CHAPTER 8: Into Town

“Actually, on the same day that I was born my mother died giving birth to me and a mysterious disease infected many villagers. The Village Head and the villagers decided to place the blame on me for the cause of the epidemic that happened…” I told him in an emotionless voice.

“That’s completely crazy! Blaming an epidemic on a newborn baby. I bet those people are really simple-minded, so they looked for whatever and whoever was the most convenient to blame,” Ren said in a dark tone.

“I guess…” I replied vaguely with a sad smile. Perhaps they really were crazy but that is just how things are. Reality isn’t always so pretty after all. Ren’s reaction surely surprised me; usually people would take the side of the mass in order to avoid causing trouble for themselves. At least that was what I’ve experienced so it was a pleasant surprise that Ren thought differently.

I took Ren along a couple of secret routes that I frequently used while picking herbs. He seemed to be enjoying himself as he eyed the scenery around us. I was relieved that his fever hasn’t returned so far. The atmosphere was soothing, and the weather was surprisingly perfect today. Time passed by quickly and the work felt less tiring than it usually did.

…

Soon the sun began to set dying the sky a beautiful mix of red, pink and a darker shade of blue. I looked up at the sky, I guess we should start heading towards the village before it starts snowing. We’ve already picked quite a lot of herbs, thanks mainly to Ren’s help.

“Thank you for helping me out today, Ren. The sun will be setting soon, we should start heading into town,” I said while still staring at the setting sun.

“The sunset here is quite beautiful, isn’t it?” Ren mused as he also stared at the setting sun on the horizon far away.

“Yes, it is,” I replied shortly.

“Do you often take your so-called secret paths when you travel to and from the town? I guess you found me on your way back from town as well, right?” Ren asked curiously as he cocked his head to the side a little.

“You’re right. I used various secret paths to travel into town to…avoid people…and trouble…” I explained before trailing off.

“I see. Let’s go…” Ren said as he urged me to lead him into town.

Despite his injured arm, Ren insisted on carrying the baskets full of herbs on his back. No matter how much I protested, he was stubborn enough not to give in. In the end, I had to let him have his way as I led him on another secret path into town. I naturally switched between routes often to increase the secrecy of my travels. It has worked well because throughout the years, no one has caught me or encountered me on these secret paths before. Meeting Ren was a first.

“So yes, this path is a little complicated as well, but it leads into town. No one lives along this path at all so I can avoid being detected by the villagers. It’s actually quite convenient,” I explained as I led Ren down a hidden path.

Soon the village was in sight, and we were able to sneak in and blend with the crowd. Being in the busy crowd meant that the people paid less attention to me, and I am usually able to get away by wearing a shawl over my head and face as a basic disguise.

“Knowing the secret passages into town really is convenient…” Ren muttered as if to himself.

“If we turn the next corner, we’ll arrive at the local pharmacy and clinic that I always sell my herbs to. It’s not far off,” I told Ren as I made sure that he was still following behind me.

“Lin! Careful!” Ren called out a warning.

However, I was slow at reacting to a fast-approaching carriage. This is bad, am I going to get hit? I closed my eyes tight as I braced for impact.

Suddenly, I felt my body being lifted and pulled away from the oncoming carriage. What just happened? I slowly opened my eyes, looking up I was greeted with the sight of Ren’s angry face.

“What do you think you’re doing?! Pay more attention to your surrounding! If I wasn’t here that carriage would have ran right into you…” Ren reprimanded me in a loud voice as he held me up in this arms.

“Ren…your arm…” I said in a small voice as I reached out to softly touch his injured arm.

“If you have time to worry about my arm; you should watch where you’re going!” Ren continued to yell at me. Apparently, he was very upset and mad. I found his outburst a little scary.

“I’m sorry, Ren…” I apologized as I looked down.

Ren heaved a sigh as he gently put me back down on the road. I kept my gaze down, Ren is a little scary when he’s mad. Unexpectedly, I felt the warmth of his hand tugging at my hand as he took my hand into his manly one and held it tight.

“Umm…Ren?” I called his name shyly and questioningly at this surprising gesture.

“You can’t even walk safely by yourself so just hold my hand,” Ren replied gruffly as he pulled me along in the direction of the pharmacy as I had indicated earlier.

…

“Wow! These are amazing variety of herbs and there’s so much of them today. Please wait here for a bit while I prepare the money for you,” Uncle Gobei said warmly as he turned to get money in the back room.

“Thank you. I got a little help today, so we were able to collect a lot of herbs,” I replied cheerfully.

“So, this is where you sell your herbs, huh? The local pharmacy is smaller than I expected…” Ren said in a low voice as he looked around.

“Well…our town is quite small, I guess…compared to the other town’s you’ve visited?” I replied. I guess Ren must be from a large town or have been travelling around much larger towns compared to this one.

“It’s small but it’s a nice town…and conveniently located,” Ren replied as he smiled at me. His smile made me feel at ease.