Little Purple

"What a beautiful night." Shou smiled widely as he stared up at the sky. "So clear and bright, there is no cloud, no moon, but there are so many stars!" He joyfully threw himself to the back and ended up in a sleeping position. Now he was on top of a pile of straw in a barn that was owned by one of the farmers in that secluded village.

The village was a bit messy because of the drought. It was fortunate that the village chief manage to seek help from the Jin Ye city guards in time, and now they were fixing the farm and irrigation. Half of the barn was destroyed when the drought came because it was very old. Fortunately, the farmer and the livestock had already been moved so there were no casualties. One of the walls collapsed, and the ceiling had a big hole in it, making it the perfect place to laze around and view the night sky.

There were so many stars in the sky that they were uncountable, even forming a milky way.

"Stars?" Hu Zi came to him holding two steamed buns. She was wearing white clothes that a nice farmer's wife gave her. She handed one of the steamed buns to Shou before continuing, "What do you mean? What is a star?"

Shou just realized that Hu Zi would never know what a star was since she was blind. She could sense the eagle that flew above them but could never sense the things located even higher than that. She once asked him about the moon, and Shou ended up giving her an hour of explanation on what it looked like.

"Let's see…" Shou explained. "Stars are the little shining dots you see in the sky when the night comes."

"Does it have a color? Or is it like the moon, which is mostly white most of the time…"

"They have colors. Most of them are white like the moon, but there are other colors too. They have different sizes, and if you look at it closely, you will realize that they are all very different from one another."

"What about the sizes? You said all of them have different sizes. If it is a dot, is it not as big as the moon?"

"Yeah, they are very small and seem fragile as they sometimes are there and sometimes gone. But there are a few stars that shine more brightly than others. Our people use those stars to guide their way when the night comes."

"I see…"

Just like how Shou had predicted, they spent hours talking about the mysterious shining dots. They talked until both of them grew tired. Hu Zi ended up laying not far away from Shou. She used the pile of straw as a mattress.

"You know, Master, this is the first time I went so far away from home after so long."

"Hmm?" Now that she mentioned it, Shou remembered tha Hu Zi never went past the city gates. Even though she went to the Dragon Mountain often, that mountain was located right behind Jin Ye and was still considered part of the capital.

"Master, did you often go outside of the city in the past right?" She opened her eyes and stared in Shou's direction. "Have you ever gone around the world? Tell me a story about it, tell me all the things you saw. I heard from Second Sister that there are a lot of places and things that you can't see in the city. I heard that there is a desert in the north. Is it true that there is only sand in the desert? Have you ever seen it?"


Shou looked into Hu Zi's eyes. Although the middle of her beautiful eyes were blank, there were this curiosity in them. He sighed. "Yes, I am not sure if I already traveled the world, but I guess I have visited more places than you, Xiao Zi."

"Really?! Tell me about them, please."

Shou went around again and told stories to Hu Zi, stories that she had never heard of even from her Second Sister. Shou told Hu Zi that there wasn't just sand in the desert because there were desert flowers, animals, and ruins.

"You know what? The stars above the desert are even far more beautiful that the stars here. Strange, right? Even though we have the same sky, theirs are even clearer," Shou excitedly said. "Speaking of sky, Xiao Zi, have you ever wanted to try flying?"

"Flying?"

"Yes, well, even though you will become a wind master someday, there is still a big chance that you won't be able to fly." Shou explained.

"Ah, you mentioned that to me once. You explained the reason that you were able to fly was because you practiced jumping from on top of the waterfall on the Dragon Mountain, right?"

"Yep." Shou chuckled. "It is a very harsh training, one that gamble with your live, so I won't let you do it."

Hu Zi had a doubtful look on her face and bluntly said. "But isn't all of the training that you gave me up until now gambling with my life?"

"No, no, of course not. How can you think of it like that?" Shou smirked.

"You devilish Master!" Hu Zi fumed hard.

"Anyway, there is a trick that can make you experience the feeling of flying easily."

"How?"

"Have you ever heard of sky gliding?"

"No?"

"You will need a flying craft to glide in the sky. I will teach you how to make that flying craft once we come back and train in the Dragon Mountain. The experience of sky gliding is similar to flying. You will be sure to want to try it."

"..." Hu Zi could sense that Shou was really excited right now, probably thinking of a mischievous plan he would enact once they got back to Dragon Mountain. "Is sky gliding that fun?"

"Oh, of course… It is very fun. I once did it in a bamboo forest near the border of the Meng Empire. The bamboo forest rarely had visitors even though it is a very beautiful place. It's filled with sky high bamboos and mushrooms. There are also high cliffs where you can see the horizon."

Even though she was the one that begged her master to tell her the stories, listening to them somehow made the blind girl sad. "Master Shou… Can I ask you a favor?"

"Huh? What is it?"

"Once I am ready and become a true wind master, will you show me the world?"

Shou blinked twice. "Show you the world?"

Hu Zi came up to him and tugged on his sleeve. "I may not be able to see, but I at least want to touch, hear, and smell all the kinds of things that you and Second Sister told me about. I don't want them to just be stories…"

Shou's eyes widened. He helplessly smiled and pat Hu Zi's head. "Of course, I promise you that I will take you to travel around the world once you are ready."

Hu Zi looked up and gently smiled.