As soon as Bao signals dismissal, you turn to go. However confused you are, you know that you have no time to lose - every minute is another minute without water, and now that you are responsible for finding rain, those minutes are your fault. You run back home and throw a few pieces of dried food into a bag, then grab your gear and turn. Hand on the door, you stop.
It dawns on you all of a sudden that you are about to leave your village, your community, the people you know, and embark on a quest. Bao said to the dragon's cave. You're not entirely sure what dragons have to do with this.
You push the door open - and find yourself face to face with Wu Sun Peng. The old Shaman looks down at you and, before you can pull yourself together, he gives a curt nod of his head and a jerk of his chin toward your interior. You oblige, making way for him to enter, and you follow, closing the door behind you. He sits down on your small bed, so you sit on your heels on the floor.
"I am not sure why Bao would send a young one such as you," he says, "but listen closely. You are off to find the Sichuan dragon. Never in a thousand thousand years has the creature not given us rain."
"What do you mean?" you interrupt. He looks at you for a moment, eyebrows raised, then clears his throat.
"Dragons give us rain each year, young one. The Sichuan dragon more precisely. Every spring, they wake from their slumber and launch into the sky, piercing the clouds. The rain falls and we thrive. But not this year."
He pauses then takes a deep breath and starts again.
"Dragons, my dear child, are majestic, powerful spirits. There is nothing in this world capable of controlling them, nothing capable of bringing them down - unless someone knows how. And very few people do."
His voice drops almost an octave as he leans in conspiratorially. His gaze is like steel.
"Whatever has happened to the Sichuan dragon, I fear it may be much graver than She Miao Bao could ever imagine. Look for the pearl, my child. Whatever you do, make sure the pearl is there."
With that, he stands and leaves.
The dragon's lair is in the mountain east of your village. To reach it, you can either follow the road up the hills and come to it from the North, or take the smaller road down the canyon and walk up from the South.
To take the road North, go to Chapter Five.
To take the road South, go to Chapter Eight.
YOU ARE READING
The Rains of Sichuan {Choose Your Own Adventure} // Wattys 2019
Adventure"If we want to survive this drought, you will have to make it rain." In this short-and-sweet Choose Your Own Adventure book, you will be taken on a quest to discover why the rains haven't fallen on your tiny little chinese village - and to remedy...
