He is awoken from his slumber by an obnoxious sound. It sounded like somebody banging their fist against the glass of their wine jug repeatedly and over and over again. His head is ringing and he is somewhat delirious.
He lifts his head and rubs his eyes, which sting slightly. The sounds continue. He tries to remember where he is. He's in the tent, in the company of the two women. It's a tavern, one of the taverns in that village.
Scenes flash across his mind's eye, he remembers how he had fallen asleep earlier in the night, after the deafening silence had lulled him to sleep. He finds himself awakening on top of a comfy bed.
There is an unpleasant feeling in the pit of his stomach. His head is throbbing, it's getting harder to distinguish his surroundings. A voice breaks the silence: "Feng Huan!" someone calls out to him, their soft voice soothing his migraine.
He looks up from his position on the floor and sees Danica standing next to him, holding a piece of parchment in her hands.
"Wake up!" she exclaims.
"What happened, why am I here?" he mutters angrily while rubbing his temple and wincing slightly.
"You fell asleep last night and didn't wake up," she states and wipes his head with the parchment, the rough surface nearly scraping off his forehead "You haven't eaten since yesterday afternoon, get up and eat something, alright? And also go wash up!"
When she sees that Feng Huan hasn't moved at all, she sighs helplessly, shakes his shoulders and says, "Get up! Go clean yourself up! You will catch a cold if you don't!"
It takes some time before Feng Huan's grogginess subsides.
It takes some time before Feng Huan's grogginess subsides. When it does, he pushes himself up and stumbles out of the bed. As he makes his way towards the washroom, he bumps into something.
He reaches out to steady himself, but suddenly his legs give out and he falls to the ground, landing flat on his bottom. He looks to his left and right, the room seems unfamiliar, the decor is white and baroque splashed in the colour of blue and white.
The curtains surrounding the window are white and flow in the breeze. The floor is white marble. Everything else is white. Everything except the part of the floor covered with a dark grey carpet.
On his right, a large stone basin with a golden fountain sits in the centre of the room with a long mirror attached to the wall to the right of it. The room looks bright, and the air is clear and pleasant.
But something about the place still gives him the shivers and unsettles him.
Feng Huan continues walking towards the bathroom and grabs the handle of the door. Suddenly it swings open and he's greeted by a very familiar sight.
The bathroom is large, and in one of the corners is a white bathtub. In the bathtub he sees Rong with her head under the water, making bubbles. There are bottles and jars lying scattered all over the floor, along with numerous towels and robes.
He watches for a moment. Rong notices his presence. She turns around, her wet hair clinging to her full chest, her lips swollen, and her eyes bloodshot. Her face is flushed with embarrassment as she struggles to climb out of the bath.
"Are you alright?" Feng Huan asks. "What are you doing here?" Rong pauses a few seconds to gather her thoughts, and when she finally manages to stand up straight her cheeks redden even further.
"I..." She starts before trailing off, averting her gaze away from his. "...I was washing up."
"Oh," Feng Huan responds.
"Yeah," Rong murmurs, her fingers twiddling behind her back.
She looks everywhere but at Feng Huan.
Feng Huan nods awkwardly and says nothing more.
There is a pause.
"Well then," Feng Huan finally says, "Why don't you take a bath, I will prepare us both some food."
With these words he exits the bathroom and walks towards the kitchen.
There was something he wanted to say… but he can't seem to think of what it was. A little nail pounding into his cerebral cortex, urging him to say the words he wanted to tell Rong. But something is stopping him from doing it.
Rong follows him to the kitchen. As soon as she sees that he is heading there she runs behind him. She hugs him from behind wrapping her arms around his waist from behind, resting her face in the crook between his neck and shoulder.
He can feel her hot breath on his neck, causing him to tense slightly. He stops for a minute, unsure of what to do. He shuffles around to face her, putting his hands gently on her arms
"Rong," he says softly. "I really have something to talk to you about…" He starts.
"No, no! Let me just do this," she whispers with a smile on her face, her mouth is close to his ear. "Just trust me, it will help,"
He furrows his brow. They stay locked in each other's embrace until she finally releases him.
Feng Huan doesn't move away though. He stands motionless like a stone statue. His body is numb; his senses dulled; his mind fogged with confusion. He looks up to look at the woman who is smiling at him.
"Alright, let's go sit down," she says, taking his hand and leading him to the dining area.
Feng Huan sits down on the chair opposite of Rong. He looks at her, and she looks back at him. They stare at each other for a while, trying to figure out how to proceed. After a brief moment Rong speaks:
"So… What is it that you want to talk about?" She asks nervously.
Feng Huan exhales slowly, he knows exactly what he wants to speak about but he doesn't know how to go about saying it.
"Does it feel like we're missing something?" but before he could get a response, a rapid succession of knocking came from the door. Feng Huan got up from his seat immediately and opened the door.
The person who stood outside was a woman in a distinct azure maid uniform, complimenting the white and blue colour scheme in the building.
"Ms. Robinson is waiting for you, dear guests, she is upstairs in the dining hall!" the cheery figure proceeds to announce. "I have a-" Feng Huan's question is cut off as she repeats what she was sent there to say, her cheery voice not dissipating or wavering in the slightest.
As peculiar as all of it is, Feng Huan decides to take Rong with him, following the rigid maid up a couple of flights of stairs. As they pass through the hallways, each of the rooms look very similar to each other, as if they were meant to be exact copies.
When they reach the end of the staircase they come to a large hall filled with many people sitting at long rectangular tables. At the far end of the dining hall, a tall woman wearing an elegant purple dress and veil, stands looking regal.
She wears several bangles on her wrist. Her silver tiara is placed atop her head. Her eyes are closed and she is swaying side to side, as if in trance. The crowd is silent, all their attention focused on her.
A young servant rushes up to her and bows to her respectfully. He whispers something in her ear and gestures towards the direction of the door. She opens her eyes and looks around.
As she spots them approaching, she turns her attention towards Feng Huan.
"Master Domplumo," the woman smiles warmly at him, she extends her hand, her fingertips grazing the edge of his arm. "How wonderful it is to see you again!"
"Nice to see you too," he replies, deciding to roll with it anyway. She lets out an adorable giggle at that, shaking her head lightly.
Suddenly she notices the person standing next to him.
She gasps and clasps a hand over her mouth and squeals "Who's your lovely pet?" She asks excitedly. "Come closer!" she exclaims, holding out both of her arms.
"Ms. Robinson, this is Rong, and she's not exactly my pet... She's-"
"Nonsense!" She grabs Rong by her cheeks. "Aren't you the most beautiful thing ever?" she coos.
Rong tries hard not to wince. Robinson looks over to Feng Huan. "This pet is better than the ones you brought over in the past. Those ugly ones had to be fed to the dogs!" she scoffs.
She sits down at the head of the table, patting the spot next to her invitingly. "Sit," she smiles and waves towards the seats in front of her.
Feng Huan hesitantly takes his seat and looks to Rong.
With his gaze directed at her, his hand reaches down on top of his lap. She looks up to meet his gaze briefly before sitting down and focusing back on the food in front of her.
"You're so lucky to have such a pretty pet," Robinson says, turning her attention back to Feng Huan. "I'm sure you'll make a great owner." she gulps her wine, dropping the goblet on the floor, making one of the maids pick it up and wipe off the floor.
"I'm sure you've seen my lovely statues around the corners of this manor." She smiles bashfully. She picks up a chicken wing and begins eating it, chewing on it as if it were candy.
Feng Huan keeps quiet.
"If I was the master of a house like yours, then wouldn't I have many beautiful slaves running around? Don't you think so? Of course you would!" She laughs happily.
"But not me. I'm very fair, you know, these women came to me asking for money for their families, to heal their sick children and what more. All I asked was to work for me in the manor!" She points to the statues.
"The ones who misbehave can at least grace me with their beauty forever."
Feng Huan sighs inwardly.
"That's why you should be glad that Master Domplumo found you first," she adds.
She looks down at Rong, who continues staring blankly ahead without uttering a single word.
"You look so much prettier in real life than in a painting or a statue merely in your image. If I got to you first I'd make you a statue next to my bed." She continues to babble on about different things in which Feng Huan has absolutely no interest in.
She is still talking about how she made sure everyone here knew how beautiful she thought Rong is, how happy she is to see him again. How proud of herself she is of her accomplishments. It looks like Feng Huan stumbled into the house of a chatterbox.
Feng Huan and Rong would just eat silently as Lady Robinson would speak more than she eats, her food lying there almost untouched.
She takes a nibble here and there but she seems to have no appetite.
She pushes her plate slightly away from her but doesn't put any weight onto it.
Eventually she gets tired of talking about how she got her name. She gives up and turns her attention to Feng Huan, staring at him intensely, her eyes fixed upon him.
Feng Huan feels as though she could read his every thought."Master, I'm actually planning to ask, why did you pass by my village?" she asks. Feng Huan frowns. She was being awfully direct. He didn't answer for a good amount of time. When he finally speaks, it sounds as cold as it looked.
"Why are you so interested? It isn't as though I had some ulterior motive in mind when I passed by, was there?"
'I don't trust this one. I don't know much about her.' Feng Huan sighs. "Master, I don't know much about the outer world anyway, just tell me!" she says. Her whiney voice scratched Feng Huan's eardrums.