1st Book: The Empire’s Traveler
Prologue: The carriage which pa.s.sed by Deerwood Village
The Arch of Deerwood had been struggling to stand at the east of the town for two-hundred-and-thirty years. The words “Peace and Prosperity” and the original floral patterns on the sign were difficult to recognise. In the cracks between the rocks, yellow and withered weeds could be seen growing with vitality.
Through the wormwood, the early morning sunshine fell on Lin Xi’s body. Mottled with light and shadow, the leisureliness on the handsome face of this eighteen-year-old young man gave an illusion that he had been through a mult.i.tude of vicissitudes of life.
Standing in front of him was a comely twin-tail girl who looked two years younger than him. Compared to her thin body, her eyes were unusually large.
This handsome girl was not an inhabitant of Deerwood. She just came out from nowhere and walked to Lin Xi. Lin Xi had never seen this girl, but she began to ask him a lot of questions about him. She looked so serious from the very beginning, driving out all the childishness from her face.
“It’s really hard to explain it to you. After all, it’s out of sheer boredom…” Lin Xi was talking to the girl seriously as well.
“OK” nodded the girl. She moved on to another question seriously, “So what are you looking at all this time, standing here, stretching out your neck trying to look upwards? What’s so interesting with this arch?”
“I’m not admiring this arch.” Lin Xi waved his head and pointed at the top of the arch, “That nest is probably going to fall. There are two young birds in it. I’m not sure if I can catch them safely. If I make it, I can give them to my younger sister as a gift.”
It was a strange scene. Lin Xi was like a student answering a question from the teacher. But the teacher was even younger than the student. And neither of the two found it strange.
Hearing Lin Xi’s answer, the girl didn’t say anything but turned with a nod as a goodbye and left. She walked through the arch, crossed three alleys and went towards a coach staying at the side of the gravel road across the town of Deerwood.
She got on the coach, sat at the driver’s position, took the whip and ordered the two grey old horses to shamble forward. Her movements were skilled and natural, as if she was used to doing this.
“All cleared?” A chilly, prideful voice of a woman arose from inside the silent coach.
“His name is Lin Xi. He’s from the Lin Family, who owns of the shop at the west side of the town. Eighteen years old, he has a sister who is seven years younger than him.” The girl didn’t turn around when she answered, but flocked the whip gently. It seemed that she treated everything seriously, no matter when she was asking questions, answering questions, or driving a coach.
The cold and prideful voice didn’t rise again, but she still continued, “People here prefer to call him Awesome Lin.”
“Oh, why is that?”
The girl turned around a little and answered, “Because he bursts out gibberish quite often, and likes to call people ‘awesome’. People here think there’s something wrong in his head, which is probably caused by a serious cold that he’s caught over two years ago. ”
“So, do you think there’s something wrong in his head?” the voice in the car arose after a moment’s break.
“He talked coherently. It didn’t seem like he’s a problem with his head. But he did say some strange things.” The girl frowned a little bit and continued after a short meditation, “After I asked him some questions, he asked me if I was checking his Hukou. I asked him what Hukou was, and he said I wouldn’t understand even if he explained to me. At the end, he said that he was standing under the arch because the nest on the top was going to fall. And he was waiting to catch the two young birds in it. And he was going to give them to his sister if he managed to catch them. But the nest was sitting firmly on the crossbeam under the overhanging eaves. I could only see a little bit of it from beneath. Even strong gasps of wind and storm wouldn’t shake it off. And most importantly, I couldn’t see a sign of living thing from where I was standing,”
“Even you can‘t make sure of it? He seems to be a tough one.” After a longer break, the voice arose again when the coach was already about to get out of Deerwood along the gravel road, “But it shouldn’t be tough for Qingluan Academy.”
The driving girl‘s eyebrows knit tighter. She asked in a more serious tone, “I don’t understand, my dear young lady.”
“When we pa.s.s by the Deereast Ling Office, tell Li Xiping to arrange him to Qingluan Academy. Counting the time spent in the journey, he should arrive there in time.”
“You are recommending him to the Concours of Qingluan?” The driving girl was surprised, “Why?”
“A funny reason. I remember when grandpa told me stories about that man. He said that the man used to shout things like ‘the storm’s coming, get the drying clothes back home!’ when there was no sign of rain. ” The speaker must have recalled some sweet memories. The chilliness in the voice was melting, as if delivered from a pair of smiling lips.
“Princ.i.p.al Zhang?” The driving girl’s back shivered, but she didn’t turn around.
“Who else do you think can let grandpa talk about his name all day?” the voice in the coach turned cold again, “When you get to Li Xiping, tell him to ‘take care’ of Mayor Zhang. Born a plebeian and a mere mayor, somehow he owns seven villas in the town. Send him to the Frontier Legion in the Valley of Dragon and Snake for three years. If he can make it through there, he could keep three of them. ”
“Is there anything else you want me to tell him?” The youthful girl nodded her head, and gently wielded her whip.
“Li Xiping stayed at the Frontier Legion for six years, and was a Lord for thirteen years. This kind of old fox is more clever than you think he is, I don’t need to tell him too much, he will understand what needs to be done.” The woman in the carriage sneered for a while, but after she finished her sentence, as if she suddenly remembered something, she faintly said,: “Tell him one more thing, I don’t want anyone else to know that I was the one who recommended Lin Xi.”
The wheels of the carriage made slight noises after coming into contact with the ground. In a forest outside Deerwood Village, the playful laughter of the kids stopped as they curiously looked at the carriage leaving Deerwood Village, go up a small hill and disappear in their curious sights.
“So there are masters in this world after all…” Lin Xi stood under the “Peace and Prosperity” sign having a strange expression. He was in deep thought, unknowingly touching his forehead as if there was a bruise.
“It’s about time.” Suddenly, his expression became solemn and serious as he pulled up his sleeves and made a pocket, looking up and focusing fully on the arch above his head.
“KA!”
The moment he finished this strange movement, maybe because it had not rained for a while, another wormwood sprout vigorously squeezed itself out of the cracks. On that upturned eaves, a wooden edge suddenly had a tiny explosion causing that crossbeam to tilt suddenly.
In the midst of a hurried cry of the fledglings, Lin Xi moved his pockets, as if he knew where and how the bird’s nest would land, catching the falling bird’s nest in his pockets firmly.
He had a resplendent smile on his face, so the morning of the Deerwood village became brisk. An eighteen year old mischievous child, holding a bird nest made of rotten leaves was running on the streets, pa.s.sing through the Broken Stone Road, walking on the rocks that had becoming smooth over years of people walking over it, his cheerful footsteps brought about a series of laughter.
“Aiyo, walk slowly, be careful not to injure yourself.”
“It’s really Awesome Lin… Such a grown-up, yet he still digs for bird nests.”
“Sigh, Isn’t it so, he’s so old, yet he still plays with birds…”
“…” Hearing the auntie talk about him playing with birds made him get gooseb.u.mps all over his body. (TLN: Playing with birds is slang for masturbating in China) He did not stop, walking all the way to the north of the village to a manor which two stone lions at the door before stopping. After catching his breath, this handsome young man stuck out his chest and opened the red lacquered door, as if a general returning victorious, arrogantly walking in the manor shouting: “Lil’ Sis, come out quickly, I’ve brought something cool to show you.”
“Bro, what cool thing is it?”
As a childish voice responded, a girl wearing a small jacket dashed out of a room.
This twelve-year-old girl was very beautiful, her eyebrows were like paintings, having one small ponytail, her eyes were clear and bright and her delicate face had ink stains, making one to cannot help but laugh.
“Ah!… Small birds! Ah! TWO small birds!” Just by one look, this cute girl was frozen there, and as if waking up from a dream, she could not stopping screaming in joy.
“Lin Xi!”
A woman who was furious and worried quickly walked out from the backyard. Her eyebrows and eyes were similar to the girl and Lin Xi, although she had wrinkles at the corner of her eye, but at a backward place like Deerwood Village, she still looked extraordinary.
“Mum! this was dropped from the Peace and Prosperity sign. I did not climb to high alt.i.tudes to get this, if not my clothes would be in a mess right now.” The moment Lin Xi saw this beautiful woman, he stuck out his tongue and quickly explained.
This beautiful woman looked at Lin Xi’s clothes, and became soft immediately. In fact she knew that ever since her son woke up after catching the cold, other than saying all sorts of weird things, her son did not do anything that made her worry.
“Don’t touch it, Qian Qian, go and wash your face, then I will tell you how to take care of them.”
“Ah! Mum you’re the best!” the cute girl excitedly jumped around
“Bro, Since there are two birds, Why not call one Lin Xi and the other Lin Qian?”
“Er… Silly Sis, who will call themselves birds, isn’t that indirectly calling themselves Bird People?” (TLN: Calling people Bird People is an insult in China)
Deerwood Village Morning, in this serene manor, an eighteen year old youth and a girl with a clean face rested their cheeks on their hands, being entranced by the bird’s nest under the window in a bamboo cage, while talking.
In that nest, were two yellow, hairy birds that were full from eating.
To their opposite, in a room, the beautiful woman was cleaning up the paper and ink on the desk near the window while smiling at the youth and girl who were talking.