37°50'49.1"N 98°48'24.0"E – Lóngmén, Tianjun County

  24.05.2024 – 21.00 UTC +08.00

  “This was truly lovely,” I said to the middle-aged couple. I had just finished scrubbing the crust of our last plate. I had tried to eat as little as I could, as it was visible they did not have enough to feed a third person. And I had nothing to offer. “Best food I had this year!”

  “Nonsense,” Fang said, but his wife chuckled.

  “No, really!” I approached carrying some cups of tea. “And I wanted to pay back by serving you some cha that I carried with me. I hope you like it.”

  “Oh, this is splendid, you absolutely did not have to!”

  I let the teacups in front of them, their bitter and fresh smell enveloping us. I felt indebted that I had to sleep somewhere without paying.

  I sat next to them.

  “It smells amazing, doesn’t it, Xiulan?” Fang asked his wife, who had remained silent most of my visit. She smiled as much as she could with her reserved nature.

  I brought my teacup to my lips. It tasted like home. I had some more of the herbs with me to carry on my travels. Besides nostalgia, it had no other value or usefulness, so I thought it could not hurt to share it.

  “Thank you. And do not worry, tomorrow at dawn, I am going. I have to get to the next town down south, see what I can buy to continue my travels.”

  “The closest town is Lóngmén, twenty minutes’ walk or so from here.”

  “I thought here is Lóngmén?” I asked.

  “Ha, no. This is only the outskirts. People who like to live away from the town. Lóngmén is further up north,” Fang explained.

  I guess I had lost myself in the mountains after all. I was lucky that Little Guy had seen these houses; a little more and I would have entirely missed any village before the next town. But still, going north felt wrong.

  “No, I guess I will walk the highway to the south. I am heading south anyway.”

  “Well, Yangkang Town is the next town down the highway, but that’s a five to six-hour walk there,” Fang explained.

  “That’s fine for me. I will be out of your lovely home and head there tomorrow.”

  “Suit yourself!” Fang said, slurping down the last part of the tea.

  “Oh!” Xiulan gasped. She looked at her teacup, and for a moment, I sensed shock in her expression. But then it was gone. “Fang, I forgot the fresh sheets outside. They will get humid during the night – can you bring them in for our guest?”

  “I can do it!” I volunteered.

  “Absolutely not. Fang!” Xiulan said categorically.

  Fang, who so far appeared to be in charge at home, changed his demeanor and immediately jumped up and headed out.

  “Really, thank you for the…”

  “What have you done?” Xiulan asked. “What have you brought here?” Her voice was pitched at least one or two octaves lower than before.

  “I… Nothing.”

  “I saw it. In my cha. I saw what your home saw, what is following you here.” Her hands trembled as she left the teacup on the table in front of her.

  “I am bringing nothing. I am simply running away.” I answered.

  “Running away implies being chased. Once we fall asleep, you will leave without saying anything. Disappear.” She stood up and approached me. “And do not tell anything about this to Fang. Or anyone else. Do not warn them, you understand? Just disappear into the night.”

  I stood and backed off from Xiulan. There was fear in her eyes but not fear for me or for what she had seen in the tea leaves. There was fear of consequences. And an implicit threat.

  Her husband stepped into the room.

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  “Xiulan, I think you are losing it. There are no sheets outside.”

  “Oh dear,” she said, changing her expression and voice back to the reserved and shy one, “I am so sorry, Fang. I must have already put them in. Please sit down, I will prepare the guest’s bed for a good night’s sleep.”

  She looked at me and she smiled widely, as if she had not just threatened me to leave.

  They had an extra room at the edge of the house. They let me sleep in a small bed, probably a child’s one, but I could not complain.

  I could also not decide if I had to listen to the lady. I tossed and turned, undecided on whether I should just ignore her and sleep through the night, and simply leave at first light, or pack my things and leave in an hour or two.

  Her eyes were so frightened. Perhaps she had seen indeed the truth in the leaves, the coming Túshā, and its inevitability. But why didn’t she want me to warn them? I was planning to leave a letter before leaving. I owed it to them.

  My brain made the decision for me: it was impossible to sleep. And if I were undesirable in this house, I could start the walk to Yangkang, and get there faster.

  My feet and hands were sore, but as soon as I made my decision, they got a will of their own. I stood up and started packing.

  In a matter of minutes, I was opening the locked door of the house and getting out, faced by the chill and the mountain breeze once again. Maybe I could find a creek to sleep under Little Guy’s furry belly again and…

  “Leaving like that, huh?” Fang’s voice interrupted my train of thought. I jumped up, startled, turning to see the man sitting on a chair, wrapped in a coat blanket outside. In his hands, there were white dried seeds.

  “Oh… Sorry Fang. I could not sleep. I thought I would get going.”

  “Only thieves and cowards leave at night,” Fang said in a strict tone.

  “I have not stolen anything,” I said, “I just can’t sleep.”

  “Why are you heading south, kid?” He asked. He took one of the seeds and tried to open it with his teeth.

  “Listen, I do not mean to alarm you. Your wife did not want to.”

  “My wife, huh,” he said, spitting the seed’s hard exterior and munching on its core.

  “Yes. I think she does not want you to worry. But you took care of me. And I have no reason to be dishonest. Túshā is coming this way. I am supposed to bring the message to Xīnyuán. That is my task. If you leave, maybe you can outrun it, too.”

  They could not. They were not young or fit enough to outrun for long. I did not even know if I could for long, but at least getting to the county seat and delivering my message, I would have done my part.

  Fang continued munching the white seeds.

  “I see. You were wrong in worrying, kid,” he said and smiled. “There is no reason for you to run. This and many villages in these mountains were preparing for that day for centuries. But now it is two after midnight. Maybe people should have one good night’s sleep first. Do you think we can wait until the morning?”

  “I…”

  I was not sure he understood the gravity of the situation. What I had seen could not be stopped. But my curiosity – and potential for hope – was stronger than my logic.

  “What could you possibly have prepared?” I asked.

  He chuckled. “Let’s wait for tomorrow morning, shall we? Go have a good sleep, and we'll talk then. Deal?”

  He stood up and walked into his house, leaving the door half-open.

  I weighed my options. I was anyway planning to stay for the night before Xiulan’s warning, so there was no harm in doing so. And nothing terrible happened when Fang learned about what was coming, contrary to Xiulan’s warning.

  I stepped back into the house, and I carefully walked back to my room. I changed into my sleep clothes, but I left my backpack packed. As I leaned over the bed, I saw a faint light coming from outside the room. I stood up again to close the half-open door.

  In the light coming from the couple’s bedroom, I saw Xiulan standing under the frame of her bedroom door, candlelight slightly illuminating her. She was staring right at me and my room. She did not move her head or avert her gaze when I stared back at her. Her expression revealed nothing. Her eyes were vacant of thought.

  She moved her lips as she stared at me and then went back into her bedroom. I was not sure what she wanted to say; but I could feel my eyelids getting heavier. Tomorrow would be the time to make decisions. It was time to head to sleep.

  A restless and dark sleep. Full of mountains, cold, and Little Guy’s barking and growling.

  Go the opposite way. Go the opposite way.

  My father’s warning, again and again. An impossible order, to outrun the inevitable. It was arriving dressed in scarlet red, unfathomable and indescribable. Accompanied by music of festivals and celebrations, screams hidden by my dreams and twisted into carnival music.

  And that lady Xiulan stood there, far away amidst the dream, saying something, moving her lips to tell me something. What was she trying to say? It was impossible to hear over the festive music. I squinted my eyes, even while asleep, to discern her words.

  Now it is too late to leave.

  I jumped out of my bed. My nightmares were getting worse every night, drenching me in dirtier sweat every time. And now this kind couple that hosted me will be recurring nightmare fuel. I could still hear the festive music.

  I sneered at myself. “Okay, let’s just get the hell moving.” I started changing, still half-asleep, but waking better every passing moment, forgetting my nightmare. But the more I did, the more I wondered: why can I still hear music?

  “What the…”

  I quickly changed into my outerwear and walked across the house – it was empty. The closer I got to the exit, the more I could hear the music. It was a familiar festival tune. I got out of the house as quickly as I could. I could not believe my eyes.

  “What the hell?”