“This herb isn’t from the book,” Xue recalled. “Old Du Jie showed it to us.”

  “Oh! Right!” Minzhu squatted in front of her sister, studying the purple stems. “Too bad there’s only one like this. The others are normal…”

  “The others?”

  “Mm. There’s a whole little clearing.”

  “Then we need to gather those too! We’ll sell them. We only have five coins between us.”

  “They’ll wilt on the way. How long will it take us to reach the city?”

  “I don’t know. Still better to collect them. Just in case.”

  “And what about this big one?” Minzhu looked up at her sister. “You want to sell it too?”

  “I don’t know. We’ll figure it out on the way,” Xue replied, rising to her feet. “It’s time. Put out the fire. We’re moving on.”

  First, Xue placed the wild potato tubers and sturdy roots at the bottom of the bag, then the nuts, then the berries wrapped in leaves. Last, she laid in the purple plant whose name they had forgotten. Minzhu had dug it up with the root intact, just as healer Du Jie had taught her. By the time Xue finished packing, the fire was smothered beneath a mound of earth, and the girls set off.

  The forest stirred again, swaying its dense mane of trees. Small creatures rustled through the leaves, wild bees flew busily past on their errands. The girls once more paid attention to the teeming life around them. They were no longer running, but they didn’t want to linger either. They stopped briefly at the clearing with medicinal herbs, where Minzhu had found the purple stalk, and gathered several thick bundles for sale, filling the bag to the brim.

  Feeling her strength return, Minzhu went hunting snakes and toads. At their rest stop, she dressed the catch deftly like a seasoned cook, skinning them and setting the hides aside, planning to sell them in the city along with the herbs. After spending time with old Du Jie, the girl had grown fond of medicine or rather, of the profit medicine brought and now regretted having nowhere to store little pouches of venom. Those were worth money too.

  Once she finished butchering, she roasted the meat over the coals, basting it with berry juice and sprinkling aromatic herb leaves on top for flavor. From her belt she took a tiny chunk of salt and carefully scraped it with her knife, seasoning the meat. Though frogs and snakes were nothing special or valuable as food, Minzhu glowed with happiness, especially after her older sister praised her work. For the first time in a long while, they ate their fill.

  “If only we could get some honey,” Minzhu said dreamily, watching a bee buzz past.

  “Finding a hive would take too long,” Xue reminded her. “We should hurry. We don’t know what he is doing back there…”

  “So we’ll run again?”

  “A little. Remember how we used to run with Father? You always liked it. We’ll meditate in the evening. You wanted to get stronger, didn’t you?”

  “Yes!” With her face smeared in soot, little Minzhu put on her fiercest expression.

  Their journey through the forest continued, and another day passed. During a rest, Xue took out food for a snack. To reach the potato tubers, she moved aside the bundles of herbs, then the purple stalk. This time, a sweet, berry-like scent drifted from it. Rummaging through the bag, she pulled out the bundle of blackberries and found only shriveled, blackened remnants inside.

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  “Minzhu, look! Your plant ate the berries!”

  “Oh!” In an instant, the younger sister was at her side, poking a finger at the juicy stems of the purple marvel. “Is it dangerous?”

  “No. It’s just a plant. But a very strange one.”

  “I wish we could show it to Grandpa Du Jie. It’s probably worth a lot of money.”

  “But who would we sell it to?” Xue wondered. “If it’s valuable, they might just take it or trick us.”

  “Maybe we eat it ourselves?”

  “Old Du Jie told us not to eat anything we don’t know. What if it’s poisonous?”

  “Yeah,” Minzhu agreed, then, imitating the healer, added, “Diarrhea or constipation would be the best thing that could happen to you. And don’t accept food from strangers either! Remember? Heh-heh-heh.”

  The unusual plant didn’t frighten them, and the deep forest no longer seemed as terrifying either—though the girls themselves didn’t notice the change in them.

  The purple stalk fascinated Minzhu. In no time, she ran around the area and gathered more blackberries, wanting to be absolutely sure the plant ate them and to see the process with her own eyes. Meanwhile, Xue made another basket specifically for medicinal herbs and handed the food-filled one to her younger sister.

  The girls continued along the river. The forest thinned, and the smell of water gradually mixed with the scent of fish and smoke. The cries of gulls grew more frequent. Between the trees, small huts on stilts appeared by the river, larger ones standing on the bank. Nets were drying nearby, oars lay about, and overturned boats rested on the shore.

  The fishing village seemed to find them on its own. The sisters stepped into it without noticing a boundary. Men in short trousers mended nets, women bustled about their chores, chatting as they went. The village lived its own life, and the two tiny girls were not noticed at once. Their small, thin figures were lost in the bustle of everyday activity, blending in with the children running around.

  Out of all the villagers, only one person noticed the newcomers. He set aside his tools and walked toward them with an unhurried gait. His figure immediately caught Xue’s and Minzhu’s attention. They stopped, palms resting on their daggers, and waited. After a few steps, the man halted and silently studied his guests. He towered over them like a cliff, huge, dark-skinned, with shoulders broader than a doorway and a scar running across his entire face, as if someone had tried to split him with a sword. Beside him, the girls looked utterly tiny.

  “Hey! Gong Su, who’ve you got there?” A woman’s voice broke the tension. “Such cute little ones. Why are you scaring them?”

  “Who are you? What do you want?” he boomed, ignoring the woman. The sheer power of his voice made the sisters flinch.

  “We… sell medicinal herbs…” Xue said quietly, her brows drawn tight as she clutched the woven bag to her chest. “Fresh… rare.”

  “Hm. Show me.”

  “Here,” the girl said, offering a green stalk.

  Gong Su took the plant, lifted it to his face, and inspected it critically from every angle. He pinched a leaf between thick fingers and sniffed. The scent was richer than that of ordinary medicinal herbs. Though it had clearly been picked a day or two ago, the color remained vivid, the sap retained its aroma.

  “Three silver per bundle,” the giant said. “Not many buyers around here in the forest. You won’t find others.”

  If the girls had never sold medicinal herbs before, they might have agreed at once—but this price sounded like mockery. Xue stubbornly frowned, pressed her lips together, briefly glanced at her sister standing guard beside her, then looked back at the man.

  “You won’t find these herbs yourselves,” her voice trembled, yet sounded firmer than she expected. “Even if you go looking. They don’t grow here… and not by the river. Only… there.”

  “Hm.” Gong Su smirked, it sounded like distant thunder, then his grin widened. “Ha! Four silver per bundle.”

  “Um…” Xue quickly glanced around, but saw no malice in the villagers’ eyes, only curiosity. “Twelve silver.”

  “Oh!” The giant grinned from ear to ear.

  Even grown men faltered before him, trembling like leaves and averting their gaze. But these two little girls, each small enough to fit in his palm, looked him straight in the eye. Gong Su almost laughed out loud, suddenly imagining them as two small tiger cubs, their fur bristling. He watched the sisters with admiration, two children who had made it here through the forest alone.

  “Ten silver, and not a coin more!” Gong Su declared.

  “Deal,” Xue said. She knew when to give ground.

  “Follow me. The money’s in the house.”

  Under the curious gazes of the villagers, Gong Su walked to a large hut, the two girls following close behind. They didn’t let their guard down for a moment, carefully watching their surroundings. Suddenly, Minzhu froze, her eyes locked on a simple wooden shield marked with claw scratches. Rough and plain in appearance, yet clearly sturdy.

  “W-where did you get that shield?” she cried anxiously.

  “A shield? Nothing special,” Gong Su snorted. “The current brought it. The lads just fished it out of the river.”

  “The current? From where? What’s upstream?” Xue also noticed the shield and couldn’t take her eyes off it.

  “Upstream is Puyang City,” the giant shrugged.