The lunch slowly began to wind down.
The plates were no longer being refilled, the conversation had become lighter, and the servants had started bringing fruit and sweet tea instead of heavy dishes.
The afternoon sun had shifted slightly, and the shadows in the courtyard had grown longer.
Gui Xu wiped his mouth, leaned back, and let out a satisfied breath as if he had just completed something very important.
Then he suddenly stood up.
"Brother Yu," he said with a loud, cheerful voice, "since the apology has been made, we should not disturb an important man like you any longer! The boy still needs to go back home to make preparations for his training."
Gu Xu looked up at him when he heard that because he was surprised at what he was saying. He didn't expect his father to care about his training.
It was unbeknownst to Gu Xu, that this morning, before everything happened, Gui Xu and his group of useless friends had made plans to watch an exciting bull fighting match in the late afternoon.
There would be betting, shouting, drinking, and bragging! To Gui Xu, that was far more important than anything else in life.
Elder Yu Mingli stood up as well.
"Very well," he said. "Since the matter has been settled, I will not keep you..."
His tone was polite, but there was something else hidden underneath it, like amusement, or perhaps ridicule.
He looked at Gu Xu.
"Train well," Yu Mingli said. "The lions den is not a place where carelessness is forgiven."
It sounded like advice, but it also sounded like a farewell to a dead man.
At this statement, Yu Yunshang lowered her head slightly and pretended to dust something off her arm so no one would see the small smile that almost appeared on her face at her father's words.
Everyone here understood what it meant:
"Train if you want — it won't save you anyway!"
Gu Xu understood his meaning.
He simply bowed.
"Thank you for the advice, Elder Yu."
His voice sounded like someone replying to a shopkeeper.
Elder Yu Mingli watched him for a moment longer, then nodded.
They all exchanged final greetings, and then Gui Xu and Gu Xu left the Yu estate.
Once they were back outside and were both walking back along the wide road, Gui Xu immediately started walking faster.
"Walk faster!" Gui Xu said impatiently without even turning his head. "Use your legs! Don't walk like a pregnant duck! Follow my example!"
Gu Xu increased his pace slightly but said nothing.
He was too tired and fed up with everything that happened today to get into any new arguments with his father.
Gui Xu clicked his tongue in annoyance.
"Do you know why your engagement failed?!" Gui Xu said.
"It's because you don't know how to do things properly!"
They turned onto a smaller road.
"You should use your eyes and your brain," Gui Xu continued, tapping his own temple proudly while talking loudly so that passerbys could hear what was...in his own mind, clever words.
"Watch how other people do things! Learn naturally from seeing them! If you need someone to tell you what to do all the time, it means you are not intelligent. Understand?!"
Gu Xu walked quietly beside him, listening.
After some time, he finally spoke.
"When I go into the lions den..." Gu Xu asked calmly, "...will you be worried about me?"
Gui Xu didn't even hesitate.
"Not at all," he said immediately in a dismissive way.
"A clever man like me always finds a solution."
"If you die, I will just find another wife and produce new good children. This time I will find a woman with a good bloodline and a good temperament. Someone who can understand my ways. Not like what happened with your troublesome mother who ran away and left me alone to struggle with a disrespectful brat like you!"
Gu Xu's face did not change.
He had heard similar hurtful words many times growing up.
Still, hearing it now after losing his engagement, after getting punished, made the words feel strangely distant, like they were being spoken to someone else.
Gui Xu was about to continue complaining passionately when they suddenly saw a man hurrying towards them from the opposite direction.
The man was short and round, with a narrow face, big eyes, and a thin mustache that looked like it had been drawn onto his face with charcoal. His clothes were slightly messy but colorful, and he walked with a bouncy, impatient energy.
"Gui Xu! Gui Xu!" the man called out loudly. "I was just coming to find you!"
It was one of Gui Xu's foolish friends, Hao Dingshan.
Hao Dingshan was famously known in the tribe for three things: gambling, drinking, and talking loudly about things he did not understand.
He had once lost twelve goats, a hunting spear, and his own shoes in a single afternoon of betting, and yet he still believed he was a man of great luck.
Gui Xu's face immediately lit up.
"Dingshan! Dingshan! Why are you looking for me?"
Hao Dingshan ran up to them, slightly out of breath but very excited.
"They moved up the time!" he said. "The bull fight was moved earlier! A big shot from another tribe came to bet big money, so they started preparing early. If we don't go now, we'll miss the best part!"
Gui Xu's eyes widened in shock like as if he had just heard that a treasure was about to be stolen.
"What?! They moved it earlier?!"
He looked genuinely distressed as if something extremely important was about to be lost forever.
Which was ridiculous.
What could be more important right now than putting his household in order? Than in trying to save his only son who had been sentenced to the lions den?
He turned to Gu Xu quickly.
"You go back home by yourself," Gui Xu said. "I have something important to take care of."
Gu Xu nodded.
"Yes, Father."
At the next diverging path, Gu Xu took the smaller road that led toward the poorer part of the village, while Gui Xu and Hao Dingshan hurried off in a storm towards the noisy arena side of the village.
After walking a short distance, Hao Dingshan glanced back and then leaned closer to Gui Xu.
"Aren't you worried about your son?" he asked quietly. "I heard about the lions den…! That's no small matter."
Gui Xu snorted.
"Just let him be. That's his fate. He was already born without a single speck of power even though he has a noble bloodline. Isn't that already bad luck? If Heaven wants him dead, what can I do?!"
"Forget about him. Let's go quickly, or we'll miss the bull fight!"
Hao Dingshan nodded while rushing faster, but there was a strange expression on his face of some discomfort.
He looked at Gui Xu as if seeing him more clearly.
"This man… is truly heartless."
Still, he said nothing more, and the two men hurried off together, already talking about bulls, bets, and money.
Meanwhile, Gu Xu walked alone. The road became narrower and the ground became uneven again.
The air started smelling less like cooked food and more like dust, animals, and smoke the further in he walked.
He continued walking.
When he finally reached the crooked hut house he called home, the sun had already begun to lean toward the late afternoon.
Gu Xu entered the house, took off his ceremonial clothes carefully, folded them, and placed them to the side.
Then he picked up a wooden bucket and went outside to the well.
He washed his clothes himself, scrubbing them against the rough washing board again and again. The water was cold, but he did not mind.
After washing his clothes, he went back inside and took a bath.
The water ran over his head and down his back, washing away sweat, dust, and the smell of the Yu estate's rich food and incense.
He stayed there for a long time, soaking in the water while thinking.
After bathing, he cooked a simple meal, irish potatoes and a little leftover dried meat which he ate slowly.
The house was quiet.
His father was not home yet. He was probably shouting and gambling at the bull fight already by now.
Gu Xu finished eating, cleaned the bowl...put it away and then went into his room to lay down on his bed.
The room was dark, with only a little evening light coming through a small window.
He lay on his back and looked up at the ceiling.
Gu Xu placed one arm under his head and closed his eyes.
As he was trying to drift off to sleep, he remembered something his father had said earlier,
"Use your eyes and your brain. Learn by watching!"
Even though it was meant as an insult, the words had some truth to it...
Gu Xu opened his eyes again and stared at the ceiling.
He did not know whether he would be able to succeed in his training tomorrow.
But for some reason, as he lay there in the dim room, listening to the quiet evening sounds of the village, he felt a strange feeling in his chest.
As if something in his life was finally about to begin.
Gu Xu closed his eyes.
"Tomorrow… I won't just follow Maki."
"I will watch everything!"
That night, for the first time in many years, without knowing it, he fell asleep feeling a bit excited for tomorrow.