Lixin and the soldiers check each caravan. Ai goes beside the sacks, opening them, and seeing salt, sulfur, and mercury. she goes to the front seeing an old man with thin white hair on the sides of his head and a young girl beside him. Her eyes focused on Ai "I'm sorry for the disturbance sir, you can pass through, the old man says nothing and continues.
Ai takes a peak at the lines of caravans "for how long will we stay here?" The general ignores her unintentionally and moves to the next and the next for hours.
As the sun reach its highest place, Lixin shouts "our work is done" they take their horses and at noon they are back at the house, hearing from inside the children screaming.
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Lixin push his fingers to his eyes and they let the horses and go inside the kitchen, seeing the children screaming with awe as Fenhua throws the vegetables in the air and tries to cut them but fails.
Looking at the children and saying "I believed it would be easier" the children hide their laughs behind their palms with their eyes betraying them. Lixin look at Fenhua with his hands clutching and walks towards him and Ai follows behind, saying with a loud voice "Fenhua, where were you today?" Fenhua look confused at Lixin "i was here looking after the kids" "i told you to get rid of them until yesterday" Fenhua takes a good look behind Lixin looking at the children and back at him "general please talk more quite, and i couldn't find anyone who would take care of them" Lixin ignore his request "then find one until next week or throw them out on the streets" "general they are Children" "they are the children of a traitor, they are waste of air" Fenhua eyes wide open and look at the children, ready to cry" "general leave,now" "one more week, there is not enough room for me to cover you to the army and you will not waste our recourses trying to find a house for these wastes" he walks outside of the house and Ais eyes remain on Fenhua "why didn't you say anything?" Ai snap out of her thoughts "im sorry, i was lost in my thoughts" Fenhua rage quickly goes away and says with a calm voice "its alright, just go get some rest" he continues whispering "if it wasn't for the children and the mad ones i would have leaved long ago" Ai says nothing, she clutch her fists and inside her she feels a rage, she goes to the stairs ignoring Fenhua and grabs some clothes and goes to the back of the house and placing the large bowl out and throws plant ash on the water as she dips herself inside the bowl.
She goes inside the house and as the door thumbs Lixin comes from the stairs "wear your armor, you are going to the city for patrol" Ai sigh for a moment and goes upstairs and wars her armor.
She goes to the harbor, seeing preaka placing metal bars on the road deep in the earth and she continues to walk looking at more preaka doing the same thing over the road.
The sun is almost gone and a man pass through the metal bars, placing a candle at a time in the bars and producing electricity from his hand, and lighting them, and as the night comes around the world the light of day stays in the city. Ai feels a heat in her heart and look with passion for a moment before her eyes turn stone dead, she continues, Peaking with ease at every corner of the city, she walk to the end of the harbor and see the lights beaming in all the city, and again a heat ignites in her heart before it goes extinguished, she look pensively at the ground, Klaeben, Fenhua, and the children, and the rest except Lixin come to her mind but the fire quickly fades expect for Klaeben, She turn look to the sky seeing the moon and remembers her post is over, she gaze at the gallery, the building surpassing every other in the west of the harbor.
She walk inside finding a small group of people wandering around, twisting their head right and left, she wanders around at the right end of the room, finding a marbled staircase, As she steps upstairs the sound of a violin its heard, she walks at the long and naked hallway, turning left Hearing the slow amd dreary sound of the erthu, she turn left, finding two women statues, the music becomes clearer and louder, she turns again and sees the woman with black hair beside a brown chair And behind her a painting covering almost the whole wall, Ai look at it, a peak of a mountain with a sea of stars, She take her look at the woman as she continues to play the erthu, her eyes shining and her lips curving upwards.
She let the erthu and look at Ai "I didn't expect someone to come here this time of the night"
"I was on patrol and I thought of coming to see the upper floors " "the sculptures and paintings for the second and third floor will be transferred the next week" "do you work here?"
"You can say it like that. I spoke with the owner of the gallery to convince her to let me participate here with my violin in the various concerts from time to time"
Ai smile but quickly fades "that must be like a dream to you" the woman smile "I wouldn't call it a dream yet"
"And why is that?"
"It would be a dream if I had achieved my goals. But for now it's just a perilous chase"
"I haven't asked your name"
"its cong"
"it suits you really well" cong smirk and grab the violin "does it bother you if I play a bit more while we talk? I want to practice"
"it's alright, but wouldn't my voice distract you?"
Cong place the erthu down, she moves the bow and her fingers with speed and elegance, she close her eyes and says "It's not a problem for me" Ai watch her with great interest, looking at the strings and Cong wiggling her head, and her blue eyes staying frozen at Ai "if you ever wish to learn any instrument I will gladly help you"
Ai raise her tone "any instrument?"
"Yes, I had spent most of my life learning the rest of them"
"but you can't play them so well like right?" Cong smile "you don't know what you can reach if you dedicate your life to it"
"I have dedicated my life to other things" "tell me some of them"
"mostly at the army, books and philosophy" "let me think" the tone of the violin turns melancholically
"Does a man needs philosophy to become happy or needs others to see and give him worth?"
"Neither, we create our meaning from nothing"
Cong abruptly stops the erthu"so you don't believe you need a specific reason to find happiness"
"not exactly" Cong starts moving the bow again, now the notes coming slow and melodramatic "do you believe in a power above our comprehension?"
"Of course, the emperor is our god"
"Ai you can tell me the truth, I don't believe in false idols either" Ai lift her eyebrows, at first she is hesitant and after a moment she says "I don't believe in a god"
"how is that? I haven't found anyone else in Huagjin that doesn't believe in the emperor"
"the world is different from what we taught, besides I have seen many things in my life that disprove the emperor's godly origin"
Cong continues to play . Looking tenaciously at Ai. She let the violin down and look at Ai "can I ask you something?" Ai nods her head "Is anything bothering you?"
Ai's eyebrows curve up "no, why are you asking?"
"Every time I look at your eyes I see a dying love, like a beautiful flower withering"
Ai force a smile "I think you are thinking it too much"
"I don't think I'm wrong, I'm never wrong at matters like this" Cong makes a pause and sighs
"but it's understandable to not share personal worries with a stranger" she close the case of the violin and she turn her gaze at Ai and talk for almost an hour.
"you are an interesting person" Ai smile bright "thank you, I may come again some time in the future" "I hope you do, I want to talk to you about so many things" Ai gives her hand and she leaves.
Stepping outside the gallery she sees the lights of the city still holding and the men standing in the corner of the road opening their hands, with lighting coming out and passing through every bar.
Ai walks on the roads of the city, seeing the children running With sticks, fighting each other, and some shouting "you will be Zu huo and we will be Huagjin" the kids who were the Huagjin were winning.
She goes back to the harbor looking at preaka moving a large metal crane to the ships, making the winds stronger to move their ships faster as they come and go freely with the guards not even gazing at them, a man sticking papers on the walls and Ai thinking of the messengers that now almost extinct with some few exceptions, she snap out of her thoughts for a moment and see a tall man and a woman walking to the harbor and she continue on her way.
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