The moment the minibus stopped.
Ke Jie got off with Annie and both their bags.
Because his and Annie's seats were nearest the door, he was the first off, and the first to meet the local guide the driver had arranged in advance.
"Hello! Welcome, everyone, to Haichao Village, a place of beautiful scenery and simple, honest folk. I'm your guide for the days ahead, Qin Lan! You can all call me A-Lan."
Along with that brimming, energetic greeting.
The one who came barging into Ke Jie's view was a girl of one metre seventy with soft green-blue hair and sky-blue eyes, dressed in the summer style of a village girl.
To be precise, their tour guide.
"Need a hand? Sir."
The guide straightened a green guide's vest that did not quite fit, and politely held out a hand.
At that.
"May I? Thanks."
Ke Jie handed over Annie's luggage.
The others behind him, the driver included, got off one after another, collected their luggage, and followed the guide Qin Lan to the inn booked on the village's outskirts to check in.
On the way the guide gave a brief, polite introduction to the local sights they would be visiting, the Tide Stele, the Cold Spring Well, the Sea-Viewing Terrace and so on, and handed out the room keys to each of them in turn as she went.
Annie and Ke Jie had 301 on the third floor, Fang Zheng and Cheng Fang 302, the driver and Wu Yuan 303. Same floor, adjoining rooms.
After a short walk they reached the inn, where Qin Lan told everyone in the ground-floor lobby to put their luggage away and rest a little before gathering again, added them all as chat friends, and went on ahead, agreeing to see them in the morning.
The six on their mission understood each other, played their student tour group to the setup, and, tired from the road as they were, naturally accepted Qin Lan's arrangements, ate the dinner the inn laid on, and checked in.
Before checking in, Wu Yuan and the driver made a point of setting up a group chat and adding the other four, telling them they could ask for intelligence, share information and call for support there; the two of them would not be going into the village from here on.
Unlike the run-down rural look Ke Jie and Annie had imagined, the inn, being newly built a few years back, had a European wooden-interior style, and the rooms were much like a standard business hotel's.
Once in, Ke Jie and Annie showered and changed in turn, so as not to walk in on each other and cause a mix-up, then slept in separate beds straight through to dawn.
Worth mentioning: before bed Annie again demanded that her new big brother Ke Jie read her a story, and only fell asleep listening, so that Ke Jie, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, went to sleep a step later......
***
The next day.
Early in the morning.
Breakfast done, the remaining four, minus Wu Yuan and the driver, met the guide Qin Lan in the ground-floor lobby.
"Good morning! Is everyone ready to come and enjoy Haichao Village with me? Eh? Where are the two pretty big sisters from yesterday?" Qin Lan greeted them politely first, then asked in puzzlement.
"Our seniors came down with a sudden fever last night. They're not well, and probably won't be able to come for the next few days." Ke Jie, his face calm, explained first.
"I see. A bit of a shame. But I think you could take photos of the lovely scenes and finish touring Haichao Village on your seniors' behalf, to make it up to them a little."
Qin Lan, concerned and yet optimistic, set about easing Ke Jie's party's worries of her own accord, doing a guide's duty.
"Good idea, Guide Qin. Which sight do we see first today? Your suggestion."
Cheng Fang, as leader, went straight to the point.
"Well said, senior. Personally I'd like to see the local folklore things first. I wonder what Ke Jie and Annie think?"
Fang Zheng, alongside, steered the topic.
At that.
Seeing the ball kicked to him.
Ke Jie first looked at Annie on his right.
"I follow big brother."
Annie tilted her small head, expressionless.
Signalling, in what could fairly be called an act of cuteness, that she had no opinion.
"For me, what I most want to see is the Tide Stele. Then the Sea-Viewing Terrace, and last the Cold Spring Well."
Having done his homework with Wu Yuan in advance, Ke Jie said honestly what he really thought.
"The Tide Stele is fine; it's Haichao Village's foremost piece of folklore, the symbol of the Tide Sword Maidens' legend. The Sea-Viewing Terrace is loveliest at night, so that can be arranged too. The Cold Spring Well, with the plague the village had recently, may be hard to arrange for you. I'll do my best to get Uncle Lin to agree."
Qin Lan weighed Ke Jie's wishes and Cheng Fang's and Fang Zheng's thoughts with great care, and said it after a moment's thought.
Then, true to her duty as a guide, she added professionally: "In that case, our first stop this morning is the Tide Stele and the Tide Memorial Hall attached to it. After the visit, we'll have lunch at the memorial hall's restaurant toward noon."
"In the afternoon, if Uncle Lin agrees, we'll go to the Cold Spring Well. If not, we'll head to the little beach near the Sea-Viewing Terrace for a summer barbecue, and when the moon comes up we'll climb the terrace to watch the sea."
"After the sea-watching, everyone can gather back at the inn and get ready to rest. The schedule may be a little uneven; please bear with me."
That said.
Sky-blue eyes flashed with the light of an eager invitation.
The guide gave everyone an apologetic smile.
In truth she was not the original guide; only because Uncle Lin, the village head, was too busy had she been thrown in at the deep end for several months now, and Ke Jie's party was the third group she had received in person since she became one.
"Guide Qin, forgive my presumption. Could we split into two parties, one going ahead to see the Tide Stele and the other going with you to persuade Uncle Lin, and meet up afterwards at the Tide Memorial Hall? It would be more efficient. All right?"
Cheng Fang, his mind on the mission, laid out a relatively balanced compromise in orderly fashion.
"......All right. Then who comes with me to find Uncle Lin, and who goes ahead to the Tide Stele?" Qin Lan nodded and asked in earnest.
"Annie and I will come. Senior and Fang Zheng can see the Tide Stele together." Ke Jie took it up of his own accord.
He felt that direct contact with the village's elders was likelier to catch a trace of the Sword Fiend "Hong Manluo".
If she had really been active, the village's oddities would most likely not have escaped its old people.
"Fine."
Cheng Fang did not object.
And so.
Decisions and arrangements made.
Fang Zheng and Cheng Fang set off for the Tide Stele, while Ke Jie and Annie followed Qin Lan onto the woodland path to the village head's house.
The country path was rough going, but there were small flowers and grasses beyond counting along the way, and with the quiet air it had a flavour all its own.
Almost the moment they left Cheng Fang and Fang Zheng, Qin Lan, leading the way ahead, let herself go, and her girlish nature came out.
She warmed quickly to Ke Jie and Annie, the pretend siblings, and fell in with them.
"Mr. Ke, your little sister is so cute! I'm almost jealous of you."
Qin Lan admired the cute Annie with shining eyes, her tone all girlish energy and innocence.
"Haha, as long as you like my sister. You do exaggerate a little, Miss Guide. But tell me, why were you a bit stiff in front of our senior just now?"
Ke Jie gave an obliging fake laugh and wondered it, feigning idleness.
"Maybe it's Mr. Cheng's air? He gives me a feeling of being hard to get on with, just like when I face Uncle Lin. It's different with you two. Maybe because we're the same age?"
Qin Lan gave a playful smile with a touch of fear in it, trying to lighten the mood with a joke.
A first measure of information gathered.
Ke Jie and Annie exchanged a glance.
Confirming Qin Lan deserved a degree of trust.
Only then did Ke Jie ask:
"Maybe so, A-Lan. May I ask... could you tell my sister about Uncle Lin, and about what you mentioned before, the plague Haichao Village had recently?"
The next second.
He had only meant a simple probe.
He heard an answer beyond his expectation, and worth deep thought......