Trouble Elsewhere

After the people from Paulownia River Martial Arts Hall left, Blue Martial Arts Hall quickly returned to its usual state.

Those who needed to practice punches practiced punches, and those who needed to be scolded got scolded.

By afternoon, Chen Mo was already too tired to feel like talking.

He stood in the courtyard and finished the last round of stances.

Then he slowly let out a breath and shook out his arms.

Zhao Chuan had long since collapsed onto the ground beside him, leaning his whole body against the wall.

"I can't do this anymore."

Chen Mo glanced at him. "How many rounds have you done?"

"None of your business."

"Weren't you just saying you'd beat me someday?"

Zhao Chuan immediately perked up. "That's someday."

"You can't do it now?"

"Of course I can do it now too."

Zhao Chuan struggled to his feet and assumed a stance.

"Come on."

Chen Mo looked at him and could not help laughing. "Forget it. Your legs are shaking."

"Whose legs are shaking?"

"Look for yourself."

Zhao Chuan lowered his head to look and immediately fell silent.

Chen Mo patted his shoulder. "Enough. We'll fight tomorrow."

"Don't get cocky."

Zhao Chuan snorted. "Once I've trained up, you'll be the first one I come for."

"I'll wait."

"Don't cry when the time comes."

"Whoever cries is a dog."

"Fine."

After saying that, the two of them could not help laughing again.

Once training ended, Chen Mo packed his things and headed home with his bag on his back.

Along the way, he did not think about what had happened at Paulownia River Martial Arts Hall that morning.

People still came and went through the streets as usual. Vendors' cries drifted over from the roadside, and several children chased one another past him. Everything was no different from normal.

What had happened in Paulownia River seemed very far away from Qinghe Town.

By the time he got home, it was nearly dark.

Chen Mo had just pushed open the courtyard gate when he saw his little sister squatting by it, playing with mud.

"Big Brother!"

The moment Chen Huan saw him, she ran over.

"You're back."

"Mm."

Chen Mo hid his hand behind his back.

Chen Huan immediately fixed her eyes on him. "What are you holding?"

"Nothing."

"I saw it."

"What did you see?"

"The thing in your hand."

With no other choice, Chen Mo held out his hand.

A palm-sized wooden bird appeared in it.

The wooden bird was not particularly delicate. Its wings were somewhat uneven, and its head was tilted a little, but it could still roughly be recognized as a bird.

"This is for you."

Chen Huan took it and turned it over and over in her hands for quite a while.

"This is a bird?"

The smile on Chen Mo's face slowly vanished.

"If it's not a bird, what is it?"

"I think it looks like a chicken."

"..."

Chen Mo held out his hand. "Then give it back."

Chen Huan hurriedly hugged the wooden bird to her chest.

"No."

"Didn't you say it looked like a chicken?"

"Even if it looks like a chicken, it's pretty."

"That's not what you said just now."

"I saw it wrong just now."

Chen Mo was so exasperated that he laughed. "You sure changed your tune quickly."

Hugging the wooden bird, Chen Huan ran to the side and examined it from every angle.

"Big Brother, did you make this yourself?"

"Of course."

"When did you make it?"

"Last night."

"Weren't you practicing punches yesterday?"

"I made it after I came back."

Chen Huan looked at the wooden bird again. "Then make me another one."

"What for?"

"Make another little person."

"No."

"Why?"

"My hands hurt."

Chen Huan curled her lips. "Liar."

Chen Mo could not be bothered to explain.

"I'm not free tomorrow anyway."

"What about the day after tomorrow?"

"Not free then either."

"Then when will you be free?"

"When you grow up."

Chen Huan glared at him in anger.

"Big Brother, you're lying."

"How am I lying?"

"You said before that you'd make me a wooden person."

Chen Mo froze for a moment.

He really did remember that.

Back then, his little sister had just started learning to walk. She followed behind him all day long, and he had casually promised her once. Afterward, he had never made it.

Chen Mo rubbed his nose.

"Fine. I'll make one for you in a few days."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Then I want one that can hold a knife."

"What do you need a wooden person holding a knife for?"

"To protect me."

Chen Mo laughed. "You're quite bold."

Chen Huan nodded solemnly. "Of course."

Their mother heard the two of them from inside the house and could not help saying, "The two of you start arguing the moment you get back."

"We're not."

Chen Mo hurriedly said, "I'm reasoning with her."

"What are you reasoning about?"

"She wants me to make her a wooden person."

"Then make one for her."

"Mom, why are you taking her side too?"

"It's just a wooden person. It won't take much effort."

Chen Mo was immediately left speechless.

"Fine."

Chen Huan immediately broke into a smile.

"Big Brother is the best."

"You were just calling me a liar."

"That was just then."

Chen Mo shook his head and turned to enter the house.

As soon as he sat down, he asked, "Mom, where's Dad?"

"He hasn't come back yet."

"He went into the mountains again?"

"Mm."

Their mother nodded. "He said he was going to look around the south side. He should be back soon."

Chen Mo frowned.

Thinking of what had happened that morning, he still felt somewhat uneasy.

"Which side did Dad enter today?"

"The southern area."

"Is it far from our town?"

"Not too far."

Chen Mo said nothing.

After a while, he finally said, "When Dad gets back, tell him to go into the mountains less often these days."

Their mother glanced at him. "What's wrong?"

"People from Paulownia River came to the martial arts hall today."

Chen Mo told her everything he had heard that morning.

After hearing it, the smile on their mother's face faded somewhat as well.

"Is it that serious?"

"I don't know either."

Chen Mo scratched his head. "Anyway, Instructor Li said no one should enter the mountains lately."

"Your father should know."

"As long as he knows."

Once night had fully fallen, footsteps finally sounded outside the courtyard gate.

Dad came in carrying a bundle of firewood, with a few leaves still clinging to his shoulders.

Chen Mo hurried over to help him unload the firewood.

"Dad."

"Mm."

Dad glanced at him. "Why are you being so diligent today?"

"I'm diligent every day."

"Is that so?"

"Of course."

Dad laughed and did not argue with him.

The two of them set the firewood by the wall. Only then did Chen Mo ask, "Dad, did you go to the south side today?"

"Mm."

"How was it in the mountains?"

Dad thought for a moment.

"It was fine."

Chen Mo immediately perked up. "Did you see anything strange?"

Dad glanced at him.

"Why are you suddenly asking about that?"

Chen Mo told him about Paulownia River Martial Arts Hall.

After hearing it, the smile on his father's face slowly faded.

"I'd heard a little about it too."

"You knew?"

"I ran into your Uncle Li this morning. He mentioned it."

"Then what exactly is it?"

"Who knows right now?"

His father shook his head.

"But something really has been off in the mountains lately."

Chen Mo sat up a little straighter. "What's off?"

"There are fewer birds."

His father patted the mud off his hands.

"Before, whenever you went south, you'd always see some birds along the way. But these past few days, it's been quiet as death."

"What else?"

"There are fewer rabbits too."

Chen Mo thought for a moment. "Could people have caught them all?"

His father laughed.

"You think those hunters could catch every rabbit in the whole mountain range overnight?"

"That's true."

Chen Mo rubbed his nose.

"Then where did they go?"

"I don't know."

His father shook his head. "That's why I told you not to run into the mountains lately."

"I won't."

Chen Mo nodded. "The martial arts hall doesn't allow it either."

"That's good."

His father patted him on the shoulder.

"You've only just joined the martial arts hall. Focus on practicing your fists first. What happens in the mountains isn't something you need to worry about."

Chen Mo had wanted to say something else, but after hearing that, he said no more.

"Got it."

After dinner, his father and mother talked inside the house.

Chen Mo sat by the door, whittling wood.

Before long, Chen Huan came running over again with that wooden bird in her arms.

"Brother."

"What is it now?"

"Its wing is crooked."

Chen Mo took it and glanced at it.

It really was crooked.

"Did you drop it?"

"No."

"Then how did it get crooked?"

Chen Huan said solemnly, "It crooked itself."

Chen Mo looked up at her.

"You think I'd believe that?"

Chen Huan nodded.

"You should."

Chen Mo laughed at her.

"Hand it over."

He picked up the small knife again and carefully shaved the wooden bird's wing smooth.

"Don't move."

"Okay."

"If you keep squirming around, I'll carve it into a chicken."

Chen Huan immediately behaved herself.

"Don't."

"Didn't you say it looked like a chicken?"

"Not anymore."

"How not?"

"Now it's a bird."

"..."

Chen Mo could not help laughing.

Before long, he handed the wooden bird back to her.

"All done."

Chen Huan took it and examined it carefully.

"It's pretty."

"So now you know it's pretty?"

"Mhm."

"Where were you earlier?"

Chen Huan hugged the wooden bird and ran off with a grin.

"Thanks, Brother!"

Chen Mo watched her retreating back and shook his head.

"That girl."

That night, Chen Mo returned to his room.

After lying down, he had nearly fallen asleep right away.

But after turning over twice, the faces of those people from Paulownia River Martial Arts Hall that day surfaced in his mind again.

Every one of them had looked exhausted.

And there were the final words of that young disciple.

Don't go into the mountains lately.

Chen Mo opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling for a while.

After thinking for some time, he still could not make head or tail of it.

"Forget it."

He turned over and pulled the blanket over himself.

Paulownia River was still some distance from Qinghe Town. What exactly was happening in the mountains was not something he could figure out right now.

He still had to practice his fists tomorrow.

Thinking of that, he remembered what Zhao Chuan had said that afternoon.

That guy still wanted to compete with him tomorrow.

"Still wants to beat me..."

Chen Mo could not help smiling.

"Just wait."

He closed his eyes and soon fell asleep.