Moth and Moon

Plum Blossom

Xie Lian watched, mystified, as the man in red approached. He couldn’t tell exactly what species he was from this distance, especially with the mist shrouding the landscape, although he appeared to be human. That was certainly strange. Spirits and fae crossed though his part of the woods often enough, but humans were exceedingly rare. Usually the only humans he saw were monster hunters, coming to track down said spirits and fae. Most humans wisely avoided going this deep into the woods, because many didn't live to tell the tale.

And yet, here was this human casually strolling over as if he was in town square and not so far out into the tangled depths of the enchanted forest.

Xie Lian waited at his doorstep cautiously. In his many years, he had met creatures before that took on a humanoid disguise to meet their own ends (which was usually catching human prey). Of course, humans should not necessarily be trusted either. Xie Lian had seen their kind commit worse atrocities than a fae or spirit ever had.

To be safe, Xie Lian was standing well within the cottage’s mushroom ring. It wouldn't phase a human or a creature with powerful magic, but no other being could break or cross it without permission. If he knew for certain that the man harbored no ill intent, then he would invite him into his home, but there was no way to know yet.

Xie Lian had thought that the man would simply pass by and continue on whatever journey he was on, but instead he started down the stone path leading to Xie Lian’s home. Xie Lian observed him discreetly to see what would happen, pretending to rearrange the wreath of long-dead, dusty flowers hanging on his door. Ruoye didn’t know (or perhaps didn’t care) about proper etiquette and stared at the stranger directly.

Xie Lian carefully glanced over again and accidentally made eye contact with the man. Flustered, he turned away and accidentally crushed one of the dried flowers in his fingers. His eyes followed its pieces fluttering to the ground, and he could hear the man’s boots clicking against the stones of the path and crunching on fallen leaves as he got ever closer.

“Excuse me,” the stranger said, and his voice sounded youthful with a hint of mischief winking in it. Xie Lian turned around.

“Ah, how can I help you?” he asked, scratching his cheek awkwardly. There was no way that the man had not figured out that Xie Lian had just been pretending to be busy. The man, who appeared to be quite young, lifted his arm to point at the basket beside Xie Lian. The long sleeve of his thick woolen riding cloak got caught in the wind and flapped gently. It was dyed a rich shade of crimson that rivalled the color of the maple leaves twirling down from the trees in the wind.

“How much for a carrot?”

Completely bewildered, Xie Lian merely said, “Hm?”

“Ah, this sign over here,” the man said, gesturing, “Says that you sell your vegetables.” Xie Lian peeked around to where he was indicating, and saw what he was talking about: a worn, faded sign that he had put up many years ago and then forgotten about. In peeling gray (once black) paint, it read, “Fresh produce for sale!”

“Ah, that’s-” Xie Lian softly laughed to himself. “You can just have some food, I have plenty.”

“Nonsense. After Gege spent so much time and effort growing and caring for it?” The man in red smiled at him, one side of his lips quirked slightly higher than the other. Xie Lian was a little surprised at the honorific. He couldn’t think of anything to say, so he just stayed quiet as the man stepped forward, right over the mushroom ring as if they were ordinary fungi. His cloak's hood hid his ears from view, so Xie Lian could not determine for certain whether he was human or not.