Tao Hua wasted no time. He rushed to the entrance of the inn, but before he could fumble the books in his grasp to open the door, the girl called out again, causing him to lock in place as if covered in clay, sealed by a gusty, brisk gale of wind.
"Please!" she cried, her voice shaking. "I won't tell him, I promise! Please, just talk to me, Tao Hua. He…he knows you're here…A lady selling flowers tipped him off earlier. I'll tell you what I know, so please talk to me."
Every second breath lifted, while every first sunk, and Tao Hua soon found himself unable to find composure in even the smallest coping mechanism. There was no distraction, no numbers, nothing that could ease his mind; all he could do was curse inwardly at his bad luck.
Of all times to run into this person, it had to be when Shan Si was away.
"Please," she cried, slowly approaching, her hands trembling. "I…I thought you were dead. I'm so sorry, Tao Hua. I just want to know you're doing okay. Please give me just a portion of your time."
The corners of his mouth flipped downward, bent into a stationary frown, one creased enough to dimple the cheeks. The longer the girl cried, the harder he found it to avoid her.
So, eyes still cast on the grimy bricked ground, Tao Hua turned around. His lashes drooped, and closely, he held those books and that flower to his chest as if it were his sole source of protection.
"Do you promise?"
She lifted her eyes, her expression sympathetically mournful, but Tao Hua didn't meet them.
"If I talk to you, Miss Gui, do you promise you won't tell Father?"
***
"All of that happened in just a few months?"
"It started a month after you left," Gui Chang frowned. "It's why we're here in the Imperial Capital celebrating the festival, instead of Siyue Town."
The two were sat at a table in the corner of the inn's tavern, blocked out by many people, all coming and going, humming happily. Given the atmosphere was lively and filled with drunkards, there was no need to worry about their conversation being overheard.
But in their it was as if all the energy had evaporated and was replaced with a darkening blanket. Neither were celebrating.
"It's really that bad?" asked Tao Hua, glancing up at Gui Chang. By her appearance alone, it was as if Tao Hua had been gone for years rather than months. The bags under her eyes creased, her lips were chapped, and there wasn't an ounce of joy in her vacant eyes.
The vibrancy of her youth had been drained and replaced with a new flavour of exhaustion.
"Most of everyone, if not all, has left." She nodded. "If not for Master Tao's connections with the Imperial Capital…these people wouldn't have anywhere to call home. I wish I could explain it to you, Tao Hua, but it's as if the colour is slowly draining—nothing can exist there much longer. Not even the Imperial Preceptor can make sense of it."
So…it's also a ghost town like Jianlai. But why? Tao Hua's brows indented. Their conversation seemed to transpire from Tao Hua's confirmed safety, though vague, to what's been going on in Siyue Town. Supposedly it's happening all over according to the men from yesterday, but why after I left? Did Shan Si know this would happen? What about Father?
"Miss Gui…what's become of the Tao Estate? Are you and Father staying here in the Imperial Capital permanently?"
"Not…necessarily."
"Wouldn't that put your life at risk if you stayed there?"
"My duty is to manage the Tao Estate—I can't leave. As long as there's one soul still there, it's my job to uphold it."
Isn't that a bit too dramatic? Tao Hua stared at her in disbelief. "Why?"
"I…I feel...I still owe you that much," she said as if ready to break, enough for Tao Hua's heart to shatter. His breathing struggled somewhat, and he had to grip onto the edge of the table just to ensure partial safety if he'd somehow fainted. "Master Tao also refuses abandon it. He's instance that he can bring glory back to the town. I don't get it, it's not that great."
While he was busy sleeping in another's bed, figuring out how to fix their issues, all of those he left behind were struggling. It should have felt like karmic justice, but that wasn't the case. There was an odd sense of responsibility, one that told Tao Hua if he'd stayed, none of this would have happened.
Yet, he couldn't quite understand why he felt that way.
At least he understood his guilt toward Gui Chang—she was a victim, too. But his father? He was still unsure what was going through his head when hearing his name.
"And…Master Tao…I've never seen Master Tao like this before. He's a completely different person and keeps cursing out that one man you mentioned back at the banquet. And…" Gui Chang frowned, rubbing her finger along a clay bowl. She contemplated her words before shaking her head. "Before, he seemed a scholar who could keep his composure no matter the issue, but since the banquet and your…"
At her reluctance, Tao Hua just looked down at his reflection in the drink. For a place that had never once appreciated him, he couldn't quite understand the expression staring back at him.
It was laced with guilt.
"Was it him?" she asked, finally approaching a topic that made her rather wary. "Was he the one who took you away?"
With a bit of stalling, Tao Hua finally nodded.
"…I see." She let out a single, breathless laugh, just before it turned into a defeated sigh. "It seems he could do more for you than I ever could."
"It's…not like that," Tao Hua assured her, but what else was he to say? The topic was uncomfortable to approach, enough to lightly dust his cheeks red momentarily when thinking on how to explain it; therefore, he switched it to something more serious.
"And the Tao Estate?" He repeated, "What's become of it?"
"Most people in the Estate have vacated, and those who stayed were either punished for the smallest inconvenience or..." Struggling to keep her composure, those nimble fingers tightened around the bowl, and every inch of her face wrinkled unpleasantly. "I've witnessed so much death."
"Death…?"
Gui Chang nodded. "For the slightest disagreement."
Tao Hua's eyes constricted. He'd decided then and there that he didn't mourn for his father, but assumed he'd be better off dead for the sake of those around him.
"I'm so sorry…I--" Gui Chang paused. In an attempt to get a hold of herself, her face twisted with complication. "Seeing you…I'm so relieved despite even if I can tell you're still scared of me. I've been blaming myself every day for your death, thinking that it had to do with our marriage. But you're safe, and now I think I can finally breathe."
Before Tao Hua could respond, watching as Gui Chang's tired complexion finally forced a faint smile, a drunken man bellowed. His declaration directed the youth's attention toward a pair of old men, cutting their moment short.
Slamming his hand on the table, he announced, "Seems it's just about time! Should we head off?"
"Aye! It's not yet dusk," the other man bellowed. "Calm down. Two more drinks!"
Gui Chang's lips parted slightly, but shortly after her head lowered. Just from the highlights of the dim tavern glow, it wasn't hard to tell she'd lost more than an acceptable amount of weight.
It was as if staring at a hollowed-out version of what once was.
"I guess that means I, too, should be off," she said. "Master Tao will be looking for me, and I need to keep him in check while also keeping our promise. We're to send off a few lanterns and watch the moon together."
Rising to her feet and gathering her outer robe, Gui Chang flung it over her shoulders and puffed out her hair. She was ready to bid her goodbyes until Tao Hua said, "Miss Gui…can I ask you something?"
Toward the door, and then to Tao Hua, Gui Chang weighed her options carefully. Alas, she succumbed and nodded. "You can. Anything."
"Did they even try to look for me?"
"…" Gui Chang looked away, unable to face Tao Hua. "Are you sure you'll be able to handle the answer?"
It was as if the same words Shan Si spoke to him the day he took him from the Tao Esate rung in his head.
If I tell you, then you will face the consequences of knowing.
Suddenly, it was as if Tao Hua was finally seeing through Shan Si's facade during that time. He couldn't help but feel there was more to why he showed up that day, ill temper and all.
But then…he was uncertain in Shan Si, and it was true he couldn't handle many things thrown at him.
Now? He stared down at the books on the table—a set of books purchased by this exact person, just as he had done back in Siyue Town when they first met. Except this time, they were new, bordering on topics he had never once ventured.
Thus, Tao Hua was certain he could handle whatever was thrown his way. He nodded, affirming a stern "Yes."
"Very well." Gui Chang inhaled sharply. She hesitated with the shift of her eyes, but eventually relented the moment she realised Tao Hua wasn't going to back down. "He sent people out to find you, and it's been going on for months. His intentions are not familial, Tao Hua—you need to understand that. He wants you and that white-eyed man dead, and his statements are only getting more unhinged by the day. Whatever his delusions, he's completely convinced you're the key to reviving your mother and saving Zhonglai and that man is only getting in his way."
Tao Hua stared at her—there wasn't even a drop of wavering in her words.
"If…you care about that man, avoid your father. Please," Gui Chang warned. Her eyes averted Tao Hua. "It's…he's not well, and I don't think he's ever been well, and he's not someone to be trifled with in this state. I should have seen it sooner before it got to this point…I'm so sorry."
That was…far different from he imagined. How was he supposed to take this information? For starters, he didn't expect his father to care enough to find him. It was worrisome, but he expected that his father would want him dead, and by association, Shan Si too.
What struck him most as concerning was that he wanted to bring back his mother. If there was anything Tao Hua had learnt, it was that the dead couldn't come back without repercussions; Shan Si had taught him that during their study sessions.
Warnings were blaring in his head and they pierced as loudly as the gong of a bell, slamming against his skull. That bad premonition from earlier was growing by the minute.
There were so many issues with the situation. If most assumed he was dead, why did his father send people out to find him only to retrieve him so he could kill him? And why did he think bringing back his mother would revive the land?
His stomach churned violently. His father knew more than he ever let on—about Siyue Town, the relics, and why Shan Si came to retrieve him.
Just what was it about this good-for-nothing letdown of Siyue Town that made his proud father bend with such fury? Enough to take away everything Tao Hua cherished?
He shot to his feet and immediately whipped his head to the door, all of his worry strictly fallen on the man who'd left long before, and none of it for himself.
"I'll walk you out," Tao Hua declared hurriedly.
"That's not necessary—"
But before she could finish, Tao Hua placed a hand on her back and led her toward the door. Those blaring sounds in his head seemed to heighten the closer he got to the exit. As soon as he opened that door, the entire world around him—noise and all—seemed to come crashing down.
He was met with another familiar face. One that made every inch of his body crawl with both anger and fear.
"So this is where you ran off to," Master Tao stated calmly, his eyes shifting toward a now cowering girl. "Playing wife to an unfaithful man."
Chapter end.