The Great Wall (near Shuiguan)
Scene 5
Maille traipsed behind Zhang through the forest. The path at first wound along a brook sheltered by mulberry bushes – the fruits were black and ripe, he could not resist them. The path became steeper and steeper as they climbed and after a while, they came across a section of the Wall that probably was hardly visited by tourists – a ruin full of dangerous pitfalls, swamped by weeds and wild plants and inhabited by all manner of birds. It smelled as if someone had sprinkled powder of dried ginger in the air.
Zhang battled his way through the undergrowth, braved the dicey steps, clambered over the debris of a fallen watchtower and finally paused at a vantage point that afforded an uninterrupted view from all sides of the Wall.