The night was deep. Duan Wu, who was asleep, was suddenly awakened by the sound of an anchor being dropped.
The cabin was cramped and stifling. The room was crowded with male and female slaves, and everyone shared a single chamber pot each day. As a result, the humid air was thick with a strong stench. To prevent suicides or escapes, the windows were rarely opened for ventilation. Most of the time, the slaves ate the same slop as pigs and dogs, living like prisoners, never seeing the sunlight or even the moonlight.
Duan Wu sat up and stretched her aching limbs, sore from sleeping in a hunched position. It had been twenty days since she was forced onto the slave ship, and they had stopped at five different ports. Each time they docked, some people were taken out of the cabin, and new ones were brought in.
The old woman with the infected eyelids, who had been the cook, had already been sold. Duan Wu didn’t talk much with the other slaves, and they didn’t have much energy to talk to her either. She often kept her head down, pretending to be weak and unlucky. This allowed her to conserve her strength and quietly think of a plan.
Duan Wu listened carefully to the noises around her. She thought to herself: Once we dock, they’ll open the windows, won’t they? She quietly crawled over the pile of people and waited beneath the window.
Sure enough, someone soon came to remove the boards covering the window. Duan Wu took a deep breath and opened her eyes wide. Although her world was as small as a mouse's, she had already figured out some patterns among the ship's servants.
Through the crack in the window, she saw fishing boats and the red lanterns of taverns on the shore. Drunkards on the dock shouted loudly, “Since Grandpa has arrived at Citing Port…”
Ah, so this is Citing? Duan Wu felt a surge of excitement and broke into a grin. She clung to the windowsill and murmured, “I’ve made it! I’ve finally made it!”
Citing, also known as Quanzhou, was famous in this era for its role on the Maritime Silk Road, ranking alongside Egypt’s Alexandria as one of the world’s greatest ports. When Duan Wu was in Lianzhou, she had often heard Lady Ba describe her memories of this city: bustling with foreign traders, clean houses, contented people, countless treasure shops, and foreign merchants willing to hire women to appraise jewels and pearls. It was the place of Duan Wu’s dreams.
A baby’s cry interrupted Duan Wu’s thoughts. The baby’s mother, a rather attractive young woman, tried to feed him, but he kept spitting out the milk. The woman, embarrassed, exposed her chest in front of everyone, her face turning bright red.
Duan Wu made a soft “tsk tsk” sound to get the woman’s attention and said, “Come over here, I’ll make some space for you.”
The woman thanked her repeatedly as she moved closer to Duan Wu. The baby seemed to come alive, latching onto the breast to suckle.
Duan Wu’s eyes, dark as black pearls, curiously touched the baby’s nose. "Such a small baby." She quickly withdrew her hand.
“Only five months old. If it weren’t for my husband dying of tuberculosis and my wretched brother-in-law gambling away all our money, we wouldn’t be suffering like this,” the woman said bitterly.
Duan Wu stared blankly at the woman as she stroked her baby’s soft hair, wishing she could be that infant. If she could be with her mother, even being a slave would have some hope, she thought wistfully. But where was her mother? She had no one to love or be loved by.
The woman said, “I’m afraid when someone buys me, they won’t take my baby. I’d rather die than be separated from him.”
Just as Duan Wu was about to speak, a young man opened the door. He was somewhat influential on the ship, and Duan Wu had heard others call him "A-Chang."
A-Chang glanced around at everyone and said, “All the women, come out for porridge. Afterward, wash your faces and rinse your mouths.”
The woman was puzzled. “All the women?”
Duan Wu’s heart skipped a beat. She knew that tomorrow they would all be “sold off.” At a major port like this, women could fetch the highest prices. The old cook, who had seen a lot in her time and been sold many times, had shared a lot of information about the slave market with Duan Wu before she left.
Buyers of slaves always checked the slaves' teeth. For young female slaves, their skin was even more important than their faces. As for their temperament and skills, those were just additional qualities beyond their appearance.
Blending in with the dozen or so women, Duan Wu left the cabin. A-Chang ordered the women to be chained on the deck. Each of them was given a bowl of sweet porridge and a rough hemp towel. Duan Wu observed her surroundings and ate more than half of her porridge slowly. When one of the female slaves stood up, Duan Wu swayed her body and pretended to be knocked over by the woman’s skirt, spilling the warm porridge on her arm and thigh.
A-Chang cursed, “Idiot! Go wash yourself.”
Duan Wu sluggishly walked to the side of the ship, with A-Chang watching her closely from behind.
She dampened one corner of the towel and wiped her face. Using the dry part, she pretended to “wipe” her hands and legs.
A-Chang urged, “Hey, you…”
Duan Wu looked at him with innocent wide eyes, and for some reason, A-Chang swallowed the rest of his words.
After the women returned to the cabin, A-Chang asked, “That little girl was the one Grandpa saved from the Pool of Despair, right?”
Someone replied, “Who else could it be? Those big eyes are so bright. Is Grandpa really going to sell her off so soon?”
A-Chang paused for a moment and then said, “...Grandpa has his own calculations when it comes to business.”
Duan Wu lay down in a corner, silently loosening her clothes and rolling up her sleeves, exposing the parts of her arms and legs that had been splashed with the sweet porridge.
She closed her eyes, and soon, she began to feel itchy in several spots. She thought, "Even the little bugs in this cabin must be hungry. Go ahead, eat, eat…"
She endured it for a long time before finally scratching the itchiest spots furiously and then falling asleep.
At dawn, A-Chang opened the cabin to gather the people. Duan Wu was crouching in the cabin, catching grass shoe bugs.
Grass shoe bugs, which looked like small centipedes, were common in hot climates. Duan Wu had already noticed that there were quite a few on the ship. After catching a few, she smiled in satisfaction and wrapped her "prizes" in a cloth.
Duan Wu and the others were taken ashore and herded into a cloth tent. Sure enough, buyers were waiting there.
There were two types of slave sales: auctioning by bidding and direct inspection with price negotiation.
Most of the female slaves were shy and only opened their mouths when ordered to. But whenever a buyer approached, Duan Wu would flash a big, toothy grin.
It’s rare for a beauty to still be charming while baring her teeth like that.
Most buyers hesitated when they saw her grinning face. However, because she was young and her large eyes were impossible to ignore, a few brave souls still asked about her price.
According to the rules, after checking a female slave’s teeth, buyers would inspect her skin. The young woman with the baby, thanks to her smooth skin, was able to be sold with her son to a seemingly kind-hearted buyer. Duan Wu waved goodbye to her, unbothered as the buyers inspected her hands and feet.
Duan Wu understood: No matter how beautiful a girl’s face is, bad skin will turn off even the most lecherous buyers. Last night, she deliberately attracted bug bites and then scratched herself. Her once honey-colored, smooth skin was now covered in red rashes and welts. The buyers all shook their heads, some even getting angry, saying, “You’re trying to sell me a sickly girl as a concubine?”
The ship’s crew had no defense, and Duan Wu inwardly laughed, putting on a pitiful and distressed expression as if she were sad about not being sold.
One middle-aged man, however, didn’t leave. Stroking his beard, he said, “This is no serious illness, just caused by insect bites.”
It turned out that this man who took a special interest in her was a physician.
Duan Wu squatted down, letting the physician and the ship’s crew haggle over her price. She opened her small cloth bundle and began playing with the grass shoe bugs.
After a while, the physician noticed and asked, “Is that a centipede you caught?”
Duan Wu blinked and whispered, “They’re my good friends. I never liked flowers and plants as a child; I preferred these little creatures. Sir, do you have centipedes at your house? Or caterpillars near your bed?”
The man’s face changed color, and he ran off faster than a rabbit.
Duan Wu quickly loosened the bundle and released the little bugs. She told the crew, “I just said not to lower the price too much, and who knew he’d get upset!”
In the end, Duan Wu, an old woman, and a sickly woman were all returned to the ship.
She wiped the sweat from her brow and scratched her itchy arm.
Suddenly, A-Chang pushed open the door. Duan Wu thought he was there to punish her. But instead, A-Chang looked her over from head to toe and spoke without anger, “A distinguished guest is coming aboard the ship, and we’re short-handed. Go clean the cabin.”
Duan Wu had already decided to escape in Quanzhou. After each slave transaction, the ship would stay in port for two or three more days. Escaping during the day was impossible; it had to be at night. It was urgent—if not tomorrow, then the day after… She had already observed the layout of the shore and was planning to explore the ship.
A-Chang’s task suited her perfectly. She took a cloth and a basin of clean water and started cleaning.
Many of the servants were probably onshore enjoying themselves, and the male slaves were seasick and hungry, so she didn’t see anyone.
After A-Chang went upstairs with tea, Duan Wu moved from room to room. In the kitchen, she found a few knives, but after considering it, she decided not to take one. Instead, she picked up a piece of firewood from the stove, sharpened it, and wrapped it in her sleeve. After cleaning the knives, she swept the wood chips into the fire. She also found two dried-out steamed buns and stuffed them into her clothes. Hearing footsteps, she hurried outside the kitchen to wipe her hands.
Someone was standing on the upper deck. An old voice said, “…Hetian City is fraught with danger, with the two major bandit factions in the Kunlun Mountains causing even more trouble. This year alone, several merchants have lost their lives over fine jade. You must think carefully before acting.”
A young man replied, “I have thought it through. I must go.” His voice was beautiful and clear, like the sound of spring rain in a deep mountain.
“You think I don’t know? You’re not going there for the jade, but for that matter… It’s been three years, and you still haven’t let it go…”
The young man answered, “I can’t forget. I must go.”
“Ah, my brother and sister-in-law had only one son, and after bringing you home, they doted on you. You’re still so young… If the world loses someone like you, Yan Zijin, it would be a pity.”
Duan Wu was surprised—this man was the infamous “plague god” Yan Zijin? Hmph! What a waste of such a good voice.
Yan Zijin replied, “Uncle, there’s no need to pity me. As Zhuangzi said, ‘A long life brings many humiliations.’ If I can settle old debts and die peacefully at this age, it would be a great blessing.”
Duan Wu thought: Good men don’t live long. A man like him will bring harm for a hundred years.
“Zijin… Zijin…” the old man sighed deeply, his voice fading away.
The deck shifted slightly, and the stairs creaked. Duan Wu flattened herself against a corner, lowering her eyes as she waited for the two men to pass by after they disembarked.
A figure in a brocade robe with the character for "fortune" embroidered on it paused in front of her before continuing with heavy steps.
Then, a white robe fluttered by her line of sight, and the figure strode away.
Duan Wu looked up, and to her surprise, the human trafficker’s retreating figure was elegant and unhurried, like the pale, frosty light of the moon.
Although the summer in Quanzhou wasn’t as unbearably hot as in Lianzhou, it was still enough to make most people shed a layer of skin. Hence, most men dressed lightly, prioritizing comfort.
But Yan Zijin, from head to toe, was dressed as meticulously as he had been when Duan Wu first saw him, with every detail in place.
Duan Wu found him somewhat ridiculous. He had saved her only to turn around and cold-heartedly treat her as a piece of free merchandise to be sold… So, although she found him ridiculous, she couldn’t bring herself to laugh.
After finishing her cleaning on one level, she moved upstairs to clean the upper deck. Many of the servants had returned to the ship, eyeing her warily.
There was no chance of escaping now. Duan Wu pushed the thoughts aside and entered the largest cabin.
This cabin was worlds apart from the ones the slaves were kept in. It was spotless, filled with the fresh scent of daylilies.
Ivory mats, crystal paperweights, a jade abacus, and fine porcelain cups—all contributed to a sense of coolness and refreshment.
On the bed lay several account books and an iron pen. At the bedside was a pot of unusual red orchids, strikingly beautiful.
Duan Wu wandered behind the curtain, where there was a large table holding a life-sized statue of the Sea Goddess Mazu.
Before the goddess, a large pile of honey peaches was offered. One peach was covered in incense ash and had begun to rot. Duan Wu hadn’t eaten fruit in days… An idea struck her, and she wiped off the ash with her hand, ignoring the rot, and devoured the peach in a few bites.
She tossed the peach pit behind the goddess's altar. After carefully rearranging the peaches so that no flaws were visible, she felt pleased.
She was about to leave when the small red bumps on her arms and legs suddenly itched. The silence around her emboldened her.
Was there any eucalyptus oil or citronella oil in Yan Zijin’s room for treating mosquito bites? She might as well take some and apply it.
She moved stealthily, like a cat, searching the room, but found nothing. Yan Zijin's "mummy wrap" was so tight that he probably didn’t need such things. With this thought, she turned to leave.
A-Chang’s voice suddenly burst through the door: “Master, he’s here.”
Duan Wu was startled and hid behind the curtain. Through the thin fabric, she could faintly see the man in white entering the room and sitting on the edge of the bed.
Someone else came in. “Master, I’ve returned.”
Yan Zijin’s voice had a slight urgency: “Did you see him?”
“No, Young Master Yuchi isn’t in Hetian City, but I left your letter. Also, I found out something important…”
The person leaned closer to Yan Zijin, raising his voice slightly for the last sentence: “…Along the way, I took the liberty of purchasing five girls who fit the criteria. Their bodies have all been verified—they’re all virgins.”
Yan Zijin remained silent, lost in thought.
Duan Wu pondered: These people must be planning something terrible. But who cares, I just need to escape!
The messenger didn’t linger, leaving quickly after his report. Yan Zijin sat in silence for a while before finally reaching out, as if to touch the leaves of the red orchid. His profile, even in the dim light, was striking, clearly a gift of nature. But to Duan Wu, it was nothing more than a ghostly illusion.
Yan Zijin’s hand slowly stopped, as if he were listening for something. Duan Wu held her breath, drenched in sweat.
Yes, she heard it too—a bird had flown onto the deck outside.
Fortunately, A-Chang appeared just in time. “Master, the bathwater is ready.”
Yan Zijin didn’t bathe in that room. He left the room.
“Master, when will we set sail this time?”
Yan Zijin’s voice was clear. “Tomorrow night I have a meeting. It might be the day after.”
Duan Wu waited a little longer before escaping the "demon’s lair."
The five virgin girls mentioned in the story were not confined with Duan Wu.
Duan Wu was focused solely on her escape and couldn’t concern herself with anything else. She spent day and night analyzing the situation on and off the ship, devising a plan. She confirmed they would still be in Quanzhou the next day. She couldn’t afford to miss this opportunity… A fifty percent chance was better than waiting for death—after all, it wouldn’t be the first time she risked her life.
Each day, a designated female slave was assigned to empty the chamber pot in the cabin. Since the previous girl had been sold, Duan Wu volunteered to take on the task.
At dusk, Duan Wu struggled to carry the heavy waste bucket to the back of the ship. As she walked, she overheard that Yan Zijin had gone ashore, surrounded by his entourage.
The two guards were engrossed in a debate about whether the prostitutes of Quanzhou or those of Guangzhou were better.
With a loud “plop,” the bucket fell, and both guards were stunned.
One of the guards said, “What about the little girl? Did she fall in?”
The other guard, quicker to react, replied, “Ah… we let her escape.”
The stench where they dumped the waste was unbearable. It was hard to hold your breath down there, so they assumed that if the girl was still alive, she would have surfaced immediately.
The two of them shouted and waited until the bucket floated back up, but they didn’t see any sign of the girl.
As night fell, the only lights flickering were those from the port.
The entire ship was in an uproar; some thought Duan Wu had committed suicide, while others believed she had some kind of supernatural ability.
In truth, Duan Wu was hiding in the shrine inside Yan Zijin's cabin.
She positioned herself in front of the Sea Goddess statue, mimicking its posture and hand gestures. From behind the silk screen, anyone looking in would mistake her for the statue of the goddess.
Duan Wu had deliberately made it seem like she had gone down with the waste bucket. In reality, she had thrown the bucket and then hidden in the dark corner at the ship’s stern.
Only when the two guards were panicked did she slip away unnoticed.
On the entire ship, only Yan Zijin’s room was off-limits to everyone. Even if someone peeked inside, they wouldn’t necessarily realize that the figure at the table was actually Duan Wu.
She was both terrified and elated, her whole body burning with tension, making it hard to swallow. She kept reassuring herself: It’s just a life, what else can I lose? The ship’s chaos gradually subsided, likely because many of the crew had gone ashore to search for her.
In the darkness, Duan Wu cautiously slipped down from the table, preparing to follow her planned escape route and find an opportunity to dive into the water.
Just as she lifted the curtain, the lights suddenly flicked on. The ship had already left the Quanzhou coast.
A young man was sitting on the edge of the bed, his eyes closed, as if meditating or deep in thought.
Duan Wu let out a short “Ah!” She had entered the room without sensing anyone there.
Was this a person or a ghost? No, the tightly sealed sleeves and collar, the pure white robe, and the black headscarf—it was Yan Zijin!
It was the first time she had clearly seen his face, and a chill ran up her spine, making her shudder.
He couldn’t have been more than in his early twenties, with sharp features and a prominent nose. He had just outgrown his youthful softness, and the proud lines typical of a young man weren’t harsh; instead, they seemed as fragile as the ice of early spring, ready to melt with the flow of the season. Perhaps because he came from a homeland with deep snow and clear mountains, his skin was as fair as porcelain. His arched eyebrows and elongated face were not only handsome but also carried an indescribable elegance. Yet, under the lamplight, with his eyes closed, he seemed unfathomable, his coldness giving Duan Wu an eerie feeling.
“You’re a slave. Why don’t you just accept your fate?” he asked.
A-Chang and the others were waiting on the second deck.
Duan Wu, realizing she had been discovered, laughed coldly. “I’m a slave? Whose slave? Where did you buy me from, and do you have a contract of sale for me?”
Yan Zijin didn’t open his eyes. “Your life shouldn’t be given back to the Pearl Harvesting Division in Lianzhou, should it?”
Duan Wu was taken aback. It seemed Yan Zijin already knew her background.
She boldly stepped back, selected the biggest, most perfect peach from the Sea Goddess’s offering plate, and began eating it.
After finishing, she said, “I’m not your slave. Since we’ve left the borders of Lianzhou, I have the right to choose my own path.”
Yan Zijin was silent for a long time before his thin lips curled into a slight smile. “You want freedom? Fine. Leave my ship right now.”
Duan Wu thought, Is he joking? The ship is already far from the port, out at sea.
Yan Zijin, like a blind man, reached for the iron pen and tapped it on the table.
A-Chang said, “Master, there are sharks in the waters near Quanzhou. If we really throw her overboard, wouldn’t that be a waste?”
Duan Wu couldn’t help but retort, “You knew I was going to escape, so why did you toy with me? You’re not really blind, so why the act?”
Yan Zijin didn’t respond at all.
Two burly men came forward and grabbed Duan Wu, dragging her to the railing. A-Chang gave them a look, and they all hesitated.
Yan Zijin called out from inside the room, “Still haven’t done it?”
Duan Wu, in a final act of defiance, said, “Fine, I’ll go. You don’t need to push me—I’ll jump myself!”
She took a deep breath, climbed onto the railing, and leaped into the sea.
Her words had been bold, but once she was in the water, she realized she couldn’t see the shore anywhere.
There wasn’t just no shore—there were no other ships in sight either. Yan Zijin’s red slave ship was slowly drifting north.
Duan Wu had known how to swim since she was a child, but she had no knowledge of the waters around Quanzhou. Although the sea was warmer than Yan Zijin, it still filled her with dread. She estimated her strength—without sharks, she might not last an hour.
She splashed around in the water for a while, remembering something she used to say to Lala: "A wise man doesn’t suffer immediate losses, and a wise woman doesn’t go back to old ways."
The elders used to say: It’s not wise to be too stubborn. This time, she decided to go back to old ways and not suffer immediate losses!
The decision took only an instant. She ducked her head and swam desperately back toward the slave ship.
By the time she caught up, many people were already waiting at the stern.
She clung to the side of the ship with her fingers, gasping for breath, unable to say a word.
No one dared to help her. After a long while, A-Chang from the second deck finally said, “Pull her up.”
Duan Wu, dripping wet and utterly exhausted, was hauled back onto the ship. One of the servants, rough in his actions, nearly dragged her by her long hair to Yan Zijin’s feet.
The pain in her scalp shot through her whole body, and all she could do was open her mouth to groan. But even the groan didn’t come out, only a weak breath from her throat.
She hated these people, hated Yan Zijin. She wanted to cry, but soaked as she was, no tears came.
Yan Zijin’s eyelids were half-open, half-closed. He lifted her chin and said, “I’m taking you to Hetian. Until I sell you, I am your master.”
Duan Wu bit down on her tongue until it bled. She spat the blood onto the ground and said, “Fine!”
In that instant, Yan Zijin’s eyes lit up.
When his eyes were closed, he had an indescribable elegance. But now, his face radiated an extraordinary charm that was almost alluring.
No matter who he was or how many years passed, Duan Wu would always remember those eyes.
They were like a clear sky on a beautiful day, a forest of tall green bamboo, a cold spring deep in a valley.
They were like a silent autumn night, a mountain covered in red leaves, a solitary light in an ancient temple.
Those dark, bright eyes reflected all of her—an helpless, lowly, cowardly little slave girl.
Duan Wu felt a pang in her heart, blood rising in her throat.
Yan Zijin was nothing more than an illusion. A poppy blooming in the wilderness, cold and detached from the world, yet hiding poison within, destined to turn black.
As she thought about her arrangement with Yan Zijin, she realized there might be a way out. For instance, there were two possibilities.
The first possibility: she would die before reaching Hetian.
The second possibility: Yan Zijin would die before he could sell her.
Suddenly, Duan Wu was struck with a moment of clarity, understanding everything.
The beauty of life lies in its unpredictability. Who can say what the future holds?
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