Chapter 20: Alley
Snake hauled the sack on his right shoulder with one hand, shifting his legs to find his balance before reaching for the second one, trying not to steal glances from Stone who had already loaded three of these flour sacks on his back, barely straining as he waited for him.
That was very kind of him. He could’ve gone for a second round instead of stalling here, which would’ve earned him twice the wage and another set of compliments from Master Li, but instead, he decided that waiting under the bloody sun would be a better idea. Very kind of him indeed, but for some reason Snake felt he was doing it to jab the truth straight into his face.
He was stronger.
Now, strong had been a hard word for him to swallow for the last couple of days. Even Big Brother Lei kept calling Stone a weird name, Hercules, which supposedly was the name of some ancient hero, when they moved the furniture to the house, hardly sparing Snake a glance, and Little Mei already had her cat to keep her busy. Little Ji and others were not even eleven years old, and though Snake had tried, it had been painfully obvious that they didn’t have anything to keep him interested. It was always about the bugs and the birds with those bunch, and when they got bored pointing fingers to the sky, they played with rocks and the few toys Big Brother Lei had bought them.
Snake needed more. Sure, Big Brother Lei had promised to take him to the stall once he found his way around those spiritual ingredients, but Snake couldn’t just sit still and wait for him. That was why after giving Little Ji some bread he decided to go and ask Master Li for some work.
And just when he thought he’d be getting a break from Stone’s so-called heroic strength, the little fool decided to trail him up to Master Li’s bakery and became the good boy right away. He made a habit of flashing that innocent, stupid grin at Master Li whenever he got praised, and at some point, Snake feared he might start licking himself like that black cat.
“Brother Junjie, come on. Master Li said after we carry these sacks he’ll give us those buns! Fresh from the oven, can you believe it?” Stone said, balancing the three sacks on one shoulder, smiling innocently at him.
“I’ll smash that head of yours if you dare to call me Brother Junjie one more time,” Snake said, huffed, and hauled the damned sack on his back, wheezing through his lips as he set his jaw tight. Ignoring Stone’s blank look, he started for Master Li’s bakery.
Used to make the group shake like a rake caught in hard soil with a mere word, yet for the last week, it seemed to him that nobody was taking him that seriously anymore.
Probably because they didn’t need him now.
Big Brother Lei had taken them to his side, and Snake had to say it felt good sleeping under a solid roof after a month out in the ruins. His bed was a treat, too, soft straws poking him playfully whenever he decided to turn on them. It was warm, and there was no wind. They ate three meals every day.
Three meals!
But Snake still remembered the day the cultivators attacked the city. He’d been in his old bed, by the fireplace, and under the blanket. It was warm that day, too, but that didn’t stop the walls from crumbling all around him, screams of agony drilling through his scalp, the wind cutting his skin like sharp knives when he stumbled out into an opening, found himself alone with dozens of pieces scattered about him. Pieces of familiar ones.
His Father had been there. Half his face was missing, below the neck there was nothing but blood and stones. He’d gone smiling in the face of death. It was a sad one, but a smile nonetheless. After Snake’s Mother died his Father never did smile quite as he used to. Never stopped trying, though. Snake knew it was all because of him his Father carried on. Worked the fields, and labored under the bloody sun. Never uttered a word of protest, his old man didn’t.
It was life, Big Brother Lei had told him a week after the attack. Thus Snake learned life could be cruel, confusing, and insidious. It was when you thought everything was good and colorful that it sent you hurtling about into a pit of nothingness. Showed you that there was nothing you could be sure of in this world.
But knowing this, and doing something about it were two completely different things. Even Big Brother Lei tried to send him off to a school. What was a school good for, anyway? To study away from the others, and save himself from this shit hole? To become some high-nosed bastard of an officer to do… what, exactly?
No. What Snake needed was money. If he could earn enough money then he could manage a hold around this fickle thing called life. Could build a high fortress away from these folk, safe and sound in a place nobody knew before. Or he could hire all the cultivators, and order them to kill those bastards who’d butchered his Father.
He winced when his foot caught a stray stone on the ground, wobbled a couple of steps, one sack sliding painfully from his back. Jaw set tight, he hauled it back to its place, refusing to stop as Stone gained yet another pace on him.
Couldn’t carry two sacks on his back, yet he was dreaming of becoming rich.
He clenched his fingers as they rounded a corner, and lumbered through the masses, into another square. He clenched the sacks hard, but he wanted to do more, to tear them apart and splash all the flour across the square.
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“A five copper cash coin!” Stone said, eyes sparkling as he raised the copper coin high into the air, smiling ear to ear without a care in the world.
He’d been the first one to get to Master Li’s bakery and got a pat on the head while Snake was busy finding his breath at the back.
No doubt Stone found some joy in it, but then, this city was full of joy and laughter for any fool in it. Snake would’ve liked some of that joy too, as he was finding it hard to smile at a mere five copper cash coin. If it were gold, that could’ve cracked his expression a little, but five coppers were as good as pebbles on the ground.
At least Master Li promised he’d give them more work tomorrow. That was a good thing. Rather than sleeping on the bed, or out strolling the streets, they’d be hauling sacks and earning coppers.
“Let’s go buy candies from Old Han, Brother Snake!” Stone said as they strolled through an alley, past afternoon sunlight bouncing off of the walls. “I’ve heard the—“
“Listen,” Snake said, one hand raised high, the other clenched tight around the coin. “You can do whatever you want with your own money, but don’t try to tempt me into spending my own. I need more for my plans. Need a whole lot more.”
“Plans?” Stone cocked an eyebrow at him. “What plans?”
“Grand plans,” Snake said as a matter-of-factly. “To save us from this shit hole. But I’m becoming less and less sure that if you’re worth saving, little rock. You don’t seem to have any troubles now, do you? Not like you’d begged me to sleep beside me the last week after that thugs attacked us, right?”
“I didn’t beg you!” Stone stopped, and stared him down, his cheeks flushed with anger. “You were scared, so I didn’t want you to feel lonely. You always do this… Act like you’re our Father. You know we have Big Brother Lei now, don’t you?”
Snake felt heat rush into his head. He raised a trembling finger into his face. “That’s your plan? Rely on Big Brother Lei? To make him babysit you like you’re a three-year-old brat who can’t stay away from his Mother? Hasn’t he done enough for us already?”
“I…” Stone gulped nervously under his gaze. “I didn’t think about that—“
“That’s the thing, Stone. You never think! You and others are all the same! You keep waiting for something to happen, someone to save you from your troubles, but you don’t do anything!”
“B-but what can we do?” Stone averted his gaze.
“Perhaps stop thinking about candies and start paying attention to your strength. You’re stronger than me, right? Then do something with it! If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t even have taken Master Li’s work.”
Snake held his gaze for a second longer, hoping to see something in those eyes, but Stone’s blank face left him disappointed, as always. Sighing tiredly, he turned and bounded off to a narrow alley, trying not to grind his teeth into fine dust.
Perhaps he was being too harsh on him. Perhaps Stone was right.
You can’t trust the possibilities.
That was a hard lesson learned, and he was intent on remembering it.
The alley was long and the shutters of the houses were all closed, leaving a single way for the wind. It was a much-needed break from the bustle of the city and the lights of the bloody sun. The heat often reminded him of the times he’d worked with his Father on the farm, sweating under the open skies with a little smile on his face. Honest work, his Father used to tell him. Earth never did betray the ones who cared for it.
They’d taken those farms now, and given them to others already. Said Jiangzhen couldn’t afford those precious fields left unattended. For a second he thought if should he try his chances at them. He certainly knew the work.
It’s too hot, and the pay is not that good.
That made sense. Nothing was left to make the labor worthy enough to handle the season. It could get lonely there, and he just might never come back.
The wind whistled past his ears as another set of steps sounded close. Snake didn’t look back. The fool of a rock was trailing him. Not a surprise, as he never quite knew what to do on his own. Always been a tail, that fool.
“Boss, you have to do something or they’re going to hang him!”
Snake was preparing himself to scold him once more when he heard a muffled voice to the front, coming just round the fork right up on the alley. It was a man’s voice, hard and angry, but suppressed as if he’d clamped a hand over on his mouth.
“Brother Snake, why do you—“
“Shut your mouth.” Snake snapped his head at Stone, reached forward and yanked him by the arm, raised a finger into his face. “There’s someone there.”
Stone nodded obediently, easing behind his back as they inched closer to the fork. There was no one else here. Only stones and wood, and the wind whispering into their ears.
“Keep talking, and I cut your throat,” said another voice. This one was rough on Snake’s ears, older and slightly furious. “Think yourself too clever, eh? Think you’ve figured it all? You were going to take those children to the Master, and get yourself a pat on the back, is it? A Root Growing Pill, maybe? Or perhaps you thought he would make you his aide?”
“Boss, you know I’m not a fool. We were just there for the money, but when I saw the kids…” said the first one.
“What, you thought it’d be a good idea to steal a bunch of children when we have a damned Auditor of the Emperor’s Own right inside the Governor’s place? You thought we told all the cultivators to stay away from the city just for the sake of it? And you’re telling me you’re not a fool, eh?”
“I…”
“Not to mention you got handled by a bunch of cooks. Haven’t I told you already? What’s a thousand coppers when you’ll going to get a damned sack of imperial gold soon? But I should’ve known better… Dealing with the locals, in this fucking backwater of a town, I’m the fool here! And they call this a city! A city, can you believe it?”
“But Boss…”
“Get the hell out of my face, or you can’t blame me for shutting that mouth of yours. I’ve got more important things in my hand to give a shit about a bunch of peasants. Serves you right they’re hanging your boy. A shame they didn’t do us the favor and cut your head as well!”
Snake was about to crane his head around to fork to glance at the two men when Stone poked his shoulder and tried pulling him back.
He slapped Stone’s hand away, peering silently from beside the hard wall. He saw them there, before a wooden door, and instantly recognized that face. It was the thug from the last week, bushy eyebrows twisted with a mean scowl. He was looking down at the older man, back stooped and his face a map of wrinkles, but fear glinted in his eyes as he took a step back.
“Take this and find yourself a hole to hide in for a couple of days,” the old man said, reaching with his right hand to the man, metal glinting between his fingers. A golden locket. “I have it on good authority that the Auditor will be gone in about a week. I’ll send you a message when it's time.”
“But my boys—“
“Silence,” the old man said and turned before vanishing into the wooden door, leaving the thug stiff like a wooden pole.
Snake backed away, heart pounding in his chest. His mind was full of the smell of the day those thugs attacked them. Soil and blood, the crunch of the broken bones. He glanced at Stone and nodded. They must tell Big Brother Lei about this.
…..