Chapter 1: The Tower of Ten Thousand Books (Wan Shu Lou / 万书楼)
A sense of unease lingered in the air as I alighted at the bus stop right at the entrance of the village. Spurting out thick exhaust fumes, the bus continued on its route and the passengers who had alighted went about their separate ways. Once more, I read the directions I had saved into my phone.
There was an old train station in this remote village some distance away from the city. The housekeeper at Ji Kai's house said that this landmark would not show up on the satellite map on my phone. Along this route, there were only two trains left running from the past century.
It would be faster to get to this village by car, but I was still a high school student and my parents must never find out that I had snuck out of the city to a village in the middle of nowhere. I told them that my friend had invited a few of us classmates to her grandparents' home for a short getaway during our summer vacation break.
The truth was that I was on my way to deliver school assignments to my classmate who had been by my side since childhood. In reality, we were not that close, but I could not simply sit back and ignore someone like Ji Kai when he required help. When the form teacher requested for someone to deliver the holiday assignments to him, I, as one of Ji Kai's few friends, was naturally expected to volunteer. But when I went to his house, his housekeeper said that he was not in, handed me a train ticket, and told me to catch a train at "this other address". Following her instructions, I bought a ticket at the bus interchange and took the next bus out of the city before finally arriving at the entrance of a village.
After alighting from the bus, I should head in the opposite direction of the village by following the sign that pointed to a train station. Looking to my right, there was indeed a signage with the characters for a train station and the distance I had to my destination. The cool evening breeze signalled to me that I had to hurry or else the sun would soon set and I would be enveloped in darkness. I felt around my pockets for the train ticket and once I was assured that it was still there, I hugged my gym bag close to my body and started running in the direction of the train station.
As night began to fall and the sparse lamp posts along the road lit up, a tall gateway[1] with traditional Chinese architecture came into view. My rapidly pumping heart could finally get some relief. Two old men sat outside a small wooden ticketing booth chatting and having some snacks. I pulled out the slightly crumpled train ticket from my uniform and walked towards them slowly.
One of them noticed me and lowered the mug in his hand. "Old Jiang, you have business coming."
The other old man stood up gingerly while he brushed crumbs off his pants. "Young lady, are you here to take the train?"
I nodded and waved the ticket in my hand. He walked to the ticketing booth to grab his glasses before squinting at my ticket.
"You—are you sure about taking this journey?" The old man turned to frown at me as he lowered his glasses.
"What do you mean, grandpa?" I asked with slight confusion.
Lowering his volume, he pointed to the words on the ticket. "I won't ask you where you got this ticket from, but I have to make sure that you know that this is a one-way ticket to the Willow Gardens. The trains along this route used to go both ways, but not anymore. This means that you won't be able to return using the same way you get there. I hope you've prepared an alternate way of getting back."
"Don't worry." I smiled as I recalled what the Ji family's housekeeper had said. "I know where I am going and I have other means of getting back."
The old man's concerned expression softened and he gave a satisfied nod. "That's good. Hurry along now, the train should be arriving soon. Take care!"
YOU ARE READING
Ten Thousand Books, But Only One You
FantasyFang Yuhan went in search of her absent classmate, but stumbled upon his huge secret and a desperate plea to rescue him. Entering a realm spanning across reality and fiction, she learnt that her childhood friend was trapped in a wuxia novel. To save...