Chapter 5: The Journey

Bei was carrying Jin on his back after cleaning him up and changing his clothes. He also improvised a diaper to save him some work next time.

Thankfully, the caravan was stopped to give animals relief before they continued for the rest of the day. There wasn’t that much distance for Bei to cover on foot, but it was already a couple hours since the incident. He wondered whether it was the right choice to leave the wagon at the time. He didn’t want to deal with this business inside of it.

It didn’t matter now anyway.

When he finally reached their wagon, he opened the door, scrambled in and immediately dropped Jin onto his bed. Bei took a look at him.

Jin laid like a puppet for half a minute. Then, very gently adjusted his position, slowly assuming the now very familiar half hunched, vacant look, with his back resting on the wagon’s wall.

Bei sighed.

He grabbed his Guqin and sat in a similar fashion on the floor beside Jin’s bed, using the bed's frame as his back’s support.

The Kai siblings were out, making use of the caravan stopping to stretch out their legs, Bei had enough of that for the day though.

He was quite tired.

Lazily, he started playing a slow melody.

Some time has passed by, Bei finished his song and simply rested with his eyes closed.

The Kai siblings returned, it was time for the caravan to start moving again.

Yuan looked curiously at the two. He knew all of his peers from the Tai clan’s town and got to know a few other disciples-to-be during the caravan’s stop. He was quite an outgoing person and was quick to make friends with. Oftentimes though he’s been seen as a little too inquisitive or pushy, landing him a scolding from time to time. He definitely wanted to know what’s the deal with Bei and Jin, unfortunately his sister would surely sour any potential conversation. In the end he needed to stand in her defense if things escalated, which could lead to a longer term feud. He wanted to avoid such fate so he decided to keep a passive stance, at least until they arrived at the house.

“Just our luck to get stuck with two biggest losers in the caravan.” - Chi pouted.

Kai looked at her, and waited for her to meet his gaze. She did, understanding his meaning at once.

“Deal’s a deal.” - She sighed.

They continued their conversation but they didn’t mention either Bei or Jin again.

The hours passed by and the night fell upon them. It was a clear half-moon night. There was a long journey ahead of them still, but that’s as far as they would travel today. It was time to let the animals rest.

Bei dragged Jin outside the wagon. He wanted to take a bath, and he knew Jin needs one as well. He dropped a couple bucketfuls of cold water over himself and he did the same for Jin. After draining and washing some of their clothes he put Jin back in the wagon.

It was time to hit the bed and go to sleep. He stole one more glance at Jin, who was sitting against the wall again, and it didn’t look as if he was going to lie down. Bei wasn’t planning on spending the night sleepless though. He jumped on his bed. He closed his eyes and waited until Yuan and Chi returned, just to make sure they wouldn’t try anything stupid. Once they returned, he waited for both of them to fall asleep first.

Only then he let himself go.