The Fishing Village Boy

Great Qi, Kaiyuan Prefecture, Quanzhou, a remote fishing village.

Outside a dilapidated wooden hut stood an ornate brocade-covered carriage, with several black-clad riders bearing sabers at their sides. A crowd of villagers had gathered nearby, men and women alike, all wearing excited expressions as they whispered among themselves in small groups.

"Is that really the Jin Family? The one from Feng City?"

"Can't be mistaken. Look at the golden emblems embroidered on their clothes. Aside from the Jin Family of Feng City, there isn't another family like them in all of Kaiyuan Prefecture."

"Tsk, tsk. Who would've thought? Shi Ting left his wife behind ten years ago and never sent word. We all thought he'd died somewhere far away, but it turns out he married into the Jin Family. Now they've even sent people to bring Shi Mu back. Too bad Shi Mu's mother died of illness years ago. Otherwise, that mother and son would have had all the riches and glory they could ever want."

"Riches and glory? Not necessarily. Didn't you hear what the Jin Family's people just said? Shi Ting became the Jin Family's son-in-law long ago. If Shi Mu's mother were still alive, Shi Ting wouldn't dare send anyone to fetch Shi Mu."

"Whatever the case, Shi Mu's finally made it. Yesterday he was an orphan, and today he's a young master."

"My father is gravely ill in bed, and I have a younger sister?" Shi Mu stared at the old man in green robes before him and asked slowly.

He was only fourteen. Years of exposure to the sea breeze had given his skin a dark, ruddy hue, but he had thick eyebrows, large eyes, and stood half a head taller than most boys his age. Beneath his worn shirt, well-defined muscles showed faintly, giving him a wild, unruly air.

"Yes. The master is gravely ill this time and may not survive. That's why Madam sent this old servant to bring Young Master Shi over, so he can see the master one last time," the old man in green robes replied with a smile.

"Madam? He abandoned my mother for all these years. Why come back now and acknowledge me as his son? Go back. I won't go to the Jin Family." The boy's face darkened as he answered without hesitation.

"Cough! Young Master Shi, I'm afraid you've misunderstood the master. There were reasons he never returned to the village all these years. If you'd only meet him face-to-face, all the misunderstandings would be cleared up." The old man gave a light cough before continuing.

"Hmph. You could praise him to the skies, and it still wouldn't change the fact that he abandoned his wife. There's no need to say any more." The boy snorted.

At last, the old man in green robes frowned. After studying the boy a couple more times, he seemed to make up his mind and spoke again:

"Young Master, the medicinal herbs you've been buying in town these past few years—haven't they been surprisingly cheap? And when Instructor Li at the county martial arts school taught you your fist and foot techniques, didn't he charge you far less than the other students? Also, when you bring back fish and shrimp from the sea, don't people in town snap them all up without even bargaining?"

"You mean that man arranged all of this?" The boy's expression changed, and he couldn't help asking.

"I don't know whether the master arranged it himself, but Madam did personally give the orders for all of it." The old man in green robes answered with a smile.

The boy's expression shifted between light and shadow, and he hesitated.

"By the way, Young Master Shi, haven't you been practicing the Body Tempering Technique? You must want to become a true martial artist. Before I came, Madam also instructed me to tell you that if you agree to meet the master, she'll find a way to get you a chance to enter Kaiyuan Martial Academy. Whether you're actually admitted, though, will depend on your own ability." At last, the old man revealed the greatest bargaining chip he had brought with him.

"Kaiyuan Martial Academy?" The boy seemed moved.

"Since you practice martial arts, you should know that the four great martial academies of our country only recruit once every five years. To take the entrance test, you must meet two requirements: be under fifteen, have completed Body Tempering, and have comprehended qi sense. Only those who comprehend qi sense can cultivate true qi, open their meridians, and become true martial artists. But to comprehend qi sense, you need a Spirit Qi Pill to guide you. They're so expensive that even the Jin Family can only manage to gather about ten each time. If you rely on yourself alone, Young Master Shi, you may never get what you want in this lifetime." The old man in green robes continued unhurriedly.

The boy fell silent. After a long while, he finally said coldly:

"Come back in three days. I'll give you my answer then."

"Very well. This old servant will wait patiently for good news in three days." Seeing that the boy had made up his mind, the old man in green robes didn't press him further. He bowed slightly and took his leave.

"Steward Cheng, are we really going back like this? We could just take him by force. Why waste any more time?" Once the carriage and its escort had left the little fishing village, a burly rider couldn't help asking.

"What nonsense! Young Master Shi may not be a direct-line young master of the Jin Family, but he is the master's own flesh and blood. Our only task this time is to bring him back safely. We mustn't show him the slightest disrespect. Given the relationship between Madam and the master, if she hears what happened, we'll never be able to answer for it." The old man in green robes' face darkened as he scolded him.

"Yes. I wasn't thinking straight." The burly rider looked uneasy.

Just then, a figure flashed beside the road. Another black-clad rider, dressed just like the others, appeared and bowed to the old man before hurriedly reporting:

"Steward Cheng, the brothers Biao of Fifth Master have been spotted nearby. What should we do?"

"Hmph. Looks like Fifth Master's side hasn't given up on its original plan. The Biao Brothers are both at the early Houtian stage, and only I can deal with them. You lot wait here. You, lead the way. I'll go over myself and take care of them." The old man in green robes furrowed his brow, then said decisively.

"Yes."

The rider sprang into motion and immediately ran back the way he had come.

With a whoosh, the old man in green robes dropped lightly from his horse and followed the rider, rushing away with such a light step that he seemed to weigh nothing at all. Before long, he vanished into the woods in the distance.

The burly rider and the others stayed where they were, dutifully surrounding the carriage.

At dusk, on an unnamed mound about half a mile from the fishing village, Shi Mu knelt alone before a slightly raised grave beneath the faint moonlight. On the pale-yellow stone marker before it, several black characters read: "Grave of Wang Clan of Shi Gate."

"Mother, you never could have imagined this, could you? Father isn't dead after all. Instead, he married into another family and took a wife out there. But don't worry. I'll keep the promise I made back then. Father left you under the pretext of pursuing his dream of becoming a martial artist. Then I, your son, will become a true martial artist too—the strongest in the world—so you can rest in peace beneath the nine springs!"

After murmuring a few words before the grave, the boy stood, loosened his limbs, and began practicing his fist technique.

As his bones cracked and popped, his movements gradually quickened. His form was like a tiger's. After the time it took to brew a cup of tea, only countless fists rolling in a blur remained. The nearby earth was swept up in a layer of yellow dust, completely shrouding the boy.

With a whoosh, a figure shot out of the morning mist and slammed a fist into a nearby tree as thick as a bowl.

With a thunderous crash, the tree shuddered, and countless leaves and branches fell. A fist-sized impression, half an inch deep, had appeared in the trunk.

Shi Mu stared at the mark in the tree, his eyebrows lifting.

This was the only fist technique he had learned at the martial arts school in town. It was also the most widely practiced Body Tempering martial art in Great Qi.

According to the school's instructor, leaving a mark this deep in a tree meant he had reached the seventh layer of Body Tempering. He was only two layers away from completing Body Tempering and attempting the legendary comprehension of qi sense.

And it had taken him a full four years to get there!

There was a reason people said that studying took little money, while practicing martial arts took a fortune.

After deciding to take up martial arts, it had taken him a good five or six months just to save the thirty silver taels for the school's enrollment fee. Even that fee was far lower than what the other students paid, because he had begged for a discount.

Then there were the repeated medicinal baths after he began Body Tempering. The cost had swallowed up everything he'd earned from fishing over the past few years, often leaving him with not a single coin to his name. His home had become utterly destitute.

Even so, Shi Mu's progress to such a high level of Body Tempering had astonished everyone at the martial arts school. The instructors had clicked their tongues in amazement, convinced he had excellent bones and was born to practice martial arts.

After all, during that time, he had occasionally asked the school's apothecary to prepare medicinal baths to cleanse his body, but what could that little money really buy in a town like this? Most of the ingredients were ordinary herbs, and their effect on Body Tempering was negligible.

Thinking of this, Shi Mu sighed inwardly.

He knew very well that his natural aptitude was quite ordinary. The reason he had reached his current level of Body Tempering in just a few short years was another stroke of fortune two years ago.

That was also why he hadn't immediately agreed to go with the old man in green robes to the Jin Family.

The boy looked up at the moon, then turned and raced down the hill.

A quarter of an hour later, Shi Mu arrived at a stretch of coast dotted with reefs. With a splash, he plunged into the seawater. His arms swept through it and his body twisted, propelling him silently downward like a great fish.

It didn't take long for him to reach a depth of thirty or forty zhang.

An astonishing sight appeared.

Faint white lights began to show beneath the pitch-black water. More and more appeared, growing brighter until they illuminated the surrounding sea.

Shi Mu wasn't surprised. Holding his breath, he swiftly paddled a few more meters down. Then he abruptly turned over, planted both feet on the sandy seabed, and reached a stretch carpeted with fine white sand.

Only now could he clearly see that the things giving off a faint white glow around the seabed were more than a dozen palm-sized shells. They encircled a massive reef, seven or eight zhang high, and flickered on and off.

(What's going on? Was the formatting in the previous chapters messed up? Let's celebrate—the new book is here!)