The Tale Never Ends Chapter 108

The cry of “Young Master” was clear and unexpectedly strong, that I instantly realized who it was! There was no one else among the female brigands at Aunt Ulan's encampment who would address me as such; only one: Alatan Qiqige! I looked hard at the woman, and there she was, the one and the same Edelweiss who once disguised herself as a village farm woman and had tried to steal my bag!

I would not have recognized her, given her present appearance in au courant fashion and makeup! Her current look was a stark difference to the amazonian female brigand I met in Mongolia that I was too bewildered to react! Lin Feng let out a whistle before saying, “Oh my, it's Edelweiss! Look at you now! I would have mistaken you for a woman of the metropolitan!” The remark made me I eye Lin Feng with narrowed eyes.

Quickly, I chuckled weakly and returned Edelweiss' salute. “Really, I was not able to recognize you earlier,” I admitted and said, “So you are the messenger that my father told me about.” Edelweiss responded with a nod. “Indeed I am,” she replied, “The Chief is in trouble. It is an emergency that we are unable to handle ourselves and I have come to seek for your help. You had left so urgently last time that we have forgotten to exchange correspondences, hence the inconvenience now.” “But what is so grave a matter that you cannot use a simple phone call?” “There's no signal at the camp,” she said, “It was until finally this morning that I decided to come myself.”

What she said filled me with dread. “What happened,” I asked at once. Edelweiss could not answer, wearing a troubled look as if she was still looking for a better way to convey the message. After some hesitation, she finally revealed. “I too do not know what is going on. A man came to the camp a few days ago, looking for the Chief. But during his meeting with the Chief, he demanded to see you. The man turned angry and spiteful when the Chief told him that you were not at the camp, feeling that we were lying to him. Before leaving, he left a threat: in three days, the entire encampment would be in turmoil, if you did not show yourself. But we initially believed it only to be a bluff to draw you out, therefore the matter quickly slipped out of our mind. Moreover, it was common for people to come seeking revenge in our line of business. But three days later, the man appeared again at the gates. He demanded once again to see you and was infuriated to hear that we had not been taking him seriously, and went on fighting against the Chief.”

Surely Aunt Ulan did not shoot the man to death, I wondered quietly. I began hoping that that was not the case, otherwise, Edelweiss would be here to ask for me to help her intervene with the police force of Inner Mongolia.

But the matter was hardly so simple and mundane; Edelweiss' forehead creased into a distressed frown. “Well, we have guns, no? And the person was hardly a formidable fighter,” she went on, “With only a few moves, the Chief was able to subdue and incapacitate him. But what happened next really baffled us. We had the man tied up in bounds, but he vanished into thin air! To make things worse, the Chief immediately fainted!” I gulped hard, wishing that Aunt Ulan was fine.

Edelweiss must have noticed the change in my expression. Fearfully she squeaked, “The man even left you a letter, Young Master… Look…” She extracted a missive from the pockets of her down feather coat and handed it to me. It said, “To Murong Shiyan” on the top, I saw. But when I flipped the envelope over, the wax seal was already broken. A look apprehension crept into my face. “I opened it earlier,” Father said suddenly from his seat on the couch, “I have broken the spell inside. Don't worry.” I turned back to look at Father, whose face was locked in an upset frown himself even though he was sipping at his liquor and cigarette.

I nodded to Father and opened the envelope, taking out the letter and read it. Written in hard and forceful brush strokes were the words: To Murong Shiyan, Destiny wills you to be extraordinary indeed, if you are still able to read this message. But in three days, show yourself, or your mother will have her soul disintegrated!”

Whoever it was, the person was holding Aunt Ulan's life hostage! Filled with rage, I tore the letter into bits and spat. “Goddamnit!” Father crushed the butt of his cigarette. “Calm down,” he said, staring at me grimly, “At least, for now, your Aunt Ulan is safe.” Father might not retain any feelings for Aunt Ulan, but he was an upright and conscientious person who would never abandon others without reason, especially a person who once saw herself as a spouse to him. Knowing that he too was equally worried, I listened to him and calmed myself.

Father called for Mother. “Let's first let our guest have a rest for her journey,” he instructed her before he turned to us three, “The three of you best prepare yourselves. You'll go to Inner Mongolia tomorrow with Edelweiss.” He stood up, and swung his arms dramatically and Lin Feng's and Yuan Chongxi's gear magically appeared on the coffee table like a magician at his show. We were hardly surprised by Father's display of his magic, but Edelweiss was startled to see this. Mother patted her on her shoulder, regaining her attention and leading her away.

Father fell back into his seat on the couch and warned, “The wax seal on the envelope held a curse; one that will draw away the soul of anyone who breaks the seal. You will be faced with a formidable opponent this time. Be careful!” My eyebrows raised quizzically and asked, “Do you know this person?” “One of the members of the organization that Zhang Zhigui is investigating,” Father replied after a heavy sigh, “But they are after you this time. Just be careful.”

My head nodded my agreement. My heart felt slightly at ease, knowing that at least who our adversaries were this time and Father was still hardly perturbed, although he was indeed worried of Aunt Ulan's condition.

The following morning, we rushed to the Wu Zhong County train station. Just like before, we would be traveling to Beijing before hopping onto the Airport Express and boarded the plane where we finally had a respite. It was the first time Edelweiss boarded a plane, for she came to Wu Zhong via railway. She was excited in her first flight, tugging at my arm and pointing and asking about everything around her. During the flight, she was looking out of the window all the time, watching the clouds flitting by in the blue sky that she had only seen from ground level. It was an experience that she enjoyed so immensely that all worries and concerns seemed to have escaped her momentarily. Unlike city girls who normally craved material comforts, I wondered, the cheerful Edelweiss who was now peering out of the airplane window with joy seemed more appealing to me…

As soon as we got off the plane, we immediately placed a call to Mr. Zhao, the proprietor of the rental car service we met before. He was especially warm and enthusiastic to see us, then I remembered of Yuan Chongxi's advice for him when we last met him. He must have profited a lot then.

Without further ado, Mr. Zhao whisked us off to the best restaurant in the vicinity and showered us with praises and compliments during the meal. Being a straightforward person from her life being a horse bandit, Edelweiss was slightly vexed by his sophistry and she did her best to ignore him. But Mr. Zhao, hardly bothered by this, never stopped his flattery of her charms and appeal as we ate. Nevertheless, I was not one who liked enjoying the hospitality of others without repaying them, more so when I knew Mr. Zhao had arranged for lodgings for us at the most lavish hotel there. But as if things were not yet worst, Mr. Zhao had misunderstood Edelweiss and I as a pair of couple! He had booked only three rooms for all of us! No wonder he was smiling slyly at me when he left, I brooded quietly.

I went to the lobby myself and wanted to ask for another room quietly, which I later found out was terribly expensive. But to my dismay, the entire hotel was fully booked! Dumbstruck, we stood together in front of the three rooms, looking foolishly at each other as I held the room cards in my hand. Lin Feng and Yuan Chongxi peered at me, and I glared back at them, trying my best to ignore the burning sensation flushing on my cheeks.

But the two rascals immediately snatched two room cards and darted for the doors before locking them behind them! Hence only I and Edelweiss remained, looking at each other with the last remaining room card in my fingers…

Chapter end