Chapter 1: Mountain Village
At the southwestern edge of the endless Barren Moon Continent, the undulating Great Qing Mountains stretched into a crisscrossing pattern of dark, winding lines.
By now, the sun had set in the west, and the night grew deeper. The dim glow of oil lamps had gradually lit up the village at the foot of the mountains. The old locust trees at the village entrance rustled loudly as the wind blew through their leaves.
Occasionally, a few barks from village dogs echoed far into the distance, prompting more barks in response before slowly fading back into silence...
The oil lamp cast flickering shadows of a few blurred figures on the dried, cracked earthen walls inside the house, some long, some short, all slanting.
"Wife, let's just settle on this! At least as a soldier, he'll have food to eat and won't starve. If he's lucky and does well, he might even make something of himself!"
An elderly man sat by the door, leaning against the frame. His face was weathered from years of labor, his skin rough, and his back slightly hunched as he sat. In his hand was a tobacco pipe, its stem dangling a yellowed, blackened tobacco pouch. After speaking, he took a deep puff.
"Pah-dah, pah-dah..."
In the quiet room, the sound was sharp and crisp.
"But... Little Fifth is only fourteen. He's still so young..."
An elderly woman, dressed in tattered clothes, sat on a simple, low stool. Tears streamed down her wrinkled face as she spoke.
The old man sighed.
"With two straight years of locust plagues, it's not just our family, more than half the village has run out of food. Some go to the city to work, some travel far away, and some join the army. Our Little Third's leg was injured years ago and left him disabled, he can't do much outside anyway. As for Little Fifth, his build makes him look sixteen or seventeen. No one would doubt it! Besides, joining the army means he won't starve, and we'll even get an advance subsidy. Once he's settled, if he's willing, he can send some money back every month."
After speaking, the old man lowered his head and continued smoking in silence. The woman inside the house wept quietly.
Outside, a figure crouched against the wall by the door, facing the distance. He stared blankly at the dark outlines of the distant mountains, silent for a long time, lost in thought.
Amid the stillness inside and outside the house, time passed slowly. The mountain village under the night sky felt unusually quiet.
After a while, the figure outside stood up and turned to enter the house.
It was a teenage boy, his frame suggesting he was around sixteen or seventeen, though he was somewhat thin and frail. His face was dark and unremarkable, his clothes made of old, coarse cloth with several patches.
As soon as he entered, he glanced at the people inside and spoke softly.
"Father, Mother, don't worry. Many from the village have already left. The harvest at home is barely enough to survive. Even though the village chief leads some of us to hunt in the mountains, we can't go too deep just the outskirts, where we occasionally catch pheasants or rabbits. But it's never enough to go around. I want to go out and see the world too. With Third Brother and Fourth Sister here, they can take care of you."
The boy was actually only fourteen, but years of hunting in the mountains and farming had made him grow quickly. However, due to poor nutrition in recent years, he had become thin and weak.
His name was Li Yan, a quiet boy who had studied in the village's private school for six or seven years under the old scholar alongside other children his age. After the old scholar passed away, he spent less time studying and more time hunting in the outskirts of the Great Qing Mountains with the village men.
At first, he had sneaked out secretly, but over time, his secret outings were discovered, and he was inevitably scolded and beaten by his parents. But this was how all village children grew up, under the sound of their parents' scolding and beatings.
As Li Yan grew older, he began openly joining the hunting parties, gradually learning the habits of wild beasts and taking part in the hunts. Running and leaping through mountain streams over the years had made him taller and stronger.
But with the locust plagues of the past two years, the family's main food supply had dwindled. They could only eat half-full meals, and his once-strong body had grown thin.
Li Yan had five siblings. His eldest and second sisters had married far away when he was ten and twelve. His fourth sister, Li Xiaozhu, was already betrothed, but due to the locust plagues, her fiancé's family that was not wealthy to begin with couldn't gather the betrothal gifts. Still, they promised to do so soon, likely within a year or two.
His third brother, Li Wei, had injured his ankle while plowing the fields years ago. With no money for a proper doctor, the delay left him with a permanent limp.
Inside the house, Li Wei, kneeling beside his mother, looked up at Li Yan with guilt.
"Little Fifth, I..."
"Third Brother, don't say anything. You'll need to take care of things at home from now on."
Li Yan smiled faintly, cutting him off.
"Maybe I'll become a general someday. Then I'll bring all of you to live in comfort. Wouldn't that be something?"
Li Wei looked at him, sighed softly, then turned back to their mother, who was still quietly sobbing as Fourth Sister patted her back.
"Then maybe Little Fifth will be the one to bring glory to the Li family."
In truth, Li Wei and Li Yan weren't completely ignorant of the outside world. Villagers who went to the city to sell game or furs or to buy supplies often brought back news.
Their village was near the border, with the Meng Kingdom to the south. Skirmishes between the two nations were frequent, and the chances of soldiers being sent to the frontlines were high especially in recent years, when conflicts erupted more often.
Because of this, conscription had become common. In the past, enlistment required village guarantees, proof of age, identity, and background. Now, as long as the village chief sent someone, they could join the army with far fewer restrictions.
These conflicts arose because the current emperor ruled the empire with a focus on literary and moral governance. The court emphasized civil affairs over military strength, emboldening neighboring countries to stir unrest. In recent years, battles had broken out not just in this region but along other borders as well.
The imperial court couldn't supply enough troops from the capital, so local garrisons had to recruit soldiers themselves to replenish their ranks.
Refugees from other regions might not know the truth, but locals understood, enlisting meant a high chance of being sent to war. As a result, few villagers were eager to join.
Yet, constrained by the emperor's emphasis on civil virtue, local garrisons couldn't enforce conscription.
So, in recent years, they began offering upfront payments to new recruits' families, essentially a settlement allowance, to encourage enlistment.
This measure did attract many poor farming families to send their sons to the army, though wealthy merchants would never consider it.
But these were matters village women knew nothing about. In this male-dominated world, men rarely shared such things with their wives.
Their village, over two hundred li from the nearest town, had only twelve or thirteen households. It was rare for anyone to enlist as a soldier.
These topics, however, became fodder for gossip among the men in the fields or during hunts. Li Wei and Li Yan had picked up bits of information while working or traveling with the hunting parties.
The room fell silent again. After a long while, Old Man Li knocked his tobacco pipe against the threshold and stood.
"Then I'll go speak to the village chief. You all rest."
With that, he walked into the village under the moonlight. Soon, his hunched figure disappeared into the early autumn night. The wind had turned cold.
Moonlight spilled through the torn paper windows onto the kang (heated bed), illuminating the tattered quilts with exposed cotton. Li Wei and Li Yan lay back-to-back.
"Little Fifth, in the army, stay calm. Endure what you must, don't act recklessly."
"Mhm."
A stretch of silence.
"If... if there's a battle, and no one's watching, don't rush to the front. Stay a few steps behind!"
"Mhm."
Another pause.
"Don't worry about home. With your enlistment subsidy, I'll take care of Father and Mother. Use your monthly pay to buy more meat for yourself. Only when you're strong can you avoid being bullied."
"Mhm. Third Brother, you'll have to work harder in the fields. Father and Mother are getting old."
"I will. As long as I'm here, they won't go hungry."
"..."
Occasional words continued in the darkness, interspersed with long silences.
The moonlight was like water; the night, cool and still.
Late at night, the main door creaked softly, and the brothers stopped talking.
Soon, faint, barely audible whispers came from the side room, Father and Mother speaking in hushed tones, too muffled to make out.
Before long, Fourth Sister and Mother's quiet sobs could be heard. It seemed Fourth Sister had been comforting her all along.
Li Yan remained on his back, staring blankly at the wall in the dark.
The cracks on the wall, illuminated by the hazy moonlight, seemed to carry the voices of his family and memories of the past, stretching from his head down to his heart...
(Chapter End)
This novel is a true hidden gem, hopefully I can churn out some chaps fast. Feel free to point out any errors you come across, and enjoy the read!