Mountain prison
Jiushu laid down obediently in the cart as they dragged her off to the local village sheriff.
It seems the village is bigger than she has imagined. There is actually a sheriff's office. Obviously, it's nothing compared to the giant historical monuments she has seen in the modern times, but a small stone building, surrounded by poles bearing flags, warding off a pretty big area. A stand with wooden staff is to one side, and four rough men with rough wooden spears stood on either side of a fat man, in an official looking uniform.
It's obviously lacking a lot compared to the spick and span sets that depict ancient courts in dramas. It looked more like a bandit's lair mixed with the sheriff's office in eighties' dramas.
Jiushu is calm. After all, if push comes to shove, she could always escape into her bangle.
"What's your name?" the man with the top hat asked her.
"Fan Bing Bing." jiushu answered.
"Fan Bing Bing, you are accused of selling rice in the village without a trade permit." the official accused her.
There is only one woman she sold rice to with the coin. Worst case, the woman is already prepared to trap her, best case, she has been coerced into becoming a solid witness. Regardless of which it is, Jiushu can't escape. She decided to go to prison. After all, she has the bangle, and she thought she could easily escape from prison with the help of her space.
"I did, but I did not know one needs to have a trade permit to trade in villages." she answered.
Her calm attitude seems to have pissed off the official.
"You are fined twenty silvers. You can pay in corresponding goods. Or twenty years in prison." the official sentenced her.
Jiushu already knew this is a farce trial, so no point in begging for mercy and such.
"You wench.. You have no respect for this official, do you? Or you think you can escape from the prison? Let me tell you, only in your dreams. Guards! Tie her up and throw her in the mountain prison. Don't give her anything to eat or drink for seven days." the official ordered them.
"The man with her.." the woman reminded him from the side.
"We will find him sooner or later. He is lame, is he not? How far can he go?" the official grumbled.
They will have some tough time searching for uncle fa.
She was brought by guards up a mountain path.
The path is long and winding, the mountain is very tall, with the winding path going almost all the way up. It looks like it will make an olympic difficulty ski course in winter. She is poked and prodded all the way up. By the time she has reached the top, her legs felt like lead, and her feet are tingling with the effort of such a hike. The guards looked no better. They walked into a cave on the top, which is long and winding.
Once through the cave, they came to a dark hole, which has a pulley system and a bucket attached to it. They went down the hole with a lot of creeks. Jiushu suddenly felt like she may have bitten off more than she could chew. This has the trappings of super secret political prison written all over it. How could she know such a super secure prison exists in a rural little village?
Or is it more of the rural village that existed because of super secret state prison? Damn.. if it is like this, she would have paid off the fine. However, she could not do that now. The official looked very greedy and cruel, and if she were to go back and say she would pay, he probably would make her pay and throw her in prison.
When the bucket almost reached the bottom, the two guards slinked off each to one side. They put their feet on the little iron buttons on both sides of jiushu, and with their feet, they pulled them back. The ground disappeared under Jiushu, she fell down with plop into the mud. Even if her reaction speed is fast, she could never have gotten into her space at this rate.
It looked like it was a mining tunnel in front of her. It is lit by lights that look very much like electric lights, only, their power is far better. Jiushu's eyes met with the eyes of miners. They seemed like hungry ghosts. No wonder the magistrate thought seven days here will break her.
"Don't come close." Jiushu warned them.
She scrambled back in the mud, towards a wall. She could definitely enter her bangle, but she didn't want to in front of these people.
They looked like they would immediately tattle on her to get out of this place, and once that happens, she could find herself an eternal prisoner.
Jiushu is not unaware of what might happen to pretty little girls in the prisons.
Ancient or modern, some things do not change.
She scrambled back in fear. Despite having power, she is not omnipotent.
"Back." A giant figure stood in front of her, lifting a man with a single hand, and throwing him away.
The men grumbled at him, called him a stuck up bastard and such .. but they backed off.
Jiushu stood up with some effort, and followed the man like a little duckling.
If nothing else, the man seemed to have at least half way good morals, and an outsider. He looked like a man with a den, so at the very least, she could get to an isolated area to disappear into her space.
After she had crossed three lights, the man turned around and glared at her.
Jisshu is shocked to see he is a foreigner, with blond hair and blue eyes and all. That explained the stature. The man is built sturdy the way all foreigners are, and she bet even among foreigners, he will be considered tall. On top of that, he is very handsome. Well, may be not as handsome as Brad Pitt, enough to make a girl take a second look.
"Stop following me." He hissed at her.
Jiushu was still processing his looks, thus stood there dumbly.
"Back.." he said in chinese.. It seems to be the only word he knows.
He turned and walked, Jiushu stood there for a moment before coming to her senses, ran to join him up.
The man turned back to her.
"Stop Following." the man said to her again.
"Back . Back! Back!" he repeated, as he pointed towards the other side.
Jiushu lifted her hands.
"Untie the ropes, please." she asked in her accented english.
The man was shocked silly for a moment.
"Untie… Cut.. help!? " Jiushu said, putting her hands up to him.
The man slowly recovered, and tried to undo Jiushu's bindings.
"You speak english?" he asked surprisedly.
"Very little. Can't understand fast speak.." Jiu shu tried to explain in her broken english.
Given she is a college student, and a science one at that, she can understand english well. Only, she never had the opportunity to speak it, so, her speech is very awkward.
Even so, the man seemed very surprised. He untied the ropes on her hand, then untied her feet.
"I am William. '' he introduced himself.
"Nice to meet you, William." Jiushu offered her hand.
The man looked surprised, but instead of shaking it, he kissed her hand on the top.
Jiushu blushed.
It's an obvious reaction, given her experience with men is minuscule, and william is surprisingly gallant and elegant.
"I want secret place. I will pay food. Deal? " Jiushu asked again in her broken english.
"Food? No, little girl. Keep it to yourself. They give very little here, I am afraid you will die without it. Even if it's infested with maggots, it's better to eat it than starve." William advised her.
Jiushu shook her head.
"No. Good food. With out maggots. I will pay food, not guards." Jiushu tried to convey her meaning, but it doesn't seem to be going across very well.
She could indeed retrieve some food to give him right now. Jiushu looked around. Far too many eyes. Far too many greedy eyes at that.
"Secret place first." Jiushu told him.
William has followed her actions. He sighed as he came to understand her need for a secret place, and willingness to exchange food.
"Very well. Forgive me for my rudeness." he said.
Jiushu was still wondering what about, when he picked her up in princess carry, ran like wind.
She is not kidding, for he literally ran like wind, and the surroundings swirled around her like when she was in a subway. After what felt like forever, but probably only five minutes, he put Jiushu down.
Jiushu fell down on her knees and vomited. What the fuck? She understood this is a world where superpowers are real, but damn.. What is he ? a human train? ..
She puked down all the breakfast, just as she was dry heaving, sunlight filled the room.
She retrieved a pot of water, and rinsed her mouth, before staring at the light source.
"What is that?" she asked, pointing to the light source.
"Sunlight stone." William answered.
Then he spread his hands wide, and gestured to the alcove they were in. It's fairly big.
"Secret place. What do you think ?" he said, looking at Jiushu like he is looking at a little girl.
Jiushu suddenly remembered what they were taught in the future. Foreigners could not tell ages of orientals correctly. Most of the time, their age estimates are very very wrong. He probably thought she was a very young girl.
"Your food." Jiushu said, retrieving a handful of cucumbers from her place.
William looked at her in surprise.
"No wonder you are so confident you can survive in a secret place." the man said, taking the cucumbers from her.
"Thank you." he said, before he bit one of the cucumbers.
He moaned at the taste. It seems they really have been feeding the miners with supremely bad food.
He polished off the cucumbers in a few minutes.
Jiushu thought for a moment, then gave him a pot of water.
He drank like a man dying of thirst.
"Little girl, Anything I can get is yours as long as you sell me that food. Deal?" he asked, proffering his hand.
"Deal." Jiushu accepted.
"Wait a moment." William told her.
He scrambled inside his pants, and retrieved a gold orb. He opened it, offered it to Jiushu.
"What is it?" she asked.
"Promise keeper. I am a trader, and if you want to buy or sell to me, you need to promise to be honest on your end of the deal." he told her.
She wondered how he was able to hide such an expensive looking item all the way here. She is a little apprehensive, but given he helped her from a very bad situation now, she is happy to oblige him.
She placed her hand on the orb.
Do you wish to join and trade with Eastern Trading Company? [ Yes ][ No ] ?
Jiushu is all too happy to choose yes.