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Join the ServerThe middle-aged man introduced himself, then launched into a rambling recollection of the past, whether or not the girl was listening. “Remember that time…”
She kept her hand on the axe, not letting go.
Along the way, she observed the scenery.
The landscape that others found dull was fascinating to her.
“And then I…”
The views from the mountain were different from here. The place where she had first lived also didn’t offer the sights she saw now.
For example, there were all kinds of animal tracks on the road, not just horses but others as well. The footprints pressed into the endless snowy path had a certain beauty.
“There were lots of people…”
She noticed that beside the snow-covered road lay a frozen river, while a range of snow-capped mountains stretched into the distance, their white expanse a magnificent sight.
Seen from the cart, it seemed as if some giant beast was staring at them from over there.
“Then, I…”
She spotted a patch of snow stained red ahead on the road. A dead animal lay there, with a wild beast gnawing at it.
The cart didn’t stop. It passed by.
The girl stared without blinking, curious.
The beast saw the cart approaching and hurriedly ran off into the snowy woods to hide.
It seemed to carry some memory that the huge thing passing on this road was not to be messed with. If there was something else as well, even more so.
“At that time…”
The girl glanced at the beast again, frowning slightly. Neither knew what the other was thinking.
Whether human or beast, both were novel to her.
“What do you think?” The middle-aged man suddenly asked her.
The girl tilted her head slightly.
Seeing this, the man repeated himself. “I was thinking, why don’t we set up camp at the next rest stop? It’s getting late, and the post station is still far away.”
The girl nodded.
The cart continued slowly. After a while, the man noticed the girl’s gaze was fixed on the neatly lined trees by the roadside.
While rubbing his sore shoulder, he explained, “Those trees are all in a row. Curious?”
The girl nodded.
The man smiled again. “You know the saying, ‘Plant trees to mark the road, set up huts to guard the way’?”
The girl shook her head.
The man went on, “I don’t know who planted those trees, but they help us find our way.”
How strange. Why would people do something that wouldn’t benefit them?
After a while, the man added, “If it weren’t for the road, probably few travelling merchants would come to the Jurchen lands.”
The Jurchen lands were in the far northeast of this kingdom, often plagued by conflicts. Merchants didn’t want to come here, nor did soldiers. But soldiers had no choice; they had to garrison here, along with officials. If you didn’t hold it, it wasn’t your land.
Some merchants seeking wealth might trade in this region. It was simple: buy from the east and sell in the west. That was trade.
Even if you went to a Jurchen village and bought sable, fox, or roe deer furs like an ordinary person, and sold them south of the river, you’d still make a profit. Trade was that simple.
But the journey was grueling, with extreme weather and harsh terrain.
“Many years ago, when there were no roads here, no merchants came. Later, someone got smart and built a road… well, a sort of road, and then merchants were willing to come.” The man launched into another ramble about human history and geography.
The further north you went, the cheaper the goods, and the more those people were willing to pay high prices for ordinary merchandise from the south.
Most of the time, merchants there only accepted barter.
They’d haul southern goods up north to trade, then haul back goods to sell in the south for silver.
The middle-aged man was on his return trip.
Noticing the girl’s gaze, the man looked back again. There was still nothing behind him. He wondered why she kept staring.
Just before his body grew numb from cold, they reached the next rest stop. It was another shed, but this one was different: larger, wrapped in grass and bark, better for sheltering from wind and rain.
A much better place to spend the night.
He lit a fire and started roasting meat. He’d thought the girl would eat, so he cooked a bit too much. But she still didn’t eat.
Darkness fell.
The girl leaned against a wall. The man also found a spot to rest.
He kept rubbing his sore shoulder, unable to sleep comfortably. Finally, he lay down and managed to fall asleep.
The next morning, just before dawn, they got up, fed the horses, and set off again.
The man’s face looked bad. He’d had a light sleep all night.
He tilted his head slightly as he sat in front of the cart driving the horse. Today he sped up, wanting to reach the post station sooner.
But the station was still far.
Six more days passed, and they still hadn’t arrived. His condition worsened: his face grew pale, his lips lost color, and he always kept his head tilted.
That day, it snowed.
Visibility was poor, but he still pressed on, driving through the heavy snow.
When they reached a downhill stretch, the cart picked up speed. The horse was pushed forward by the skidding cart, losing control.
Luckily, the slope wasn’t long. They slid to the first gentle incline, the cart hardly damaged, the horse unharmed. But the goods had fallen off and needed to be reloaded.
As the man searched for the scattered goods, he noticed something below the roadside slope: an animal eating something. He looked closer and saw it was a human corpse.
He was startled and collapsed onto the snow, legs weak.
No wonder he hadn’t seen anyone along the way, even though he’d sped up. Not a single person.
So the people ahead had met with an accident. Those were merchants too. Their cart had overturned into a deeper part of the slope.
It seemed more than one person had died.
“Master, will I be all right?” Staring down the deeper slope, the man wanted to go down and check.
The girl shook her head.
The man parked the cart, took his weapon, and slowly made his way down the snowy slope. He slipped partway but it wasn’t a problem; the slope wasn’t steep enough to kill him.
Reaching the bottom, he was still a dozen steps from the accident site. He didn’t walk over immediately. Instead, he looked back up at the girl on the slope.
It seemed that just seeing her there calmed his nerves.
Summoning courage, he approached the overturned cart, driving away the beast feeding on the corpses.
He examined the bodies, found a few sheets of paper with writing on them, read through them, and tucked them away.
He also stripped the clothes off the dead and buried the half-eaten remains under snow.
Finally, he spent some time gathering their scattered goods and loading them onto his own cart.
The cart was now at full capacity. For every rise or dip in the terrain, the man had to get off and manually control the cart: brake on downhills, push on uphills.
As for the girl? She sat there contentedly, doing nothing, not even helping push.
That night, the man had a better dinner, with plenty of meat and wine.
Barring accidents, they would reach the post station by tomorrow evening.
****
You’ve got to see this next! The Only Ice Flower will keep you on the edge of your seat. Start reading today!
Read : The Only Ice Flower
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