The Creatures That We Are

Chapter 613: Mu Xing

West of Xijing District, Li City, thirty-three years ago.

The poorly connected region was all lushly green mountain ranges, within which countless clear creeks were hidden, flowing into a larger river at the foot of the mountains; that was one of the sources of the Li River.

By the river was the famed Yuan Yang Tree. Put simply, it was a pair of old pine and cypress trees standing close to each other with their branches and leaves intertwined. Through the years, they grew into each other’s embrace and came to form a large tree. Some locals prayed to the Yuan Yang Tree for love, and red ribbons hung from the many branches.

Because of the tree, the river was also known as the Yuan Yang River.

Downstream of the river was a dam, and when the water level was high, it formed a small lake. Every midsummer, the locals often visited the lake to swim, and almost every year, the lake had claimed the lives of children and even adults, yet it remained a popular site.

One dawn, thin mist encircled the mountains. A woman with shoulder-length hair wearing a pristine white shirt and navy blue pants rode a large vintage bicycle, riding quickly along the bumpy mountainous path.

Sitting in the back was a boy at four or five, wearing a blue and white striped t-shirt, a pair of yellow shorts, and brown sandals.

The woman riding the bicycle was twenty-five or twenty-six, and she had delicate facial features, which, however, were offset by her sunken cheeks, silky pale complexion, and deep-set eyes. She looked miserable.

The meek and lovely boy blinked his large, black eyes, shiny and crystal-clear. Head lowered, he clutched onto the back of his mother’s shirt, holding a small wicker basket covered with white cloth. The basket looked heavy.

The bicycle swayed as it climbed the mountainous path. Ahead of them was an upward slope that wasn’t terribly steep, but enough to make it difficult for the woman to keep pedaling. She straightened her back and clenched her teeth as she moved her legs with force.

The little boy said quietly, “Let me down, Mom. I’ll walk.”

“No...Mom’s fine...” the woman responded with difficulty. To her, it would be more tiring to stop the bicycle halfway and resume riding.

It would require her to run quite a distance with one foot on the bicycle before getting her other foot up. Then her son would have to jog to catch up with her, jumping onto the back of the seat.

The little boy fell silent, the hands clutching onto his mother’s shirt tightening.

The mother and son reached the top of the slope. Then they traversed another bumpy path, the ups and downs of it left the little boy’s butt numb, but he swallowed his complaints, not daring to voice them.

Finally, his mother stopped the bicycle. They had reached the dam of the Yuan Yang River.

It was early, and no one had come to swim yet. The calm surface of the body of water was covered in a thin layer of mist. Thriving green trees hugged the dam. Amid the pleasant morning breeze, cicadas chirped.

“Come, Mu Xing[1].” The woman waved her son over while wiping the sweat on her forehead.

Mu Xing didn’t dare to waste any time. Holding the small wicker basket, he jogged up to his mother and followed her to the dam.

Mu Xing got his name from his father.

His father was Mu You, a self-proclaimed cosmology lover. However, his father became a cement mason after elementary school and knew little about the cosmos.

His father always said that once Mu Xing started school, he must study hard to become an astronaut in the future, taking a rocket to the moon, to Mars, to a place beyond the Solar System or even the Milky Way, roaming the vast universe.

Every time the man talked about it, his eyes glinted brightly, but Mu Xing wasn’t terribly interested.

Mu Xing didn’t understand the vastness of the universe. To him, the mountains around the village were vast enough, and what did the stars in the sky have to do with him?

Even going to elementary school seemed like a distant thing to him.

Mu Xing’s favorite thing to do was to play with his father.

In spring, they harvested bamboo shoots and flew kites together; in summer, they swam and caught crabs together; in autumn, they hit to peel chestnuts and harvested wheat together; in winter, they threw snowballs and roasted sweet potatoes together.

There were many happy things to do. The universe didn’t matter.

Until last summer, his father died.

It was a day just like any other day. After a nap to pass the scorching hot weather, Mu You had some time to take Mu Xing to the dam on his bicycle for a swim in the Yuan Yang River.

The father and son stripped down and stood on the concrete dam, buck naked. They jumped into the water with a splash like two fish returning home.

They started racing each other to the other side, and Mu You was always in the lead. But every time, he slowed down midway so that his son could catch up, and the father and son would have a happy tie.

This time, Mu You started out quick. Halfway through, he seemed to hear a voice calling out to him from the riverside. When he turned around, he realized that his son was gone.

“Old Mu! Your son’s drowning! He’s getting washed up to the dam!” A man he knew shouted from the riverside while stripping, jumping into the water and swimming up to him to help.

Mu You’s heart sank. He turned around and swam toward the dam...

When Mu Xing woke up, he was lying near the river, and a neighbor was pushing his chest.

Mu Xing threw up a mouthful of water, returning from the clutch of death.

“Dad, dad...” Mu Xing felt terrible and terrified, his entire body shaking. “Where’s Dad? I want Dad...”

The older man said with a grave look on his face, his tone regretful, “Mu Xing, your dad...got washed away...”

To save Mu Xing, Mu You had swam toward the dam to the best of his ability. The water was quick there, and after a several-meter drop was a deep pond, which flowed into the Li River.

Mu You had caught his son and swam backward with his life on the line, handing his son to the neighbor catching up to them. Then Mu You got a cramp, and the water pulled him to the dam.

The neighbor had been focused on saving the child, and when he brought Mu Xing to land and turned around, Mu You was already gone.

He went to the pond below the dam and looked around, but didn’t see Mu You anywhere.

That afternoon, everyone from the village searched along the stretch of the Yuan Yang River that flowed into the Li River, but found nothing.

They speculated that Mu You must have gotten knocked unconscious when falling from the dam to the pond. Then the quick water swept over him and carried him to the Li River.

The superstitious elderly suspected that Mu You had been taken by the water ghosts around the dam. Many drowned in the area every year, all because of the ghosts.

Whatever the case, the fact was that Mu You was missing.

A month later, the police concluded that he had drowned to death, and that the body was unretrievable after getting carried away to the Li River.

There hadn’t been a day when Mu You’s wife didn’t cry, but finally, she accepted her husband’s death and held a funeral for him, seeing him off with a proper ritual.

To Mu Xing, however, his mother had never really accepted reality.

His father’s departure destroyed his mother. She resigned from her job and lived her day like her soul wasn’t with her. She often sat on her bed staring into space with her husband’s mourning photo in her hands.

Sometimes, she would lose it and beat and scold Mu Xing, and Mu Xing took it quietly.

He knew that he got his father killed. He deserved the punishment.

Mu Xing was heartbroken too. He missed his father. However, he didn’t even dare to cry. He killed his father. He was in no place to cry for him.

“Mu Xing!” His mother called out to him, sounding impatient. “What are you waiting for? Come here.”

Mu Xing realized that he got lost in his thoughts again. He quickly ran over to his mother with the small wicker basket.

1. It means Jupiter in Mandarin. ☜