Echoes

Catching her breath, Suzhen's face lit up as she caught sight of the lake, glimmering in the distance.

Xuxian caught her hand as she was about to break into a run. "I won't you let get a head start on me. We're jumping in together this time, and making a splash big enough to be seen across the lake."

He pulled her with him as he dashed forward, and her laugh pealed out. "You bad boy, are you trying to say I ate too many pancakes?"

Together they sprinted towards the lake, and the cicadas stopped singing briefly to listen to their laughter. Like two birds, they seemed to hover in the air for a moment, pinned against the empty blueness of the sky, and then plunged downwards towards the water's surface with shrieks of excitement.

There was a splash, and the birds murmured curiously to each other as there was a brief silence. Then Suzhen's head came up from the water, dark and shining under the sun, her eyes shut in ecstasy as she felt the cool water against her skin.

She gave a small startled scream as Xuxian emerged suddenly from behind her, coming up with his arms around her waist. Suzhen wriggled out of his grasp and he floundered for a while as she followed him, splashing him mercilessly.

"You're such a good swimmer now," she said breathlessly, when they finally stopped playing and lay back to float in the water, tired out. "You can dive so well. But don't ever think you can be better than me." She crooked a finger teasingly at him. Her eyes glimmered like the water droplets clinging to her lashes.

Xuxian paddled lazily closer to her. "Yes, yes, shifu. Your humble disciple will never forget his roots. You know, I was so anxious to impress you that day, I really thought I was going to drown, but I tried my best to look calm." He chuckled to himself. "You have no idea how terrified I was in that moment when you shoved me under the water with the most endearing smile on your face."

Suzhen covered her face with her hands. "Ah, what a little fool I was. I was so sure you'd pick up immediately, how hard could swimming possibly be? I had no idea that it was so easy for humans to drown. To think I almost drowned you that time." She groaned.

"You were so sure that I could learn," Xuxian said dreamily. "It gave me confidence in myself."

He drifted besides her and she leaned against his shoulder with a contented sigh. For a while they said nothing, enjoying the calm and the shrill twittering of unseen birds.

They had been living on the mountains for three days now. The villagers thought they had taken a trip to town and wisely said nothing, each one sure that Physician Xu was trying to make it up to his wife for their recent quarrel with a shopping trip. Since Gui Yuan's death, they had passed their time peacefully on the mountains. Xuxian had baked pancakes on the hot stones of the fire he had made inside the grotto, and Suzhen had caught fish which they roasted and ate on sharp pointed stakes, sprinkled with salt. They had gone to sleep each night listening to the soft lapping of water against the stones, the mournful songs of the frogs, and the slow, steady heartbeat of each other.

Neither of them knew when Fahai would arrive in the village, or when he would leave. Neither of them mentioned his name at all. It felt like a bad omen. Instead, they busied themselves collecting herbs and drying them, hunting for rare plants, gathering mushrooms, and setting traps. Watching the fire burn to its embers each night. It was enough.

Qingqing had dropped by once, though she was still nursing a grudge against Xuxian and wouldn't talk more than necessary to him. She did not stay long, but the next day they had found she had left them half a roast chicken, carelessly wrapped in a dirty cloth, chucked inside the grotto.

"We gathered so many herbs today," Xuxian said happily. "Maybe we'll find some danggui tomorrow."

"Let's grill some of the mushrooms we gathered earlier for dinner," suggested Suzhen. "They'll go well with fish." She glanced mischievously at him. "Unless you want to try frog?"

Xuxian made a face. "Never. Susu, I may have accepted that you're a snake spirit, but I will not accept eating frogs or rats. You can eat them if you wish but not in front of me, that's all I ask. I'm sure they're delicious, so I shall be a good husband and let you have my share."

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, so you're fishing for praise now. Am I supposed to reward you for that?"

"A kiss would be nice," he murmured playfully, trying to wind his arm around her in the water. Suzhen threw a handful of water in his face in response, and dove under the surface quickly as he shook the water out of his eyes, spluttering.

As the sound of splashing echoed around the lake, the bushes parted and a figure stepped out silently, looking down at them in the water, hidden behind the distracting veil of branches sprouting new leaves. It watched them for a long while without moving, seeming to blend into the scenery with its dirt-coloured robe.

Fahai's chest felt tight, and his face looked even sterner and grimmer than usual. He gritted his teeth as the splashing sounds continued, beating mercilessly into his ears, his memory, conjuring up unbearably vivid flashes of Nawen's face, the jagged teeth of the broken ice, the blackness of the water and the whiteness of the snow, and the treacherous gray shadows of the ice. Somehow, the glimpses he caught of their happy faces and laughter echoed eerily of that night when he had watched Nawen and YaoGuang strolling among the snow. For a moment the faces seemed to dissolve into each other, until he did not know who he was looking at, who he was listening to---

He felt his heart pounding almost painfully and stepped back quickly, feeling his self-control quivering on the brink. Closing his eyes, he forced the images from his mind and focused intently on calming himself.

So he had found them. As he knew he would.

When he had received the message he had left without ado. Fahai had known grimly that the snake spirit had won--or at least, so she thought. Physician Xu had weakened under her charms, after all. The pathetic man was under her spell once more, at her beck and call. He felt disgust turning within him. He had thought the physician might prove more resolute. Well, he was disappointed, but not surprised.

Her craving for blood had not lessened, from what the villagers had told him. Was the physician going to be her next victim, the next body on the mountain?