Hi everyone. Here's the latest chapter. I think I'm way ahead, but there are a lot of extra chapters in the epilogue I'll cover in the next few weeks.
Chapter 16
Tian is asleep and is having a dream about ghosts. He is woken from his sleep by Phupha who wonders why Tian is going to bed so early that night. He tells him that he has to wake up early because Longtae was going to teach him about tea while taking him out to the fields. Phupha lets him get back to sleep.
At Dawn Tian meets Longtae and is still very tired and tells Longtae that Phupha woke him up at night. Longtae is surprised that Phupha is so close to Tian. Soon they arrive at the terraced tea plantation and Tian is amazed how vast it is, stretching to the other side of the mountain. Longtae returns with a basket. Tian asks if he can use scissors but Longtae says you have to use your hands so you can select the right leaves. They cultivate Oolong Tea in this village, a special Taiwanese variety that is better quality than their competitors. Longtae teaches Tian how to pick the leaves and Tian does it very awkwardly causing those around him to laugh. After a few hours of picking leaves and putting them in the basket Tian gets very tired and ask Longtae how he managed it. Longtae tells him he’s been doing it since he was a kid and is used to it. Longtae says he would show Tian how to dry the leaves. Tian asks why they need to do that since fresh leaves would be just as good for making tea. Longtae explains that the tea will not have that aroma unless the leaves are dried, roasted and kneeded. Tian still thinks it would be easier to sell fresh leaves but Longtae explains that if they process the tea leaves for various merchants it makes their product more valuable. Longtae explains that it takes 6 hours for the leaves to dry. Tian reflects this is an arduous process and no one would get wealthy doing it. Longtae and Tian overhear some villagers talking about another person that has seen a ghost. Tian reflects again how common this has become. Longtae says there was some strange smelling smoke that they found when they discovered the ghost. Tian thinks it might actually be marijuana and Longtae says they did use to grow that in the past before they replaced it with the Oolong Tea.
Tian goes towards the area of the school. A new one is being constructed and its pretty much the same structure as before. There aren’t many people to help build it because the soldiers are busy with the illegal loggers. Tian talks to Yod near the school and asks him about the rumours of the ghosts in the forest and the strange smells that are associated with them. Yod tells him not to go searching in the forest for the cause of these things because the illegal loggers have some base in the forest and there are also a lot of dangerous animals out there. Tian later makes a plan with Longtae to investigate the ghosts in the forest. Longtae is very afraid and he reluctantly agrees to Tian’s plan to go to the forest when his father leaves for a seminar in a couple of days. After Khama leaves for the seminar Tian and Longtae head to Ghost Mountain. Longtae begs a friend, Uncle Hube, to accompany them. Soon they are on a pathway into the forest and Tian reveals that he has some “magic” lime powder that Yod gave him which will help disperse ghosts. They follow Hube who chats occasionally with Longtae in the Akha language since he does not speak Thai. Uncle Hube soon takes them near Ghost Mountain, but he is scared to proceed, but Tian convinces him to go on saying that the three of them together could handle any ghost. Longtae soon finds the Maber mushrooms that are much sought after and collects some to take back with them. Tian senses a sudden movement and runs after whatever caused the commotion. Longtae follows after him and soon they smell marijuana burning nearby. They track their footsteps back to where they had come from. Soon they hear a cry from Uncle Hube. They go towards the sound and eventually spot a man dressed in white who suddenly runs away from them. Tian throws a stone at him and they catch up with him, but he suddenly throws something at Tian who blocks it with the bag of lime. The man in white sprints away again. Tian assumes this must be an illegal logger and he tells Longtae that there really are no ghosts, it’s the criminal loggers as he suspected.
End of Chapter 16
KZRocks:kpoptrash:
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