Xiao Lian never knew whether Ding Xiang was a hero or a goddess. The cheerful girl seemed to know everything, …
Xiao Lian never knew whether Ding Xiang was a hero or a goddess.
The cheerful girl seemed to know everything, from the snows of the north to the camel bells beyond the frontier, from the gentle ripples of Jiangnan to the steep peaks of Xishu... yet Xiao Lian never learned where she came from.
She could be loud and had strange ideas, but Xiao Lian knew that as long as she stayed by her side, there would always be food to eat and a safe place to sleep.
But as the days passed, Ding Xiang's stories grew fewer. The faraway legends and landscapes became entangled with secrets she could not share. The girl who once had enough tales to last the night now carried more worries than anyone in the Northern Vow.
Then one day, excitement lit her face again. Xiao Lian watched as she spoke of stories she had never told before, all the while scrambling to write letters for different people.
Xiao Lian could not read, but she saw pigeons carrying those letters off in every direction.
Ding Xiang told her, in a hushed voice, that she had uncovered a great secret, one she could tell no one.
"I'll go to the general and tell him everything!"
"I know it all now!"
What secret? What general? Xiao Lian had no idea.
But she would never forget the look on Ding Xiang's face...
It was the look of exhilaration, of finally being able to repay a debt of life, of holding in her hands the power to turn events toward what is right.