Chapter 19: Lone Journey

After reading the words on the ground, Ermao immediately lost all his drowsiness. He quickly rolled over, jumped up, and crouched down to look more closely. He found only these three characters and no other words.

The cripple often used a branch to teach Ermao how to write, so Ermao recognized his handwriting immediately. These three characters were indeed written by the cripple. Moreover, the cripple's bamboo mat had already been rolled up, and there were no signs of a struggle around.

On summer nights, the fog was thick. The place where the cripple had been lying was damp, and the fog usually appeared in the early morning. The ground being wet indicated that the cripple had already left before the fog had arrived, probably around the third watch of the night.

After a hurried inspection, Ermao sat down in confusion. All signs indicated that the cripple had left voluntarily, and there had been no accident. Last night, the cripple had left all his money behind and had even written down his future address. This showed that the cripple had planned to leave all along. The reason he had told Ermao that they would be together for three more days was to avoid causing him sadness and sorrow during the farewell.

Although Ermao knew the cripple would soon leave, he couldn't help but feel sad. The cripple had never left him in all these years. Now that the cripple had gone, Ermao felt as though his insides had been hollowed out.

After sitting in a daze for a while, Ermao slowly regained his composure. The cripple had raised him for many years and taught him many things. Now the cripple had important matters to attend to. Ermao couldn't be a burden anymore. Moreover, the cripple hadn't left early; he had waited until the last moment. If he hadn't left then, it would have been too late. Deep down, Ermao knew that the cripple had done everything he could for him.

At that moment, a few travelers passed by from the official road not far away. Seeing him sitting alone under the tree, they turned and stared.

The gaze of the passersby made Ermao realize the danger of his situation. With the cripple gone, not only had he lost his companion, but he had also lost his protection. From now on, whatever happened, he would have to face it alone.

After taking a deep breath, Ermao stood up and began packing his things. Although he was reluctant to let the cripple go, the cripple had important matters to attend to. Since Ermao couldn't follow him anymore, he wouldn't be a burden to the cripple. He couldn't do anything for him now, so not being a burden was the best he could do.

Just as Ermao was finishing packing and preparing to leave, he suddenly noticed a ceramic bowl under the tree. The bowl contained some rice porridge, which Ermao had given to the cripple the night before, but the cripple hadn't eaten it before leaving.

Ermao stood holding the ceramic bowl, lost in thought. The cripple hadn't eaten for several days and had left on an empty stomach. The cripple had no money on him, so how would he manage to eat on the road?

After worrying for a moment, Ermao gradually calmed down. The cripple was a martial artist, and finding food would not be a problem for him. Another possibility was that the place the cripple was going wasn't far, and as the cripple had said, his friends were waiting for him. Once the cripple joined them, food would be easy to find.

It was a hot summer day, and the rice porridge had already gone sour, but Ermao couldn't bear to throw it away. He drank it down, wiped his mouth, and set off.

The paper scroll the cripple had given him the night before had been kept in his chest. When he was alone, he took it out to examine it. The scroll was about the size of a thumb. When pressed and squeezed, he could feel there was only one sheet of paper inside. The thickness of the scroll was due to the thick oil paper wrapped around it. This layer of oil paper ensured that the paper inside would not get wet, even if it rained or fell into water.

Ermao, holding the scroll, felt uneasy. Without the cripple's protection, he might encounter trouble at any time. The scroll was too important to lose, so he had to find a way to keep it safe.

After thinking for a while, he suddenly remembered the embroidery needles he had used for the women in Wanghai Village. He still had some left and carried them with him.

He decided to stop for a moment, take out the needles, and use the fine string that had been tied around the scroll to wrap it. With this, anyone who saw the scroll would think it was just a needle case.

Without the cripple by his side, Ermao felt that the gazes of passersby were different. Their curiosity was mixed with greed. He wasn't sure if he was just being paranoid, but everyone seemed to want to take his gold and his donkey.

Under the cripple's guidance, Ermao had learned long ago not to show off his wealth. The donkey had been bought by the cripple, and now that the cripple was gone, Ermao, a young boy, was walking alone with the donkey. He would surely attract the attention of thieves, so he had to sell the donkey quickly and get a cart to continue his journey.

The bag of gold the cripple had given him also needed to be hidden. If he carried it with him like this, sooner or later someone would steal it.

Along the way, Ermao occasionally encountered passersby. Every time someone passed by, he would nervously sweat. The world was not safe, and anyone could be a bad person.

Paranoid and cautious, Ermao walked for over twenty miles. Eventually, a town appeared ahead, and it was almost noon. Ermao felt a little hungry, so he bought two fire cakes from a roadside stall and asked the stall owner where he could sell livestock.

The stall owner was a man in his fifties. When he heard Ermao's question and saw him with the donkey, he immediately guessed that Ermao wanted to sell it. The man, being elderly and unable to walk easily, was looking to buy a donkey. After confirming that the donkey wasn't stolen, the two of them haggled and settled on thirty coins. However, the stall owner didn't have enough money at the moment, so he managed to gather only twenty-three or twenty-four coins. Ermao, having no other choice, agreed to accept fire cakes in exchange for the remaining balance.

Ermao sat by the stall for half an hour, and the owner baked two rounds of fire cakes, filling a large bag with over twenty cakes.

Afterward, Ermao began to worry. Without the donkey, he couldn't carry all these tools and belongings, and a cart wasn't something he could easily buy. Just as he was troubled, the stall owner suggested again, "How about I bake another round for you? You can give me the things you don't need."

These items had been with Ermao since he was young, and he couldn't bear to part with them. But since he couldn't carry them, after much hesitation, he agreed to the stall owner's offer and left behind the iron tools and hammer, only taking the essential items like the long knife, some finely crafted tools, and a water gourd.

In the afternoon, just after midday, Ermao set off again. Selling the donkey made him feel more at ease, but he still had some unease because he was carrying the bag of gold.

Ermao had traveled with the cripple across many places and hadn't often encountered mountain bandits, but every year, they came across them a few times. No one could be sure when they would meet them again. To be safe, Ermao decided to bury the gold.

There was quite a lot of gold, and he feared that burying it in the same place might lead to trouble. So, he decided to split it in two and bury it in different places.

After doing all this, Ermao finally felt at ease. He carried his bag and continued his journey.

The entire day had been filled with anxiety and fear. As the sun began to set, Ermao quickened his pace. He had forgotten to ask for directions in the town, and now he didn't know how far it was to the next town. He wanted to ask a passerby, but no one had passed by this area for quite a while.

As nightfall approached, the sounds of birds and animals echoed from the woods along the road. Ermao and the cripple had often camped in the wild, but back then, Ermao had never been afraid. Now, without the cripple, he was scared by every little noise. Even the sudden appearance of a wild rabbit made him jump.

Just as Ermao hurried along nervously, he suddenly heard faint footsteps behind him. He turned around in panic but saw something following him from a short distance away. It was too dark to tell exactly what it was, but from its shape, it seemed to be a dog or maybe a wolf.

In the dark, wilderness, with no village ahead and no inn behind, being followed by some animal made anyone scared. Ermao was no exception. At that moment, he realized just how important the cripple had been to him. Without the cripple's protection, he was always in danger.

Ermao quickened his pace, and the animal behind him did the same. When Ermao slowed down, the animal slowed too. After walking for four or five miles, Ermao, frightened and angry, dropped his bags, pulled out his knife, and shouted, "Go away!"

The animal, startled, backed off and barked, "Woof, woof, woof."

Seeing that it was just a dog following him, Ermao sighed in relief, put his knife away, and shouldered his bag again.

The tension and fatigue of the day left him exhausted. He considered starting a fire to camp but found that it was too dark to find dry wood. Reluctantly, he climbed a large tree by the road.

The dog followed and, after wandering around, lay down under the tree.

Ermao sat against a branch, feeling depressed and sad. Now that the cripple was gone, he had lost his pillar of support. In the past, no matter what happened, the cripple had handled it. Ermao just had to listen to him. But from now on, he would have to learn to make his own decisions.

While Ermao was brooding, there was a rustling sound from a distance. Before Ermao could react, the dog under the tree stood up and began barking at the direction of the sound.

After the barking, the rustling noise stopped.

Ermao, who had been a little afraid of the dog earlier, now saw it protecting him, so he hurriedly opened his bag, took out a fire cake, broke off half, and threw it to the dog.

The dog must have been very hungry, as it swallowed the half of the cake in one gulp.

Seeing the dog still looking at him, Ermao had no choice but to throw the other half of the cake to it.

After finishing the second half, the dog remained hungry and continued to look at him expectantly.

Ermao, though he had plenty of cakes, was reluctant to waste any. He took another one for himself, then leaned against the branch and fell into a restless sleep...