Yafan is one of the largest villages in the north. With almost ten thousand residents, one might even feel inclined to call it a small town. Having enjoyed a period of prosperity and an influx of immigrants under the rational and efficient governorship of Yao Erzhan, the leader of Songshu sect, Yafan was the commercial and cultural center of the norhwestern mountain range.

It was also Annu’s place of birth, and for the first ten years of his life, his entire world.

He was born to a servant family-that is, both his parents and grandparents and all the uncles, aunts, and cousins, were employed by the sect as janitors, messengers, medics, physical laborers, or administrative staff. Even though they were yaren, and therefore they did not have a surname, they kept their bloodline pure through the system of arranged marriages with other sheepfolk. If you were to see a heavily sheepified person in Yafan, with their facial features closer to that of an animal rather than human, thick patches of wool covering their skin and white, curly hair, barely distinguishable from wool itself, it’s no doubt a relative of Annu.

Last but not least, all the male members of the family had majestic, ram-like horns, that grew as they aged, and distinguished them among other families of the same beast type. The boy was no exception to that rule, but he didn’t actually look forward to growing them out, as they looked very unwieldy and frankly speaking, ugly.

His childhood wasn’t overly terrible, but it most certainly, wasn’t filled with happiness, either. He had many siblings, both older and younger, and he was often neglected and unnoticed by his parents, who preferred to dote on the older and more promising ones-leaving him a lot of free time and personal freedom to roam around and do whatever he wants.

Annu spent most of his free time either wandering around with no destination in mind, looking for new places to explore; or playing games such as tag, hide and seek, and other simple games. He would occasionally get into trouble if he didn’t watch out, being picked on by the other kids in his age group as he was neither the tallest, nor buffest nor the most extroverted member of the group, which made him somewhat isolated, and therefore an easy target for bullying.

He has had many encounters with these bastards, and usually, it didn’t end particularly well for him; many times he returned home bruised, his clothes torn, and his toys broken. However, he never told on them or complained. The bullies, in turn, knew not to go overboard with it, knowing that he’s from a fairly influential and prestigious family, and they can get in trouble if they seriously hurt him.

One day, his older brother found out about Annu’s daily torments. He was furious. He pushed the young boy and told him about the pride of their family, and how he had big, strong horns and should use them to defend himself and his honor. However, these words fell on deaf ears, and perhaps even had the opposite effect-Annu become even more withdrawn and cowardly than before.

His tenth birthday was supposed to be a turning point in his life. That’s the age young yaren are sent off to be servants for noble cultivator families! His peers rejoiced and threw him the biggest, most exquisite birthday party he ever had in his life! He got a lot of presents, even the most distant relatives and neighbors were invited, and the party lasted the whole day and night long.

However, the young sheepboy was not happy. He knew they are celebrating their own success, not his. He was also afraid of working. Annu heard the stories of servants being mistreated, punished, sent to detention, and even flogged for making mistakes. And he was certain that he will make plenty of mistakes, he was always known to be clumsy and a bit slow in both mind and body. Oh, what was he gonna do! He wished he was a pure human, and not a mixed breed. He didn’t understand his family’s pride, or why they kept their bestman blood thick through the arranged marriages. Surely the next generations would be happier if they were more human…?

Who knows, maybe they could even become cultivators and do miraculous things, or move south, where humans ruled and bestfolk served, and live like kings! …..However, it was just an impossible daydream. The following morning, he’d be sent off to Songshu pavilion, to work alongside some of his older siblings, and cousins, and a whole lot of strangers. He hoped he would get an easy job, one that is not particularly physically taxing nor requires bearing a lot of responsibility.

However, that was not to be his fate.

The next day his father informed him that due to various arrangements in between sects, he was to be sent far away to the southern village of Chenfei, and work for a fairly new, yet already quite respected Shuangshan sect that has its school there.

He protested, not wanting to be separated from his family nor leaving the familiar land of Yafan, but his parents would have none of that. They mentioned how they were going to be rewarded handsomely for this arrangement, how he was to become the founding father of their family branch in the south, and how life is not a wish-fulfillment lottery anyway. To prove this point, they shared some of their personal stories with him.

His mother told him how reluctant she was to marry a man she didn’t even know just to continue the bloodline when she was a teenager, yet she did, and in retrospect, it turned out great; his father told him how hard the work for Yafan’s sect is, and how much more benevolent Shuangshan is, and how they are known to treat their servants very well. Last but not least, they made it clear he had no choice in the matter-the arrangements have already been made, and he was to leave the next day. They offered to help him with the luggage, and he was free to take anything he wanted with him, within reason that is.

They promised to write him letters, and update him about the happenings in Yafan. In return, he was to write in detail about what was going on at Chenfei, especially focusing on whatever was master Lan Caolu up to, how many warriors he had, what projects was he undertaking. He was disgusted by these instructions and silently resolved himself not to tell them anything of worth.

The journey south took several weeks. He was traveling with a merchant caravan that took many stops along the way. He visited many villages of the north, but despite superficial cultural differences, they all looked more or less the same to him.

There was a burial mound, a marketplace, lots of farm fields and pastures around, warrior barracks, and a designated training area belonging to the local sect somewhere to the side of the main residential area. For reasons related to both geography and low population density, people of the northern and western mountains rarely banded together in large cities-instead they were spread out in tiny communities, with trader guilds, cultivator sects, and clans such as his own family being the common denominator uniting them into a single cultural identity.

Oh, how he wished to be a trader! Rather than confined to one of these boring settlements, he’d travel the world, free like a bird!

He would always pay close attention to the inner workings of the caravan, how they handled the supplies, how they counted the inventory and most of all, how they treated each other as equals. Even the caravan master would help out with mundane tasks, and the guards worked with regular employees doing whatever mundane task was at hand without a word of complaint or neglect.
Last but not least, the caravans were usually manned by yaren and mundane humans incapable of properly channeling qi-there was no servant master dynamics, and no one felt superior to another because of their inborn magical ability that from the perspective of powerless, was both incomprehensible and removed from common sense and laws of nature.

It is then, that Annu realized how much he despised the cultivators and qi itself….as well as his family who were not only content but also proud of their status of permanent servitude to these superhuman monsters.

Amazed by the spirit of unity at the caravan, one day he gathered all the courage he had, and approached the caravan master. He begged the old, one-eyed wolfman to let him join. He said he’s much stronger than he looks, thanks to his sheep genes, and he can help with unloading or packing the wares. With tears in his eyes, he pleaded to be accepted, narrating the abuse he suffered in his home village, and revealing how little he thinks of whatever destination they are headed for.

The old wolf put down his pipe, and looked far away, to the setting sun on the horizon. He didn’t say anything for a while, then finally spoke up.

“Little boy, we are obligated by a contract to deliver you to Chenfei. You are one of our wares, just like these boxes filled with pelt, and these jars of wine.”

Annu felt his heart break into tiny little pieces. However, the old man, seeing that, quickly raised his hand and added:

“However, do not be disheartened. After we deliver you, and you check-in at the servant’s quarters, our job is over. After that, you can just make a run for it, and join us in secret. How about that? Sounds good?”

The old man laughed, and the sheepboy laughed with him. Tears dripped down his cheeks, and gratitude filled his little heart. He knew what he’s going to do once they reach their destination! Screw his family, screw working for cultivator sects, a life of travel and freedom among like-minded comrades awaited him!

After that, they talked for a while. The old wolf, whose name was Banbao, shared the stories of his adventurous youth. Annu didn’t have much to talk about, but not to remain indebted, tried to make up by describing his hometown in as much detail as he could. The evening passed rather pleasantly, and the future seemed bright. For the first time in a while, the boy was happy and looked forward to tomorrow.


…………

“Wow that’s a really messed up family you had!” exclaimed Fuhei, bewildered but also invested in the story so far. “Here in the slums, we always look after each other. My parents died when I was a kid, and uncle Yuhei took me in. And most importantly, we always stick together!”

“Congratulations” murmured Annu sarcastically, not at all cheered up by these words.

“So what happened next? Did you start traveling with the caravan?”

Frankly speaking, Fuhei never ventured far outside the city walls. The sheep’s story evoked within him a wanderlust unfelt before. He suddenly wanted to see the village of Yafan, and the northern mountains, and many other faraway lands, even if only with the eyes of his imagination.

“I wish!” exclaimed Annu bitterly, and grit his teeth. “However, the heavens had other plans for me, and the village of Chenfei became my permanent residence…..”

Now that Fuhei thought about it, that village, Chenfei…he overheard some guards say the name in hushed voices a couple of days ago. It sounded like it was something important, but he was in a bit of a hurry back then, so to speak, and didn’t have time to listen in further. And now there were these two travelers, Annu and Fengli, who seemingly came from there as well. Could it be a coincidence? Did something happen in Chenfei? Until now he assumed them to be tourists traveling the land for fun, like many others in this day and age, but….
Ah, useless, it’s all useless! He’ll investigate this later!

Meanwhile, Annu continued his story, narrating his first impression of the twin hill village, and his first meeting with Zhanzhan and Fengli, who were to become his best friends. 

Songshu: pine tree