Chapter 1: The Confused Young Man

  The vast and mysterious divine land is boundless and endless, with no one knowing its boundaries. Heaven has a great way, the sun, moon, stars, and constellations are fixed in the sky, day and night without rest, spring goes and winter comes, cold and heat alternate, all in order, mountains, rivers, and waters, full of vitality, all things in the world, clearly blend into this heavenly way.

  The vast and desolate land, the mountains and rivers undulate, continuous and unbroken. The towering mountain ranges of ten thousand feet are everywhere to be seen. In the endless mountain ranges, there are countless rare flowers and strange grasses, ancient trees and weird vines entwined. And then there are the flying waterfalls hanging from the sky.

  In the northern part of China, there is a mountain range that doesn't look very impressive at first glance. From afar, it looks like the giant skull of a dragon, with steep and rugged peaks. The locals named it Longshou Mountain based on its shape.

  This dragon head mountain, which is not considered large in the divine state, also extends for thousands of miles. The mountains are lush and dense, covered with towering trees that reach the sky. Among the mountains, several steep peaks rise into the clouds, their heights unmeasurable.

  At the foot of Longshou Mountain, a large river named Sang River winds its way from the southern slope, with a width of tens of miles, vast and endless, flowing all year round.

  The two banks of the river, against the backdrop of the great mountain, are dotted with dozens of large and small villages. These villages are almost isolated from the world, and outsiders rarely come. The villagers also rarely leave the mountains, and they have been living a self-sufficient life for generations, free from worldly disputes.

  Late summer, one afternoon, the sun was high in the sky, at the foot of the south slope of Longshoushan Mountain, north bank of Sangshui River, Fengjiazhuang.

  In front of Lao Guang's old hut in Village West.

  "Xiao Tian, come out quickly!"

  "Xiao Tian, hurry up and come out to play!"

  "Stinky little heaven, can't you come out? I'm stinking at home!"

  A burst of children's noise came from afar, heading straight for Feng Lao Er's dilapidated hut.

  "Ah——got it, I'm coming——" Along with a clear and slightly childish response, the creaky gate of Feng Lao Er's dilapidated house was pushed open with a "creak", and a slightly chubby young boy ran out from inside.

  The boy was about ten years old, not very tall, wearing a gray cloth dress with large and small patches. His chubby face had a pair of mischievous big eyes, blinking constantly, and those two black gem-like eyeballs would come up with a ghost idea as soon as they turned. On his white face, whether it was the bulging cheeks or the thin lips, or the slightly raised nose tip, all made you feel comical and amusing, looking like a clever and mischievous child at first glance.

  "Little Tian, let's go, have fun!" Five or six little kids came over and surrounded Little Tian, ready to leave.

  "Hey, little ones," a hoarse voice came from inside the door, "don't run around wildly, and remember not to go into the forest on the mountain or play in the river. There are monsters in both the forest and the river that eat people!"

  The speaker was Xiao Tian's grandfather, Feng Lao Er. Feng Lao Er had never married in his life and made a living by fishing on the Sangshui River. He was now over 60 years old. Twelve years ago, he picked up a basket that was drifting downstream on the Sangshui River, and inside it was the newborn Xiao Tian. From then on, Feng Lao Er gave up any idea of getting married and having children, and raised Xiao Tian as his own grandson with all his heart. Every time Xiao Tian went out to play, he would repeatedly instruct him.

  "Got it—Grandpa Wind." The children replied in a playful, drawn-out tone.

  "Hehe, really no creativity, every time the wind grandfather is just these two sentences!" The dark and thin monkey muttered, his small face was covered with dust, his hair was over two inches long, messy and unkempt, like a magpie's nest.

  "Don't say that, Old Man Feng is saying this for our sake." A big-headed man with only a few strands of hair on his head retorted.

  "Oh, come on, you two are never going to end this, let's think about where we're going to play today instead." Feng Xiaotian helplessly looked at these two "nemeses" who always sang opposing tunes and quickly changed the subject.

  "Lin Zi can't go, the riverbank can't go, so we'll just have to go to the big pit in the north of the village to play hide-and-seek."

  "That place is no good, I bumped my head there two days ago and it still hurts now!"

  This group of lively young people walked and chattered incessantly.

  "Little Tian Ge," a timid voice sounded, it was Yan Er, the youngest, only seven years old, and also the only girl among this group of children. A pair of big eyes with long eyelashes blinked at her most admired Little Tian Ge, saying "Why don't we go to Xiao Hou's house to take a look!"

  Her little face was rosy, with a pair of bright glasses on her nose, and two small braids stood up straight, while the pink hairband on her head fluttered back and forth like two dancing butterflies.

  "What are you looking at, Yan'er?" Looking at the petite Yan'er, Feng Xiaotian affectionately rubbed Yan'er's hair and asked.

  Yan'er's father, Feng Qingru, was the most learned person in the village and also the mentor of Feng Xiaotian and his group of mischievous young friends. Perhaps because of Xiaotian's cleverness and love for reading, or perhaps because of his orphaned state, Feng Qingru always looked at him with a special gaze, taking extra care of him. After finishing lessons, he would often keep Xiaotian at his home for dinner. As a result, Xiaotian was particularly close to Yan'er and had always doted on her.

  "Qiu Hou said that his brother Feng Yong brought back a particularly good-looking rabbit from the forest in the north yesterday afternoon, it's so cute, I want to go see," Yan Er excitedly said while pulling on Xiao Tian's arm.

  "Prohibited forest? Skinny monkey, Brother Feng Yong has gone to the prohibited forest again?" Wind Little Sky was shocked and hastily pulled Skinny Monkey, Brother Feng Yong's younger brother, to ask.

  The forest is the woods on the north slope of Fengjiazhuang, standing at the foot of the mountain, that vast expanse of lush greenery, even the person with the best eyesight in the village can't see where it ends. The forest is full of towering ancient trees, and the light is dim, as if it has never seen sunlight all year round, giving people a gloomy feeling. In the village, the old folks have passed down that this forest was once inhabited by evil spirits and monsters, so few people dared to enter, and it's said that in the past, many young men with hot blood wanted to explore, but they went in groups and none of them returned, so that dark forest became known as the "Forbidden Forest" among the villagers. And this Feng Yong, just over 20 years old, is Shou Hua's older brother, he has a sturdy build, strong and powerful, one of the strongest young men in several villages around. He had ventured into the Forbidden Forest last year despite his family's warnings, and unexpectedly came out unscathed, making him an idol among many young people in the village. In fact, according to Feng Yong himself, he just circled around the edge of the forest and didn't dare go deep inside, but this time Feng Yong entered the Forbidden Forest for the second time, no wonder Xiao Tian was so shocked.

  "Yes, my brother went yesterday afternoon and said he was betting with the people from the neighboring village. When he came out in the afternoon, he even caught a rabbit." Thin Monkey said proudly.

  "Feng Xiong is really awesome!" The strongest child in the group, Hu Zi, had stars of admiration shining in his eyes.

  "Come on, let's go see the rabbit!" Feng Xiaotian waved his hand, and a group of young men burst out laughing and rushed towards Shouhui's house in the east of the village.

  "Xiao Tian Ge, wait for me!" This was Yan Er's silvery and clear voice.

  "Yan'er, hurry up, you can't catch up with me, hahaha!" Feng Xiaotian's triumphant laughter.

  East of the village, by the stone mill in the yard of the thin monkey's home.

  "Oh, what a lovely little rabbit!" Looking at the small animal lying on the stone mill in front of her, Yan'er couldn't help but exclaim as she stroked the soft white fur on its body.

  "Is this a rabbit?" Feng Xiaotian was somewhat puzzled.

  All that can be seen is this so-called "little rabbit" placed on the stone mill, with a clean white body, long ears, and a size similar to that of an ordinary little rabbit. The only difference is that the four legs of this "little rabbit" are pure black, and its eyes are blue, giving people a strange feeling. Seeing so many people staring at it, it doesn't flinch, looking around nonchalantly with an eerie blue glow in its eyes. When it sees Yan'er touching it, it shrinks back slightly, as if it's not pleased.

  "Yes, I also find it strange. Never seen a rabbit like this before. Forget it, let's just slaughter it and have a meat meal!" Tall Feng Yong walked out of the house and came to the stone mill, continuing Xiao Tian's words.

  "Wait!" Yan'er suddenly became anxious and rushed to block in front of "Little Rabbit". What nobody noticed was that the strange "Little Rabbit"'s blue eyes actually revealed a mocking expression, just like a human's.

  "What does this little kid know? Go play!" Feng Yong pushed Yan'er away and was about to grab the "little rabbit", but unexpectedly, Yan'er who was pushed away let out a loud cry and ran straight to Xiao Tian's face, pulling on his arm and begging: "Xiao Tian ge, save Little Rabbit! Please!"

  Looking at Yan'er with tears all over her face, Feng Xiaotian couldn't bear it anymore. He, who was naturally kind-hearted, didn't want this cute little animal to be eaten either. So he took a step forward and said to Feng Yong: "Feng Yong brother, this little thing doesn't have much meat anyway, why not just give it to me? I'll give you two fish in return, how about that?"

  "Hey, okay, two fish, it's a deal, no backing out!" It was clear that for Feng Yong, the temptation of this fish far exceeded the unknown taste of "little rabbit". In this small village, only Xiao Tian's grandfather, Feng Lao Er, dared to go fishing in the river. Strangely enough, others would try but never catch any fish and often encounter strong winds and waves, while Feng Lao Er could always catch some, not many, but just enough for him to exchange with villagers for grain and daily necessities to sustain his and Xiao Tian's lives.

  "This little guy is yours now." Feng Yong grabbed the "little rabbit" and stuffed it into Feng Xiao Tian's arms, his movements very rough, making Yan Er's heart tighten again. When he let go of the hand holding the little rabbit, Feng Yong seemed to see that the little rabbit's eyes flashed a sharp glance at him.

  "Huh? What's going on?" Feng Yong stared into "Little Rabbit"'s eyes again, but didn't find anything unusual. "Cough, probably just my eyes playing tricks on me," he thought to himself and stopped worrying about it. "Xiao Tian, remember, two fish!" He said before heading back inside the house.

  "Hehe, two fish are just two fish." Xiaotian carefully handed "Little Rabbit" to Yanran, who was already laughing through tears. Looking at that tear-stained smiling face, Xiaotian felt that these two fish were well worth it.

  "Thank you, Little Tian Gege!" Yan'er looked up at Little Tian with tears in her eyes, filled with sweet smiles.

  "Silly girl, what are you thanking me for?" Xiaotian patted Yan'er's head as usual.

  "Hehe, no need to thank me, when you grow up, you can be Xiao Tian's wife!" This sarcastic voice was naturally from that skinny monkey guy.

  "When I grow up, I'm willing! Humph, stinky monkey! I'll become a daughter-in-law for Little Tian Ge when I grow up. My mom said so, right, Little Tian Ge?" Dazed and confused, Yan Er raised her head and said matter-of-factly. After finishing speaking, she didn't even wait for Little Tian's response, hugged "Little Rabbit" tightly, and happily ran back home.

  "Ah?" Feng Xiaotian, who slightly understood human relationships, was taken aback for a moment, and his pale face suddenly turned bright red!

  "Hahaha——" The group of young people burst out laughing without any restraint.

  "This silly girl, what is she daring to say?" The red-faced young man thought to himself, and amidst the laughter of his companions, he walked home with a humiliated expression.

  This is: Two young people without suspicion, words without taboo, feelings of green plum and bamboo horse rising.