First Recruitment

When they heard the question, someone said, "That beggar girl called Yellow Sheep Girl? Isn't she a little too old? The sect wants twelve-year-olds... I asked her. She's thirteen."

At once, five or six voices cried out together, "How much difference can one year make? It'll be her! Just report her as twelve!"

Someone else said, "That little girl is clever and sensible. Give her two jin of rice, and her lips will be sealed tight!"

So someone raced to Second Dao Cave and called over Yellow Sheep Girl, who had been living there temporarily. Once the matter was explained, the beggar girl immediately agreed. "Grandfathers, uncles, and aunts, rest assured. I am twelve this year. I remembered wrong before!"

Someone fetched clean water and gave the filthy little girl a brief wash. Once washed, she actually looked quite lively. The only problem was that her features were poor; she was far too thin, her frame showing severe ill health.

Old Ancestor Huang had someone from his household find her a change of clothes. She looked slightly more presentable afterward.

"When you register, say you're a distant granddaughter of My Family. Understand? Don't worry, nothing will happen. Once you return, I'll give you two—no, ten jin of rice."

"I understand. Thank you, Old Ancestor." Yellow Sheep Girl immediately knelt and kowtowed.

And so Yellow Sheep Girl was pulled into East Village's group and climbed Qianzhu Ridge beneath the morning glow.

East Village had been delayed by half an hour. By the time they reached Half Pine Flat, the other three villages had already arrived. Men and women, young and old—four or five hundred people in all—stood in separate groups around the flat, enclosing an open space in the middle.

Yellow Sheep Girl had failed to beg for food yesterday. She