“I see what you mean.”

Standing next to the family of three, Olivia stared at what she could only describe as a three-sided shack in a far more decrepit state than Ju’s house had been. Bugs had been having a grand old time on the wood, eating away fiber and leaving holes in the planks. There was no floor except for what appeared to be very old, possibly moldy, thresh.

No way is anyone sleeping in that tonight. The last thing we need is one of us waking up with bugs all over, or worse, getting sick from whatever mold is growing there. Thank goodness the wagon is high enough off the ground that we can all sleep under it.

A small creek ran southwest not far from the structure, with what remained of a fence, or probably a hitching post, standing parallel to the running water with enough space for horses on both sides.

Olivia turned back to the small clearing the shed occupied, forcing down an unnerved shiver. It’s got that spooky vibe; I’ll give it that. It’d make an excellent place for a test of courage during Halloween back home.

The scariest part was the many trees that surrounded the shack. Dead trees, with their spindly branches just waiting for the right breeze to scare passersby with their shadows.

The near-perfect horror scene. The only thing missing was the cornfields and creepy scarecrow.

A flicker of white in one of the branches drew Olivia’s attention. A familiar, rectangular, white with curving black and red.

Olivia cocked her head and stared. “Are those ofuda? Ah, wait, they’re called fulu here, right?”

“You know about talismans?”

“You read enough books on other cultures or stories based in said cultures; you tend to pick up a lot of knowledge.” And those were paper talismans covering nearly every available surface of the trees’ trunks, with a few even hanging from the branches. “Did something happen here? They’re supposed to keep bad things away, right?”

“That’s right,” Ju said, both Ping and Min huddling close with a protective hand on each. “Every sect is tasked with maintaining traveler’s resting places like this one. Placing protection to keep nearby ghosts from approaching sleeping travelers is the most basic and important task. But there are just so many traveler stops.”

“And the more popular and used ones tend to get the most attention,” Olivia grimaced. Well, I’m not sleeping tonight, magical protection or not. Unless someone recently came through, these had to be here for a while, and who knows if they are still good.

And a good number had to have been there for a while if the burnt edges, torn halves, and the few with faded ink were anything to say.

“Mama,” Min tugged on Ju’s skirt. “Are we going to be okay?”

“Of course, we will be, Min.” Ju gave her daughter a smile and a pat on the girl’s head. “Why don’t you and Ping find us some wood so we can get dinner going? Just don’t leave the clearing, alright?”

Min nodded, lips pursed, and followed her brother in picking up dead wood from the surroundings.

“Could you take Yu with you to get a drink, Li?” Ju asked, undoing the straps holding the wagon to Yu’s harness. “I’ll get the firepit cleaned out.”

“Sure thing,” Olivia grabbed hold of Yu’s reins and led the two horses to the creek. Both eagerly drank from the river and began to graze once Olivia hitched them to the small post on opposing sides, though Chester stopped to give his body a complete shake once Olivia had removed his tack.

Olivia chuckled as she set the tack on the ground, retrieved a curry comb from one of the bags, and began to groom the Arabian. “Feel better?”

"Better? Much Better?" Gipp chirped, fluffing his feather and shaking himself. "Very good. Thank you."

Chester whickered in response, pushing his head against Olivia and trying to rub against her.

“Hey, settle down,” Olivia chuckled as she pushed back. “I’ll get your head once I’m done with the rest of you.”

Chester snorted but remained still for Olivia to finish grooming. It wasn’t quick work breaking the clumps of sweat and dirt on the brown fur, but Olivia broke enough that she was satisfied.

“When we get to the city, I’ll see about getting you both bathed. You deserve it after traveling for this long,” Olivia mused. “What do you think?”

"Bath! Bath! Want bath!"

Chester tossed his head a little before nudging Olivia again, prompting Olivia to roll her eyes.

“Of course, we’ll get Yu taken care of too. You really didn’t think we’d -”

Olivia was cut off as a shiver racked her body, hairs on the back of her neck becoming rods. Looking over her shoulder, Olivia could see nothing across the creek in the growing darkness.

But something was there; she was sure of it. The best to describe it was akin to a predator stalking prey. Olivia squinted, hoping to catch something that would tell her what had triggered her sense of being watched, but not even a rustle of brush gave her a hint.

Let’s hope it was only an animal and that it moved on, Olivia thought, turning back to her grooming. Maybe the atmosphere is getting to me? It would make sense: if enough people say something is wrong about a place, then everyone believes it. And it just snowballs from there.

“Is everything alright, Li?” Ju asked, looking up from her newly-lit firepit when Olivia returned to the shack.

Guess that scared me more than I thought, Olivia thought as she sat on the large log serving as a bench. At least the fire would help with the chill she now felt even through her duster. “Nothing to worry about, Ju. I think I startled an animal hiding in the bush, that’s all.”

At least, I hope that’s all it was.

"No worry," Gipp crooned, stepping on Olivia's offered hand to go down to the log, whistling what had to be some elevator music he had picked up in the past.

Ju nodded. “Alright.”

“Aunt Li, where did you put the rice?” Min called from the wagon.

“In the box with the latch on the left,” Olivia sent back before turning to Ju with a confused look. “That reminds me: Why is Min calling me ‘Aunt’? I’m not offended or anything, but I am a little curious about it. Is there some obscure custom here about referring to an older woman as an aunt or something?”

Ju shook her head. “Nothing like that, Li. I actually asked Min a few days ago why she insisted on referring to you as Aunt. She told me that, after everything you had done for us, you were basically family.”

“I really didn’t do anything. You decided that you no longer wanted to put up with your situation and leave.”

“And to Min, that was a big help. I don’t know if you have noticed, but Min is a very smart and kind girl.”

Olivia snorted. “Not going to deny that.” Girl’s got too much sass to be an angel, but she knows what or who she does and doesn’t like.

“Also,” Ju’s smile turned fond. “And she may have confided that she always wanted an aunt.”

“Aww,” Olivia cooed, placing a hand over her heart. “That is so sweet of Min. It’s a good thing I could always use a new niece to spoil, so it works out. And I'll gladly take Ping as a nephew too. Can't leave him out.”

"Sweet? Sweet! Want sweet."

"Later, Gipp. You haven't had dinner yet."

Gipp nodded. "Dinner, then sweet. Okay."

Ju blinked. “You have nieces and nephews?”

“Yep,” Olivia grinned. “I got fifteen between five siblings and three more on the way last I heard.”

“You’re the youngest?”

Olivia made a buzzer noise. “Wrong there, Ju. I’m actually the third-oldest. I got an older sister of four years, a brother of two, twin brothers younger than me by two years, and a younger sister by four.”

“And they’re all married?”

“Yep. Lucy was twenty-four when she tied the knot with Jackson, and they’ve been together for two years now. Dad was pretty happy about finally being empty nesters.” Though Mom would argue that they really weren’t since I only used my apartment as a studio to work in. I mean, I still kept most of my clothes in my old bedroom after all.

“W-wait, what?” Ju blinked. “Li, are you saying that you’re thirty?”

“Uh, yeah? Is that a problem or something?”

Ju blinked before looking aside in embarrassment. “Not really; you'll just get a lot of stares if others know.”

Olivia raised an eyebrow. “Any more than for my hair color?”

“Probably not.” Ju shook her head. “I’m sorry, but this entire time I thought you were only a year or so older than me. Does your entire family look so young?”

“Oh, yeah, and it’s a real pain when you go someplace or try to buy something that requires you to be a certain age.” My poor license. It’s seen the light of day more than my credit card, and I don’t even drink alcohol.

“I see. If you don’t mind me asking, why aren’t you married? Here, most girls are married by the time their eighteen. I was a little older when Xiàn and I married, but not by much. Is that not the case in your homeland?”

“No, lots get married once they turn the legal age of eighteen years,” Olivia grimaced. “It’s just that there’s, well, a misconception amongst my generation of what romance is.”

Ju stared. “Really?”

“Oh yeah. Mostly from stories or…theater.” Olivia could feel her eye twitch at the trashy romance novels and movies her friend Maria liked to indulge in. And she wonders why she’s still single. “It put a shadow on what a healthy relationship is. Just because a man and woman argue a lot does not mean they secretly like each other, nor does it equate to them getting in bed together after a fight.”

“What?” Ju choked, clearly scandalized.

“Yeah. You wouldn't believe what people will spend to read those sorts of stories. I don't care if it's a form of indulgence. It doesn't work in reality. All it is is a door to many problems down the road.” And I’m going to do my darndest to ensure that the chance of it opening on me is zero.

Olivia shook her head to clear her thoughts. “Don’t get me wrong, I want to get married and have my own kids. Got to give my siblings a chance to get revenge on me for being the ‘fun’ aunt after all.” Not that I’ll ever stop being  Fun Aunt Olivia. I worked hard for that title!

“Well, why don’t you?”

Olivia held up a finger. “Simple: My anxiety acts up whenever I try talking to guys I don't know.”

“Anxiety? What is that?”

“You don't have that here? It’s, well, shoot, how can I explain?” Olivia removed her hat to run her free hand through her hair with a sigh. “It’s the anticipation and fear of what is to come in the future. There are a lot of anxiety disorders back home, and they can stem from a host of origins like fear of leaving the house or even taking tests. My family, women of any age, men I know are married, and kids I got no trouble talking to. Men who might be or are single and I think are cute? You’d have better luck pulling water out of a stone than getting me to talk to them.”

Ju grimaced. “I see how that can be a problem. Does the rest of your family ‑ ?”

“Not my immediate family, though I do have a few cousins who suffer from it. Not to the degree I do, though. No one even knew I had the condition until I hit my dating years, which surprised everyone since I'm so friendly and outgoing. My friends would invite me to social gatherings with their friends, and my tongue got stuck to the roof of my mouth every time I tried talking to any of the boys I didn't know. Took a couple of months for anyone to realize that it wasn't just typical teenage girl shyness and a doctor visit to confirm it.”

“You went to a doctor…about your inability to talk?”

“More like a therapist, but yeah. Learned a few tricks that helped. Doesn't work all the time, but I work with what I got.”

Ju hmmed, retrieving a long stick at her side to poke at the crackling embers. “Do you think…that Ping has it too?”

“Well, I have some suspicions, but I’m not the person to make that call.” Olivia shrugged. “I’m just guessing when I say this, but Ping struggles speaking when he gets scared, right? He only started talking to me after he calmed down that first morning.”

“He does,” Ju admitted. “I always thought that he was just shy, but he started to pay far more attention to his surroundings than most boys his age do. He always seemed to know when someone was wanting to talk to him.”

“Makes sense,” Olivia nodded. “Can’t get scared if you know it’s coming.”

That can’t be healthy, though, being on edge all the time. The amount of stress Ping must be dealing with isn't good for anyone, especially a young boy. He might get better with age, but Ping shouldn’t have to act like a cat in a room full of rocking chairs with no doors in the meantime.

Too bad Olivia didn’t have a clue on how to help. Everyone with bad anxiety responded differently to therapy, so what worked for Olivia might not work for Ping.

And even worse is that he can’t even tell people what is wrong if his voice stops working. Olivia blinked and ran through that thought again. Wait a minute, he doesn’t have to tell anyone.

“Sign Language!”

“I’m sorry?”

“It’s a language that uses hand gestures to converse with others,” Olivia explained. “It’s mostly used by the deaf and hard of hearing back home, but lots of folks who can hear learn it. Is there anything like that here that Ping could learn?”

Eyes widening, Ju thought hard. “I…don’t know. I have heard that the military uses gestures, but I don’t know if they teach it to the populace.”

“What about the cultivators? They have to work with all sorts of people. They might have something to work with those who can’t hear well, right?”

“They…they might,” Ju agreed. “I don’t know much about the sects, but it wouldn’t be a surprise if they did have something. There are all sorts of stories about messages being sent in unseen ways, though many believe that cultivation was used somehow.”

“You’d be surprised at how much the human body can silently say,” Oliva grinned. “You might want to look into it once we hit the city. It might even help Ping overcome his anxiety. Nothing like a boost of positivity to overcome adversity.”

“That would be wonderful. Thank you, Li.”

“Don’t thank me yet. We still need to find someone who can teach, and Ping will be comfortable to learn from.”

“Even so, thank you. You keep helping my family even when I don’t have much to help you with.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m happy to help.” Olivia glanced over Ju’s shoulder and jumped up from her seat. “Speaking of helping, Min, let me get that.”

“I got it,” Min said triumphantly under the bag of rice she was carrying, Ping hovering at her side with his own load. "I can do it!"

“Yeah, but you can’t see, and there’s a lot of - ”

“Eep!”

“Rocks. Be careful, Min!”