In a corner of Jiangnan far from the imperial court, deep within the mountain range of West Mountain Island in Lake Tai, a village stood by a cliff in the valley. The valley was lush with greenery and blooming flowers everywhere. The scenery along the way was magnificent, a beautiful sanctuary rarely seen in the secular world. The people in the valley named it Taoyuan.
Many of the elders living in the valley were once figures who had made a name for themselves in the jianghu. Tired of the conflicts of the jianghu, they had retired to this paradise. The younger generation in the valley were either descendants of the villagers or orphans adopted over the years for various reasons. There were also many villages on the island in the same situation.
An old woman dressed as a village woman with a headscarf was carrying a basket of fresh vegetables she had just picked from the vegetable patch and several Jidan she had just taken from the chicken coop, walking slowly toward her wooden house.
Suddenly, she heard a rustling sound in the dense forest behind her. It seemed she guessed who was coming, so she did not look back and continued walking.
"Chen'er, you went to pick mountain bamboo shoots today? You are so thoughtful. Then we will have bamboo shoot soup to drink today." When the youth landed lightly on his feet in front of her, she caught a glimpse of the mountain bamboo shoots that looked abrupt among a pile of herbs in the bamboo basket on his back, and she said with a kind smile.
"Yes, that's good." The youth called Chen'er replied, then "snatched" the basket from the old woman's hand and helped her walk along.
The old woman was named Huo Yinniang. She could not exactly be called old; it was just that her temples were gray and her face was slightly haggard, making her look a bit old. However, those sharp eyes seemed to have experienced the vicissitudes of life, seeing through everything.
This was a youth with tied hair, wearing a light blue cloth garment. He had light eyebrows and sword-like eyes, an ordinary appearance, and had not yet shed his childishness. He was Huo Yinniang's adopted son, Jiang Yichen.
Jiang Yichen did not have many memories of his childhood. In his blur, there was only the kind face of an old man. Unfortunately, he already knew that this old man had passed away for more than ten years. The villagers also knew very little about Jiang Yichen's background. Many such young people on West Mountain Island could be summarized in four words: "pitiful orphan." Therefore, since Jiang Yichen could remember, he had relied on Huo Yinniang as mother and son. His name was also given by her. The elders on the island all called him "Chen'er," those slightly older or similar in age called him "Yichen," and those younger than him called him "Brother Yichen."
The energetic figure in her gaze leaped out to fetch water and chop wood. The kitchen knife dancing lightly in her hand slowly stopped. With a sigh, the old woman fell into deep thought, recalling the scene when she first saw this youth thirteen years ago.
That year, she had already been hiding on the island for three years. In those three years, she had lived in a daze, like a walking dead.
She found it truly difficult to forget that her husband and son, the most important people in her life, had abandoned her on a rainy night three years ago.
Although the old man had come specifically to tell her last year that her great revenge had been avenged and brought the enemy family's personal belongings as proof, the departed relatives could never return. It remained a lingering nightmare, haunting her heart day and night, causing unspeakable suffering.
Until that day, she caught a glimpse of the boy before her. Yes, just a fleeting glance, and she was struck as if by lightning, her spirit roused. She decided to treat the child's illness and raise him to adulthood.
That day, the sky was gloomy, the air was suffocatingly heavy, and there was thunder and lightning. A thunderstorm was about to descend to the world.
As it happened, the old man had brought more than a dozen children for the villagers to adopt. Given her state after arriving on the island, the old man had naturally never called her over, and she did not dare to adopt any.
That day, when she returned from paying respects to her husband and son, she happened to see this scene. At a glance, she saw the boy. Seeing his pale and blue face, unlike the other children who were either crying or looking around, he buried his head, kept his lips tightly shut, and was trying to suppress something.
Consumption disease! Yes, this child, at such an age, had actually contracted consumption disease! He seemed to be using all his strength to hold back his cough, so stubborn.
As if she had lost her reason, she pushed aside the villagers in front, rushed into the group of children, and immediately knelt down to hug the boy, trembling and sobbing.
Her hands held the child's cheek, and tears had already streamed from her eyes.
The surrounding villagers seemed frightened by her, but because the old man had not yet expressed his stance, no one pulled her away.
The boy was a little panicked. Finally, unable to suppress the discomfort, he turned his face away and coughed with difficulty. Some saliva landed on her hands and splashed onto her face. She shuddered all over, as if afraid of losing some treasure, and pulled the child's head into her embrace, looking back at the old man, "Old man, I will raise this child!" It sounded like a plea, yet it was also exceptionally determined.
A flash of puzzlement crossed the old man's eyes, but immediately he showed an expression of sudden realization. He sighed and tacitly agreed to her plea.
Thirteen years, in the blink of an eye. Although the boy's consumption disease had not been completely cured, leaving behind some lingering ailments, he had grown up sturdily.
Originally, she thought she could guard this child and spend the rest of her life in peace, but now it seemed that might be a luxury. Being far from the jianghu did not mean being detached from the jianghu. People on the island could not escape the jianghu, and this child could not escape either.
Two days ago, a spy from the Twelve Heavenly Fiend Gates had actually mixed into the ship delivering supplies to the island. Although discovered in time and captured, they could not stop the spy from committing suicide. Although this incident had not yet caused any loss or harm to the people on the island, it showed that this paradise far from the jianghu had already entered the field of vision of outside forces.
What worried her even more was the news revealed by the Strategist—Yi Zhongren, the old man's right-hand man—who could not withstand the concern of everyone. More than a month ago, the Shi Mansion in Yudu in the southwest suffered a great change. This was a microcosm of the Righteousness Alliance's branches in various places being invaded and even defeated and annihilated in recent years. The annihilation of the Shi Mansion this time could be said to have made the situation for the Righteousness Alliance even worse. What was unsettling was that in many recent conflicts, one could vaguely capture the shadow of the imperial court. With the help of this huge dark tide, the Righteousness Alliance and the Allied forces suffered losses repeatedly but found it difficult to make an effective counterattack. The original iron-barrel-like jianghu system repeatedly showed flaws and was on the verge of falling apart.
The jianghu situation was tense, and the Righteousness Alliance was attacked from the front and back, surrounded by enemies. The old man did not want this information to reach the island, and Yi Zhongren only compromised and spoke out of helplessness. The people on the island were filled with fear, and quite a few people wanted to re-enter the jianghu to share the old man's worries. After much deliberation, Yi Zhongren finally agreed to select some elite soldiers from the island, plus several young talents worth cultivating and experiencing, to go and help the Righteousness Alliance get out of the current predicament, and it was set to set off and leave the island in three days.
..
After lunch, Yin Niang finally spoke, "Chen'er, this time you should go with your Uncle Ren. Go and see if there is anything you can help with at the old man's place, and also take the opportunity to see the exciting world outside the island."
"But, Mother..." Jiang Yichen frowned tightly. He learned from the villagers that Yin Niang's mental state had improved a lot after adopting him, but during the rainy season, he often saw her drowning her sorrows in alcohol, and her health was getting worse year by year. In such a situation, if he left, would it not be unfilial?
Before Jiang Yichen could say the rest, Yin Niang already knew what he was worried about and interrupted, "Child, Mother can take care of herself and will drink less alcohol. Mother knows you want to guard me until the end, but don't you want to find your biological parents? They were also helpless back then and abandoned you only to protect you. Over the years, the old man only found out that they were last seen in the southeast bay area. They might still be alive. Don't you want to see them?"
"I..." The words reached his lips, but he did not know where to start. Yin Niang's words touched Jiang Yichen's heartstrings, and he could not help but have many thoughts. He only knew that his parents had to entrust him to the villagers to save the villagers back then, while the two of them fought with the Eastern Ying bandits to win more time and hope for others to escape. Rumor had it that his parents dealt with the bandits for seven days and seven nights, but the bandits' reinforcements were continuous, so it was almost impossible for them to escape the enemy's encirclement and suppression. What Yin Niang told him now was indeed the information later inquired about, or did Yin Niang have some hidden worries and insisted on sending him away?
For the child she raised with her own hands, Yin Niang naturally had long since seen through what Jiang Yichen was thinking. She smiled bitterly and sighed, "Silly child, there are too many things you are hesitant about in your heart. In the jianghu, one should indeed be on guard against everything, but when it is time to make a choice, one must make it. Hesitation will surely lead to a cost. You must change this after you go out in the future. Either make a determined choice to believe, or choose to explore the truth. The news about your parents was indeed told to me by the old man himself. How could Mother want to send you away? Mother also hopes you can accompany me for a lifetime, but that was only in the past. The jianghu is ultimately not a place you can leave just because you want to."
Yin Niang sighed and decided to pour out her thoughts, "West Mountain Island is no longer hidden. The old man is now also attacked from the front and back. If nothing unexpected happens, the connections between the Righteousness Alliance's forces in various places will be gradually isolated and defeated one by one. West Mountain Island will sooner or later become one of the battlefields where various forces collide. The people on the island also need to withdraw gradually and find another place for reclusion. Those old bones who still have the strength to fight and want to stand up to help the old man will re-enter the jianghu. If you go out to gain experience in advance now, you can better deal with the various situations in the future and can also take the opportunity to look for news about your parents. Listen to Mother, leave the island and go explore."
The wandering gaze struggled in a long silence. After some hesitation, it slowly became determined. Without saying more, Jiang Yichen chose to follow Huo Yinniang's choice.
The next morning, Jiang Yichen picked up the luggage Yin Niang had prepared for him the night before and set off on his journey. When leaving, he, who did not like to speak much, only said to her, "Mother, I will come back to see you every year," and then did not look back, moving forward resolutely.
Yin Niang smiled. She smiled at the child's filial piety, but also at his foolishness. Once in the jianghu, one is not the master of one's own fate. After stepping onto the path of the jianghu, time is no longer something one can control.
As Jiang Yichen's figure disappeared from her field of vision, tears had already blurred her sight. Yin Niang could not help but recall the words the old man had said to her after she adopted this boy. The child's parents hoped that the child could stay away from the hustle and bustle, at least not set foot in the jianghu. She named the child "Jiang Yichen." Jiang was the old man's surname, and the two words "Yichen" were the hope that he could stay away from the jianghu's entanglements and enjoy happiness in paradise. However, things in the world are unpredictable.
Turning her back, not letting the tears fall, she comforted herself that letting Chen'er go out to explore on his own was better than falling into an inexplicable desperate situation in the future.
2017.7.26 Second Revision
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