My socks are dry.
Sunlight reaches into the courtyard. I push my toes into my shoes. No more of yesterday's wet squish; even walking feels easier. Grandpa Younian is waiting by the gate, and Aunty Guiniang comes out to see us off too.
‘Take care on the road.’
‘Thank you, Grandpa Younian! Thank you, Aunty Guiniang! We're off. Go on back inside.’
Zuobituo bows deeply. I turn back too and give them a nod.
‘Got your shoes and socks on properly?’ Aunty Guiniang checks my feet before waving us off.
I catch up with Zuobituo and wave over my shoulder. They're still smiling at us from the gate. I wave again, then shorten the straps of my backpack. It keeps bouncing.
By the time we're out of the village, I can't hear the voices in the courtyard any more. The path through the fields meets the main road to Liudu. I kick a little stone away from my shoe and turn to Zuobituo.
‘Hey, after Princess Chenyue went with you, how did you two—’
Footsteps at the junction ahead.
A party of men approaches from Liudu, carrying long red-and-black staffs. Three prisoners are strung along a thick rope in their midst, heading towards the river bridge.
‘Hey. Aren't those the three monkeys collecting protection money yesterday?’
Hu Geng is first, his trousers still muddy down one side. Cao Wu follows. Tian Shu walks with one shoulder crooked, his arms still locked behind him. His iron rings knock together with every step.
I move to the side of the road and let my shoulders drop.
Oh. The police are here.
‘They've arrested them!’ I tug Zuobituo's arm. ‘Someone must've reported them yesterday.’
‘Police? Judging by their equipment, they belong to the yamen's minzhuang unit.’
‘Oh, don't start a lesson.’
Hu Geng looks up. He stops so suddenly that Cao Wu nearly runs into him. Tian Shu looks our way too, then stumbles backwards. The rope snaps taut, jerking the other two off balance.
‘Go! Keep going!’
‘Stand still!’ The man holding the rope hauls them back. ‘What are you trying now?’
‘Take us away! Hurry!’ Hu Geng twists round, trying to squeeze behind him. ‘Don't stop here!’
I stare. He wasn't this keen to run yesterday, when he was chasing me.
The officer in charge has a great bushy beard. He follows Hu Geng's gaze towards us, and the hand resting on his staff tightens.
‘Metal… chrysanthemum face?’
Several policemen turn at once. Zuobituo stops beside me.
‘You know that thing?’ the officer asks.
Cao Wu starts nodding, then hurriedly shakes his head.
‘That's the one from yesterday! It did that to Old Tian's arms—’
‘They were stopping people and making them pay,’ I cut in. ‘They wouldn't let anyone over the bridge without money. They were going to hit the old man with the cart.’
The officer is still staring at Zuobituo's face. I look up too. The metal petals hanging beside her shoulders stir, a faint light coming off them.
He lifts his staff.
‘Same description as last night's report.’
‘Last night?’
‘People in Liudu reported a metal chrysanthemum-faced demon ripping open barred courtyard gates. Several households. Even the iron bars were bent.’ He tips his head towards the men with the prisoners. ‘Those rings of his…’
One of them draws Tian Shu sideways, exposing the two arms twisted behind his back.
‘Still fastened. Two of us tried pulling them apart. Couldn't shift them.’
‘It did it!’ Tian Shu cries. ‘Just take me away!’
The officer looks at the rings. Slowly, his staff turns towards Zuobituo.
‘We've inspected the bridge too. A shattered stone wall. A great gouge in a tree. What ordinary person has strength like that?’
‘Wait, he did that!’ I point at Tian Shu. ‘His ring lights up, and he punched, and Zuobituo moved out of the way—’
‘Stand back!’
The officer swings his staff across his body. The men on either side spread out. Footsteps pass behind us; I turn and see another staff coming up. The two guards with the rope draw the prisoners back towards the bridge, the rope scraping over loose stones.
I'm still pointing at Tian Shu. Only half his face shows behind the men now. Zuobituo opens her hands, palms out.
Red-and-black staffs point in from every side. All at her. Heat from the red ends washes against my face, and I shrink closer to her.
‘Little girl, don't be afraid. Come here!’
The lead officer beckons. I hurry a step towards him.
‘Uncle Officer, listen. That stone wall—’
‘Uncle? I'm about your age… Come on! Quickly!’
Zuobituo turns sideways.
‘Go. They will not hurt you,’ she says quietly.
‘What? What about you?’
‘I can run. Keeping you safe is my duty.’
I'm about to ask more, but she raises her arms, ready to meet the staffs.
‘Don't move! Let her through!’
The lead officer throws up a hand to stop the men on either side. Two staffs move apart.
I slip between them and stop in front of him. One of the policemen who made way for me steps between Zuobituo and me, holding his staff across his body. Its tip points at her.
The road to Liudu is clear beside me. Nobody's stopping me.
‘That's it. Stay behind us.’ The policeman lowers his voice. ‘It… it won't come over here.’
His knuckles are white round the staff. He hasn't taken his eyes off Zuobituo. I look at him. I think he's more frightened than I am.
‘Listen. She hasn't kidnapped me. Yesterday she—’
‘Don't worry. There are plenty of us.’
He turns away and shouts at Zuobituo. ‘Surrender!’
‘Hey! I haven't finished!’
Nobody looks back. Zuobituo is standing by the road, her palms open. The space beside her where I was standing is empty too.
I turn and walk back.
‘Young lady, don't go over there!’
The lead officer reaches out. I walk past his hand, my shoes scraping over gravel, and stop beside Zuobituo.
‘Are any of you actually listening? I'm with her.’
He watches me. Slowly, he draws back the hand he held out to me and grips his staff.
‘So you're together.’
‘Finally! You're listening—’
He steps back, raising the staff in both hands.
‘A fox spirit! Disguised as a girl, trying to fool us. Take them both!’
The man who let me through steps back across the gap. A red staff tip flares. I fling up a hand to shield my face.
Heat bears down.
Clang!
Zuobituo's arm sweeps across my vision. Something tightens round my waist, and my feet leave the ground.