Han Feng woke up to the peaceful morning, grass tickling his legs. Birds chirped and the leaves gently swayed in the spring air. He reached for the leaves on an oak tree, almost as if he could feel them, and slowly sat up.

  It had been a couple days into his journey with Li Yun. He still remembered the village fading in the distance as they traveled far away to cultivate. It had been a dream for his village to have an immortal once live there, and he hoped to fulfill it for them.

  Even now, he could still almost hear Grandpa Shen yelling at his brother, Feng Yu, to stop drawing disturbing pictures of people being impaled, executed, and sliced apart.

  Feng Yu was always the jumpy kind. Sometimes, he would climb over the walls and perch up a tree to watch the night. Han heard he almost got himself killed once by a Yaoguai. Feng Yu still had nightmares to this day after that, and never went outside.

  Han Feng had never really traveled this far. He didn’t want to admit it, but even a 9 year old (Feng Yu) was braver than him. Once, he’d encountered a fox at night, and lied that it was a demon to his friends. Obviously, it never was a demon. He’d barely have the guts to face it, and the night patrol would chase them off with their sharp tipped spears.

  “ Come out, I’m making stew.”

  Li Yun said, in his grumpy voice, interrupting Han’s daydreaming. He always sounded grumpy in the morning, but after stew, he was more happy. It had been yesterday since Han had discovered Yun was a good cook. Once they stopped at the Ravine Town, they would be safe from the dangers of the forest, and Han would go on a shopping spree for cooking supplies for Yun.

  “ Hey, Han!”

  Yun yelled from the clearing. Han had been daydreaming for too long…again. Quickly, he turned around, and he smelled the delicious aroma of the stew. Yun was stirring it, and Han could see radish and beef floating around. He could also see bell peppers floating around faintly on the bottom.

  “ Wow, that smells really good. As I would expect from the cook.”

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  “ Can you go to the forest and forage some garlic? I might’ve left it back at my stall but…”

  Both of them looked at the faint shadow of the village, just barely above the horizon. It wasn’t worth it for some garlic. Han nodded, and jogged across the tall grass, until he felt the air get moist.

  Up ahead was a large bamboo forest, and below him was some grass and… ginseng? He quickly stuffed it in his pocket, and surveyed the herbs around him. It was nice foraging in this forest. Back in the forest at home, Grandpa Shen sometimes made them harvest herbs…

  “ Whoever doesn’t get 100 herbs before the end of this night will sleep outside the walls!”

  Good thing Han never failed foraging like he did at fighting. The outside world seemed dangerous, and it was a good thing he had Yun. Yun was always the good student back at school, and would excel in medicine, cooking ( Yun had somehow repurposed his pill crafting skills for cooking), and fighting.

  Han looked around at the green, lush forest. He could see ants skittering beneath his feet, and strange plants in the corners of the forest. Flowers dotted the clearing up ahead, and as he looked up, he realized that the bamboo stretched high up, almost as if they were reaching for the heavens.

  This forest sure did have lots to offer. It would be his brother's dream to be here… maybe he would need to wait for a couple more years to grow up and mature. There were herbs everywhere, even at his feet. It was untouched, except for nomads and criminals. His brother would probably would've run off into the hands of some banished murderer.

  Oh shit.

  He’d forgotten about criminals. How far was he from camp? He couldn’t even smell the stew anymore. He was daydreaming again. Quickly, he yelled out without instinct,

  “ YUN!!!! YUN WHERE ARE YOU?”

  When suddenly he felt cold iron pressed on his neck, with a man breathing down his back. He shivered. “ Look what you’ve gotten yourself into, Han.”

  Han sweated and trembled. A criminal. Or was he a murderer? Either way, he was clearly used to doing dirty work like this. Han thought of Grandpa Shen’s words. 8

  Quickly, he pushed the blade with his elbow, and jumped back, as the man stumbled. He was wearing a black cloak, with a cloth wrapped around his mouth. His eyes were black, and his skin was gray. In his hand was a iron dagger, although it looked damaged. He’d clearly used it to pick off many others.

  Han’s heart raced. He’d never fought anyone before. Grandpa Yang had taught them how to punch a tree apart once, but he’d never listened. He should’ve listened to Shen’s lecture about paying attention in class…

  Tightening his fists, he raised his arms up defensively, and the man charged at him, both hands on the grip of his knife.

  Suddenly, from the bamboo forest, a voice yelled,

  “GET DOWN!”