Statue

Bamboo Forest Village.

Three stalks of emerald bamboo stood before the window, their graceful shadows swaying as the wind filled the courtyard with chill.

Fine rain pattered down, and the damp wind soaked clothes and shoes. Villagers came in twos and threes, children running back and forth amid laughter, carrying eggs, dried bamboo shoots, and fat fish to offer as gifts at fellow villagers' homes. The people were simple and poor, unable to afford silver, yet they did not indulge in such bad customs.

Past the bamboo grove and the clear pond, the homes at the village entrance bustled with excitement.

"I heard the Yuan Family invited lots of important people from beyond the mountains. It's going to be lively~"

"Yeah, yeah. I heard there are Immortal Elders from the mountain too. I want to see whether my kid has Immortal Destiny and can go up the mountain to become an immortal. Then he can share some immortality medicine with me."

The two men chatted as they walked, only for a fierce woman carrying a child to overhear them and open her mouth to give them a thorough scolding.

"Oh~ Monkey Ma, your little monkey wants to go up the mountain and become an immortal too? I think your family just has too many kids and not enough rice to feed them, right? Why don't you take your eldest to see the Immortal Elder?"

"What does a woman like you know? Stop talking, stop talking. Hurry to the Yuan Family and help with the work~"

The fierce woman rolled her eyes and shouted a few more remarks before walking away. The two men secretly sighed over how anyone in the village had married such a tigress. At the slightest provocation, she threw the whole village into chaos, chickens flying and