Song of the Silk Road
Mingmei Yip
Language: English
Pages: 352
ISBN: 0758241828
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
In this richly imaginative novel, Mingmei Yip--author of Peach Blossom Pavilion and Petals From the Sky--follows one woman's daunting journey along China's fabled Silk Road.
As a girl growing up in Hong Kong, Lily Lin was captivated by photographs of the desert--its long, lonely vistas and shifting sand dunes. Now living in New York, Lily is struggling to finish her graduate degree when she receives an astonishing offer. An aunt she never knew existed will pay Lily a huge sum to travel across China's desolate Taklamakan Desert--and carry out a series of tasks along the way.
Intrigued, Lily accepts. Her assignments range from the dangerous to the bizarre. Lily must seduce a monk. She must scrape a piece of clay from the famous Terracotta Warriors, and climb the Mountains of Heaven to gather a rare herb. At Xian, her first stop, Lily meets Alex, a young American with whom she forms a powerful connection. And soon, she faces revelations that will redefine her past, her destiny, and the shocking truth behind her aunt's motivations. . .
Powerful and eloquent, Song of the Silk Road is a captivating story of self-discovery, resonant with the mysteries of its haunting, exotic landscape.
up in Floating Cloud’s temple?” “Wang Jin had become obsessed with these two treasures and wanted to steal them but never drummed up a perfect plan. Then he was killed. So I decided to carry out his wish.” “Even though security was lax, it must have been difficult. How did you do it?” She chuckled, deepening her crows’ feet like nets ready to ensnare me. “To begin with, Floating Cloud is not really a monk. His real name is Chen Dong and he was a guard in the Turpan Museum. The museum hired
me, trying to step down to the trough, but the young guard immediately screamed at him to stop. The uniformed man yelled in Chinese, “Stay right here!” then rushed over to me and grabbed my arm to pull me up. Instead of offering some comforting words, he screamed, “What do you think you’re doing!” “I’m sorry. I fell.” Now the middle-aged guard hurried toward us, followed by the elderly couple and the two girls. Both guards scrutinized me with narrowed eyes, ready to release long-held poison.
gradually fell into a troubled sleep. The following morning, during the simple breakfast of vegetable buns, soup, and soy milk, I told the two monks I was not feeling well and asked if they could kindly let me stay for a few more days. Floating Cloud gulped down his last drop of soup. “Of course. Stay as long as you want. Later Pure Wisdom will go to the city to get more food and also medicine for you.” I turned to the young monk. “I’m so sorry to trouble young Shifu.” “No trouble, Miss
wrist! My heart sank, because that meant you must be already on your way to see the King of Hell and too late to come back! “But I wouldn’t give up on friend. So I rubbed my eyes hard to see which part of your wrist the blood came from. But it was not from your wrist, but from your bracelet! “I wanted to call for help but all my friends had left and Mito is too little to leave with you. Besides, if you were really going to die, I had to see you off and say last good-bye. When I checked your
But to my surprise, this time the line was connected only after five rings. I immediately recognized Donna’s voice—like cold ashes long forgotten at the bottom of an antique incense burner. “Donna? This is Lily Lin calling from Urumqi.” “Alex there with you?” “Yes.” The impersonal voice piped up again. “Why didn’t he call himself? Can I talk to him?” “I’m afraid not. Alex . . . had an accident.” “Oh, my God, what happened? Anything serious? Is he all right?” Her voice was suddenly filled