“Gray, listen: Yun Village is particularly happy tonight.”

“Perhaps because someone has come back? I heard some old people talking.”

“They’re the ancestors. They always come to talk when a major change takes place. Let’s go to Yellow Slope. You haven’t been there for a long time.”

After walking for some time on the raised path between fields, Dad and Gray turned the corner and came to Yellow Slope. It was a barren slope, full of rocks and no vegetation. Gray wondered why his father wanted to bring him here. A gust of wind blew over and Gray almost fell.

“Have a seat.” Dad patted the ledge.

Sitting there, Gray felt an unusual quiet all around. He could even hear Dad’s heartbeat. He felt that the humble Yellow Slope might be an important place. Dad called his attention to some figures in the distance.

“The Yun villagers often come secretly in twos or threes to this quiet place. They want to ask questions of Yellow Slope, but its answers are always silence. Maybe people like the way it answers questions, and that’s why they keep coming back here. They come here furtively because they don’t want to destroy the silence. Have you noticed that?”

“No. I never used to pay attention to things around me. You know me, I’m a loner,” Gray said shyly. “I have just asked Yellow Slope a question, and I think it has answered me.”

“Great. Let’s leave in order to make room for the devout disciples.”

Father and son walked slowly down the slope. They saw the figures prowling in the distance, all hunched up like black bears.

“Was your question about Spoon?”

“Dad, you always know what I’m thinking.”

“I’m happy for you, and so is your mother.”

“I’m never sure. I never dreamed things would turn out this way.”

“You should come to Yellow Slope often.”

Gray and Spoon went up Niulan Mountain from the north slope, because Gray wanted to take a new path to start their new life. He used to go up the mountain from the south.

Along the way, he told Spoon how to identify the herbs which were often seen, such as snake-beard, purple ginseng, lily of the valley, and so on. While doing this, he felt his vision sharpening. Whenever an herb was found, Spoon clasped her palms, closed her eyes, and said, “Oh!” It became a ritual for her.

“I heard them squealing with joy when you picked them,” she said.

“Maybe they feel lucky because they’re entering the world of humans.”

“Gray, I kind of worship you now. You know everything.”

“You’re worshipping the wrong person. I don’t know anything yet. Only Mrs. Yi and Mia know everything. Of course, my dad knows a lot, too. And you understand more than I do.”

Spoon asked Gray to look up at the tree. Gray saw the python. Hadn’t he smashed it? Why was there no trace of wounds on its body? It was for sure the same python: he remembered its eyes.