Dawn's light was faint, and a gentle mist draped over the land.
It was just past the time of "Grain Full," a period so named because the saying goes, "Grain Full, Grain Full, the wheat kernels gradually fill." North of the Yangtze River, the winter wheat began to fill with grain, gradually becoming plump but not yet fully matured.
On the Guanzhong Plain, thousands of years of frost and fire, and the sound of drums and bugles in battle, had long been buried in the yellow earth and ravines. Now, only the morning breeze swept through the wheat, shaking off dewdrops and creating a soft rustling sound.
In Bailu Plain, at Li Family Castle.
Outside the village in the farmland, two young boys were walking slowly.
The one following behind was lean and nimble, dressed in a short, coarse black cloth garment wrapped with leggings, and also carrying a long spear with a wooden handle over his shoulder.
The boy's skin was dark, and a slight smile revealed a mouthful of large white teeth.
This was the mark of many years of labor in the fields.
The children of farming families started working the land following behind the adults from a young age, braving the wind and rain, sweating three pounds under the sun. It was only natural for their skin to be dark.
The one walking in front was noticeably taller, with a straight waist and fair skin, his features delicate, his hair casually tied in a bun.
Wearing similar black cloth garments and leggings, he instead had a bow on his back and a knife by his side.
This boy wasn't particularly handsome, but his features were fine, and his eyes were especially captivating.
His eyes were narrow with long corners, typical of phoenix eyes, but his black pupils were like dangling pearls; if one made eye contact, they would feel the chilling sharpness, a veiled sense of authority.
This was known as dragon eyes, also called "Dragon's gaze." The Observation Scripture states, "Dragon eyes possess a spirit unlike any other; their tranquil glow, akin to profound pearls, serene as autumn stillness in a cold pond, truly a rarity in the Human World."
Phoenix eyes coupled with dragon gaze was an even rarer sight.
The boy was named Li Yan, and he was not of this world.
Walking between the ridges, he couldn't help but gently touch the ears of wheat, feeling their fullness, his eyes slightly squinting as the intimidating cold light faded, a smile appearing on his lips.
The wheat before him was all planted by his own hands.
Since coming to this world, Li Yan had initially struggled to adapt, but as the brilliance of his past life's lights gradually faded from memory, he had grown accustomed to this life.
The earth, which can embrace all things.
Working at sunrise, resting at sunset, the restlessness and impatience of his previous life were long buried by this land of yellow earth and scattered by the joy of harvest after harvest.
"Brother Yan."
The lean, dark-skinned boy behind him interrupted his thoughts, looking around and saying, "'Blind Old Three' might have fled early. Let's head back."
Li Yan turned his head and chided, "Coward, you're not going to avenge Er Niu?"
"What are you saying!"
The lean boy reacted as if stepped on, his face reddening as he retorted, "Er Niu was my sister, if I don't avenge this grudge, I, Hei Dan, will pluck out my hair and strangle myself to death!"
"It's just that when chicks roost and the old man sleeps, the wolves rejoice; we don't go out at night or wander at noon, how can we find it in the early morning?"
"You're spouting idioms, are you planning to become a scholar?"
Li Yan cursed, then looked towards the distant mountains and sighed, "'Blind Old Three' is no ordinary wolf..."
Guanzhong had always been troubled by wolf menaces since ancient times.
Especially in the past two years, something unknown happened in the Qinling Mountains, from which Evil Wolves often emerged, descending to the plains to cause disaster.
These wolves were larger than before and even more ferocious and cunning.
They didn't just prey on livestock; they had a taste for young children.
"Chickens roost" refers to the evening, and "the old man sleeps" refers to high noon.
"Chickens roost, wolves eat children, the old man sleeps, wolves rejoice," means that wolves prefer to roam during these two hours.
One might wonder, it's understandable at night, but at noon, how could wolves dare to enter the village to harm people?
But what they don't realize is that the common folk work from dawn to dusk and need to rest during the noon when the sun is at its fiercest, which is precisely when the wolves roam as well.
They were incredibly cunning, taking advantage of the noon when adults were asleep, sneaking in to steal the children sandwiched in the middle, a tactic called "pulling the garlic scapes."
They would even hide in the wheat fields, whining to mimic a baby's cry. If curious children ventured into the wheat, they would be snatched away.
"Blind Old Three" was a wolf that came down from Qinling.
It was bulkier than other wolves.
In the past two years, to prevent wolf attacks, the villages of Bailu Plain had set traps. "Blind Old Three," being new to the area, fell into one and lost an eye, harboring a grudge and repeatedly targeting Li Family Castle for revenge.
Time and again, it had escaped the rounds of hunting.
Since then, the name "Blind Old Three" began to spread.
Some said that "Blind Old Three" was unlike other wolves, it grew up on Nanshan Mountain, absorbed the Spiritual Energy of the mountains, and attained Dao.
Others feared it to the extent of wanting to erect a temple to worship it, hoping it would no longer plague the village, but thankfully they were stopped by the head of the Li family.
Regardless, "Blind Old Three" had become a sort of terror for Li Family Castle.
Every year around the summer harvest was the time of greatest wolf calamities.
Er Niu was Hei Dan's sister, barely two years old. To ensure her safety when her parents worked the fields, they would carry her on their backs.
Midway through work, because it was inconvenient, they left her at the edge of the field.
The edge was close to the official road, with many villagers passing by, making it seemingly safe.
Yet in a split second, "Blind Old Three" burst out, grabbed Er Niu, and ran.
The villagers of Li Family Castle, armed with sickles and hoes, chased for several miles, but by the time they found her, all that was left was a tattered bloody mess.
Hei Dan's mother cried as if her life was over, and his father, with a raging temper, rallied kinsmen to search day and night throughout the mountains, but sadly, to no avail.
Later, some advised withholding the search, considering it was just a girl and during the busy farming season. The hunt eventually ceased.
But Hei Dan couldn't forget and sought Li Yan's help.
Li Yan also had his heart set on eliminating this scourge and pondered over it for a while.
He speculated that the "Blind Third" was indeed cunning and might, like a military sneak attack, not appear at night or noon but take advantage of the pre-dawn hours when people were in their deepest sleep, so these past few days, he had been taking Hei Dan out to search two hours earlier than usual.
However, after several days in a row, they hadn't even found a wolf hair.
This made Li Yan begin to doubt his own judgment.
During their conversation, the fish belly white of dawn was already apparent in the distance, casting a shadow over the meandering mountains; smoke from cooking fires was also rising from Li Family Castle.
"Let's go."
Li Yan pressed the hilt of his blade at his waist and shook his head, "We'll continue tomorrow."
Although Hei Dan was disappointed, he nodded his head.
The children of Guanzhong were stubborn, and Hei Dan had made up his mind: the matter would not be settled until "Blind Third" was dead.
The two didn't take the main road but hurried down the hillside toward the village.
Hei Dan had sneaked out and needed to climb back into his home over the back wall of the village before his parents noticed, or else he wouldn't be able to come out again if they discovered his absence.
The closer he got to the village, the more downhearted Hei Dan became, not uttering a word.
Li Yan glanced at him, "What's wrong?"
Hei Dan mumbled, "In a few days, Dad is going to take me to work as a harvest laborer."
Li Yan frowned upon hearing this, "Not harvesting your own fields but going elsewhere, why?"
Hei Dan replied, "My dad said that last year many factories opened in Jinmen and Jiangnan, and many young people went there to make money. Now, there's a shortage of hands on all the plains."
"This year several major employers have already put out the word, offering good wages. My dad wants to take me around to save some money for my marriage."
The role of harvest laborer was an ancient profession.
Due to climate differences, wheat in the vast land of Guanzhong generally matured from south to north, from west to east in succession.
As the saying goes, "Three wheat harvests aren't as good as one long autumn, three long autumns aren't as hectic as one wheat harvest season." When the time for wheat harvest comes, the activity is almost as intense as war.
Although the climate in Guanzhong at this time typically features drought and scorching heat with scarce rainfall, the Dragon King might still sneeze unexpectedly.
Wheat is most afraid of getting rained on; once wet, it can easily sprout or mold.
There's a folk saying: "Harvesting wheat is like fighting a fire, snatched from the jaws of the Dragon King."
So, during this season in Guanzhong, there are those everywhere who help harvest wheat to earn their keep, known as harvest laborers.
In the past, they didn't earn much; if the employer was kind-hearted and hosted them with white flour buns, the laborers would be grateful.
In years of poor harvest, they couldn't even be provided with much coarse grain bread, let alone wages.
Still, the harvest laborers kept coming, unabated.
The reason was simple: eating someone else's grain meant saving their own.
In tough times, what's selling some labor?
Li Yan knew Hei Dan wasn't afraid of the hard work; he feared that after the busy summer harvest, "Blind Third" would run off somewhere else or hide in Qinling and then the matter would be left unresolved.
Thinking of this, he patted Hei Dan's shoulder and said seriously, "Don't worry, I ate one of your chickens, it's like I've accepted a deposit. I will take care of 'Blind Third'!"
"Li Yan, I believe in you!"
Hei Dan nodded earnestly.
The eight-hundred-li expanse of Guanzhong in the Qin region has been enthused with the spirit of chivalrous warriors since ancient times.
Now, there are also bladesmen in Guanzhong who are as good as their word.
Li Yan's father had once been a well-known bladesman making a name for himself in Guanzhong.
Many in the village believed that Li Yan would someday follow in his father's footsteps.
Seemingly setting aside his worries, Hei Dan looked toward the distant mountains, his eyes flickering with aspiration, "I heard that the young men who went out to be apprentices last year, sent money back to their families before the new year..."
"Li Yan, what do you think it's like beyond those mountains?"
Li Yan sneered, "What can it be? At the end of the day, there are still mountains and people."
Before the words had left his mouth, his expression suddenly changed, and he pushed Hei Dan down, sniffing the air, and said in a low voice, "Hei Dan, do you smell something?"
Hei Dan also sniffed but said with confusion, "No, I don't smell anything."
Li Yan didn't say more, his expression growing more solemn.
In the fields and at the edges of farmland, there are some stories that seem otherworldly, like "Ghost Blindness," "Collider," "Tigress Widow," and so on.
In the village where there was little entertainment, only during festivals or temple fairs would a troupe be invited from Chang'an City, drawing crowds from towns and villages far and wide.
On ordinary days, beneath the old trees at dusk, the stories told by the village elders became the pastime for the children, passed down from generation to generation.
Those tales featured princes and generals, but most were absurd and bizarre.
Some people were firm believers, emphatically claiming that such incidents had occurred in certain villages, yet none had ever seen them with their own eyes.
Others scoffed, regarding them as jokes.
Yet, Li Yan faintly felt that some of those events might be real.
The reason was simple; a year ago, his sense of smell had begun to change, becoming unusually sensitive, allowing him to scent certain odors others couldn't detect.
Like the Land God Temple at the entrance of the village, even without burning incense, he could smell a faint aroma of incense burning...
Or every time he passed by Widow Wang's house in the village, he could smell a certain scent of incense mixed with a rank fishiness...
Now, he had caught another scent.
Fetid, cold, also laced with the smell of blood.
And this rank fishy odor, he had encountered it before when they found the remains of Erniu...