"What should we do now?" Feng Yushu asked.
"Head to the He mansion," Ning Zhe replied without hesitation. "Zhang Yangxu said Ye Miaozhu died there—let's see for ourselves."
"Eh?" Feng Yushu's nerves snapped. "Isn't that dangerous? She died there."
"It would be, if we rushed in like she did—certain death," Ning Zhe admitted. "But now I've borrowed part of the Serpent God's identity. If there's ever a moment to venture into the unknown, it's now."
He strode briskly over the uneven slabs, nearly tripping in a crack but catching himself with superhuman reflexes.
"Even gods suffer misfortune when they break taboos…" he sighed. Rules here were impartial—serpent deity or commoner, the penalty was the same.
They left the temple and walked north along the main street. Daylight revealed distant emerald peaks at the basin's rim. Villagers lingered on benches, watching children chase one another, yellow name-sheets fluttering on their faces. Curious faces paused as Ning Zhe and Feng Yushu passed, then resumed their slow, mechanical pace. If not for the paper masks, the scene might have seemed picturesque—an ancient town lost to time—yet the masks lent an indescribable eeriness.
At an intersection, two wild plum trees flanked the road. Black-and-white magpies perched on their branches, silent and motionless.
"What are those birds?" Feng Yushu looked up.
"Magpies," Ning Zhe said casually. "Black feathers with white patches, deep-blue wings, a flash of yellow on the tail—classic magpies."
Impressive you can ID them at a glance… she thought, surprised he volunteered the details.
He added, "Those plum trees aren't grafted. Notice the multiple slender trunks? Wild plum and osmanthus grow as shrubby clusters. Tall single-trunk specimens are usually grafted."
"Wild plums?" she repeated. Looking from the trees to the silent magpies, she murmured, "'Joy perches on plum tips'?"
"'Joy perches on brow tips'?" Ning Zhe paused, then realized: "Oh—'joy perches on plum tips'. It's a Qinzhou folk omen: newlyweds spotting magpies on wild plum boughs foretells harmony in marriage."
Feng Yushu nodded. "My father even commissioned a Qunzhou ink painting of 'Joy Perches on Plum Tips' for my wedding to bring good fortune."
"Nice," Ning Zhe said, not one for family affairs—besides, he couldn't afford a master painter. He wouldn't marry, anyway.
He gazed at the silent magpies. Earlier he'd seen in the Serpent God's memory-vision a maiden in loose scarlet robes—traditional bridal dress without a waist sash—her lips bright as freshly applied rouge.
"That was Qinzhou's bridal attire?" he wondered. Alone that vision meant little, but here it aligned with local omens…
"A bride in no-features garb.
Magpies silent on wild plums."
Was there a link?
They pressed on upstream. Beyond the plum intersection, pink confetti lined the road—spent firecracker paper, damp from last night's and this morning's rains. Even puddles glowed pale pink, scented faintly of sulfur.
"We're on track," Feng Yushu whispered. "Zhang Yangxu said he and Xie Sining walked this firecracker-strewn path to reach the grand He mansion."
"In daytime it's quaint—at night it would be oppressive."
They noticed fewer people as they walked; by now the street was deserted. Ning Zhe touched the warm clay chimney of a two-story house—hot, yet inside was empty. Shops stood open, their interiors abandoned: a pharmacy scale with licorice root, a basin of water on the stoop, a bamboo broom fallen in the street. Signs pointed to a bustling market until moments ago; now only desolation remained.
Feng Yushu spotted a rocking chair outside a fruit stall, gently oscillating then still—as if its occupant had just left.
"Where did everyone go?" Ning Zhe's wariness spiked. He skirted the pink confetti and crept forward.
Then, faintly, he heard something—
"What was that?"
Chapters in advance there: patreon.com/Thaniel_a_goodchild
Reference Glossary:
Wild plum tree – Native Prunus species in southern China, growing as multi-stem shrubs rather than single-trunk grafted specimens.
"Joy Perches on Plum Tips" – Qinzhou folk omen that magpies resting on wild plum branches signal auspicious harmony for newlyweds.
Qinzhou bridal attire – Traditional wedding dress supplemented by a waist sash to cinch the robe; absence of the sash indicated a specific ceremonial style.