A long saber barred the way before the stone gate.
Chen Xiuyuan stopped and steadied the hand supporting Elder Shi. The man holding the saber stood half a head taller than him, with a beast hide draped over his shoulders and an old scar slanting across his chest into his collar.
The man looked at him first, then at Elder Shi.
"Why are you only getting back now?"
"Took a bit of a detour."
"The patrol went to the herb slope last night. They didn't find you."
Elder Shi raised the muddy tip of his staff and pointed toward the mountain pass they had come from.
"Rested in the old shelter for half the night. Help me take the basket inside first. The roots are still wet. If they spoil from being cooped up, the whole trip will have been for nothing."
Someone nearby answered and stepped forward. Chen Xiuyuan took off the herb basket. His shoulders lightened, but his body swayed.
The man sheathed his saber and reached out to support his upper arm.
That hand was thick and warm. As its five fingers closed around him, half of Chen Xiuyuan's body was steadied.
"Where are you hurt?"
"My calf. My hands are scraped too."
"I saw that. Anywhere else?"
Chen Xiuyuan shook his head.
The man released him, his gaze falling on Chen Xiuyuan's clothes and reporting bag.
"Name. Where you're from."
"Chen Xiuyuan."
After giving his name, he continued, "I came from very far away. I was traveling through the mountains with my companions when the path collapsed. When I woke up, I was on that rocky slope over there. I can't find the old route anymore."
"Which tribe?"
"I don't belong to any tribe here."
The man frowned.
A gatekeeper beside him moved into the middle of the road, blocking the way. Chen Xiuyuan could only put down his bag and pull open its already broken opening. If he made up another place name and they kept questioning him, he still would not be able to answer.
"Everything's here. If you want to look, you can. Elder Shi lent me the knife."
The broken camera, old notebook, and voice recorder with half its casing missing lay scattered inside the bag.
The man reached out and leafed through the notebook. He saw the writing inside, then glanced at the fresh wounds on the backs of Chen Xiuyuan's hands.
"Were there others with you?"
"Yes. One was called Qin Chuan."
"Dressed much like you?"
"Yes. His backpack was black. He was still ahead of me before the accident. Please keep an eye out for him."
The man put the notebook back and turned to instruct the gatekeepers to bring anyone matching that description back to the tribe if the mountain patrol encountered them.
Chen Xiuyuan hurriedly thanked him.
"We don't know whether we'll find him."
"Just being willing to keep an eye out is enough."
The man looked back at Elder Shi. A question was on his lips, but before he could ask it, a shout suddenly came from outside the stone gate.
"Make some room! His hand's hurt!"
Several people hurried over carrying a rough wooden stretcher. One of them had his right hand wrapped in beast hide, the blood already soaking through the fur. The young man walking beside them carried a bow over his shoulder and a saber at his waist, his forehead covered in sweat.
The moment he saw Elder Shi, he quickened his pace.
"Elder Shi, look at this first."
"How did it happen?"
"He got dragged down while gathering the hunting net. His hand went into a crack between the rocks."
Elder Shi extended two fingers and lightly touched the injured man's wrist through the fur. His expression darkened.
"To the medicine shed. Shi Lei, support his arm. Don't let it swing about."
The young man named Shi Lei took the arm and turned to walk through the stone gate.
Chen Xiuyuan instinctively started to follow, but the man who had held the saber raised an arm to stop him.
"You stay here for now."
Elder Shi had already crossed the threshold. He turned back.
"Qiren, let him bring the basket. I taught him a little bandaging last night. He can help."
The man hesitated briefly, then stepped aside.
"Follow him. Don't wander off."
Chen Xiuyuan hoisted the herb basket onto his back again and hurried after them.
Beyond the stone gate lay a firmly trodden dirt road, with stone houses of varying heights staggered along both sides and beast hides and split firewood drying beneath their eaves. In the distance, people were practicing with weapons, the clack of wooden poles striking one another coming faster and faster, but he had no time to look closely. Following the stretcher, he turned into a thatch-roofed medicine shed.
The smell of herbs was strong inside.
Elder Shi had the injured man sit on a low stool, then unwrapped the beast hide himself. Chen Xiuyuan caught only a glimpse of the gaping wound before turning to find the earthenware basin and roll of cloth the old man pointed toward.
"Not that roll. It's been on the ground."
He withdrew his hand and took a roll hanging from a beam instead.
Shi Lei half crouched, supporting the injured man's arm. As Elder Shi treated the wound, the man went rigid all over and tried several times to pull his hand away. Shi Lei spoke softly to him, asking where the others had dragged the prey.
Chen Xiuyuan held the basin and passed things over as the old man instructed him, one item at a time.
There were several medicines he did not recognize at all. His outstretched hand stopped at the rim of a jar, and he dared not decide for himself. Elder Shi did not hurry him either. Only after the old man made clear which jar he meant did he bring it over.
Chen Xiuyuan carefully memorized the jars Elder Shi had pointed out and moved aside the few they had not yet used, so he would not grab the wrong one in the rush.
Once the old man had applied the medicine, the roll of cloth was passed into his hands.
"Here, you wrap it. I'll watch."
The injured man raised his head to look at him.
"Who's he?"
"Someone I brought back," Elder Shi said. "I've taught him how to finish the knot, and I'm watching this time too. Hold still for now."
Chen Xiuyuan crouched beside the stool, holding the roll of cloth.
The injured man's wrist was much thinner than his leg, and the wound was different too. He dared not wrap it exactly as he had his own wound. With every turn, he first looked for Elder Shi's signal and continued only after receiving permission.
But the finishing knot he had learned last night needed no fresh puzzling over.
His fingers looped around, the end of the cloth folded back, and he left the room the old man had told him to before securing it. By the end, he had neither pulled the knot tight into a dead knot out of nervousness nor left the outermost layer dangling loose.
Elder Shi took the arm and examined it carefully.
"Lift it."
The injured man tried raising his hand.
"It's not slipping anymore," he said hoarsely.
Only then did Shi Lei release the arm he had been supporting all this time. He stood and shook out his own arms.
"Better than my wrapping. I was afraid of binding him too tightly just now, so I loosened it twice."
Chen Xiuyuan committed to memory the two places where Elder Shi had just indicated the proper tightness, then hung the remaining roll of cloth back up high. The next time he bandaged a wrist, he would not have to ask from the very first turn.
"Elder Shi taught me."
"Only last night."
The old man added those words, then sat down nearby, leaning on his staff. The sweat on his forehead had not yet dried, and his right leg had already stiffened so much he could barely bend it.
Chen Xiuyuan brought over a low stool for him to rest his leg on.
Footsteps sounded at the entrance, and Shi Qiren, who had questioned him earlier, walked in. He first checked on the injured man and, only after Elder Shi said his condition was stable for the time being, turned to Chen Xiuyuan.
"Come outside with me for a moment."
Chen Xiuyuan put down what he was holding and followed him out of the shed.
Morning light fell across the stone rooftops. In the distance, several children passed the junction carrying a bundle of firewood longer than they were tall. At the sight of Chen Xiuyuan's clothes, they looked back curiously, and the firewood nearly struck a doorframe beside them.
Shi Qiren called out a reminder before the children looked back at the road.
"There's still room in Elder Shi's house. You can stay there for now."
Chen Xiuyuan looked at him.
"Only temporarily. Once the mountain patrol returns, we'll still have to verify where you came from. Let someone know before coming or going, and don't go into the mountains by yourself."
"All right."
"Your injuries haven't healed, so there's no hurry to do heavy work. If you can help in the medicine shed, learn from him. For now, take your share of food from Elder Shi."
The last sentence made Chen Xiuyuan pause.
Inside the shed, Elder Shi was using his wooden staff to push a clump of old cloth that had fallen on the ground into an earthenware basin. Noticing Chen Xiuyuan looking over, the old man lifted his chin, signaling him to answer first.
Chen Xiuyuan turned his gaze back.
"I'll find work I can do as soon as possible."
Shi Qiren did not praise him. He merely acknowledged him and prepared to leave.
"There's one more thing I'd like to ask you."
"Go ahead."
"What place is this, exactly? Beyond the Bloodstone Tribe, what is this land called?"
Shi Qiren gave him a somewhat odd look.
"The Xuanhuang Continent."
Chen Xiuyuan stood at the entrance to the medicine shed and waited a while before realizing that no place name he recognized would follow.
The Xuanhuang Continent.
He wrote "Xuanhuang Continent" in his notebook, then noted Blood Stone, Elder Shi, and Shi Qiren beside it in turn. As he wrote, he instinctively wanted to mark a direction for the journey home, but could only leave it blank.
"Let your leg heal first," Shi Qiren said. "If there's news from the mountain pass, someone will call you."
Chen Xiuyuan closed the notebook and thanked him.
That afternoon, the injured man was helped away by his companions, and the medicine shed gradually emptied. As Chen Xiuyuan put the used utensils back in place, someone outside suddenly called for Elder Shi and brought over a basket of portioned meat.
The newcomer was a young man with his sleeves rolled high, grease on his arms, and a knife at his waist wiped clean down to the handle.
He set the meat beside Elder Shi and looked at Chen Xiuyuan.
"You're the newcomer?"
"Chen Xiuyuan."
"Shi Yuan." The young man pointed at himself, then at the basket. "Elder Shi said you're looking for work. Will you be able to stand tomorrow?"