Miao Village

Traveling west from the southern shore of Poyang Lake for six days, Yunqi crossed the Gan River on the twelfth day of the seventh month.

On the twenty-eighth day of the seventh month, Yunqi passed through Zhuzhou and climbed Nine Gentlemen Mountain, gazing north toward Tanzhou and south toward Mount Heng. The dust of worldly bustle billowed through Tanzhou, where the Xiang River flowed through the city. The Southern Peak answered the shifting celestial balance, its clustered peaks pointing toward the azure heavens like sword intent.

On the fifteenth day of the eighth month, Yunqi reached Baoqing. That night, atop Langshan Mountain, he watched a bright moon rise from a sea of clouds.

On the eighth day of the ninth month, Yunqi arrived in Wugang.

Standing west of Wugang County, Yunqi faced an unbroken stretch of green mountains, with neither beginning nor end in sight. This nameless range lay where the Three Xiang, the Southern Wastes, and the Miao Borderlands met. Vegetation grew thick, and ancient trees, clouds, and miasma blotted out the sky and sun.

He had crossed mountains and rivers, deliberately choosing paths through wild hills and deep marshes. He had left Poyang Lake when the lotuses were red; now the fragrance of osmanthus filled the air. After two months of dining on the wind and sleeping beneath the dew, Yunqi had finally reached this place.

Yunqi glanced back at the plains of the Three Xiang, then walked into the mountains without a backward thought.

After traveling through the mountains for two days, Yunqi reached a ravine, where a stream two zhang wide lay across his path. He approached its banks. The clear water flowed with a gentle murmur, and the rocks on the streambed had been washed smooth into pebble shapes. Small blue-black fish had been playing in the water, but when they saw someone stop on the bank, they darted away.

Yunqi crouched to wash his face, only to notice that the youth reflected in the water already had a soft, downy trace of beard on his chin.

Yunqi counted the days. In another ten days or so, it would be his birthday.

Before the age of ten, Yunqi had celebrated his birthdays with his parents. From eleven to fourteen, he had celebrated with his neighbors. On his fifteenth birthday, he had forgotten the occasion while meditating in a qi-consuming trance on Three Pure Ones Mountain. At sixteen, he was far away in the great southwestern mountains.

Suddenly, Yunqi no longer felt like pressing onward. He wanted to find a village or mountain settlement where he could rest awhile.

Since ancient times, wherever living water flowed, cooking smoke could often be found. Yunqi followed the mountain stream upstream. After walking some twenty li, he spotted a small village in the distance.

He had never seen a village like this. It stood on the eastern slope of the ravine, with the backs of its houses resting against the mountain and their fronts supported by wooden posts, their undersides jutting out into the air. House after house had been built along the slope, linked by a multitude of ladders that led in every direction. Perhaps because of the damp and frequent mist, the roof tiles were covered in moss, making the houses look like climbing ivy clinging to the mountainside.

On the slope opposite the village lay a stretch of fields. It was the ninth month, and the fields were golden, but Yunqi had never seen fields shaped like these either. They had been carved into the mountainside in tier after tier, just like the village beside them.

Thus, from afar, the village rose level upon level like emerald ivy, while the terraced fields climbed step upon step like overlapping golden parasol-tree leaves. A murmuring stream flowed between them, playing a lighthearted mountain song.

The sight stunned him into speechlessness. Coming upon such a scene amid the vast mountains shook him no less than that first sudden glimpse of boundless Poyang Lake.

After some thought, he put Autumn Water, which hung at his waist, into the cave stone, then took out his bundle and slung it over his back. Looking like an ordinary Daoist, he slowly headed toward the village. Along the way, he caught two plump mountain rabbits and carried them in his hand.

Before he could approach the village, dogs began to bark. After two or three barks, seven or eight large white dogs gathered at the entrance and barked furiously at Yunqi.

Yunqi did not dare go any closer and could only stand there waiting.

The barking broke the village's quiet. Many people emerged, all dressed much alike, almost all in indigo clothing. Some men working in the fields heard the barking and saw a stranger standing outside the village, and they too started back.

The villagers said nothing, watching Yunqi in silence. Only the white dogs kept barking.

"Good people, I am a wandering Daoist, hoping to borrow a bed for the night. I caught two rabbits, and I have some copper coins on me as well. You may have them all."

Yunqi spoke loudly.

No one spoke. They merely stared straight at him, while the white dogs continued barking.

Yunqi had never encountered anything like this. His scalp prickled, and he was about to leave.

"Cock-a-doodle-doo!"

Suddenly, a rooster's crow rang out, drowning out the white dogs' frantic barking.

At some point, a large rooster with a red crest, golden claws, and colorful feathers had appeared on a rooftop. It raised its head and crowed, drawing everyone's attention.

The white dogs whined and whimpered, but stopped barking.

The large rooster looked at Yunqi. Yunqi felt that it possessed great intelligence and was truly sizing him up.

"Cock-a-doodle-dooooo!"

After one long crow, the large rooster flew down from the roof and soon disappeared into the village.

The village seemed to come alive all at once. People streamed out and approached Yunqi, warm smiles spreading across their faces. Yet as they all spoke at once, Yunqi could not understand what they were saying.

"Young Daoist."

A voice speaking the Jiangnan official dialect caught Yunqi's attention. He looked toward it and saw a short, dark-skinned old man who looked lean and strong. A black cloth wrapped his head, and his temples and the back of his head were bald apart from a few sparse gray hairs.

"Elder, you speak the official dialect?"

The lean old man grinned, revealing only a few remaining teeth. "Young Daoist, I can understand what you say, and I can speak a little of the official dialect too. When I was young, I even went to Zhuzhou!"

Yunqi smiled as well and bowed with his hands clasped. "My respects, elder. I am a Daoist from the east, traveling from place to place. I hoped to stop in your village today. Please be so kind as to accommodate me!"

Yunqi lifted the rabbits in his hand.

The old man nodded with a chuckle. "Those who come from afar are honored guests. Miao Village never turns guests away."

The old man took Yunqi by the hand and led him into the village. Several children came bounding over and took the two rabbits from him.

"Elder, what was going on just now?"

Yunqi could not help asking. What had happened had been far too strange.

The old man answered with a smile, "The White Dragons guard our gates. If anything is lurking around the mountain village, the White Dragons are the first to know."

As he spoke, the old man pointed at the white dogs gathered around their feet.

Yunqi looked at the white dogs. Every one had a glossy coat, pure white as jade. He could not imagine how they stayed so clean in this mountain ravine.

The dogs were large, with round heads, leopard-like eyes, and sharp teeth, giving them a fierce appearance. Yet their muzzles were broad, square, and short, and their noses, mouths, and the rims of their eyes were rosy. Their legs were strong, their chests deep and rounded, and their tails pointed straight upward. Now those tails wagged nonstop, making the dogs look quite adorable, with none of the frightening air they had worn while barking so fiercely.

Yunqi smiled and tentatively reached out to stroke the head of a dog beside him. The dog showed no fear at all, even stretching its neck to bring its head closer. Yunqi scratched it a couple of times, and it immediately whined with pleasure.

White Dragon-what a fierce yet peculiar name.

"But though the White Dragons have sharp ears, they cannot tell good from bad. That was why no one dared speak to you at first. They feared losing their souls."

The old man continued, "The Red-Crest Lord can tell good from bad. Once the Red-Crest Lord crowed, we knew you weren't some vicious bandit, spirit creature, or dead person, so we dared let you in."

Curious, Yunqi asked, "The Red-Crest Lord is...?"

Yunqi pointed toward the spot where the large rooster had been standing.

The old man nodded. "That last crow from the Red-Crest Lord was one long call, not a short one or several calls. That was the Red-Crest Lord telling us you were the very best sort of guest, one who could bring us light."

Here is the second chapter. Please vote and recommend, and feel free to leave comments and messages!