Li Jun was blackened by the smoke, standing next to Shu He, before being led back by his family.
His father, Li San, saw Li Jun like that, asked nothing, silent as a father, while his mother, Xu Hua, went to bathe the soot-covered Li Jun.
Li Jun held the Squirrel in his arms, and together they carefully sat down in the wash tub.
Though called a wash tub, it was actually just a water bucket from home. Under his mother Xu Hua's wiping, Li Jun cleaned his body, took a bowl of food and vegetables, and went back to his room to eat.
Xu Hua was long used to Li Jun bringing small animals home, but that Squirrel could not escape being thoroughly scrubbed by Xu Hua; Xu Hua was simply afraid of uncleanliness.
After being washed clean, the Squirrel revealed its true appearance: it was a gradually silver-colored Squirrel.
When Li Jun was little, he had seen brown and dark brown ones, but he had truly never seen a gradually silver-colored one before.
And this gradually silver-colored Squirrel seemed utterly exhausted; it hadn't bounced around much during the bath, and now it directly collapsed by Li Jun's bedside and slept soundly.
Li Jun, having finished dinner, was also weary. He held the Squirrel and drifted off to sleep as well. Starlight streamed in from outside the window, causing the Squirrel's silver light to tremble slightly.
In the Inner Hall of the house, Xu Hua was doing needlework, chatting next to Li San.
Li San, silent as a mountain, finally spoke, "This kid ran out of the fire pit and even caught a Squirrel..."
"Brother San, this kid isn't learning from you; how can a Hunter return empty-handed?" Xu Hua put down her needlework and turned to pack some luggage.
Li San took a deep drag of his homemade tobacco.
"Why didn't he bring his books out? All those books burned inside! I'm afraid this Squirrel is something he brought to the School himself. Not studying is neglecting one's proper duties. I'll deal with that Squirrel by the bedside tomorrow!"
"Don't be so harsh. If you do that, have you forgotten Ze Hua? He hasn't been home for two years."
"If he doesn't come back, he doesn't come back. Isn't it good that there's one less mouth to feed at home? They should all thank me; it was I who gave them this life and raised them." Li San said casually.
"I'll go to Xiping City tomorrow morning to check on Ze Hua. After all, I am the children's mother. If he won't see you, surely he will see me?" Xu Hua sat on a stool in the main hall, her face full of worry.
"Ze Hua? Hmph, an unfilial son! Does he think I only have him as a son? I can just have a few more. At least one of them will amount to something."
"You, you, how can you speak like that." Xu Hua was slightly annoyed, then changed her tone, "Aunt Chen next door said there are several Temples in Xiping City. Some Cultivators whose hair has been cleanly shaved are called Monks. I heard they have a Deity in their Temple called some kind of Bodhisattva. I'll sincerely go pay respects someday; perhaps, thanks to that elder's blessing, the child's studies will succeed, and he will amount to something."
Li San was unconcerned. For the villagers of Song Village, Deities and faith were not that important. It was only in the last hundred years, as some villagers connected more with the outside world and accepted some customs, that those villagers became quite interested in outside Temples.
"Go worship if you want, but don't offer money to those lumps of clay." Having said that, Li San walked straight out the door, lay down on the recliner in the courtyard, grabbed his cattail fan, and fell fast asleep.
Dawn broke in the morning, the rooster crowed, and wisps of cooking smoke rose over the Lotus Pond; many farm households began preparing breakfast.
Sparse figures appeared on the dirt path, hurrying along.
The first thing Li Jun did upon waking was glance at the Squirrel by his bedside.
The bedside was empty; the Squirrel was long gone, leaving behind only a brown Pinecone with a hint of silver by the edge of the bed.
Li Jun felt disappointed in his heart. That Squirrel had probably run away; it was hard enough to have a small pet.
Filled with disappointment and curiosity, Li Jun put away the Pinecone, then looked for his mother Xu Hua. Later, he learned from his older sister, Li Yanyan, that at first light, Mother had rushed off to the city to see his older brother, Li Zehua.
Li Jun didn't have much impression of Li Zehua. He was too young to remember when he was little, and by the time he could remember things, his brother was already making a living in the city and rarely returned to the village.
Li Jun learned about Li Zehua's many deeds from the mouths of Li Yanyan and Xu Hua.
After eating breakfast, Li Jun followed his sister Li Yanyan to the fields to work.
His father, Li San, went up the mountain to hunt.
For the past few days, because of the Shu He fire, Li Jun couldn't attend the School, so his days were quite leisurely.
Children, when idle, always have restless minds. Since he couldn't go to the School, he simply started frequenting places where many villagers gathered, like the teahouse in the Marketplace.
The teahouse was very lively, especially because of a Storyteller invited from Xiping City who spent all day recounting legends of ghosts, monsters, and Immortals soaring through the clouds, telling them vividly.
As soon as Li Jun heard about such novelties, his eyes immediately lit up, and he couldn't bother with anything else! Whenever he had free time, he would rush to the teahouse, wishing he could stay there every day.
The Storyteller's tales were varied; sometimes he spoke of Immortals descending to the Mortal World, and sometimes of demons running rampant. These were things never heard of in the isolated Song Village.
Li Jun was young and not timid, but he was often terrified by the eerie stories from the Storyteller's mouth, sometimes losing sleep and even dreaming of monsters and demons.
However, his curiosity was stronger than his fear, making him want to return as soon as one story ended.
Thus, day after day, Li Jun gradually felt that by listening so much, he had gained some "experience." After all, Song Village was always tucked away in the mountain valley, where one could never hear such stories.
However, as he listened to more stories, Li Jun started to have doubts. He pondered whether the Immortals who could soar through clouds and wield Lightning, as described by the Storyteller, were real, and whether the changes in dynasties outside, with clashing swords and horses, were truly as legendary.
After all, he had lived in Song Village since birth and had never seen a general commanding troops on a battlefield, let alone any high-level expert who was an Immortal, let alone one who could fly and move earth.
In his eyes, Master Ji was already the greatest expert in the village, yet he was merely a scholar who wrote with a brush and read books, still worlds away from being an Immortal.
So, one day, Li Jun finally couldn't hold back. During a break when the Storyteller was speaking with great animation, he poked his head out from under the table, his face full of curiosity: "Sir, are there really Immortals in this world?"
The Storyteller heard this, stopped fanning himself, his eyes shifted, and he spoke with a hint of mystery, "Yes, yes! It's just that we Mortals live deep in the borderlands, where we haven't even seen the Shadow of an Immortal. Immortals require Immortal affinity; otherwise, even if you climb mountains and cross rivers for ten thousand miles, you might not encounter one."
"If we meet one, can we become Immortals?" Li Jun continued to ask, his small face full of longing, as if he could take flight the next second.
At these words, the teahouse patrons burst into loud laughter, all leaning back and forth, nearly spilling their tea. A large man slapped the table while laughing, "Little kid, even you want to become Immortal! Hahaha, how naive!"
Li Jun stared blankly at the laughing crowd, completely not understanding what he had said wrong. He scratched his head and stood there stunned.
The Storyteller looked at Li Jun's bewildered expression, smiled, took a sip of tea, his eyes holding a hint of inscrutability, and gently shook his head: "Immortals require Immortal affinity. How can common mortals have such fortune? People in the Mortal World are destined to have no connection with Immortals."
Li Jun felt a bit disappointed upon hearing this, so he pressed on, "Then, have any Immortals ever appeared in our Song Village?"
The Storyteller raised a hand to stroke his beard: "This...? Song Village has none."
"Are there Immortals in Xiping City?"
"None."
"Sir, have you ever seen an Immortal? Have any of your friends encountered one?"
"No..."
Li Jun's mind suddenly flashed with an idea, and he said with a hint of mischief, "That means there are no Immortals in this world at all? Sir, you are lying to us!"
Li Jun's "bold deduction" immediately amused everyone in the teahouse. They laughed even louder, and even some old patrons couldn't help but shake their heads and laughingly scold, "This kid is quite clever!"
"What he says makes sense. Since no one has seen them, then there are no Immortals!"
"Hahahaha......"
The Storyteller saw the child speaking articulately and daring to contradict him to his face. He snorted, flicked his fan, and said with a cold smile, "Hmph, a country bumpkin, like a sparrow in a well, narrow-minded, how could you know the infinite mysteries of this vast world?"
Li Jun was completely confused by what he heard. Although he knew the Storyteller was scolding him, he couldn't understand those flowery words at all.
Just as he was about to say something more, a person suddenly rushed in from outside, grabbed Li Jun's ear, and said angrily, "You brat, messing around here again! Go home, hurry up and do your chores!"
Li Jun turned his head and saw it was his sister, Li Yanyan, coming to fetch him. He dared not say another word and was forced to return home.
Time passed in a daze for half a month, with Li Jun spending almost every day at the teahouse listening to stories. This soon reached his father Li San's ears. Upon hearing this, Li San became furious and called Li Jun home for a severe beating.
Li Jun endured a few strikes from the stick, gritting his teeth and stamping his feet, but he was still unyielding. He suddenly shouted at Li San, "A sparrow in a well, narrow-minded, how can you know the infinity of the world!"
At these words, Li San immediately stopped, his stick frozen mid-air. He stared wide-eyed at his son, "You brat, you haven't even been to the School, how can you speak such flowery words so fluently?" Li Jun took the opportunity to catch his breath, rubbing his sore backside, but secretly gloated, feeling like he had finally won a point back.
However, the next day, when Li San heard people in the village explain the meaning of that phrase, he realized his son hadn't recited some scripture but had learned an insult from the Storyteller at the teahouse.
His anger flared up again immediately. He rushed home, grabbed Li Jun, and gave him another fierce thrashing. This time, Li Jun didn't get a chance to talk back; he was beaten so badly he couldn't get out of bed for half the day.
From then on, Li Jun never dared to casually use such "profound knowledge" as "sparrow in a well, narrow-minded" again.