Free Binu and the Great Wall of China by Su Tong

fortune.’
    Binu bowed to the man and climbed into the cart. The new retainer was a giant of a man who cast an enormous shadow. In the little light that remained, she saw the tangled hair that hung to his shoulders, and noticed that his face was covered by a dark kerchief. His body gave off a slightly musky odour.
    ‘Where are you from, Elder Brother?’ Binu asked timidly.
    The man appeared not to have heard. But Wuzhang spun around and bellowed, ‘No talking! I never ask where my passengers are from or where they’re going. How dare you ask such questions!’
    The mysterious stranger said nothing and, as Binu rode along, she felt as if she were sitting next to a large boulder. She tried hard not to disturb him, but the bumpy ride occasionally made her bundle brush against his jacket, causing the frog inside to croak, and croak again. So she took it down and held it in her lap. And as she did so, she noticed smudges on the man’s boots, although, in the darkness, she could not tell if it was mud or blood. She moved a little farther away from the man thinking about the dreadful places her travelling companion might have come from. An unintended glance at the eyes glimmering above the dark kerchief revealed a glint of arrogance or hatred. Or was it sorrow?

Hundred Springs Terrace
    In the soft moonlight Hundred Springs Terrace loomed up like a bright, lush island. With its high terrace and soaring eaves, its candles flickering amid stringed and woodwind music, it looked like the last giant beast in a moment of rapture. The driver brought the cart to a halt at a riverbank, turned to Binu, and said, ‘Get off, get down off the cart. I’ve driven you twenty li for your two sabre coins. It’s time for you to be on your own again.’
    Binu did not hear the carter’s command, so intent was she on avoiding the eyes of the man whose face was covered. Twenty li of travel had exhausted her. Her companion’s cold demeanour and the way he kept his hand under his robe, as if he had a sword hidden there, had reminded her of a man from Huangdian she had encountered on North Mountain as a child. As he roamed the mountain with something under his arm, the children of Peach Village had run after him to ask what he was hiding. ‘What’s that under your arm, Uncle?’ Theman had smiled and opened his coat. It was a bloody human head! The thought of that human head had kept Binu from looking at the man’s robe and, as the cart bumped along the road, she had felt herself floating in the evening air.
    The carter kicked her roughly. ‘Are you deaf or have you fallen asleep? We’re at Hundred Springs Terrace, so get off, and don’t let anyone see you!’
    When Binu climbed down from the donkey cart, she felt the ground beneath her feet shift; having trouble keeping her balance, she crouched down in this alien, dreamlike place. Hundred Springs Terrace was separated from the woods by a moat that surrounded it like a silken sash. There were glimpses of human figures on the other side, and a row of lanterns with panther insignias flapped in the wind. Then the sound of chains and a winch rose together, and a giant drawbridge rumbled down from the sky next to the terrified Binu. She jumped to her feet. ‘Elder Brother,’ she shouted, ‘you cannot leave me here. You accepted my two sabre coins, but only took me twenty li. You must return one of the coins to me.’
    The carter and his passenger turned to look. The passenger remained silent, his eyes still shining brightly. ‘Do you want me to take you into Hundred Springs Terrace for your two sabre coins?’ the carter asked. ‘Openyour eyes and take a good look. Does this look like a place for you?’
    Binu held her breath as she listened to voices coming from across the moat. ‘You’re lying, Elder Brother. Who says a woman can’t cross that bridge? I hear women’s voices over there.’
    He laughed. ‘Those are pleasure women. Want to join them? You’ve got the looks, now all you