10 Althea's Confusion

He knew something,

That I don't even know if I could point out that one thing.

I was afraid to grasp,

I am not sure if I can unclasp.

***

THE YEAR 1904, a century away from the present time.

Althea swallowed as she looked at his shadow white eyes without even flinching. Qing Long breathed silently as he said, "You fell from the river, don't you?"

Althea's stance earlier broke down as she was surprised by what he said. Qing Long smiled a little towards her as she froze and was stunned in her place. She creased her forehead as she swallowed once again, unable to move. Qing Long continued from what he was doing as Althea felt like she was catching her balance. She lost her fierce stance earlier as her jaw dropped on the floor.

Qing Long picked up an ax on the corner of the cave, with the dew that was dripping on the side, the metallic scent coming in from the little space was evident. The orange tinge of the sky changed every second, and the moon wanted to show itself. Qing Long walked outside, leaving Althea hanging, as she gasped and put her hand over her mouth.

Qing Long stayed silent while trying to lit a fire with the wood and the remaining matches he stole from the store. Althea turned her head to Qing Long's back and walked outside hurriedly. She stopped while huffing some air and asked, "How did you know?"

Qing Long sniggered as he stood up, showing his white teeth by his lips, and looked at her eyes. He put his hands behind his back, with the long robes flowing over his long legs. His shadow white eyes were searching onto Althea as he said obviously, "Your clothes were wet, so I had to change them. That's why I know you fell down from the river."

He snickered as he walked past ahead of Althea. She gritted her teeth as Althea ran up past him, blocking him from his tracks, putting her arms over her chest, and gaped at him.

"You... you change me... you change my clothes?!" Althea exclaimed at her place loudly as she draped her arms over her chest. She widened her eyes as Qing Long smiled for the very first time. He looked down as he shook his head and sighed.

"I'm not the one who changed your clothes, it was my female friend down the hill," Qing Long said softly. He looked down as he walked past ahead of her. Althea was remained stunned, tilting her head on one side, as she looked down through her clothes.

She finally realized that it was long, ended exactly on her ankles, and sleeves were covering her arms and wrists. It was buttoned securely from it, and she opened her mouth slightly as she saw that it was in ivory color. It was white, not wanting to be stained with only a tinge of dust. She swallowed as Qing Long fixed the mattress on the floor and propped it up on the corner.

Althea scattered her sight everywhere, and she saw that the cave was in the middle of the mountains. She turned around as she heard the rustle of the trees, and she saw that the sun was setting on the horizon now, giving a deep purplish color in the sky, with the empire now being chaotic. She looked at the center of the Qing Empire, and she saw that a lot of people were gathering on the square.

She sighed as she knew that she was in this place, and she could not accept it for now.

"It's Lunar New Year," Qing Long muttered as he stood behind Althea, walking towards the campfire, and lighting it up so that it can give them the slightest tinge of light.

Althea breathed out as she shook her head and whispered to herself, "Where am I?"

Qing Long faced his palms on the small fire he created as he blew out through the wintry cold breeze of the air. He heard what Althea had muttered and the tears welled up in her eyes. She looked down as she furrowed her eyebrows. Qing Long looked at her.

Althea turned to him swiftly, with a mix of rage and confusion painted on her face. Althea mumbled in a soft tone of her voice, "Why did you do that to me earlier? Covering my mouth so I couldn't breathe? And why are you the only one who lend me an umbrella on the side street of the river? I mean... I don't even know you..."

Qing Long sighed as he looked at her puzzled face and she shook her head. She composed herself first before muttering, "I don't even know where I am. I mean... this is not my place. So why am I in here?"

The tears fell down all at once as Qing Long sighed and knew that he had to console her for a while. He just doesn't want to say and explain it all in one go, especially this day was Lunar New Year, the time where the Nian beast would appear once again. Althea covered her eyes with her hands, sobbing, as Qing Long observed her closely.

The song on the cymbals and gongs started on the empire, and there were a lot of peasants gathering for the feast. And then, it hit her hard. Althea removed her hands from her eyes as she looked up at Qing Long, with his troublesome face staring at the tops of the empire. Althea knuckled her left fist as Qing Long knew that this time was the exact second he turned into a cursed dragon.

And if Althea was from the present, she must have known what happened to the Zhaochong Empire after he had been cursed. Qing Long was swallowing constantly as Althea looked at him, so baffled. She clenched her jaw and Qing Long knew that it was this time he would duck down.

Althea picked up a large rock on the side and aimed it on Qing Long's face. Qing Long was fast with this kind of thing and picked up the sheath from the corner, hidden, where Althea didn't know a weapon was placed on it. He retrieved the sword from its sheath and pointed it through the slit of her neck.

Althea froze in her place, while her hand was raised and she was holding a huge rock on her palms. She clutched it tightly as she looked at the sharp tip of the sword. She noticed that it was a Jian, a double-edged straight sword that had been used over thousands of years in China. She slowly shifted her eyes from the tip and to the face of Qing Long. One move could be her death. Beads of sweat trickled down on the sides of her temples.

Qing Long was creasing his forehead as he removed the threat on her neck and put it back on the sheath. He bowed down his head as he apologized from his defense. "I'm sorry, I thought you will be killing me with that huge rocks."

Qing Long bowed his head down more as he put the sword back in its place. Althea loosened the grasp for the stone as she was out of her breath. She looked up at her and asked one more time, "Please, answer me. Why am I in here?"

Althea shook her head as nothing came to her mind. She breathed out in exasperation as she averted her eyes towards the dark sky. Qing Long watched the fire raging on their side as Althea was lost in her thoughts. She saw the Yangtze River, where she fell, and she lowered down her eyebrows as she thought of something.

The man she was talking about now was cursed. And she could not stand it, because it had been the reason why she had been disqualified from her dream as an author.

Qing Long sighed as he said, "I should explain something to you. Let's sit down by the fire."

Qing Long turned his heel around, with his boots squeezing on each other when it had been touched on the ground, and picked up another comforter on the corner. Althea carefully glanced inside and shifted her eyes towards the Jian. She swallowed as she swiftly stepped on the side without making any noise.

"I should kill him," Althea whispered with a determined voice.

Qing Long smelled and heard the scuffle as he closed his eyes tightly. He knew that Althea was picking up the sword from the side of the cave, and he knew that it could be another threat to his life. He gripped the comforter on his hand as he licked his lips. He controlled the fume of the smoke coming from his nose.

Althea picked it up, but she was astonished when she realized that it was heavy.

Qing Long sharply turned and yelled, "Why are you holding the Jian?!"

Althea was startled by the loud voice as the sword fell down on the dirty ground. She covered her mouth with her hands as the wintry breeze zoomed in the sight. The satin robes that she was wearing flowed through her ankles as Qing Long quickly turned around. He went out of the cave as he glanced curiously at the woman standing in front of him, with sunken eyes and pale lips due to coldness inside.

He puffed his cheeks at the same time as he picked up the Jian. Althea closed her eyes as she tilted her head to one side and grimaced, as she was waiting for the blow of the sword to cut through her neck. Qing Long widened his eyes through her strange actions as he placed the sheath of the sword on the other side.

He breathed exasperatedly and glimpsed at the darkness of the night through the mountains. He shook his head as he turned his heel around, but this time, to go down towards the Yangtze River. Althea opened her eyes as she swallowed and saw that Qing Long was going down the steep, rocky stairs towards the downside of the hill.

Althea was stunned in her place for a moment and decided to follow him. She doesn't want to stay inside the cave, it felt like a nightmare for her. Qing Long sensed that she was going down that steep steps, and he turned around.

Althea was startled by his sudden moves on the fourth step of the stairs that she caught off balance. Qing Long unclasped the sword from his hand and quickly stepped up to catch Althea.

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