A Basket, a Box, and a Chest

"Uncle Zi, Scholar's back!" Si Gou called out before they'd even reached home. Almost at once, the front gate creaked open, and Zi Jian appeared in the doorway. The gate across the way creaked open too, and Little Stone came racing out, circling Tauxue like an overexcited puppy. Auntie stood in the doorway, her face full of worry.

"Dad, I'm hungry." Zi Bofeng swung down from the donkey. "Is there anything good to eat at home?"

"There is, there is!" Zi Jian forced a smile. "Zhuzi brought over a wild rabbit today. It's stewing in the pot. Si Gou, you should join us too. Let's have a drink together, just us two."

Seeing that Zi Bofeng was about to say something, Zi Jian put on a stern face. "Bofeng, you're not allowed to drink!"

"How could I possibly..." Si Gou was both flustered and delighted, at a loss for what to do.

Though they called it drinking, Zi Jian had things on his mind, and Si Gou didn't dare drink much either. They clinked cups twice and had a token drink, then Si Gou left. Zi Jian's face immediately fell. "You—"

He'd barely gotten the first word out when someone knocked at the door. Zi Bofeng went to open it and found a little fellow standing outside, looking timid. At first, Zi Bofeng thought it was Little Stone, but when he looked closely, he realized it was Xiao Tuozi.

He reached out and rubbed Xiao Tuozi's smooth, bald head. "Xiao Tuozi, why are you here so late?"

"Sir." Xiao Tuozi glanced timidly at Zi Bofeng and held out a basket. "My dad told me to bring you some mushrooms. He just picked them in the mountains today..."

"You brought me mushrooms?" Zi Bofeng felt a warmth rise in his heart, as though something had lodged in his throat. Suddenly, he couldn't say a word.

After a moment, he finally said, "Thank you, Xiao Tuozi. Come in, come in." As Zi Jian made polite remarks, he put the mushrooms into a container. It was perfectly ordinary for villagers to share tasty food with one another; there was no need to make a fuss about it. Zi Bofeng went inside and fetched some little pastries he'd bought in Meng City—the gift he'd originally brought for his teacher, but which had been returned to him—and pressed them into Xiao Tuozi's arms. Seeing Xiao Tuozi's beaming face, Zi Bofeng suddenly felt that everything he'd done had truly been worth it.

"Dad, I'll walk Xiao Tuozi home." Zi Bofeng took Xiao Tuozi's hand. It was already dark, and he didn't feel safe letting him go alone.

"N-no need..." Xiao Tuozi tried to say something, but Zi Bofeng had already taken his hand and led him away. As they walked, Xiao Tuozi looked up at Zi Bofeng. In the darkness, his figure was hazy, and the lights scattered here and there were so dim that all Xiao Tuozi could make out was Zi Bofeng's blurred profile. From where Xiao Tuozi stood, Zi Bofeng seemed so tall.

When they reached Xiao Tuozi's home, the door was ajar. Xiao Tuozi pushed it open, then turned back. "Sir!"

"What is it? You have class tomorrow. Don't stay up too late."

"Sir, when I grow up, I want to be Village Chief too." Xiao Tuozi stood up straight and said it earnestly.

Zi Bofeng smiled, unsure what to say. He merely reached out and rubbed Xiao Tuozi's head. "What's so great about being Village Chief? You should become a high official, Xiao Tuozi. Be a Prefect, or even a governor. That's what you call impressive."

"I don't want to be impressive. I just want to be like you, sir." In the darkness, starlight glimmered in Xiao Tuozi's eyes. He looked at Zi Bofeng with the same trust and admiration that Zi Bofeng had once felt for his own teacher.

"Then you'll have to study hard." Zi Bofeng crouched down and ruffled Xiao Tuozi's head with all his might. "Grow up quickly, and become brave."

"Mm, sir!" Xiao Tuozi nodded earnestly, as if doing so would help him grow up faster.

"Go on in. I'll head back too." Zi Bofeng watched Xiao Tuozi close the door before turning to leave.

His heart felt warm, as if an endless wellspring of courage had surged up inside him.

"Bofeng." As he neared the Ancestral Hall, Zi Bofeng heard Yan Lao Wu's voice.

"Elder, what are you doing here? You scared me!" Zi Bofeng patted his chest.

"I went to your house just now. Your dad said you'd taken Xiao Tuozi home, so I waited here for you." Yan Lao Wu's voice was a little hoarse. "Bofeng, come with me."

Zi Bofeng followed him, bewildered. Was the old man about to lead him somewhere dark...? Bah, what was he thinking!

Yan Lao Wu pushed open the Ancestral Hall doors and went inside. The statues in the main hall still stood in imposing grandeur. He lit a stick of incense, bowed to the stone statues of the ancestors, and waited quietly for a moment. Then he stepped forward, moved the arched stand before the statues, and knelt down. To Zi Bofeng's astonishment, he opened a hidden trapdoor in the floor.

A secret room? Murder? Those words echoed in Zi Bofeng's mind.

"Come in." Yan Lao Wu waited for the stale air to clear, then picked up a candle from the altar table and went inside. Zi Bofeng hurried after him.

"Bofeng, I hadn't intended to bring you here." Yan Lao Wu sighed. "This is the greatest secret of Lower Yan Village. It appears in none of our ledgers. It's been passed down only from one generation of elders to the next."

"You're not descended from the Yan family, but I imagine our ancestors won't blame me for telling you this." Yan Lao Wu went farther in. It was a cramped underground chamber, and there was nothing in it but a single box.

As soon as Zi Bofeng entered the chamber, he felt spiritual energy billowing through it. When he looked closely, he was even more startled.

Spiritual energy poured from the box, rising gently like wisps of green smoke. Zi Bofeng looked up. The platform behind the altar table, where the stone statues of the ancestors stood, must have been directly above them. The mistlike spiritual energy was evidently being absorbed—or perhaps suppressed—by those statues.

No wonder the ancestors of Lower Yan Village were carved entirely from stone, rather than molded from clay. Stone was harder to damage, heavier and more difficult to move. It meant people were less likely to handle the statues—and less likely to discover what lay hidden beneath them.

Zi Bofeng could guess what was inside the box without even opening it.

Yan Lao Wu opened it anyway. Thick layers of animal hide lined the box, keeping its contents separate in layer after layer.

Jade. A dense mass of jade.

"Our ancestors warned us: 'Jade may be exhausted, but the living are boundless. In times of peace, prepare for danger; with preparation, disaster can be averted.'" When Yan Lao Wu recited those lofty words, Zi Bofeng didn't find them out of place for once. They were a direct passage from the Jade Sutra, a book composed by the Yan ancestors to teach their descendants how to find jade and record the admonitions of their forebears. As Clan Elder, Yan Lao Wu had long since committed it to memory, every word.

"And as Clan Elders, each year we have to put some of the jade we find into this box. Sometimes three or five pieces, sometimes just one or two. Even in recent years, I've brought jade I'd stored away long ago and put it in here."

Zi Bofeng vaguely remembered seeing the old man at the Ancestral Shrine on several occasions. He'd assumed Yan Lao Wu was reminiscing and paying his respects to the ancestors, but apparently that wasn't the case. The air here was stuffy but not stale, and the place was fairly clean. Someone clearly came to tidy it up regularly.

"There are five hundred and seven pieces of jade in this box now. Seventy-five of them are mine." The old man gently stroked the box, as if caressing his own child, his touch full of tenderness and longing. This was the secret he'd guarded all his life, the reason he existed, the duty he'd upheld.

And now he was laying everything bare before Zi Bofeng, letting him decide what to do.

Seeing Zi Bofeng's troubled expression, the old man smiled and patted him on the shoulder. "What are you thinking? I'm not old yet. I just want you to understand: don't risk your life over this. Your future is bright. It's not worth it, not worth it, to throw your life away for something outside yourself... There's no reason for the burden of Lower Yan Village's affairs to fall on your shoulders."

But I'm the Village Chief.

Zi Bofeng thought to himself.

"Don't worry. Even if I have to die, I won't let them have their way so easily. The jade of Lower Yan Village has never truly been put to use. It's the last bit of inheritance our ancestors left for their descendants. I would never do anything to betray them." Yan Lao Wu shook his fist.

You just said it wasn't worth risking your life over this. Now you're talking about dying for it. What kind of logic is that? Zi Bofeng grumbled inwardly.

After leaving the cellar with Yan Lao Wu and carefully concealing the entrance, Zi Bofeng felt a heavy weight in his heart. It was as though the weighty jade hadn't been packed into a box, but into his own chest.

"Get a good night's sleep. Tomorrow morning, come with me to the mountains to look for jade, boy!" Yan Lao Wu patted Zi Bofeng on the shoulder.

"I'd like to, but I'm supposed to hold class tomorrow. It's been several days since I taught, and these little rascals are growing impatient waiting for me."

Hearing Zi Bofeng say this, Yan Lao Wu burst out laughing. "That's true. And to let you know, we've already built two shelters for our search in the mountains. Tomorrow night, we won't come back. We'll spend the night in the mountains and see if we can find more jade."

"Elder, about building those post stations..." Zi Bofeng asked with a grin.

"Go home and get some sleep." The old man immediately turned and left.

Zi Bofeng laughed, clasped his hands behind his back, and headed home too.

Though he hadn't managed to persuade Feijianzi, he still had plenty of things he could do in the three months he'd been given. Ever since the tax incident, Zi Bofeng had been a little listless. But now, at this very moment, his fighting spirit was burning brighter than ever.

Three months, ninety days. Even at a normal pace of finding two or three pieces of jade each day, that would be enough to pay the Jade Tax.

Luo Qianshan had told Zi Bofeng not to worry so much and to focus on the things within his responsibility. If it were only Lower Yan Village, there'd truly be no need to worry about paying the Jade Tax.

But there were two things Zi Bofeng found deeply frustrating.

Why should they have to pay the Jade Tax? And after they paid it, the jade would be used to build the Spirit Gathering Array. The array would then plunder spiritual energy from heaven and earth—including the spiritual energy of Lower Yan Village—leaving even less jade behind. Wasn't that just aiding and abetting the wicked?

You, Feijianzi, said you relied on your sword. Then I'll forge a sword too—a peerless demon sword!

An immortal sword might be powerful, but it was still just a rocket launcher at the end of the day. So what if it could fire in bursts? Big deal!