Special Extra: Phoenix Creek
Southeast of Maple Forest Territory lay a small town, beautiful in scenery and simple in folkways.
A little river flowed past the town. For many years, it had been as tranquil as the town itself.
The fourteen-year-old boy was delicate and handsome, his brows and eyes giving off a clean, pleasant air. A simple martial outfit outlined his already graceful figure. Aside from a longsword, he carried nothing else, looking crisp and capable from head to toe.
He walked along the river, answering people's greetings from time to time.
"Hello, Aunt Wang."
"Hello, Aunt Hong."
"I just got back."
"I've already eaten."
The women washing clothes by the river had all watched him grow up. They were especially fond of this boy who, at such a young age, had gone alone to make his way in the city.
One pinched his shoulder, another measured his height against her own.
In the end, they all let him go home.
A shadow of worry hung between the boy's brows. After crossing the little river, the concern and sympathy in people's eyes only made him more uneasy.
He passed through familiar streets and by his family's pharmacy. The clerks had no heart for business, each wearing a troubled expression. He did not enter, but walked straight past in search of his home.
The Jiang family was considered well-off in Phoenix Creek Town. The Jiang Family Pharmacy was renowned far beyond the town itself. People from other towns would rather walk an extra dozen li or more just to have their prescriptions filled there.
Everyone shared the same understanding—at the Jiang Family Pharmacy, one would never buy fake medicine, never be cheated on the weight, and the herbs one bought would certainly be the finest quality in all of Maple