Chapter 19

From that point on, the woman lost her soul.

It was as if she couldn’t accept reality, and so she had actively resisted allowing herself to regain full consciousness. She kept her spirit floating somewhere outside, leaving her physical body to merely endure the suffering.

Her gaze remained dazed. She seemed insane, like she’d gone mad or become simple.

If the group led her, she walked. If they fed her, she opened her mouth and ate.

But she remained utterly quiet. When Yan Baiyu and the others talked to her, she didn’t seem to hear, nor did she ever answer.

No one could learn her name, what her Talent was, or where she was from. All they could deduce from her clothes and appearance was that she had likely been in this world for perhaps only a few months, or even less.

The group waited until the sun tilted west and the temperature dropped, then began the return journey. By nightfall, they reached the same stretch of woods where they had camped before.

That forest had many pine trees growing well. Xia Qing and Zhao Penglai had previously selected several thick, healthy ones and cut slits into them, hanging jars underneath to collect pine resin.

It was a natural resin. After hanging overnight, they had collected quite a bit. In the future, it could be used as a varnish solvent.

Not far from where they lived, there were tung oil trees. The tung nuts from last year carpeted the ground; this year, the trees had already flowered and were setting fruit once more.

Xia Qing and Zhao Penglai gazed longingly at the raw material for tung oil, their mouths watering. The only problem was, none of them knew how to press oil. Xia Qing could certainly build an ancient-style oil press, but two issues remained: she had no time to make it, and no one knew the actual steps and methods for extracting the oil.

It was the same problem as before. Xia Qing had long ago built a small spinning wheel. Following the blueprints in her mind, she replicated it perfectly. Yet once she finished, she realized she had no clue how to use it.

Everyone stared blankly at the thing. No one knew if the cotton needed pre-treatment, how the thread should be wrapped on the spinning wheel, or how to draw the thread out.

In the end, that spinning wheel could only serve as a decorative piece, sitting inside the house.

The next day at dawn, they set off again and managed to rush back to the adobe house before the sun turned truly punishing.

Seeing the few earthen huts before her, a very subtle flicker passed through the woman’s eyes. It shifted from a state of total vacancy to one of empty reminiscence. To an outsider, no difference was visible; they would only think she was staring into space.

The woman still didn’t speak. Yu Muyang even began to suspect she might be mute.

If they told the woman to sit, she sat. If they gave her water, she drank. If they nudged her, she took a step. Otherwise, she was always staring blankly, unresponsive.

They were out of ideas. All they could do was sigh deeply.

The only thing even remotely fortunate was that the woman no longer seemed to be seeking death.

Still, they didn’t dare relax their vigilance. During the day, they always arranged for someone to watch her. At night, someone stayed with her to sleep.

Now that the weather had warmed, during the gaps in the farming schedule, the group had raised three more bamboo rooms for rest.

One bamboo room leaned against the small storehouse. The other two stood perpendicular to the small adobe hut built for Zhao Penglai, facing east.

The entire complex of buildings, now linked together, had already formed an inverted `mountain` character shape.

The men’s living quarters were assigned to the left side. The women’s quarters were on the main house side, on the right side of the mountain character, with the kitchen, haystack, and black donkey’s thatched shed—the long vertical stroke of the mountain—dividing the left from the right.

For certain practical aspects of life, this arrangement saved both sides considerable awkwardness.

Now that this woman had joined them, they could just barely squeeze everyone in to sleep.

At this time of year, the farm work in the fields wasn’t heavy. Li Cunxin hadn’t stored many cotton seeds. Using the seeds directly for seedlings yielded few sprouts; not many were planted in the cotton field. Fortunately, the weather here was favorable, the soil fertile, and the seedlings grew smoothly, blooming under the intense sun. The cotton plants were topped, and the remaining work—weeding, inspecting for pests, monitoring water levels—could all be done alongside the paddy fields, since the rice paddies bordered the cotton field. She could handle these tasks alone.

With labor freed up, Zhao Penglai’s plan to build a new house was finally put on the agenda.

Avoiding the hottest midday sun, they settled on the dimensions, cleared the surface, and leveled the site.

Progress was painfully slow. Sometimes Xu Yin and Yan Baiyu had to skip work to go hunting. Li Cunxin had to patrol the fields. Xia Qing had to process timber. Yu Muyang had to prepare bricks and tiles. Yunxiu shouldered the meals for everyone and also had to care for the woman, whose condition had barely improved. But the thing that drove Zhao Penglai to cough blood was the lack of standardized weights and measures. He’d drawn up engineering plans, but couldn’t add measurements. In the end, he had to pull a long vine to mark positions.

Xia Qing patted his shoulder with the air of a veteran: Don’t be discouraged, sis does her carpentry using relative positions. Being alive is all about the little things.

Zhao Penglai: …

One issue after another slowly, steadily filed down Zhao Penglai’s temper. He learned not to push himself so hard, and to ease up a little.

The next time Xu Yin went out to hunt, Zhao Penglai suggested swinging by his own camp.

Everyone recalled that lake of his, so abundant in aquatic life. Because winter days were so short, the snow and cold made travel too difficult, and most creatures were hibernating. When spring warmed up, they’d gotten busy with farming. Besides, they could get fish from the two nearby ponds, so the idea of visiting that distant lake had been pushed aside.

Now that Zhao Penglai mentioned it, everyone remembered the big, fatty smoked fish. If fresh fish… how wonderfully delicious would that be?

Zhao Penglai casually added, “There are also plenty of waterfowl there, and they’re not very afraid of people.”

Xu Yin had been going to the forest every day recently, hoping to catch another spotted pig. Several attempts had yielded nothing. Hearing Zhao Penglai’s suggestion now, he figured switching targets might be a nice change. He nodded.

As soon as Xia Qing heard they were going to that lake, her excitement flared. “I want to go too! I’ve never been to that lake.”

Yu Muyang, overhearing, crowded in. “What lake?”

They both looked at Xu Yin. Xia Qing wheedled, “Uncle Xu, take me along, please.”

Xu Yin glanced at Li Cunxin. The two of them, in turn, looked at Li Cunxin. Xia Qing blinked her eyes imploringly. “Village Chief~”

“Uncle Xu, take them. Let them get to know the route; they can help out a bit,” Li Cunxin said. She glanced at the woman sitting in the main hall, staring vacantly up at the blue sky, and was silent for a moment. The woman was still the same. Li Cunxin didn’t know if she was truly broken, or if she was simply escaping reality. Li Cunxin said to Xia Qing, “Xia Qing, take her along too. Take good care of her on the way.”

Xia Qing paused, then said, “Village Chief, but given her mental state… if something happens on the road…”

Li Cunxin said, “Aren’t Uncle Xu and the others there? I just want her to go somewhere else, to walk around. Take her fishing, catching shrimp. Have a good time, let her relax her mind a little. See if it helps her condition improve.”

Xia Qing looked at Xu Yin. Xu Yin didn’t speak, silently agreeing. Xia Qing said, “Alright then.”

They gathered their tools and dried rations. Despite the heat, they plucked lotus leaves to wear on their heads as sun hats and set out.

Li Cunxin turned back to look at Yan Baiyu sitting inside the house and smiled. “You usually go hunting with Uncle Xu. Why aren’t you going with them today?”

Yan Baiyu lifted her lashes, her gaze drifting lazily over. “Afraid of the heat.”

Li Cunxin tugged at the front of her T-shirt and sat down next to Yan Baiyu. “The weather really is hot, but these few days are the worst of it. Once we get through them, the temperature will gradually come down.”

The two of them sat in the main hall, helping Xia Qing chisel the marked timber. Xia Qing had so many things to make; they’d sometimes pitch in when they had free time.

Neither spoke much. The scorched, slightly heat-laden wind from outside blew into the main hall. The sounds of insects rose and fell in waves.

Yan Baiyu silently lifted her eyes to look at the person before her.

Li Cunxin’s bangs were too short. Even after tying them up, a few finger-widths had escaped after moving around. One curved, playful lock rested on the bridge of her nose, which was catching a thin layer of light. It was probably itchy; she lifted an index finger to scratch the tip of her nose.

Yan Baiyu felt a smile rise, then quietly lowered her eyes again.

Xu Yin and his group didn’t return until late afternoon, when the sun was close to setting. Sitting in the main hall, Li Cunxin spotted a human silhouette from far off.

Li Cunxin smiled. “They’re back.”

She and Yan Baiyu went out to meet them, squinting into the distance.

Xia Qing was frolicking like a monkey, running and skipping all the way, her voice carrying from the horizon. “Village Chief—— Yunxiu—— Baiyu——”

The three saw Xia Qing clutching something. As she drew closer, they realized she was barefoot, her legs caked with dried mud. The shoelaces of her pair of shoes were tied together and hanging around her neck.

Her hands were free, each gripping a plump, goose-like waterfowl by the neck.

Those two birds were ninety percent identical to a large white goose, except for a touch of brown on the primary wing feathers. Otherwise, they were identical.

The fat geese struggled in Xia Qing’s grasp, flapping their wings furiously but utterly unable to escape their fate.

Xia Qing truly seemed to fly back on the wind. She was yelling before she even reached them, “Light the fire! Light the fire, quick!”

The three stared blankly. “Where did these come from?”

Xia Qing said, “Caught them at the lake!”

The fat geese beat their wings, gusts of wind stirring up the wood shavings on the ground.

Li Cunxin narrowed her eyes and called out, “Xia Qing…”

One look at Li Cunxin’s expression and tone, and Xia Qing knew what she was about to say. She hastily took a step back, half-pleading, half-negotiating. “I know you’re thinking of raising them again. Yu Muyang still has three more behind him. Village Chief, good Village Chief, three is enough to raise. Can’t we just eat two… just eat one?”

Li Cunxin looked behind and saw that Yu Muyang was indeed clutching three geese. The birds were letting out shrill, raspy cries of distress, necks practically being wrung. Xu Yin and Zhao Penglai, walking at the rear, were looking after the woman and carrying a considerable amount of fish. They had also brought back a bundle of water caltrops.

Hearing that Li Cunxin wanted to raise the geese, Yu Muyang joined Xia Qing, whining, “Village Chief~”

“Alright, alright.” Li Cunxin laughed. “We’ll eat some!”

The two cheered. Xu Yin and Zhao Penglai behind them exchanged smiles. Li Cunxin chopped off the geese’s wing feathers so they couldn’t fly high and handed them to Yan Baiyu. After determining their sexes, Yan Baiyu found there were three males and two females. She picked out one of the males and gave it to Yunxiu.

Yu Muyang hollered, “Quick, quick! Get the stove going, make roast goose! Use that fruit wood charcoal we fired a couple of days ago.” Just thinking of the taste of deep well roast goose paired with plum sauce made Yu Muyang swallow hard. It was perfect timing—they’d just picked green plums and salted them a few days ago.

Yunxiu smiled. “There’s no time to build a hanging oven now. It’ll be dark soon. Do you even want to eat dinner tonight? Plus, we don’t have nearly enough spices for roast goose anyway.”

Yu Muyang and Xia Qing let out a chorus of wails.

Li Cunxin said, “Let’s just stew it.”

Xu Yin slaughtered the goose and drained the blood. In hot water, they plucked the feathers clean, then handed the bare, plump goose over to Yunxiu.

The remaining few, wanting to at least build a simple goose pen before dark, ran off to the woods to cut willow branches.

Xia Qing and Yu Muyang brought the woman along. Throughout the journey, they had kept talking to her, even though she had never responded once. They’d grown used to just talking to her on their own.

Rosy clouds of sunset piled up in the southwest corner. The twilight deepened, and the wind was half cool, half warm. Bird calls came from afar.

Xia Qing mimicked its call: “Wan～dou～ba～guo～” ([T/N: A mnemonic for the call of the Indian Cuckoo, which in Chinese rural dialects sounds like words reminding people of home/farming])

Xia Qing crouched down and pulled up a blade of grass. She showed it to the woman, smiling. “Look, this is called ‘sun grass.’ We used to see it all the time in the countryside when we were kids. If you tear the root from both sides, and it forms a complete circle, it’ll be sunny tomorrow. If it breaks, it’ll rain. We used to tear its roots all the time before our sports days, praying for a good sunny day. But after we moved to the city to live, we never saw it again.”

The woman looked at it and actually reached out to take it.

Xia Qing was stunned. She glanced at Yu Muyang, elbowing him, both of them shocked at the woman’s change. Xia Qing handed it over almost fearfully, until the woman’s fingers closed around it.

Just at that moment, Yunxiu’s shout came from the distance. “Xia Qing! Yu Muyang! Come back and eat!”

The woman whipped her head around. She saw the figure standing by the house in the distance, calling out.

The hot summer wind. The sky, a patchwork of dark blue and deep red.

Playmates gathered to have fun.

The white smoke drifting from the chimney. The smell of firewood.

That voice—calling everyone home for dinner—drifted from the horizon.

Distant memories overlapped with the present.

Her heart was struck with immense force.

Her wide eyes burst into tears. Her eyes rimmed red, she let out a rasping whisper, “I want to go home.”

Yu Muyang and Xia Qing couldn’t quite catch the sound.

But the whisper immediately erupted into a piercing scream, “I want to go home!”

The desolate cry sent a shudder down Yu Muyang and Xia Qing’s spines, making their scalps go numb.