Lin Feng plotted the course to our destination with his GPS. “Oh my! How nice of him to choose such a far location to meet!” He grumbled. “As if we can do anything about it,” I snapped, “Just get on with it!”

We were halfway into our journey, when my phone rang, and the display on the screen of my phone showed a number that I could not recognize. I tapped on the “Answer” button and answered. A male voice responded at the other end, saying that he was sent by Tao Gang to meet us. Things might have turned urgent, I guessed. We were barely halfway when they were already expecting us. I told the person that we might need some time, since we were still on the way. Hearing this, Lin Feng’s foot depressed the pedal and picked up more speed.

The accelerating car hastened at Lin Feng’s insistent, rendering blurry scenes outside the window that made me felt dizzy and I fell asleep. In my nap, I lost track of time until I was awakened by the ringing of my phone. It was the same officer earlier. I peered out the window and read off a roadside signboard the name of our location and the officer replied, saying that we were near now. In another half an hour we would be exiting the highway, he said. I reached for a can of Coke and snapped it open, downing it with an appreciative gulp to refresh myself. Lin Feng reset the location designation on his GPS to the new coordinates given to us by the officer. With the monotonous verbal instructions by the GPS, we swerved off the highway at an exit and found a police patrol car waiting at the side of the road, just as the officer had mentioned. I hit “Redial” and called the officer to inform us of our arrival and our vehicle’s license plate number, while Lin Feng slowed down the car, bringing it to a halt just behind the police car.

An officer got off the car and came to us, shaking our hands. “Hi there. My surname is Zhang, and you just call me so, for short,” the policeman introduced himself, “The incident took place in the mountains, and this exit would be the fastest way to get it for you guys. Just follow my car.” The sun was nearing the western horizon. We trailed behind the police car, making a few turns as we tried our best to keep behind him until we reached the main road of a village. It was sundown when we finally came to stop in front of a small motel in the village. Officer Zhang came to us, explaining that continuing our journey in the dark would be dangerous, for the mountain fog would set in for the night, reducing visibility to a dangerous level; hence there was no choice but to overnight before continuing further. He had made contact with Tao Gang, who agreed with Officer Zhang’s proposition, in view of our unfamiliarity with the rural roads around here. We strode into the motel and checked ourselves in. Once the procedures were complete, the proprietor of the motel opened a side-gate for us, where we moved the cars into the compound of the motel.

We requested for two rooms: Officer Zhang himself would occupy a three-person room (since the motel was empty at the time of the year), while the three of us shared another three-person room. The simple and modest inn provided only the most basic amenities, hence they did not have a mess hall or a restaurant attached to the motel. We settled dinner at another restaurant outside that night. We looked for a simple restaurant and had a simple dinner; we were also afraid of traveler’s diarrhea aside from the most common concern of hygiene, even though the food was cheap by city dwellers’ standards, therefore we ate only sparingly. But Lin Feng and I had tried to pay for the bill, only for the proprietor of the restaurant to take the money offered by Officer Zhang, much to our dismay. With our stomachs filled, we returned to the motel. Fortunately, for all its dismal dearth and inadequacies, there was still the luxury of warm water, supplied by an electric water heater. We enjoyed an invigorating bath and lazed on our beds for the remainder of that night, with our mobile phones robbing us of our attention. Expectedly so, there was no WIFI service in the motel, so we could rely only on our own 4G mobile data. Lin Feng busied himself playing games, while I surfed the Net, feeling the pangs of boredom I had never once experienced living in the city. Yuan Chongxi was on his phone, chatting with someone. I hissed at him, asking who was it that he was speaking to, and he replied that it was the older sister of the family which he had gone to subdue the spirits of the slaughtered children not long ago. So it was true, I realized! His mentor did not err in his calculations after all! Yuan Chongxi was indeed in romance! The dull bumpkin was not only a mystic sage or master with arcane powers in the eyes of the mother and her daughters; the eldest of the two daughters was infatuated with him! The silly buffoon must have been bragging of some purported prowess of his again!

I did not know what time was it when I succumbed to the lull of sleepiness and drifted into slumber. But I woke up the next morning with fatigue and sores urging me to return back into the soft, velvety folds of my blankets. Xiao Qi and the Sisters’ overnight playtime had dealt us the prerequisite toll on our sleep, but there was also the humid and moldy environment of the countryside. Despite using fresh blankets and pillows, we dragged ourselves off our beds with our vigor all sapped instead of being rejuvenated! We washed ourselves up and went out for breakfast, with Lin Feng settling the bill this time! We went back to the motel to check ourselves out and dropped our luggage at the couch in the sitting area of the lobby.

Yuan Chongxi plumped himself onto the couch where Officer Zhang, Lin Feng and I were at the counter, waiting to check out when a band of women barged through the doors of the motel. They did not come to the counter, rather, the entire bunch of women strode to the sitting area and stood between Yuan Chongxi and our belongings! Being shorter than the rest of us, Yuan Chongxi was oblivious of what they wanted as they blocked his view of our belongings. But I happened to turn back and saw three of the women were pulling at the straps of our belongings! “Hey! Hey! What are you doing?” I yelled out loud as I ran over! The rest of the three women’s accomplices blocked us off, trying to buy time for their three confederates who had reached outside by the time I got myself disentangled from the tentacular arms trying to hold me back.

I screamed at Lin Feng and Yuan Chongxi, and we began to make chase, speeding outside! Cunning and devious the trio of female thieves were, for they immediately separated after reaching outside! With a quick “Split up!” I yelled to my companions, and I did not fail to notice the wraith-like apparitions of the Sisters nodding to me as we fanned out to pursue our targets who had skirted off into different directions. I trailed behind the woman who was fleeing in a straight course away from the motel. The roads were busy with lines of vehicles in the peak hours of the morning. Fortunately, everyone was driving at a snail’s pace due to the thickness of the fog that lingered before the heat of the rising sun could dissipate them. But the busy road did little to impede the woman’s escape. With a few sidesteps, she snaked through the gaps between the vehicles with the efficiency of a slithering snake and bolted towards the wilderness. With all the speed I could muster, I tried my best to keep up, knowing that with even the slightest mistake, I risk losing her trail, especially with such poor visibility in the thick daybreak mists. Despite the dismal visibility of only ten meters, I saw the woman diving into the golden mass of a cornfield. This, however, filled me with glee! In the past, corn and sorghum grew rampantly in their fields on their own due to the lack of chemical fertilization and technology. In those days, soldiers would hide themselves within the unruly and dense thickets of crops to launch ambushes on their enemies during the wars! But that was a thing of the past! Farmers nowadays planted hybrid maize that grew uniformly without taking up much space so that more crops could be planted efficiently; the gaps between each stalk were so tight that it was impossible to traverse through the field without pushing through the dense reeds of the cornfield without rustling the plants. Like dropping a pebble into the still surface of a lake, she had only served to alert me of her location, allowing me to overtake her and cut her off!

I fought against my adrenaline and tried to observe her progress. We would see how much strength you have to wade through the cornfield, I thought. For almost half an hour I remained in hot pursuit, and we reached the banks of a river. There were trees on each side of the river and a rope was bound to the trunks of a tree on the opposite side, extending to our side. The woman darted for the rope and leaped over the eddying currents of the river, yanking hard on the rope that she pulled herself over, leaving me stunned and speechless. The rope was one of her devices to escape! I looked around and no ways to cross the river; there were no bridges or logs that reached to the other side! The water was hardly deep, but the river was filled with mud and weed! There was no time to think! I tore off my shoes and socks, and rolled up the legs of my pants as quickly as possible and stepped into the cold and grimy water. I plodded through the muck and clambered up the opposite bank, but the woman had long fled! What terrible luck, I grumbled to myself before Xiao Qi’s anxious voice came, “Stop lulling about! Chase after her! I’m losing her scent! Any longer and I’ll have no trace of any humans at all around here!”

At a loss of what to do, I panicked. I threw my head around, trying to see if there were signs that I could follow and trace and saw a little cottage. Panting for breath, I moved towards the cottage. The cottage had two buildings; the main edifice with an annex which I believed was the kitchen, for I caught the glimpse of a stove. The cottage was empty when I reached there. I began looking around, and saw somebody working the fields not far away, wearing a straw hat that disguised the person’s gender from my view. I ambled slowly ahead towards the fields. Hearing my footsteps, the person stood up and looked suspiciously at me. It was a middle-aged lady, I saw. I greeted her and asked, “Did you saw a young woman running away with a knapsack just moments ago?” The woman’s cautious glare remained rested upon me. She peered at the shoes and socks I was holding and her head shook once, only to nod again! What are you trying to say, I almost screamed out loud? But instead of replying my question, the woman said to me, “Come to my house for a cup of water!” Without waiting for my response, she began striding back towards the cottage.

There was something about the woman that told me she knew about the thief. I followed after her, realizing that this could be a chance for me to glean more information about the marauding women who had tried to escape with our luggage. We reached the cottage and the women pointed to a small pool of water built from concrete, and said, “Wash your feet here and wear your shoes!” The outlet of the pool was plugged with a wad of cloth while an old and rickety hand-operated pump perched at the edge of the pool, allowing any user to draw water from a well underneath. I primed the pump and drew some water to wash myself up. After donning back my socks and shoes, I went into the cottage. The woman was sitting on a folding stool when she saw me. “Where are you from?” she asked, “Why are you here?” “I’m just a passing tourist. But my belongings were stolen from me when I was in town and I had pursued my thief until here!” I said to her. “Did you see who it was who had taken your stuff?” she asked again. “A young lady…” I had barely finished when a strong, queasy sensation rushed through me. The last thing I remembered was the voices of Xiao Qi and Xiao San calling out to me frantically as I blacked out.

There was an indescribable thirst in my throat when I came to. I tried to move my limbs but I could not. Opening my eyes, I realized that my hands were bound to a pillar. A woman was sitting a chair facing me, with one of her legs propped on the other. Clamped in her hand, was my calabash gourd that she unstoppered and tried to look into it. “What is your name?” she asked, still trying to look inside the gourd. “Is this yours?” As my sight cleared, I recognized who the woman was: the one working the fields earlier! She had tidied up herself, appearing much younger than she looked before. Behind her was the female thief from the cornfield who had taken my bag. But I was hardly worried. In fact, I could not be any happier when she removed the stopper of my gourd. You would be getting more than you demanded, old hag! Quietly, I muttered a spell, and strings of black smoke begin sprouting from the mouth of the gourd. Xiao Qi and Xiao San were released! They shared a sly grin as they drifted to my back and untied me. The woman, noticing my lips moving, snarled angrily, “Speak louder! What is your name?” She was under the impression that I was speaking too softly for her to listen, when I was actually summoning Xiao Qi and Xiao San. “My name is Shiyan! Murong Shiyan!” “Who is Murong Hai to you?” “My father!” I growled back. She stomped her feet into the ground with fury. “So it is true! You are the bastard son of that heartless jerk!” I shot a vile look at her while I stole another glance at Xiao San who was still busy ripping off the ropes that held one of my arms. With a final tug, she succeeded and so had Xiao Qi at the other side. I leaped to my feet and shook the pieces of rope off me. “Let’s! Make! Things! Clears!” I bellowed as loudly as I can, word by word, my voice thundering in the cottage as the women were stunned to see me free. “I am able to stop your underlings from thieving my possessions but by doing so, your underlings would have been dead. Stealing is but a trivial misdemeanor to me, so I have been merciful by staying my hand, and I have merely chased after her from behind!”