***** Vol.2 Chap.55 Arriving at the village *****

It was completely dark when May-Ling finally made it to the village. The villagers were appalled that a visitor had come. They were not used to having visitors. The only ones that came to visit them were the gangsters and they come only once a week. Since they came two days ago, the villagers were not expecting anyone at all.

When she showed up hungry, dirty, with torn clothes and disheveled hair, the villagers were shocked. The men were amazed that it was a woman who made it to their village. They have never seen any woman outside their tribes.

Immediately, the women took her in. They cleaned her up and boiled water for her to take a hot sponge bath. Then they took clean clothing for her to wear. After the bath, she felt so much better. They also warmed up some mantou and pickled vegetables for her. She gulped down the food in between thanks and expressions of appreciation. She was amazed at the hospitality the villagers displayed to a total stranger.

Throughout the whole time, she hideously looked for acts of violence among the villagers and at the end convinced herself that no one had any violent tendencies here. She had not heard a single cross word between spouses and saw no aggressive behavior between siblings. She detected no trace of disagreements with the residents at all.

She was totally convinced that this had to be the legendary village she and her father were looking for.

After eating, they told her that their leader would like to have a cup of tea with her. She was more than happy to meet the leader. She followed the women to a large building. A crowd had gathered there. She had the impression that the entire village was out to meet this unexpected stranger and to hear the story of this stranger.

In the middle of the hall was a circle of five men sitting on the floor. She presumed they must be the elders of the village and one of them must be the leader. The rest of the villagers were squatting behind the elders.

When she appeared, the elders stood up and motioned for her to come. She detected no ill feelings from the crowd, only curiosity. So, she boldly walked to the center of the circle. The elders shifted themselves to make room for her. They motioned for her to sit down. Obediently she sat down as the elders themselves also followed suit. One elder turned around and made a sign. Immediately, tea was brought to the elders and the honored ‘guest.’

Following the custom, one elder picked up the teacup and raised the cup towards her. She, in turn, also took the cup and raised the cup to the leading elder and to each of the other elders. On an impulse, she also raised the cup to the rest of the residents, who gave her an approving nod. Then they all took a small sip.

The tea was refreshing. While she was not a connoisseur in tea, having been raised in a medical clinic, she knew a little about herbs. She could tell immediately that this tea was different. She never had any tea that was so refreshing and so strengthening. The tea tasted more than ordinary tea. She was sure that there were additional ingredients added to it. In fact, she was sure that this tea was better than any herb tea available on the market. She had not come across this blend before.

Sensing her curiosity, the chief elder spoke to her, “This is a special local blend of tea that is not available anywhere in this world.”

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“I have had nothing like this before. This is very refreshing, very calming, very soothing, very empowering, very invigorating…” She could have gone on and on about tea.

“Yes, we all have grown accustomed to this tea, and we all enjoyed drinking this tea.”

She took another sip of the tea. As the liquid flowed down, the tea soothed her tired body. She felt not only refreshed but also pacified from within. For a moment, she felt so much at home and in harmony.

She felt reconciled with herself, the guilt and shame departing out of her. She forgave herself for the passing of her husband, forgave her parents for not being able to take care of her at such a young age, forgave even the entire world, though there were so many criminals and so much violence still existed.

Totally at peace, within and without, she was in complete harmony with the entire universe.

She seemed to recall similar taste with the tea that Ah-Ming brewed, but this was infinitely better in taste and in quality. The earlier was much diluted. The present one was quite potent.

“Who are you?” The chief elder finally asked.

“My name is May-Ling Chen and I am a medical doctor in the town of Xilon, a village at the foot of the mountain.”

“How did you happen to come to us?”

She was so absorbed in herself that it took her quite a while to realize that she was still in the hall sitting with the elders of the village, surrounded by the villagers. She looked around and then recount her story slowly.

“My father was also a medical doctor and an herbalist practicing in Xilon. He knew about this legendary village and had spent his whole life documenting about this village. When he died, he charged me to continue his work. I am a medical doctor specializing in acupuncture. My purpose is to develop new acupuncture techniques to pacify violent patients. While I have discovered a temporary cure to decrease violence tendencies in some of my patients, unfortunately the treatment is only temporary, lasting but one week. Because of a tragic accident, my husband had recently passed away. Before I settled down to continue my work as a doctor at the local hospital, I wanted to carry out my father’s wish and sought out this village so that I could better understand why there was no violence in this village.”

“I studied my father’s records and guessed the rough location of this village. After more study, I have determined that this village should lay in this mountain range. I went up the mountain with ample food supplies in search of you. Unfortunately, I could not evade the gangsters and was captured by them. But it turned out that one of the men was my former patient and he helped me escape. This was how I could come to your village. I have no intention of disturbing your living. My only intention was to study your diet and discover why there was no violence among you. I would like to take this discovery to heal many more patients in this world.”

She stopped to take another sip of the tea.

“That may be difficult. The only way out of this village is to go through the gangsters’ den again. You have escaped once; they will not be so kind to you anymore. You will be killed on sight if they catch you the second time.”

“Then I just have to evade them or return in another way.”

“There is no other way to go down the mountain except through their den. If they know you are here, they will come and kill every one of us. You have put us in a hard situation.”

“I do not want to trouble you at all. Perhaps I will stay outside the town.”

“You do not understand. They will come and torture each one of us until one of us gives you away.”

The elders huddled together and discussed among themselves while she took another sip of the tea.

“May-Ling, we have decided to do the following. Tonight, you must be tired. Be our guest tonight and enjoy our hospitality. But tomorrow, one of our guides will help you find your way back to the gangsters’ den. You must go back voluntarily. Our guide will intercede for you and plead your case with the Boss. We will ask for the Boss’ permission for you to stay with us, if possible. But tonight, please be our guest.”

The deliberation was over. Her fate had been sealed.

The chief elder stood up, along with the rest of the elders. She also stood up instinctively.

“Tonight, please feel free to mingle with our people. You can stay with Ah-Tong and his family. Good night.”

“Good night and thank you.” She bowed.

Somehow, she had the feeling that she was the condemned prisoner on death row given the last meal.

So close, yet so far.

That was her last thought.