Chapter 11 Down the Mountain
I woke up hungry the next day.
Sunlight already poured through the window lattice, bright and glaring. The space beside me was empty and cold.
I got up and found the new quilt covering me.
Rubbing my eyes, I walked out of the meditation room. The courtyard was empty. Steamed buns and porridge waited on the stone table as usual, but this time a small dish of pickled vegetables sat beside them.
Progress.
While I chewed the bun, he returned from outside the courtyard carrying a small cloth bag.
"Eat," he said, placing it in front of me.
I opened it. Several bright red fruits lay inside. They looked like hawthorns but carried a fresh sweet scent.
"What are these?"
"Wild fruits," he sat across from me and picked up a bun. "Picked from the back mountain. Non-toxic."
I wiped one and took a bite. The flesh was crisp, the juice sweet and sour. There was almost no spiritual energy, but the taste was good.
I looked at him. He drank his porridge with a calm side profile.
"Not bad," I said. That strange feeling rose in my chest again.
When he chased me, he nearly beat me to death. Now he picked wild fruit for me? Was Master split in two?
After the meal, he carried me to the cushion for morning lessons as usual.
The wooden fish sounded. Low chants filled the air.
I behaved today and sat quietly. The warm sunlight made me lazy. I sneaked glances at him. His eyes were closed, his chanting voice steady and deep, as if the one who kissed my nape last night had been someone else.
Tsk. He was acting perfectly.
When the lesson ended, he set down the wooden fish and looked at me.
"Today, you will come down the mountain with me."
"Down the mountain?" I was surprised. "Aren't you afraid I'll run?"
His gaze swept over me lightly. "You can try."
Another threat.
Yet my heart fluttered with excitement.
Staying trapped in this small courtyard was unbearably boring.
He brought me that ugly duckbill cap again and made me wear it to hide my face.
The town at the foot of the mountain was not far. The market buzzed with life.
Mortal smoke and fire rushed over me. Hawkers shouted, people bargained, and the smell of fried dough sticks drifted far.
I took a deep breath, feeling strangely new.
For eight hundred years I had mostly hidden and fled. I rarely got to stroll like this.
Fa Hai walked beside me. His aura still clashed with the surroundings, but he had reined in his killing intent. His eyes, however, remained alert, especially toward anyone who came near me.
He bought rice, flour, and vegetables that kept well.
I stared longingly at the bright red candied haws on a nearby stall.
He followed my gaze and frowned.
"Children's snacks," he judged.
"I want some," I said.
He glared.
I glared back.
In the end, he walked over with a dark face, tossed down coins, grabbed the largest skewer, and shoved it into my hand.
"Eat quickly." His tone was stiff, like he was completing a humiliating mission.
I bit into the sweet, sour, crispy shell, and joy bloomed inside me.
So this trick worked.
At a stall selling trinkets, I picked up a woven straw grasshopper. It looked lifelike.
"Does it look good?" I asked him.
He glanced over. "Playthings weaken the will."
I pouted and put it down.
A few steps later, I noticed he had fallen behind.
When I turned, he was standing at the stall, paying for the grasshopper.
I stared.
He walked over, stuffed the straw grasshopper into my hand without expression, and continued forward.
I looked at the crude green insect in my palm, then at his seemingly calm but slightly stiff back. The corner of my mouth lifted.
Damn monk.
On the way back we passed a lotus pond.
Midsummer lotuses had bloomed heavily. A breeze sent them swaying, their fragrance filling the air.
I stopped to look longer.
He walked ahead but also stopped.
He did not turn around. He simply waited.
The setting sun gilded his tall figure in gold. He looked upright yet strangely lonely.
I hurried forward, raised the straw grasshopper in front of his eyes, and waved it.
"Hey, Fa Hai."
"Hmm."
"Is this a token of affection?"
His footsteps halted abruptly. His whole body stiffened.
His earlobes turned red at a visible speed.
He whipped around and glared at me like a provoked beast. "Nonsense! Absurd!"
I burst out laughing, holding the candied haws and grasshopper as I ran ahead.
He followed with slightly messy steps. His scolding scattered in the wind.
"Qing She! Don't be impudent!"