Many weeks and a scar later, Aidan and Xiaotong had passed many towns and many wanderers like them, none of whom had been hostile, but all of whom spoke of a haunted land up ahead, on the path to the Land of the Red Curse.

"They say the lord that that there land won't let nobody female by there," said one of the farmers Aidan questioned.

"Why?" Asked Aidan, interested. The farmer smiled mischievously, seemingly delighted to have a partner for gossip. His voice passed into a secretive tone.

"Well now, you see, that lord up there supposedly had a wife what was unfaithful to 'im. And now, though that lord ain't among the livin' no more, he still bears a grudge against all the women folk, and won't let none of 'em pass."

Aidan gasped. "Really? And what happens if a woman does pass through?"

The farmer looked at Xiaotong. "I ain't so sure that's for the ears of the lady, if you get what I'm sayin'."

Xiaotong glared daggers at the farmer, who looked then as though he was uncomfortably close to a fire. Still, she took a few steps in the opposite direction and allowed the farmer to continue with his 'chilling'- if likely fictional- story.

"Well," continued the farmer, a little shaken by the fierceness of Xiaotong's gaze. "They say that the land itself is possessed, and will swallow any and every woman that sets foot on it."

"Swallow?"

"Yes, it'll just open up, like this-" the farmer spread his arms in a large circle to impress upon Aidan the seriousness of the situation. "-and swallow 'em whole." He jerked his arms down.

"Heavens!" Aidan put a hand to his mouth. The farmer turned serious and put a hand on Aidan's bicep, as the farmer could not reach Aidan's shoulder.

"You can pass," said the farmer. "But I'm afraid you'll have to find quarter's for your wife while you do whatever you have to do."

Aidan started in surprise. "Wife?" The word came out louder than he'd expected, catching the attention of Xiaotong, who came to see what all the ruckus was about.

"No, she's not my- I mean..." Aidan turned to Xiaotong, who looked ready to kill. "I did not tell him that."

"You mean, she's not your wife?" said the farmer incredulously. "Surely you're not related."

Aidan shook his head frantically. "Nonononono, I don't have a donkey. I mean, 'wife'! Xiaotong here is my... erm... traveling companion."

Aidan and Xiaotong were on the road again, and in spite of Aidan's warnings that they should prepare for this new obstacle, Xiaotong would have none of it.

"That man was a fool who had no idea what he was talking about, why should we believe him? It was just a rumor anyway."

"That man made an honest mistake, in thinking that we were... you know," Aidan defended. "What he said about the lord might be true! And if it is-"

"It is is not," she said, leaving no more room for discussion. Aidan was silent.

They moved forward for days without speaking to each other. The farmer's warning weighed heavily on Aidan's mind, while Xiaotong did her best to keep moving. A thought occurred to him. Was she scared? That was a definite probability. Though she kept her face stony and nearly unreadable, she must know that should the farmer's warning be right, she would not be able to continue with her journey. The strange emotion he had when he first met her returned.

The land got stranger, and swampier, and hotter until the humidity was almost unbearable. Aidan was, for the most part, fine. After all, should he get overheated, he could remove certain articles of clothing and remain decent. Xiaotong, however, could remove nothing without a considerable level of embarrassment on both sides. She had taken his walking stick within a day to push her way through the bog. A building appeared in the distance, and a grand building it was with high ceilings and huge, stone pillar that were visible even at a distance. Aidan grew wary. He looked at Xiaotong, who had gone stony and unreadable. Her fiery eyes burned with determination.

Aidan shrugged his shirt back on, figuring that if he were to speak with the owner of the building, friend or foe, he'd want to look presentable. They got closer to the house, and the closer they got the bigger the house got until it loomed ominously over them. It was a grand house indeed, but not well kept. The walls were worn badly, and covered in the filth of the land. The roof had certainly seen better days, as it was broken in many places, and partially caved in.

Xiaotong, who had been leading, kept up a fast pace. Aidan put a hand on her shoulder.

"Let me go first," he said. "It's best if whoever's here sees me first."

Xiaotong raised her eyebrows, but obliged. Aidan stepped forward, his eyes scanning the area before he walked straight up to the gates of the enormous house. This time, it was Xiaotong who stopped Aidan.

"What are you doing, Englishman? Is it not foolish to walk straight into the lion's den?"

So she was afraid. Aidan smiled in what he hoped was a reassuring way. "Is it not more foolish to walk into the lion's den without checking if it truly is a lion's den first? Besides, even if what the farmer said about this place is true, perhaps once the lord hears our plight he will let us go."

Xiaotong said nothing more.

"Great Lord of this great land!" Aidan shouted at the door of the huge house. "We are but poor travelers trying to make our way North to the Land of the Red Curse! Come, face me!" Aidan waited for a reply. And kept waiting. "Well," he said, this time to Xiaotong. "I guess the farmer was wrong after all, it must be safe for us to pas-"

"YOU...." came a voice from the house. "ONLY YOU MAY PASS. LEAVE THE WOMAN HERE."

"I'm afraid I can't do that. This woman here is searching for her husband, who lays beyond your land. I have taken a sworn vow to help her through her journey, so please, Great Lord, grant us safe passage."

The ground rumbled in response. "NO WOMAN SHALL EVER SET FOOT ON MY LAND, THE TRAITOROUS CREATURES SHALL NEVER TOUCH MY LAND WITHOUT EXPERIENCING MY WRATH! GET THAT FOUL THING OUT OF MY SIGHT!"

Aha, thought Aidan. "So, you say that a woman shall never be allowed to set foot on your land?"

"YES! NO WOMAN SHALL EVER SET SO MUCH AS A FOOT ON MY LAND! I FORBID IT!"

"Alright," said Aidan. He turned to Xiaotong, and before she could object, grabbed her around the waist and slung her over his shoulder.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" rumbled the house.

"She shall not put so much as a foot on your land, so I swear," replied Aidan, and with that, he set off past the house. The house rumbled again, this time with laughter.

"FINE THEN, STRANGE MAN. HOWEVER, SHOULD SHE SO MUCH AS TOUCH MY LAND, WHICH STRETCHES AS LONG AS THIS BOG, I WILL EXACT MY VENGEANCE!"

"You have my word! She will not touch your land!" Aidan shouted back at the house. And with that, he set off through the swamp. Xiaotong said nothing until the house was out of sight.

"Let me down," she ordered, squirming in his grasp.

"No," he replied.

"Let me down, now."

"No," he said again. Xiaotong fumed.

"May I ask why not? The house is out of sight now, surely it won't know if I keep going on my own."

"Maybe it will, maybe it won't. Whether or not it will know is irrelevant, I gave it my word that you would not touch his land, so you will not. I can get you on my back though, if you that would make you more shiny." He didn't have to look at her face to know she was giving him "the look".

"Comfortable," he amended. "I meant to say comfortable."

Xiaotong was silent for a while. Then she said, "Yes, that would make me more comfortable."

After a few moments of awkward maneuvering, during which Aidan had to be very careful not to accidentally grab anywhere inappropriate, Xiaotong was on his back, arms wrapped gently around his neck. The going was hard after that. Mud clung to him every step, seemingly not wanting to let him go any further than he already had, and there was even a frightening moment when Aidan tripped and fell to his knees, but he kept his word. Xiaotong did not touch the ground, even for an instant.

A night passed, and still, Aidan kept Xiaotong dutifully off the ground and kept moving forward. At last, the ground started to get drier, and drier, and drier, as did the air until the road was once more visible, and completely, gloriously solid. Xiaotong had fallen asleep on his back.

Exhaustion clouded his vision, but even through his haze, he still saw Feng. The strange, masked man was looking at him intently.

"Take a reed from the edge of his land, trust me, it'll-"

"Come in handy later?" Aidan finished. The masked man cocked his head to the side and said playfully,

"You know me so well."

Aidan carefully set Xiaotong down on the ground, making sure not to wake her, and shambled tiredly back the way he had come. He picked the first reed he saw, then made his way back to Xiaotong. He expected Feng to be gone by the time he got back, but instead, saw him hovering over Xiaotong, staring intently at her sleeping form.

Aidan froze. He still didn't entirely trust the masked man in spite of his previous experiences, certainly not now that he seemed so interested in Xiaotong. Aidan felt a surge of protectiveness and the strange emotion he had no name for come over him.

"Feng!" he called out. Feng looked up at Aidan, his mask grinning gruesomely at him. "What are you doing?!"

Feng said nothing, but snapped his fingers, and vanished into thin air.