Song Jie looked towards the path in front of them. It was narrow and curved almost violently down towards a thin stretch of dark river. It had taken them longer to reach the waterways than Ren Nuan had predicted. Song Jie had insisted that her blisters had healed, but Ren Yu had kept glancing at the blood stains on her slippers and demanding they stop for rests. Every time they did he would stand alert, keeping look out as if he expected the black armoured men to appear at any moment.
Every so often Song Jie glanced sharply behind her, thinking she had heard something, footsteps perhaps. There was never anything there, she had even gone back on one occasion to check for signs of broken twigs or marks on the ground not made by her or Ren Yu, but again, there was nothing. Even so, Song Jie could not shake the feeling of being followed. She knew when she was being watched, she had often felt Auntie's eyes burning into the back of her head, following her around the room.
It was almost midnight by the time they had reached the province of the River People. Ren Yu unfurled Ren Nuan's map and pointed to one of the black ink veins twisting and turning across the page.
"We have to take this one to reach the town," Ren Yu stated, "only problem is, I don't see a path beside it. I wonder how Auntie's husband did it?"
They continued walking as best as they could until the slope became too steep and they slipped and scrabbled on the grit. Song Jie ended up edging her way down gingerly, clinging to protruding branches when she could. It was not an inviting road and made Song Jie wonder how much more uncomfortable the alternative route out of Gowla must be for Ren Nuan’s husband to have preferred this gauntlet in old age.
Suddenly, Ren Yu clutched at her sleeve, Song Jie assumed he must have lost his balance so she offered both arms to steady him, but he was staring at something up ahead. "What is it?" She asked quietly, she had not heard anything approaching.
"I can see smoke, a thin trail of it going up into the sky from over there," Ren Yu replied, motioning down the path to where the river had been visible further up the hill.
"Is somewhere else being burned?" asked Song Jie, thinking of Father and Hu Chao's ominous conversation.
"No, it’s not that much smoke," replied Ren Yu, releasing her sleeve. "It looks like it's from a campfire - could be travelers. We should be quiet though, it's best as few people as possible see us come this way."
Song Jie craned her neck and spotted the smoke he was talking about rising from behind a line of great fir trees, it was shimmering in the light of the full moon. "It's green!" she whispered in surprise. "What could they be burning?"
"Let's not find out, come on, we should try to get to the River People," Ren Yu whispered as he began to slide down the slope again. The amount of grit and stones they dislodged made Song Jie sure that whoever was responsible for the smoke must be able to hear them coming, but she said nothing and followed Ren Yu down. The path began to level out again at the bottom of the track but it also became damp and in places quite boggy.
Ren Yu went ahead to test the ground and from time to time his boot was sucked down by the mud. Eventually they decided to follow from the forest beside. There, the towering firs created springy pine-needled earth. Song Jie could now smell something new, a fresh herby smell unlike the rotting damp of the trees. She looked around to find the source and saw the same green smoke wafting through the trees. "Look!" she gestured to Ren Yu to stop. Ren Yu, however, was already striding towards the smoke, he turned to look back at her.
"It’s this is the way to the river," he stated.
"But there's people there!" Song Jie replied anxiously, the last thing they needed so early on into the journey was trouble.
"I know," Ren Yu grinned, "I can hear them now, but I think I've realised who they are. It's on the map."
Song Jie ran to catch up with him and they walked through the last of the pine trees, emerging onto a wide mossy bank. The river gurgled and frothed in front of them, rushing past around a large boulder. The smoke was coming from behind it, so were the voices. Song Jie edged around with her back to the stone. Behind the boulder was a small wooden boat, pulled up on to the shore, the oars were stacked neatly against a tree trunk and three small figures in yellow cloaks were sat beside it talking. The source of the smoke was a small fire contained in a black iron pot at the back of the vessel.
"River People," Ren Yu said excitedly beside her. "Look,"
He passed the map; it was folded so that only a small square was visible. It showed a section of the waterways further to the north but beside the thick black lines were tiny painted illustrations of boats that Song Jie had not noticed before. Emanating from them was drawn thin trails of smoke which curled into a label; 'River People, Hogo Grounds'.
Suddenly a gust of wind came wrapping around the rock and took the map from Song Jie's hand, in that moment the figure in the yellow cloak nearest her dropped what he was holding and looked up. He had the face of a young man with dark hair but with even darker eyes, to the point that they were almost black. The other figures looked up too and Song Jie could see that they had similar features.
"Who are you?" A voice came from behind them and Ren Yu and Song Jie whirled round. There was a fourth figure standing there, his yellow hood was down and in his hand was a small keris blade, its wavy metal glinting under the moon. "Answer me," he spoke louder this time and the people by the boat stood up too.
"We are friends of Ren Yong of Gowla," Ren Yu replied, he spoke softly but his voice sounded firm.
"I know no Ren Yong of Gowla," hissed the man. He had wide, coarse features and like his companions his skin was far darker than that of Song Jie's or Ren Yu's.
"He was a peddler," Ren Yu said, his voice slightly less confident this time. "He used to travel through here on his way from the town of Gowla, in the high mountains."
"I know no Ren Yong," the man said again and walked toward them. Song Jie shivered at the sight of the knife but instead the man swept right by them and motioned to his stationary companions. They immediately began collecting belongings and readying the boat. Realising they intended to leave, Song Jie called out, "Wait! Please wait!" The River People did not stop, instead they seemed to hurry further.
Ren Yu strode determinedly towards them, "He was a peddler. I know he came via this route, he used to sell dried herbs and coloured threads and..."
"Herb seller?" One of the cloaked figures stopped and turned around to face them. "What did he look like?"
Ren Yu scrunched up his eyes, "I...I never saw him, he died before I was taken in by his wife Ren Nuan. She told me he was short and fair and had scarred arms from a wild dog when he was a boy."
"Scarred arms?" The figure turned back to the others. "Hu Fang, it's that herb seller, you know him, years back, I was only young when he used to come but my mother used to buy her hogo herbs off him. Said she can't get as fragrant ones now."
The man with the keris knife stopped untying the ropes on the boat and walked over slowly, "That's a long way back, how can I remember his name?"
"It was Ren Yong! Ren Yong of Gowla," pleaded Ren Yu, seeing his chance to convince them. "He left us a map showing how to get here." Song Jie rushed forward and picked up the map, flapping on the pebbled shore, proffering it to them.
"And why, exactly," began the man called Hu Fang, eyeing the map. "Did you want to get to us? I don't see any herbs on you, unless she's got them stashed away in all those robes of hers."
He motioned to Song Jie who stepped back nervously.
"We have no herbs, I'm sorry, we have very little,” Ren Yu replied. “We are not here for trade, we are just trying to reach a town to find shelter and passage."
The man raised his dark eyebrows, "Trouble?"
Ren Yu began to answer, shaking his head but Song Jie cut across him before he could speak, "Yes," she announced solemnly. All faces were turned towards her now. "Large evil men on giant horses with flame are chasing us because my Father wants me dead."
Ren Yu's face went white as he slowly began to reach for her hand to run. The men looked at each other blankly and then erupted into booming peals of laughter. It was high-pitched and sounded almost like shrieking, Ren Yu flinched but Song Jie stayed very still.
"So you're a couple of young lovers on the run are you? Family doesn't approve of him?" The man pointed at Ren Yu whose mouth fell open. "I suppose if you're friends of the herb seller we'll give you passage to our town, we never did get such fine herbs again." He gestured at them to climb in the boat. Song Jie hastened forward looking back at Ren Yu with a faint smile.
As they pushed off from the bank, Song Jie scanned the dark trees for signs of someone stalking them, the presence she had sensed on the path, but there was no movement, save for the rooks swooping down to the earth to scour for insects
The boat itself was almost round in shape and made out of wood panels. Song Jie sat beside the iron pot still bellowing out green fragrant smoke. "What are you burning?" she asked the young man she had first seen.
"Hogo herbs,” he replied, far more friendly now. “They ward off evil."
"Is there evil here?" asked Ren Yu eyeing the dark banks.
"There's evil everywhere brother," the man replied with faint smile.
Ren Yu glanced up at the address; it would have reminded him of the monks, had the River Person not used a different word to the brethren, it was a more casual, familiar term, normally reserved for family alone.
"Sister you can come away from the smoke if the smell displeases you," The man motioned to Song Jie who nodded.
"Thank you,” she replied, “but I like it, it smells safe."
"As you please,” the man shrugged, “my name is Guo An, the master of this boat is Hu Fang who you've already met, and this is He Chin and Lim Guiying." The young man gestured to his companions who pulled down their yellow hoods. To Song Jie's surprise she had not noticed that one of the boat party was a woman, who now revealed ringlets of dark brown hair down to her shoulders. The other was an older man, his skin weathered by the water and the sun; it resembled the stained wood of the boat. Song Jie and Ren Yu bowed but did not offer their names in return.
"Will you tell me about the River People?" asked Song Jie after a period of silence, her curiosity was rising once more and all the fear and horror of the night before seemed far away. She felt as if she was in the carriage again before Hu Chao had seen her mark, watching the world beyond the Concubine Houses reveal itself to her. She had never seen a proper river either, it was fascinating. The murky fast-flowing water seemed so different to the crystal clear pools she was used to.
In the Houses nothing seemed to be in a hurry, she had never seen such strength or speed and it reminded her of the horses pulling Father's carriage as they foamed at the bit.
"What would you like to know?" replied Guo An. "We don't have many dealings with strangers such as yourself, so I wouldn't be sure what would be interesting."
"Do you live with Spirits?" asked Song Jie excitedly, the idea that Spirits dwelled out here in these lands enthralled her, but she could feel Ren Yu tense beside her as if she had said something wrong or forbidden.
"Goodness no!" cried Guo An laughing. "Where are you from sister? There haven't been Spirits in the Eastern, or even Central provinces for longer than anyone can remember. No, we live with ourselves. The only magic in these parts comes from this river, Amaya we call her."
"Amaya? That's such a beautiful name for a river, what magic does she possess?" asked Song Jie leaning over the side of the boat and dipping her hand in the cool flowing water.
"All rivers have powers sister, but I wouldn't put your bare skin in if I were you, we don't want to attract any Benagi," Guo An frowned.
"Benagi?" Ren Yu asked tensely.
"River monsters my brother. I said we no longer live with Spirits, but I said nothing about monsters." The man smiled toothily and threw another fragranced branch into the pot. He then shuffled to the front of the boat and began talking in hushed whispers to Hu Fang.
"Ignore him." The woman was facing them now. "Guo An is excited, this is his first time speaking to a foreign girl, ignore such talk of Benagi. I am Lim Guiying."
"Thank you for letting us ride on your boat Lim Guiying," Song Jie smiled.
"It is not my boat. It is my uncle Hu Fang’s. But you are still welcome. Where are you heading?" Lim Guiying asked brightly.
Song Jie looked at Ren Yu who cast her a sideways glance then replied, "west."
"West? That's not exactly precise, but it seems you won't be alone," Lim Guiying commented cheerfully.
"What do you mean?" asked Song Jie.
Lim Guiying gestured behind her in the direction of the flowing water, "When we get to Amayon - our town. There is another traveler waiting for a boat to take him out of the western waterways, you will probably share a vessel, you better hope it's not your father!" She grinned and offered them a small leather pouch hanging open at the top, "sweets? We make them from the fleshy lily pads that grow in the lower streams."
Ren Yu politely declined but Song Jie took one, placing the sweet gingerly on her tongue. It tasted nothing like the honey-sweets she was used to but it was not unpleasant. It had a thick sticky texture and served to remind her how hungry she was. Her stomach growled in appreciation and Lim Guiying raised her eyebrows, "We'll find you something more substantial at Amayon sister. Have you anything to trade?"
"I have some coins," replied Ren Yu absently but his eyes were fixed on a blue glow from up ahead on the bank. Song Jie saw his hand reach for the dagger Ding Chao had given him.
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