now. Besides, he did save your life.”

Nie Jiuluo lightly bit her lip. “Didn’t you assign him a… female nurse or something?”

She wasn’t stupid. When she woke up, she was lying on Liu Changxi’s bed, wearing new pajamas. In short, everything she’d had on before—including what was underneath—was gone.

Yan Tuo coughed lightly, his palms growing slightly warm. He curled his fingers back and shifted slightly before answering, “We did.”

Then he picked up a cup of water to drink, signaling that his mouth was too busy to answer further questions for the moment.

Nie Jiuluo didn’t press further. She crumpled the plastic film in her palm with a rustling sound before finally saying, “Go on.”

Thank goodness—he had nearly finished the entire cup of water.

Yan Tuo set the cup down and continued with the rest of the story.

He had initially considered skipping over the part about Lin Ling, but then he reconsidered. Two heads were better than one, and Nie Jiuluo was an outsider—perhaps she could offer a fresh perspective. So he summarized the key points for her.

Nie Jiuluo was indeed intrigued. She asked, “Do you have paper and a pen? I’d like to take notes.”

He had bought many books, and the bookstore had thrown in a notebook as a freebie. A pen was also readily available. Yan Tuo handed both to her. Nie Jiuluo picked up a thick sculpture book to use as a writing surface, opened the notebook, and bent her head to write down “Lin Ling.”

Yan Tuo found himself staring at her, lost in thought. For him, this was a novel experience—it was the first time he had ever felt like he was “collaborating” with someone on a matter. He had discussed things with Lin Ling before, but her personality was too reliant on others. More often than not, the conversation ended up being steered entirely by him.

Nie Jiuluo’s hair was quite long, and as she lowered her head to write, it draped softly over the edge of the blanket, smooth and silky.

After a moment of contemplation, she asked, “Lin Ling was adopted by Lin Xirou? Where was she adopted from?”

Yan Tuo shook his head. “No idea, and there’s no way to find out. Lin Ling was too young when she was adopted—she only remembers that her hometown was in a very poor rural area.”

Why would a Di Xiao go out of her way to adopt a little girl from the countryside?

Nie Jiuluo: “Is there anything unusual about this Lin Ling?”

“From what we’ve seen so far, no. She really is just an ordinary person.”

“And she tried to escape once?”"That's right. Back then, she noticed many strange things about Aunt Lin and got so scared she tried to run away once. She was caught within a couple of days, and Aunt Lin flew into a huge rage."

Nie Jiuluo looked at him: "You call her 'Aunt Lin' behind her back too?"

In her view, it made sense for Yan Tuo to address Lin Xirou that way to her face—after all, he needed to maintain appearances—but there was no need for it in private. Yan Tuo's actions clearly targeted Lin Xirou, even going so far as to inquire about "how to kill a Dixing beast."

Yan Tuo said, "Let's just stick with it. No need to use different terms in front of and behind her back. What if I slip up in front of her or say too much in my sleep?"

Fair point. Nie Jiuluo jotted down "first escape attempt" next to Lin Ling's name and asked, "What happened after that? Did she never try to run again?"

"No. First, she didn’t dare. Second, after that, her movements were restricted. Whenever she went out, someone would always follow her—sometimes closely, sometimes..."

Yan Tuo paused, searching for the right words. "The kind where you don’t see anyone, but you just know someone’s watching from the shadows."

Nie Jiuluo scoffed. "Do you think Lin Xirou treats you better or Lin Ling better?"

Yan Tuo answered honestly, "Me."

Nie Jiuluo: "But you’re not as important to her as Lin Ling is."

Not as important?

Him, less important than Lin Ling?

Yan Tuo was momentarily stumped. In all fairness, judging by appearances alone, Lin Xirou had treated him exceptionally well over the years. Lin Ling had been slapped and scolded, while he had never faced any of that.

Nie Jiuluo said, "I’m talking about 'importance.' After Lin Ling ran away, she was found within a couple of days. But when Banya imprisoned you, it took two weeks before you were rescued."

"After that, Lin Ling lived under a certain degree of surveillance, while you remained relatively free, able to move around as you pleased. It gives the impression that Lin Xirou could do without you, but losing Lin Ling would be disastrous."

Yan Tuo carefully considered her words and murmured, "I’d never thought about it that way before."

Previously, he had only assumed that Lin Xirou had adopted Lin Ling for a reason. The question of importance had never crossed his mind.

Nie Jiuluo: "That’s because, in your mind, importance equates to care. If someone is important to you, you naturally care for them. But Lin Xirou treats Lin Ling worse than she treats you, so you overlooked it."

As she spoke, she drew an arrow next to Lin Ling’s name, writing "Lin Xirou" beside it, then drew another arrow in the opposite direction and labeled it "forced marriage."

She frowned in confusion. "If Lin Ling is so important to her, why is she in such a hurry to marry her off?"

Yan Tuo corrected her, "These days, what does 'marrying off' even mean? Most of the time, even after marriage, people still see each other often. And given our family’s status, it’s more likely the groom would move in with us."

Nie Jiuluo looked at him. "So you’re saying the important Lin Ling would still be by her side. She just wants Lin Ling to get married? What difference does it make to have an extra man around after marriage?"

Yan Tuo replied offhandedly, "After marriage, you start a family, and then you have kids."

The moment the words left his mouth, a strange feeling rose in his chest.

Marriage leads to children? Is Lin Xirou in a hurry for Lin Ling to have a baby?Nie Jiuluo was also stunned, though not because of Lin Ling, but because she suddenly remembered the story about the young bride that the driver Lao Qian had told her during their last trip to Xingbazi Township for inspiration.

—That young bride had been nearly burned to a charred piece of wood, gasping her last breaths. With a faint voice, she said she couldn’t bear leaving without giving the family an heir, insisting she had to see the second son remarry and have children...

—Lao Qian rambled on, "Miss Nie, this doesn’t make sense logically. Why must she leave an heir for this family? That’s too kind-hearted. And besides, if a monster needs to replenish its vitality, why not just grab anyone? Why go after her own family?"

An indescribable chill rose from the depths of her heart. Nie Jiuluo felt she was on the verge of realizing something, but in the rush, she couldn’t quite piece it together.

Yan Tuo waved a hand in front of her eyes. "What’s wrong?"

Nie Jiuluo snapped out of it. "Did I ever tell you... the story about a young bride near Xingbazi Township?"

Yan Tuo misunderstood. "The one killed by Gou Ya?"

No, no. Nie Jiuluo took a couple of sips from her cup to steady herself. "This was much earlier, going back to before Liberation—no, the late Qing Dynasty."

By the time the story of the young bride was finished, the night was deep. Fortunately, the heating kept the room from being too cold. The water in the humidifier was nearly depleted, and the mist from the nozzle had thinned significantly.

Yan Tuo sat in silence for a while before reaching for the pen and paper in Nie Jiuluo’s hands. "Give it to me. You’re saying that young bride was a Dixing beast, right?"

Nie Jiuluo hesitated to conclude. "I just suspect—"

Yan Tuo cut her off. "It’s fine. Bold hypotheses, careful verification. There’s a timeline here. First, the eldest son went missing in the great swamp. The second son went looking but couldn’t find him. Instead, he brought back the young bride, who was wearing the eldest son’s pants—pants that, when soaked and washed, were covered in blood, right?"

Nie Jiuluo hummed in agreement, leaning sideways to watch Yan Tuo scribble in the notebook. Seeing her struggle, Yan Tuo shifted slightly, moving his chair closer to the bedside.

"The eldest son must be dead, most likely killed by the young bride. Then she married the second son. After a year or two, her belly showed no signs of pregnancy—understandable, since Dixing beasts and humans are different species. It’s unlikely they could produce offspring. Later, the young bride suffered a natural disaster, burned by heavenly fire. She needed to consume humans to replenish her vitality. Out of all the villagers, she chose the second son. There must be a reason..."

As he spoke, he wrote. At this point, he drew a long reverse arrow back to the eldest son. "Could it be because she first consumed the eldest son, establishing some kind of foundation? And since the second son was the closest kin to the eldest, others were meaningless to her. Only the second son was the best... tonic?"

Tonic?

In Nie Jiuluo’s understanding, tonics were things like American ginseng, cordyceps, or fleeceflower root. This was the first time she’d heard a person referred to as a tonic.

She felt a little sick. "Then why wait until—"

Yan Tuo guessed what she was about to ask. "Because if the second son had no descendants, the ‘tonic’ would end with him. So she had to endure—for over a year—until he had an heir before making her move. That way..."He paused, feeling the term was inappropriate here but couldn't think of a better way to phrase it: "This way it's... more sustainable, I guess."

A long "ding" sounded as the humidifier ran out of water. Yan Tuo got up to turn it off, then carried the water tank out to refill it.

Nie Jiuluo picked up the notebook, studying the timeline diagram Yan Tuo had just drawn. The more she looked, the more her scalp tingled. She flipped back to the page where she'd summarized information about Lin Ling, comparing the two.

The humidifier restarted with a vigorous burst of white mist, clearly now well-supplied with water.

Yan Tuo sat back down: "What do you think?"

Nie Jiuluo looked thoughtful: "There seems to be a pattern here that we can apply."

She showed Yan Tuo the line she'd just written:

[First generation -> Second generation -> Second generation's descendants]

"When did that Lin Xirou first appear?"

Yan Tuo thought back: "From my mother's diaries, the first clear mention of her was after I was born, late 1993. Back then, she went by Li Shuangxiu - a nanny my father hired for my mother. He even fabricated a fake identity for her, claiming she was Li Ergou's sister."

He added: "My father originally ran a mine. Li Ergou was one of his workers who stole money from the mine and disappeared - making her his sister was probably because they figured no one could verify it since Li Ergou was gone."

"But after reading the diaries repeatedly, I noticed a key date: September 16, 1992."

He fell silent at this point.

Nie Jiuluo didn't speak, sensing that the further back and more specific the dates became, the heavier the story grew.

Yan Tuo continued: "That day, my mother brought lunch to my father at the mine. At noon, all the miners suddenly came running out, saying there was a ghost underground. Since Li Ergou had just stolen money and fled, my father suspected the 'ghost' was actually him. Being skilled and brave, he went down alone to catch the ghost, wanting to show off to the miners."

Nie Jiuluo tensed: "Then what?"

Though she knew Yan Huanshan had later died of cancer, hearing this story still made her uneasy.

Yan Tuo smiled: "Nothing happened. He came back up and told everyone there was nothing below. But starting from this day, my mother's diaries began frequently noting subtle changes in my father's behavior. Honestly, reading any single entry wouldn't reveal anything - you have to read them consecutively. So I've always believed Lin Xirou's appearance can be traced back to that mine incident."

He caught himself digressing: "You mentioned a pattern earlier. What pattern?"

Nie Jiuluo refocused: "I was thinking where Lin Ling fits in this pattern. Given her age, she could only be the second generation or its descendant."

"If we assume she's the second generation, then there must have been a first generation before her - someone closely related by blood, either parent and child or siblings. So Lin Xirou didn't adopt Lin Ling randomly. She tracked her down through the first generation's blood ties. Lin Ling was her... nutritional supplement."

"But since Lin Ling was still young and Lin Xirou wasn't in urgent need, she kept her around to raise."Yan Tuo suddenly understood everything: "Keep her close, take good care of her, but absolutely must not lose her—that's why Aunt Lin was furious when Lin Ling tried to run away the first time. After that, she restricted Lin Ling's freedom to some extent. Everything was done to prevent losing her again. And her urgency in pushing for marriage..."

Nie Jiuluo continued, "The urgency in pushing for marriage was to ensure a steady supply of medicine, right? Even when the young wife was burned like that, she refused to touch the second one, afraid that once this portion was gone, there wouldn't be another. As for Lin Ling suddenly wanting to escape so desperately, I can only say a woman's intuition is sharp—she truly sensed something was very wrong."

"And as for the so-called midnight intruder who molested her, I'd rather guess it was Lin Xirou than a man. It wasn't molestation—she was just checking on her 'tonic,' seeing how it was growing, whether it was thriving or ripe enough."