4 Ch. 4: Ill-intentioned

The New Year's excitement had yet to wear off, with a few villagers still stubbornly sporting their red banners across the threshold of their homes. With the indulgent holiday spirit many people still had, the arrival of a traveling monk, which would usually harbor suspicions and mistrust amongst the populace, brought curiosity instead.

His late mother had told him that fortune-telling was a sham, a prop used by charlatans to swindle away your money and faith. She had been a devout believer in Buddhism, making a pilgrimage to Yonghe Temple in Jiangnan every year with her meager savings. However, something had driven him to walk to the little stand the monk had set up and throw down 3 copper coins for a palm reading.

The same uneasy chill he felt when the wizened monk had looked up at him and said those words, "A calamity. Very soon," the man felt it now as he watched the girl lackadaisically kick her legs around.

"Here," he said, unwrapping the worn, brown fur cloak he had on. It stank of stale meat, perhaps not properly tanned before it was turning into clothing. He tossed it haphazardously on the girl, finally blocking the sinful image from sight. The girl didn't answer and kept smiling foolishly and Xiao Peng frowned at him, but the man didn't pay him any mind. The two men had pursued her tracks because they had thought them to be the tracks of a large deer until the had stumbled upon her standing in the small stream of sunlight like a goddess.

The beautiful girl had stood there calmly as if they had just happened upon the scene, but the man's instincts, which had been honed from years of hunting in this neck of the woods, told him she was waiting. Waiting for what?

He didn't understand it, and he knew he didn't have the depth of mind to understand so he did not want to bring this woman along. But Xiao Peng, that starry-eyed fool, had rushed towards the girl so quickly before they even discussed the unusual matter. And so, unlike wise animals who lead by their nose rather than their eyes, the man could only watch the twosome become a threesome.

Surprisingly, the strange girl, or as Xiao Peng preferred to call her, his future wife, spoke first.

"Where are we?" she asked in a gentle voice, looking even more petite when covered in a cloak. It aroused Xiao Peng's desire to keep her and protect her.

He smiled indulgently at her, "This is the part of the woods that belongs to our village. We are south of Jiangnan, near the border."

"Belongs?" Meifeng asked.

"Yes, it is owned by our village. The village head keeps all the papers proving the ownership so we can hunt for game. I always bring back the most in our entire village." Xiao Peng cut in with a not-so-subtle brag.

Meifeng scrunched up her forehead in thought, the most vivid expression System had ever seen from her.

"Can you truly own a forest?" she asked.

"Huh?" Xiao Peng and the other man said.

"You say you own the forest, but you can't. You don't own every leaf and every animal that roams these woods," Meifeng said matter of factly.

The two men were confused about the direction Meifeng was going with her point. "But we own the land all the animals live on and thus, we own them as well," the other man argued. Xiao Peng, who had never been to school and could not read even the simplest characters, just enjoyed the sound of his future wife's voice.

Meifeng giggled lightly, the sound like twinkling bells. "But if your village was invaded and everyone was slaughtered, it would not be your woods anymore, would it? It would be your conqueror's woods. Then, if the emperor cares enough about your little village, which he won't except for the fact that it is too close to Jiangnan for him to ignore, he might dispatch a general or two to reclaim the woods. But that time, it still wouldn't be your village's woods as the papers, as you said, would surely sit in someone else's hands by then."

The other man and System had already gone pale from her first sentence but Xiao Peng just nodded dumbly with a silly smile.

"Master, this..." System started nervously, afraid that Meifeng would rile up these large poachers and get herself hurt. The other man gave her an unfriendly look, clearly not appreciating her example.

"Well it's ours anyways," Xiao Peng said loudly, cutting the tension at the moment with his thoughtless response.

Meifeng smiled mysteriously, making the hairs on the back of the other man's rise. "Nothing is ever truly 'yours'. Even when it seems to be within your grasp," she finished, her eyes trailing away to signify the end of the short conversation.

Xiao Peng's companion thought she was talking about how Xiao Peng had unceremoniously picked her up. But Meifeng had not been speaking to him.

Day slowly switched to night as the ox cart came to a halt and the two men jumped off to start setting camp. At the edge of the starless sky where the earth met the sky, a small village was visible. The small dots of fire from torches lit by villagers could be seen from the woods, which was uphill of the village and overlooked the snowy valley the people inhabited. Both Xiao Peng and his friend looked longingly at their home as they unlatched the horse from the cart and tied it to a tree.

"Set the traps, Xiao Peng," the other man ordered, vigorously digging through the snow for the wet earth beneath, where began to stoke a fire.

Xiao Peng grunted in response and stomped off in the darkness, leaving the two alone.

Meifeng avidly watched the man create a fire, a fascinating process. After clearing the snow to reveal wet dirt beneath, the man returned to his cart, reaching past the stinking pile of long-deceased game for a water slick tarp that revealed chopped wood within it. The store was clearly depleted, as he took the last pieces of dry wood and set them in the middle of the snow circle, a block of flint sparking until one of the kindling took the flame.

Before long, a roaring fire steamed in the middle and Meifeng watched the man visibly relax, drawing close to the flame with outstretched ice chapped hands. He looked up at Meifeng, who was seated on a rock not far away, neither too close nor too far from the fire.

"Girl," he said rudely, "Who are you? Where are you from?"

Now that Xiao Peng was no longer present, his constraints had become undone and the dam holding all his suspicions back flooded out. A beautiful woman in the forest, he could see nothing good come from that situation. She was too lovely and too pale, an untouched, unsullied flower that could only be found in the furthest reaches of a meadow. Even just seated on a short boulder wrapped in his ragged fur cloak, her small pink feet temptingly peeked out below and her uncombed strands of black hair were only slightly unkempt as if someone had run their fingers through it.

He feared she could be the lost daughter of a noble family or the concubine of a wealthy merchant. His sister had once worked for the local magistrate in her youth and had long told him the harsh justice inflicted within noble homes. Regardless of which option this girl came from, the brunt of such a mistake was not one neither he nor Xiao Peng, and maybe even their rural village, could bear. But he knew that convincing his big friend of that would be an impossible task.

"Me?" Meifeng started sweetly, dragging her big toe through the snow slowly as she watched his glaring eyes subtly follow the action. "I can't remember."

The man looked incredulous. "Really? You forgot?" His misgivings grew larger.

"Listen, if you run away now, I'll make sure Xiao Peng doesn't follow you," the man promised.

In truth, he was lying.

"Any man who makes a cuckold of the lord..." his older sister had said dramatically, before trailing off and dragging a finger across her neck. "And since it was his favorite concubine who had made him wear a green hat he took care of both her and the adulterer's family!"

He couldn't let this girl live. Lest she brought back news of him and Xiao Peng and sentenced them to death. Drawing in a shuddering breath, the man struggled to liken the girl to a wild pig or deer, hardening his heart in an instant. He would have to assuage his conscience by burying her well. Unconsciously, his hand brushed by the inconspicuous wood crossbow hung on his waist, his most expensive and useful investment. Meifeng naturally noticed this movement and smiled wider.

"But I'm hungry," Meifeng said sullenly, enjoying the disappointment that flashed through the man's eyes before he covered it up.

"Oh. Then I'll definitely help you once Xiao Peng falls asleep tonight," he replied after a beat, surprised at the unexpected response. Any other rational woman would have thanked him generously before running away as quickly as possible. He once again questioned her mental faculties once more, appearing more at ease as he began to pull food out of knapsack.

The two people, having reached an agreement, resided in comfortable silence for an hour, until a sweaty Xiao Peng returned with his sleeves rolled up and looking relatively unaffected by the cold.

"It's done," he said in between gasps of air, taking a generous swig from the calfskin flask, "the traps been dug. Any animals that try to creep up on us tonight will be in for a surprise!"

He tossed a dingy shovel to the side and took the buns in his friend's outstretched hand, devouring them in an instant.

"Girl, are you comfortable? Is there anything you need?" he asked, remembering the beauty that he had found in the woods.

Watching her nod pleasantly in return sent an excited shiver through in as Xiao Peng thought of the wedding night to come. He could hardly wait to have the most beautiful wife in the village. After that, every man who had laughed at him after the matchmaker returned for the hundredth time empty-handed would spend their days drinking vinegar at his luck.

"Master," System wailed, "I don't like the energy of these men. As soon as they fall asleep we should run!"

"Run? The moment I step away from the campfire is the minute I get an arrow in my back," Meifeng said cheerfully, her tone at odds with her words.

System let out a loud gasp. "What?"

"Mhmm," Meifeng said quietly, not keen on whispering excessively with System while in the presence of others.

"Master what will you do?" System cried. Meifeng just inspected her fingernails, picking out the minuscule amount of dirt, meat, and scum that had managed to accumulate over the past few days.

"Master? Master!" System repeated, not understanding that its' beloved Master was ignoring it. Meifeng found herself disappointed by her pet again. Did it really find her so incompetent to meet her end by the hands of ruffians?