A Chanting Night in the Clear River

Chapter 22

Chapter 22

All The Stressors

"Lotus Pier..."

Blood and fire ruined his residence.

There was no untouched surface.

Their people's bodies are untidily strewn about, severely disfigured and lacerated, like shattered puppets. Eyes shut or gazing blankly into oblivion. Jaws agape in an indefinite, silent scream of anguish.

There were so many corpses heaped on top of one another that their precise numbers and faces were almost indiscernible.

'A-Niang...'

His throat was parched and sore. His temples felt slammed with hammers.

'Fuqin...'

Jiang Cheng was cold all over.

A-Niang and Fuqin lay in a pool of their own blood, as if a duvet of red hibiscus had flourished beneath them in a mock-caress to greet their deaths...

He feels a burn creeping in his own eye sockets. Drops ran down his cheeks, spilled on the backs of his hands, and landed onto the ground.

...The smell of their blood cut through his lungs. The picture of their dead bodies was like a vicious noose around his heart.

The scene has left an indelible imprint on his soul.

"We'll go back to Lotus Pier one day, but... not right now."

Wei Ying reached for the siblings's slumped shoulders. "Jiang-shushu and Yu-furen gave their lives to save you two, wouldn't it be a waste of their sacrifices if you died there for nothing?"

Jiang Cheng couldn't think of anything to say.

"..."

Wei Ying pushed herself up to a standing position. "Sit here while I go get some food."

Jiang Cheng watched Wei Ying's shadow vanish from the alleyway.

Regardless of his desperate attempts to divert his attention, the events of the previous night rewound in Jiang Cheng's mind.

'...I want my parents back!' He wept.

A-Jie sat beside him, grieving.

Moans escaped her lips through the muffled sound of hiccups.

Jiang Cheng asked Wei Ying for his Fuqin and A-Niang, but who he asked didn't matter.

They would never return to them again.

It is a difficult reality to admit.

He had gotten a few hours of sleep that evening, mostly because he was so exhausted from sobbing that he passed out involuntarily. The secondary reason was his delirious hope that everything was all just a dream.

He wished he could open his eyes and find himself in his own bedroom at Lotus Pier.

His Fuqin would be there, sitting in the hall reading as he polished his sword.

His A-Niang would be there, losing her cool and grumbling as she chastised Wei Ying for winking and making funny faces.

His A-Jie would be huddled in the kitchen, dazed and racking her brain for ideas on what to make for dinner.

His fellow shidi and shimei would be there, shirking their morning lessons and bouncing around.

He wasn't awakened by any of these depictions. Rather, he woke up with a splitting headache after being subjected to the chilly breeze all night, curled up in the overgrown grass behind a desolate and remote hillside.