Purplewood

Yi Yang settled back into his recliner, its worn rattan creaking.

"Don't leave anything out. For every sentence you hide, Grandpa will give you another smack."

Jiang Yuexin wiped her face, the tip of her nose red with hurt.

"Grandpa, you can't beat me in a fight."

Yi Yang raised his eyebrows.

"Oh, getting cocky now? Then Grandpa will use the rice spoon."

Jiang Yuexin nearly laughed at his teasing, but when she remembered what had happened that day, the faint curve at her lips faded again.

She lowered her head, her voice dwindling to a thin whisper.

"A couple of days ago, I let something slip to Er Niu."

Yi Yang lowered his eyelids.

"What did you tell her?"

"That... Grandpa found some purplewood on Greenwood Mountain six months ago."

At her words, Yi Yang merely rested his hand on his knee, his rough palm rubbing against the fabric of his trousers.

Jiang Yuexin hurried to explain. "I didn't mean to. Er Niu said her father was sick and they had no money for medicine. She was crying so pitifully. So I told her Grandpa had a valuable piece of wood, and we'd have money once it sold. But I told her not to tell anyone. I told her over and over."

"Today, on my way back from the river, I reached that ditch outside the village entrance, and Sun Mazi came out from behind a tree."

The little girl's shoulders hunched, and tears welled in her eyes again.

"He blocked my way and asked where the purplewood was hidden. He even told me to steal it from home and give it to him. He said if I did as I was told, no one in the village would ever dare bully me."

"I said we didn't have any."

"Then he grabbed my sleeve and told me not to spit in his face when he was doing me a favor, just because I was a little girl."

At this point, Jiang Yuexin bit her lower lip, leaving faint tooth marks.

"I got angry and kicked him... kicked him there."

Yi Yang's eyelid twitched.

Jiang Yuexin added quietly, "My aim was pretty good."

Yi Yang fell silent for a moment.

"Good aim is what matters."

Jiang Yuexin froze.

Yi Yang said with a perfectly straight face, "When a girl goes out, she needs to work on her aim. Miss your kick, and you're the one who suffers."

Tears still clung to Jiang Yuexin's face, but she let out a snort of laughter, then quickly lowered her head again.

"Grandpa, you're still teasing me."

"What else should I do? Praise Sun Mazi for being handsome?"

Yi Yang picked up his battered fan and fanned himself twice.

"What happened next?"

"I ran after I kicked him. He chased me a few steps but couldn't catch me. When I entered the village, I saw Auntie Yang. She called out to me, but I was afraid she'd ask questions, so I didn't stop."

After finishing, Jiang Yuexin said softly, "Grandpa, I'm sorry. It's all because I couldn't keep my mouth shut."

Yi Yang did not respond to that.

The purplewood really was a root of trouble.

Six months earlier, just before winter, Yi Yang had gone into Greenwood Mountain beside the village to cut firewood and spotted that piece of purplewood on a shaded slope.

It lay among dead leaves, its bark dark, but deep purple grain shone at the broken end. Struck with a chopping knife, it gave a dull ring; even an ordinary axe could barely bite into it.

A long drag mark nearby wound through the crushed grass, carrying a rank smell.

Yi Yang had lived long enough to know exactly what he was looking at.

That piece of purplewood had not fallen on its own.

Nor had a person cut it down.

The marks beside it had clearly been left by a huge snake or some other strange mountain creature passing over it.

Had that creature not left early, Yi Yang might have left even his old bones on the mountain that day.

Purplewood was valuable.

Very valuable.

It could be made into medicine cabinets or weapon handles. He had heard that wealthy families in the inner city even used it for incense tables. Yi Yang had planned to hide it for a few years, wait for things to settle, and find a safe way to sell it, keeping the money for medicine in his old age and saving a respectable dowry for Jiang Yuexin.

Who would have thought that before he could even warm his hands around that prospect of a decent life, someone would catch its scent and come knocking?

As for Er Niu...

Yi Yang's impression of that little girl was not bad, but it was not particularly good either.

The village children played in packs, some with sweet tongues and others with poisonous ones. Jiang Yuexin was pretty, with fair skin and delicate features. Even an old skirt could not hide her fresh, dewy charm.

Beauty was a blessing in a secure household, but in a poor village, it could be a lamp that drew unwanted eyes.

Whether Er Niu had spoken carelessly or deliberately, Yi Yang did not want to judge yet.

But the secret was already out.

Once wealth leaked into view, it drew other people's greed and malice.

Seeing Yi Yang remain silent, Jiang Yuexin grew even more frightened.

She crouched beside the recliner, her fingers gripping its edge.

"Grandpa, don't go to town and beg them."

"When I was little and lived with Grandma, she told me about it. She said you suffered a lot when you were young. She said Grandpa Yi Xun... no, Yi Xun and his side of the family took over the family shops and looked down on you."

The more the little girl spoke, the angrier she became. Her tears had dried, but her eyes were still terribly red.

"They never cared about you before. Why should you bow your head to them now?"

"Grandpa, you've raised me for three years. I can't let people laugh at you because of me."

Yi Yang looked at her. The little girl was thin, her shoulders not yet fully developed, but he could already see the makings of a beauty.

But what did she understand?

Once a person grew old, pride sometimes really was not worth much.

An hour earlier, Yi Yang might well have gone to Cloudpattern Town.

Even if Yi Xun gave him cold looks, even if the younger generation looked down their noses at him, even if he had to stand outside the gatehouse waiting for half a day, he would have gone.

Because village scoundrels like Sun Mazi could not be judged by ordinary standards.

Their wickedness followed no rules, and their cruelty knew no bounds.

You thought they were merely threatening you, and the next moment they would dare strike from the shadows.

You thought they still had a scrap of humanity, and they would feed that scrap to the dogs.

When dealing with trash like that, assuming the worst possible malice was the only proper way to stay alive.

Jiang Yuexin was his only remaining attachment.

For this girl, he could throw away his old pride. A few sneers would not strip any flesh from him.

But things were different now.

Before Yi Yang's eyes, the small line of text that only he could see still floated quietly.

[Heaven's mandate: an old steed rests in its stable, yet its ambition ranges a thousand miles]

Sixty years of wind and frost had bent his back, but they had also honed a blade deep in his bones.

Something that arrived late was not necessarily useless.

Arriving late could even spare him all the flashy nonsense of youthful arrogance.

Yi Yang raised his hand and rubbed the crown of Jiang Yuexin's head.

"All right. I won't go."

Jiang Yuexin looked up.

"Really?"

"When has Grandpa ever lied to you?"

"Last time, you said the wild greens pancakes weren't bitter."

"That's because your tongue is too pampered."

Jiang Yuexin sniffled and muttered, "They were so bitter my tongue nearly ran away from home."

Her words tickled Yi Yang's chest with laughter, and he coughed twice.

"Go rest in your room. Don't go out today, and you don't need to make dinner either."

Jiang Yuexin refused to leave.

"Grandpa, what about Sun Mazi..."

"I'll handle this."

"But you..."

She wanted to say that he was old.

The words reached her lips, but afraid of hurting him, she forced them back down.

Yi Yang tapped her head with his battered fan, very gently.

"No more buts. Your grandpa has cut firewood for decades. I may not have much else, but I know more trees than Sun Mazi has met people."

"If I can cut down trees, can't I deal with a pockmarked lout?"

Jiang Yuexin was bewildered.

Did that make any sense?

No.

Yet coming from Yi Yang's mouth, it somehow put her much more at ease.

She stood, took two steps, then looked back.

"Grandpa, don't do anything foolish."

Yi Yang waved a hand. "Foolish things are for young people. An old man only does things that save effort."

After Jiang Yuexin returned to her room, the door closed softly.

The courtyard grew quiet, and Yi Yang sat there for a long time.

A cultivation method.

What he needed most right now was a cultivation method.

With a method for practicing martial arts, none of this would be a problem.

Yi Yang had scraped out a living in Three Trees Village all these years. He might not have much else, but he had met plenty of people.

He knew which household hid good wine, whose wife had the fiercest tongue, and whose hens liked switching nests to lay their eggs.

Zhou Liang, the head hunter on the western side of the village, had gone to the city in his early years, worked as an apprentice, and practiced martial arts for several years.

Later, having crossed some unknown taboo, he had been driven back to Three Trees Village and made his living by hunting.

The man had a health-nourishing cultivation manual.

Yi Yang had heard its name: the "Yin Wood Health-Nourishing Art."

Yi Yang rose from the recliner and went inside to change into a cleaner short jacket.

After some thought, he also pulled a small cloth bundle from behind the rice jar. Inside were a few blackened copper coins and two small pieces of dried wild ginseng rootlets.

When asking someone for a favor, showing up empty-handed simply would not do.

The hunter Zhou Liang's courtyard stood on the western side of the village, and Yi Yang headed there along the winding village path.