108 Disturbance (1/2)

Heavy taps come from the wooden plank that covers the door.

”Who is it?” Li Yang spoke with caution, as the recent days, have placed him on edge. He could not take it if there were more people wanting to take revenge.

”It's me.” Xue'er replies, her voice is slightly raspy, but her words are coherent.

The wooden plank is lifted. The first thing Li Yang sees is the young girl who seems to have gotten thinner. Her face was paler than any he had seen before. If not for her standing upright with her dark pupils gazing at him, he would have mistaken her for a corpse.

”What happened to you?” He asks worriedly. His first instinct was to examine her, upon pulling on her sleeve, he found linen bandages wrapped around her wrist. The bandages were stained with a slightly red liquid that he was fairly certain that it was a recent wound.

”It's fine.” Xue'er says assuredly, pulling back her hand, and covering up the bandages with her sleeve. Though her words did not seem at all convincing, it did not seem like she would tell him much more.

”Why did you come?” He asked.

”There are soldiers coming to the border town, but that's not why I'm here. I came to tell you that there might be some poisonings mistaken for plague in a small village south of the border town.” Xue'er said weakly.

”And… you want me to go take a look?” Li Yang asks curiously. Strangely enough, she did tell him about soldiers, but what was it about the village stricken with poisoning that was mistaken for the plague.

”It's your choice.” Xue'er said with a shrug. It did not matter to her whether or not he took a look. It did not matter whether the villagers died or not. Some were born with a compassionate heart for all living creatures that could suffer, some were born with one that wanted all living creatures to suffer. While she… she herself did not yet know.

Seeing that she already informed him of the matter, she left for the alleyway house. Though she was quite certain that Ruo Furen's husband did not like her much, she still wanted to warn them. Even if not for their sake, for the sake of that unborn child.

The alleyway was as twisted as always. The maze-like walls covered in heaps of snow. The rickety structures of gray stone that threatened to fall down long ago, still stood erect, and held together, supporting the heavy snow drifting from above.

”Hello?” Xue'er called, knocking on the door.

”Anyone home?” Her call was not answered, so she knocked again. Without an answer, she pushed open the door. The room revealed was empty, showing no signs of anyone living here for a while. In the corner, she heard the squeaks of a small creature. It was a small mouse that was out under the legs of the table but immediately disappeared into a hole in the wall at the sudden noise.

”Ruo Furen…” Xue'er called out again.

No answer.

She checked all the rooms. All the clothes were gone, along with the daily necessities. The door did not show any signs of forced entry, and there was no smell of blood within the empty room.

She came to the conclusion that they had left willingly, Xue'er was quite relieved. It was good that they left, she would not have known how to explain to them that she had seen soldiers who were still hundreds of li away marching towards the border town.

With a basket in hand, she went back to her little cottage to rest.