Country Bumpkin

The day for selecting a page boy arrived quickly. On the Third Day after the news reached the estate, an ox cart came to take Zheng Fa to Zhao Manor.

"I want to go to the city and play too!" Zheng Fa's younger sister, Zheng Shan, clung stickily to his sleeve.

The Zhao Family's main residence lay within Jingzhou City's inner city. Not only had six-year-old Zheng Shan never been there, even Zheng Fa had not.

"Shan'er!" Before Zheng Fa could speak, Mother Zheng had already pinched her little ear and scolded her. "Your brother is going to the main residence. So many people have their eyes on this—he isn't going there to play. Are you still going to make a fuss?"

Looking at his younger sister covering her reddened ear with tears shimmering in her eyes, Zheng Fa rubbed her round little head. "If I have time, I'll bring you something tasty from the city."

"Mother, I'm leaving."

Standing beside the ox cart, Zheng Fa said goodbye to his mother.

Mother Zheng said nothing. She only took out a clean coarse-cloth bundle and untied it, revealing flatbread and several slices of cured meat. She handed it to the Old Man driving the cart. "Sir, the journey will be hard on you. I made a little food. There's nothing good at home, but it can at least fill your stomach on the road."

The Old Man removed the pipe from his mouth and accepted it with a smiling squint.

Only after seeing him take the bundle did Mother Zheng plead, "My child is going to the city for the first time. He is young, so I hope you'll look after him, sir. Don't let him offend any noble person."

"Easy enough." The Old Man glanced at Zheng Fa. "This child looks obedient. Nothing can go wrong. Who knows, he might even win himself a future."

Mother Zheng looked at Zheng Fa and said softly, "I don't expect any future. I only hope he returns safely..."

The ox cart traveled farther and farther from Zheng Fa's home. When he looked back, he could still see his mother and younger sister standing in the distance, watching the cart leave.

"Hold tight!"

The Old Man driving ahead suddenly shouted. The black whip in his hand lashed through the air and struck the ox's rump.

The cart abruptly sped up. Caught unprepared, Zheng Fa pitched backward and only steadied himself by grabbing the railing beside him.

The wind howled past his ears, while the rice grain in the fields beside the road flashed by in an instant.

The speed of the ox cart far exceeded Zheng Fa's expectations.

He found it difficult to estimate its current speed, but it did not feel any slower than the buses he had ridden in Another World.

The cart itself was ordinary, the sort of flatbed cart normally used to carry vegetables. Wooden planks covered its floor, and railings stood on both sides.

But the ox pulling it was extraordinary. It was unlike any Zheng Fa had seen before, massive in build and nearly three or four meters long.

Most striking was the lump of flesh growing from its spine. As it ran, the blood vessels across the lump bulged, and he could even see red blood surging through them.

What astonished Zheng Fa even more was that despite its huge body and tremendous speed, its hooves landed without a sound. The ride remained astonishingly smooth, as though it were riding the wind.

"Startled you, didn't it?" the Old Man laughed.

"This ox?"

"This isn't an ordinary ox. It's called a Danzhu Ox. I hear it carries a trace of Spirit Beast bloodline—traveling a thousand li in a day is nothing to it! And this precious ox isn't just fast, it's steady too!"

"A Spirit Beast? A mere trace of bloodline could make it so miraculous..."

"Our Zhao Family isn't some ordinary household. In all of Jingzhou City, the number of families that own an ox like this can be counted on one hand!"

"The Zhao Family is that impressive?"

"Impressive? It is far more than impressive! Our Zhao Family has Immortals!" Speaking of this, the Old Man seemed to glow with borrowed pride. "Ever since Old Ancestor began spreading his descendants through Jingzhou City a thousand years ago, every generation of our Zhao Family has produced someone able to enter an Immortal Sect and obtain Immortal Destiny!"

"An Immortal Sect? I had always heard that the Zhao Family had an Immortal Sect backing it. It was true?"

Zheng Fa's spirits rose. After all, he had grown up on an estate; he might well know less about this world than he did about Another World.

Though he had heard many tales of Immortals before, none had been as certain as this Old Man.

"Of Jingzhou City's three great families, which one lacks an Immortal background?" The Old Man took out a slice of cured meat, stuffed it into his mouth, and chewed. Then he looked at Zheng Fa. "You want Immortal Destiny?"

Zheng Fa nodded.

"For the sake of that cured meat, I'll kindly advise you: that isn't something people of our status can dream of. I've spent half my life in the Zhao Family, yet I've never even seen half a strand of an Immortal's hair."

Zheng Fa pressed his lips together and Stopped Talking. Only the crack of the whip accompanied the silent journey.

At noon, the ox cart stopped before another Zhao Family estate, and a Youth about Zheng Fa's age climbed aboard.

The moment he saw Zheng Fa, his expression became somewhat uncomfortable. With a hint of hostility, he asked, "Are you going to become Seventh Young Master's page boy too?"

Before Zheng Fa could answer, the Old Man driving the cart drawled lazily, "There are more than just you two. Across Jingzhou City, there are nearly several dozen Zhao Family children of the right age. Not a single one has failed to come. Only you live far away, so I had to fetch you."

Zheng Fa froze. He knew only that Seventh Young Master was favored, but he had not expected competition for the lowly position of page boy to be so fierce.

The Youth who had just boarded seemed to understand the Old Man's meaning as well. His expression restrained itself slightly, though he still sat in a corner far from Zheng Fa.

Zheng Fa could sense the other boy's eyes stealing glances at him from time to time along the way.

After quite a while, the Youth finally spoke. "My name is Huang Yu. What's yours?"

"Zheng Fa."

"Have you attended Basic Education?"

"I have."

Huang Yu's expression darkened a little more.

Zheng Fa added, "But I only attended for one year before stopping."

"I attended Basic Education for Five Years!"

Huang Yu perked up. He shifted over and sat beside Zheng Fa. "If I hadn't been too old, I would have gone when Seventh Young Master selected page boys before."

Zheng Fa secretly laughed. This fellow probably felt that Zheng Fa posed no threat to him, so his attitude had improved considerably.

"Five Years of Basic Education? Then you have this in the bag," Zheng Fa went along with him.

Sure enough, although Huang Yu tried his best to hide it, his brows danced and his face glowed with pride.

The Old Man driving the cart merely gave a derisive snort.

"I wonder what kind of identity Seventh Young Master has. A page boy's position can actually make dozens compete for it, even Talents like Brother Huang."

"You don't know?"

"This Lackey has lived on the estate for a long time, with his Ears and Eyes shut tight..."

Huang Yu sized him up from head to toe. Seeing that his clothes were clean but worn, and that the corners of his sleeves had been washed so white they were nearly translucent, the wariness in his heart toward Zheng Fa faded further.

He thought for a moment, then shut his mouth and refused to answer.

Zheng Fa knew that the boy probably did not want him to gain any additional information.

The Old Man driving the cart spoke instead, answering Zheng Fa's question. "Our Zhao Family is divided into three branches, and the First Branch is the Patriarch's line."

"Could this Seventh Young Master be..."

"Correct. Seventh Young Master is the First Branch's only legitimate son. Madam has only one daughter and one son, so though Seventh Young Master is young, he will one day become the Zhao Family's Patriarch. I hear that the First Branch's current external Manager was once the Patriarch's page boy in his youth. It is an exceedingly respectable position."

Zheng Fa understood at once.

A page boy naturally held no power, but it was much like the old retainers of a prince's household recorded in Another World's history books—the merit of following a dragon to the throne.

What they fought for was the future.

"Besides, I've heard..." The Old Man looked back at Huang Yu. "Seventh Young Master's Biological Sister is this generation's Immortal Seed of the Zhao Family. She was noticed by an Immortal Sect long ago! For this page boy position, forget you lot—even the children of Managers with standing in the city are competing for it! Heh, so what if you attended Basic Education for a few years?"

Zheng Fa now understood the value of the Seventh Young Master's page boy position even more clearly.

The only legitimate son of the Patriarch's line.

His Biological Sister had even obtained Immortal Destiny.

Seventh Young Master's position was as steady as Mount Tai.

Zheng Fa glanced at Huang Yu beside him. The boy's face had flushed red. He probably knew in his heart that the Old Man was knocking him down a peg:

Don't think that a few more years of schooling than Zheng Fa made you special. Before the children of those city Managers—

You were a country bumpkin too.