I back away into the bamboo. My backpack hits a stem and leaves fall onto my shoulders. I brush them off, but my knees give way. By the time I land on the ground, Zuobituo has come round from the path to help me up.
‘There. Under the hat…’
She bends towards the two empty sockets. I stand behind her and swallow. Those rows of teeth are still in my head.
‘Is it dead?’
Um, very smart, Peach. Zuobituo answers anyway. ‘Yes. I estimate she has been dead for several years.’
Clutching my backpack strap, I edge sideways. Another hat lies crooked beside a rock behind the bamboo. I look down from its brim to a length of bare bone.
Further over, another skeleton lies in the grass.
I stop. ‘Ah… ah… There are two more.’
Zuobituo goes over and moves a thin branch off a white robe. I follow a few steps, then crouch some way back. All three are wearing long white robes. Fallen bamboo leaves cover the one furthest from us; a vine threads out through its sleeve and coils round a bamboo stem.
‘What happened to them here?’
‘Let me take a closer look.’
She draws her hand back from the vine. Her voice is so steady.
‘Don't you find this scary?’ I ask.
‘Do you mean the remains?’
‘Yes. What else?’
She turns towards me, then back to the rock. ‘There is a pilgrim’s mask beside it.’
I’m still waiting for an answer, but she’s already pointing it out. A face lies turned down in the grass beside the hat. Looking more closely, I can see one beside each of the other two as well.
‘Do they all have to wear those?’
‘Pilgrims from the Golden Country must carry them on their travels. All bear the same face, signifying a common purpose and shared principles. They journey to the sacred sites of Shen and do not return until they have completed their pilgrimage.’
She can look straight at these bones and explain all that to me. I sit for a while before moving closer.
‘Looks like these three didn’t finish…’
‘No. It is a pity.’
I crouch beside the fallen mask and turn it over. Bamboo leaves cling to the back, the ties caught underneath. I ease them free, look up at Zuobituo, then at the white robe.
‘Hey. Could you wear that?’ I lift the mask a little. ‘And this. Then people wouldn’t be able to see your face—’
Zuobituo says nothing.
‘No, I don’t mean there’s anything wrong with how you look! I mean they’ll arrest you. That bearded man wouldn’t even listen—’
‘It may be disrespectful to take the clothes of the dead.’
I look down at the two ties. ‘I know. But those police will still arrest you. And we’ve got to get to the capital. We can’t run away every time we see someone.’
‘I understand, Peach.’ She lowers her head towards the mask in my hands. ‘First, let me apologise to this venerable pilgrim.’
I step aside. Supporting her injured hand, Zuobituo bows to the bones beneath the robe.
‘Forgive me, Venerable One.’
I lower my head too. The mask’s ties trail onto the grass; I gather them into my palm.
Zuobituo crouches and slowly unfastens the robe. I brush the leaves off its hem. When she pauses, I reach over to support the sleeve while she eases it free. The bones underneath are so thin I hardly dare pull.
‘It’s caught here.’
I loosen the knot. As the robe comes away, points of light flash inside it. I spread out the fabric. They’re still there: small crystals sewn into the cloth.
‘What are these shiny bits?’
‘Liuli Crystals from the Golden Country. Sewn into a garment, they keep the cloth from rotting for a long time.’
‘They can do that…’ I touch the fabric beside them. Their clothes are still perfectly good. There’s nothing left of the people but bones.
I help lift the robe over Zuobituo, getting her injured hand through the sleeve first. As I pull up the other side, something occurs to me.
‘Hey! You said those red-and-black staffs and that sword give off light. Could they be using these crystals too?’
She gathers the robe closed. ‘I have been considering that. Liuli Crystals are scarce. Robes such as these are passed down through generations, yet each contains only a small handful of crystal sand.’
I pass the mask to her good hand. ‘How much would the sword need?’
She places it over her chrysanthemum face. ‘With the methods I know, it would take the crystal sand in twenty or so oxcarts full of robes like these to produce that Thunder Blade’s lightning.’
‘Twenty carts? How would anyone lift the sword?’
‘That is why I cannot yet be certain.’
I get her to lower her head so I can fasten the ties at the back. ‘OK. Stand up. Let’s see.’
The white robe falls over her waist and legs, its sleeves hiding her arms. She turns towards me. I’m about to tug the collar into place, but my hand stops. From a distance, she really does look like a masked pilgrim.
‘Yeah. That works. We should be all right now.’
She adjusts the mask while I gather up the leaves we scattered taking the robe off. Without it, the bones lie exposed on the grass.
I crouch again. ‘Can we cover them up? It’s horrible, just leaving them out here. No one’s going to come and pay their respects at Qingming either.’
Zuobituo crouches beside me. ‘I shall bring some stones.’
I leave my backpack by the rock and collect fallen branches, choosing a few thicker ones to bring back before gathering leaves along the bamboo. Zuobituo moves large stones over, one by one. We prop the branches in place and lay smaller, leafy ones across them. The outermost branch keeps slipping. I hold it until she has a stone against it, then let go.
After a few trips, bits of leaf cover my arms. The vine beside the last pilgrim is still tangled. I work it loose, slowly, so I don’t pull at the bones. Zuobituo waits beside me, takes the vine I free and lays the branches and leaves over the remains.
‘There’s a gap here.’
I fill it in and step back. All three are covered. We haven’t got a shovel; it’s the best we can do for now.
I pick up my backpack, brush the dirt off the bottom and stand beside Zuobituo. We bow.
‘If we come back this way, we’ll come and see you.’
I pull the strap onto my shoulder. Zuobituo waits until I’m ready, then turns towards the path.
Out of the bamboo, the sun warms my back. I keep glancing at the white sleeve beside me. I’m not used to seeing it there yet. She steps over a stone, the hem brushing the grass, the mask securely tied over her face.
The path widens. Fields spread out ahead, with a few girls and some children standing at the edge. One girl looks up and stretches an arm towards us.
‘Hello! Over here!’
The others turn and wave too. I glance at Zuobituo’s mask, make myself lift my hand and wave back.
Please let this disguise work.