Chapter 10
The mountain path was slippery from the rain, so Li He helped Jiang Er along as they slowly walked. The drizzle continued to fall, crushing the weeds in the mud. Li He began to feel dazed. Perhaps the mountain ahead was the one he had been climbing for some time, or perhaps he had simply mistaken himself for the wrong place.
The fatigue from a sleepless night was now being sustained by hunger and pain. He and Jiang Er both knew that they could not continue to sleep. They had to keep walking until the linen and armor on their bodies were dried by the wind, and then they could sit down to rest.
So they continued walking forward, walking along the rugged downhill road, stepping over the huge rocks blocking the way, and going up the next mountain. Li He was now certain of one thing. When he looked up, he could see the dead tree halfway up the mountain that he and Yaoer had cut down for firewood. In the dense rain, the low tree was easily distinguishable.
Jiang Er instinctively shielded his injured waist with his arm. He leaned against Li He's still-wounded shoulder, letting him support him as he walked down. He remained unusually silent, conserving his remaining strength for the rest of the journey. Li He also maintained his usual reticence. The chill gradually dissipated as they walked, but the thick clouds lingering in the sky refused to depart. He looked up at the gloomy sky, a vibrant hue rarely seen in Longxi during the winter. He thought, this was the first winter rain he had experienced in recent years.
Such rain completely washed away their traces of coming, even though Li He did not dare to look back to confirm anything. He had to move forward, forward, away from the ashes of the tents and the burnt bones buried in the fire, away from the dead lying on the ground, away from the drums and horns rolling on the ground.
Armor and linen slipped against the ruptured wound on his shoulder. Li He bit his lower lip and tasted the rust. This pain would eventually wear him out. He consoled himself, as he had consoled Jiang Er, that once he crossed the mountain, he would see his father and his youngest son again, find a good place to sleep, and build a fire to dry his wet clothes.
This comfort had some effect, drawing him out of the memories of last night. Li He pulled Jiang Er up from the foot of the mountain, trudging up the steep rock face. He hadn't fallen into the sand pit again, unable to climb out. He had also survived the cold and wet night of the previous night, once again escaping the threat of death.
In this way, they reached the top of the mountain very slowly and sat down on the muddy rock wall. Some of the rain from the previous night had frozen into ice. Li He rubbed his hands together, feeling a slight warmth spread to his frozen face. The sky was still dim, but he thought it must be getting dark soon. He was sure that they had taken a long time to climb the mountain, so much so that those who came after them had already surpassed them and walked down from the top.
The drizzle stopped at some point. Jiang Er sat on a rock across from Li He, burying his face in his hands. His heavy breathing became lighter. After the most difficult period, he said, "Brother, please continue to carry me down the mountain. We'll walk all the way to the end and then have a good sleep."
Li He glanced up at Jiang Er. His shoulder injury was still aching intensely, and he figured Jiang Er's new injury would likely be much more severe. He nodded, not intending to argue. He washed his face with a handful of ice chips, finally opening his eyes, which had been glued shut. He figured they'd still be sleeping in the mountains by nightfall, so he could only keep going down as far as possible.
He stood up and helped Jiang Er down. The path down the mountain became even more slippery. Li He broke off a dead branch and gave it to Jiang Er to use as a crutch. They made their way down, even more slowly than they had gone up. Just as he had expected, it was getting dark quickly. None of them had flints, so they had to find a place to rest their feet.
Jiang Er sighed deeply, holding back the next words he was about to say. He knew that such complaints would only waste his remaining energy. He just wanted to get down the mountain quickly, lie down on the ground, close his eyes, and sleep. Li He sighed silently with him. The only good thing about the mountaintop was that there were no wild animals. His linen clothes were still half dry, half damp, but it was much better than the night before. He closed his eyes obediently, restraining himself from thinking about the stories that were about to surge into his mind.
But this was nearly impossible. The more he tried to avoid something, the faster it unfolded before him. Li He had no choice but to open his eyes. The moon was still hidden in the clouds, with only a sliver of light peeking out, barely enough to illuminate the path down the mountain. He stared up at the moon. Today, the sliver of light curved inward. Li He calculated the approximate date and thought it might be the full moon on the 15th day of the lunar month.
On the march, there was no time to gaze at the moon. It was tonight that Li He finally had ample time to gaze at the shifting clouds and the round moon hidden within them. He admired the full moon, a symbol of reunion. His thoughts drifted further, to his mother's songs as she lulled his little sister to sleep each night, to his younger brother playing by the river, to his father, who had left for the Lunar New Year and never returned. He reached out to touch the moon, knowing it was impossible.
Li He felt he didn't deserve comfort, knowing reunion was impossible. Yet, somehow, he felt comforted by the moon tonight. He could almost see A Niang and the others waving to him, as if the forgotten ballad were coming to him.
He stared at the moon until his eyes were blown shut by the cold wind from the hallway. Li He fell asleep in this uncomfortable fantasy, the pain in his shoulder forgotten. Fatigue prevented dreams from remaining intact on such a night. Only the wind rustled silently, carrying the winter chill and blowing away tonight's dreams and clouds.
The full moon had suddenly appeared, only to be quickly obscured by clouds again. Jiang Er, after gazing at the full moon, closed his eyes and dreamt of his sister. Li He was already fast asleep, huddled against the stone wall, oblivious to the grass and gravel that covered his body.
The morning mountain breeze awoke them, the nagging hunger waking them. Li He broke off a crutch for himself and stood, leaning on Jiang Er's arm. They chatted, remarking that it would only take half a day to descend the mountain to the village. Even though from their perch at the bottom of the mountain, they could only see scattered houses, not a wisp of smoke rising from cooking fires, nor hear the distant crowing of roosters, they still thought of this, finding their nearest destination for the days ahead.
They dug branches into the wet sand, dodging the occasional tumble of rocks that slid down from the mountaintop. The clouds had mostly dispersed today, allowing the sun to reach the ground. Their linen clothes were dry, though still tinged with the winter chill, numbing the pain of their wounds. The only thing keeping them going was the village before them.
Li He bit his lower lip again, a slight tingling sensation coming from the wound that hadn't healed. He and Jiang Er only needed to walk through the weed-covered path halfway up the mountain to reach the foot of the mountain. They were extremely careful, each time using their crutches more cautiously, slowly pushing aside the weeds that blocked their path and descending.
There were always people coming to the foot of the mountain, so the mountain road was widened and flattened. Jiang Er used his remaining strength to speak. The silence of the past two days had almost made him sick. He laughed out loud, with joy from the bottom of his heart, "Little brother, we are almost home." Li He also nodded in agreement, "We can rest for a while."
They supported each other and walked slowly down from the foot of the mountain, of course, with the urgency of reaching their destination. They used up their last bit of strength and soon reached the village entrance.
The village was unusually silent. Li He first glanced at the well at the entrance of the village. There was still a wooden bucket at the wellhead that had not been lowered into the well to draw water. He felt cold all over. The dead body, with no flesh left, fell at the wellhead.
He loosened his wrists and threw away the crutch he had been leaning on. He didn't have the energy to think anymore. He knelt down at the entrance of the village while thinking this. Jiang Er also squatted down, taking in the scene he had just witnessed.
Black crows swaggered through the carrion, feasting on it. The blood on the ground congealed, mingling with winter frost and sand. Li He felt a tightness in his chest, perhaps a blood clot. He remained kneeling, almost stunned. The scimitar at his waist dug a shallow groove in the ground.
Who had come here? Why were there so many dead? Why was there no one to deal with it? His thoughts would not stop even though he was being forced to do so. It must have been a group of barbarians, a group they had never encountered before. Perhaps it was the day after they left the village, when no one would go to the well to draw water during the day. They had broken into the village, stolen food from every household, and killed everyone.
There was no other answer. Li He bent down and banged his head hard on the ground. Fresh blood streamed from his forehead. The fatigue of days of travel, the ache in his shoulder, and the joy of reaching the village entrance all faded away. He felt as if the blood flowing through his body was no longer his own flesh and blood, but a frozen river in winter, letting the north wind blow through him. He watched all this in a vacant state, unable to remain indifferent.
The blood seemed to have choked his throat, and he couldn't get up. Tears welled up in his eyes. Jiang Er used a knife to drive away the crows that were pecking at the corpse. The hoarse bird calls rose and fell, echoing through the completely silent village. The tears in his eyes still didn't fall. He raised his head, his eyes calmly looking at the sun in the sky. Li He began to feel his body stiffen, stiffening from the very bones. He felt as if he was being eaten by birds and beasts, his exposed flesh and blood, and his bones began to be illuminated by the sun.
It was broad daylight, a rare winter day with warm sunshine. He knelt at the village entrance, the ruptured wound on his shoulder dripping with uncoagulated blood, drop by drop, silently dripping onto the small puddle of sand. The blood quickly dried in the wind, resembling the rouge of a noblewoman, a rouge not often seen in Longxi.
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