Qin Family Village

"Little Sanzi, Little Sanzi, you're going into the mountains with Grandpa today. Get up, quickly."

A deep, resonant middle-aged voice called out in the courtyard, shattering the morning quiet of this village household.

"Ugh... mm, got it." A childish voice came from the western room, still carrying the muffled mumble of someone abruptly awakened.

This was a mountain village situated at the foot of the Boundless Mountains. There were only around thirty households in the village. In the Great Liang Kingdom, where mountains sprawled everywhere, such villages were utterly ordinary.

Most of the villagers bore the surname Qin. It was said that thousands of years ago, a wealthy Qin family had moved here to escape disaster.

As time passed and the world changed, that wealthy Qin family had long since declined. Only its descendants remained, making their living from hunting generation after generation. Though life was exceedingly harsh, they could at least keep food on the table and clothes on their backs.

The master of this courtyard was named Qin Hong, about forty years old, broad-shouldered and powerfully built. He had three sons. His eldest had been conscripted into military service two years ago; his second son was an apprentice at a blacksmith shop in Tenglong Town, thirty li from the village. Only his youngest remained at home with his parents.

His father was already over sixty. Yet mountain folk often climbed mountains and hunted, so he remained in good health.

The child who had answered from the western room was his youngest son, Qin Fengming. Such an impressive name had quite a story behind it.

It was said that on the night Qin Fengming was born, the birds in the mountains had cried out until midnight. At daybreak, Qin Fengming had been delivered safely. The clan chief had therefore named him Fengming, saying at the time that heavenly signs had appeared at his birth, so he would surely soar high and prosper in the future.

This year, Qin Fengming had just turned ten. His complexion was slightly dark, but his features were neat and handsome. His eyes were especially lively, making him seem extraordinarily clever and quick-witted, without the slightest trace of the dullness common to mountain village children.

Qin Hong's family lived toward the rear of the eastern side of the village. Poor children grew up early—this saying was especially true for mountain children. Since the age of six or seven, Qin Fengming had followed his father and Grandpa into the mountains to hunt. By now, three or four years had passed.

Hearing his father call, Qin Fengming did not dare delay any longer. He dressed quickly and walked out of his room.

A light rain had fallen the night before, and the air in the courtyard was exceptionally fresh. Taking a deep breath, he could smell the scent of green leaves mingled with rainwater. In the woods outside, all kinds of mountain birds chirped without cease, while the whole courtyard seemed quiet and peaceful.

After a simple meal of coarse tea and plain food, they prepared some dry provisions for noon. Qin Hong and his father each took up their tools, called out to little Fengming, and rose to leave the courtyard.

Qin Fengming answered cheerfully. He tucked a small knife more than a foot long at his waist, picked up a small steel fork, and hurried after them.

Little Fengming did not know that this trip into the mountains would bring about an event that changed the course of his life.

Yesterday, Qin Fengming and Grandpa had set several snares and animal traps twenty li from the village. Their main purpose today was simply to see whether they had caught anything. This was also what Qin Fengming most enjoyed doing.

Along the way, Grandpa and Qin Hong, who led the way, continually judged their direction and searched for a route through. At the same time, they had to watch their surroundings for venomous snakes, poisonous insects, and the like.

Because the villagers had hunted for generations, prey had already become scarce within a dozen or so li of Qin Family Village. Thus, Qin Fengming and his grandfather and father had to travel a great distance on foot.

Two hours later, after crossing mountains and ridges all the way, the three finally reached their destination. After checking carefully, their haul was rather plentiful: two pheasants, one mountain hare, and one marten.

As they walked, noon arrived without their noticing. After dealing with the prey, the three generations rested atop some rocks. Drinking spring water, they took out the dry provisions prepared before leaving home and chatted as they ate.

Among small game, martens were extremely valuable. If taken to a shop in town, they could be exchanged for quite a bit of silver. Qin Hong and his father were naturally delighted.

After some discussion, Qin Hong decided that since it was still early, they should go another two or three li farther and see whether they could encounter larger prey such as elk or roe deer.

They hid the prey they had caught in an extremely concealed tree hollow and sealed it with broken stones to keep other wild beasts from finding it, then rose and continued onward.

Few people came to this area, and in many places there was no path left to follow. They had to use machetes to chop away the vines before them in order to pass.

"Crunch, crunch."

Just as the three generations were carefully searching the area for prey, the sound of teeth grinding suddenly came from more than ten zhang away. Hearing it, Qin Hong and his father revealed faint smiles. It was undoubtedly the sound of some large animal feeding.

Following the direction of the sound, Qin Hong nimbly climbed the rise ahead and pushed aside the bushes. The moment he looked, his expression changed drastically. A wild boar weighing over two hundred jin was gnawing at the roots of a massive tree more than ten zhang away.

The boar was ferocious beyond measure. Its two tusks jutted sharply forward, each over a foot long.

Wild boars had extraordinarily keen hearing. When Qin Hong spotted it, the rustling he made while shaking the bushes had already alarmed it. The moment its savage eyes fixed on him, a chill ran through Qin Hong's body.

But by then, Qin Hong could no longer hide. Left with no choice, he sprang up, holding his steel fork ready to defend himself as he shouted urgently, "It's a wild boar! Run back, quickly! I'll hold it off for a moment!"

Among ordinary wild beasts, wild boars were famous for being combative. Seeing Qin Hong, it snorted out a puff of white vapor, let out a howl, and charged at him fiercely. It was incredibly fast, reaching him in moments.

Relying on his many years of hunting experience, Qin Hong gripped the steel fork. As the boar rushed close, he thrust it viciously toward its eyes. At the same time, he leapt sharply aside to avoid its two pointed tusks.

Because everything had happened too quickly, Qin Hong's thrust failed to strike the boar's eyes and merely scraped across its thick hide. With a sharp snort, the boar leapt past Qin Hong and charged straight down the slope.

Hearing his father's shout, Qin Fengming and Grandpa naturally did not dare hesitate. They turned to flee the way they had come, but the boar was too fast. After passing Qin Hong, it headed directly toward Qin Fengming and Grandpa, who had not yet gotten far.

Seeing the boar charge at them, Grandpa did not panic. He flicked his steel fork and, just like Qin Hong, fiercely stabbed at the boar's face as it rushed close. Wild boars had thick hides and tough flesh; every hunter in the mountains knew that only their eyes were vulnerable.

Bang! Though Grandpa's fork struck the boar, it still failed to hit a vital spot.

Having endured two attacks, the boar had not been wounded in a vital place, but it was in considerable pain. It was now enraged beyond measure. Fierce light flashed in its eyes, and amid an angry howl, it did not turn back but charged straight toward Qin Fengming nearby.

Although Qin Fengming had not stopped running, he kept glancing back. When he suddenly saw the boar rushing toward him, he was greatly shocked. In his panic, he dropped his small steel fork and ran backward as fast as he could without stopping.

Though terrified, Qin Fengming did not completely lose his head. Three or four years of hunting had taught his young heart how to avoid danger. Relying on his nimble movements, whenever the boar lunged at him, he could always alertly leap behind a nearby tree.

After taking two fork strikes, the boar had already fallen into a furious state. Its only target was Qin Fengming, who stood before it empty-handed.

Although Qin Fengming had far greater stamina than children his age in the city, he was still only a ten-year-old child. After two or three evasions, he was already panting heavily.

At that moment, the boar charged Qin Fengming once more. His strength had waned because of his youth, and this time Qin Fengming failed to evade its tusks. One tusk hooked him and sent him flying. He crashed into a large tree, then rolled down the slope...

PS: This is an immortal cultivation novel. The beginning has a bit more groundwork, so I hope readers will patiently continue reading.