"Huh, are those others doing the same job over there?" Ermao suddenly craned his neck out of the cabin, delighted. "Look, two boats!"
Following his gaze, they indeed saw two small boats appearing far away across the lake, where they had seen no sign of anyone for over two hours. Each seemed to carry seven or eight people. The river had long since been cleared, so these were clearly boats dispatched by Wild Goose Dock as well.
A figure stood up on one of the distant boats and waved a flag toward them. They could not make it out clearly through the thin mist. Qiu Luo stood up and waved too.
Third Uncle had no intention of meeting them. Wild Goose Dock had instructed them to cover as broad an expanse of water as possible. Now that the three boats had sighted one another, they ought to steer apart.
But the flag on that boat kept waving, seemingly with considerable urgency. In high winds and rough waves, or when too far apart, boatmen customarily communicated this way. Qiu Luo realized they were not greeting him. He stared blankly at the movements, looking rather bewildered.
"...Go... go? What does 'go' mean?"
But the next moment, he was not the only one bewildered. Everyone looking that way felt as though they had blinked-the two small boats that had been behind the rain and mist a moment earlier suddenly vanished.
As though they had never appeared at all. The water was clear and round, the rain drifting slantwise through the air like threads. Third Uncle stopped rowing. Their boat slowly turned in place, thin mist swirling before their eyes. No carp surfaced to breathe, nor did any wild ducks flutter. There was only rain, quiet rain.
"Why... why are the reeds growing..." Zhao