Zeno and Xi Wei were motionless, but quickly snapped out of it and turned towards the source of the sound.
Because the previous events within the cabin had left it at sixes and sevens2, all of Xi Wei’s meagre possessions were scattered about. In the middle of the cabin, one of the broken porcelain bowls was upside down, and standing on top of this bowl was a delicate little person.
She has long green hair, a perfect melon seed face3, slightly pointed ears, and is wearing a lovely green mid-length dress. Fluttering gently on her back is a pair of transparent wings that are just allowing her tiptoes to rest on the bowl. Her entire person emanates a gentle green lustre.
Zeno is completely shocked; this, my friends, is an elf!
After the initial shock, Zeno soon remembers the identity of this cute sister. She is the most popular female character in <Curse>, the Queen of the Elves—Hua Li.
Knowing in his head is one thing, but seeing the real-life version of the thumb sized girl feels really magical. Her small cute stature is so lovely; everyone who sees her can’t help but want to protect her.
Well, not quite everyone—Xi Wei is not interested in protecting her at all.
After seeing that the words had come from Hua Li, Xi Wei took up the knife once again, clenching it tightly as his body rippled with tension. His stoic face did not reveal the weakness he felt after his painful experience just now.
Blinking, Hua Li catches sight of the rusty knife in Xi Wei’s hand, and her shoulders slightly bow, a trace of fear colouring her delicate features.
In general, with only the reflection of the moonlight and snow at night, it is difficult to see others’ expressions. Unfortunately for Hua Li, she radiates her own light, and there is no hiding her expressions.
In Zeno’s heart, he held some hope for Xi Wei’s future love life. Hua li was one of the best harem candidates in <Curse>, and was very highly thought of amongst readers of the novel.
Prior to meeting them, Hua Li had been sealed within the ring. Xi Wei, recognized as the new master of the ring, had accidentally released the Queen of the Elves residing within. Having just been released, Hua Li has lost about 99% of her magic power, her memory is in a state of chaos, she possesses the mentality of a five-year-old child, and she is ignorant, but also quite…meng5.
Zeno was also ignorant!
I was wrong, I just know that Xi Wei has a glittering gold finger, but I forgot <Curse> is such an oppressive text; the spoils of his gold finger were not so easy to obtain. (t/n: should I somehow punctuate to show he is saying this in his head?)
The role this ring plays in the future is great; therefore the cost that must be paid is also great. The first part is recognizing its master, followed by the agony of the ring drilling into bone. Any person would find it hard to bear this pain that radiates down to the very marrow of their bones.
In the novel, Xi Wei did not bond with the ring for another five years. At that time, he is no longer a small beggar, but a promising young man with enough mental and physical strength to tolerate the painful process.
Suddenly thrust into such a difficult situation, it is a miracle that Xi Wei can even speak. Left with almost no energy, Xi Wei remains pale and weak, struggling with every movement.
In this world from <Curse>, Zeno knows that in the original ending Hua Li is among those who betray the protagonist. Looking again at the pocket sized Elf Queen; he contemplates the suitability of his initial ‘meng’ thought.
Since it started, Zeno has been different from other readers; the protagonist and the plot are the only two things from the novel that can affect his state of mind.
Xi Wei’s black eyes nervously lock onto Hua Li, who anxiously returns his stare, time seemingly frozen between the two.
Zeno cannot help but think of details in the novel of their initial encounter that carried somewhat sensual undertones. Unlike the original work, there are no lingering looks up and down one another’s body, but rather eyes filled with mistrust. Their age is totally different, and Zeno really doesn’t want to think about it anymore.
As a reader who did not need to experience the moment, whether it is male or female supporting character, in his opinion they were only puppets to promote the development of the story. However, now that the story is playing out right in front of him, Zeno could feel a sense of panic welling up within his heart.
Xi Wei cautiously observed this small, incredible ‘human’ before him.
A 16-year-old healthy and experienced Xi Wei, and a small beggar struggling on the verge of death for eleven years, of course, have different levels of acceptance of fantasy.
Therefore, the protagonist of <Curse> can calmly analyze the origins of Hua Li and calmly make the final decision on how to utilize the Elf Queen for the greatest gain. At the present moment, Xi Wei can only draw back the bowstring of the situation, at risk of it snapping at any moment. (t/n: every translation I looked up said something about bowstrings and breaking so I decided to try and fit it in there. Hope it makes sense.)
A lot of things differ, not just the timeline of their meeting.
Eyah…ba ba…goo
Zeno babbles out, forgetting that he is now a baby, working so hard to say something and letting out only meaningless chatter.
Xi Wei’s thin body stiffens for a moment.
Hua Li shifts her line of sight, resting her eyes on Zeno, the panic in her eyes replaced by stars6.
She unconsciously flutters her small transparent wings, gracefully flying towards the little baby. As she reaches out to touch him, she suddenly finds herself unable to move any further.
In the moment she moved, Xi Wei watched closely as she neared the baby, and the instant she reached out to touch him he grabbed her wings between his two fingers, before pulling her to look at him face to face.
Suddenly, the meng face in Zeno’s view disappeared, and he was left looking at the dirty, expressionless face of the young beggar.
Xi Wei, expressionless, bluntly asks,
Human? … Or a monster? Why … so small?
Zeno almost vomited blood, I am afraid that only the protagonist of this house will ignore the beauty of the Elf Queen, calmly asking if she is a monster!
However, it is still meng ah, no matter what he does, the protagonist is simply awesome. The hopeless addict’s brain is tickled pink, as he moves excitedly in his spot on the floor
Filled with shame, Hua Li becomes furious, pedalling her legs in Xi Wei’s palm trying to break free,
You are small, you are small, your family is small!7
Zeno subconsciously looks over at the young protagonist, then down to see his own small arms and legs, and finally looks around the cramped cabin, silently. They are all small.
Hua Li is just like a five-year-old child, and because Xi Wei pinched her tightly enough that she cannot get loose, she starts to cry. Despite her tiny size, the volume she produces is not small, and it buzzes in Zeno’s ears.
Xi Wei’s face is impassive, even the little baby that was all but forced on him does not cry like this, the ‘monster’ is too annoying.
Hua Li’s crying is in direct opposition to Xi Wei’s principle of remaining inconspicuous, and she does not seem to realize she is in imminent danger. The more she cries, the louder it gets, and the closer it comes to being audible outside the ship.
Xi Wei pushed Hua Li onto the boat deck, pulling out his knife, bringing it down mercilessly.
Hua Li cries out as half of her long green hair is shorn off.
Adjusting his grip, Xi Wei immediately moves to bring down his blade again without a second thought.
Long-term near starvation and his recent experience with pain have left him so weak that the hand holding the dagger is a bit shaky, affecting his aim.
Without thinking Zeno squeezed his eyes shut, but the sound he was waiting for did not come. Opening his eyes a sliver, he saw Hua Li with tears streaming down her face—not daring to make a sound.
In front of Hua Li was a transparent, light green barrier that the knife could not even pierce. She is the Elvish Queen, after all. No matter how weak she is currently, she is not someone a weak child could easily harm.
However, Hua Li was still terrified, whining continuously.
Big bastard!
she insulted, crookedly flying away from the dangerous person in front of her.
After his draining day, Xi Wei no longer had the strength to support his body. He lay down next to Zeno, breathing heavily, and then recalled the incredible scene that had happened. The reality caused him to immediately start sweating profusely, soaking his entire body.
Being forced to watch his protagonist all day as he grew increasingly exhausted and frightened, Zeno struggled to reach his tiny hand out from his swaddling cloths in order to wipe away his sweat.
He still overestimated the baby’s control over his body, and as a result his little fist made intimate contact with Xi Wei’s face.
Xi Wei seemed to understand this kind of concern and his face relaxed a bid. He soon reached over and tucked the flailing limb back into its cocoon.
Now that the tension had been relieved a bit, Zeno began to feel chilled.
The snow continued to fall outside, and the little baby would occasionally shiver.
Zeno felt a bit odd. Although this world was not warm, the cold was due to the frigid temperatures that seeped in through the skin and went down to his very bones. Now, however, he felt a chill slowly spread from his core, and his whole body began to tremble.
Xi Wei quickly notices the little baby is not well. His small face is flushed red and he kept shaking in his arms. He placed his cold hands gently on Zeno’s face and forehead and felt a burning heat.
Xi Wei was shocked.
This little one has a fever.
I had a lot more notes about this one. Enjoy!
Younger Sister – not in the biological sense
Sixes and Sevens – in a state of total disarray
Melon seed face – one of the ideal shapes in Chinese culture, it is oval shaped with a pointed chin. Would it be preferable to leave these terms as is or put them literally? I don’t find they translate well culturally so I’m not sure if it’s distracting within the story.
花离 – Hua Li: means something along the lines of flowers away, I think?
Meng – Chinese equivalent to the Japanese term Moe
I think this is what it means:
I’m mostly confident she’s trying to insult Xi Wei/Zeno here with the same insult she receives.
