The Scent of the Orchid in the Forest of Secrets (密林兰香)

Chapter Three

Shu Haolin didn't need to wait long before Chen Linfeng returned with a packet of herbs and handed it to her. He adjusted the belt at his waist, the same black belt embroidered with a bamboo forest that had struck Shu Haolin as familiar five months ago, when she first arrived.

"It's just the same as before, stew it for two hours and drink it while hot."

Shu Haolin mustered a smile with difficulty. "Thank you."

That evening, she walked back in the direction of her dormitory with her head in a fog, pondering what she should try next to break through her plateau. It was in this fog that when she came up to a fork that split three ways in the path of the sacred forest, her footsteps led her in the wrong direction, going straight forward instead of turning left. By the time she realized she had gone the wrong way, it was already too late to go back.

The sun had already set by the time she made it out of the sacred forest. Shu Haolin glanced around, trudging through long, untamed grasses as she tried to reorient herself. As she continued to cut a line through the grass, she finally caught a glimpse of a familiar sight. An overgrown willow tree slumped towards the water, casting shade on Sen Zhongyu, who seemed to have not budged from where Shu Haolin had seen her last night. Quiet humming faded as it spread across the empty plains, and a low rumble of thunder drowned out all other noises.

Shu Haolin usually approached her dormitory from the other side—it seemed her walk through the sacred forest this day had led her to walk in a large circle, ending up on the far side of her dormitory. Thus, she had to pass by the pond by which Sen Zhongyu normally sat.

Icy rain started to patter down, softly at first, then gradually getting stronger. As Shu Haolin passed Sen Zhongyu, she saw that her white scholarly robes had been stained by dirt and soaked through by the icy cold rain. On a whim, similar to the one that had led her to taking a different path through the forest, Shu Haolin untied the cloak from her shoulders and draped it over her shifu's shoulders. Then, realizing her gesture seemed overly intimate, she searched for something to say to make the situation less awkward. "It's raining, you should go inside and get some rest and food to eat." She said stiffly.

Sen Zhongyu's humming stopped and she looked up at Shu Haolin, who instinctively backed up a step at the sudden lucidity in her stare. Then, she glanced at the sword in Shu Haolin's hand, which was smeared with gore from the beasts she had just killed in the sacred forest, and said very calmly, "concentrate your qi in your core, not your fingertips."

Sen Zhongyu had already stood up and hobbled a few steps away before Shu Haolin processed her words. Feeling a bit incredulous that she actually was going to try the instructions that the crazy Sen Zhongyu had blurted seemingly on a whim, she closed her eyes. After a few moments, her eyes flew back open, and she shot to her feet to look for Sen Zhongyu, but her shifu had already walked out of sight.

***

It only took one a trip down to Hangzhou for someone who had lived under a rock for many years to realize it was almost New Years. Crowds seemed to stretch streets to the breaking point, and horse-pulled carriages were only able to move at a slow pace, matching the flow of the crowd.

Shu Haoyang tightly squeezed his big sister's hand, obediently keeping pace with Shu Haolin and not daring to run around randomly, but his eyes bulged out, swiveling in all directions, and as he took in all the festivities and all the stalls selling all sorts of gifts for the New Year, he wished he could have another pair of eyes. He had never seen such grand occasions before—the New Years before were always spent quietly in their house, and the most excitement was setting off a couple of firecrackers their parents would bring from the nearby town.