That's how we start for China,my sword and horse Neigh-neigh accompanied me.
Yeah,of course Dannyal is there.The day had a weird type of emptiness. After all,it was all a start over. But that emptiness wasn't silence, it was the feeling you get when the world hasn't decided what it wants to be yet.
Those rusty roads with big trees again but this time there were mountains all around.Some with ice,some with greeneries.
But going out of the Mughal Empire and entering in China felt like it had something to do with me, really deep. Weird feelings.
We traveled by ourselves this time, no caravan. Dannyal asked,"To think of it,I never asked you where you lived in the future?"
"In London,with my friend Alex."
"Alex?Never mentioned him before,"he said with huff.
"Oh yeah..."
"Why did you go there on the first place?"
"I was born there."
"Then life is better in that 'no-sun' land?"
"Yes, in the future. Believe me, we are more advanced than you."
"What is that?"
"It's like a–.Wait if I never–"
"Not that, look there",he said pointing at a shining object.
We went towards that.It was ceramic cup.I exclaimed,"These styles,patterns and color pallets! They shouldn't be like this! "
Dannyal looked at me and said,"What do you mean?"
I knew this much for certain: objects don't travel centuries on their own. If history was wrong, then it was wrong on purpose.
I replied,"These decorations are yet to be invented.This cup belongs to the the Qianlong Era of Qing dynasty."
"So?"
"It is still 1598 in Mughal Empire.But this cup belongs to around 1660."
The years weren't colliding—they were overlapping, like someone had stacked calendars without caring if they agreed.
A common Chinese merchant was passing by.He had a lot of slave boys around age 8 to 13.Dannyal asked him,"Do you know what year this is?"
The man had modest yet clean red silk robes.He glanced all over Dannyal and said,"Pi!Why will I tell you?"
"Oh,you will tell me if I break your small nose?"He said while raising his sleeves.
I intervened saying,"We will buy a boy."It felt like an illegal trader while saying that.My mouth spoke before my heart.It was sad that I had to engage in buying slaves.
"It is the Gengzi year."
Just as I thought.How weird!
The merchant said,"Now choose a boy."
OH GAWD!How do I chose which one to buy?!
Dannyal said,"Your plan,you figure out!"
I said with a broken voice with confusion,"Uh..um,a literate and trained one?"
"That will be 17 taels."
"17 TAELS?!You really want to your nose broken now,don't you?"Dannyal came forward.
I chose the boy standing in the middle.He had no expression of sadness like others.It was like he accepted his life that way like an old man.
Dannyal somehow bargained and lessened the price to 12 taels.Asian mom skills.
The kid was scared with Dannyal's behavior.I asked him,"So,what's your name?" "Wang."
Dannyal said,"Cute.You look tired.Climb on."
DID HE JUST SAY CUTE?!
We rode our horses again.I said,"Dannyal,this isn't right.We traveled more into future.Qianlong shouldn't exist now."
"Maybe God is putting us in perfect timeline to perfect the future.Plus,you being here is already a more miracle than this. Let's ignore that."
He said it the way people do when they've already accepted something terrifying.
But how does he expect me to ignore that?Why is he so chill and not so chill?But maybe he was right.
Maybe this isn't just one past timeline,it's a series of multiple timelines existing together. But even if it is,nothing changes for us.
We reached an inn. Nostalgia! Yayay! Nevermind. I gotta act more mature.
Familiarity rushed in too fast, like a trick meant to make me lower my guard.
It was a lot like the Mughal inns but with a touch of Chinese culture.Monks asking for hot water,merchants trading.Rooms with thin walls so that you can listen to snoring.But who cares about snoring when you can hear Dannyal's farting at night.
Dannyal screamed,"Hey!Don't write that!"
Laughter and trade died the moment shouting replaced bargaining.We saw an old man getting humiliated publicly,even worse than death in Qianlong.He was blamed for messing accounts.A thirty year old Tibetan with a symbol tattoed on his right arm yelled,"We trusted you,old man."
"But I didn't do anything– check the accounts."
Everyone seemed scared of the Tibetan and his people.Wang walked forward with no fear,"Let me check the accounts paper."
"Move away,kiddo."
"If I can't figure out the problem,you can have my life."
He was the given the accounts paper.He moved his fingers in order to count.After some moments he said,"There is a calculation error."His voice didn't shake. That frightened me more than the accusation.
The man who calculated came forward, "You say I made a mistake?"
Wang said pointing at the paper,"If tax was 33 percent.Then the remaining is 67 percent.But you counted it as 64 percent.It was simple."
"Wait,what?Let me look...oh,yeah."
"You did it intentionally and took the remaining money."Wang added,"Your reaction was a forced surprise."
The Tibetan asked,"Is it true?"
"No,this ki–"
The others found the money in his baggage.The Tibetan apologized to the old man and thanked Wang.
I and Dannyal looked at him with surprise as he walked towards us.Dannyal said to me,"He ain't just a shrimp, he's a genius shrimp!"
I replied,"Chinese Artificial Intelligence. He is gonna steal jobs."
That night,while I was unpacking stuffs,he was standing beside me.When he saw that cup,he glanced for a while,The way his eyes lingered made me think he wasn't seeing a cup—but a story.
"Miss,can I have that?"
"Sure!What are you gonna do with it though?"
"I just like shiny objects."
"Here you go."
That night while we went to sleep,Dannyal said,"I liked our journey in Hindustan more."
"Hmm...."
"You must be missing Alex, huh?"
"I mean he was my best friend."Saying it out loud made the distance feel real for the first time.
"More like 'will be',we are in the past,small brained girl "
"Oh yeah..."
"Must be great having someone to miss."
"Won't you miss me when I go back to the future?"
He turned his face to the other side,"Miss you?No way."
Wang started chuckling,"Your face is all red, mister."
I had just started believing the night would let us rest. That was my mistake.
Suddenly,we started hearing screams outside.We rushed outside only to see flames fill the place.