Three Months Later
Three months had passed in a blink of an eye and Xing was still months away from his destination. The road to Sichuan was perilous, daunting, and most of all frustrating, especially for a man who recently gave up wine.
At nights, he’d shivered himself to sleep, craving that sweet succulent taste. Only to wake from a crying child. He’d even downed a few gulps of her goat milk to help with his fixation.
It helped, somewhat, but not in the way he had hoped. But it was good enough.
In the three months that passed the child even began trying to mimic him by standing on her two feet, only to fall after a few seconds. That, filled Xing with joy watching her try to stand.
It even replaced the brutal fixation of wine on occasion, that simple feeling of joy.
The next problem Xing had was simple. He couldn’t figure out what to name her. The child was as sweet as they came, but giving her a name that could match how she was disheartening for Xing.
Each time a name came to him, it fizzled away like dust because it wasn’t something he could see himself calling her.
“I’m sorry Little one,” Xing said, watching her play with the figurine Susu had bought her back in the Yellow Orchid village. “Once I find a pretty name, I’ll give you one, alright?”
The child looked up, eyes sparkling in the sun’s light. She tilted her head as if she understood, smiled and went back to playing with the figurine.
Once the child tired herself out, Xing snatched her off the ground and continued making his way to Shaanxi, A city that bordered the Sichuan province.
As the leaves ruffled and the grass swished with each passing day. Xing finally made his way through the forest that led to Shaanxi.
Sunlight pierced a tree branch, hitting Xing in the eye, making him squint. He stubbed his toe against a stone and grumbled for five minutes, as the pain slowly wallowed away.
He looked down at the child in his arms, and thankfully she was still asleep. As he was running low on milk, he couldn’t afford for her to wake, because whenever she woke, she would guzzle an entire bottle, as if she hadn’t been fed earlier.
The scent of smoke, moisture and people began to resonate in Xing’s nose. He kicked off the ground, sending a smidgen of Qi into his feet using his Qinggong and soared through the surrounding threes.
Once he reached the top of the highest tree in the surroundings, he turned west and saw the city he’d been heading to in the long distance.
Shaanxi had hundreds, if not thousands of chimneys, trailing smoke in the air. The entire city was surrounded by four walls, and each wall had a line of people trying their best to enter.
Shaanxi was the bridge between the East and the West of Huaxia. All trade that took place went from the West passed through Shaanxi, and headed East, North and South.
It was a pillar of commerce for the West, despite just bordering the province itself.
Xing squinted his eyes, looking beyond Shaanxi and noticing how dark it was beyond the city. “I can’t see Mount Heitor,” he said aloud.
Usually, from this distance seeing Mountain Heitor would be a sight to behold, but now, with thick grey misted clouds stirring the mountain wasn’t visible to the naked eye. “Hells fury it, it’s going to rain,” Xing said.
Xing leapt off the tree and began skipping from tree to tree and he sped his way towards Shaanxi. The surrounding area began to feel humid, the closer he got as the sun slowly retreated.
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He hopped off the tree top, skidding on the ground as he did so, and running along a small path he’d spied earlier.
Within fifteen minutes he was already at the southern gate, joining the line of people were huddled together, awaiting their turn to enter the city.
The southern guards wore red and black, which made them menacing, not to Xing of course, but peasants. The spears in their hands gleamed, despite the lack of sun.
The guards paced back and forth eyeing anyone who they would deem suspicious, and pulling someone free for a separate search, only to toss them back in the line if they didn’t find anything satisfactory to lift. “Elder,” Xing said, turning to the old man who was sitting on his cart.
His eyes were haggard, and his expression was dull as if he too was bored of waiting. The freight line was a lot shorter than Xing’s. “Do the lines usually take this long to move?”
“Sadly, especially when it rains.” The old man said softly. “Why don’t you use the child to skip the line?”
“Oh…I didn’t know that was possible” Xing said, feeling elated. Having a child does bring benefits!
Xing looked to his right, noticing wheat bags at the back of his cart. “Elder, it wouldn’t be too much trouble for us to go in together, would it?”
“No! It wouldn’t” The old man said, wrinkles squeezing together as he smiled.
“Good!”
Xing hopped onto the cart, resting in the back with the wheat and nestled the child in his hand.
The old man flicked the reigns, staring the horses to the right and felt as the road went from soft soil to cobblestones as they approached the gates to everyone’s err.
“WWOOO!” A guard shouted, raising his spear, blocking the old man’s path. Another guard joined him, and then another. The old man tugged on the reigns hauling the horse in, which made the horse slow to a trail. “You’re skipping the line, old man!” The Guard shouted
“I’m not Sir.” The old man said, moving his conical hat for the guard to see his face. “I and my son are heading into the city, but the rains falling too hard, I’m afraid my granddaughter will catch a cold.”
Xing came from the back of the cart, stepping on the bag of flour, pulling the veil back and giving the guard a curt nod.
“What’s your business here?” He then asked. The old man pulled out a silver badge, showing the guard. “Delivering Flour to Lord Cao Jian!”
The guard walked up, inspecting the badge and backed off, he turned to the right, “LET ‘EM THROUGH!” He shouted. “Thank you, sir.” The old man said with a nod, then slipped his badge back into his pocket.
He rolled the reigns and the horse began clopping his way into the city, passing them under guard.
The old man took Xing through the city with subtle haste. The streets were still crowded despite the rain, but everyone was hustling their way into taverns, huts and brothels alike.
Xing was thankful to the old man, he at least didn’t ask any questions and made it easy for him to into the city. He didn’t want any trouble, but it bothered him that he assumed the child was a girl, which was the right guess.
The few lanterns that littered the streets drew Xing’s attention. It wasn’t that the flames were bright, but they provided a sense of light, something he hoped to emulate for the child.
The child sat in his hands, and that was enough for Xing to feel good. The rain calms her down. He thought, but too much rain is never a good thing.
“She’s not your daughter, isn’t she?” The old man asked finally, rounding a corner.
“She is!” Xing said, beaming with pride.
“Aiya.”
The old man carried the cart through a few more turns, then paused by an Alley that had two barrels nestled outside. “Alright…I think this is far enough. I don’t believe the guards will trouble you.”
“Thank you, Elder!” Xing said, pulling a few copper coins from his purse. The old man raised his hand and shook his head. “I don’t need the stones lad, but the sentiment is appreciated. Shelter your daughter and keep her warm, I know what it’s like to travel with a child so young. Be safe and keep her well-fed on Bodhidharma light!”
“Thank You,” Xing said. Then scampered off under a small lodging with enough room to cover him and the child.
He stood there for a long while, hoping the rain would ease up, but that didn’t seem like it was happening. After a half-hour agitation rose, and with the rain falling like this he knew he had to find lodging early and fast or all the taverns and inns would’ve been.
Xing, turned right, leaving the two barrels in his way, passing through a crowd of people. He made a left, then a hard right, ducking under an umbrella stall. He spun, tilting back and skipped over the crowd, spraying water across the streets drawing everyone’s err. “PISSED MARTIAL ARTISTS PISSING WATER ON US AS IF WE WERE MUCKS!” A woman cursed.
“APOLOGIES” He countered, sailing towards the roof. Xing skipped off the roof, finding himself on another street. One that wasn’t frequented by many people and sailed down to the ground, barely missing a woman.
The startled crowd hurled a few more curses at him and he ignored them, bowing and smiling broadly letting the rain pound on his head.
Xing mentally committed himself to finding a tavern or inn, at least with lodgings for him to use as the rain, clearly wasn’t letting up, especially with the water rising and spluttering each passing second.
He stood in the middle of the street watching the beaming red lanterns of the tavern. It sang to his heart’s content. There was no other inn or tavern in sight. It didn’t help with two slender beauties standing at the door ushering patrons in with their beauty. Not, like that was enough to draw him in.
He nudged the child in his arms and gave a wry wink. “Can’t hurt can it?”