Chapter 30 Gongkong I

　　—The best way to hide a secret is to forget the secret.

　　Gongkong’s eyes were bound, a cloth stuffed into his mouth, and he was tied upon a camelhorse.

　　He strained to listen to the sounds around him. At first he could still hear the murmur of a stream; later the sound of water gradually faded.

　　After that he felt the camelhorse pass a crossroads and turn a corner; then his body tilted continuously backward, and he knew the animal must be climbing a mountain.

　　His thoughts returned to that morning. He had led the scout unit, Yao Gang had led a portion of the citygate guards, and Gong Jie had led the female soldiers’ escort, protecting a gathering party of four or five hundred clan women as they set out in a great procession from Wangqiu City to collect wild fruit in the forest.

　　This women’s gathering party had been organized by the sisters Gong Min and Gong Jie; the members were essentially servants of the inner city. Many such parties of a hundred or more existed in Wangqiu; each regularly went to fixed locations in the forest to gather fruit and grain.

　　That day was the scheduled gathering time for this innercity women’s party. The previous day Gongkong had found Gong Min and requested that she take the three female humanclan celestial gods along to experience the gathering.

　　At first Gong Min was unwilling to accept Su Ziqi and the other two. Only after Gongkong’s persistent persuasion did she finally agree; yet feeling the responsibility heavy and the strength of Gong Jie’s female escort insufficient, she asked that Gongkong dispatch the scout unit to protect the gathering party.

　　The scout unit led by Gongkong was required in wartime to reconnoiter enemy movements and transmit intelligence; in peacetime most of the scouts were still sent out to investigate conditions throughout the Nanyu Forest. Consequently the number remaining inside the city each day was not large—roughly a hundred men. This time Gongkong sent every scout who remained in the city to protect the women’s gathering party.

　　When the gathering procession passed the outer gate of Wangqiu they happened to meet Colonel Yao Gang, who commanded the outer gate, coming down from the walltower with a group of gate guards.

　　Gongkong went up and embraced Yao Gang, greeting him: “Old man, I have not seen you for several days and have missed you. What is it? Just coming off duty?”

　　“Third Young Master, why do you still call me that? I am not your father.” Yao Gang gave a bitter smile. “Last night I led the brothers in guarding the gate all night; we have just changed the watch, and the moment I come down the tower I meet you. May I ask, Third Young Master, where are you going?”

　　“We are protecting the women’s gathering party while they collect fruit in the forest.”

　　“Oh? The sun must be rising in the west today—how is it that the scout unit is protecting a gathering party?”

　　“Old man, it is like this: every time we receive free fruit from the gathering parties we feel uneasy, so we wished to do something for them.” Gongkong had no intention of telling Yao Gang that Su Ziqi and the other two were among the party.

　　Seeing that Gongkong still addressed him thus, Yao Gang no longer bothered to correct him: “Mm. In that case, we gate guards, like you, have always eaten food given in charity yet have done nothing in return.”

　　He turned to his men: “Brothers, we have just come off duty and have free time. Why not lend our strength today as well and go out together to protect the women’s gathering party? What do you say?”

　　Yao Gang’s subordinates all voiced agreement.

　　“Excellent! With Old Man and the brothers protecting us, this gathering will certainly be perfectly safe.”

　　In the forest the food of the Gongyou humans came from three sources: first, meat obtained by hunting; second, wild fruit gathered from the forest; third, grain obtained by cultivation.

　　The Dragon Tribe maintained special farms; in places within the forest where trees were sparse they felled timber and turned the land into fields.

　　At this season the maize had already been sown; some time still remained before the autumn harvest. The fruit borne by the giant trees inside Wangqiu City was also nearly exhausted. Although the inner city still possessed abundant stores of grain, the stores of the outercity commoners were almost depleted.

　　Out of consideration for the people, Gong Min personally led this gathering party so that the fruit collected in the forest could be distributed free of charge to the residents of the outer city.

　　Before departure Gongkong taught Su Ziqi and the other two how to ride camelhorses. The three women were all intelligent and quickly mastered the animals. Gongkong accompanied them as they left Wangqiu City.

　　This was the first time since being “protected” inside the tree hollow of the pyramid platform that the three women had left Wangqiu. Riding camelhorses, they chatted and laughed as they followed the main body forward.

　　They did not know what the gathering party intended to collect, so Su Ziqi asked: “Gongkong, where are we going? What fruit are we to gather?”

　　“Sister Ziqi, we are going to a dry region in the southwest of our territory where baobab forests grow, to collect some breadfruit.”

　　“Breadfruit? We have that upon Earth as well.”

　　“Earth? I remember that when we first met you said your homeland was Earth.”

　　“Yes. We conjecture that Earth is the ‘Ice Star’ of which you spoke.”

　　“Is the homeland of you celestial sisters truly upon Ice Star? Yet our celestial gods once told us that the entire planet is covered in ice and snow and the environment is extremely harsh—how could you live there? Still, the Yellow Clan Celestial Gods also said that long, long ago Ice Star was full of life, with lush vegetation, and was suitable for habitation.”

　　“Is that so? Is Ice Star truly uninhabited by humans now?”

　　“After the War of the Gods I heard that the Brown Clan and Gray Clan celestial gods fled to Ice Star with their peoples. Now only a portion of the Dwarf Clan and the Centaur Clan live with difficulty in the caves of Ice Star, seeking shelter from the cold.”

　　“Dwarf Clan? Centaur Clan?” Anthropologist Zheng Ya muttered upon hearing this. “This world is too mad. A few months ago I was still living upon Earth; now I hear that Earth is a harsh ball of ice where humans have never lived, and only threeeyed giants dwell there with dwarves and centaurs.”

　　Zheng Ya’s emotion infected the other two women. They felt as though they were living inside a Grimm fairy tale; everything around them was unreal, and the past no longer existed. Previous experiences seemed to have been erased by an eraser; they themselves appeared never to have existed in this world.

　　“This is truly a damned nightmare—a nightmare from which one can never awaken,” the normally refined Wang Yue swore.

　　Gongkong noticed the change in their mood and felt he must have said something wrong. Along the way he tried as much as possible to find other topics to lighten the atmosphere, yet Su Ziqi and the other two responded only halfheartedly. The earlier cheerful mood was lost; even the camelhorses beneath them seemed to advance listlessly.

　　Several hours later they reached the fruit forest, which was filled with baobab trees. Baobab trees bore fruit in every season and were the principal food of the forest humans in times of scarcity.

　　The women began to work, dividing into pairs: one used tools to pick the fruit while the other collected it.

　　At that moment Scout Squad Leader Xiao Cheng reported to Gongkong: “Reporting to Third Young Master: the scouts who arrived earlier say that before the main force reached this place a small group of humans of unknown origin appeared here gathering fruit.”

　　“Humans? How is that possible? Did that fellow missee?”

　　“Third Young Master, that scout is a veteran; his words are absolutely reliable.”

　　“Is that so? How many of them were there?”

　　“About three or four.”

　　“Could they be members of a neighboring friendly tribe come to gather breadfruit?” Gongkong asked doubtfully.

　　Yet in his heart he knew clearly: although this place was not far from the Tiger Tribe, the Tiger Tribe would never come here to gather, for the gathering zones of each tribe were strictly demarcated and never crossed; moreover each tribe’s gathering parties were large and would never consist of only a few people.

　　“Third Young Master, they were not wearing the garments of our clan.”

　　“Is that so?” Gongkong’s vigilance rose. He ordered his men to strengthen the watch, informed Female Soldier Captain Gong Jie, and said that he, Yao Gang, and Xiao Cheng would go and examine the surrounding area.

　　When they reached a stretch of low woodland, Xiao Cheng pointed into the depths of the trees: “Third Young Master, according to my subordinates, those few people disappeared right there.”

　　“Old Man, Xiao Cheng—let the three of us go and look.”

　　“Third Young Master, perhaps we should take more brothers in with us?”

　　“Unnecessary. They are only three or four vagrants; the three of us can handle them.”

　　The three dismounted, drew their swords, and quietly entered the woods.

　　Upon the ground they saw fresh footprints which they judged to belong to the group, and therefore followed the tracks silently forward.

　　The woods were unnaturally quiet; not a single bird called. The silence was such that one could almost hear the beating of one’s own heart.

　　After tracking for a while they saw that the footprints upon the ground had disappeared. Just as they were wondering where the people had gone, several birds suddenly rose from the trees overhead.

　　“Bad—withdraw at once!” The moment the words left Gongkong’s mouth a large net was flung down from the trees above them.

　　The three were trapped in the net. They were about to tear it open and escape when a yellow mist suddenly filled the air.

　　“The smoke is poisonous!” The three tried to hold their breath, yet it was already too late; in the blink of an eye they lost consciousness and collapsed.

　　Gongkong’s thoughts returned to the present. He thought: “I wonder how Old Man and Xiao Cheng are. From the sounds there are still four camelhorses nearby—are the two of them bound upon two of them? What hour is it now? Where are we being taken? Who exactly are our kidnappers?”

　　He strove to calm himself. At that moment the cry of an eagle reached his ears; he concentrated his mind and imagined that he himself was that eagle.

　　Suddenly the cloth covering his eyes vanished; before him stretched a clear, cloudless sky.

　　Looking down he saw, amid thick mist, a narrow mountain path upon which five camelhorses were climbing.

　　Four humans rode four of the mounts; upon the middle horse a person was bound, a cloth stuffed into the mouth, the eyes covered with black cloth—someone who looked familiar.

　　Gongkong looked carefully and was startled: the bound person was none other than himself!

　　“Then who am I?”

　　He turned his head and saw his own outstretched wings; he froze in astonishment. “Who am I? How is it that I have wings?” Involuntarily he folded his wings and plummeted rapidly from the sky.

　　Just as he was about to crash into the cliff he hastily adjusted his posture, spread his wings, and finally regained stable flight.

　　“How have I become a bird? What is happening?”

　　He turned his head toward the north; the distant Nanyu Forest was clearly visible, its trees bathed in the morning sunlight.

　　“Mm—that is the southernmost edge of the Nanyu Forest,” he thought. “Is this the second morning after I was attacked, or the third?”

　　At that moment he sensed another eagle crying as it flew over his head.

　　Composing himself, he wished to look down and see clearly who his kidnappers were. He lowered his flight altitude and gazed carefully; all four wore brown cloaks, their faces hidden beneath the hoods so that their features could not be discerned.

　　Then the figure in the brown cloak riding the rearmost camelhorse seemed attracted by the cry of the eagle overhead and raised his head to look at the sky.

　　At last “Gongkong” saw clearly: the person looking up at the heavens was none other than Yao Gang.

　　“Damn it—how can it be him! Why is it him?” “Gongkong” could never have imagined that his kidnapper was Yao Gang, the man who had protected him since childhood. Overcome with rage, “Gongkong” began to cry continuously in the sky.