Chapter 3: In the Village

The forest thinned out after several days as Mulan continued south. She was now riding in the open plains, by fields of rice paddies. She didn't like being out in the open like this. She had to stick to the dirt road now and she was highly visible.

She decided to take a chance and stop in one of the villages along the way, since she felt that she was still ahead. She needed to change out of the bright dress she was in and either dress as a man again or find a non-descript piece of clothing in a very dark color that would completely cover her so that no one could tell who or what she was. She also needed to look over her wound which had not stopped throbbing.

She stayed on the outskirts of the city and sent Mushu ahead to scout out the situation first. He returned with a large cloak, a man's tunic and trousers that would fit her, and a leather tie for her hair.

"Good job, Mushu."

There was a temple at the edge of the village. She went behind it to change into the tunic and trousers that Mushu had given her, while Khan, Mushu and Cri-Kee kept watch. As she opened the dress that she was wearing and looked at the bandage that was still around her torso she saw that it was stained with blood. The wound had opened up again. She went over to Khan and took a knife out of her pack.

"What happened?" Mushu asked.

Mulan showed him the bandage. "My wound opened up. I thought I felt it."

"It must have happened in the Imperial City when you were fighting Shan-Yu."

Mulan cut the bandage away to look at the wound.

"You need a doctor, Mulan," Mushu exclaimed in alarm. "That thing is infected."

Mulan swore profusely.

"Alright, we're at a village," Mushu said, trying to calm her. "I'm sure we can find a medic."

Mulan took the knife and began to cut the bandage.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm cutting this half of the bandage off. But I'll leave the part that's around my chest. That way, the doctor can tend to my wound without seeing my chest. I'll just keep my top on."

Mulan finished cutting the bandage.

"Can you set that on fire, Mushu?"

"Why?"

"I don't want anyone to find it. Burn it."

Mushu obeyed.

Mulan dressed in the trousers and tunic that Mushu had brought her. Then she tied her hair up in a man's topknot again. Mushu helped her streak her face with dirt to obscure her feminine features.

"Hello again, Ping," Mushu quipped.

"I need to come up with another name, Mushu. And I need another family name, just in case. I can't tell people that my name is Fa."

"Alright, so what's the plan? You're going to go to a doctor and lift your tunic up just enough so that he can tend your wound?"

"Yes."

"What if he needs to knock you out?"

"I won't let him. I'll just have to put up with the pain. And I'll need you to help me, Mushu. No one must know who or what I am."

xxxxxxx

According to Mushu, there were some shady, dangerous-looking characters in this village. Mulan tied her sheathed sword onto her waist and wrapped herself in the cloak to obscure her weapon. She left Khan hidden behind the temple where he could graze and where no one would see him and walked into the village, surveying it warily but still trying to appear as casual as possible. There were some tough-looking characters around, but most of them were hanging around outside the tavern and they ignored her. The rest of the villagers were going about their daily business.

She went into a nearby inn. A man who appeared to be around the same age as her father approached and asked her what she wanted. She lowered the pitch of her voice so that she was talking like 'Ping' again and told him that she had been robbed along the road and had been wounded.

"I think the wound is infected," she told him.

The man, whose name was Sun Gao-Rong, beckoned for her to follow him. He took her to the house of the village medic and went in to talk to him. While she was alone, Mulan removed her cloak and untied her sword, wrapping it in the cloak. She didn't want Gao-Rong or the medic thinking that she was armed and dangerous.

The medic beckoned for her to come inside and Gao-Rong left. The medic wanted to knock her out, but she refused. She lay down and lifted her tunic just enough for him to work and not see her chest.

The pain as he disinfected her wound was unspeakable but she stifled the screams that threatened to escape from her lips. She bit her lip so hard that it bled as the medic began to work on re-stitching the wound. She blacked out shortly after that.

When she came to the doctor was finished and he had wrapped another bandage around the lower part of her torso. She sat up and he handed her a clean cloth and water.

"For your lip."

"Thank you."

"You should stay here. You really need to rest and let the wound heal."

"Thank you. But I am in a hurry."

The medic shook his head at her. But he smiled an understanding smile and handed her a small sack.

"Here. There are medicinal herbs in here. Keep them with you just in case. If the wound does open up again these will prevent further infection. Mix these with fresh water. But I must tell you, young man, I'd rather you stayed and let the wound heal completely."

It was dark when she emerged from the medic's house several hours later. Mulan returned to the inn where Gao-Rong was and thanked him for helping her. Then she told him that all her money had been taken but that she needed to eat and would work in exchange for a meal. He was agreeable to that and he gestured for her to sit at one of the tables, calling into the kitchen and asking the cook to prepare a meal for her.

He called her 'young man' and asked her where her parents lived. She told him that they had died and that she had been left homeless. She told him she was on her way to go live with her distant relatives in the south.

He nodded and expressed his sympathy about her parents. Then he told her that she could relieve the cook and wash out the kettles and pans when she was done eating.

xxxxxxx

"Mulan, how long do you plan on staying here?" Mushu muttered in her ear as she washed everything in the kitchen after she'd eaten.

"Until I finish working here and pay for my meal," she answered, softly. "And don't call me that. People may be able to hear you."

"Okay, Jin Kai-Feng. Where did you come up with that name?"

"There was someone at Wu Zhong with that name."

"You look exhausted. You really need to rest after that session with the medic."

"You were there, Mushu. Did he pull the tunic up further after I blacked out?"

"No. But he may know anyway. He is a doctor."

She nodded. "We'd better move on quickly, just in case."

Mulan found Gao-Rong afterward and told him that she was finished. He asked her if she needed a place to stay for the night, but she told him that she was all set and thanked him for allowing her to work for her meal.

She left and went back out to Khan, who was grazing behind the temple still. She patted him and spoke softly to him, apologizing for having to leave him for so long.

Then she mounted and rode off, circumventing the village and continuing south through the night. She needed to get far away from there in case the medic had known and mentioned it to someone.

xxxxxxx

Shang and Chi Fu had continued along on the dirt road after the forest had thinned out. Shang figured that Mulan would have had to stick to that road, too. They passed through several villages and stopped to ask around if people had seen a lone woman on a large black horse. The answer was no every time. If anyone had seen her, they weren't saying so.

Right now the sniveling councilman was in the middle of another one of his tirades that he gave Shang everyday. They were all the same. If Shang had done what he was supposed to in the Tung Shao Pass and had carried out her execution according to the Emperor's law they wouldn't have to be looking for her now. Shang had learned how to tune him out long ago, after putting up with him at Wu Zhong for so long.

He let the councilman's words go through him and concentrated on where they were and what Mulan would be doing. They were no longer near a stream. She would not have been able to fish, nor was there any crop right now because of the winter weather. She would have had to stop in one of these villages to get food or she would starve. And if his suspicions were correct, her wound had re-opened. She would have to get it treated soon or she would get an infection.

"Captain! Captain Li, are you listening to me?"

"Hmm?" Shang murmured absently.

Chi Fu let out an exasperated sigh.

"Well, I'm not going to repeat it," he snorted in disgust.

"There's a temple up ahead," Shang said, pointing toward it. "And another village."

They rode up to the temple and Shang dismounted. He took a look inside, then walked around the outside of the temple. He noted hoof prints behind the temple. They could have been the prints of any horse; but they were the right size to be Khan's. She'd been there.

"Well?" Chi Fu asked. "No one is here."

"We'll ask in the village," Shang answered.

xxxxxxx

They stopped in an inn to get food. The keeper of the inn was named Gao-Rong and Chi Fu asked him if a lone woman on a large black horse had come through there. The answer was the same as everywhere else they had been.

Chi Fu stepped out to ask more people in the village about Mulan and Shang took that opportunity to ask Gao-Rong if there had been anyone else that had come through the village.

"A lot of people come through this village, Captain."

"I mean, a stranger, someone traveling alone."

Gao-Rong thought for a moment. "There was a boy that was here."

"When?"

"He was here last night."

"Did he give you his name?"

"His name was Feng. Kai-Feng. He had no parents. He had been robbed and wounded. I took him to the medic and then let him work for his meal. He was going to live with his family in the south."

"Did he say where in the south?"

Gao-Rong shook his head.

"Where is the medic?"

Gao-Rong led him to the door and pointed out the house where the medic lived.

"What did the boy look like?"

Gao-Rong shrugged. "He looked like a young boy. He was short. Very thin. He seemed like a very nice, innocent young boy. He isn't in trouble, is he, Captain?"

Shang shook his head silently and went back to the table as Chi Fu returned. Gao-Rong went off to the kitchen to check on their food.

"I asked around further, Captain. No one has seen a woman alone in this village."

Shang nodded. "She may be avoiding the villages."

"Your food will be out shortly," Gao-Rong told them.

"Thank you," Shang answered. He stood up and turned to Chi Fu. "I will be right back. I need to visit the medic in town."

Chi Fu just frowned at him and waved him off.