The Caravan’s Journey - Part 3

The next morning, Leiyu and the merchants had breakfast in the dining hall. The food was much the same as the night before - flatbread, dates, peaches, cheese - with the addition of watery porridge flavored with cinnamon and cardamom. When no one was looking, Leiyu slipped some flatbread and dates into his sleeve. He ate the peach slices since he knew they would not last long. The delicate nectar dribbled down his throat, and he felt blissful.

After the meal was over and the attendants took the plates and bowls away, Leiyu went to the stable to retrieve Bakhat. The horse was munching on a new batch of hay, and the attendant was brushing his mane. When Leiyu approached, Bakhat neighed. Leiyu patted him on the back of the neck.

The merchants appeared shortly after to retrieve their horses and cargo wagons. After chatting with the innkeeper, Chen Yun handed over a string with coins attached. The innkeeper bade them farewell and wished them a safe journey.

The rest of the day was uneventful. They were adrift in an ocean of sand and battled the relentless wind. At least there were no bandits to fight off. When night fell, there were no shelters in sight, so they circled the cargo wagons and kept the horses within the perimeter. Using some sticks that they had brought along, the merchants started a fire in the center of their formation and huddled close to it for warmth. To pass the time, they swapped tales of their lives back home and their past travels. Leiyu sat at the periphery of the group, one ear taking in their stories and the other listening for threats in the distance.

“How much do you think we’ll get for the goods?” Liang Fusheng asked as he stared at the fire.

“Probably a generous amount,” Wang Yihui said. “We’re delivering it to the palace after all.” He took a swig of water from his flask. “What are you planning to do once we get home?”

“That won’t be for a while, but I’m planning to get married when I return to my hometown,” Liang Fusheng replied. “My folks already arranged it, so all I have to do is go back.”

“You settling down after that?” Wang Yihui asked.

“Nah, I’m gonna keep trading. Money doesn’t earn itself.” Liang Fusheng turned to Chen Yun. “What about you? You’ve been quiet.”

Chen Yun blinked, taking his focus off the fire. He poked at the wood with a stick. “Ah, sorry, just lost in thought.”

“What thoughts?” Liang Fusheng asked. He then grinned. “Thinking about your girl back home?”

“Pssh, not all of us are lucky enough to have everything already arranged. Nah, I’m just wondering about our new bodyguard. He’s polite, but we really don’t know much about him.”

“Well, plenty of people are the quiet types. Better than being an insufferable loudmouth.” Wang Yihui said, chuckling. Chen Yun tried to suppress a grin while Liang Fusheng frowned. “As long as he keeps us alive, that’s all we need.”

“Sure, but I’d like to know more about him if he’s going to be traveling with us for the long haul,” Chen Yun said.

Liang Fusheng laughed. “If you wanna know, just ask.”

“Well, I already tried talking to him at the caravanserai, but he barely responded.”

“So be it. Being a man of few words isn’t a bad thing, and he’s just a bodyguard anyway. We’re all gonna part ways after this journey’s over, so it doesn’t matter. He gets us there safely, and we offer him some of the profits as payment. If he takes it, great. Fair compensation. If he refuses, even better. More for us.”

“That’s so transactional,” Chen Yun said with a furrow in his brow.

Liang Fusheng laughed so hard his teeth gleamed in the firelight. “We’re merchants, of course everything’s transactional! At least we’re not the swindling kind.”

Wang Yihui chimed in. “Yeah, we’re the lowest of the occupations. Just a step above beggars and thieves.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Chen Yun thought he saw Leiyu stare at them before turning away again. Chen Yun shook his head and returned his gaze to the fire.

***

One morning, after many weeks of trekking under the sweltering sun, Leiyu spotted the dark silhouette of a mountain range in the distance. He felt a strange sense of déjà vu and recalled his red cord dreams. He turned around to face Chen Yun in the wagon behind him and pointed toward the horizon.

Chen Yun narrowed his eyes and then opened them wide again. “Oh! We’re approaching the edge of the desert. The Western Region lies beyond.”

The sight of the mountain was a smirking taunt since it still took them hours to reach it. It was midday when they finally reached the demarcation where shifting sand gave way to craggy rocks. The mountain sloped up steeply like the walls of a fortress. Hawks circled through the air and screeched. Having spent so much time in the arid desert, the damp air felt odd but welcoming. It had the scent of the first rain upon soil after a long drought.

“How do we get through?” Liang Fusheng asked.

”There should be a passageway,” Chen Yun replied. “We are not the first traders to make this journey.”

Leiyu guided Bakhat forward. The steed’s hooves clopped over gravel and fledgling weeds. The rest of the caravan trailed behind him. Leiyu rode alongside the craggy wall, past the lichen patches and scurrying lizards. He noticed a small creature, a squirrel perhaps, run into a gap. He pulled on the reins and Bakhat quickened to a trot. They slowed down when they reached the spot where he saw the critter disappear. There was a narrow opening in the rocks, scarcely big enough to fit a cargo wagon. He could keep going and look for something wider, but there was no guarantee that his luck would improve.

“I’ll take a look inside,” he said to the merchants. “I won’t be gone for long.”

He guided Bakhat into the opening. The air was thick with moisture, and rocks surrounded him like the walls of a narrow alleyway. Thin roots clung to the crags, and a procession of ants marched between them. As he went further, the distance between the walls widened. It was possible that there was a dead end further ahead, but he had no way of knowing without traversing the entire mountain. It was a risk he would have to take, especially since the merchants were waiting for him outside. He pulled on the reins and turned Bakhat around.

***

Chen Yun and the other merchants felt the knots in their muscles loosen when they saw Leiyu return with Bakhat. They had been anxiously sitting in their wagons, hoping that they wouldn’t be ambushed while their sole bodyguard was gone.

“There is a pathway, although it’s narrow at first,” Leiyu said. “I have no idea whether it goes through the entire mountain. Do you want to take it or keep looking for another passage?”

The merchants looked at each other. The desert journey had been arduous enough, but at least it was straightforward. The prospect of being trapped on the mountain when their destination was so close was infuriating.

Chen Yun furrowed his brow and sighed before speaking. “We could try it. If we really do run into a dead end, we could turn around and start over.”

They entered the passageway. The canvas wagon coverings scraped the jagged rock walls, dislodging debris as they trudged forward. The merchants heard the clink of porcelain vases bouncing against each other under the wagons’ canopies. They slowed to a crawl, not wanting to damage the merchandise.

The walls widened and the trail became smoother as they went further into the heart of the mountain. The vases stopped bouncing back and forth and the merchants breathed sighs of relief. The only sounds they could hear now were the slow clopping of their horses’ hooves and the creaky turning of the wagons’ wheels. Every once in a while, loose pebbles cascaded down the slopes and Leiyu would halt the caravan. Once he determined that there were no threats, they resumed their slow and steady progress.