Chapter 1: The Boy's Decision

  Xiao Qiu fiercely swung the willow whip in her hand, deeply inhaling a warm and humid scent of grass and wood, making the most important decision of her life.

  His life was only twelve years old, and he couldn't grasp the full meaning of this decision. However, the familiar residents of Ye Lin Town knew that he was a stubborn boy, like a young wolf who had just learned to flexibly use his limbs and teeth, knowing that there was a cliff in front of him, but still rushing to the edge to explore, and no one could pull him back.

  "I need your help." Xia Qiu said eagerly, her dark eyes full of expectation.

  In front of him, four young men in casual clothes were squatting on the grass, looking up at Xiao Qiu in a daze. Further away, several groups of livestock were lazily eating grass, and they were all shepherd boys, among whom more than ten horses were taken care of by Xiao Qiu.

  "Are you going to... snatch Fangfang away?" Da Liang was Xia Qiu's best friend, with a kind round face, but at this moment he didn't show full support.

  "Hmm. Not abducting, but saving. Fangfang will voluntarily follow us." Xia Qiu corrected in a certain tone.

  "Are you sure?" Dalang looked at the other three younger shepherds and lost even more confidence, "Did Fangfang tell you personally?"

  "No, you all know that Mr. Qin doesn't allow me to enter the school." Xia Qiu wouldn't lie in front of her friends, "But it's obvious, Fangfang can't..."

  Daliang's younger brother Erliang continued, "Fangfang would never be willing to marry into the Shen family, she'd be overjoyed if someone took her away."

  "That's the idea." Xia Qiu swung her willow whip again, "We'll take action tonight, two people will keep watch outside, and three people will enter the school to find Fang Fang, it's that simple."

  Four shepherd boys looked at each other in dismay, Dalang pushed his grass hat on top of his head and said nervously: "The Shen family is the richest landlord in town, more than half of the cattle and sheep we are herding belong to them, I think...I think Fangfang may not be unwilling to marry into their family."

  A dark and thin shepherd boy provided evidence for Da Liang's view, "I heard that Mr. Qin was particularly happy to be able to form an alliance with the Shen family, and tomorrow's auspicious day is the one he chose."

  "Mr. Qin is a money-grabber, he sold Fangfang to the Shen family and got a lot of silver." Erliang said with disdain, his hands gesturing as if piling up a large heap of gold and silver treasures.

  The last shepherd spoke up, "Mr. Qin isn't a greedy person, his family is an outsider household, hoping to establish themselves in Wild Forest Town, so they're especially willing to form ties with the Shen family."

  "Mr. Qin seems like a nice person, he even gave me a name." Da Liang furrowed his brow, trying to recall his formal name.

  Xiao Qiu was a bit anxious, so she also squatted on the grass, looking at her four companions opposite her with unblinking eyes. "We're not talking about Mr. Qin, we're talking about Fangfang! She doesn't want to - who wants to marry an idiot?"

  The shepherd boys shook their heads at the same time, and Er Liang was more inclined to help Xiao Qiu, saying: "Shen Jia Da Shuai is over 20 years old, can't even eat by himself, and will hit people when he gets angry."

  The children of Yelin Town all saw the young master of the Shen family, and at the same time they raised their heads to recall the scene where he chased them. Hei Shou Mu Tong added: "Big fool drools from morning till night, Fang Fang marries him, and still has to wipe it for him every day."

  "How's it going? Any help?" Xia Qiu asked, feeling very hopeful.

  But he was disappointed, as soon as the crucial issue was mentioned, all four shepherd boys retreated, even Erliang, who had been speaking for him, lowered his head, seemingly more interested in the ants on the grass leaves.

  "Little Autumn brother." Da Liang felt a bit guilty, usually he had never refused any proposal from good friends, but this time was different. "You're not... still thinking that Fangfang is your wife?"

  Erlang and others bowed their heads and held back their smiles, making snickering sounds in their noses.

  Xiao Qiu's face was cold as she inserted the willow branch into the soft grass, "What I said counts."

  "Isn't that just for fun?" Da Liang said in a low voice, finding Xiao Qiu's gaze becoming increasingly stubborn. He softened, although he was one year older, he always played the follower in front of Xiao Qiu. "Okay, I'll help."

  "I'll help too." Erliang immediately expressed his attitude.

  The other two shepherds also agreed.

  "Let's go home as usual for now and meet on the bridge after dinner." Xia Qiu felt a weight lift off her mind.

  Discussing Xia Qiu's simple arrangement, time flew by quickly. In the evening, the five excited young men gathered their respective grazing livestock and returned to Ye Lin Town together. No one proposed a more specific plan, just like Xia Qiu said, "It's that simple."

  They walked out of the forest and onto a small bridge on the east side of Wildwood Town, where their enthusiasm suffered its first blow.

  Two puffs sat on the bridge railing, spending the whole afternoon bragging and fooling around with his companions, waiting for the first battle of his life to fight for power and status: today he had to prove that he was the leader of the 10-15 year old boys in Wild Forest Town.

  In the distance, a herd of cattle and horses emerged from the forest path. Erchun jumped to the ground, exerted his strength, and shouted loudly: "Hey——, Xia Qiu! Your wife is going to marry my brother tomorrow, are you coming to drink at the wedding or not?" This sentence had been on Erchun's mind for a whole day, and he felt extremely relieved after shouting it out.

  These two groups of boys were worlds apart.

  Under the bridge, five shepherd boys were surrounded by groups of pigs, cows, horses and sheep in front of and behind them. They wore straw hats without tops, with patched sleeves and trouser legs rolled up high, their bare feet covered in mud, and their skin was darkened by the sun. On the bridge, six young men were also wearing coarse linen clothes, but they were all clean and tidy. They had just spent a carefree day and hoped to find some fun before nightfall.

  "Don't mind him." Facing Er Bao's provocation, Da Liang didn't want to fight back. He was now hungry and only wanted to go home and fill his stomach, "Let's take a detour and cross the river."

  Thinking of tonight's plan, Xia Qiu almost agreed with Da Liang's suggestion, but the boys on the bridge burst into laughter, changing his mind.

  Xiao Qiu walked in the front, followed by a dozen horses, and Da Liang and others were not far behind, they still had some fear of Er Shuang.

  Er Biao was the second young master of the Shen family, not stupid at all, tall and strong, with a pair of slender eyes that always warned others in a slanted way: he was not easy to mess with.

  Xiao Qiu surprisingly accepted the challenge, Er Shuang was extremely happy, standing in the middle of the bridge with his hands on his hips, and five companions lined up on both sides of him, completely blocking the road.

  "You're blocking the way." Xia Qiu said in a calm and gentle tone, behind him, the tame horse group found someone was blocking the road, all stopped and waited patiently for the problem to resolve itself.

  "Ah, it's been a while since we last met! I'm here to deliver an invitation to you. Tomorrow, your wife is going to become my sister-in-law! Come and say some auspicious words for me, and my dad will reward you with a few copper coins. Ah, where did the invitation go? It was just here a moment ago."

  Two men pretended to pat each other's body, and their companions burst out laughing. Lengzi, who was half a head shorter but equally robust, chimed in: "Xiao Qiu might have received an invitation from Mr. Qin's family, after all, Fangfang is his daughter-in-law."

  The boys on the bridge laughed so hard they doubled over, the youngest bald boy had just been allowed to join the gang and was eager to show off, pointing at Xia Qiu saying: "Your wife... your wife is going to call someone else husband haha, Xia Qiu..."

  Xiao Qiu had heard enough, and with a loud slap on the back of the sorrel horse beside him, the sorrel horse was startled and leapt forward in a big stride.

  For the narrow bridges and the young men of Wildwood Town, the sorrel horse was a behemoth, the boys blocking the way scattered in panic, and the neatly arranged team dispersed at once.

  "Xiao Qiu, this is our family's horse! You dare..." Er Shuang was furious.

  The chestnut horse didn't know who the real master was, and it darted out of the bridge in two or three steps. The group of horses behind followed closely, and the young men could only stick to the railing by the side of the bridge, watching them pass through with wide eyes.

  Er Bao absolutely did not allow himself to plan a multi-day decisive battle to end like this, the last two horses had not yet crossed the bridge, he was no longer so afraid, finding an opening, he leapt and pounced on Xiao Qiu.

  Two young men started wrestling on the bridge, a dozen horses on the shore turned around, gazing blankly at this scene, soon lost interest, lowered their heads to graze on the green grass by the roadside.

  Er Biao was a bit taller and looked more robust than Xiao Qiu, but he didn't have the upper hand in the fight. Even with his companions cheering him on loudly, he couldn't knock down his opponent immediately.

  With a splash, two boys simultaneously flipped over the bridge railing and fell into the river.

  The river water is not deep, just over the waist, but Ershuang is the master of the bridge, and as soon as it touches the water, it loses three points. Xiao Qiu is agile in the river like a fish, completely taking the initiative.

  The companions of Er Lang stood on the bridge, shouting threats in unison, but none dared to enter the water to help.

  "Ding..."

  A strange noise that the young people had never heard before rang in their ears, sharp enough to pierce their eardrums. Everyone turned around and saw a weird adult suddenly appear on the riverbank about ten steps downstream.

  The strange man wore a blue robe with a high bun on his head, a long hairpin inserted horizontally, and a few strands of whiskers floating under his chin. He carried a long sword on his back, which would be considered "immortal and elegant" even in the eyes of the most discerning person, but in the remote Wildwood Town, his attire only looked strange.

  The strange man shook a fist-sized brass bell in his left hand, producing an ear-piercing sound that was disproportionate to its size.

  "Who are you? What brings you to Yelinfeng Town?" Er Bao stood in the river, his voice trembling with questions. Facing a lone stranger, even an adult, he had never been afraid before, but for some reason, that bell sound seemed to have hollowed out his heart.

  Xiao Qiu stood beside Er Shuang, silent, treating the ringing sound as an enemy and concentrating his energy to fight against it.

  The strange man put down the bell and took out a dull-colored copper mirror with his right hand, slowly shaking it in front of the crowd of young men, finally pointing at two boys who were soaked from head to toe, fixed for a moment, and asked: "Hot?"

  He hadn't spoken in a long time, and the voice that came out of his throat was hard and hoarse, like the old copper mirror he held.

  Xiao Qiu and Er Bing involuntarily took a step back at the same time, they were not afraid of the strange man and his voice, but that dull copper mirror. A small thing of only five or six inches seemed to be able to block out the entire sky, and the sunlight suddenly weakened a lot. The two shook their heads together, they didn't feel hot at all, and even felt a chill on their bodies.

  The strange man lowered his arm, but in the blink of an eye, the copper mirror and bell had already disappeared. His expression seemed a bit more relaxed, but also more tired. "Stay away from monsters," he said, his eyes darting back and forth as if listening for something, as if there were monsters lurking nearby. "Stay away from monsters," he repeated.

  The boys were frightened, and even Xiao Qiu felt flustered, hastily following Er Shuang to scramble up the bank. Their hearts racing, the scorching sun suddenly became unbearable again, and their damp clothes clung uncomfortably to their skin. None of these things mattered to them; they just wanted to get away from this strange man as soon as possible.

  The duel between the two groups of young men ended abruptly, and they rushed to the town to tell the adults that a madman had broken into Wild Forest Town.

  Two men, unencumbered by livestock, ran even faster, their silhouettes quickly disappearing. The five herding boys chased after the livestock all the way to the edge of town, turned around and looked back at where the strange man had stood, but he was already gone, no one knew how he disappeared or where he went.

  "See you tonight." Xiao Qiu was the first to shake off the strange man's influence, and he still had to carry out his rescue plan for that night.