A remote mountain village was surrounded by mountains, with a valley about one zhang wide to its east, providing direct access to the outside.
All hundred-odd people in the village were surnamed Lu, and the villagers mainly lived by hunting. Perhaps due to years of hunting, their bodies were generally rugged and strong.
The village was dozens of miles of mountain road away from the nearest Qingyang Town.
Due to inconvenient transportation and poverty, most villagers had not left the village for many years. Village Chief Old Han, however, frequently went to the town.
Because his family ran a small workshop, villagers would usually exchange game for whatever they needed.
Everyone lived a very hard life, but Village Chief Old Han's family was relatively better off.
Gou Wa was twelve years old this year, ranked sixth in his family, and was also the youngest.
His Father, Lu San, was a hunter, like most villagers.
His Mother was Liu Cuihua. His eldest brother, twenty-five, was already married. His second sister, twenty-three, was already married. His third brother was twenty, and his fourth brother was seventeen.
His third and fourth brothers often followed their Father into the mountains to hunt.
Fifth Sister, fifteen, helped Mother with household chores.
The sixth child, Gou Wa, was twelve years old, and his given name was Lu Yun.
His Father had used a piece of game to pay a fortune teller to choose this name.
Because he was the youngest and clever, everyone liked him very much.
This day, Gou Wa woke up early and called for Xiao Hei, with whom he had already made plans.
Xiao Hei was the son of Village Chief Old Han. Village Chief Old Han's given name was Lu Han.
However, everyone was used to calling him Old Han. Xiao Hei and Gou Wa were about the same age and often played together.
Because Gou Wa was young, his Father did not allow him to go hunting in the mountains.
Xiao Hei's family had a business, and Village Chief Old Han's future legacy was to be handed over to him, so he had been warned early on not to go into the mountains alone.
Yesterday, Gou Dan from the village said that when they went hunting in the mountains, they found an eagle's nest in a patch of woods. Gou Wa's eyes lit up when he heard this.
He immediately found his friend Xiao Hei and discussed going to raid the eagle's nest.
Gou Wa called Xiao Hei early in the morning, casting aside his Father's warning not to enter the mountains. They followed Gou Dan's directions to the eagle's nest and went straight into the mountains.
As they reached the edge of the woods and were about to enter, Gou Wa suddenly saw the grass on the left move. Startled, he pulled Xiao Hei and quickly hid behind a tree on the right.
Xiao Hei, not understanding, asked, “What’s wrong?”
Gou Wa whispered, “The grass over there just moved. Could it be a wild beast?”
Xiao Hei's face turned pale with fright upon hearing this, and he stammered, “What, a… wild beast.”
Gou Wa shushed him and shook his head, saying, “Let’s observe first.”
The two of them secretly peeked out again. After a while, they suddenly heard a faint voice: “Help.”
The two immediately breathed a sigh of relief, thinking, “So it’s a person.”
They walked over and pushed aside the grass, seeing a young man with thick eyebrows and large eyes lying on the ground, a dagger plunged into his chest, his lips blackened, and his consciousness fading.
Gou Wa and Xiao Hei helped the young man up.
The young man looked at the two half-grown boys tremblingly and said, “Thank you, two young brothers. I’m poisoned, and I’m afraid I don’t have long to live.”
The young man took out a cloth bag from his Pregnant and said.
“This is a Martial Arts Secret Manual passed down in my family. Unfortunately, it has been passed down for nine generations to me, and not a single person has been able to comprehend it.
I will give this Secret Manual to you, hoping that one day, within your capabilities, you can help me avenge myself.”
The young man smiled with difficulty and said.
“You don’t need to feel burdened. If you can help me avenge myself, that’s naturally good. Even if you can’t, it doesn’t matter. This Secret Manual is simply a gift to you.
My name is Wang Ping, a Green-Robed Disciple of the Green Dragon Gang. I was ambushed and severely wounded by my good friend Wang Teng, but I am truly unwilling to accept this.
To think that we went to the Green Dragon Gang together from the same village, overcoming so many difficulties by supporting each other along the way.
We used to have such a good relationship, I don’t know why he wanted to kill me. I hate it.
If you can avenge me in the future, please ask him why he wanted to harm me.
He is easy to recognize; he has a peanut-sized birthmark on his thumb.
There are several long hairs on the birthmark, and he plays with those hairs when he has nothing to do.”
Gou Wa pondered for a moment, then looked at Xiao Hei. Xiao Hei also didn't know what to do, then looked back at the young man, Wang Ping, and hesitated before saying.
“Your wish for revenge is probably very difficult to achieve. We are people who often don't know where our next meal will come from. I can only say we'll see. If we truly have that ability, helping you avenge yourself is not impossible.”
The young man smiled with relief upon hearing this, and then, not long after, he succumbed to the poison and died.
Gou Wa and Xiao Hei spent a long time digging a pit and buried the young man.
At this point, they no longer had any interest in raiding bird nests. The two then returned along the same path.
On the way, they opened the cloth bag and saw a yellowed book. They didn't know what material it was made of, but it didn't seem to be paper, and it looked quite old.
They opened it and looked for a long time but couldn't understand anything, because they were illiterate, and there was no one in the village who could read.
The two looked at each other blankly. Finally, Gou Wa put it away, planning to look at it again when they learned to read in the future.
As they arrived at their doorstep, Father and his third and fourth brothers were just about to go hunting. Father saw Gou Wa and Xiao Hei and called out, asking.
“Gou Wa, why did you get up so early today? What were you doing?”
Gou Wa pretended to be foolish, saying, “Nothing much, just went to play for a while.”
Father then looked at Xiao Hei. Xiao Hei glanced at Gou Wa and said guiltily, “Uncle San, we just went to play.”
Father snorted and looked at Gou Wa, saying, “Don’t think I don’t know. I’ll deal with you when I get back.” Then he turned and left for the mountains with his third and fourth brothers.
Gou Wa made a face at Xiao Hei, then the two went their separate ways home.
Having run all morning, he was hungry. When he got home, Mother kept asking questions, which he managed to evade with difficulty.
Then Mother brought the food, her face stern, and scolded him affectionately, “I didn’t see you at mealtime. This is what I saved for you.
Don’t run off during meals again. If it happens next time, you’ll go hungry.”
Lu Yun, however, made a face and then wolfed down his food. People in the mountains were poor, so breakfast was usually simple: a roasted sweet potato and a piece of dried meat.
This was how meat was eaten in the villagers' homes, because sometimes when they caught a lot of game, they couldn't finish it and were afraid it would spoil, so they usually just dried it simply.
Village Chief Old Han was the most knowledgeable person in the village.
Because he often went to town to procure things, everyone loved to hear him talk about people and events in the outside world.
He once mentioned that in “Heyang City,” there were two major gangs: the “Green Dragon Gang” and the “Blood Sabre Sect.”
The two major gangs had countless Martial Forest experts, but their strengths were similar, and they often fought fiercely over territory.
“Qingyang Town” was a remote small town under the jurisdiction of “Heyang City,” belonging to the sphere of influence of the “Green Dragon Gang.”
After eating, Gou Wa patted his belly, let out a satisfied burp, and said with a smile, “Feeling full is so comfortable.” Just then, Fifth Sister came over.
Gou Wa smiled and said, “Fifth Sister, go help me wash the dishes.”
Fifth Sister rolled her eyes at Gou Wa and said, “Don’t you have hands yourself?”
Fifth Sister was quite pretty, with a melon-seed face, cherry lips, and dark, very thin skin.
The main reason was that there were many people to feed in the family. Because men had to hunt, they had to eat their fill. Sometimes, when game was scarce, women could only eat a tiny bit and then there was none left, leading to malnutrition.
Gou Wa chuckled and said, “Fifth Sister, when I make a lot of money in the future, I’ll take you to town and you can buy whatever you want. You’re so beautiful, and in nice clothes, you’ll be even prettier.”
Fifth Sister pouted, glanced at Gou Wa, and said, “You’re such a sweet talker.” But she still took the dishes to wash.
“I’m full, going to find Xiao Hei. Mother, I’ll be back after playing for a while.” Mother had just told him to come back early, but Gou Wa was already out of sight.
When he arrived at Xiao Hei’s house, he saw Xiao Hei with a bitter expression. Gou Wa asked, “What’s wrong? Did you get punished?”
Xiao Hei nodded with a bitter face and said, “When I got home, my Father asked me where I’d been. You know I stutter when I lie to my Father.
So, I had no choice but to tell the truth, and my Father beat me with a rattan stick so hard I can’t sit down now.”
Gou Wa chuckled and said, “It’s okay, didn’t we get something out of it?”
Xiao Hei said angrily, “You’re still laughing? It wasn’t you who got beaten, so you don’t feel the pain.”
Gou Wa quickly apologized, saying, “Alright, alright, Xiao Hei, I was wrong.”
Gou Wa then took out the cloth bag, shook it, and said, “Let’s go to the inner room and study this Secret Manual.”
Xiao Hei’s eyes lit up, and he quickly said, “Let’s go, let’s go… to my room.”
The two of them studied for an entire morning but didn’t figure out anything.
Gou Wa finally looked at Xiao Hei and said, “Forget it for now. We’ll talk about it when we have a chance to learn to read. It’s getting late, my Father should be back.”
As they just stepped out, they ran into Village Chief Old Han.
Old Han saw Gou Wa and asked with a stern face, “Was it you and my Xiao Hei who went into the mountains together this morning?”
Gou Wa saw that he couldn’t hide it and had to admit it. Then Old Han lectured him, saying, “What if you had encountered a wild beast? It’s too dangerous, you’re not allowed to go again.”
Village Chief Old Han lectured Gou Wa with a dark face.
“Alright, you go back. Oh, by the way, I saw your second uncle in town yesterday.
He asked me to tell your Father that he’ll be back to see you all in three days.”
Gou Wa exclaimed, “Really? My second uncle is coming back?”
Old Han hummed and said, “Hurry back.”
“Alright, goodbye, Uncle Han.”