087 Shoreline

It hurt. That was the only thing Chen Yage felt when she woke. Her bones seemed as though they had been taken apart and put back together again. She tried to move, but her hands and feet were bound tightly.

There are times when one cries to heaven and heaven does not answer, when one cries to earth and earth does not respond; Chen Yage understood that bitter truth all too well now. She struggled for a long while until she was exhausted, and in the end she had no choice but to give up.

Once she stilled, she heard the sound of running water. She thought she must have heard wrong, so she pressed herself against the wall and listened carefully. It was still water. Confusion rose in her. Where on earth was she? Why would there be running water here?

Then, faintly, came the slap of water against something solid. Chen Yage even felt herself shifting. The realization struck her: she was on a boat, and the boat was moving across the water.

She scooted forward as best she could. At the bow, voices rose in a clamorous burst. A rough voice said, “I’ve seen this girl at Windshadow Tower. Just one glimpse, but she’s absolutely top quality in looks. This time we’ll sell her in Jiangnan and surely get a handsome price.”

“Sell her to Jiangnan? Isn’t that too far?” came a weaker voice. “Why not just sell her somewhere nearby? Jiangnan is full of beauties already. If we drag her that far, who knows whether we’ll get a decent price.”

The rough voice said again, “That’s short-sighted. Jiangnan is rich in goods and gifted people, a land blessed by heaven. It does produce beauties, but there are countless wealthy young masters there too. Anywhere with money is short of women. Besides, we still have many more deals to make on this journey east. This one alone won’t even cover our costs.”

Chen Yage’s heart lurched. She finally understood her situation: she had been seized by traffickers, and things were looking grim. She had intended to go to Jiangnan, yes, but for travel, not to be sold there.

Piece by piece, she sorted through her thoughts. A man in dark coarse cloth stepped inside. Behind him stood a thin man, gaunt as a skeleton, with a face that looked faintly sinister. The man in coarse black cloth was the rough-voiced one, Iron Head, and the thin one was the weak-voiced Liu San.

Chen Yage glared at them both. Iron Head was rough not only in speech but in appearance as well, all brute force and blunt edges. Liu San, by contrast, looked sly and ratlike, the sort of person one would never trust to do anything honorable.

Iron Head gripped Chen Yage by the chin. She struggled for a long while, but not a single word managed to escape her mouth. He slapped her across the face. Chen Yage ground her teeth in fury, yet she could neither move her hands nor speak. Liu San noticed something was wrong and cried out, “Big brother, she’s a mute.”

Chen Yage shook her head. Iron Head seized her wrist to feel her pulse, and suddenly his face lit with delight. “You’ve taken the Five-Tone Powder?”

“Five-Tone Powder?” Liu San looked at Chen Yage with curiosity, and the lecherous look in his eyes made her skin crawl. “Was it that old hag who fed it to you? Why? Were you the one who wouldn’t behave? Don’t worry. As long as you’re obedient and do as we say, once we’ve sold you in Jiangnan for a good price, I’ll give you the antidote to this Five-Tone Powder. If you still want to speak, you’d better be good and—”

“Bastard!” Iron Head smacked Liu San hard on the head. Liu San looked at him in confusion. Iron Head barked, “Get out!”

Liu San swallowed his anger and left the cabin. Iron Head stopped before Chen Yage. She shifted away from him in disgust. Then Iron Head suddenly smiled. The smile was so strange it sent a chill down her spine. He said nothing and walked out of the cabin, but Chen Yage was certain it had been a warning.

She passed a sleepless night, her mind filled entirely with Li Bai. In that dazed and muddled state, she did not know how many days went by. All she felt was her eyelids growing heavier and heavier until at last her whole body lost its strength and she collapsed to the floor.

When Liu San came with food and saw Chen Yage lying there, he thought she was dead and dropped the meal in terror. Iron Head entered the cabin and, seeing that she was still breathing, learned that they had reached a small town. So they went ashore and sent Chen Yage to a doctor’s clinic for treatment. She was their cash cow; they would never allow her to be harmed so easily.

Though it was the cheapest room in an inn, at least there was a bed. The physician said Chen Yage was burdened by pent-up sorrow and had also caught a chill. She needed careful recuperation, or else she would at best be left with a lasting illness and at worst lose her life.

Those words were no mere threat; they were worse than one. Iron Head did not want to give up such a source of profit, so he had no choice but to pay dearly. Not only did he let Chen Yage stay at the inn, he also bought medicine for her. The lodgings were poor, but the medicine was genuine.

Two days later, Chen Yage’s condition gradually improved, and her mind cleared considerably. She was already able to get out of bed on her own, though she still could not go far.

At midnight, Chen Yage woke from a dream. In it, she had seen Li Bai. He was still dressed in white, smiling and beckoning to her. But when she walked toward him, he vanished.

She slipped on her outer robe and had only just stepped out of her room when Iron Head and Liu San blocked her at the door.

“Where are you going?” Iron Head’s rough voice boomed loudly.

Liu San was still half-dazed, merely echoing whatever Iron Head said.

Chen Yage made a gesture that rose and fell like a wave, trying to indicate that she wanted to go out for a walk. She did not know whether they could understand her. Iron Head said firmly, “No. You’re not going anywhere. Go back inside and stay put.”

He had not understood her gesture at all; he only refused because he saw she wanted to leave. Chen Yage mistakenly believed he could read what she meant, so she mimed sleeping and then shook her head, trying to say she could not sleep and wanted to walk around. Who knew Iron Head would misunderstand her entirely and think she was inviting him to sleep with her.

He seized her hand at once, grinning obscenely. This time Chen Yage had thrown herself into the fire. She struggled desperately, pounding at the door with thudding blows that rang especially loud in the night.

Suddenly, a figure in dark robes flashed past. Liu San was hurled away. Iron Head’s kung fu was not bad; even after exchanging several rounds, he remained full of vigor. The real trouble was the blade he brought to bear.

Seeing Iron Head and Liu San fully occupied with the man in dark robes, Chen Yage had no choice but to think of a plan. And that plan was intimately tied to the matters of the past, so no matter what, it was crucial.

Yet watching the man in dark robes fight alone while she herself kept her distance filled her with overwhelming guilt.

In the end, Chen Yage decided to stay and watch. Who would emerge victorious? Naturally, she hoped it would be the man in dark robes. After all, he was the one helping her, the one rescuing her.