1 1.The Song Bird

There is a town called Namjin on the outskirts of the Zhou continent. On the outskirts of that town, near the sea, is a village called Sootshacks. The name of the town comes from the time the settlers first arrived and shared a single soot-covered bread pan to make their flatbread. Eventually, everyone became more self-sufficient with their belongings. Pretty much, gone were the days when people depended on their neighbors, and the camaraderie that dependence fostered. The people of Sootshacks are now comprised of close-minded and ignorant folk who would blood feud over fishing spots.

Sootshacks is surrounded by a lush green forest. Every year, songbirds would fly in from the south and nest there. The people of the Sootshacks village are a resourceful bunch. They would never miss an opportunity to take advantage of something. That includes the migrating birds. The kids would capture these birds, pluck and eat them. The kind of child who would be callous enough to hunt these cute birds for their broths would be eating more meat in their daily lives. They would grow big and strong at a faster rate. In comparison, the children who were too "nice" to do so would be skinnier and weaker.

During one of those migration phases, little Yao Lei found a little bird on the ground, thrown down by the mother bird. Every day he would go out and catch bugs and worms to feed the baby bird. He would carefully pick up the insects with chopsticks and place them into the baby bird's mouth.

Eventually, other kids in the neighborhood found out what he was up to. They decided to cook and eat Yao Lei's plump bird. these boys didn't respect Yao Lei much. They certainly didn't want to miss out on easy prey with which they could fill their belly.

They burst into the wood shack while Yao Lei was feeding the bird as he did every morning. "

"Hey give me that bird."

Yao Lei was terrified and upset. He had grown attached to the little critter. He didn't want these rude kids to eat his beloved bird. The more he refused the more agitated the other kids got.

Yao Lei escaped into the courtyard with the 4 pursuers in tow. The bigger kid yelled.

"How many times do I have to tell you to not shirk from what I ask of you Yao Lei? Do you think you can defy me? I will beat the snot out of you."

For this kid named Wang Ging, Yao Lei was a project. He wanted to abuse him until Yao Lei was molded into what he wanted, which was, an underling, a flatterer, and a servant. He would actively seek out what Yao Lei cared about then he would try and attack that thing, whatever it is, just to make Yao Lei's life a living hell. He wouldn't let him go until he capitulated on something else to please him.

Whenever Yao Lei was mentioned, Wang Ging would smile, fondly remembering the good times he had rubbed his face to the ground that one time. His little project might have had no success but, he was having a great time attempting to break little Yao Lei.

Wang Ging caught Yao Lei by his shirt and pulled him onto the ground. He was properly angry at the fact Yao Lei defied him. After all the work he had put on him! The four boys started kicking Yao Lei while he was on the ground. The baby bird helplessly chirped in Yao Lei's embrace.

All of a sudden a voice was heard from a distance.

"Let him go!"

It was Hao Shun. Hao Shun had wavy brown hair and freckles. His skin was brown from herding sheep all day. He was two years older than little Yao Lei. Yao Lei had a sickly look on his face even when he was a baby. Like his plain-looking mother, he had a long face and a prominent nose. He always had this hunched posture, he would always look over his shoulder as if he wanted to hide behind his little shoulder.

Hao Shun pulled on Wang Ging'ws shirt to get him off Yao Lei, pissing him off even more.

"What's with all these nobodies today? Where did you two get the audacity from?"

Wang Ging's pride was hurt. These two were staining his brutish reputation just by defying him. If left unchecked, he would be the one that's left isolated and beaten. He smacked Hao Shun to the ground the way he did Yao Lei. "They better learn their lesson." he thought.

"You brats!"

It was Hao Shun's mother. Just like that, Wang Ging and his little gand scattered like cockroaches.

Hao Mei knitted her brows. Those mean boys had gone and done her boy dirty. She brought these two boys to the home and cleaned their wounds. She gave the two of them each a piece of meat in a loaf of bread to cheer them up. She's been preparing and had set aside these strips of meat to flavor the eggs with. It was alright. Consoling these heartbroken boys was more important than the taste of this breakfast.

Yao Lei wasn't consoled at all. He was seething with jealousy. Right now, he was dreading going home. While he was dreading going home, Hao Shun had these nice and proper parents.

Yao Lei excused himself. He couldn't take it. He felt like crying.

He went home and shut himself in his room.

Evening came. A bit drunk, Yao Chang, Yao Lei's father walked in. He had a protruding belly and oily dark hair. The wrinkles on his face told the tale of what he felt throughout his entire life. His face had been molded into a portrait of anger and resentment because he always knitted his brows and squinted his eyes. When he saw Yao Lei he flared up in anger.

"What the hell happened to you? Did that Wang boy beat the hell out of you again? Why are you like this? what did I do wrong?"

The light in Yao Lei's eyes dimmed a bit. It was started again. Yao Lei imagined he was at the seaside, swimming with little fishes.

"That Wang bastard will smirk at me again." Every time Wang Ging beat Yao Lei, instead of reprimanding him, Wang Gin's father would praise him. Then he would rub the fact Wang Ging beat Yao Lei on Yao Chang's face. "Why do you keep getting beat up by that boy? did I raise you to be a pushover?"

Yao Lei had tried to explain the fact that Wang Ging was bigger than him and attacked in groups to his father but he wouldn't listen. Because the yelling wasn't about solving the problem of Yao Lei getting beaten up. Yao Chang had lost face by proxy.

"How long do you plan to shame me in front of the others? Other boys make their fathers proud! Mine? He gets beaten up like a dog!"

*pa*

Yao Lei felt a ringing in his ear because of the impact of the slap. He was rudely awakened from his daydream.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you!"

Yao Lei gave his father a resentful look. Not only was he of no help, he wanted his son to be in full attention while he was no help. Yao Lei's mother didn't even turn her head to look at what was going on. She didn't care about anything much.

Yao Cheng dramatically leaned back in his chair, opened his arms, and wailed to the skies.

"What did I do to deserve a son like this? Oh gods! You should've taken my life instead of making me live in shame like this!"

In his head, Yao Cheng was a tragic figure who had been wronged. He has been unjustly subjected to the fact his son was weaker than other boys. Yao Lei felt a bit of resentment toward Hao Shun boiling up inside of him. He was, from the bottom of his heart, jealous of Hao Shun's happy and caring family.

He gazed upon his father. He was rolling on the soft cushions at the edge of the room and screeching. Dramatically rolling on the cold hard floor was way too uncomfortable for his taste. Every now and then, he would peek at Yao Lei to see if he was responding to his display in any way.

At the end of the day, Yao Lei had nothing to cling to. Yao Chang was satisfied by the fact he made the entire event about himself. Yao Leai didn't expect anything from Yao Cheng anymore. He knew better.

At the same time, a cultivator from the Namjin mountain sect threw sticks on the ground. He divined a location. The sticks twitched and aligned in a certain direction. That direction was the direction of the Sootshacks village. With his heart filled with a sense of duty towards his sect, Pan Yimu proceeded with his recruitment mission.