Moth and Moon

Tea

The village was quiet for this time of day- not the lively, bustling place that Xie Lian remembered it as. It had been quite some time since he'd visited, before San Lang came and the winter snow fell. Little shops and houses were boarded up that hadn't been before, abandoned. The wind picked up and began howling around Xie Lian and San Lang's figures in the desolate street, scattering snowflakes from the rooftops. The snow covered the dirt street, and there weren't many footprints in it.

Xie Lian kept an eye out for trouble as they pushed farther into the town, looking for a house with a light on. He knocked on the door of the first house that looked occupied, seeing the telltale glow of the hearth through the oilpaper window. He saw a silhouette at the window, but then it vanished again. Nobody came to the door, and so they moved on. At the next house they stopped at, a nervous-looking young man opened the door a bit and peered out at them. "Can I help you?" he asked, in a voice that said that he really wanted them to say no.

"Sorry for the trouble, but do you recognize this man?" Xie Lian bent down and moved the cloth to uncover the corpse's face. The man at the door's eyes widened.

"Old woman Zhao, two houses down," the man said, pointing with a shaking finger.

Xie Lian had only just opened his mouth to thank him when the door rattled shut again. He and San Lang made eye contact with each other. Hopefully, this woman would know something about the old man's identity. San Lang dragged the sled while Xie Lian went a little ways ahead and knocked on the door of the house that the nervous man had pointed out. The two of them waited there expectantly, and eventually Xie Lian heard someone inside rise to their feet and shuffle over to the door. With a creak, they opened the door a little and a thin strip of the person's face could be seen in the crack.

"Yes? What is it?" the person asked raspily, their eyes shifting left and right. Xie Lian felt rather uneasy.

"Excuse me, but we were hoping to speak with someone about what's been happening in this town."

"Why?" the person questioned.

Xie Lian looked to San Lang, whose arms were folded, and San Lang gave him an encouraging look.

"We're... magic users. We're here to help." It was technically true. Xie Lian was a magic user, he just couldn't use his powers. Unless San Lang... well. Xie Lian gestured to the sled, where the old man's face was still uncovered. "We found this man's body in the forest, do you recognize him?" He didn't mention anything about Bai Wuxiang puppeteering the man's body to try and intimidate him.

The one eye that was visible through the crack in the door blinked in surprise. "Come in, come in," the person said, and slid the door open more. "You can bring him in too," they said grimly, and San Lang helped Xie Lian carry the frozen-stiff corpse inside and lay it upon the cold stone floor. It wasn't much warmer inside than it was outside, and San Lang closed the door. The two of them took off their shoes, although the floor was already very dirty. The house was small, with a low ceiling. Xie Lian could see now that the person was an old woman, and she shuffled around to begin brewing some tea.

"Please, sit down." The woman gestured to a crooked low table, her threadbare sleeve fluttering with the movement.

Xie Lian and San Lang knelt on the dusty cushions set up next to the table. It was clear that the woman hadn't had any visitors in quite some time. She joined them with a sigh, and it took a moment for her to speak. "That man is my sister's husband," she explained.

"I see." Xie Lian wasn't quite sure what to say. He felt San Lang place a hand on his knee under the table.

"The monster took him and my sister about a month ago." The woman's voice sounded strained, like it was difficult to talk about.