Wang Anfeng looked at the bird that had been knocked unconscious and then glanced down at the porcelain bottle in his hand, which was shrouded in a medicinal fragrance. He felt bewildered and almost instinctively trudged down the mountain in a daze, failing to deliver firewood to several of the villages' leading families and returning to his small broken home by the willow trees at the entrance to his own village with heavy and light steps.
After tossing the bundle of firewood he carried on his back, he sat inside the house, staring blankly at the table where the porcelain bottle was placed. As he gazed at it, an silly grin formed on his face that he couldn't suppress. His heart felt suddenly enlightened. While snickering to himself, he had to cover his mouth as if he were a little milk cat that had feasted on fish. With a forward roll, he landed directly on the hard bed, hugging the blanket and secretly laughing for quite a while.
Turning over, he suddenly felt a pain in his wrist, and only then did he remember the strange Wrist Guard he had found on the mountain. Its owner had yet to appear, he had not yet fed the Innkeeper's pigs, and he had not checked on the reclusive elderly Li who lived alone—a callback to his parental duties. A multitude of things rushed to his mind at once.
Even though he still didn't understand why it was night just a moment ago and then suddenly morning, this didn't prevent him from realizing that a significant amount of time had passed. "Four more hours" still rang in his ears. The thought of all the chores he had missed made his heart lurch. He abruptly sat up and reached for the Wrist Guard in his hand. But instead of the silvery Wrist Guard, he felt a string of cool, metallically sheeny beads, smooth to the touch like aged wood. In his urgency, he couldn't help but call out softly.
"Where's the Wrist Guard? How come it's gone?"
"Beep—Young hero, you have already chosen your sect. The server uses liquid metal technology to alter the appearance to that of a Shaolin Temple Disciple's accessory, the Steady Heart Prayer Beads. To prevent loss, it has been bound to you."
The crisp and pleasant female voice rang in his ears again. Wang Anfeng froze, looked at the Buddha Beads, and after a moment, asked:
"Shaolin... Does it mean, this belongs to me?"
"Could it be that Master gave it to me?... It does look very similar to the beads Master has..."
"Anfeng, Anfeng, are you there? Someone just said you were back..."
As Wang Anfeng felt somewhat bewildered, a strong and deep male voice came from outside the door. Recognizing the voice's owner, the young man didn't have time to concern himself with whether the 'Steady Heart Prayer Beads' were his or not. He jumped up, straightened his clothes, calmed his mind, hurried to open the door, and sure enough, saw a young man in a blue robe standing outside, poised to knock on the door. The man's face lit up with a smile upon seeing him come out and said:
"You let me wait a long time, you did."
"I'm really sorry, Big Brother Wang; I ran into some trouble yesterday, so I didn't make it to the Innkeeper's house..."
Wang Anfeng, seeing the young man, interrupted him and quickly apologized, his face full of remorse. This caught the tall young man at the door off-guard. He raised his hand to Wang Anfeng's forehead and joked, "You're not sick with a cold, so why the nonsense in broad daylight?"
"Nonsense?"
The boy paused, and the youth in blue burst into laughter: "Yesterday, you fed my family's pigs until they were plump. It's only been a day since we've seen each other, and you've forgotten everything?" His gaze wandered past the boy to the messy bed, his expression revealing sudden comprehension, as he teased:
"It looks like you've taken a lazy day today, Anfeng, and got all confused from sleeping. But that's fine; with your daily busyness, sleeping more is not a problem."
The boy opened his mouth to explain but didn't know where to start. By the time he gathered his thoughts, the young man had already hoisted up a large chunk of pork and casually said with a smile:
"Let's not talk about that. We slaughtered a pig today, and father asked me to bring you a piece of pork belly. It's very hot these days; you should cook it early and eat it up before it spoils in the heat."
"Here you go, I have chores back home, so I'll not keep you. I must be off, but if you have some free time later, we can chat more then."
Without waiting for the boy to decline, the Wang-named young man shoved the meat into Wang Anfeng's hands, bid him farewell with a few words, and then turned away with long strides. Holding the pork in his hand, the boy watched the youth leave briskly but felt a familiar comfort in his heart—
Nothing had changed. It was still the familiar village with familiar people. If anything had changed, it was perhaps only the Buddha Beads on his wrist and the warm currents flowing within his body.
But what about time then?
A day had indeed passed, yet Big Brother Wang said he had visited yesterday… Could it be that time hadn't really changed?
Wang Anfeng scratched his head, his gaze falling on the oily pork in his hand, and he decided not to dwell on the matter any longer, chuckling softly to himself:
"Never mind that for now. It's been a while since I've had meat, and I should take some to Elder Li."
Because Ci didn't mention much about the Shaolin Sect's prohibition on meat, the boy was completely unaware and was instead overjoyed at the thought of being able to eat meat. He turned and went back inside, took out a cutting board and cleaver and divided the pork into two portions, placing the smaller one into a bowl. He then carefully wrapped the larger piece in greaseproof paper, washed his hands, and after securing his home, carried the pork out the door toward Elder Li's house.
The boy didn't really know Elder Li's full name or background, remembering only that his father had been on good terms with Elder Li. They often visited each other, and whenever there was something tasty at home, he would bring some to Elder Li, who would always accept it without hesitation. Elder Li had a stern look that could be intimidating, but he was quite kind-hearted. He seemed to have been a story-teller in the past, always full of endless fascinating tales that drew the village children to him irresistibly.
Children are always endlessly noisy, but for this particular matter, Libo couldn't care less. Despite living alone, the ruckus of mischievous children seemed to have its own charm. The more listeners he had, the more enthusiastically he spoke. Wang Anfeng, carrying pork, walked down the main path and stopped in front of a small courtyard distant from the villagers' homes. Before even entering, he heard a familiar voice:
"The world is vast, almost boundlessly so. The number of small kingdoms and petty kings is virtually beyond counting, far more than you children can imagine. Among those kings, only a few are notable. Take the Turks, the foolish Turkic Khan was like a brainless pig; he divided his land and people among his brothers and sons. In the end, he starved to death in his tent while battles raged outside."
"They fought for nearly a hundred years, until this generation, where a minor prince from the Northern Turks, brandishing a curved saber, forced his own father to abdicate. Then, in front of everyone, he beheaded a spoiled noble and rallied his troops. In just ten short years, he swept across the region, not only bringing all those Turkic kings to heel but also expanding his territory further outside. He governed with diligence, his martial skills comparable to a grandmaster, and his literary talent was soaring. He was indeed a paragon of his age!"
"Wow!"
The attentive children let out waves of amazed exclamations. Wang Anfeng quietly entered without disturbing the white-haired elder. He simply stood aside with a smile as the elder took a gulp of his poor wine, his white hair dancing wildly like a mane, the gourd in his hand used as a startling wooden block, slapped heavily on the table, saliva flying as he continued:
"Another one, in the land of Baekje, where various small tribes and peoples gathered, each with their own customs and martial skills, and with poisonous insects rampant and the people fierce, it was utter chaos. But when that prince came to the throne, he wore a tattered hemp garment and with his bare fists declared he would fight through a hundred tribes before he would ascend the throne. Everyone thought he was joking, but before his coronation, he truly did go."
A young boy, his eyes shining with excitement, eagerly asked, "So, did he succeed?"
"Of course not. Those who opposed him from the hundred tribes were crafty old scoundrels, sly and petty. He suffered a terrible defeat."
The elder took another swallow of wine, looking at the disheartened eyes of the children, chuckled without pretense and said, "But he never gave up."
"He spent three years, fighting fist by fist, from the weakest tribe to the most revered, and finally brought the strongest member of the Baekje royal family to the ground, covered in scars. Step by step, he ascended his throne. Later, he amalgamated the martial skills of the hundred tribes and created a unique martial art of his own, which he generously shared with all the tribes of Baekje without reservation, a heart as broad as the sky, rarely seen in this world!"
"Wasn't he afraid someone would become stronger than him?"
The elder glanced at the young inquirer, shook his finger and said:
"His only fear was that within Baekje, no one would be stronger than him."
With just that sentence, even those who had never met him could feel an air of fearless and forthright spirit. This vision of the Baekje king filled them with longing. The courtyard fell silent. At that moment, a little girl tentatively raised her hand and stutteringly asked:
"They were so impressive, but what about our Great Qin?"
"Yeah, what about our Great Qin?!"
One by one, the boys' eyes lit up with anticipation as they looked towards the elder. But right now, he seemed not to hear them, lazily reclining on a rattan chair, dangling a wine gourd in his hands and grinning, "Ah, I've talked about so much, feeling a bit weary now, no more talking... no more..."
The children's faces, once filled with eager anticipation, fell flat. The oldest boy's eyes darted around before he pounced forward, cheerfully massaging the elder's shoulders. As the other children caught on, eager for more stories, they began to massage his legs, pat his shoulders, and the elder, luxuriating in their attentions, stretched leisurely and said:
"Comfortable, comfortable..."
"Libo, feeling better now...keep going...how about my Great Qin?"
The old man looked up at the apologetic faces of the children, then squinted, caressing his belly and sighed, "Talking so much made those damn worms in my belly start to chirp. Whatever shall we do about that?"
"..."
The boy's expression stiffened, then he clenched his teeth and tentatively reached for the snacks in his pouch, his face a tangle of struggle and desire. Meanwhile, the old man squinting from the side took a deep breath, smelling the aroma of pork cracklings, and swallowed hard.
"The former Emperor, in the twelfth month of the seventh year of his reign, Jia Yin, was pleased to visit the Lotus Garden, and hosted a banquet in Weiyang Palace..."
Just then, a mellow voice rang out. The children instinctively turned to look and saw the orphan of the village, the one without parents. On the faces of the younger ones, disdain and scorn surfaced, while the older children awkwardly and shamefacedly averted their gaze. Wang Anfeng helplessly looked at the story-hungry Libo, forcefully ignoring his winking and the covert signals implying a half share, and said warmly:
"At that time, the number of dignitaries was countless, with officials thick as forest, as wine flowed and merriment peaked, the Former Emperor, slightly tipsy, laughingly ordered the Turkic King to dance for the entertainment, and the Baekje King to recite poems in accompaniment."
The youth looked up at those faces where disdain and other expressions had completely turned to stupefaction and softly chuckled, saying:
"No one dared to disobey."