HNYWEF -Chapter 39 The Mysterious Rain

The eleventh year of Daye. Wagang Stronghold.

The rain was pouring down.

Not the soft, drizzling kind, but the kind that slammed down from the sky. It battered the tents with loud pitter-patter sounds, like someone scattering beans across the top.

One of the old brothers came running through the rain with an oilcloth over his head and ducked into Shan Xiongxin’s tent.

“Second Brother Shan, have you seen Bear Blind?”

Shan Xiongxin was sitting inside, wiping down his blade. Hearing that, he lifted his head and glanced outside.

The rain was heavy.

So heavy that you couldn’t see anything ten steps away.

He withdrew his gaze.

“What do you need him for?”

The old brother said, “My blade chipped. Wanted him to help fix it. Been looking everywhere and can’t find him.”

Shan Xiongxin said nothing.

He set the blade down, stood up, and walked to the entrance of the tent, staring out at the rain.

He watched for a long while.

Then he spoke.

“Stop looking.”

The old brother froze.

“Why?”

Shan Xiongxin didn’t turn around.

“When it rains, he won’t be in the stronghold.”

The old brother became even more confused.

“Not here? Then where’d he go?”

Shan Xiongxin shook his head.

“No idea.”

He paused.

“There was one time I tried to keep him here.”

The old brother waited for him to continue.

“That day was raining too. I told him the rain was so heavy that he should stay in the tent instead of going out. He…”

He stopped for a moment.

“He actually got angry at me.”

The old brother stared blankly.

“Angry?”

Shan Xiongxin nodded.

“He was shaking all over from anger, just staring outside. I finally said, forget it, go then. And he left.”

The old brother opened his mouth, not knowing what to say.

Shan Xiongxin looked out at the rain.

The rain still fell.

Pitter-patter. Pitter-patter.

Then he spoke again.

“Later on, I started paying attention.”

The old brother asked, “Paying attention to what?”

Shan Xiongxin said, “Every time it rains, he looks in one direction.”

The old brother stepped closer.

“Which direction?”

Shan Xiongxin lifted a hand and pointed southwest.

“That way.”

The old brother followed his finger.

He couldn’t see anything.

Only rain.

Rain that covered heaven and earth.

Shan Xiongxin lowered his hand.

“One time there was thunder. Loud as hell. I thought he’d look toward the thunder—anyone would. But he didn’t.”

He turned his head and looked at the old brother.

“He looked southwest.”

The old brother stood there silently for a long time.

Outside the tent, the rain continued to fall.

Pitter-patter. Pitter-patter.

After a while, the old brother asked quietly:

“What… what’s he looking at?”

Shan Xiongxin didn’t answer.

He walked back to where he’d been sitting, picked up the blade, and resumed wiping it.

After two strokes, he stopped.

He lowered his head, staring at the blade in his hands.

Then he softly said a sentence.

Very softly.

“I don’t know. I asked him, but he wouldn’t say.”

The old brother stood there awkwardly, unsure what to do.

Shan Xiongxin set the blade down.

He raised his head and looked at the top of the tent.

The rain hammered the canvas so hard it trembled.

Suddenly, he spoke again.

Not to the old brother.

But to the tent roof itself.

“In the future, don’t look for him when it rains.”

The old brother blinked.

“Huh?”

Shan Xiongxin withdrew his gaze.

Looked at him.

“Tell the brothers—when it rains, don’t go looking for Bear Blind.”

The old brother stood there thinking for a moment.

Then he nodded.

“Got it.”

He turned and walked toward the exit.

When he reached the flap of the tent, he stopped.

He turned back to look at Shan Xiongxin.

“Second Brother Shan… do you think he’s got something going on?”

Shan Xiongxin didn’t speak.

He looked out at the rain.

For a very long time.

So long that the old brother thought he wouldn’t answer at all.

Then he finally spoke.

“Don’t make wild guesses. Everyone has things they don’t want others to know.”

The old brother stood there without moving.

Shan Xiongxin said, “Just think of it as him worrying about something that can’t get wet.”

The old brother nodded.

Then he plunged into the rain and ran off.

The tent became quiet again.

Only the sound of rain remained.

Shan Xiongxin sat there, looking out into the storm.

Looking southwest.

There was nothing in that direction.

Only rain.

Rain that blanketed the heavens and earth.

He watched for a while.

Then lowered his head and continued wiping his blade.