Four Missing

There was a stir. The people forgot their own fears temporarily as they asked each other when was the last time they had seen him.

Xuxian put his hand on her arm. "We will look for him. Don't worry."

Zheng Ziyi nodded dazedly. "He didn't come back," she said confusedly. "I was waiting for him, all night. He didn't come back."

A voice piped up, shamefully. "He--he said he was going to the brothel when I met him leaving the village yesterday," said Guan Yuan, keeping his eyes on the ground. "Maybe--maybe that's why he hasn't come back yet--" His voice trailed away uncertainly.

There was a pause as eyes turned towards Ziyi. She swallowed hard. "Yes," she said at last. "I know. We--we had a big fight yesterday. Another one." The words, once they came, started to pour out from her in nervous relief. "We often fought, and he would often tell me he was going to the brothel, to end it. But I didn't take him seriously after a while. He doesn't really go all the time--how could he, when he doesn't have the money to? I've followed him before, and I know. Most of the time he just goes in and has a few drinks there, tries to feel good playing around with the women there. And then he comes back in the middle of the night and climbs into bed beside me as if nothing has happened."

She faltered. "He's done it before, of course. I know that too. But not this time. He couldn't possibly have the money to. He didn't have more than enough for a few drinks. He should be back by now. It doesn't make sense."

Her voice sounded like it was starting to lose control as she fell into repeating the last few words helplessly.

Xuxian drew a deep breath. "Don't worry, Madame Zheng. We'll look for him. Who else is missing?"

Suzhen reached out and caught hold of Madame Zheng's sleeve. "Sit," was all she said, but she pulled her down not ungently.

Something in her knew, somehow, that Zheng HaoRan was dead and would not come back anymore. She could not say how she knew it, but she only knew that it made sense to her. It would be a good thing for Madame Zheng, too. Yet, looking at her stricken face, Suzhen felt that she was feeling more grief than relief, and wondered at the complexity of human emotions.

Xuxian moved around, talking quietly and taking count. Now and then he crouched down to listen, pausing to place a hand on an arm, or to squeeze a shoulder briefly. There seemed to be something healing in his low voice, in the touch of his hands, which despite the blood staining them were steady and gentle.

He looked up. "Liang Guo. I'm going to go out to look if I can find anyone who's missing, or anyone else who needs help. You and Madame Liang stay here first to oversee things."

Suzhen got up quickly. "I'll go with you," she offered, catching his arm.

He glanced at her, anxiously, then unexpectedly nodded. "If it's not too much for you, Susu, I would be grateful to have you with me." Raising his voice, he turned to the rest. "Who else is able to help search?"

Yuanzheng and a few others got to their feet and followed as they went out of the door into the night once more. The light was slowly creeping across the sky now, and the shadows were fading away like a nightmare upon waking. The ruins looked different in the new light.

Xuxian reached out and drew the folds of her cloak more closely around her. "Are you all right?" was all he said.

She nodded silently. "How many people are we looking for?"

"Four. Zheng Haoran, Gu Liangwen, Qu XiuFang, and Fahai. We'll check the huts and the debris, in case there's still anyone inside, and if we still can't find them, the faces of the bodies. They need to be buried anyway. Careful! There's someone!"

They fell back as a pair of legs emerged under the beam as it rolled aside. Susu caught her breath sharply and hesitated, clutching the stick uncertainly with both hands. Was he dead? Was he a villager, or one of the bandits?

Dropping his stick, Xuxian hurried forward and caught hold of the legs, dragging the body out.

He turned the man over and checked the pulse under the jaw quickly, brows knitted in concentration. "He's still alive," he exclaimed, and took a moment to rub the soot off the face with his sleeve.

"It's Liangwen," Suzhen cried, recognizing the bird catcher. She waved at Yuanzheng and the others frantically. "We've found Liangwen!"

Xuxian was already examining him. "He's bleeding from his head, probably got hit by the falling beam," he said briefly as they came running up. "Get a plank to carry him on, in case he's got other broken bones."

He directed Yuanzheng and the others as they carefully eased Liangwen's unconscious body onto a plank of wood, his arms and legs sticking out woodenly like a doll's. It was a good thing the birdcatcher was a small man; if he had been any larger it would have been hard to move him. Xuxian hastily bandaged his head and motioned them to carry him back to the hut. "Come back and join us once you've passed him over to Madame Liang." he directed, and took up his stick once more.

Suzhen was already poking gingerly at a body lying facedown in the snow. She took hold of the sleeve and it flopped heavily as she turned it. Xuxian came past her and knelt by the body, checking the pulse. He drew a deep breath and stood up, shaking his head. "Dead," he said briefly. "But not one of us."

They stood looking soberly at it, then turned to move on. Suzhen raised her head as the first bird chirped. The early dawn was strangely beautiful; if you lifted your eyes high enough, high above all the ugliness on the ground, it was like any other day.

A voice startled them.

"Physician Xu."

A pause.

"And Madame Xu."

They turned at the same time to see a familiar figure appear out of the faint morning mist, tall and dark and upright against the white snow.

The monk had returned.