Wei woke trembling, frozen to the bone.
His body felt like a stone submerged in icy water—
rigid, unbearably heavy.
He had no sense of how long he had been unconscious. All he knew was that consciousness had been ripped back into him by a single, shivering instant.
The morning wind in the valley crept like a silent predator, slinking through the rocks and reeds, devouring everything stiff and unmoving.
Wei's mind was blank.
For a long while, he could not even answer the questions, Who am I? Where am I?
As the events of the previous night slowly surfaced, a new thought sharpened his focus: where would his father go? Where would Chun go?
He tried to pat his own face,there was no hand. Not even the faintest sensation of fingers.
In front of him, the stone wall loomed black and impassive. The grass rope around his chest had somehow been torn.
That tiny spark of will to survive flickered like a firefly in the wind. sometimes bright, sometimes dim.
He closed his eyes. Perhaps dying like this would not be so bad.
He did not know how long he lingered in that suspended thought before warmth brushed against his skin.
Chun's face pressed gently against his, rubbing slowly as if kneading his frozen muscles back to life.
Then, a sudden wet warmth brushed his lips.
Soft, warm and real.
Wei felt as though he were still dreaming.
The"first kiss" was shockingly vivid, tinged with a faint, metallic tang.
And then… Chun lost her restraint.
The wet brush of her tongue traced his face—nose, lips, chin—coating him with a slick layer of saliva.
There was something primal in her love-
hot, immediate, almost animal.
The young boy jolted awake.
A pair of wide, round, horizontal pupils stared at him. The furry face belonged to a wild goat, its whiskers trembling.
The startled animal kicked up dust and bolted into the grass, vanishing in seconds.
Wei lay there, face still damp with what remained of that"springtime" warmth.
He moved his stiff limbs and felt a sharp pain in his chest. Instinctively, he looked down—and froze.
The short arrow, once lodged deep in his rib, was gone.
The pain… real. A proof he was alive.
But the arrow...who had pulled it out?
He saw dust kick up from the goat's hooves, yet he still heard nothing.
He leaned against the rock and crawled forward, fingers numb, nails packed with dirt and yellowed grass. Stones dug into his back, blood seeping anew.
He did not stop. Each movement tore through his chest, yet he forced himself to stand.
He needed answers. Confirmation. Confirmation that his parents were alive. That Chun was alive. That was all his mind could hold.
Dragging his stone-like body toward the cliff top, the short distance stretched into a lifetime, each step grinding his bones raw.
At last, he reached the cliff edge. Silence. The traces of the past had been erased by wind and rain. Only the wild grass swayed in the breeze.
Panting, he spotted a knotted stalk of grass.
Odd.
He squatted and followed it with his eyes. Behind a tree stump, the bark was peeled back, revealing faint markings.
Two characters scratched backward with a fingernail:"Two-dragon"
It was incomplete, as if interrupted mid-stroke.
Wei's mind raced: it must be Chun's secret mark.
Two-dragon… the only nearby place was Two-dragon Mountain...the bandit's lair.
Chun was there.
He clenched his fists. His heartbeat tightened like a drawn bowstring. An icy urgency crawled up his spine.
Wei's gaze flicked between the cliff edge and the carved bark. Fingers tapped his knees, calculating.
He whispered, throat tight:"Chun… could she have been captured?"
He looked toward the distant mountains. The winding path below was blood-red in the evening glow, pressing down on his chest like a heavy stone.
He bit his lip, brushing his fingers through the grass, wanting to rush, yet unable to take the first step.
The sun was already tilting west. He crouched, gripping his clothing, toes sliding silently over the ground.
Finally, he drew a deep breath, relaxing his fingers, and slowly stood. Eyes fixed on the"Two-dragon" carving, silently telling himself: everything must be planned. Every move calculated.
He had to return to the village first, regain his strength, eat something, before venturing to Two-dragon Mountain.
At the village entrance, blackened beams lay crooked, roofs collapsed, ash scattered on the ground.
Wind stirred the dust.
No one. No living thing.
His boots crunched on cold ashes.
Dark brown streaks marked the ground—dried blood.
He froze on a figure toppled to the side: the man who had kept watch at the mountain entrance. He remembered the man's boozy laugh.
Now, gray-faced, mouth half-open, as if he had not finished a single word.
Wei's gaze slid slowly downward, then quickly away. He lowered his head, nails digging into his palms.
"I… can't even look…"
The words were caught in his throat, only he heard them.
He remembered Chun laughing on the hillside. His father's back. His mother whispering at night.
Memories surged...then were crushed again by the stench before him.
"Who else can I protect…"
A heavy pain pressed against his chest.
He staggered to his feet, paused, then dragged himself from house to house.
At first, he observed from a distance. Didn't approach.
Familiar faces multiplied, recognizable braids, clothing…
He edged closer, squatted.
No Chun. No father. No mother.
But those faces...he knew all their names.
Eyes stung, yet little tears came. His body felt dried up.
He had no strength to dig graves. The soil was too hard.
He clawed twice at the earth; nails ripped, blood oozed.
He stopped, staring at his shaking hands, hating his helplessness.
Finally, he gathered a bundle of dried grass from a feed pile.
As he turned to leave, a huge black iron arrowhead clattered to the ground. He didn't look back, mistaking it for a stone.
He covered each face with the dry grass, not daring a second glance.
After the last, he stood still for a long while.
The wind lifted the grass, shifting like someone moving beneath it.
He turned his gaze away.
He would not look again.
The sun was nearly down. He had to find a place to spend the night.
Instinct pulled him toward home.