By the time they reached the cottage, the sky had turned orange and purple with the last light of evening. The air was cooler now, and the village had grown quieter. Smoke rose from cooking fires in the distance, and somewhere a dog barked lazily.
Gu Xu could already see the faint glow of a lamp from inside the cottage.
The door was open.
His stomach tightened immediately.
They walked closer.
And then they heard it.
Loud snoring.
When they reached the doorway, the smell hit them first—strong alcohol, sour and heavy, mixed with the stale smell of an unclean house.
Gui Xu was sprawled beside the table, one arm hanging off the side, his face pressed against the wood. Around him were five empty gourds of different sizes, some still rolling slightly as if they had been knocked over not long ago.
He was completely drunk. Unconscious.
Snoring like a beast.
Gu Xu stood frozen at the door for a moment.
Then something he didn't expect happened.
Relief!
A wave of relief washed over him so suddenly his knees almost felt weak.
"He's asleep!"
"He's too drunk!"
"Maybe… maybe I won't get beaten tonight…"
He slowly looked up at Maki, trying to read his expression.
Maki stood in the doorway, looking at the scene with a grave, unreadable face. His eyes moved from the empty gourds, to Gui Xu's position, to the open door, to the lamp, as if he was studying a battlefield instead of a drunk man on the floor.
After a short moment, Maki spoke.
"Go inside," he said. "Find another lamp. Light it. Bring it to me."
Gu Xu blinked. "O-Okay…"
He stepped carefully into the cottage, trying not to step on anything that would make noise. The floor creaked anyway. He winced and looked at his father, but Gui Xu only snored louder and turned his head slightly.
Gu Xu found another small oil lamp near the back of the cottage. He lit it with shaking hands.
As he walked back outside with the lamp, his mind was racing.
"What is he planning?"
"Is he going to wake Father up?"
"Is he going to tell him everything that happened?"
Gu Xu felt his stomach drop.
He still remembered the last time his father had beaten him while drunk.
He had thrown a stool.
Gu Xu still had a faint scar near his shoulder from that.
"Please don't wake him up… please don't wake him up…" he thought as he stepped outside.
Maki took the lamp from his hand.
"Follow me," Maki said.
They walked past the side of the cottage, then behind it, then further into the dark until the cottage was some distance away and the sound of Gui Xu's snoring could no longer be heard.
They stopped in a small clearing.
Maki turned and looked at him.
"Boy," Maki said, "today I am going to teach you a very important lesson."
Gu Xu swallowed.
"Watch and learn," Maki continued, "if you have the ability to. Always remember this: your body will suffer physically if your brain doesn't work."
Gu Xu frowned, not fully understanding.
Maki turned away and began looking around the trees nearby.
Gu Xu just stood there, confused, watching him walk from one tree to another, touching branches, bending some, testing their flexibility.
Finally, Maki found a branch about the length of his arm. He grabbed it with both hands and snapped it off the tree with a sharp crack.
He trimmed the smaller twigs quickly with his dagger and walked back toward Gu Xu, holding the branch.
Gu Xu looked at the branch, then at Maki.
"What… what is that for?" he asked.
Maki looked at him calmly.
"I am going to beat you," he said, "on behalf of Gui Xu."
Gu Xu's eyes widened.
"W-What?!"
"I will make it hurt less," Maki continued calmly, "but I will make it look bad. So that when Gui Xu wakes up tomorrow and sees you, he will think he was the one who beat you while drunk."
Gu Xu just stared at him.
Then something strange happened.
Instead of fear or even anger…
A small light flickered in his mind.
If his father believed he had already beaten him… maybe he wouldn't beat him again tomorrow.
If the Chief came and saw the injuries… maybe he would think the family discipline had already been carried out.
This was… a plan.
A clever plan.
Gu Xu looked up at Maki with wide eyes.
"Thank you!" he blurted out.
Maki frowned slightly.
"Don't thank me," he said. "Learn! "
And with that he lifted up the branch and pointed it slightly toward Gu Xu.
"After this beating," Maki said, "I want you to spend time thinking about how I helped you today. It is not just the soothing herb. There is another way I helped you. If you cannot understand it, then today's pain is wasted."
Gu Xu nodded slowly, even though he wasn't sure he fully understood yet.
Maki stepped closer.
"Stand still," he said.
Then the first strike came.
CRACK!
"OW!" Gu Xu yelped, jumping.
"It won't hurt too much," Maki said calmly. "Stop moving."
CRACK.
"OW! OW! That hurts!"
CRACK!
Gu Xu clenched his teeth. He had been beaten before. Many times. Usually by his father's fists.
But this was different.
Maki struck his back, his shoulders, the back of his legs—places that would bruise but not cripple.
It still hurt.
It hurt a lot.
"OW! I thought you said it wouldn't hurt!" Gu Xu shouted.
"I said it would hurt less," Maki replied. "Not that it wouldn't hurt."
CRACK.
"OW! Stop hitting the same place!"
CRACK.
Gu Xu felt tears in his eyes, but he didn't run.
He didn't know why he didn't run...
He usually did when things got difficult. Like with his father... and even especially when the other younger kids in the village who were not conscious of his status as the Chief's nephew would bully him like as if he were a toy.
Not this time though.
Because something felt different.
When his father beat him, it felt like he was being punished for existing.
When Maki beat him, it felt like… something else.
Like this pain had a purpose. It was not pain meant to destroy him… but to protect him.
That thought was new.
Very new.
For the first time, a strange idea appeared in Gu Xu's mind:
Pain is not always hatred.
CRACK.
"OW! OW! OW!" Gu Xu hopped slightly. "I've even got cuts from that rough branch!"
After several more strikes, Maki finally stopped.
He wiped the sweat from his hands on his tribal skirt and looked at Gu Xu, who was now covered in red welts and a few shallow cuts.
"It hurts worse to die a pathetic death," Maki said.
Gu Xu was still wincing and rubbing his arm.
"Do you think warriors train in pain for nothing?" Maki continued. "Because you are too weak in strength, wisdom, and status to defend yourself, I am forced to do this. Be thankful it is not that idiot Gui Xu who is as strong as an ox but dim in the head!"
Gu Xu knew he should be angry at that.
But he wasn't.
He just looked at Maki with a slightly hurt, slightly reproachful expression.
Maki ignored the look.
He bent down and picked some stinging nettle from the side of the clearing.
Gu Xu's eyes widened. "Wait— not that again—"
Maki rubbed the nettle lightly onto some of the cuts.
Gu Xu flinched, his body tensing.
It stung. A lot.
But he didn't cry this time.
He just gritted his teeth and stood still.
Maki applied the nettle in silence, making the cuts swell and redden so they would look worse in the morning.
When he finished, he stood up and tossed the remaining plant aside.
"Go home," he said. "You should be able to handle it yourself from here."
Gu Xu nodded slowly.
Then Maki added, "Be prepared. Chief Lei Xu as the head of your family, will visit the day after tomorrow to give you the family discipline. It will not be simple."
Those words felt ominous and haunting.
But this time, Gu Xu did not feel the same blind panic as before.
Because now… his mind was turning.
Thinking even?
Planning...
Slowly, he bowed to Maki. Not clumsily. Not hurriedly. But properly.
"Thank you," Gu Xu said quietly. "For your wisdom… and for your mercy!"
Maki didn't respond.
Gu Xu turned and began walking back toward the cottage, limping slightly with each step.
Maki watched him go, the lamp light flickering softly in the dark.
After a while, Maki spoke quietly to himself.
"This boy is as naïve in a foolish way like his mother," he murmured. "But he is a quick learner."
As he watched Gu Xu's small figure limp toward the crooked cottage.
"I hope he makes it," Maki said softly.
-
Then something rustled in the branches behind him.
Maki turned instantly, lifting the lamp and walking toward the sound without hesitation.
He reached the bushes and looked down.
Footprints.
Someone had been standing there.
Maki crouched and used his hand to skillfully study the prints carefully. He mapped out the spacing, the depth and the direction.
After a moment, he straightened and shook his head slightly.
"Too light," he muttered. "Too careless."
He stood there for another moment, listening to the night.
Then he turned and walked away as if nothing had happened, the lamp light slowly disappearing into the darkness.