Boundless desert.
Original translation by Moinllieon
The monks were crying because of the venerable monk Jiaomu’s death but some of them were still able to take care of the wounded by bandaging up their wounds and carrying them into the guest rooms.
Suddenly there came an incessant banging from the vat underneath the huge bell. Not knowing what kind of monster was present, the monks looked at each other with blank faces. Not knowing what to do started to chant the ‘Sutra of the High King’ [Gao Wang Jing]. But the banging continued through all the chants of ‘Help the Sufferers’ and ‘Amida Buddha’. Finally, a dozen or so of the more courageous monks pulled the huge bell back up again with a huge thick rope. As soon as they lifted the vat, a huge ball of meat came rolling out from underneath it. Scared beyond words, the monks scattered. That ball of meat suddenly stood up, it turned out to be Han Baoju. Being covered for the last half of the fight, he had no idea what had happened. Looking around, he noticed monk Jiaomu had died and all his sworn brothers were greatly injured and almost panicked. He walked over to Qiu Chuji and was about to strike down at his head with his ‘Golden Dragon Whip’.
“Third Brother, NO!” Quan Jinfa shouted.
“Why not?” Han Baoju demanded in anger.
“You… just can’t,” was all Quan Jinfa could get out because of the pain in his abdomen.
Even though both of his legs were wounded, Ke Zhen’E’s mind was still working fine. He took out the antidote for his poison and instructed the monks to give the right amounts to both Qiu Chuji and Han Xiaoying, all the while explaining what had happened to Han Baoju. Enraged, Han Baoju was about to go chasing after Duan Tiande when Ke Zhen’E shouted: “We’ll find that bastard sooner or later. First help those of your brothers who suffered internal injuries.”
Both Zhu Cong and Nan Xiren had suffered severe internal injuries and that kick to Quan Jinfa’s stomach was quite a blow too. Zhang Ahsheng’s collar bone was broken and his chest was hit as well, knocking him out temporarily. Once he woke up, it turned out he wasn’t in any mortal danger. He immediately began helping others in the temple.
The monks of the Fahua Monastery [Temple of Oriental Zen] sent a couple of errand runners to report the events to Abbot Kumu at the Yunlou Monastery [Cloudy Pavilion Temple] and also began to make funeral arrangements for the monk Jiaomu.
After several days, the poison in Qiu Chuji and Han Xiaoying’s body was eradicated. Being the medical expert that he was, Qiu Chuji immediately began combining herbs and treating Zhu Cong and others as well as massaging and snapping bones back into place. Luckily, everyone’s kung fu base was strong enough so that the internal as well as the external injuries were not serious. After several more days, everyone was able to sit up again. One day, all eight of them gathered in one of the monk’s rooms and reflected on how they were manipulated into fighting each other, resulting in the death of the monk Jiaomu and injuries to all parties. All of them were silent, not knowing what to say.
After a while, Han Xiaoying finally broke the silence: “Everyone knows about priest Qiu’s intelligence and wit, and the seven of us didn’t exactly begin wandering the world yesterday. Yet we were all manipulated into this by some little nobody. If this ever gets out, everyone in the martial world will laugh at us. Reverend, do you have any idea as to how to clean up this mess?”
Qiu Chuji had been blaming himself for the last couple of days, thinking that if only he had sat down and calmly talked with the monk Jiaomu then all of this could have been avoided. So, in deference, he turned to Ke Zhen’E: “Big Brother Ke, what do you say?”
Ke Zhen’E’s temper was bad to begin with; after his eyes were blinded it got even worse. The fact that Qiu Chuji himself brought down all seven of them combined was, in fact, what he considered to be one of the biggest embarrassments of his life. Coupled with the fact that the pain in his legs from the sword wound was still throbbing, he was barely able to hold back his indignation. He sneered and replied: “Priest Qiu uses his sword skills to take down anyone in his way and never needs to respect anyone. Why consult us over this matter?”
Qiu Chuji was taken aback for a moment, but immediately realized that he was still angry about the matter. He stood up, cupped his fist, and bowed to the Seven Freaks. “I was wrong in my actions; I was too rude and headstrong. This entire matter is entirely my fault and I ask you all for your forgiveness.”
Zhu Cong and the rest of the Freaks returned the gesture. Ke Zhen’E pretended not to notice and coldly replied: “I say the seven of us have lost all of our rights to meddle in the affairs of the martial world. We should settle down here, fishing, chopping wood, or whatever. As long as Priest Qiu does not come around again, we would at least be able to spend the rest of our lives in peace.”
Qiu Chuji blushed a little from that verbal slash. After a brief pause, he suddenly stood up and said: “Since I was at fault this time, I will never dare step into this area again. As for retribution for monk Jiaomu’s death, it will all fall on my shoulders and I will kill that bastard with my own hands and avenge him. Having said all that I need to say, it’s now time for me to leave.”
Qiu Chuji bowed towards everyone again and began to walk out.
“Stop!” Ke Zhen’E shouted.
Qiu Chuji turned around and said, “Does Big Brother Ke have something else to say?”
“You have injured all of us,” Ke Zhen’E replied, “and you expect all of this to just disappear because you said a couple of words?”
“Then what does Big Brother Ke want? As long as it is within my abilities I will try my best to do it.”
“We just can’t let this slide right now,” Ke Zhen’E answered, “so it would be nice if Reverend gives us something more.”
Although the Seven Freaks were all very righteous and moral individuals; they were also very proud and acted very strangely, making them well deserving the title of “Seven Freaks”. Each is a master of kung fu and they always worked together, so they had never come out on the short end of a struggle when going up against others in the martial world. Several years ago they got into a fight with the Huaiyang Clan; the seven of them killed over one hundred or so of the Huaiyang Clan members on the shores of the Yangtze. Back then Han Xiaoying was still a child, but she still managed to kill two foes. The name ‘Seven Freaks of the South’ became famous throughout the martial world. Defeat by the hands of Qiu Chuji did not go down very well with any of them. Add that to the fact that the monk Jiaomu, a good friend of the Freaks, died, one could argue, because of Qiu Chuji’s rashness. But there was still the fact that a woman WAS hidden inside the temple and she WAS the widow of Guo Xiaotian, as Qiu Chuji had claimed. This made the Freaks partly to blame; however, at this moment, the Freaks had forgotten about that.
“I was hit by your projectile,” Qiu Chuji replied. “And if it wasn’t for Big Brother Ke’s antidote, I would have been dead a long time ago. So for this fight, I wholeheartedly admit defeat.”
“If that’s the case,” Ke Zhen’E replied, “then leave that sword that you carry on your back and you can go.” He knew that if the two sides fought again at this time only the Han siblings would be able to put up a fight and that victory for his side was impossible. But all of the Freaks would rather die than to let the matter pass like this.
This angered Qiu Chuji greatly: “I have already given you people a lot of face and that should be enough. I also admitted defeat, what else do you want? The sword is for my protection,” he continued, “just like that staff Big Brother Ke carries around.”
“Are you poking fun at my blindness?” Ke Zhen’E shouted back.
“I dare not!”
“We are all injured right now, so it’s hard to actually fight at this moment.” Ke Zhen’E shouted angrily. “So I invite priest Qiu to come and duel with the seven of us a year from today at the Pavilion of the Drunken Immortal.”
Qiu Chuji frowned at that remark. He thought, “Because the Seven Freaks weren’t bad people, there was really no point in keeping this grudge going between us. The day after the Venerable Jiaomu died, Han Baoju could have killed me easily once he got out from underneath the bell. Besides, this whole matter was caused more or less by my own rashness. A real man knows what’s right and wrong. If he’s wrong then he should admit it. To sort all this out with the Freaks won’t be easy either.”
After thinking silently for a bit, an idea suddenly came to him, “If you really want to determine who is better between us, then we could do that,” he said. “But only according to the rules I lay down. Otherwise, I have already lost to Hero Zhu at the Pavilion of the Drunken Immortal, and I lost again fighting here in the temple. I have already lost twice and would inevitably lose the third time as well, there’s no point in going any further.”
Han Baoju, Han Xiaoying, and Zhang Ahsheng immediately stood up, the other four could not stand but all sat up as much as they could. They answered in unison: “When the Seven Freaks of the South duel with someone, we always let our opponent choose the time, place, and method.”
Seeing how competitive they were, Qiu Chuji smiled: “So I decide how we should fight no matter what?”
Figuring that no matter what dirty trick Qiu Chuji would come up with, it wouldn’t necessarily mean defeat for them, Zhu Cong and Quan Jinfa answered simultaneously: “That’s right!”
“A man’s word…” Qiu Chuji replied.
“… wild horses can’t bring back!” Han Xiaoying finished, but Ke Zhen’E remained silent.
[The saying “A man’s word can’t be brought back by wild horses” is a famous saying in China about keeping one’s word. When a person says it, it means that he will not go back on his word.]
“If you people feel that my way is unfair in any way,” Qiu Chuji continued, “then I will admit defeat right here and now.” Obviously planning to gain ground by giving up a little, he knew that the Freaks would never let him admit defeat that easily because of their competitiveness.
“There’s no need to play all these word games to anger us, just tell us what it is,” Ke Zhen’E replied, as expected.
Qiu Chuji sat down and began to explain: “The method I have in my mind might be a little bit dragged out, but what it really measures is abilities and skills and is susceptible to some temporary mishaps or conditions. Everyone knows any martial artist can fight with blades and fists. We all have names in the martial world and absolutely cannot stoop down to the level of lowly underlings.”
“What’s left to fight with if we can’t do it with blades or fists? Are we having a drinking contest again?” All of the Freaks wondered at that comment.
“This huge contest between us, you seven against me, will not only measure our kung fu skills, but also our will, determination, and wit. With this contest, we will see once and for all who the real hero is.”
\
This entire conversation had all of the Seven Freaks shaking in anticipation and excitement. “Stop stalling, tell us!” Han Xiaoying demanded. “The harder it is the better!”
“If we are competing meditating, making medicine, fortunetelling, or ghost-banishing, then we are no match for priest Qiu at all.” Zhu Cong said with a smile.
“And I don’t really want to compete with Second Brother Zhu in stealing chickens or taking sheep.” Qiu Chuji replied with a smile.
This caused a little bit of laughter from Han Xiaoying, who quickly went back to urging Qiu Chuji on: “Come on, say it!”
“At the very bottom of all of this and the misunderstanding that led to our fight, was saving the descendants of a couple of good men. This matter would be best ended in that way as well.” Qiu Chuji went on to tell how he met with Guo Xiaotian and Yang Tiexin all the way to how he pursued Duan Tiande to this temple. Throughout his entire explanation, the Freaks could not stop cursing the Jin as well as the Song government for its corruption.
After he finished the story, Qiu Chuji went on: “That woman that Duan Tiande dragged away was Guo Xiaotian’s widow, Madam Li. Other than Big Brother Ke and the Han siblings, I’m sure the other four of you saw them.”
“I remember her voice,” Ke Zhen’E interrupted, “I will never forget that voice!”
“Great.” Qiu Chuji continued, “As for Yang Tiexin’s widow, Mrs. Bao, there is no clue as to where she might be. I have seen her before, but you people haven’t. So what I propose we do is….”
“… the seven of us would go rescue Mrs. Li while you go save Mrs. Bao and that whoever succeeds wins. Right?” Han Xiaoying eagerly cut in.
Qiu Chuji smiled and replied: “Saving people, while definitely not easy, can’t really be used to determine who’s a hero and who’s not. What I have in mind is much harder and more troublesome.”
“So what are you suggesting?” Ke Zhen’E demanded.
“Both of the women are pregnant,” Qiu Chuji explained. “After we save them, we must make sure they settle down nicely and allow them to give birth. After that I will teach the Yang child while the seven of you teach the Guo child….”
The Seven Freaks were getting more and more amazed with every word that he said. They were practically mesmerized when Han Baoju cut in: “Then what?”
“After eighteen years, when the kids are both eighteen, all of us, as well as invited friends from all over the martial realm, shall gather at the Pavilion of the Drunken Immortal once again for a huge feast. Then, when we are all sufficiently full and merry, we’ll let the two kids duel to see whether it is my disciple who is better or is the disciple of the Seven Heroes really the best.”
The Seven Freaks stared at each other, completely speechless.
Qiu Chuji continued: “If the Seven Heroes fight me once more and defeat me, then it could easily be because you outnumber me; not much glory there. But if I pass all my kung fu to one person and you guys pass all of your kung fu to one person, then whichever one wins must mean that their master or masters were better.”
Filled with pride, Ke Zhen’E slammed his iron staff onto the floor: “Alright! That’s what we’ll do!”
“What if that bastard Duan Tiande has already killed Mrs. Li? What then?” Quan Jinfa asked.
“That’s just the luck of the draw,” Qiu Chuji replied. “The heavens wanted me to win, what more could be said?”
“Alright!” Han Baoju pitched in with his opinion. “Rescuing widows and orphans was the right thing to do to begin with. Even if we weren’t competing against you we would do it.”
Qiu Chuji gave him a thumbs-up and declared: “Third Brother Han is exactly right. If the Seven Heroes are willing to care for the Guo child to adulthood, then I would like to thank everyone for my late Brother Guo.” He bowed to each of them again.
“This idea of yours is rather cunning,” Zhu Cong observed. “With those several sentences of yours, we brothers and sisters would have to give up eighteen years of our lives?”
Qiu Chuji’s face changed color a little and he suddenly let out a loud laugh.
“What’s so funny?” Han Xiaoying demanded.
“I have long heard and admired the name of the Seven Freaks of the South,” Qiu Chuji replied. “Everyone says that the Seven Heroes are truly righteous heroes who are always there when you need them. But today, I see that the rumors were greatly exaggerated.”
This made all of the Freaks furious. Han Baoju slammed his fist down onto the bench that he was sitting on and was about to say something when Qiu Chuji cut him off: “Since ancient times, for real heroes and men, making a friend was for life in every way and giving one’s life for a friend would be no big thing if loyalty and friendship called for it. Nobody has ever heard of Jing Ke and Nie Zheng haggling about some small thing. The Yang and Guo family are in need of help right now, how could anyone start haggling about it?”
[In popular Chinese lore and most versions of Chinese history, Jing Ke and Nie Zheng were two great friends that had helped the Lord of Qi during the beginning of the Spring and Autumn Period. Their friendship was legendary and, in the view of most Chinese, including Confucius, the epitome of what friendship should be.]
After that little speech, Zhu Cong’s face was flushed with embarrassment. He flicked his fan and replied, “The Reverend is right, I realize my mistake now. The seven of us will take on this matter!”
Qiu Chuji stood up and said: “Today is the twenty-fourth of the third month, eighteen years from today at noon, we’ll meet again upstairs in the Pavilion of the Drunken Immortal. There, in front of all of the martial world, we will find out who’s the real hero!” With a flick of his sleeve, he walked out of the door.
Han Baoju shouted: “I’m off to look for that Duan Tiande now, if he’s crawled into a tortoise hole and disappeared, we are going to have to waste a lot of energy.”
He was the only one among the Seven Freaks that wasn’t injured, so he charged out of the door, mounted ‘Wind Chaser’, his yellow horse, and began to go chase after Duan Tiande and Li Ping.
“Third Brother…third Brother!” Zhu Cong shouted. “You don’t know what they look like!” But Han Baoju wasn’t the patient type and with ‘Wind Chaser’ well deserving of his name, he was long gone.
_____________________________________________________________
Once he was out of the temple, Duan Tiande ran as fast as his legs would carry him, all the while dragging Li Ping. Only after he was sure that nobody was chasing after him did he finally stop and take a breath. Then he ran to the bank of the nearest river and jumped on the first boat that he saw. Taking out his saber and putting it up against the neck of the fisherman, he ordered the man to start moving the boat. The rivers and canals south of the Yangtze were as dense as a spider web and boats were the everyday mode of transportation; as common as horses and carriages were up North. Hence the saying: “Northerners ride horses, Southerners ride boats.” With Duan Tiande looking as vicious as he did, as well as being dressed like an official, how could the fisherman dare disobey? He immediately undocked and guided the boat out of the city.
“What a mess! If I go back to Linan, if nothing else, my uncle will kill me on first sight.” Duan Tiande thought to himself. “Probably the best thing would be to head north to get away for a while. Hopefully that bastard of a Taoist and those Seven Freaks have all died from their injuries and then my uncle will get so angry that he passes away. Then I can return and get my position back.”
Once he made up his mind, he instructed the fisherman to start heading north. Even though Han Baoju’s horse was faster, he was nevertheless searching on land, and thus let the two of them slip through.
Duan Tiande switched boats a couple of more times as well and changed his clothes and forced Li Ping to change hers. After ten days or so, he arrived in Yangzhou and decided to check into an inn. He was hoping to be able to settle down in the city for a while and wait out the storm. By an extraordinary coincidence, he just happened to overhear someone inquiring about his whereabouts. Shocked, he peeped through the little crack in the door and saw an amazingly ugly, short, and fat guy with a beautiful young girl. Both of them had a Jiaxing accent. Guessing that they were some of the Seven Freaks, he immediately grabbed Li Ping and ran out of the back door. Luckily, the Yangzhou native at the front desk did not quite understand their dialect and didn’t understand what they were asking about. This made it possible for Duan Tiande to get away and rent another boat. Not daring to stop even for a second, he made his way north, up the Grand Canal, all the way to the shore of Liguo Post on the shores of Mount Wei Lake inside the borders of Shangdong province.
Li Ping, who was quite plain looking and whose stomach was bulging by now, was spending days on end cursing and crying. So even though Duan Tiande was by no means a gentleman, he never had any inclinations towards her. All the two ever did was fight and curse at each other; there wasn’t a moment of peace between them.
After several more days, that ugly dwarf and pretty girl showed up again. Duan Tiande had hoped to hide in the back of their accommodations. Li Ping, knowing that her rescuers were near, began to shout at the top of her lungs. Duan Tiande immediately stuffed a wad of cotton into her mouth and beat her. Li Ping struggled and shouted for all she was worth. Even though she wasn’t successful in her attempt to get their attention, it was too much of a close call for Duan Tiande.
At first, Duan Tiande brought Li Ping along hoping to use her as a hostage and thereby help him get out of a jam should it ever come to that. But the situation had changed. Figuring that it would be much easier if he was by himself and that this feisty woman was a disaster waiting to happen, he decided that it would be best to kill her. Once the Han cousins had left, he took out his saber.
Li Ping had been waiting the entire time for an opportunity to avenge her husband’s death. However, she was tied up every night, making it impossible. Now, upon seeing the murderous look in his eyes, she prayed: “Xiao Ge, please protect me and allow me to kill his monster. Then I will join you.” She reached into her shirt and placed her hands on the dagger that Qiu Chuji gave her. She had hidden the dagger very well and was able to slip it past Duan Tiande’s search.
[Note: Xiao Ge is an affectionate term used by Li Ping with Guo Xiaotian.]
With a chuckle, Duan Tiande raised his saber and swung down at her. Prepared to die, Li Ping summoned all her strength, pointed the dagger at Duan Tiande, and charged. Feeling a burst of murderous cold air upon his face, Duan Tiande flicked his saber in an attempt to knock the dagger out of her hand. Unexpectedly, the dagger was so sharp that, with a loud ping, it sliced the saber in half. The saber fell onto the floor as the tip of the dagger touched Duan Tiande’s chest. Shocked, Duan Tiande instinctively jumped back. Nevertheless, the front of his shirt was slashed wide open. In complete shock and panic, he picked up the chair at his side and shouted: “Put that down this instant or else I’ll kill you!”
\
Li Ping was exhausted and the baby in her belly was kicking non-stop. Not able to fight any longer, she fell onto the floor and tried to catch her breath. But she was still clutching the dagger tightly.
Duan Tiande was afraid that Han Baoju would come around again. If he ran off by himself, he was afraid that Li Ping would reveal where he was going to those chasing him. So he immediately forced her onto another boat and went further north up the Grand Canal, passing Linqing, Dezhou, and arrived in Hebei province.
Every time he set up camp, no matter how remote the location, before long there would be several men arriving to look for him. Eventually, the ugly gnome and the girl were joined by a staff wielding blind man. Luckily, none of them recognized him, so he was able to escape every time.
Soon another troublesome thing happened; Li Ping suddenly began acting crazy. Every time they stopped somewhere, she would periodically begin shouting and screaming nonsense. Sometimes, she would even start to tear and rip at her clothes and make all kinds of weird faces and gestures. At first Duan Tiande thought that she really had gone crazy, but after a few days he suddenly figured it out. As it turned out, she was afraid that her pursuers had lost them and was purposefully leaving a trail for them to follow. This was what was making it even harder for him to lose them. By now the end of summer had passed and the cool breezes began to blow. In order to avoid capture, Duan Tiande went well up into the North Country. The money he had taken with him was about to run out, yet the Freaks were still close on his trail.
“Back in Hangzhou, I was important, I was somebody. Meat, wine, money, women, I had it all. But I had to get greedy and go to Ox Village and kill this bitch’s hubby and get myself into this mess.” He cursed himself.
Several times, he was on the verge of leaving Li Ping and running off by himself. But each time, he could not summon up enough courage to do it. Every attempt to kill her ended in failure as well. What was supposed to be protection had somehow turned into a curse that he just could not get rid of. On top of everything else, he had to be constantly on guard against her attempts to avenge her husband. He was frustrated, frightened, and angry; yet there was nothing he could do.
Before he realized it, he had arrived at the capital of the Jin Empire, Yanjing. Duan Tiande thought for a bit and decided to try and find an out of the way place and finish off Li Ping. In such a huge and bustling city, there was no way those who were chasing him could find him.
Happy that things were finally going to work out, he made his way towards the city. Unexpectedly, just as he arrived in the front of the gate to the city, a team of Jin soldiers came walking out from inside. Not even bothering to ask any questions, they seized both him and Li Ping, handed them each a carrying stick, and commanded them to carry cargo for them. Because Li Ping was short and a woman, her load was reasonably light. But Duan Tiande was given two 50 kilogram [110 lb] loads and they were practically forcing him to his knees.
This group of soldiers followed an official as they headed north. As it turned out, that particular official was an emissary who was being sent out to present Royal Warrants from the Jin Emperor to the Mongolian subjects of the Jin Empire. The Jin soldiers that accompanied him were seizing any random Han Chinese that they ran into, forcing then to carry their heavy cargo and food supplies so as to save themselves from the labor. Duan Tiande argued back a couple of times and was immediately answered by several stinging lashes to his head. This situation he had seen many times before so it was all quite familiar to him; but before, he had been the one that was doing the whipping, not receiving it.
By now, Li Ping’s belly was huge and doing all this heavy work was on the verge of killing her. However, so determined was she to get revenge that she tried her best not to let the Jin soldiers find out about her condition. Fortunately, she had been working on a farm ever since she was able to walk, and this made her strong and used to this kind of grinding work. Having basically resigned herself to death, she was barely able to manage the dozen of days they spent walking through the freezing and miserable steppe.
Even though it was only October, being as far North as they were, a blizzard hit one day that not only brought snow, but also a sandstorm. Having nowhere to hide from the sand and the snow, the entire group, all three hundred or so of them, lined up single-file and continued to make their way through the endless grasslands of the steppe. Suddenly, faint shouting could be heard approaching from the north. Through the sand filled air, an army of countless horsemen came charging at them.
Before any of them realized what was going on, the army had arrived. As it turned out they were an army from some unknown tribe from the north that had just lost a battle. Chaos descended on the group as everyone tossed their weapons away and began running for their lives. Some of those who did not have horses were quickly trampled by those who had.
The Jin soldiers, seeing that defeat was inevitable, immediately scattered. Li Ping was originally at Duan Tiande’s side, but lost him during the chaos of the attack. She threw off her share of the cargo and ran as fast as she could in the direction where there seemed to be the least number of people. Luckily, everyone was so concerned with their own survival that nobody harmed her.
After some running, her stomach began hurting intensely. Not able to go any further because of the pain, she lay down behind a sand dune and fainted. After what seemed like forever, she began to slowly come around. In the back of her mind, there seemed to be the crying noises of a baby. Not completely coherent, she still wasn’t quite sure whether or not she was dead or alive. But the crying gradually got louder. She twitched and suddenly realized that there seemed to be a warm object between her legs. By now it was after midnight, the snow had just stopped and the moon had finally appeared from behind the parting clouds. She snapped wide awake and began to cry. In this impossible situation, the baby in her womb was born.
She immediately sat up and took the baby in her hands. It was a boy. Overjoyed and crying, she used her teeth to bite off the umbilical cord and hugged the baby as tightly as she could. In the moonlight, she saw that the infant’s eyes were huge and bright and looked very much like her deceased husband and his crying was incredibly loud. Under normal circumstances, there should have been no way that she was going to survive after giving birth in such harsh conditions. But upon seeing her child, she suddenly found strength that she didn’t know she had and she slowly got up on her knees and with one hand, crawled into a small ditch close by to escape from the cold. Looking at the baby and thinking of her husband, bittersweet memories and emotions overwhelmed her.
The two of them spent the night in that ditch. The next morning, hearing nothing around her, she summoned up enough courage to climb out of it. Amongst the white snow and yellow sands, the ground was covered with discarded weapons and corpses. Nobody alive was to be seen.
She scrounged some preserved food from one of the dead soldiers as well as a fire making stone and kn