The Village by the Mountain

Second Blockhead stared wide-eyed at the black ceiling overhead, plastered together from thatch and mud. The old cotton quilt covering him had turned a deep yellow, its original appearance impossible to make out, and gave off a faint, intermittent smell of mildew.

Right beside him lay his second brother, Han Zhu, sound asleep. Bursts of snoring, some loud and some soft, came from him at intervals.

About half a zhang from the bed stood an earthen wall plastered with yellow mud. Age had opened a few inconspicuous hairline cracks in it, through which he could faintly hear Mother Han's nagging complaints, occasionally mixed with the "pat, pat" of Father Han puffing on his dry tobacco pipe.

Second Blockhead slowly closed his eyes, which had grown a little sore, and forced himself to fall into a deep sleep as soon as possible. He knew perfectly well that if he didn't settle down and sleep, he wouldn't be able to get up early the next morning and go into the mountains with the other children he had arranged to meet to gather firewood.

Second Blockhead's surname was Han and his given name was Li. His parents could never have come up with such a respectable name; his father had begged Uncle Old Zhang from the village to give him one, in exchange for two steamed buns made from coarse grain.

In his youth, Uncle Old Zhang had spent several years as a study attendant to a wealthy family in the city. He was the only educated man in the village who knew a few characters, and he had named more than half the village's children.

The villagers called Han Li "Second Blockhead," but he was neither a real blockhead nor a fool. On the contrary, he was one of the cleverest children in the village. Yet, like the other children there, he rarely heard anyone outside his family call him by his proper name, "Han Li." Instead, "Second Blockhead" had followed him all the way to the present.

The only reason he had been given the nickname "Second Blockhead" was that there was already a child in the village called "Blockhead."

It wasn't a big deal. The other children in the village were also called names like "Dog Boy" and "Second Egg," and those hardly sounded any better than "Second Blockhead."

So, although Han Li didn't like the name, he could only keep consoling himself with that thought.

Han Li was unremarkable in appearance, with dark skin and the looks of an ordinary farm child. Deep down, however, he was far more mature than others his age. From an early age, he had longed for the wealth and prosperity of the world outside and dreamed that one day he could leave this palm-sized village and see the outside world Uncle Old Zhang so often talked about.

Of course, Han Li had never dared tell anyone about this. Otherwise, the villagers would surely have been dumbfounded that a little brat with milk still on his breath could have a thought even adults wouldn't dare entertain lightly. After all, other children about his age still did nothing but chase chickens and dogs all over the village, let alone entertain the strange notion of leaving their native soil.

There were seven people in Han Li's family. He had two older brothers, an older sister and a younger sister. He was the fourth child and had just turned ten. Life was hard for the family; they could count the meals containing meat they ate each year, and they had always hovered on the edge of having enough to eat and wear.

At that moment, Han Li was in a daze, neither fully asleep nor awake, with one thought lingering in his mind: when he went up the mountain, he had to gather extra red berries for his beloved little sister, her favorite thing to eat.

Around noon the next day, Han Li hurried home from the mountains beneath the scorching sun, a stack of firewood half as tall as he was on his back and a cloth bag stuffed full of berries tucked in his arms. He had no idea that a guest who would change the course of his life had already arrived at his home.

This honored guest was a close blood relative: his own third uncle.

He had heard that Third Uncle worked as the head manager of a restaurant in a nearby small city and was an exceptionally capable man, according to his parents. In nearly a hundred years, Third Uncle was perhaps the only relative of any standing the Han family had produced.

Han Li had seen Third Uncle only a few times, when he was very young. It was Third Uncle who had arranged his eldest brother's apprenticeship with an old blacksmith in the city. Third Uncle also often had people bring his parents food and useful things, taking good care of the family. Han Li therefore had a very good impression of him and knew that, although his parents never said so, they were grateful too.

His eldest brother was the pride of the whole family. Han Li had heard that, as a blacksmith's apprentice, his brother received not only food and lodging but also thirty copper coins a month. Once he completed his apprenticeship and was hired, he would earn even more.

Whenever his parents mentioned his eldest brother, their faces lit up, as though they had become different people. Young as Han Li was, he envied him greatly and had long since settled on the best job he could imagine: to catch the eye of a master craftsman in the small city, be taken on as an apprentice and become a respectable person who made a living through a trade.

So when Han Li saw Third Uncle, dressed in a brand-new satin outfit, with a plump, round face and a small mustache, he was thrilled.

After putting the firewood behind the house, he went to the front room and shyly paid his respects to Third Uncle. He obediently said, "Hello, Third Uncle," then stood quietly to one side, listening as his parents chatted with him.

Third Uncle smiled as he looked Han Li over and praised him with a few words like "obedient" and "sensible." Then he turned to Han Li's parents and told them why he had come.

Although Han Li was too young to understand everything Third Uncle said, he grasped the general meaning.

It turned out that the restaurant where Third Uncle worked belonged to a jianghu sect called the Seven Mysteries Sect. The sect was divided into outer and inner branches, and Third Uncle had only recently become an outer disciple. He could recommend children between seven and twelve to take the Seven Mysteries Sect's test for recruiting inner disciples.

The Seven Mysteries Sect's test for recruiting inner disciples, held once every five years, was due to begin the following month. Third Uncle, a somewhat shrewd man with no children of his own yet, naturally thought of Han Li, who was of the right age.

Father Han, an honest, simple man, hesitated and couldn't make up his mind when he heard unfamiliar words like "jianghu" and "sect." He snatched up his dry tobacco pipe and took several hard puffs, "pat, pat," then sat there without saying a word.

According to Third Uncle, the Seven Mysteries Sect was naturally a formidable sect, one of the greatest within several hundred li.

As long as one became an inner disciple, not only could one learn martial arts for free and have no worries about food or drink, but one would also receive over a tael of silver in spending money each month. Moreover, even those who failed the test had a chance to become outer personnel like Third Uncle, handling the Seven Mysteries Sect's business outside the sect.

When Father Han heard that Han Li might receive a tael of silver a month and have a chance to become a respectable person like Third Uncle, he finally made up his mind and agreed.

Third Uncle was delighted that Father Han had agreed. He left several taels of silver, saying he would come for Han Li in a month and that, in the meantime, they should make the boy more good food to build up his strength for the test. Then Third Uncle said goodbye to Father Han, patted Han Li on the head and left for the city.

Although Han Li didn't understand everything Third Uncle had said, he understood that he could go to the city and earn a lot of money.

His long-held wish seemed likely to come true, and he was too excited to sleep for several nights in a row.

A little over a month later, Third Uncle arrived in the village on time to take Han Li away. Before they left, Father Han repeatedly told Han Li to be honest, yield to others when things happened and not get into arguments, while Mother Han told him to take care of his health, eat well and sleep well.

In the carriage, Han Li watched his parents' figures grow more distant. He bit his lip, holding back the tears in his eyes.

Though he had been much more mature than other children from an early age, he was still only ten. Leaving home for the first time made him feel a little sad and lost. In his young heart, he quietly resolved that once he earned a great deal of money, he would hurry back and never be parted from his parents again.

Han Li had never imagined that, after this departure, the amount of money he had would lose its meaning to him, and that he would embark on a great immortal path unlike that of mortals, carving out his own path of immortal cultivation.