Shi Lei found a jutting rock ledge around the bend, with room for three people to crouch beneath it. He sent Auntie Sang in first, then went back toward the mouth of the gully and listened for a moment before signaling Chen Xiuyuan to help Ge Ping over.
"Quickly. The ones taking the long way around aren't here yet."
Ge Ping jarred his wound as he sat down, turning his head aside in pain. Chen Xiuyuan steadied him, took out all the wound medicine and dry cloth tucked inside his clothes, and handed them straight to Auntie Sang.
"Elder Shi gave me these."
"Your wound still needs a fresh dressing."
"Use them first."
Chen Xiuyuan lifted the soaking sleeve away from Ge Ping's arm. The wound ran diagonally across his left upper arm, already rubbed red and swollen by the fabric. After examining it, Auntie Sang gestured for him to support Ge Ping's elbow, then dipped a clean corner of cloth in water and wiped the mud from around the wound.
Ge Ping kept his teeth clenched on his collar, only letting go after Auntie Sang applied the medicine.
"How much longer?"
"We'll leave once it's wrapped."
He murmured his agreement and looked beyond the ledge again. Shi Duo stood in the rain with his back to them, his long saber hanging from his right hand, his left shoulder noticeably lower. When he had tucked the thick rope into his belt earlier, even raising his left arm had been a struggle.
Ge Ping drew his gaze back and said quietly to Chen Xiuyuan, "If they catch up, you go on ahead."
Chen Xiuyuan was supporting his hand. He looked up at that.
"Can you walk now?"
"Yes. Just slowly."
"Then I'll help you."
"Then we'll both be slow."
Chen Xiuyuan pulled over the end of the cloth and pressed it where Auntie Sang indicated. Only after she had tied the other end did he speak. "When I was climbing down just now, you didn't let go of the rope either."
Ge Ping opened his mouth but could not find anything to say.
"Keep your hand here. Don't let it hang down again." Auntie Sang supported his left forearm in front of his body. "Elder Shi will still need to look at it when we get back. Try not to knock it on the way."
After finishing the bandage, she kept pressure on it a little longer. The bloodstain on the outer layer did not spread any further. Ge Ping used Chen Xiuyuan's arm to stand and tried taking two steps. Without having to clutch his sleeve as he walked, his footing really was steadier.
Shi Lei returned and checked everything they were carrying again. He gave the small basket to Auntie Sang and fastened the waterskin behind her waist as well. Ge Ping kept only the dry-ration bag inside his clothes, while Chen Xiuyuan freed his right hand to support his uninjured side.
Shi Duo brought up the rear with his saber in hand. Passing the ledge, he spotted the bloodstained scraps of cloth on the ground, bent to pick them up, and stuffed them into the rain-soaked bundle of waste cloth.
"Don't leave these behind," he said.
The rain grew steadily heavier, filling the rocky gully with its clatter.
Chen Xiuyuan supported Ge Ping as they followed Auntie Sang. At the fork, he saw Shi Lei head left alone. Shi Lei deliberately stepped into a patch of wet mud, crushed several stalks of grass, then swept his scabbard twice beside the bushes, leaving obvious signs of passage.
After going a short distance, Shi Lei retraced his own footprints onto solid rock, scrubbed the mud from his soles in the running water, and pointed right.
"This way. Step on the stones. Don't touch the grass."
Only then did Chen Xiuyuan make out another old path on the right, its entrance hidden behind hanging vines. Stones protruding from the ground led toward the back, allowing them to skirt the mud.
They crossed one after another. Ge Ping's legs weakened, and he nearly knocked over a dead branch beside the path. Chen Xiuyuan pulled him closer, painfully compressing his injured leg. Both of them swayed before finally steadying themselves.
After a short stretch, Ge Ping began bracing himself against the rock wall rather than resting all his weight on Chen Xiuyuan's shoulder.
"I know this place," he panted. "There's a low ledge farther in."
Chen Xiuyuan nodded. "Take it slowly."
Ahead, through the curtain of rain, Auntie Sang bent beneath a low branch, her retreating figure already difficult to make out. Shi Lei scouted farther ahead, occasionally stopping to let them catch up. Shi Duo followed a few paces behind as rearguard, without urging them on.
Before long, voices came from the fork behind them.
"There are footprints this way."
Chen Xiuyuan went rigid, and Ge Ping stopped too. Shi Duo pressed a hand downward, signaling them to crouch behind a rock.
Through the rain, they heard branches being kicked aside. Someone cursed at the fork, and footsteps headed left, clear at first before gradually being swallowed by the rain.
Shi Duo waited a little longer before letting them rise.
"Move. Don't think we've shaken them off."
Chen Xiuyuan helped Ge Ping up and looked down beside his feet. The blood that had stained his clothes earlier washed into a faint red thread in the rain, quickly dispersing into the cracks between the rocks. The rain had helped them, but it had also made every stone slippery. If they hurried, they would fall.
Suddenly, Auntie Sang's voice came from ahead.
"Why has the water risen?"
The path had originally crossed a shallow ditch, but now muddy water filled it, sweeping broken branches downstream. Shi Lei picked up a stick and probed the water. Before it reached the bottom, the current pushed it sideways.
"The rain started earlier up above," he said.
Auntie Sang looked toward the opposite bank. The path lay just beyond the water. Ordinarily, they could have crossed on a few stepping stones.
"Cross somewhere else?" she asked.
Shi Lei shook his head. Downstream lay a narrow cleft where all the water squeezed through, roaring even more fiercely. He could try jumping, but Auntie Sang and Ge Ping could not make it. They could hardly leave anyone on this side.
Chen Xiuyuan glanced at the remaining rope at Shi Duo's waist. Shi Duo pulled out the end, gauged the distance, and shook his head. "It won't reach the tree on the other bank."
Leaning against the rock wall, Ge Ping suddenly asked Auntie Sang, "Is the stone bridge by the old kiln still there?"
Auntie Sang paused, then looked up to the right.
"The route you took last year?"
"I took it this spring too. Head up from here and pass two fallen trees, and you can go around behind the kiln. The stone bridge is high. The water won't reach it."
Shi Lei immediately asked for directions.
Ge Ping gestured against the rock wall with his right hand. "Follow the crack upward, then turn right at that bare tree. Don't go into the kiln. Its roof collapsed long ago."
"Wait for me."
Shi Lei took off his bow, which would hinder him in the tight spaces, and handed it to Shi Duo. He climbed the rocky slope to the side and soon disappeared behind the trees. Ge Ping watched him, his lips moving slightly, as though recalling any other difficult stretches.
Chen Xiuyuan helped him lean more comfortably, still supporting him without speaking.
Without Ge Ping, they would probably have had to follow the water in search of a route. The one who had kept worrying about holding the group back knew more paths than they did.
When Shi Lei returned, the rain had plastered his hair loose across his forehead.
"It's passable. Narrower up there, but there are handholds."
He took over supporting Ge Ping from Chen Xiuyuan and had Auntie Sang lead Chen Xiuyuan up the slope. Shi Duo stayed to watch the way they had come, following only after all four had reached a higher stretch.
The stone bridge Ge Ping had mentioned was a broad ridge of rock spanning the top of the gully, one end joined to the mountainside and the other disappearing beneath the roots of an old tree. Bracing their hands against the rock, they crossed slowly. Water still roared below their feet, but their footing was solid.
Beyond the stone bridge, the old charcoal kiln stood behind the slope.
The kiln entrance was dark, and a great hole had collapsed in its roof, letting the rain pour inside. Auntie Sang did not lead them in. Instead, she went around behind a waist-high stone wall outside and had Ge Ping sit beside some tree roots that offered shelter from the rain.
Shi Duo leaned against the corner of the wall, guarding the path to the stone bridge. Shi Lei checked the other two entrances, then returned and told them quietly that he could no longer hear voices below. They could stop for a while.
Only then did Chen Xiuyuan release Ge Ping's arm.
His right hand was so numb he could barely grip his saber hilt. Resting both hands on his knees, he bent over and panted for a long while before noticing Auntie Sang was also leaning against the wall, catching her breath. Not one of the five could speak immediately.
Water dripped from the leaves, drop by drop.
Ge Ping lowered his head to inspect his wounded arm. The outer cloth was wet, but blood was no longer seeping through in large patches. Slowly, he reached inside his clothes and took out the dry-ration bag tied with red string.
"It's dry inside," he said.
He opened the bag. The few flatbreads inside had been crushed out of shape, but their edges were still dry. Ge Ping broke off a small piece and handed the rest to Auntie Sang. She broke off another piece, and the bag passed along the stone wall before finally returning to his hands.
Chen Xiuyuan ate very slowly. Coarse, hard grain husks had been mixed into the flatbread. Only after swallowing did he realize how desperately hungry he was. From the bridgehead all the way here, he had not noticed.
Looking at the remaining half of a flatbread, Ge Ping suddenly smiled.
"This morning, I complained that she'd packed too much."
"Tell her that yourself when we get back," Auntie Sang said.
Ge Ping murmured his agreement, tied the red string again, and carefully tucked the bag inside his clothes.
Chen Xiuyuan lowered his eyes and swallowed the bread in his mouth. He too remembered the dining table at home, and how his mother always stuffed things into his bag whenever he went out. Back then, he had found it a nuisance, often discovering them only after boarding the vehicle.
He felt for the medicinal-herb identification booklet inside his robe. The oilcloth was still there, and the pages had not soaked through.
The people here had somewhere to return to, someone waiting for them. He still had no idea where his own path lay.
Shi Duo shifted position at the corner of the wall, frowning as soon as his left shoulder moved. Chen Xiuyuan came back to himself and handed him the remaining piece of dry cloth, pointing at his forehead.
"It's still bleeding."
Shi Duo took it and wiped his forehead. Seeing the blood on the cloth, he folded it and pressed it against the cut.
Chen Xiuyuan lowered his head to wipe his short saber. There was a tiny nick in its edge, probably from striking stone while cutting the rope. Shi Duo noticed and gestured for him to turn the blade toward him.
"Don't run your hand along it. A little sharpening when we get back will fix it. Wipe it dry first."
Chen Xiuyuan did as instructed, then asked, "That man earlier-did he know how to use a saber?"
"Yes."
"Could you beat him?"
Shi Duo glanced at him. "The fight wasn't over. Who knows?"
Chen Xiuyuan nodded and sheathed his short saber.
He had dared to cut the rope beneath the bridge. Yet when the two blades crossed at the edge of the gully, he could not even tell who had the upper hand. If Shi Duo had not held his ground, even with Auntie Sang landing first and Ge Ping being steadied, they might not have made it here.
Once they returned to Blood Stone, he would have to seek out Shi Lei and learn the saber.
The rain gradually eased. Shi Lei rose from beside the wall and looked toward the stone bridge again. After confirming there was no movement, he returned to check Ge Ping's wound and told everyone to rest a little longer before heading back while it was still early.
Chen Xiuyuan went to take the small basket from Auntie Sang. The medicinal roots had pushed aside the coarse cloth at the bottom, exposing a broken arrow through a gap. Its head was lodged deep in the rattan frame, and a bamboo strip beside it had split.
Instinctively, he reached out to remove the awkwardly protruding thing.
"Don't pull it out yet."
Shi Lei steadied the basket's rim, crouched, and examined the remaining arrow shaft.
"Take the basket back as it is. We can't just throw this arrow away."