Song of the Silk Road by Mingmei Yip

Author:Mingmei Yip [Yip, Mingmei]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Romance
ISBN: 9780758241825
Publisher: Kensington
Published: 2011-01-01T05:00:00+00:00

19

Seized by a Ghost

The next day I took a train, then a donkey cart back to the little village. Once home, I hid the two fakes inside the tire, then got a bucket of water from the communal tap and washed myself. Feeling refreshed, I took out my bracelet to appreciate, caressing the ivory’s texture, marveling at the streak of red, admiring the exquisite craftsmanship of the antique silver clasp. As I enjoyed my new treasure, my exhaustion and fear seemed to vanish into thin air.

I slipped the bracelet onto my right wrist, then swung it around to feel its solid weight and silky texture. In a happy mood, I brewed tea, ensconced myself on the tire sofa to comfortably sip the steaming amber liquid, then studied my map to plan my trip to the fortune-teller.

A few minutes later, however, I found myself unable to concentrate with a slight headache coming on. I sipped more tea, massaged my temples, took several deep breaths, and resumed reading. But now I couldn’t focus at all. Words on the pages blurred together, like dead ants floating on an oil-filled wok. And my headache escalated. I sensed an anxiety attack coming on, but this time it was real, not surreal like the one at Floating Cloud’s temple.

A loud sneeze, “Haqiiiiii!” exploded from my nose and mouth, followed by my eyes and nose running, then by more “Haqiiiiii! Haqiiiiii!” like a musical motif.

I tried to go to bed, but as soon as I stood up my stomach was ambushed by pangs so severe that I had to plunge back down on the tire. Worse, I also started to cough violently, and my temples throbbed like a ghost frantically knocking as it tried to re-enter the yang world. In less than ten minutes I had become a complete mess! Then an unspeakable fear seized me: Had I caught some horrible, contagious disease from the bazaar?

“Please, I don’t want to die. My worldly business is not yet finished!” My voice sounded desperate in the desert air, which remained adamantly unresponsive.

Despite my extreme discomfort, I rummaged around in my backpack and managed to find the small bottle of medicinal oil. Once I had rubbed the strong, mint-smelling liquid on my temples I felt a little better. I decided to ask Keku for help.

Keku’s expression looked as if she were encountering not me, but my departed soul.

As she led me inside her cottage, she exclaimed, “Oh, heavens, what happened? Did you just have an interview with the King of Hell?!”

I was dizzy; my voice came out weak and breathless. “I don’t know, I just don’t feel well. Do I really look that bad?”

“Yes, your face is as white as a ghost!”

Now Keku’s three women friends all dashed up to gather around me, their strong fingers probing my forehead and cheeks and pinching my third eye. One held her fingers under my nose to see if I was breathing and alive—or a ghost. Thrown off balance by the sudden, overwhelming hormonal attention, my legs gave out and I collapsed onto the floor.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.