Chapter 9 - Beginning of a Long Night

In the endlessly white world, Yuzu’s body became thin and translucent. Her mind was filled with the clashing illusory sounds that overwhelmed her to the point that she couldn’t think.

Just as she was about to disappear completely, a strong hand reached out and grabbed her right hand. She felt a sudden surge of energy flow through her as her body quickly gained substance. The hand yanked her out of the white world.

In the physical world, Yuzu’s eyes flickered open, and she saw herself looking up at a tall, white ceiling with dark wooden architectural framing. Hanging from the ceiling was a modest three-tiered chandelier with dangling crystals and candle holders that were currently unlit. She felt awake and energetic, like she had woken from a refreshing sleep.

A rough, strong hand held her right hand firmly. She looked to her right and saw the stern face of Police Chief Fang examining her intensely, his dark eyes locking onto hers. Out of reflex she quickly looked away, and in response he released his grip and stood up from his kneeling position.

“Are you alright, Yuzu?” Grandma Jingyi asked. She was sitting on the couch edge, by Yuzu’s waist, her hands gently rubbing Yuzu’s arm. She didn’t seem to have noticed the intensity of Police Chief Fang’s expression.

“Y-yes.” Yuzu’s voice shook, disoriented. Although the dissonant growling and the heavy door banging against thick chains were no longer sounding in her ears, her experience in the white world was still fresh in her memory.

“Just rest for a while, then.” Grandma Jingyi smiled.

Yuzu looked over past Grandma Jingyi. The other adults had already returned to the dining room. Even Police Chief Fang was on his way back to the table. Then she realized that Char Char was sitting on the next couch over, looking at her with a concerned expression. Standing beside her was Edwin the monk, wearing an anxious expression.

“What?” Yuzu asked sharply.

Char Char opened her mouth to reply, but the words caught in her throat mid way. She looked away, “...nothing.”

“I’m deeply sorry for the trouble I’ve caused, miss...” Edwin trailed off awkwardly, not remembering Yuzu’s name.

Yuzu’s expression darkened and she sat up, gently supported by Grandma Jingyi. As she sat up she quickly felt the sense of awakeness drain from her, and her limbs suddenly felt heavy. Still, she forced herself to stay sitting, feigning strength.

“I’m fine. This happens often.” She said bitterly, “It probably has nothing to do with your-“ She stopped herself from using the word ‘trick’, “-lode orb, or whatever. You don’t have to stay here.”

Edwin placed his fingers together in a triangle and bowed deeply, then with an awkward glance to each of the three women, he left, sensing that he was not welcome in Yuzu’s presence. Char Char remained sitting, unperturbed by Yuzu’s sour mood. As a long time friend of Yuzu, she was used to the treatment.

Yuzu massaged her temple and glabella with the thumb and forefinger of her right hand, closing her eyes as she tried to fight off the swimming sensation that had resurfaced.

A maid came with a small tray. On it was a tea set, with a small ceramic pot and three white ceramic tea cups with a light floral design. She poured the tea for the three ladies that had remained in the sitting room, before bowing and retreating to the side of the room.

Though there was not much that cured the fatigue or nausea of Yuzu’s weakness episodes, those close to Yuzu were aware that a cup of hot tea usually eased the symptoms. The best teas were floral teas brewed with several spoons of sugar. Uncle Zhao was aware of this and so had ordered the maid to prepare a sweetened Chrysanthemum tea.

Yuzu sipped the cup quietly, flexing her right hand gently as she recalled the mysterious white space and the strange and terrifying discordant sounds in it. She hadn’t been afraid at the time, but now that she was reflecting on the experience it disturbed her deeply. The sounds of rabid snarling echoed in her mind, and the memory of her body fading into nothing left her feeling pale and cold.

The hand that pulled her out - Yuzu was almost certain that it was Police Chief Fang. Not only was the sensation of the hand in the white space and how he was holding her hand equivalent, but also his dark eyes that had examined her were wells of mysterious knowledge. She felt that he had silently acknowledged something in the brief moment that he had locked eyes with her. Then he had left without a word.

Yuzu glanced over to the dining room through the open double doors. She couldn’t see Police Chief Fang from her spot on the couch. She purposefully avoided looking in Char Char’s direction, who was sitting and drinking quietly from her own tea cup.

There was a knock on the front door, three heavy raps. The maid attending to the girls in the sitting room bowed as she exited towards the front foyer.

After a moment she returned, followed by a tall, broad shouldered man with sun baked skin. He was wearing an old, black three button coat over his waist coat and buttoned shirt. It was her brother, Xiang. Yuzu glanced over at Grandma Jingyi, who caught the look and shook her head at Yuzu. No, no one had called Xiang.

“Xiang, what a welcome surprise.” Uncle Zhao arrived from the dining room alone with a sincere smile on his face. He extended his hand towards the younger man, who reluctantly shook it.

Xiang did not get along with Uncle Zhao, a fact that the latter was aware of but ignored. Yuzu didn’t know the reason that Xiang disliked Uncle Zhao, but she guessed it was because Zhao once offered to support their family financially, and Xiang’s pride took offense to it. It was petty, and stupid.

“Good evening, Sansen. I’m here to pick up my sister.” Xiang said.

“Of course. Have you eaten? We just finished dinner. How about dessert?” Uncle Zhao offered, which Xiang declined.

Xiang glanced at Yuzu, his eyes reflecting the pot of tea and the position of Char Char and Grandma Jingyi on the couches next to her.

“Did you faint again?” His words pierced her.

“I’m fine.” Yuzu said sharply, not meeting his eyes. “Why are you here?”

“To take you home. Let’s go.” He said.

Yuzu bit her lip and kept her gaze averted as she sipped her tea. She wanted to say something along the lines of, it’s rude to barge into Uncle Zhao’s house and make demands. I’m his guest!

Instead, she calmly set down her cup, sealing her emotions behind a blank expression.

“Why does she have to go?” Char Char asked with a glare at Xiang, “We were having a good time!”

Xiang simply ignored her and looked expectantly at Yuzu. She started to stand, appearing to be rising at her leisure, but inwardly she was fighting nausea and weakness in her limbs.

“Are you-“ Grandma Jingyi began.

“I’m fine, Grandma Jingyi.” Yuzu interrupted Grandma Jingyi from asking if she’d be alright walking home. She smiled apologetically and bowed politely to both Grandma Jingyi and Char Char, and then walked over to Uncle Zhao and bowed to him as well. “Thank you for inviting me. I’ll be going now.”

The night air was crisp and chilly as Yuzu walked beside her brother on the path down from Whitehare Crescent. The dirt path zig zagged down the side of the hill that the district was built upon, with a low wooden fence built along the edge of the path to keep people from falling over the side. Looking out from the hill, the lights of the city shone like stars spreading out across the cityscape.

While some of the light came from the glow coming from windows, most of them came from lanterns that hung outside the door of houses. These were lit and maintained by the people who owned homes that faced streets, and was mandated by law. In addition, the main streets were lit by gas lanterns that were fed from underground copper pipes. In the evening, each district would open the flow of gas into the pipes and an automatic mechanism would light the lanterns when they sensed the gas. In certain areas, there still existed manually lit oil lamps that were maintained by lamp lighters each night, and extinguished by them in the morning.

Thus, even on a moonless night such as this night, the city was lit well enough to walk without carrying a lantern. And looking down upon it from the hillside invoked both feelings of peace and wonder. The city was a collection of constellations, some of them busily connected by lines of continuous light, some of them sparse and quiet. To the north loomed the dark shadows of the Yonge mountain range, at once majestic and forbidding. In the east, Chenmai Forest thickly blanketed the land in shadow. To the west, lights flickered among the rolling hills that held the farmlands between Noga and Seline Harbour. On the clearest nights, if one were to trek into the mountains and climb above the city, one could even make out the shore and the twinkle of lights from the harbour. The rolling hills and farmlands continued to the south, though from this side of Whitehare Crescent it was out of view.

Yuzu looked out at the city as she wrapped her thin black cardigan around her torso and crossed her arms, for all the good it did at keeping her warm.

Xiang walked at her side, matching his pace to hers. He didn’t say anything, but took off his coat and draped it around her shoulders. It was oversized and heavy.

“It stinks.” She sniffed dismissively, pulling it close around her body.

~

In a small clinic close to the outskirts of the Chenmai forest, a half bald traveler with a wide nose and goatee narrowed his eyes as he examined the woman lying before him on the narrow clinic bed. Hakuya frowned as he set his sack and straw hat aside.

“It’s not just a fever anymore.” The pale man next to him with brown eyes and curly black hair said. “In the few days that you’ve been gone she’s fallen into a deep slumber that we haven’t been able to wake her from. She often mumbles gibberish in her sleep. In addition, the boils on her skin have gotten worse.”

The man, whose name was Dr. Jensen Ilec, gently pulled back the cotton robe around the woman’s arm, revealing a disturbing sight. Her skin had numerous swollen boils and blisters that were protruding out. The largest had bluish green tinges to them. As soon as Hakuya stepped forward for a closer look Dr. Ilec retreated, unsettled from the sight despite being a seasoned doctor.

“They’re all over her back and legs as well. I’ve never heard of anything like this before.” Dr. Ilec said. “Are you familiar with this affliction?”

Hakuya frowned, his brows wrinkled in deep thought. This was beyond his experience as a healer. He was doubtful that even the powerful potion he had concocted would have any significant effect, as it was a potion that bolstered the immune system and restored balance to the various bodies of the patient. After seeing the boils, Hakuya’s intuition started ringing warning bells!

What was occuring to this poor woman was something unnatural!

“I need to confirm something.” He mumbled, pulling out a slim silver ornamental dagger from his robes and unsheathing it from its leather case.

Both men leaned their heads forward as the disciple of Yuima placed the tip of the blade against the largest boil on the woman’s arm. It was about the size of a cherry, and beneath the swollen skin there appeared to be something curled. As if in reaction to the touch of the silver, the woman suddenly started groaning, causing Dr. Ilec to jump. Hakuya showed no reaction, but calmly and deliberately pierced the skin.

A yellowish white pus started oozing out of the cut as a bright green stem started unfurling out of the opened wound. It rose up to the ceiling to a length of about ten centimetres, with a dozen rows of long, thin leaves uncurling and spreading out. It had the appearance of the frond of a fern. The underside of each leaf was lined with small black dots.

A feeling of dread caught in Hakuya’s throat as he came to a realization of the true nature of the disease.