Paths Of Life

 

Volume 2 : Path of a Warrior

 

Chapter 6 : Helping Big Brother

 

The Sun had painted the sky with a dull orange hue as it set. The men who had left at dawn to hunt for game would soon be returning. Then the villagers would all gather around the central grand bonfire to make merry.  

 

Not that any of that had anything to do Zhang Gui. Most of the villagers treated him like he was air, they wouldn’t engage with him at all. He had tried to interact with them at the behest of Master Zhen and, they did talk to him back then when they saw the hulking figure of Master Zhen staring from far away - after all who wouldn’t. But as soon as Master Zhen turned away, they would revert back to their previous selfs.  

 

Regardless it did not bother him too much. He was bound to be a temporary guest at this tribe and he would be well on his way as soon as he found out about the whereabouts of Mount Lao. Unfortunately, so far he had zero leads. Both Master Zhen and Chief Daquan had never heard of such a mountain before. 

 

Now that it was clear that no one in the Ao Tribe knew of a mountain named Lao, his options were limited. The best he could think of was to inquire about it at the Peng Tribe which he had heard was a tribe similar to the Ao a few miles away. Unfortunately, from what he had heard, they did not seem to have a favourable impression of the Ao Tribe. Therefore expecting them to just help him in his search was a bit too optimistic.

 

“If I can just find my way to the Peng Tribe on my own then I can just pretend to be an abandoned kid and then perhaps they will help me just like the Ao tribe did. No! No!             Just because the Ao tribe was kind to me does not mean that all tribes here would act the same way. Even the members of this tribe are only barely okay with me being here. God knows how the Peng Tribe would react.”

 

“ What should I do then?  That bastard Ji… at least he should have told me where I could find this mountain. Does he expect me to climb every mountain in this place in search of a knife? “ 

 

Zhang Gui was too engrossed in his mental deliberations to notice the huge tree trunk that he was walking straight towards.

 

*Thud*

 

It was only after he hit the trunk head-on did he realize that he had already reached his destination. It was this very tree.

 

The Western Drupe tree was what the villagers called it since it only grew on the soil of western frontier and once a year it would yield a sweet citrus fruit called drupe. Bo had found this one on the first day of their stay in the tribe. Ever since then, he would spend most of his time on the tree, only ever coming down for some food and water. Even Zhang Gui considered it their hideout at this point. Located in a discrete corner of the village, it was rarely visited by the tribesmen.

 

It had taken quite a bit of huffing and puffing for him to climb the tree back when he first tried to but with practice and experience now on his side,  he was almost as agile as Bo in climbing the tree. Regardless of how the day went, he would make sure to climb- this tree every evening to watch the Sun set and the moons rise. It had become a daily ritual at this point. The tree, being the tallest one in and around the village, provided an excellent vantage point to view the night sky.

 

Whenever Zhang Gui saw the two moons rise up over the horizon, a strange feeling seemed to permeate through his body - a faint connection to the celestial bodies up above. Staring at the twin lunar spheres set his heart at ease but it was a fleeting emotion at best and he could never figure out the reason behind it. 

 

“You know Brother Bo, today that I was tested by that Creepy Man and he said that I now have a passing proficiency in Taka. It won’t be long before we can leave this tribe and find that damned mountain. As long as we can get our hands on that knife, we can negotiate with them to give you a human body.”

 

All he got in response from Bo was a soft grunt. He understood that Bo was skeptical of their chances and yet hoping for a good outcome nonetheless. Thankfully Bo was much better at charades than Master Zhen, he and Bo could easily communicate with just signs and body language. 

 

On top of that, Zhang Gui was also trying to teach Taka to Bo by constantly talking to him. Even if he could never speak it, just understanding it was more than enough. However, Bo could not learn it as fast as he had, which is why he tried to talk to Bo every opportunity he could. 

 

There was one more reason behind Zhang Gui’s incessant chattering - one that was unspoken. He simply wanted Bo to feel better. Ever since they had crash landed in the forest, Bo had displayed a  confused and depressed look. It had only gotten worse during their stay at the Ao Tribe. With Zhang Gui stuck in the Chief’s Residence for the greater part of the day, Bo would just  idle around on top of the Western Drupe tree. Zhang Gui hoped that one day he would be able to compensate for all the wrongs he had inflicted upon Bo. 

 

By this point, the entire village knew about the exotic looking golden furred monkey that had been brought in  with Zhang Gui. They could not understand why Zhang Gui would talk to the monkey as if it could understand him. Even Master Zhen was confused when he first saw it happen but Zhang Gui offered no explanation. He had decided to keep the happenings of Diyu a secret. Not that anyone would ever believe him even if he talked about it. 

 

The one person that he did tell everything about Diyu was - Bo. It had all just slipped out in the form of a frustration fueled rant a few days ago. He had expected for Bo to give him the cold shoulder or perhaps even directly attack him  but the yellow furred monkey did neither. He just stared out into the sky for a while and then eventually with a shrug of his shoulders, he went back to normal.

 

Eventually, the villagers simply attributed his odd behaviour of talking to Bo as a mental derangement that he had developed as a result of living isolated in the forest for many years.  

 

“For many years , huh ?”

 

“A lone boy, abandoned by his tribe, who survived by wandering the Redwood forests -  they sure did come up with a good background story for me.”

 

“Well with this malnourished body and all the scars on it, I can’t exactly blame them for coming up with that explanation.”

 

“Oi ! Little brother! Why do you climb this tree every evening? Are you spying on some chicks that caught your eye from up there? “

 

The pearl like Moons were shining resplendently as always , the smell of the sizzling meat was drifting in the wind - flirting with every nose it could find, the jovial mood of the villagers gathered around the grand bonfire was almost infectious …. And yet it was all decimated in an instant by this man - Ao Longwei.

 

“Of course… he is here again.”, it wouldn't be a normal day if he was not interrupted by Ao Longwei.

 

“Oh wow! Can you not stare at me with that death glare of yours?  It gives me shivers honestly. You make it seem like you are looking at some disgusting creature instead of your big brother.”

 

The hunters had returned carrying the carcasses of their prey so naturally it was also time for Ao Longwei to return empty handed. It had almost become a folk tale for the villagers by now - ‘ the Ao who could not hunt’.  

 

He had been asked to hunt one more prey to qualify for the hunting party when he brought back Zhang Gui. It had been 21 days since then. Everyday he would head out into the forest at dawn with utmost confidence and enthusiasm reflecting on his face, only to return with a defeated look on his face. He would then immediately rush to find Zhang Gui and cry about his problems.

 

“I thought I saw a boar today but the nasty bastard vanished into the wind as soon as I walked towards him. “

 

“I scoured the entire forest today but there was simply no trace of any animal to be found. It was like the entire forest had emptied out overnight.”

 

“Little bro, I am telling you it is simply my luck which is too rotten. The others are just far too lucky.”

 

Each day he would complain about everything under the Sun for his incompetence - in fact one of the times he even blamed the Sun for blinding his eyes just as he was about to trap a racoon.

 

“Anyway let’s have a chat lil Brother Gui, if you can’t climb down then I’ll just have to come to you,”

 

With an uncanny swiftness Ao Longwei climbed up the tree, jumping from branch to branch, he reached the highest branch that Bo and Zhang Gui were seated at sooner than Zhang Gui or Bo could ever manage to.

 

“ For someone who is called an incompetent hunter apprentice, he sure is skilled. The agility with which he climbed the tree…. How can someone like him fail at hunting.” , It was truly baffling.

 

“So I hear that congratulations are in order, Chief Daquan has hijacked the grand bonfire party telling everyone about his brilliant teaching methods that managed to teach you Taka in such a short time.”

 

“Yes. Thank you.” , ever since the day he was forced into becoming a little brother Zhang Gui had decided to make brevity his friend. 

 

“The Chief was also heartbroken over having to discontinue your daily classes but at least now you will be free during the day, won’t you?”

 

“I guess.” , Zhang Gui could feel that Ao Longwei was up to something fishy but there was not much he could do. Bo had already recused himself to a neighbouring tree as soon as Longwei began climbing the Western Drupe.

 

“If you like staring at the Moons so much then you should look forward to tomorrow. It will be a night of full moons. It will be the official start of fall. Looks like they will be constituting the new hunting party the day after.” , he paused to gauge Zhang Gui’s reaction but all he got to see was a poker face. 

 

He could only boldly continue, “ I think you already know about the conditions Chief Daquan had asked me to fulfill to qualify for the hunting party and at the moment I’m only one hunt down from qualifying. I’m telling you this is all a work of my misfortune. Otherwise how could someone as awesome as your Big Brother be incapable of catching some paltry animals.”

 

“Tomorrow will be my last try at hunting and I have always thought of you as my lucky star. You are also free tomorrow, so I was just thinking if you would accompany me in the hunt. You don’t have to say yes, Master Zhen told me that I could take you with me if you willingly wanted to. But of course I assured him that you would agree afterall I am the one who saved you from the treacherous life of living alone in the forest.”, he glanced around nervously towards Zhang Gui with a pitiful look on his face.

 

“So this was his motive. He must be desperate asking someone like me for help.”, Zhang Gui was prepared with his answer before the question had even been asked. He took a deep breath trying to think of a polite way of saying no.

 

But Ao Longwei was truly desperate, as soon as he felt the hesitation build up within Zhang Gui, he laid out his final bait, “As your big brother, it would be inconsiderate of me to ask for your help without any compensation. How about this - weren’t you looking for a Mount Lao?  Well, I have never heard of such a name but we can go hunting around the mountains that surround the village tomorrow. Perhaps one of them might turn out to be the one that you are in search of. What do you say now?”

 

Those words forced Zhang Gui to halt the refusal he was preparing to state.

 

“He will show me around all the mountains surrounding the village ?”

 

Zhang Gui had given Mount Lao a great deal of thought over the past few days. He had concluded that it would not make sense for Ji Heian to teleport him into the Redwood forest without some sort of a plan. Therefore, it only made sense for Mount Lao to be one of the many mountains that formed the land of the Redwood Forest. 

 

Suddenly, his mind was filled with reasons that would justify agreeing to Ao Longwei’s deal.

 

“As annoying as he is, this Longwei fellow is the only one in the entire village that I can even call a friend. He was happy to talk to me when all the others were averting their gaze. I guess..I owe him this much.”  - Naturally this was a thought that he would never give voice to.

 

“Also, Bo could use some change of scenery. Maybe that would help improve his mood.”

 

The mental gymnastic skill of the Ao tribe was clearly contagious

“Fine.”

 

“What?! Did you just say…”

 

“Yes. Let us go hunting.”