It was the early morning of late May, when they reached Chenfei.
The village was still asleep, but nature was not. The insects were making a ruckus, the frogs were cricking, and the birds were chirping fiercely. Because the village was adjacent to a river, there were also a lot of mosquitoes in the air, and without doubt, the grass was ridden with ticks.
Overall, it didn’t seem like a nice place to stay at. For the first time in a while, Annu felt homesick, thinking about rocky cliffs of Yafan, and evergreen pine tree forests surrounding his hometown. However, he knew, that whatever happens now, there is no coming back there. And so, with these nostalgic thoughts clouding his mind, his steps faltered on the dirt path that passed for the village’s main "road".
The caravan set its stalls and tents along the southwestern edge of Chenfei, in between the road and the river. It was a good location, neither the villagers nor travelers coming in or out could ignore it, and the body of water offered natural protection from wild animals, thieves or worse; At least from one side. As for the other sides, it was up to the laborers, merchants, and guards to secure them to the best of their ability.
As soon as they finished unpacking their wares, and let the mules graze on the nearby meadow, the guards began building ad hoc palisade around the newly constructed trading posts perimeter; the caravan always carried some planks on it just in case sudden repairs were needed, but most materials for the building of the makeshift defensive structures were scavenged from nearby woods; the post wouldn’t be open for trade with outsiders until the preparations were complete, that was to avoid all kind of unfortunate “incidents” with the locals.
That was Banbao’s routine, no matter where they deployed, and no matter how good was the reputation of Shuangshan sect, this time was to be no different.
Meanwhile, Annu was making his way to the servant’s quarters to check-in. Most of his stuff was at the caravan, as he wasn’t actually planning to stay in Chenfei. He will just sign some papers, stay for a couple of days, and when the caravan leaves, he will leave with them, without as much as saying a word to anyone. His family might think he’s dead, and they might be mildly upset with it, but after he makes a name for himself in trading, he’ll be sure to pay them a visit. And then they will all have to recognize his success, and admit they were wrong sending him off like that!
The streets were slowly filling with people, mostly villagers heading to their farms and pastures. There were a few yaren kids playing around; one of the boys had a wooden stick and was pretending to be a cultivator, clearly imitating the moves of the trained warriors. The others were, in turn, trying to imitate his moves, but they kept stumbling upon their own feet and making mistakes. Annu shook his head in disapproval; what’s so great about fighting anyway?
The servant quarters were a complex of single-floor buildings adjacent to each other. They were located on one of the twin hills overlooking the village, with warrior lodgings and training grounds being placed on the opposite hill. That means that for anyone wishing to go from one to another, they’d have to go downhill first, then uphill. Annu grimaced. That can’t be good for the back!
He knocked at the door. No answer. He looked inside. There was a long corridor and several doors alongside it. Not one of them looked special or marked, so he assumed them to be private living spaces for the employees. He turned back, not knowing what to do, and not wanting to get yelled at for accidentally disturbing someone’s living space. He decided to just wait here, near the entrance, until someone shows up and then he’d ask them where to go next.
Seconds turned into minutes, minutes turned into hours. From his spot near the top of the hill, he had a nice view of the village, the river, and surrounding woods. The sky was blue, the trees rustled and the occasional bird would call out across the area. Annu found himself smiling as he sat down next to an old tree, leaning against it, and sighed. The cool shade of the oak leaves sheltered him from the summer sun, and before long, he found himself nodding off. Just as he was about to fall asleep, a sharp voice roused him up
“What are you doing?”
He opened his eyes. It was a young girl wearing a white servant uniform of the Shuangshan sect. She seemed to be slightly older than himself. Her shoulder-length black and white hair were flowing loosely on the light wind, and from beneath them stuck out fairly large cat ears.
“I am…I am a new recruit…from Yafan..” he started, still not quite awake, and feeling quite awkward, as if he was caught doing something embarrassing.
“Well, why are you sleeping here? Where are your work clothes?” she continued questioning him, her eyes narrowed in suspicion. He gulped.
“I didn’t know where to register, so I waited here…” he tried to explain, but she quickly cut him off and pointed to the opposite hill.
“There! All the records are kept in the library building adjacent to the training grounds.” She turned around and nodded. “Come. I’ll show you around.”
Reluctantly, he got up and followed the stranger.
Her name was Zhanzhan, and she was two years his senior. Despite her initial cold demeanor, she kept chatting to him about Chenfei and the warriors, and the life of a servant, and whatever the recent rumors were. She instructed him where to buy fresh pastry, and warned him what not to say around the cultivators, and quickly recited the rules of the sect and the hours of night curfew, and the different types of jobs assigned to servants, and a quick history of the village. Apparently, she lived here whole her life, so if he ever had any more questions, he could just come to her and she’d gladly answer them all.
The sheepboy could only nod, his head down. This girl thought he was here to stay, and already treated him as her junior. He felt a shiver of guilt run down his spine but didn’t say anything. He wished he didn’t meet her. Maybe if he acted more proactively and asked around instead of waiting for someone to guide him, this wouldn’t have happened. Alas, it was too late now.
Soon they reached the library.
It was much smaller than the one in Yafan, but he was still quite amazed that there is a library in such a backwaters village at all. Looks like the local sect was wealthy enough to afford such luxury. As he was checking in and signing necessary papers, he pondered how many locals actually are literate enough to have any use for this facility, or perhaps this building was open only to the people of the sect? In the end, it didn’t matter. None of this concerned him.
The matter of lodging came into question.
All the servant rooms were three people co-ed, until a servant reached certain age and expertise when they were rewarded their own room. This was to encourage hard work and give them something to strive for. Zhanzhan offered to take him in, as apparently, her room had one free spot. He agreed mechanically and finished doing the paperwork. He felt uncomfortable and just wanted to get out of here as soon as possible.
He waved goodbye to the catgirl, and told her he needs to get his things back.
However, as soon as he reached the village, smell of freshly baked pastry hit his nostrils, and his stomach rumbled loudly. Could this be the stall she mentioned? He counted the coins in his pocket. Surely it wouldn’t hurt to take a break? Not that he worked hard today, but he needed some emotional respite. Nothing beats some sweet bread to chew the worries away!
The old man selling the baked goods looked like he’s about to fall apart at any moment, but he was still sharp enough to swiftly count the money and give him change. Annu sat on a tree trunk near one of the small tables placed around the stall, and proceeded to chew.
Since it was afternoon already, a lot of village workers and even servants and cultivators soon swarmed around, some looking for a meal, some looking for a drink, and some others just wanted to take shelter from the scorching sun under the shades of umbrellas placed around the stalls.
Everyone was chatting happily about all sorts of things; however, one topic was more popular than others, and that was a trading caravan that arrived this morning; apparently, it was about to open for trade this evening. Then the makeshift outpost would turn into a mini marketplace, and the villagers would get a rare opportunity to purchase things from outside Chenfei; everyone was excited and the atmosphere was festive.
Even though normally crowded places make him feel uncomfortable, this time Annu smiled, thinking about all the good that traveling merchants bring to the world. He also thought about his own future, how he’ll become a trader himself, visit all kinds of places, perhaps even in the mysterious far south, and how his arrival will always be welcomed with similar joy and anticipation by the locals, wherever he went! No longer a bullied child, he’d be something of a local celebrity!
Suddenly he felt a tug on the sleeve. When he turned around, he came almost face to face with the most mischievous grin he’s ever seen. He involuntarily turned back, only to lose his balance and fall back first to the ground, almost choking on the final bit of bread in his mouth. The person laughed out loud, and then helped him get up.
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It was the wolf..boy..? he’s seen in the morning. Now that he looked more closely, he wasn’t sure of the person’s gender anymore. The hair was somewhere in between long and short, the clothes were definitely boyish, but the facial features were round and soft, like that of a girl. Before he had a chance to ponder the matter further, the stranger gave him the weirdest introduction he’s ever heard from a yaren before:
“My name is Fengli, a cultivator!” he blinked a couple of times and looked again at their unmistakably real wolf ears and tail….
“No matter how I look at it, you are mixed…” he started but was quickly cut off mid-sentence.
“I have been trained in martial arts, and the way of the sword!” suddenly, a wooden stick appeared out of nowhere, and the youth did a couple of swirls in the air, moving swiftly from high stance, to lower horse stance, then rising up again and ending the demonstration with a sudden thrust right to his face. The stick would have no doubt hit him right in the nose if he didn’t dodge at the last moment, ducking to the side and unwillingly rolling along the dirt road.
“Oooh, you’re trained too!” exclaimed the stranger, and the crowd gathered around burst out laughing. However, it seemed the person’s praise was sincere.
Annu got up, gritting his teeth. For the first time in a while he got angry, and he exclaimed through clenched teeth.
“Are you crazy!? What are you doing, who are you, what do you want!?”
“That’s why I told you, my name is Fengli, I’m a cultivator training under senior Wang Shunji, the top…” suddenly the owner of the food stall appeared between them. He waved his shriveled, old hand dismissively.
“Enough, enough. No fighting near my place, you’re scaring off the customers” that seemed far from the truth, as the entire exchange seemed to have gathered interest, rather than scare anyone off.
“Don’t mind her, my boy…she’s not quite right in the head” he knocked Fengli on the head a couple of times, a hollow sound echoed far and around. The wolfgirl protested, wagging her tail furiously, but didn’t try dodging the old man’s knuckles, and the crowd laughed again.
Annu didn’t know who these people were, why were they laughing, or what they wanted from him. He looked left and right, then turned around and run away. He just wanted to be left alone! He ran towards the merchant outpost, he wanted to get away from this place, and from this weird village, and travel the world already.
But soon he noticed that someone’s running alongside him-it was that pesky wolfgirl, casually keeping up what was his briskest pace, and smiling at him.
“Go away!”
“Not going until you tell me why you’re running!”
She chased him all the way outside the village perimeter. He finally started feeling out of breath and stopped at the edge of the river, the caravan post already in sight. Gasping heavily, he grasped his knees, before finally looking up. Fengli was some distance away, casually playing with that damn stick of hers, and whistling some unknown tune. Having noticed that he already recovered, she started paying attention to him again.
“Yo, what’s up, what a coincidence meeting you here!” she threw nonchalantly, chirpy as ever.
“I..don’t even want to be here!” he exclaimed, too tired and sick of everything to bother hiding his intentions anymore. He’s going to leave and what are they gonna do, file a complaint to his family!? He wanted to see them try!
He told her everything, perhaps more than he even told to the old caravan master. About how he ended up being enlisted here against his will, and how a new and happier life awaits him on the road, beyond the boundaries of this backwater village! No longer a servant to qi cultivators, he will be free!
The wolfgirl listened to him without saying a word, then she nodded in approval and, pointing the stick at him, exclaimed:
“That’s a great plan! I approve of it!”
He was dumbfounded, he thought she’s going to argue with him, or lose interest or call the adults….but instead she was giving him another dumb wide smile and nodding enthusiastically.
“You know, I have some great plans too…” she began, then twirled the stick in the air and swiftly moved it from right to left hand in motion so swift he barely noticed what and how happened. Frankly speaking, her skill in handling that piece of wood was quite frightening, and she didn’t even look that much older than him!
“I told you, didn’t I? I am going to be a cultivator and a warrior! Like yourself, I won’t be satisfied to just be some pushover for humans forever!”
“This is madness! How can you cultivate qi!? You’re a mixed breed, like me! Don’t think that just because your animal blood isn’t so thick you can suddenly do all the..miraculous..stuff humans do!”
“Tell you what!” she exclaimed, a triumphant smile on her face, as if she waited for him to say that “I actually managed to establish a cultivation foundation! In fact, I’m almost as good as an average human! Look!”
Fengli pointed towards a little pebble lying around. She was staring at it intensively, her facial expression lost its usual relaxed feeling, her tail was standing up paralyzed like a pine tree and a little vein was wobbling on her forehead. Annu followed her gaze, unwillingly getting caught up in her delusions, and he too observed the pebble, waiting for a miracle to happen.
Seconds passed…minutes passed…but nothing out of ordinary occurred. Perhaps it’s not a pebble he’s supposed to be observing? He looked around.
There were some ants walking in a column nearby, and one could hear a distant creaking of the frogs come from the nearby body of water. Puffy white clouds were slowly traveling alongside blue, summer sky, and the air felt heavy and dense-possibly there was going to be a storm later today. Annu felt a drip of sweat drop down his forehead, his wool not doing him any favors in this particular season of the year.
Yet still, nothing out of the ordinary happened. Finally, he decided to break the awkward silence, his previous agitation almost completely gone, replaced by heat fatigue and a general feeling of burnout. He wasn’t even capable of feeling mad at this quirky tomboyish girl who interrupted his peaceful meal and chased him all the way to here. Who knows, maybe she’s even more lost than him? The thought of that gave him a weird sense of emotional comfort. He wasn’t sure if he liked it though.
“So where are you from?” he asked, trying to change the topic. She slowly opened her eyes and surveyed her surroundings, as if woken up from a long sleep. Finally, she answered, her voice much calmer now as well.
“Oh you know I’m from…ehehe…” she scratched the back of her head as if she was to say something embarrassing, then looked down at the dirt, her fist tightening the grip on the stick. “From the orphanage, far away, at the southern border of middle kingdom”.
He didn’t know what to say to that. Suddenly he felt guilty for asking and oversharing his story as if his troubles were the worst in the world. At least he had parents, as ungrateful and dismissive as they were.
“Don’t you think it’s a bit hot here? Ehehe…” this time the sheepboy was the one laughing awkwardly “Maybe we can…go to my friends at the caravan, and see find some shelter from the sun there? I’ll introduce you to Banbao, the caravan master! He is a great man, and he traveled far and wide!”
She raised her head, something like a mix of gratitude and joy flashed briefly on her face, before being replaced by her usual happy-go-lucky expression. The wolfgirl told him that the reason she approached him in the first place, was because she saw him come from that very caravan early in the morning, and all along she was hoping he’d show her around.
Annu shook his head, and scratched his horns, dumbfounded. “In that case, you could have just said so from the beginning!” he exclaimed, but in all honesty, he didn’t know if the way he was not so long ago he’d agree. Something was changing within his heart, and he decided to stick along this strange girl for a while.
………
“I can’t believe you thought she’s a boy at first!” laughed Fuhei “So what happened then? You went on a date to the caravan place?”
“I-it wasn’t a date!” said Annu, and blushed. “And besides, we separated rather quickly after that. She went to look around, and I went to Banbao’s place….”
Suddenly, he raised his head and exclaimed.
“That’s right! I just remembered! Fengli loves green tea! Quick, let’s buy some…”
Fuhei had a feeling that the boy is avoiding the topic of what happened at the caravan on purpose. However, he already figured it out! With a mischievous smile on his face, he scratched his chin in an overly theatrical motion and speculated:
“Hmm…let me guess, you were ditched by that old wolf…”
“…I wasn’t”
“You were totally ditched.”
“Ok, I was. So what? Shut up!”
Annu got angry.
He actually didn’t want to get angry, he was, after all, planning to tell everything to Fuhei anyway. But the fact the cocky fox predicted what was going to happen kinda infuriated him, for the reasons he himself didn’t quite understand.
Unfortunately, the story time was cut short by outside interference. Some kind of commotion in the central marketplace?
A group of angry yaren was fighting with the guard!
“This is dangerous, let’s retreat…” suggested Annu and turned the other way.
However, Fuhei would have none of that and jumped into the fray.