Chapter 4

Somewhere in Xiang Zhou kingdom, near the border of the ravines, was a small village inhabited by humble elderly and children. The village itself was not big, only a few hundred li when walking to and fro. It was located on the Southern side of the Long Shi mountain. Many visiting always wondered why a village was established near the dangerous ravines, but they discovered later on that fresh water flowed through the ravines and many animals came to have a drink of water. This made it a perfect hunting ground and facilitated agriculture to the otherwise isolated village.

An old man, around fifty years old, was climbing down the mountain, going to fetch some water in the ravine. He had a large skin satchel of a strange beast around his shoulder and a shepherd's crook on his right hand. He tracked through the mud, following certain footprints of a strange creature he was following. Even at such a senior age, one could notice the confident gait he exudes while walking and the brilliance in his eyes, like a youth with an entire future ahead of him. Of course one had to focus hard to notice it since the wrinkles on his face covered the youthful expressions he exhibited.

After walking for a few hours, he suddenly found that he had lost his trail and it was starting to get dark. Therefore, he headed towards the riverbank to collect some water lest he is accused by his friend for wasting time. As he neared the riverbank, he got ready to remove his skin satchel. While he tried to pull it over his shoulder, he noticed something strange. There was something lying on the opposite side of the stream near the grass that leads outside the Ling Shi mountain area.

He entered inside the water and slowly crossed the stream to get a closer look at what it was. He didn't feel any sort of malice or fear towards this unknown figure, but rather strangeness due to how weak the energy ki felt from it. As he reached near the grass, he noticed there was a person lying on the ground, the whole body covered with grass and mud.

He decided to put him over his shoulder and return to the village. As he returned back to the village, that's when he noticed the man's clothes were a little thin but full of complicated intertwined threads of a certain unknown material. This strange clothes seemed a bit to thin and can get cold very easily, at the same time they gave the old man a certain sense of nobility. It was weird since most of the clothes for nobility are enchanted and exaggerated in their manner but the young man slumped over his shoulder seemed to have not placed enchantments on his clothes. He waves off these thoughts of his mind and proceeded to hurry to the village before it got dark.

As soon as he reached the village, he hurried to his friend's home and called him over.

"Ling Fui, come here. Look what I found near the water stream."

"Shang Fei, hehe. Did you bring your old friend some berries from the grassland? I knew you were the comrade I chose to be my friend all those years ago. Even going out of the village just to get me some fruits. Ohoho, you're truly the best."

Out of the door leading to the bedrooms came a short cunning looking old man with a bent back and a cunning smile plastered on his face. An old weasel they called him. He was truly shameless in every way possible. He came laughing loudly until he reached the living room, and his brows suddenly wrinkled.

"Old fart, what did you bring here? Did you kidnap someone's young master and you're waiting for ransom. Even if so, don't bring your captives to my humble abode! Scram."

He then tried to return back to his room but was stopped his friend.

"Ling Fui! YOU DARE CALL ME AN OLD FART! WAIT UNTIL I WHACK YOU TILL YOUR FACE TURNS INTO A BERRY. Also, this is just a young man I found by across the water stream when I was hunting some beasts. I don't know what happened to him but he seemed a little too weak to belong to the nearby savage villages. Plus, look at his clothes. They are too fancy to belong even to the town chief of Ling Shi mountain. Therefore I believe he got lost in the wilderness and came to seek help from the Ling Shi mountain since the mountain is visible from any part of the wilderness."

The short old man suddenly got even more annoyed and shouted.

"Old fart, I let you stay with me for a few days. Even ate my food without paying and this is how you repay me? By adding more burden to me? What happened to our friendship? I even let you borrow my crook."

"Short squirt, don't be too greedy. I'm only staying for a few days and I hunted most of the beasts we ate, so don't be so shameless. As for the young man, I'm willing to pay you a few silver coins while he stays with you. All you have to do is find out what you can about him and it might help us."

Ling Fui suddenly raised the corners of his mouth at the mention of money, and even immediately nodded to whatever request his old friend had. He suddenly patted the back, as if proud of him.

"Hehe, I knew you never disappoint. Now let's take him to the old guest room. This time you will sleep in the living room until the young man wakes up."

Without any hesitation, Ling Fui brought the man to the guest room, even flinging away his friend's belongings that were on the bed and let him rest there. He immediately returned to the living room and started to chat with his best friend about life.

.....

The next morning, Jerry stretched out his hands and opened his eyes. When he looked around his room, he felt confused. As memories of what happened yesterday suddenly came over him. He suddenly got cold sweats all over his body. The first thing he checked was his body for any injuries or damage. After that, he hurriedly check his tongue.

After noticing it was swollen, he sighed in relief. He then remembered what he did yesterday. After he woke up in the wilderness. He looked around at barely empty forest, almost becoming a desert in all directions. That's when he spotted a mountain in the farthest reach. He judged that he would reach there in about eight hours.