Chapter 22: 第22章: Answers are finally given
She merely stared before her. Before she realized that someone did notice her after all, not entirely uncommon for this to exist but not completely rare either. If anything, she was not surprised that it was Feiyu but by what she meant. She stood before her, and went to the front to the figure. There was no hesitation, merely a calm demeanor when she was dealing with her.
Was there something she did not know of? Or something that she should have been made aware. But knowing that this was not the time for questions, she merely got herself up and ran as far from the scene as she could. The road was all but abandoned, with the occasional man passing them a glance clear that they were drunk and broke.
She took out her pipa and played a song on it. That was the one thing she did not expect, she did think that it will have been a weapon. Of some sorts to take them down. But who was she to judge given that Feiyu did save her. It was something she had never heard of; but the music was captivating, almost as though it was trying to get her to sleep. While Feiyu gave her a small look; which meant that she should try not to hear the song. She covered her own ears, trusting in the judgment.
It passed as she watched, before it faded into nothing. Nothing that was of any particular significance by this point. And then, they were alone once more. She put down her hands and got up, going over to Feiyu's side. In which the pipa all but disappeared, strange even as she had it a moment before. She went over to Feiyu, for a moment to follow her. She was not intending to lose her now, especially what happened not too long ago.
"Just follow me." Asking on the outside as she knew it was a bad idea, a really bad idea. As such, she did not say anything when Feiyu asked her to follow. They had traveled together for a while and nothing had struck her as wrong. Hence, she knew that trusting her was not going to lead her to her death. Otherwise, she will have died several times by now.
Following her back to the inn, ending in the same place. It was all but abandoned below, with the owners mostly clearing up for the day. Something which she knew the moment she saw it, although the tables were empty, it was where they will have counted the money. It was expected to be clean, with the only thing that worried them had been any customers. But in such a large place, finding a hiding place was always easy.
They went up the stairs before ending in Feiyu's room. Inside, it was as though she stepped into a different room entirely. There was an instrument at the side, the tables filled to the top with books. She put a small charm before her. And in an instant it became a pipa once more. She stepped forward and touched it, feeling the wood. It was true, it was not a trick.
Yet, she did not break. It was as though this was along the lines of the answers of it, perhaps for her she never found something like this unnerving. Or even causing her shock, merely incited her curiosity to continue to look deeper into this. The way that she knew that it was not wrong or even strange that this was happening.
"Can I have some answers?" She asked the question at last, taking a seat. Feiyu agreed to do so as well, and the pot inside still had water. Which they poured for each other. Something that she needed to really drink for a moment.
Feiyu gave a small laugh, perhaps amused by the fact that she was still calm despite all. What happened just before, was not something any normal person could shrug off in a moment. And yet, she was able to think that it was acceptable to her.
"Of course, and I can see why you were hunted." If she really wanted to ask what it meant, she will have opened her mind. But still remembering that they were out in the middle of the night, on a road that no one walked on. Apart from the occasional drunk man.
"Is it this town?" Given what she has seen— even as she is aware that it is limited— she knows that nothing of the sort happened in hers.
"The whole country, though your town has awfully little of it. And I can't figure out why." Feiyu was telling her all this calmly, as though this was a common occurrence. Even as it will have explained why the townsfolk had been so fervent in their prayers. She had seen it, and noticed something which her town never had.
"Is it because of something?" She knew deep within herself that it was unusual, even as it was no spoken. There had to be something which caused this in the first place.
"Who knows? But some say is that the Emperor played with fate and did things his own way, this is the result." Fate to her meant nothing, coincidences that often had little meaning behind. But she knew the meaning: where things have been planned by some greater force for their life. Even as she could not believe that someone even if they were omnipresent could control so many people; all unique and different in their own way.
"You know that I'm not that sort." She took a chance to drink another sip.
"Then, why were you frightened by the rumors? Because in your mind, you know that it may be true. Coupled with other things can make you fearful even when in other circumstances you are fully able to explain it." And was this the same.
"What does it really mean?" She knew that this were all pieces of the puzzle, one which she was not too familiar with. Somewhat able to grasp that an omnipresent being is akin to being an enemy to them. Which was always a little difficult to swallow by all means. Due to it not being something she was used to rather than anything else.
"These things came one day, and the answers is that people often went against the advice of the gods. The same reason that we are nowhere near a paradise, and is building flawed empires each time and doomed to make the mistakes of the past." She didn't think about it, she never had the chance to really read history in any form. She didn't even know much at all. But she knew that politics was something few discussed, even as the policies of the Emperors changed with them.
Common peasants could do few things, even in times of peace. The examination may seem fair but it is often in favor of the richer families who could give their children the advantage from the start. A paradise was impossible for the world in any form, as she saw it now.
"Well, if you ask me seriously I will say that we should decide our fates as it is." The same thing her mother relied upon to make her fortune; the very thing she hoped she could do. No matter what the world told her, she will not have wanted to follow any of its words. The only that she will have done was her own judgment, the same thing her mother followed.
"Think of it this way, the more people are educated, the more they have a chance to think of why their life is as it is. The hundred schools of thought came in a time of peace, where people had enough time to think about their life, and why is it so. Peace ensures that free thought is allowed, no matter how controlled."
"…Thought for some will mean advancement." She gave a nod, along with a smile.
"Precisely. And also, the ability to begin to rebel against out fates." The knowledge that one's station did not determine their life was important; so was the fact that no one could.
"Which is why the master of fate is unhappy?"
"And that he can't try to do the same thing he used to do. Back then, it was less so but the great Song had made the imperial examination a fair game for all. Which made the master of fate angry, as it was not in his ideal. He used to deal with those who rebelled in their own game, but now he can't. There is too many and thus he decided to open the gates to spirits."
"And mess with people like us." Even as the one thing on her mind was why her town was excluded in the first place.
"His plan for the world has very much fallen through, which is why he is now trying a game at toppling the great Song from the world; and then focus on putting one which will abide by his rules." And thus why their country was afflicted with this; it was divine punishment against something. Which she did not know or guess why it had to be so. If the world was a better place, why will it be so.
It was better for a chance for many to be able to rise as well as fall, because it was how they will have lived. A chance to live it all or to lose it. "And thus, we are vulnerable to the spirits. Exceptionally so in fact."
"And you use this to chase them away?"
"Yes, you have to have one as well. Though as I know it depends from person to person as to how it is." And she happened to be a musician, so it was rather fitting. She took it up, before passing it to her. The wood was clear, really as though it was real. She even knocked upon it, knowing that it was real wood. Before it disappeared once more, to small trinket attached to her belt.
Even as she could not tell what she will take for herself. She was never truly certain on something like this. "We can slowly figure it out." She nodded, agreeing that it was so.
"Though it doesn't explain one thing."
"Your town, I don't exactly know why. I'm still figuring out, some places are affected deeply, some are left unscathed. There isn't a really certain pattern to this." As much as she had not figured out just why and how it happened. "There are many quite like us."
"And they often come together or something like that, am I right?" She gave a nice smile. It will explain the depth of her understanding especially now when it seemed obvious that she must have garnered it from somewhere. It seemed a little too much for one person to figure it out.
"Yes, as much as we have to."
"And I must have shown that from the start." She didn't think it was wrong, on many many levels she fitted it because she chose to rebel. She didn't choose to marry the man even if it lead to a comfortable life. Many considered that foolish, why walk away from a certain future to seek the unknown.
She however knew that the certainty was now what she wanted; it was the unknown she always craved to be in. That she had a chance to seek the life she truly wanted, not hope for it. This was the same thing that made her a target as she knew, even as she was trying to understand that she was being thrust into a different one than she lived in.
"Where shall we start?" The girl knew that this was her life now; she couldn't escape as much as she doubted she could. It was something that she will have to live with. Though she wondered what it will have been like if she stayed.
"Then, I shall see you tomorrow. It has been a long night, get some rest."
"Can I ask one more question?" She nodded. "If I stayed, will anything like this have happened?"
"I can't say, it may come one day and it may never come at all."
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