CH-057

Though the grain storehouse fire had disrupted the village that morning, the harvest festival still continued as planned that evening.

Tonight there was no moon to be seen.

It had been hidden by heavy cloud cover.

The thick clouds pressed low overhead, even the wind carrying dampness—making it uncertain whether it might rain.

On an ordinary night, Shu Li would absolutely not venture out in weather this dark and gusty, especially not in the mountain forest where you couldn't see the road. He relied entirely on Finnian's familiarity with the terrain to navigate.

Finnian moved fast, with Narci the little fox darting along beside him.

Its white fur glowed—given the smallest light, it reflected back, almost as if the entire fox were luminescent. But it also moved in the darkness, so unless you knew it was there, you'd never spot it just beside you.

Finnian, wanting to claim first place in line, spotted the small crowd already gathering at the makeshift wooden gates and immediately yanked Shu Li's hand, pushing forward. "Hurry! We're going to be first!"

Others beside them, learning from Finnian, pushed forward as well.

Finnian held his ground indignantly: "I'm a child—let me through! Don't push me!"

The ordinarily take-things-as-they-come Shu Li, faced with this situation, was caught between laughter and tears. He instinctively turned to check Leslie's expression.

But when he turned, Shu Li froze entirely.

Behind him was a sea of heads, torchlight flickering—casting every face in shifting light and shadow, their silhouettes swaying on the ground like water plants.

Leslie—was gone.

This discovery, in the surging crowd and cacophony of voices, struck Shu Li like cold water suddenly splashed into his very bones—he involuntarily felt a chill.

He had lost a child.

This couldn't have ended up underfoot somewhere…

Shu Li felt he was truly born to worry. If this had been Vivian or Thea, he could have lifted both of them and kept them in his field of vision at all times.

He knew that large public gatherings were prime conditions for children to get separated, and that stampede incidents from crowd density were far from rare.

Shu Li quickly told Finnian: "Leslie's gone astray—let me go look for him."

Leslie ordinarily wore his own clothes, and even his attire had a certain quality that set him apart from the crowd. But today Finnian had found the clothes he'd come in objectionably conspicuous and had given Leslie one of his own outfits—a rough-spun linen shirt like those worn by village children.

This had buried whatever distinctive quality Leslie had. Now he was like a pebble dropped into a pile of grain—no matter how different he always was, there was no picking him out.

"Finnian, Leslie has gotten separated—I'll go look for him," Shu Li said.

Finnian grabbed Shu Li's hand and said matter-of-factly: "He's such an impressive person—how would he get lost?"

Shu Li sighed: "People don't get lost on purpose—what if he's lost or injured, and no one can hear him?"

But the moment those words fell, the quiet, silent face appeared wordlessly at Shu Li's side from no one knew where—"..."

Shu Li: "..."

Oh. So you were there the whole time.

I'm never taking children out to play again—everything is a worry. Exhausting.

Shu Li, startled and relieved in equal measure, suggested: "In a crowd like this, it's too easy to lose people. Why don't you two hold hands—looking out for each other makes it less likely anyone gets separated."

Finnian heard this and immediately shot a glance at Leslie. "I'm not holding hands with him..." he said with profound reluctance, clinging to Shu Li's arm and raising his voice a few pitches: "I'd feel embarrassed! I'm nearly twelve!"

Before Shu Li could say anything, Finnian was like an affectionate cat clinging to him, squinting his eyes and laughing: "I think if Father Aliss is worried, he's the one most likely to get lost—shouldn't I be leading you?"

Knowing this would turn into dawdling and wheedling, Shu Li sighed helplessly, leaned toward Leslie and said quietly: "Leslie, come over here for now."

Before the black-haired young boy could react, Leslie's hand was already wrapped in a warm grasp.

In that instant—it was as if someone had cupped warm hands around his very heart.

He was startled, yet he didn't dislike this unfamiliar touch. He instinctively looked toward Shu Li, his fingers not daring to press, his thumb resting loosely across the back of Shu Li's hand.

Seeing that Shu Li's expression was entirely natural, Leslie let out a slow breath of relief, then couldn't help looking down at Shu Li's hand. "..."

This was the first time Leslie had held someone's hand. When he was little, watching other children being walked home by their families hand in hand, he had imagined what it would feel like. Later that feeling faded and he even forgot that between people, one could hold hands.

This person had no connection to him whatsoever—yet because the other was so warm, this made Leslie feel...

Father Aliss's fingernails were trimmed neatly, his knuckles clear and defined—hands that had turned pages of scripture and also carried water buckets. They had both the manner of the refined and scholarly, and the strength of daily labor hidden within—like the texture of old wood sanded smooth.

Shu Li caught the child's expression in a daze, unexpectedly glimpsing this childlike side of him—instinctively smiled, and used the hand holding Leslie's to gently tap his face, pulling him back to reality while teasing him at the same time: "Lost in thought?"

"..." Leslie immediately panicked, like any child caught unguarded.

Finnian watched from the side in cold silence, his little face a picture of vigilance and hostility.

What was this! So easy to play the cute card! Where did he even learn it—!

Finnian watched Leslie's meek, docile manner and felt displeased.

But before he could look for long, his attention leaped to his father—the opening formalities seemed to have finally ended at last—"They're finally done with the annoying opening remarks, it's starting—!" Not long after saying this, he told Shu Li: "The first person to go through is supposed to get good luck for the year. Just follow my lead."

At that moment Shu Li looked up and the fire had already been lit.

Following the line of the dried-grass and timber gate frames, the flames shot upward at speed—like a starving beast gone mad, eating the air in mouthfuls all the way along. In the blink of an eye the fire tongues were rolling and licking at the night sky, the frames popping and crackling explosively, as if the very sparks were tearing themselves apart.

Now the wind, not knowing from where it had emerged like a meddler, raced between the fires—puffing each little flame into a new shape every second.

Each gate looked like something beset on all sides—a hapless soul bristling from head to foot with fire-wrought banners.

The smell of burning swept through the air in an instant.

Looking at those raging flames, Shu Li felt: if he walked even a little slowly, the hem of his robe might catch fire—and if he got any closer, the whole person could be swallowed by the fire.

"..." How could he believe there wasn't a single injured person from this ritual over the years?

Why did humans need to torment humans like this?

Would it kill them to find a different form of entertainment? Wouldn't it be fine to take a page from the Chinese harvest festival—the Mid-Autumn Festival—where people played with fire by releasing paper lanterns, or setting off fireworks? Couldn't they go with some safer entertainment?

Shu Li's intense safety consciousness was constantly setting off alarm bells inside him.

He had assumed this was the kind of ceremony you just walked through—a formality of sorts. Even in modern society there were similar ceremonies, like walking a "fire path." Generally speaking, safety measures were in place for those. And he had to admit, many of them didn't even use real fire.

He hadn't imagined the locals would play with such genuine commitment, such sincerity, with such a complete absence of contingency plans.

If he'd known it would be like this, he would have refused.

God!

This was the most active Shu Li had ever been internally in one night.

He felt his worldview had received a massive shock—the kind that would still be haunting him in his sleep.

But his hand was suddenly gripped tightly by Finnian, and then Finnian raised his other hand with a grand announcement—"We're going to be first!"—and Shu Li's insides let out a sharp detonating wail.

Aaaaaaaah no—!

The fire gates lay ahead, waves of flame lapping around their feet.

As he walked through, Shu Li realized they had actually used the wind direction to keep the fire from blowing onto people—and the fire gates were tall enough, wide enough, and far enough apart that it was purely a test of nerve.

Yet the heat that swept against his face was no illusion—in just a few seconds his face was roasting flushed and numb.

Shu Li himself was the type who would never, ever ride a drop tower or roller coaster at an amusement park.

His field of vision was entirely leaping red light, his ears full of the crackling of sparks and Finnian's excited shouts.

He couldn't see ahead at all—Finnian had him in a vice-grip, pulling him forward, and in his other hand he also unconsciously clutched his other silent companion tight.

Ten-some seconds stretched like a century.

After passing through the final fire gate, feet on solid ground again, with a villager nearby asking if they needed water or ointment, Shu Li realized his back was soaked with sweat.

"Wasn't that fun!" Finnian asked excitedly. "Should we go again?"

Shu Li couldn't help calling out: "Lord..."—please, take this little demon away.

Finnian's eyes flickered with puzzlement, his grin unchanged: "Is this the kind of thing you tell the Lord too?"

Shu Li turned to seek solidarity in Leslie, but this child's eyes also still held the unspent excitement that hadn't yet faded—clearly he too had enjoyed it immensely and wanted very much to go again.

And so Shu Li pleaded for mercy: "I still have to do a round with Cecilia—if you want more, you can go by yourselves."

Finnian sulked: "If you're not there, how are we supposed to go? There's no one to come with us."

Finnian paused, then started muttering under his breath: "Father Aliss is obviously going to be all lovey-dovey with someone. My dad and mom are like that—when they're together they don't like me hovering nearby. Father Aliss is probably the same."

Leslie, hearing this, stared at Shu Li in surprise—nothing came out, but his whole face read: "Really?"

Both children were at the stage where they needed to be treated with respect as individuals, their self-esteem and self-awareness were in full bloom.

Explaining was more important than a dismissive brush-off.

Shu Li calmly explained: "The Lord would not permit me to have private exchanges with believers. Moreover, Cecilia asking me to walk through the fire gate with her almost certainly isn't because she wants any kind of development with me—otherwise, how come I don't appear in the future she mentioned?"

Finnian grew puzzled and asked: "Then why did she give you a silver brooch privately? What is she trying to do?"

"Finnian, let me tell you one more thing," Shu Li said while holding up a finger, his tone as gentle and patient as ever: "Not every single thing needs to be interrogated to the root. True cleverness isn't knowing the most—it's knowing when to stop your own curiosity."

Shu Li smiled at Finnian's frowning expression and added: "You wouldn't want me always prying into strange things that happen around you, would you?"

Finnian startled. His mind immediately conjured all the secrets he hadn't told Shu Li—especially the secret about his own abilities.

He instinctively lifted his hand to touch his own ear. Not wanting to give himself away, he muttered: "I haven't done anything strange." After saying this, he snuck a look at Shu Li—and seeing he wasn't pressing further, breathed a sigh of relief.

Just as that subtle, strange silence was settling—

A burst of hurried footsteps broke the calm.

A villager covered in soot came stumbling forward, his voice trembling with panic: "Something's wrong! A girl is trapped in the fire—a girl called Cecilia! Does anyone here know her or her family?"

How could this be?

Shu Li froze for a moment, then immediately made his decision and moved: "I'm going right now."

Finnian shot his head up and grabbed Shu Li's hand, urgently saying: "Take me with you!"

Shu Li raised his hand and gently pressed down on his shoulder, his tone urging and coaxing: "There's no rush—you'd be no use going..."

"I can... I can actually help..." Finnian's words lurched up to his throat, then refused to come out.

Shu Li hadn't caught Finnian's struggle, his gaze calm and steady: "I'll go assess the situation—you go find your father and get people to help. The harvest festival can't have another incident."

Then he looked toward Leslie.

"Leslie, can you come with me?"

The suddenly named Leslie startled, and asked nothing—seeing Shu Li was still awaiting his answer, he simply nodded.

Finnian fixed his eyes on the two retreating figures, lips pressed tight—then wasted no time and hurried off to find help.