initiative
Chapter Thirty-Six
However, from the time I was less than a year old and took my first steps to the time I was sixteen and could walk briskly, most of my nearly fifteen years of walking were on flat and solid roads and streets. My experience in other places was negligible, let alone in this forest full of obstacles.
Even with Lan Feiyu holding my hand, I still stumbled along in the increasingly dark forest, falling down several times in a short period of time, almost three times in total.
This made me more cautious and fearful with each step I took, and it also greatly slowed us down. Lan Feiyu originally did not intend to light the fire, fearing that the "drug man" would haunt us and catch up. However, seeing that I was almost falling into a "hopeless state", she had no choice but to take out the tinderbox from her bosom, light it, and hold it in her hand.
The unique howling sound of the "medicine man" appeared and disappeared intermittently, sometimes near and sometimes far, but it never disappeared for more than a moment. What made me even more terrified was that, from some point onwards, the sound was not just one, but two completely different yet inexplicably similar howling sounds, intertwined and interwoven together.
I shivered as I said to Lan Feiyu, "Sister Mu Qing, the 'medicine person' she turned into, came along too..."
Lan Feiyu didn't speak. All her energy and strength were probably focused on finding the way and leading me forward, so she didn't have time to listen carefully to and distinguish the terrifying sound like I did.
The tinder she lit in her hand caused us some unexpected trouble along the way. Countless flying insects, large and small, rushed towards us one after another, their numbers almost extinguishing the already weak and precarious flame.
The mosquitoes in the forest were already enough to bite people, but luckily Lan Feiyu took out a porcelain bottle about half the size of my palm, poured out a pungent-smelling liquid, applied it to my face and hands, and sprinkled some on my clothes, which stopped their frenzied attack. Now that the flying insect army has arrived, I feel more and more that if I can leave safely this time, I never want to walk in the forest at night again in my life.
If possible, it would be best to skip even the morning walk.
Flying insects kept crashing into me. Other places were alright, but they made no attempt to avoid my eyes and nostrils, which was really making me suffer. I dared not speak anymore, for fear that if I opened my mouth, I would swallow a few insects.
Although no real danger was actually happening, the uneven road under my feet, the various flying insects that kept circling around me, and the intermittent, high-low screams of the "medicine people" were enough to make me tremble with fear and exhausted.
The only thought that kept me from collapsing was that I couldn't become a burden to Lan Feiyu.
I was certain she wouldn't abandon me in this treacherous, dense forest; I couldn't burden her.
But the road was really long. I was in pain and exhausted. I was constantly being hit by flying insects, and my vision gradually blurred. The despair in my heart grew stronger and stronger. This was different from the night I lay alone in the forest. At that time, there was a sense of resentment and unwillingness that permeated my limbs and bones.
And now...
Only that hand that always held mine tightly.
The fire kept burning, even though it was almost invisible when it was obscured by the swarms of flying insects. I always suspected that it would go out at any moment.
I stumbled along, not knowing how far I had gone. I was so numb that I lost all sense of time and distance. Just then, a strange noise suddenly came from ahead, followed by another. When I heard it clearly, I opened my mouth wide in excitement, not caring whether there were really bugs being put into my mouth or not.
I gripped Lan Feiyu's hand tightly, and she stopped in her tracks, turning to look at me. She raised the tinder she was holding, revealing her equally ecstatic expression.
"Squeak!"
Another sound.
I wiped my mouth, trying to shake off the discomfort of the bug hitting my lips, and whispered tremblingly, "It's a chirp!"
Lan Feiyu looked at me and nodded vigorously: "Yes! We didn't mishear! The monkey... the kite sent it back to find us!"
A question flashed through my mind. It was not surprising that Yuanzi expected Lan Feiyu to chase after them, but judging from Lan Feiyu's tone, it seemed that it was more than that.
Could it be that Yuanzi predicted my actions? Did she judge that I would definitely go to Baili with Lan Feiyu?
Who exactly is she?
However, this doubt quickly vanished amidst the immense joy of seeing the monkey's silhouette appear a few feet away. I never imagined that in my lifetime I would see a monkey and feel as if a long-awaited rain had come after a drought. If it weren't for the "medicine man" cry that just happened to ring out, I would have almost screamed out loud.
The monkey, Zhizha, also noticed Lan Feiyu and me. It chattered and leaped over in a few quick leaps, gesturing wildly. Lan Feiyu exclaimed "Oh!" and blew out the tinderbox in her hand.
Darkness returned to the surroundings, and I let out a soft "Eh." Lan Feiyu squeezed my hand tightly at that moment, which I took as a message to calm me down. So I stopped talking and blinked hard, trying to make my eyes work a little in the pitch-black darkness.
Lan Feiyu was still holding my hand, but now there was the occasional squeaking of monkeys, and the despair I felt earlier felt like a distant dream.
After walking for a short while, in the blur, a huge outline seemed to appear in front of us. The outline could move, and the monkey jumped and shouted several times. I hurriedly asked Lan Feiyu, "What is that?"
"It's a horse!" Lan Feiyu pulled me towards her, hugging my shoulders tightly, her voice filled with barely suppressed excitement, "Xi'er! It's a horse!"
I'm a little confused, horse!
That was of course also Yuanzi's doing, but I never knew that a horse could walk on its own in the dark—it's not a cat, how could it see in the dark?
As it turns out, I was overthinking it. What a horse can't do, and a human can't do, a squeak can.
The monkey led the way, holding the reins, while Lan Feiyu and I rode together on horseback, slowly making our way through the dense forest where it was almost pitch black.
With the imminent crisis temporarily averted, my mind started racing again. I turned to Lan Feiyu and whispered, "Who exactly is Yuanzi? Are you an ally of hers?"
Lan Feiyu whispered in my ear, “I’m not entirely sure of her true identity either. When I got in touch with Baili, and you… no, the Xie family of Dongchu, it was she who approached me first.”
This was quite unexpected. When I first met Yuanzi, although I noticed her unusual appearance, I knew that there were many strange-looking barbarians in the southwestern border region. I thought she was just a hunter's daughter from the deep mountains who helped those in need. I never imagined that her identity was so unfathomable.
For some reason, a thought suddenly struck me, and I blurted out to Lan Feiyu, "That's right, wasn't it Mr. Tao from the clinic who approached you on his own initiative?"
“Yes…” Lan Feiyu sighed, “He said he could no longer aid and abet evil, or do such heinous things.”
I nodded "Mmm" while a lingering sense of unease arose within me.
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