Chapter 9: The Night of Faramita
The steam valves made ta-dah sounds from Jonah’s back as it’s six pairs of wings waved up and down and pushed Jonah flying forward in the sky.
Jonah has been flying in the sky for seven hours, and he could feel the wind was sweeping away his temperature. He posed an awkward posture as he opened his package. He took out a piece of bread, but he found that he couldn’t open his mouth – the cold had made his muscles tighten and he had lost the feeling from his face.
Under the feet of Jonah, a lot of brown hills appeared in front of him and disappeared behind him in a high speed. He looked down and thought that he had left the border of Saint Boen and already entered the land of the Bazelaire Empire. He had left the invaders and wars far away behind him.
After the the primal fear and excitement faded away, Jonah didn’t know what to do. He even slept in the sky for a while, and lost the chance to say goodbye to the ruins of the Red Castle.
Gradually, Jonah’s mind begun working again and his thoughts ordered themselves. However, the feeling of longing to his future and the shame of escaping alone weighed heavily in his heart, which made him disconcerted. Sometimes, he felt excited; but the next moment, his heart would be filled with sadness.
As time went by, Jonah tried to figure out how to control the “Lame Henry II”. However, he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry: this weird machine was just a bad joke – its controllers and valves which could adjust the height, speed and the flight angle were on its back! He tried to extend his arms as far as possible, but the tip of his finger still couldn’t touch the edge of the valves.
Fortunately, the two leather belts which could control the directions still worked well, so he could still fly to his destination. As for how to land safely – Jonah decided to entrust his fate to destiny and let future take course.
By the time Jonah ate half his bread, the sky had already become too dark. When he flew past a town, the smell of hot food made his mouth water.
The feet of the invaders of the Zave Empire hadn’t yet landed on the soil of the Bazelaire Empire.
Several days ago, he was still a bystander of the world, and the swords and arrows would be consciously shifted away from him; but after his tutor told him that the tyrant of the Zave Empire had broken the “Amnesty Laws” unilaterally and many members of the five a.s.sociations had been killed by their hands, he had a nameless dread towards the word “soldier”.
He has seen too many people suddenly met their untimely end, but he had never thought that one of the mangled bodies would be himself – or his tutor. Jonah got a heartache when he thought about his tutor. He sighed, but he immediately got a cough because the wind poured into his mouth.
Jonah knew that tonight, the star “Bear” would shine in the southern sky. He pried opened his eyes and tried to find the stars he was familiar with. The star “Bear” and the star “Skiff” were the pair of stars he researched. The feature of the star line between the pair of stars were “light”, “heat” and “morphological change”.
The Light Star Circle that his tutor Keshawa engraved on the top of the staff was created using the power of this star line.
Finally, Jonah found the track of the star “Bear” among the endless stars, and this made him felt a bit relieved. He closed his eyes and felt the warm energy of the star line pa.s.sed through his heart.
After a long time, Jonah felt that the sound of the wind was changed, so he opened his eyes. He found that the highland had disappeared and a vast alluvial plain appeared under the starry sky. He had pa.s.sed through the land of the Bazelaire Empire, and the land in front of him was the vast borderland – the north sh.o.r.e of the Holy river, which was also the home of the people of Colombo.
If he was in the right way, his destination, the Cherry Ferry, should be not far away. Jonah prayed that he could land on the Cherry Ferry successfully. After all, it wouldn’t be a good experience if he dropped into the land of the people of Colombo or dropped into the Holy river, Faramita. Jonah compressed his lips tightly and adjusted the direction of the “Lame Henry II”. He was trying his best to observe the surrounding environment.
Suddenly, with a small bang, the flight trajectory of the “Lame Henry II” changed. It began shaking and descended dozens of feet. A fit of dizziness came over Jonah’s head and made him feel like vomiting.
He opened his mouth in dismay and felt the north plain suddenly spin. The sky was rotating.
Bad luck, Jonah thought. The Floating Star Circle was going to be broken! He tried to touch the controllers, but he failed. He couldn’t stop the wings.
He heard another small bang. Jonah could even feel the increase of the gravity. The next moment, the wings of the “Lame Henry II” drew a parabola in the air and rushed towards a broad-leaved tree. Jonah looked at the tree crown became bigger and bigger, and the only two things he could do was closed the eyes and curled up the body.
Dong!
He lost his consciousness.
…
Gu Tie opened his eyes with a struggle and looked around. He moved his fingers and tried to reestablish control his unfamiliar new body.
He found that he was lying on a hard wooden bed. Several broken furs were covering his body. The roof of the room was quite low, and a burning fire brazier was hung on the roof. The fire brazier was the only light source in the room, and the smell of tobacco and unspeakable putrid smells in the warm air. Except for the bed, there were only several old wooden desks, and a skinny old man was nodding in his sleep behind a desk.
“The changes are really big ah! Maybe I have been sp.a.w.ned into the past. I think Xiao Li Ping must be crying and waiting for me to save him in a miserable corner of the world. Humph.” Gu Tie murmured and reviewed Jonah’s memory: his decision to leave, finding his tutor, the “Lame Henry II”, and the fall.
“…Wow, my life is a movie!” Gu Tie felt surprised, then he found his body was aching all over and he had no control over his left leg.
“At least, it’s an inspirational movie – and I’m the protagonist – a disabled boy. d.a.m.n it…” Gu Tie sat up and looked at his body. As he expected, his left leg was injured. He only wore underwear on his body and he couldn’t find his deerskin handbag, coat, package and the “Lame Henry II”. Only his staff lonely laid on the corner of the wall.
“Hey, old man…” Gu Tie shouted to the dozing old man. The old man was sleeping soundly and didn’t hear his words.
“Hey, hey, wake up! Are you the person who took off my clothes? What are you going to do? Ouch…” Gu Tie stood on the wooden floor, and the pain from the affected leg made him almost shouted out.
“Eh?” The old man woke up and looked at Gu Tie. The shine light lit up his wrinkly face – there were no eyeb.a.l.l.s in his empty eyes.
“Holy s.h.i.t!” Gu Tie got a shock again and nearly fell on the ground. He braced his body with the staff and asked, “Who are you? Where am I?”
The old man looked at him with his empty eyes with interest. He shook himself out of his slumber and answered with a smile, “Here? Here is my home.”
“So, why am I in your home?” Gu Tie looked down on his underwear. This seventeen-year-old cute boy’s body made him feel highly unsafe.
“You are old daddy’s customer, boy. I robbed a midnight snack from two hundreds of the people of the Colombo – that was you. As a price, I got all the junk you had. It’s an equivalent exchange, a win-win situation.” The old man said happily.
Gu Tie felt a bit awkward and tried to avoid the old man’s sight – though the old man was blind.
He scrutinized in his memories carefully and didn’t find any memory about the people of the Colombo. Only G.o.d knows what happened when he was fainted. Maybe the old man was just kicked at him in the bushes and dragged him back to his home.
“Old man, return my coat and handbag to me. No matter how hospitality you are, a dinner is enough to pay for your help.”
“Your bread tasted awful, and your sausages, too.” The old man turned down the corners of his mouth and said, “Your Astrologer’s coat is too noticeable, it’s very likely that you will be killed due to it. Not to mention your gems. Go out of the door then you will know, I’m not lying.”
Gu Tie hesitated for a moment, then he walked with the staff and opened the door. A blast of cold wind blew in the room. Gu Tie shivered.
The view in front of his eyes was endless black grey stone houses pressed against one another, side by side. The houses extended far away, further than his eyes could make out under the dim starlight. He heard the roaring of some nameless machines, and there was thick steam in the air.
Gu Tie understood the situation after he walked several steps.
This was a town situated near the river. In the middle of the town was a large square, and the house he stayed was in the middle of the square lonely.
There was no alternative. The river was the Holy river, Faramita, and the town was the Cherry Ferry. He had reached his destination – or in other words, that unlucky NPC who had broken his left leg had arrived at his destination.