Mirror Kingdom, the autumn of 144 in the new calendar.
Autumn has come in a southern city across which some soldiers walked by. They wore thorn armor made by cheap tough straw, which showed that the military force here were not strong.
To be honest, however, no southern city seemed to be rich in military strength.
A hundred years ago, the former emperor fought all his way from the north and conquered the central plain in Southern Wind Continent. The Mirror Tribe became the Mirror Kingdom, with Fan City which is called Mirror City now as its capital. Most people enjoyed the peaceful life in the capital and its surrounding cities. Who would like to waste his life in the desolate city?
An old man served the tea for the soldiers and himself in his tea booth near the city gate. He drank the tea and sighed, "The capital of G.o.d-blessing Country is now a desolate city in the frontier. The past has all gone. What a pity!"
A young soldier with an imposing appearance seemed to be a commander. After hearing the sigh, the young soldier changed his expression slightly, "Don"t make discreet remarks, Uncle Tea. If the G.o.d-blessing City were not desolate, how could the Mirror City be prosperous?"
"What a pity!" the old man turned a deaf ear to his words and said that again. Then he poured a cup of tea for himself again and drank up, his hands shaking.
The young commander wanted to debate but stopped when he saw the old man"s shaking hands. It is said that the old man has experienced the war between the G.o.d-blessing Country and the Mirror Tribe. He used to be a hero, but now he was old and can only walk to the end of life with his tea booth.
Those new soldiers were unhappy that an old man dare say the opposite of what their leader said. When a raw soldier stood up and was about to say something, a desperate cry came from outside of the city gate. The loud deafening noise sounded like a m.u.f.fled waterfall.
Is there a brawny man crying outside? Every soldier was shocked and they ran towards the wall at once, no attention for this old man.
The young leader ran far ahead of the soldiers and climbed up the wall with his light body skill. Viewing from the wall, he saw a black spot running towards the wall at incredible speed in the vast sunny bright. It can disturb people in the city even if it was still far away. The leader was afraid that it cannot be normal people.
The spot was nearer and nearer, the leader did not know whether he was friendly or not. He drew his bow and pointed at the spot, asking, "Who are you? We will spare you if you tell us your name!"
But the burly man did not answer him, running with heavy dust and clearer cry.
"Is that a lunatic?"
"It seems that someone is chasing after him…"
"He looks strong but he is as timid as a hare!"
The soldiers discussed about him on the wall when he was only 100 meters away from the gate.
The young leader found the burly man had something on his back when he was about to shoot. The man wore animal furs which covered the person on his back. He did not hold the person at all so that the young leader did not find the person a moment before.
At that time, the huge man lifted his head and looked into the young leader"s eyes. The young leader felt like something running over his chest and he could not spit out a word. The burly man stopped at the gate and let out a long wail which resounded through the Nine Song City and frightened people"s heart. Other soldiers were all pressed down to the ground by the howl.
The young leader pulled himself together and looked at the man whose eyes were filled with pain and entreaty. He turned round and round like a desperate beast, pointing at the person on his back for a moment and the gate later.
The young leader wondered if he wanted to open the gate. Receiving no response, the burly man rushed towards the gate with a cry. The leader demanded the soldier to open the gate at once.
The leader did this for some reasons. Although the strange man looked lunatic, he had incredible destructive power. They would lose more if they have him break the gate. On the other side, it was less difficult for them to catch him when he was in the city rather than in the jungle.
The st.u.r.dy man intended to break the gate so he dropped to the ground when the gate was opened suddenly. The person on his back was thrown out. The young leader jumped down the wall and took a spear from a soldier, pointing at the person.
The st.u.r.dy man stood up slowly and patted on his back, only to find that the person was not there. When he saw the leader pointed at the person he wanted to protect, he was frightened and let out a screech, which shocked everyone with its volume and painful feeling.
The young leader was confused but he did not dare to move his spear. What if the st.u.r.dy man rips his head off when he moves his spear?
They fell into a stalemate.
"Hai…hai…" a weak cough came up between them.
The young leader was startled. It was the person pointed by him who was talking. He could not distinguish whether the person in furs was old or young, man or woman.
"Brother…haihai…please put down your spear." The talker sounds young, "A Mang is not malicious."
Hearing the person"s voice, the burly man calmed down, staring at the leader silently. He looked totally different from the crazy state he was in a moment before.
"Who are you? Why are you in Nine Song City?" the leader did not move his hand, asking seriously.
"My name is Yun Qing, and he is A Mang. We met some bandits and lost our luggage." The child was still coughing but he was organized, "A Mang was strong so we beat some of them and escaped."
Then he coughed for a while and finished their story intermittently. They lost their luggage and got lost in the mountains. A Mang was mentally disabled and did not know a little of attending others. The child was not strong and soon got sick. He told A Mang to find a doctor in a town and fell into coma. A Mang did not know the way, so he just tried his best to run north. That"s why the scene at the beginning happened.
The young leader shouted without moving his spear, "Summon the military doctor!"
The doctor was a looker-on in the crowds. He ran to the leader and wondered whether the leader wanted him to treat the child. And he was afraid that the big guy would kill him if he could not cure the child.
"Examine his condition."
The short doctor had to put his hand in the furs, only to touch a cold hand. Doctor Liu got goose b.u.mps and wondered whether the child was dead with such a cold temperature. Then he felt the child"s pulse was normal, he calmed down.
"He seems to catch cold in the mountain. He looks so bad probably because he was frightened in the accident."
"Nothing abnormal?" the leader asked in a low voice.
"No, Leader Song. It is just an ordinary cold." Doctor Liu answered submissively.
"Go and treat him."
"Yes, Sir. I"ll go now." Doctor Liu shouldered the child with the furs together.
A Mang uttered a howl, anxious.
"Don"t worry, A Mang. It"s OK." The child, who was called Yun Qing, comforted him.
Doctor Liu took away the child whose background was unclear. Leader Song took charge of the burly man himself. Other on lookers took their own business and walked away.
The Uncle Tea squinted at the chaos and drank a cup of water.
The desolate city and the unenlightened people did not know it was long before the ending of the elder generation"s game.