Everyone looked bewildered. Were the blessings this man spoke of the same as the blessings delivered by the eerie beings earlier? How could they be a miracle cure? How could they possibly prolong life?
When he drew closer and they saw him clearly, horror crossed their faces, and they shrank back.
Li Qingxian studied the young man. His looks were unremarkable, his skin slightly pale. His uneven beard looked as though it had been cut with a sickle, and tiny flecks of grime clung to it.
He wore blue clothes washed almost white, with holes at the elbows and knees where fine cotton threads poked out.
The black character for "blessing" on his clothes had also largely worn away, its edges and corners missing.
His clothes hung loosely and did not fit him. The broken scabbard at his waist exposed a long saber mottled with rust.
His legs were clad only in tattered shorts. His exposed calves were unusually thick, thicker than his thighs. Brown bark covered his left calf, while his right resembled gray rock. Blood vessels were faintly visible amid the rock and bark.
His belly bulged, as though a large ball were hidden inside.
He walked stiffly and slowly, his belly swaying from side to side with a gurgling sound, like a bubbling ball of water.
Li Qingxian glanced again at the people nearby. They were sallow and emaciated, with disheveled hair and grimy faces. Their shabby clothes had been washed almost white, and none wore shoes.
Like the approaching man, all had strange-looking parts of their bodies.
One had two heads perched on his shoulders, another had a right hand swollen to three feet in length, and another had a ring of wild grass around his neck. Their deformities came in every shape and form.
No