Meanwhile, Lian was already far away, afraid that if he stayed too long, he would be discovered, or his brother would start looking for him. Although it was more likely his brother had already gone home, as that happened often. Sometimes, however, when Lian was gone for too long, his brother would still come out to search for him.
Running, Lian muttered, "Such a strange and complicated object. I've never seen anything like that before... Even though most things in that place were foreign to me, that one thing... I wanted it." Lian recalled the revolver.
"From its appearance alone, it was so captivating. Hah, if only I had entered the other house pulled by that giant animal, maybe I could have found it. But getting this whistle isn't too bad either..." Lian looked down at the whistle hanging around his neck.
"I wonder what kind of sound will come out of this whistle." He gripped the whistle tightly, staring straight ahead. "I actually want to blow it now, but I better not. Those people might hear it and chase me. I'll try it after I walk another two hundred steps."
Once he felt he was far enough from where those people were gathered, Lian quickly lifted the whistle to his mouth. His heart was pounding so hard it felt like it was going to explode. He didn't blow it immediately; instead, he inhaled and exhaled a few times to calm himself down. Once his heartbeat began to steady, he took a deep breath, filling his lungs as much as possible, and then blew the whistle.
Chirp chirp chirp...
A faint sound of crickets broke the silence in the depths of the forest. The surrounding trees seemed to sway, dancing to the sound. Under the increasingly warm sunlight, the song of the crickets echoed—bouncing off the ground, the grass, and the trees.
"Huh?" Lian lowered the whistle and looked at it in confusion. He looked around, hoping the sound came from nature, not the whistle. Then, he blew it again.
Chirp chirp chirp...
"What is wrong with this whistle? Why does it sound like crickets in spring?" Lian frowned at the whistle in his hand, peering into its holes, but of course, there were no crickets inside.
He shook it vigorously, thinking perhaps the whistle was broken and could be fixed that way, like his old whistle used to be. He remembered that clearly.
He blew it once more, but still, only the sound of crickets came out. Even though crickets usually sang at night, not in the morning.
Lian shook his head in disappointment. He had hoped the whistle would produce a beautiful sound, but it turned out to be just the annoying sound of crickets. However, as he blew it, he suddenly remembered his father's words:
"Crickets are tiny creatures whose voices might be annoying to some. But in truth, that sound is nature's beautiful melody, if only we are willing to listen to it more deeply. If we love nature, surely the cricket's song is like a gentle hymn filling the silence of the night with its voice. The cricket does not sing to be heard by humans; it sings because that is its way of existing, its way of being part of the universe's harmony.
"For those in a rush, the sound of crickets is merely noise, a monotone note filling space without meaning. But for a calm soul, one willing to pause and listen, that sound becomes a kind of nature's mantra... Simple, yet full of meaning. Within it lies a rhythm untouched by time, a beauty that needs no measured notes.
"The sound of crickets is nature's repetitive prayer, soft yet eternal, marking the balance between dark and light, between silence and life. That sound teaches sincerity: that one does not need to be big to matter, does not need to be seen to have meaning. In a world increasingly noisy with human ambition, perhaps it is from the song of the cricket that we learn the true meaning of peace—a beauty born not from crowds, but from honest simplicity."
Although Lian didn't fully grasp the entire meaning of his father's long explanation about crickets, from what he remembered, he concluded, "Father probably just wanted me to be more comfortable hearing the sound of crickets. Heh, back when I was little, I used to cry at night because I couldn't sleep hearing their voices.
"Maybe that was Father's actual intention, so I could imagine that the cricket's sound was beautiful, like a gentle morning breeze among the trees, like the dawn light warming Harmonious Alba."
.....
Once he arrived at the riverbank where his brother was, he could still see him sitting there, staring at a pile of burning wood with a fish roasting over it. He knew the fish came from the river, but what he hadn't expected was that his brother could actually catch a fish from that river—something he thought would be very difficult to do, even with a bow and arrow.
"Brother!" Lian called out as he approached, then sat across from him, staring at the body of the fish being licked by tongues of orange fire.
His brother looked at him with a strange expression. "Why did you take so long? And where are the Shorea fruits you said you wanted to gather?"
Lian already knew his brother would ask that, so on the way back he had prepared the perfect answer. "You know what? I actually saw a deer earlier, so I tried to chase it. Without realizing it, I walked quite far and ended up getting lost. I tried to find my way back by walking slowly. After a while, I finally found an area I recognized again.
"Then I gathered quite a lot of Shorea fruits and tied them with a vine. But when I was about to bring them back, suddenly a bird flew over and dropped its droppings right on the fruits. I felt disgusted, so I threw them away. Since I was already tired, I didn't gather anymore."
His brother just nodded. Lian was a bit surprised; usually, his brother was always suspicious whenever he was gone for too long, but this time he seemed more passive than usual. It seemed Lian's "efforts" all this time were starting to bear fruit, little by little.
"Alright, this time I'll believe you," his brother said, nodding lightly while checking the fish. "Even though it sounds unconvincing... Never mind. Looks like this fish is cooked. You take one, I take one. The rest are for Father, Mother, Big Brother, and Little Sister. She will definitely be happy."
Lian nodded in agreement and took his share happily. He truly felt happy that day. Perhaps it was the best day of his life: he had found the "outside world" his father spoke of, met strange people and foreign objects, witnessed complicated and amazing things, and even took a whistle with a unique sound.
Lian had hidden the whistle necklace inside his clothes, so unless someone looked very closely, it was almost impossible to know he was carrying such a strange object.
When they arrived home, his brother handed the caught fish to their family. Meanwhile, the rabbit meat he had butchered earlier was placed on the drying rack along with some potatoes.
A drying rack is a tool used to smoke or dry food, especially meat, fish, and potatoes. It is usually made of woven bamboo or wooden sticks arranged like a shelf and placed above a fireplace.
When a fire is lit underneath, the hot smoke from the burning wood rises and envelops the food placed on the rack. This process dries and preserves the food because the smoke and heat kill bacteria and reduce the water content in the meat or fish.
Additionally, the smoke aroma gives a distinct savory and fragrant taste to the food. That was why Lian's family always used this method to preserve their game.
In fact, Lian's father had made a special garden to grow potatoes, about five hundred steps to the east of their house.
His reason for building the garden there and not near the house was because, according to him, that area had better sunlight and more fertile soil compared to the land around the house.
Though Lian didn't know how to distinguish between fertile and infertile soil. To him, all soil looked the same; all the ground in Harmonious Alba looked identical in his eyes.
Lian then placed his bow and quiver beside the house, then entered with his head slightly bowed, trying to hide the whistle necklace under his clothes.
Even though his brother didn't notice, his father might. His father had sharp instincts and an extraordinary memory, so it wasn't impossible for him to notice the necklace.
Fortunately, his father didn't, as he was focused on playing with Meilin. Lian quietly entered his room and closed the door.
He took out the whistle necklace; he didn't want to keep wearing it, he wanted to hide it.
But where should I keep it? In my room, there's only a bed and a wardrobe. If I hide it under the wardrobe, Meilin might find it, because she likes to crawl into tight spaces, including under the bed, even though she's already ten years old. So the only option is the wardrobe.
Lian walked toward the wardrobe but didn't open it immediately. After thinking for a moment, he decided it would be safer if the whistle necklace was hidden on top of the wardrobe.
After storing it, he took off his hunting clothes and collapsed onto the bed. He didn't know how much time had passed before he finally closed his eyes.