Chapter 2: Green Ox Town
Editor: Henyee
Han Li’s home was said to be a small city, but it was actually just a large town called Green Ox Town. Only those who lived in the mountainous region and the natives with no knowledge of the outside world called the town Green Ox City. The only reason why Han Li knew about this was because he had been informed by his Uncle Zhang, who had been working as a gatekeeper for more than ten years.
Green Ox Town wasn’t very large. It only had one main road, known as Green Ox Street, which spanned from the eastern to the western borders of the town. There was also only one tavern in town, located on its western border. For any traveling merchant that didn’t want to sleep outdoors, this tavern was the only solution.
There was only one road for carriages in the western part of Green Ox Town. It ran from the gates of the town and the Green Ox Tavern all the way to the Spring Fragrance Restaurant, the only other place anyone would visit besides the tavern.
Spring Fragrance Restaurant wasn’t big by any means and was actually quite old-fashioned. However, this establishment had a certain charm that was appealing to many travelers. Every day at noon, there would always be a crowd of people, making the place constantly swamped.
A bearded man with a round face emerged from a carriage along with a dark skinned, rotund little boy who looked to be around ten years old. They both walked into the restaurant with a swagger. All of the regular customers knew who this man was. He was the manager of this restaurant, “Fatty Han.” The boy, however, was not someone they were familiar with.
“Elder Han, this tanned little boy resembles you a lot. Could it be a child from a prostitute you spent the night with?” someone joked.
The moment the joke was uttered, the entire restaurant roared with laughter.
“Peh! This is the son of my blood brother, my own nephew! Of course he’ll look like me,” Fatty Han said proudly instead of being angered.
This duo had traveled for three whole days without rest before arriving at the town. They were Han Li and his Third Uncle, who was known as “Fatty Han” by the townspeople.
Fatty Han greeted a few regulars before bringing Han Li to the back of the restaurant, and entered a remote courtyard.
“Xiao Li, you should rest here for a while. When the time comes for the Inner Disciple Examinations, I’ll call you. For now, I must leave in order to attend to a few regulars.” Fatty Han pointed at a side room in the courtyard and kindly motioned for Han Li to enter it.
(TL: “Xiao” in this context means “little”)
After saying that, Han Li’s Third Uncle turned around and hurried back inside the restaurant to tend to his customers.
As he reached the door, he felt a sudden unease in his heart and reminded Han Li, “Don’t run about. You might get lost in the town if you wander around. So it’s best if you don’t leave this courtyard.”
“En!”
Hearing Han Li’s honest response, he nodded in relief and walked out the door.
After his Third Uncle left the courtyard, Han Li suddenly felt exhausted. The moment his head landed on his pillow, he fell into a deep sleep and began snoring, surprisingly without the fear of a normal kid staying alone in unfamiliar surroundings.
When the night came, a servant came by with some food. Although it wasn’t a lavish meal, it was still delicious. After Han Li ate the food, the servant was clearing away the remaining dishes when his Third Uncle leisurely walked in.
“How was it? Was the meal suitable to your taste? Do you miss home?”
“Yes, I miss home…” Han Li replied in his childish voice.
Third Uncle seemed satisfied with Han Li’s response. He began to talk to him about his daily life and bragged about many of his experiences. Gradually, Han Li became less shy and started to laugh and talk with his Third Uncle.
In this manner, two days quickly passed.
On the third day, after Han Li finished dinner, he was waiting for his uncle’s stories of Jiang Hu when a carriage stopped in front of the restaurant door.
(TL: Jiang Hu – World of Martial Artists)
This carriage was painted a shiny black color and even the horse was a rarely seen golden steed. But what attracted the most attention was that on the frame of the carriage was the word “Mystery” written in silver characters in the middle of a red triangle emblazing a black banner. The image on the banner also emitted an unfathomable air.
Seeing this banner, every martial arts expert in the area knew that this carriage belonged to one of the two local overlords in the area, the Seven Mysteries Sect. It seemed that an esteemed guest had arrived in Green Ox Town.
The Seven Mysteries Sect was previously known as the Seven Supreme Sect. Two hundred years ago, the sect was established by an extremely famous martial master named “Sovereign of the Seven Supreme”. Having once swept across and dominated the Jing Province and the nearby Shu Province for a few decades, the Sovereign of the Seven Supreme was resoundingly famous. But after he was afflicted with illness, the power of the Seven Mysteries Sect took a devastating hit and its influence dropped drastically. In the end, the Seven Mysteries Sect was forced out of the main city of the Jing Province by the combined efforts of its rival sects. A hundred years ago, the sect was forced to relocate to an extremely remote area called the Celestial Rainbow Mountain. From then on, they rebuilt their roots in that third rate region and became a local powerhouse.
Locally, the only other power that could rival the Seven Mysteries Sect was the Feral Wolf Gang.
The Feral Wolf Gang was originally a gang of horse-mounted bandits from the Jing Province that had no qualms about burning, killing, looting and pillaging. After a while, an army dispatched by the imperial court encircled and fiercely suppressed the bandits. Some of the bandits accepted the amnesty granted to them by the imperial court while the remaining bandits reformed themselves into the Feral Wolf Gang. The Feral Wolf Gang was exceedingly cruel and bloodthirsty, retaining their former characteristics of having no qualms about committing atrocities. Thus, whenever they clashed, the Seven Mysteries Sect was always at a disadvantage.
Even though the Feral Wolf Gang controlled more towns than the Seven Mysteries Sect, the gang didn’t know how to manage the towns effectively to run businesses and generate income. In comparison, the wealth of the towns controlled by the Seven Mysteries Sect vastly outstripped the towns under Feral Wolf Gang’s control. Jealous of the Seven Mysteries Sect’s prosperity, the Feral Wolf Gang made plans to take over the Sect’s territory, resulting in the longstanding conflict between the two major powers. The conflict gave the current Sect Leader of the Seven Mysteries Sect endless headaches. Because of the Feral Wolf Gang, the Seven Mysteries Sect have been accepting an increasing number of disciples in recent years.
After the carriage stopped, a skinny forty year-old man jumped down. His movements were extremely nimble, indicating that he was a powerful expert. He seemed to be very familiar with Fatty Han’s restaurant and walked pompously towards the room Han Li was residing in.
Upon seeing the forty year-old man, Fatty Han immediately greeted him respectfully.
“Protector Wang, why has an esteemed person such as yourself personally made the trip?”
“Humph!” Protector Wang coldly snorted.
“The roads here haven’t been peaceful lately. Because of this, there’s a need to strengthen the defenses. Thus, the elders ordered that I personally come. Don’t speak any more rubbish. Is this the child you wanted to nominate?”
“Yes, yes, this is my nephew. I hope that Protector Wang will take care of him.”
Looking at the impatient look on Protector Wang face, Third Uncle immediately retrieved a heavy-looking pouch and secretly passed it over to Protector Wang.
After he assessed the weight of the pouch, Protector Wang’s impatient demeanor visibly relaxed.
“Fatty Han, you truly know how to conduct yourself! On the way back, I will make sure that all of your nephew’s needs are well cared for. Anyways, it is getting pretty late now. We had best hurry on our way.”
Chapter 3: Seven Mysteries Sect
Editor: Henyee
The smell inside the carriage was unpleasant, but this could hardly be surprising. The optimal capacity for this carriage was only ten people, but currently there were about thirty young children squeezed into the carriage. Even if young children had smaller bodies than adults, the space inside the carriage was intolerably cramped.
The clever Han Li had chosen a seat near to the sides when he had first entered the carriage and was now stealthily observing the other children.
The children who had registered or been nominated to take the test at the Seven Mysteries Sect could be segregated into three different groups based on their clothing and bearing.
In the first group, there was a youth wearing silk clothing seated in the center of the carriage, surrounded by the majority of the children.
This youth’s name was Wu Yan. He was 13 years old, one of the oldest children to be seated inside the carriage. Normally, he would not be even here since his age had already exceeded the age limit, but one of his older female cousins was married to someone of authority inside the Seven Mysteries Sect. Therefore, Wu Yan’s age was purposely overlooked and he was allowed to join the selection. Wu Yan’s family ran a martial arts dojo, so he had access to a considerable amount of wealth. From a young age, he had practiced external martial arts. Even though his talent could not be considered excellent, when facing against Han Li’s type—those children who had never practiced martial arts before—it was more than enough for Wu Yan to trample them underfoot.
It was very clear that children like Wu Yan, who came from powerful wealthy families and had previously practiced martial arts, could be considered the elite within the group of children inside the carriage.
They were from different backgrounds: some came from the families of shopkeepers, some came from the families of workers, or families of craftsmen, etc. However, they all had one special thing in common; they grew up in the city. Thus, from an early age, they had learned from the elders of their families on how to observe people and know what was beneficial for them. Because of this, these people surrounded Wu Yan and repeatedly called out “Young Master Wu” and “Big Brother Wu” to curry favor. Wu Yan seemed to be used to being fawned over.
The third group of people were people like Han Li; this group came from remote and poor villages. They usually made do with what they had, were poor, and had suffered a life of hardship and strife. Only five to six people belonged to this third group, creating a minority inside the carriage. They usually kept to themselves, and had a quiet demeanor, not even daring to speak or laugh loudly. They were a refreshing change when compared to those loud children.
After the horse carriage exited Green Ox Town, it sped westward and made a few detours to visit other locations and collect even more children. On the fifth day, they managed to arrive at the Celestial Rainbow Mountain, the home of the Seven Mysteries Sect, near sundown.
The first thing the children saw after exiting the carriage was the beautiful, captivating sunset. It was only when Protector Wang started to rally the children that they woke up from their daze and continued proceeding forward.
Celestial Rainbow Mountain was originally Setting Wind Mountain. Legend has it that during ancient times, a five-coloured wind blew past this location, instantly transforming the mountain. After this place was discovered by humans, they realized how beautiful the sunset looked behind the rosy pink clouds. Inspired by the majestic image, the humans decided to rename this place Celestial Rainbow Mountain.
The Celestial Rainbow Mountain was the second largest mountain in the Jing Province after the Bai Mang Mountain. It was extremely spacious, spanning a radius of ten Li. The Celestial Rainbow Mountain was actually a mountain range consisting of ten mountain peaks, each of them being incredibly dangerous, and under the control of the various divisions of the Seven Mysteries Sect. The main mountain peak of the Celestial Rainbow Mountain was named the “Setting Sun Summit”; it was treacherous and dangerous beyond comparison. Not only was it extremely steep, there was only a single path between the peak and base of the mountain. After the Seven Mysteries Sect rebuilt their roots in this area, they set up a total of thirteen checkpoints on the path up the mountain. Some of these checkpoints were hidden while others were out in the open. They were prepared for every single route that the Feral Wolf Gang might use to invade the mountain.
As Han Li followed the escorts in front of the group, he surveyed his nearby surroundings. Suddenly, the escorts stopped as waves of friendly and amicable voices rang out.
“Little Brother Wang, why did you arrive so late? You’re two days late.”
“Division Head Yue, we were delayed by the journey here, sorry for causing you to worry.” Standing in front of all the children, Protector Wang replied respectfully as he bowed to a red-faced old man. Protector Wang’s stern facade was instantly replaced by a look of fawning.
“Which batch of children is this?”
“This is the batch number seventeen.”
“En!” This Division Head Yue pompously looked towards Han Li and the other children.
“Send them to the courtyard, let them rest for tonight. Tomorrow morning, we’ll begin the selection process. Send those who fail or break the rules back down the mountain.”
“Understood, Division Head Yue.”
Walking atop of the mountain’s stone steps, the children were tremendously excited, but no one dared to speak loudly. Despite their young age, the children somehow knew that this place would determine their destiny.
Protector Wang was in the lead and greeted several figures on the way to the children’s sleeping quarters. It could be seen that he was familiar with a lot of people and was quite popular in the region.
The majority of the people they met on their way were all wearing green clothes and equipped with a blade or sword. Even those that appeared empty-handed wore pouches full of mysterious items around their waists. From their bearing and conduct, one could tell that all of these people were somewhat proficient at martial arts.
Han Li and the rest of the children were brought to a mountain peak that seemed lower in height in comparison to the other mountain peaks. On the summit, there was a house made of mud, built for the children to sleep in during the night. As he slept, Han Li dreamed that he was wearing silk, had a golden sword in his hands, and possessed peerless martial arts, soundly beating the village blacksmith’s sons who he previously were no match for. Then he woke on second morning, still reminiscent of his dream.
Protector Wang did not let the children enjoy breakfast. Instead, he brought all of the children down the mountain to a steep slope containing many bamboo shoots. There, Division Head Yue and a few other youths whom Han Li didn’t recognize were already waiting for them.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
200+ Power
Ranking 
2 Power
stone You may also Like
Paragraph comment