A newborn world

The vast mountain ranges stretched beyond the horizon. The being gazed at the sun overhead and sank into thought.

That sun felt utterly alien to him, without the slightest trace of familiarity. Even the sunlight spilling down gave him an inexplicable sense of strangeness, lacking that feeling of warmth enfolding him.

Beyond that, the sun was also very young. Though he did not know why he thought it young, he simply knew it was-at least, its "age" could not begin to compare with that of the sun in the self-contained realm.

"A newborn sun... what a novel feeling." The being did not dwell on it. He soon adjusted and stepped forward into the light spilling from that newborn sun.

The sun might have changed, but that did not matter. As long as he could find a way to heal himself in this place brimming with life, he could find many answers within his gradually returning memories.

Boom!

He took a light step, and in the next instant, a tremendous force erupted beneath his feet. The earth trembled and the mountains shook, as though some sky-blotting beast had slapped a paw against the ground.

This seemed to catch him off guard. His body, which had vaulted an unknown distance into the sky, wavered for an instant as though his foot had slipped, then came crashing down immeasurably far from the mountain that had crumbled to dust.

"My strength... has increased?" The being emerged from the ground his impact had caved in, his first reaction to this change rising in his mind.

But he quickly dismissed that thought. He casually picked up a stone from the ground and gave it a gentle squeeze.

Just as he had expected, the stone crumbled as easily and simply as a clod of earth. It possessed none of that hardness and was brittle beyond belief.

"The stone here is different from over there. Not only does the sun fall short, but everything within sight is utterly incomparable to that place?" The being was deeply surprised. He could not understand how such a fragile place could teem with life.

It seemed to make no sense.

But the being soon stopped pondering, for a world rich with life lay right before him. Whatever his conjectures, the truth was already there for him to see.

"That sun is relatively newborn. Perhaps this place is relatively newborn as well. Is this its infancy...?" The being set off again, reining in and controlling the force he exerted.

Yet although he reined in and controlled his exertions, the hidden affliction within his body prevented him from controlling everything as freely as he wished. Each leap and landing still caused a considerable disturbance, like great drums rumbling through the mountains.

A trail of devastation lay in his wake.

Stone Village was a small settlement amid the vast mountain ranges. Its inhabitants all bore the surname Shi and eked out a tenacious, difficult existence in a great ravine surrounded by mountains.

Early that morning, after the village children had finished tempering their bodies beneath the rosy dawn sky, several young and middle-aged men approached the clan chief. Their faces were solemn, as though they had something important to discuss.

"Chief, are troubled times coming again? There's been a lot of activity deep in the mountains. Those big fellows seem terribly unsettled."

"I think this is a bad omen. In the past, whenever those big fellows stirred up a commotion, there were at least clues to follow. But this time it came out of nowhere. We can't make heads or tails of it."

"Hmm, do you think those big fellows might be going through another change of overlords, with the new replacing the old? According to our village records, some primordial remnants really are nearing the ends of their lives."

Several sturdy middle-aged men spoke in turn, some frowning and others deep in thought, discussing the recent sources of unrest with the clan chief.

"The mountains have indeed been turbulent lately. Whatever conflicts those big fellows may have, we must stay on our guard." Stone Village's clan chief was an elderly man, but he was full of vigor and still looked robust. "Shi Yunshan, what do you think?"

"Based on past experience, when there's a disturbance like this, aside from a change of overlords, it can also mean something extraordinary has appeared,

"such as some sort of Mountain Treasure." The man the old clan chief had called on was a powerfully built middle-aged man with an air of leadership about him. "But judging by my observations over the past few days, as well as those big fellows' movements, neither of those possibilities seems to fit." "Oh? Explain in detail, Shi Yunshan." The old clan chief furrowed his brow, vaguely sensing something.

"Here's the thing. Those big fellows seem to be causing a commotion because they're uneasy about something, because of pressure coming from up there." As Shi Yunshan spoke, he pointed at the sky. "You can't see anything during the day, but once night falls, those big fellows all prostrate themselves beneath the moonlight."

"You went into the mountains?" A strange look crossed the old clan chief's face, but he soon began reproaching Shi Yunshan, angrily demanding to know why he had entered the mountains without reporting it.

As the head of the village, he bore a heavy responsibility. To survive in the extremely harsh environment of the Great Wilderness, losing even one person was a burden they could not bear.

"Village chief, it was urgent. If I'd reported it, you certainly wouldn't have agreed to let me enter the mountains at a time like this." Shi Yunshan knew he had broken the rules, but he had no other choice.

After all, like the village chief, he too bore responsibility as the leader of the hunting party.

"You... ah, forget it." The old village chief sighed, then asked solemnly, "Yunshan, can you guarantee that your deduction is accurate?"

"I can't guarantee it, but all the signs point to my conjecture. Those big fellows must be afraid of something. Perhaps some natural calamity, or perhaps some supreme overlords are facing off in the sky." Shi Yunshan could offer no assurances, for any decision would shape Stone Village's future. He had no choice but to proceed with the utmost caution.

"You can't guarantee it... then it seems we'll have to ask the Sacrificial Spirit for its opinion. I hope it can offer us guidance." After a long period of contemplation, the old village chief chose the most traditional method: consulting the Sacrificial Spirit that protected Stone Village.

"Ask the Sacrificial Spirit for its opinion? Then we'll go prepare the offerings." Shi Yunshan nodded. When faced with events beyond human strength to withstand, communicating with the Sacrificial Spirit that protected Stone Village might be their only option.

Before long, everyone in Stone Village had assembled in orderly ranks at the village entrance, standing with reverent hearts before an altar made of great stones.

Once the village's able-bodied men had placed more than a dozen beast carcasses on the altar and allowed their blood to soak the carvings upon it, the men and women of Stone Village, young and old alike, prayed together under the old clan chief's lead.

Stone Village's Sacrificial Spirit was a strange stone that had accompanied the village for an exceedingly long time-so long that even the old clan chief did not know how many years it had been there.

It could be said that much of the reason Stone Village could live and thrive in the vast Great Wilderness was tied to it. It deterred the fierce beasts of the Great Wilderness from wreaking havoc here.

Otherwise, never mind one Stone Village-even if two or three Stone Villages joined together and mustered every villager's strength, they could not stir so much as a ripple in the Great Wilderness.

As in the past, Stone Village's Sacrificial Spirit accepted the sacrifice. After enjoying the offerings, it sent out its thoughts to converse with the old clan chief, asking what had happened.