Hua Ling patted his shoulder, got up, pulled back the curtain and got out of the cart: ‘Let’s go.’
It was getting dark, and the mountain road was not an easy one to traverse. Bored, Hua Ling took out her pocket watch and played with it. The ticking of the second hand was particularly clear in the silence of the mountain road.
The woman walking in front of her suddenly turned her head and stared at the pocket watch in Hua Ling’s hand.
Hua Ling closed the cover of the watch and smiled politely, ‘What’s wrong?’
‘The village is just ahead, so watch your step,’ the woman said, and then, as if unable to bear anything more, she turned her head quickly and walked away.
As soon as she had finished speaking, the three of them saw an old-fashioned archway covered in vines appear before them.
The faded characters on it read “Jingshui Township”.
The small cobblestone path stretched out in all directions, with a thin layer of moss growing on it. Fortunately, it wasn’t raining, otherwise they would definitely slip and fall.
As it grew darker, Hua Ling surveyed the village houses as they walked – mostly wooden houses in the late Qing and early Republican styles, all of which were tightly shut. There wasn’t even a single light along the entire road.
Hua Ling and the others followed the woman as she turned left and right for about a quarter of an hour before stopping in front of a quadrangle house sitting diagonally on the hillside.
‘My humble home is simple, please don’t be offended,’ the woman said as she led the two men in, and then asked, “It’s getting late, why don’t you rest here tonight? I’ll prepare some snacks, why don’t you eat first?”
Hua Ling thought for a moment and said, “Why don’t you let me go check on the patient first?”
The woman nodded, “That’s a good idea, please follow me.”