Hanguangjun- The Waiting

The Accident

Ian and Samantha weren't lovers. They had been neighbors growing up who had turned into friends. Their trip to China came after a drunken proposal. It was Samantha who had proposed.

Samantha was a photographer in search of inspiration. She wanted to come with Ian to experience a foreign culture. Here they were huddled behind trees, waiting for the moonlight to shine in the sky so that they could check out a haunted hill. Back in Connecticut they had haunted houses, haunted graveyards but never haunted hills. In fact Ian had a penchant for the ghost and the unholy. Even now dressed in black trousers and a black dress shirt paired with a black leather jacket, he was the toned-down version of a goth.

He had passed that phase in college even though he never went all out. He had only two piercings that he boasted of but which no one had seen. His tattoos were a different thing. He often flaunted the tattoo on his left biceps, the ancient Chinese script which he explained meant 'Whatever' (随便). There were other tattoos on his body like a black di zi with a red tassel on his right shoulder. None of the tattoos were grotesque and reflected refined tastes.

"Have you been to Suzhou before?" Samantha asked, to while away the time.

Ian shook his head. "My family is originally from Hubei. I think I visited once back when I was three. I don't have any memories of that other than picking up a di zi from the market."

"That's the flute that you always carry on you, right?" Samantha asked.

"Yes, its size makes it a bit uncomfortable to carry when assembled. So I keep it in my back pack most of the times. But I have always had it. So, it often feels like an extension of me," Ian confessed.

Samantha was familiar with the instrument. She had heard him play on numerous occasions. "Why don't you play something now, till the haunting starts?" she requested.

"You know pretty well that nothing will start if I start playing Chenqing. " Ian countered.

"That's just your superstition." Samantha pointed out. As she did that the music started in the distance. Ian looked scared. He had heard this melody before. He started rummaging in his bag for the di zi and took it out. "What are you going to do?" she asked.

"Chase that music," he answered, before running off into the direction of the music.

Samantha shook her head and plopped down on the dirt. She regretted proposing to him at times, but it was a good excuse to escape from her alcoholic father. Mr. and Mrs. Wei were a darling. They accepted her with open arms even though she wasn't completely Chinese or anywhere as intelligent as her son. Mrs. Wei had even confessed that she had wondered if Ian was gay and was relieved to see them engaged.

As Ian approached the hill the temperature cooled down significantly. The sound of strings came from withing the hill. It was as if the hill was a hollow chamber resonating with the tune. But that was not the thing which had Ian all worked up. That tune which was being played was the first one he played on his di zi, a tune he had played time and again and had always thought was his own creation. Now he was not so sure.

Amidst the hills there was a valley. Ian lay down and put his ears to the ground. The sound was coming from underneath. He took out his phone to call 120 worrying if some unfortunate soul was trapped inside and played the music in acceptance of his near end. However the phone had no signal.

Ian took out his dizi and picked up the tune. As the di zi and the guqin played the ground started to vibrate and soon enough Ian felt the ground give away from underneath him.

In the distance Samantha heard the rocks shift. She thought that they were having an earthquake and ran for the plains. When the grumbling stopped after a few moments she called out to her fiancé. There was no response. There was no signal on her phone either. She tentatively climbed the hill back to where Ian had headed and found that the ground had opened up into a large crater. The inside was pitch dark. "Ian, Ian, are you inside?" she called out but she received no reply.

Samantha ran off to get help. In the confines of the crater tentative steps found the place where Ian had landed. Chenqing was still firmly grasped in his hand. His shirt was torn to reveal Suibian in ancient Bone script. The man carefully picked up the injured Ian noticing the wound on his skull and his broken leg. He closed his eyes as the sword on his waist unsheathed itself. He stepped on it and soon left the confines of the cave.

When the police arrived they found a cave in, some spots covered in blood, an US passport belonging to an Ian Wei and a platform with an ancient wooden table and two porcelain jugs of untouched ancient wine.

"What is this place? A tomb?" Samantha asked the police officer in charge.

"From the looks of it, it seems to be an ancient tomb. I think you just discovered another of Suzhou's heritage sites. The government will reward you," he promised.

"Where is my fiancé?" Samantha questioned.

"From the looks of it he was injured in the fall but he managed to get up and escape. If he hurt his head he might be disoriented. The best thing to do now is to contact the local hospitals. If they don't provide any answer you should wait a few days and contact the morgue," the officer replied.

Samantha shook her head. This couldn't be happening. She hadn't even started shooting. Ian hadn't even given her a diamond ring yet. He always said that it was too fast, too soon. But now this was what happened too fast, too soon.