Bathed in the golden sunset, Bai Lingmiao pressed her hand onto the blood-soaked Daoist robe. She dunked it hard in the river water a few times, then pulled it out only to let it sink back down again. She had hoped the river's current might wash away some of the bloodstains, but the color had already seeped deep into the fabric; no amount of rinsing was going to get it out.
Just then, two hairy black hands reached over and snatched the wooden stick from Bai Lingmiao's grip. She glanced at Chun Xiaoman beside her and gave a small smile, and the two fell into an easy rhythm of washing the clothes together.
"Li Huowang's having another episode." Chun Xiaoman's words made Bai Lingmiao's smile slowly fade. She put down what she was holding and walked over to the cart by the roadside. There, she saw Li Huowang, wild-eyed and delirious, already tied securely with chains by the others in a hurried scramble.
