The grief-stricken home of the Tian family remained shrouded in a cold, heavy silence. Weeks after Shu Yan's burial, Tian Xin was still a ghost of the man he once was. He still cooked for his son, his eyes never leaving the boy, but the sorrow had gutted his strength.
Tian Shen Ji pushed his thin body through the paces of the Eight Hidden Inner Turtle Breaths martial art. His mind was focused on the maxim: "Use the body to nourish Qi, and Qi to nourish the body, clear the eight extraordinary meridians, and remove the impurities."
As Tian Xin sat by the fire mending some worn-out traps, Tian Shen Ji knelt beside him and began to speak quietly, "The village elders say the Black Crescent Mountains Range is filled with terrifying beasts, and I should focus on a more advanced martial art that has more power."
Tian Xin paused, his gaze fixed on the flames. "That's true, Shen Ji. The Hidden Cloud region where we are right now has more than a hundred thousand mountains and deep, ominous forests. In the complex surroundings of those forests, there dwell a large number of ferocious and peculiar beasts. The Black Crescent Mountains Range is nothing special; it's simply one of those hundreds of mountains teeming with them."
"With a family of hunters from the beginning of the village, our status in the village is equal to just a couple other families; only the village chief family has a slightly higher status. Why do you think so?"
"I'm not sure," Tian Shen Ji looked perplexed.
Tian Xin took a sip of tea and spoke calmly. "The Eight Hidden Inner Turtle Breaths martial art is one practiced by our ancestors, and it is not as average as people think; it's just very low key. Most towns don't have a martial art as good as ours, and only in cities can you find ones that come close, and even those are rare. For a basic understanding, martial arts generally strengthen almost every physical attribute: from speed, strength, and senses to even a sharper mind. Our martial art has a sub-par strengthening effect on speed, normal to decent senses, decent to good strength and stamina, great defense and endurance, and a very special hiding ability. The breath is concealed, blending into the surroundings with the illusion of merging with the world. Furthermore, practicing this martial art gives the body great longevity. Even if you have white hair in your eighties or nineties, your muscles remains comparable to that of a forty or fifty-year-old."
"Dad, you also said that the outside world is dangerous with ferocious beasts. Why hasn't there been a beast attack? Why aren't we being overwhelmed?"
Tian Xin finally met his son's eyes, a rare, tired smile touching his lips. "That is a mystery to all, including the Xiao Tian Village. In the long history of Xiao Tian Village—three to four hundred years—there hasn't been a beast attack. Generally, villages don't have Immortal Cultivators, or if they do, they are quite weak with normal martial arts. Only towns and cities have stronger cultivators and can avoid the destruction that comes every couple decades."
He squeezed his son's shoulder. "Just remember, little ghost, no matter what happens, even if you are very strong and smart, never enter the black mountains alone."
"I know," Tian Shen Ji replied.
Two days later, the annual traveling merchant caravan appeared.
"It's the merchant caravan!"
"Yes, it's already about the time for the caravan to come."
The village depended on the caravan every year for trade, and the caravan needed the business to make money. Because of the ferocious beasts, trading was difficult. Only by organizing a merchant group on such a large scale could martial arts Masters pool their power, conquering the difficulties in the traveling routes and traversing from one mountain to another. Mortals could not pass through at all. It was difficult to get past these obstacles alone; one had to at least be led by a martial arts Master.
The caravan merchants entered the Tian Xin mountain village one by one, led by an immortal cultivator this time around. At a glance, a middle-aged man with dark hair on top and white on edges, a face full of hair as well, sat cross-legged atop a beetle. This was a spiritual beast two and a half meters tall, its entire body in blueish-black. The back of the beetle was thick and bronze colored thick ropes were tied around plenty of goods. The middle-aged man cupped his fists as he greeted the surrounding Xiao Tian villagers. This man's name was Jin Sheng, he was the immortal cultivator and he was the leader of the merchant caravan this time.
Village chief, Tian Chen, came out himself to greet the leader of this year's merchant caravan.
Jin Sheng cupped his fists and sighed, "This year's road was rather unfavorable. On the way we bumped into a horde of beasts and we lost quite a few good men. Then on Frog Mountain we ran into a group of bandits, and we didn't dare to continue traveling at all. So we were delayed, and caused Brother Tian Chen to wait for quite a while."
"It's good enough that you are able to come. Please, the clan village has prepared food and wine, let me host a welcoming dinner for you, old brother, " Tian Chen said invitingly.
The originally spacious streets were suddenly rather packed and narrow.
There were also mortals who were robust and sturdy martial artists and warriors, slowly moving forward on the ground following after the giant blueish-black beetle.
After the beetle, there were other smaller beetles, giant mountain rats, and so on. However, these were in small numbers, most of the creatures were water horses that are low-level half-spiritual beasts, compared to regular horses, they had an exceptionally large frame and a gentle nature and quickly recovered their stamina. If they sprinted at the speed of a regular horse, these horses would never get tired.
The merchant caravan arrived at the boundaries of the Mountain in the early morning, and by afternoon they were stationed in the Village. When it was dusk, the surroundings of the village had formed into a widespread area of temporary shops and stores. All kinds of tents were built and every small cranny between the tents was squeezed with street stalls.
The surroundings were filled with the shouts of merchants hawking their wares. There were mortals as well as martial arts Masters. The crowd was bustling with activity.
The night was descending, yet it was still brightly lit in the area. Tian Xin moved along with the crowd, walking alone.
"Come, come, take a look. Top notch brute force powder brick will be able to burst out with the strength of a bull, and red cloud tea brick, drinking this tea makes one as untouchable as a cloud. There are cheaply priced items for their value and high quality. One piece only costs five low-grade spirit stones!"
"Everyone look at this quality, it's for two pieces of low-grade spirit stones, at a very cheap price..."
As he heard this, his footsteps paused slightly, then he followed the sound and walked over.
He saw a smaller, private group of merchants. Four rats as big as cows pulled a cart. A middle-aged man with a face full of scars sat cross-legged atop it. Both of his eyes formed into slits when smiling. He cupped his fists as he greeted the surrounding villagers. Its body resembling a tiger was covered in a thick layer of black porcelain-like leather armor. In between martial arts Masters sat one by one, some old and some young.
As they spoke, their tones were very polite. The strange thing was not the but the long, unbroken fact the merchants strangely kept asking about.
They were ostensibly seeking rare medicinal herbs, but their behavior immediately struck Tian Xin as wrong. a constant nagging that something was wrong with them.
They were too well-dressed, and to the few villagers they spoke to, they were too curious about the village's history, and too quick to offer false sympathy for his recent loss. Their questions circled to the unnatural lack of beast attacks, not the value of local herbs.
They didn't seem dangerous themselves, but that didn't make Tian Xin smile. Maybe he was a little too paranoid, but as the saying goes, you aren't paranoid if you're right.
Using the subtle perception of his martial arts, Tian Xin watched them from a distance.
The merchant caravan stayed for three days, completing their trade. On the fourth morning, the main caravan began its slow, noisy departure, heading back the way they came.
Tian Xin watched them go until they vanished into the mountain path.