When Zhang Siyu returned, the moonlight stretched her shadow long behind her.
Her backpack held the wooden sword and a shriveled wild fruit.
But her steps were much lighter than when she had arrived.
She pushed open the courtyard gate of the Mountain God Temple. Wen Ning was still sitting beneath the Old Pagoda Tree, with Xiong Batian squatting beside him. The two were still chatting.
Seeing Zhang Siyu return, Xiong Batian raised his thick arm and waved at her.
"Where did you run off to? It's dark in the mountains at night. Weren't you afraid you'd fall?"
Zhang Siyu sat down on the steps beside him and stayed silent for a long while before speaking.
"I met a little girl on Back Mountain. Her name is Carp, and she's a carp spirit. She said she was waiting for someone by Pond. She's been waiting for a very, very long time."
The smile slowly faded from Xiong Batian's face.
Watching his reaction, Zhang Siyu began to understand.
"You know her too?"
Zhang Siyu looked at Xiong Batian as she asked.
Xiong Batian was silent for a moment, then nodded.
"Who in these mountains doesn't know Carp?"
"How long has she been waiting?"
Zhang Siyu asked.
Instead of answering, Xiong Batian glanced at the Hedgehog Spirit beside him.
The Hedgehog Spirit squatted on the steps.
"She was already waiting there when his grandfather's grandfather was still alive. His grandfather's grandfather has been gone for hundreds of years, and she's still waiting. Three hundred years, at least."
Zhang Siyu had known Carp had been waiting a long time, but "a long time" was a vague phrase.
Three hundred years was more than a long time. It was over three thousand full moons, a hollow worn into the stone beside Pond from sitting