Week 7 Story: The Night on the Battlefield

The Weary Traveler

Shao Fung was known all around the region as a merchant to do business with.  He was known to be fair and courteous to all who wanted to haggle with him for his wares. As Fung was traveling between towns in the Chinese providence of Tzao Tsun he started to wonder where he would sleep.  He knew that he would not make it to the next town until the next day and he started to worry because he knew there wasn’t usually an inn or anywhere to sleep. Now Fung had no problem sleeping on the ground, but he was cautious about leaving his wares out because he thought that he could be robbed by strangers on the road. That was the last thing on his mind as he made his way out of the town of Shanghai. Once he got outside the town, he looked at the surrounding landscape and kept marveling at the beauty. He thought to himself, “Man, I am the luckiest guy in the world, I get to travel all over China and see all these fantastic views what could be better.” Fung started his long trek to the next town and told himself that he would make it in two days’ time.  As he was walking along, he started to notice that it was beginning to get darker and then he started to panic because there was not really a great spot to crash without being in the open.  He kept looking around for bushes, a forest, or even a cave he could rest in for the night but alas could not find anything. As darkness crept across the land Fung had given up hope until he saw what looked like an inn in the distance.  As he came closer, he realized it was an inn and was ecstatic but was curious because he had never heard about this inn being on the trail.

The Inn

As Fung reached the entrance of the inn, he knocked on it and was greeted with a warm smile and by a big man with a bushy beard. “Hello, my weary friend, do you happen to need a room for the night?” the man asked.  Fung of course, said yes and was led into the inn by the man.  As Fung looked around, he noticed how beautiful and cozy the inn was he did notice that it seemed rather old and musty but paid no mind.  As the innkeeper took him to his room, he told him that his name was Shadow and that if Fung needed anything just to ask. As Fung got settled, he heard a commotion coming from outside. As Fung peered out the window, he saw what look like a small infantry unit marching toward the inn. “That is funny,” Fung thought, “I wasn’t aware that there was any unrest in this region.”  Fung kept it out of his mind and watched as the men approached the door.  Now, there happened to be a peep hole in his door so as Fung peered out, he saw Shadow open the door and let some of the men in.  Instantly Fung knew something was amiss.  The soldiers coming in were missing limbs, had cuts to their faces and chest and looked to have stab wounds. He knew there was no way that most men could have survived the wounds he saw and was quite taken aback.  He started to turn the knob on his door to see for himself, to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating, but stopped when the men downstairs called for the general to come in.  As the general made his way into the inn Fung noticed that he seemed to be bleeding from his neck and wondered what was going on. 

The General 

As Shadow led the general and his men to their rooms Fung silently crept out to see if he could sneak a peek at the general.  It just so happened that the door to the general’s room had a crack in it that allowed Fung to peer in.  As he peered in, Fung became quite scared, because in front of him the general had taken off his helmet and along with that his head came off.  What was even more mind boggling was the fact the general was still talking to Shadow and one of his soldiers who seemed to be burnt and missing a leg. When Fung saw this he gasped, and the general and Shadow both looked at the door and fun ran back to his room as fast as he could.  He shut his eyes and pulled the blanket over him to try to make it look like he was not creeping around.  As he worried whether or not he would survive the night he kept hearing a loud roaring from outside and smelled smoke, but he was so freaked out that he paid it no mind.  Eventually, Fung passed out and when he woke up, he realized he was on a straw mattress outside with the inn nowhere to be found.  He was very bewildered, but after the last night he wanted to get away as fast as he could.  Eventually, Fung made it to the next town and told the people there about his weird experience at the inn.  An elder in the town told Fung that there used to be an inn there but one night it was burned down by a large group of rebels. A general and his small unit of infantry men along with the innkeeper named Shadow were casualties.  Those who were not burned to death were cut and stabbed to death. Fung was considerably freaked out and for the rest of his life he made sure he never traveled that road again.  

A Chinese Inn. (1887)

Hudson Taylor. Source: Wikicommons

Authors Note

For this story I wanted to give the merchant a name and a bit of a backstory so that way we just were not introduced to a random character.  I thought it was best to split this story up into three different parts because it allows us to focus on each part and get a better understanding of what is going on.  Also, I wanted to give the innkeeper a name to make him appear more human while giving the general and his army a more ghostly vibe.  In the story there is not mention as to why the inn shows up so adding the fact that it was destroyed by rebels and the people who died there were soldiers, I felt, help add more detail.

Bibliography: Gibbs, Laura. China: The Night on the Battlefield. China: The Night on the Battlefield