Da Wu lowered his head under the old grandmother’s gaze. “No, Grandmother, I dare not make such a decision.”
“I encountered them at the boundary between the dense forest and the grass marsh. They claimed to have flown down from the sky and traveled to many places. I thought, if their knowledge is so extensive, perhaps they might know of some method…”
The old grandmother’s stern face slowly relaxed. After a moment of bewilderment, she said, “Very well…”
Da Wu was silent for a moment, then reached out to touch the old grandmother’s bowl. The porridge had already gone cold. He poured the remaining porridge into his own bowl, drained it in one gulp, then refilled the old grandmother’s bowl with half a portion of warm milk porridge.
“But… we must wait until after this time is over.” The old grandmother came back to her senses and said.
“I’ve made note of it. Please don’t worry, rest early. I will find a way.” Da Wu said.
The old grandmother didn’t believe there was any method. Her agreement was only to comfort his feelings. Da Wu could see this, but he would not give up. Hope is something that must be fought for.
The light in Grandmother’s room dimmed. The old grandmother watched Da Wu tenderly and lovingly as he tidied up the bowls and kettle on the table, changed the medicine on her arm once more, and sent her into the warm and cozy bedroom.
Da Wu was a good child. However, wood made into houses cannot grow back into trees, and shattered stones cannot be pieced back together. Many choices in this world, once made, leave no room for regret. But that Da Wu had such intention was a precious thing, and should not be extinguished from the start.
…
The transition from dusky yellow to dark purple in the sky was a swift thing. Night seemed to possess a kind of magic—when living beings were embraced by the darkness, they fell silent.
The lamps casting long shadows were extinguished one by one, except for those carried by the night watchmen who patrolled in turns along the stockade’s board walls.
Bai Hong and Ding Qin had not yet slept. They no longer needed sleep, but still conformed to the rest patterns of most living beings in this world, stopping their activities after sunset and replacing sleep with meditation. But tonight they had not yet begun meditating. This valley village appeared normal on the surface, yet concealed considerable secrets. Even Gelowa’s request for them to help find his sister, upon careful reflection, had many strange aspects.
If Gelowa’s sister had disappeared, then whether alive or dead, there should be some account. If they couldn’t confirm whether she was still alive, they should search and rescue in the forest. But looking at the village, there was no sign of urgency in searching for her. If they had searched for a long time without finding her and had now decided to give up, they should at least provide some conclusion.
Disappearing in the forest was no small matter. Besides the iron-armored crocodile that Da Wu and the others had dealt with, this marshland concealed many other dangers. If one wasn’t walking on paths already developed by the “Saichi,” the perils encountered would multiply many times over. Gelowa had come to ask the two of them to help find his sister. His anxiety was genuine, yet there was no worry, which didn’t conform to reason.
Now everyone’s answers to questions about Gelowa were vague and evasive, yet showed no grief. Gelowa himself seemed to have some special sensitivity for judging people, and because of those around him, he also felt his sister should be fine. No wonder he was anxious about this but not particularly worried. If that was the case, then what was really going on with his sister was worth pondering…
Ding Qin sat on the stone steps before the house, her head tilted back halfway, as if gazing at the dense starry river in the sky.
Moonlight spread everywhere, filling the steps with watery coolness. The Evening Star shone brightly in the southwestern sky.
The moon moved and stars shifted. Tonight the moon was half full, like a slightly tilted round cup, carrying pale gray-blue moon shadows on its surface, indicating the moon’s phase was seemingly waning but actually full. The Evening Star and moon drew ever closer, until finally it touched the downward-tilted rim of the moon cup, like a bright pearl rolling from within the moon.
As if truly receiving light poured from the moon cup, the Evening Star suddenly brightened.
Ding Qin suddenly felt as if two drops of cool dew had been dropped into her eyes. She blinked, and the world before her eyes suddenly changed.
Blood qi—she saw the blood qi that had become invisible after descending into the valley. It wrapped around the village just perfectly, not exceeding the boundary walls. Though there was blood qi, there was none of the malevolent and fierce energy that usually accompanied it, making this layer of blood qi not terrifying. It cast a thin red veil over the entire village, strange and dreamlike. Though this thin red layer was pale, it blocked the calamity qi outside, preventing it from touching the people in the village at all. Those patrolling also carried a thin layer of blood qi with them, so even when they left the village’s boundaries, they would not be contaminated by the calamity qi.
This blood qi appeared to be protecting the village and its people, but at its outermost edge, it merged and blurred with the calamity qi, seeming both to be eroded and devoured. The blood qi surged like a living thing, as if contending with the calamity qi, yet the effect was quite limited. If things continued to develop this way, this layer of blood qi would be dissolved by the calamity qi before long.
Ding Qin dimly seemed to hear a beast’s roar, generous and firm. She instinctively looked toward the sound. Above the center of the village, there seemed to be a strange beast floating in the blood qi—slender body, four legs, resembling both sheep and deer, with a single horn growing from its forehead. The strange beast lowered its head to gaze at the village, its long cry mournful, yet no one could hear it. Suddenly it dispersed into blood qi.
Ding Qin was just trying to see more clearly when her vision suddenly wavered. The village returned to its original appearance—peaceful and tranquil. The blood qi and strange beast seemed only to be dreams from a brief nap she’d taken on the stone steps.
“What’s wrong?” Bai Hong noticed her unusual state and asked aloud.
“Nothing, I…” Ding Qin said in a daze. She instinctively looked up at the night sky. The Evening Star had already moved away from the moon, its light no longer as bright as before.
She suddenly stopped speaking.
….
The second day.
The mountain valley held heavy moisture. A thick fog descended before dawn, which even the rising sun failed to disperse.
Early in the morning, Da Wu came to tell the two guests that they could remain in the village, but there were some places they couldn’t enter freely. He led them on a rough tour around the village. Shrouded in clouds and mist, the village had a wild and mysterious quality, possessing a unique beauty of its own. Fog, like nightfall, seemed able to swallow sound. Distances felt stretched, and the sounds of people’s early morning activities were muffled by a layer.
After Da Wu led the two around once, they became acquainted with the village’s people. There was no need for deep familiarity—it was enough that those who hadn’t received the news last night now knew that two beautiful young women were visiting the village. Da Wu’s status in the village was probably not low. When people in the village saw him, they would look up and greet him, their attitude not just friendly but also respectful.
However, not everyone was like this.
When they came near a tall house close to the village’s center, Da Wu stopped and told them, “Don’t go any closer to this place. Don’t enter.”
Before Ding Qin and Bai Hong could respond, someone emerged from behind the tall house. This was a person with slightly dark skin and a robust build. He first swept his gaze over the three of them with the aggressive stare of a wolf eyeing prey, then nodded to Da Wu. “These are the guests you brought back?”
“They are guests of the village.” Da Wu turned halfway, positioning himself so that Ding Qin was behind him.
The man stared at Da Wu for several moments, then said coldly, “Understood.” He turned and went back. His attitude seemed to hold some resentment toward Da Wu, yet not to the degree of enmity.
Da Wu waited until he had left, then continued leading Ding Qin and Bai Hong to other parts of the village. The man’s attitude seemed to have no effect on him whatsoever. He appeared already accustomed to it.
Ding Qin and Bai Hong said nothing, but both became slightly more alert. That man’s gaze when sizing them up had not been friendly. Because they were rare outsiders visiting this village, everyone they encountered along the way inevitably scrutinized them. Those people’s gazes were either curious or wary, but all were normal attitudes toward strangers. However, that man’s gaze seemed to contain something else.
Aside from the slightly problematic person and incident at this tall house, the rest of the village could be called a paradise.
People were busy with their own tasks—some twisting rope and weaving baskets, some cutting grass and gathering firewood, while others had already lit cooking fires, beginning their morning meal amid the scent of burning wood.
If one hadn’t personally witnessed that layer of blood qi, who could know that problems were hidden beneath such a peaceful and harmonious scene?
After Da Wu led the two around in a circle and returned to their temporary lodging, his eyes glanced seemingly inadvertently toward a large banyan tree nearby before he bid farewell and left. By now the fog had thinned, lightly melting into sunlight. Ding Qin turned her head and beckoned toward the tree. Gelowa ran out carrying a basket.
“For, for you, eat!” he said in unpracticed official language.
Gelowa was avoiding Da Wu, though not because of bringing food. The village didn’t lack food, and though he wasn’t responsible for hosting guests, there was nothing wrong with him taking on this task. He had come to find Ding Qin and Bai Hong because he still wanted them to help find his sister. Though he didn’t know what had happened, each time he asked the adults around him, their attitude made Gelowa vaguely sense that they didn’t want him to inquire. Though Gelowa didn’t understand why, he dimly felt he should hide his request for help from these two outsiders. He was, after all, just a child—otherwise he would have known that the more he tried to hide such small thoughts, the more easily people would see through them. Being curious about guests was perfectly normal, so it would have been better to approach Ding Qin and Bai Hong openly.
He had just seen Da Wu and hidden behind the tree, but given Da Wu’s cultivation level, how could he possibly not notice him hiding there?
Ding Qin patted his head. “Thank you.”
Gelowa looked at them expectantly. “You, can, stay.”
“Mm.” Ding Qin smiled warmly at him. “We’ll help you find your sister.”
“I, together, can?” Gelowa gestured as he asked.
“No.” Ding Qin shook her head. Seeing Gelowa’s disappointed face, she crouched down and said to him, “The forest is very dangerous. You’re not usually allowed to go there, right?”
Gelowa nodded, then gestured anxiously. “You, powerful! I, know way!” His meaning was that with Ding Qin and Bai Hong being so capable, and him knowing the forest paths, he could guide them while Ding Qin and Bai Hong could protect him.
After children in the village reached a certain age, they would be taken by groups to repeatedly walk the paths in the valley until they memorized one, then moved on to the next. Though they weren’t permitted to enter the grass marsh or dense forest, everything feared the “what if.” If they encountered some situation, these children’s knowledge of those safe paths would give them one more chance of survival.
“We are guests of the village.” Ding Qin pointed to herself, then to Gelowa. “You are a child of the village. We can’t take you to dangerous places.”
Gelowa could only nod.
While Ding Qin was coaxing him and seeing him off, Bai Hong had already taken Gelowa’s aura and cast a tracking spell.
“How is it?” Ding Qin looked up and asked.
“Not outside.” Bai Hong looked in a certain direction. “She’s in the village.”
Indeed, as they had previously guessed, Gelowa’s sister hadn’t disappeared. She was just being kept from Gelowa for some reason.
“Let’s go take a look.” Ding Qin said.
The two followed the tracking spell’s guidance. The endpoint was one of the several places Da Wu had earlier marked as off-limits to them.
This was a courtyard enclosed by bamboo and wood fencing, with verdant vines climbing over the fence. Delicate leaves framed pink and yellow small flowers in a charming display. The courtyard was quite deep, with late-season apricot trees planted inside. At this time of year, the apricot season had long passed, yet the apricot trees in this courtyard still bore plump, round apricots—orange-yellow and delicate red, quite pleasing. The lush apricot trees concealed a winding path, making it impossible to see what lay in the depths. The arrangement of these apricot trees faintly formed an array. Though from outside there appeared to be a path paved with pebbles, if one didn’t understand the array and simply followed the path, one probably couldn’t reach the true destination.
The endpoint indicated by the tracking spell was deep within the courtyard. With Ding Qin and Bai Hong’s abilities, slipping inside silently wouldn’t be difficult, but the two didn’t do so.
Gelowa was still too young to conceal his thoughts. Da Wu had probably long known what he had come to ask the two of them. This morning, when Da Wu had shown them around to indicate which places they could and couldn’t go, it might not have been without hints. The tracking spell wasn’t any advanced technique—Da Wu could certainly guess they could find their way here. At this point, further concealment was meaningless.
The two hadn’t been standing at the area’s edge for long when a middle-aged woman emerged from inside. She wore a cloth headscarf, with fine wrinkles spreading from the corners of her eyes. Though not smiling, she appeared gentle and kind. She spoke official language very well, with a light accent. “What brings you two here?”
“Gelowa asked us to help him find his sister. The tracking spell led us here, so we came to look.” Bai Hong said.
The middle-aged woman sighed. “That child Gelowa… His sister is fine, just fell ill. Her condition isn’t good, and she doesn’t want him to see her like this. After resting for another couple of days, when his sister recovers, she’ll go back.”
“Can’t they see each other first?” Ding Qin tilted her head and asked.
“There’s no need. In another two days she’ll be well, and then Gelowa won’t have to worry.” The middle-aged woman said. She moved aside from the doorway and said to them. “Since you’ve found your way here, you might as well come see her.”
Ding Qin and Bai Hong followed her into the courtyard. The middle-aged woman led them along the pebble path for a short distance, then stepped off the path’s edge and entered the apricot grove through the shaded, pathless ground. Though they didn’t know where that pebble path actually led, it certainly didn’t point to the place the apricot grove array truly sought to protect.
The middle-aged woman led the two through the array, turning this way and that, unconcerned about them memorizing the route. Such an array would change its passages. If one didn’t understand the array’s variations, using this time’s memorized route next time would only result in being trapped.
“Is this place specifically for caring for the sick?” Ding Qin asked.
“Yes, I know some medical arts. When someone in the village falls ill, they come to me.” The middle-aged woman said.