Gongxing Stockade

You Er walked with his head down in the long line climbing the mountain, a carrying pole across his shoulders. Today was the day to deliver fresh vegetables to the stockade.

Gongxing Stockade sheltered so many villages that You Er's village only got a turn a few times a year.

Even when its turn came, minor families in the village like You Er's were rarely called upon. So he especially treasured the opportunity and had taken particular care with his preparations.

He had packed two bamboo baskets to the brim with the finest leafy greens. Only when he truly could not squeeze in another stalk had he reluctantly picked out a few discolored leaves to leave at home, so his old wife and young son could have a taste.

A literate elder in the village had said that Stockade Master Jin and his family were very good people.

They had taken care to shelter everyone for generations, and charged only seventy percent in rent. In a good year, families could buy a new garment, and even in a year of disaster, no one had ever seen a family sell a son. Where else nearby could such great benefactors be found?

Remembering the elder's words, You Er felt warm inside and found new strength. The load on his shoulders seemed a little lighter.

He was a farmer who had never spent a day in school; he wouldn't recognize the character for "one" even if his carrying pole fell over. Naturally, he thought the elder's words made perfect sense.

He began muttering under his breath again without realizing it, wishing the stockade master descendants for ten thousand generations, so they could continue to shelter farming families like theirs, allowing them to till their fields in peace and suffer less from war and banditry.

By the time You Er and the long line reached the foot of the mountain, they could make out green tiles and white walls on the slopes in the distance. The village head, the village elder, and the other leading figures called for farmers like You Er to set down their loads.

Beyond this point lay Gongxing Stockade itself. Muddy-footed men like them weren't fit to go any higher; the Jin Household's houseborn servants would come and take over.

You Er saw an old man in gray wave his hand, and a hundred or so men in close-fitting clothes came over with cold faces to take the carrying poles. None of them looked easy to get along with.

A villager who, like You Er, was here for the first time politely asked when they could come back for their carrying gear. The man opposite didn't even answer, but reached out and slapped him across the face.

The village head seemed not to have heard the crisp smack at all. He bowed and scraped before the old man like a lapdog for quite a while.

Only then did the old man make a very impatient remark to brush him off, before waving him away.

The village head left the old man and strode back to the village's leading men, as though he had grown his backbone back along the way.

The gray-clad elder had barely said two sentences to him, yet he held his head high and puffed out his chest among the crowd, issuing a long string of orders in a high-handed tone.

Even that wasn't enough for him. As he warmed to his subject, he found a tree stump to stand on and continued making arrangements, waving his arms and beaming with excitement.

By the time he finished and dismissed the leading men, the old man in gray had long since taken the houseborn servants back to the stockade. Not even their backs were in sight.

You Er saw the village elder's grandson walk past him with a grin. He remembered that it was his turn this ten-day period to help the elder carry water to the village head's house, and he was genuinely curious.

You Er hesitated for quite a while before he dared to muster his courage. He swallowed several times, then timidly leaned closer and asked in a soft voice.

"Brother Yuanyuan, you're so happy. Did the master from the mountain say something?"

"Heh heh, you've got it right. The master who came this time is no ordinary person. He's the blood nephew of the wet nurse of a master from a branch of the Jin family. His honored self thinks highly of our village, and thanks entirely to the village head pleading our case, this master deigned to say that our village may send ten girls up the mountain to work this year."

The village elder's grandson was clearly unusually happy. Not only did he refrain from scolding You Er for breaking the rules by speaking up, he even stopped especially to answer him.

You Er had no time to feel happy about speaking to the village elder's grandson. He and everyone around him cried out in surprise after hearing the news, their faces showing their joy without the slightest attempt to hide it.

"Why, whichever family's girl goes up the mountain will live like she's in heaven!"

"Her whole family, dozens of them, will share in her good fortune!"

"My Xiu'er..."

Looking at the simple smiles on the villagers' faces, the smile on the village elder's grandson's fair face never faded, but inwardly he sneered:

Pah, as if something this good would fall to your families' sallow, scrawny village girls.

Ten girls. My elder sister should be able to get picked. If she gets noticed by a big figure in the stockade, like that girl from Li Family Village next door...

A single word from that big figure, spoken in a good mood, had reduced the tenant rent for the whole of Li Family Village from sixty percent to forty.

If something that good happened to our village, we certainly wouldn't let the news out. We'd collect seventy percent rent from these muddy-footed men as usual, and my family would split the other thirty percent with the other families.

Then life would be simply too...

The old man in gray wore a thoroughly sour expression as he cursed the houseborn servants carrying the loads all the way up. He certainly wasn't going into a place like the kitchen.

So he left the group and went up the mountain alone, intending to find a few acquaintances to pour out his troubles to and ease the gloom in his heart.

With his background, how would such a lowly task ever have fallen to him if he hadn't committed an offense?

Weren't they just a few country girls? The stockade's punishment hall was treating its own people far too harshly!

He had just entered the inner stockade with his head down when he suddenly saw a man with slender brows hurrying past up ahead. A fawning smile immediately appeared on his face. He hunched over as if by reflex and scurried forward with short steps.

He approached the slender-browed man and was just about to strike up a conversation when the young man in a brocade robe beside him stepped in front of the old man, blocking his path, and shot him a cold look.

The old man's heart jolted, and the fawning smile froze on his face. He was just about to work up the courage to speak again when he saw the iron-sharp glint in the young man's eyes.

The old man in gray lost his nerve at once. He swallowed the words in his throat and merely bent over in chagrin, not daring to raise his head again.

The slender-browed man paid no attention to the interruption. Without even slowing his steps, he continued on.

The young man in brocade left the old man behind and hurried after his master, speaking in a disdainful tone:

"He does menial work in the outer stockade, and just because he studied with you for a few days when he was young, he has the nerve to come up and speak to you. He's really not afraid of offending your eyes."

"The stockade master's inner courtyard is ahead. You can't go in, so wait for me outside!" The slender-browed man couldn't be bothered with his disciple's petty remarks. He hurriedly showed his token to the guards at the gate and strode into the courtyard.

The young man in brocade stopped at the entrance and watched the slender-browed man leave with considerable envy. He could only look away and offer a cupped-fist salute to the gatekeeper.

Only after the latter gave a lazy nod did he turn around and settle down to stand outside the courtyard gate.

Even so, he cast a smug glance at the old man in gray, who had followed them with his head lowered the whole way. The old man was now standing some distance away at a corner of a wall, from where he could just about see the entrance to the inner courtyard.

A sense of superiority immediately arose in the young man's heart. Look, not just any houseborn servant can stand at the entrance to the stockade master's inner courtyard.

"Stockade master, I've made the arrangements on Immortal Master Zhang's side." As the slender-browed man approached the inner courtyard, he spotted the stockade master, Jin Huohua, sitting upright in the center.

Two pretty maids stood behind Jin Huohua as he enjoyed their shoulder rubs.

A genuine Martial Ancestor's muscles were harder than an old ox's. The two little beauties' hands were so small that even spread open, they were narrower than Jin Huohua's shoulders. How could they possibly massage him? Their little faces strained with effort, their hands ached, and they panted from exhaustion, making Jin Huohua shake with laughter.

Seeing this, the slender-browed man would naturally have withdrawn on an ordinary day, but the matter was too important to delay. He could only hurry over with his back bent and his steps short, then lean close to Jin Huohua's ear and give a brief report in a low voice.

"Good! In that case, our invitation to Immortal Master Zhang to protect Gongxing Stockade will most likely succeed."

Jin Huohua nodded as he spoke. He was an impressive-looking man, broad-backed and powerfully built, with a resolute expression. Relying on his family's martial arts alone, he had brought his martial cultivation to its pinnacle and become a Martial Ancestor before forty, making him a peerless genius.

Ever since he had taken up the burden from his second uncle ten years ago and assumed control of Gongxing Stockade, he had roused his spirits and devoted himself to governing it well.

Year after year, he had gathered displaced people, forged weapons and equipment, organized and trained able-bodied villagers, and opened up wasteland, making the foundation left by his ancestors flourish.

Among the mortals in the wild stockades and outlying settlements nearby, who didn't know the name of Jin Huohua, the "Gale Saber"?

Yet no matter how gifted a Martial Ancestor or powerful a local magnate he was, he amounted to little compared with an immortal. The same was true even of a wandering cultivator whose origins were unclear.

The annual offering alone came to a thousand taels of pure gold and ten pairs of sixteen-year-old virgins.

No matter how he looked at it, the man was no respectable cultivator, but what choice did he have?

The previous immortal master, Xie, had been dead for nearly ten years. If they couldn't hire another cultivator to hold the fort, the surrounding stockades would sooner or later be unable to restrain themselves and begin thinking of swallowing Gongxing Stockade whole.

At the thought, Jin Huohua could not help letting out a long sigh. He waved away the two pretty maids who were massaging his shoulders, then asked again with a serious expression:

"Where has Shilun reached? Immortal Master Zhang promised that if any of the Jin family's children had an affinity with immortality, he would take them as disciples. That would be a blessing for our family. Sadly, of the sixty-odd members of the Jin family in the stockade, not a single one has that good fortune. It all rests on Shilun now."

Alongside the regret in Jin Huohua's words was a trace of anticipation.

"The young stockade master sent word ten days ago. He said a wild stockade a hundred li away had shown him hospitality, and he was preparing to bring its people here and settle them in our stockade," the slender-browed man replied.

"Alas, he's still a little too kindhearted. In times like these, how can anyone look after so many people's lives?" Jin Huohua frowned. These days—no, since ancient times, the hardhearted had always lived longer.

"The young stockade master is kind and benevolent, and he has inherited all your martial skills. If he truly enters the immortal path, his achievements will surely be limitless. That would be a blessing for all of us," the slender-browed man said softly, flattering him.

Jin Huohua's brow eased a little, and delight appeared on his face. "You, you really know how to talk. If our Jin family could produce an immortal..."

Just then, a servant came running through the door, anxiety written on his face.

The slender-browed man's expression changed at once. He knew well that he had personally promoted everyone serving the stockade master, and unless it were a matter of the utmost urgency, they would never act as though their eyebrows were on fire. Something terrible must have happened!

The servant tripped over the high threshold on his way in and fell in an undignified heap. He didn't bother getting up, but lay sprawled on the ground and cried hoarsely, his voice close to tears, "Stockade master, something terrible has happened!"

I'm back in my hometown, so this was posted a little late. Thank you all for your recommendation votes.