Ch. 1 Ling Xuan
Chenzhu County, Tianyang City
Deep in the mountains, away from any roads and far from the city, was a small village called Mt. Linggu.
The name made one think of serene lives and peaceful residents.
Even if not wealthy, the name conjured images of happy and content people.
Which was not the case.
Howl!
Growl!
A group of feral wolves exposed sharp teeth through snarling mouth as they greedily surrounded their prey.
Their eyes looked green and their mouths blasted foul odors. Several wolves were raring to go with their hind legs bent, ready to lunge.
If the prey showed any weakness, they’d be ready to attack.
The village was infested with these beasts.
Each place bred a certain kind of people, as well as beasts.
The village of Mt. Linggu seemed to gather a lot of energy from the heavens, leading to a horde of ravenous beasts in the area.
Each beast grew to a terrifying size, with wolves as big as oxen.
Villagers were miserable and the number of residents kept dropping.
One would think the wolves would attack quickly.
But they kept postponing their move.
It was because their prey today was dressed in bizarre clothes.
He wore a shabby white tank top and on his feet were shoes of woven straw, but that wasn’t the oddest part.
He actually wore sunglasses and had a cane.
Other than people who liked to dress provocatively, none of the local villagers would dress like this.
Was this man really blind?
Did he get lost and end up in the mountains?
The wolves communicated by howling at each other.
Well, he wasn’t small or thin, and while he didn’t have as much muscle as an athlete, he was enough to feed these seven wolves.
The problem was how long this blind man had been at an impasse with the wolves.
He didn’t seem to be affected by the confrontation at all.
It was as if he was standing at a scenic outlook, appreciating the mountain view.
Finally, one wolf couldn’t stand the hunger anymore.
With a growl, the wolf’s hind legs kicked off the ground. It opened its jaws, ready to bite down on the blind man’s throat.
“This animal is such a beast. No patience at all,” Xuan mumbled to himself.
When the enemy is still, I’m still; when the enemy moves, so I move.
Xuan had decided to waste this much time with these wolves in order to wear out their patience.
When they’d lost all of their patience and charged toward him, that was when he could find their weak spot.
When the wolf’s sharp teeth were a mere inch from Xuan, he made his move.
His ghost-like body backed up one step, avoiding the lethal attack.
From the moving air vibrations in front of his face, he could visualize where the wolf was.
His hand shot forward to grab one of the wolf’s hind legs.
With just one arm he managed to throw the wolf hard onto the ground.
The wolf’s brains splattered.
Seeing their pack mate’s fate, the other wolves grew afraid and retreated one step.
When the enemy retreats, I follow!
Xuan made a sudden turn in the opposite direction as he threw his cane at one of the wolves.
His body wasn’t shaky, like some visually-impaired people.
The wolf he attacked fell to the ground from the force of the cane with no chance to react. Its body twitched a few times before dying.
The other wolves panicked.
They believed this blind person was extremely dangerous, even more so than a tiger, their natural enemy.
Xuan figured these two dead wolves were enough food for everyone, since the animals were bigger than usual.
But this depended on if the remaining wolves understood the situation.
The wolves seemed to be more angry than afraid and ready to attack him together. The animals believed that, united, they could avenge their pack mate.
Feeling the changing air vibrations, Xuan grimaced.
“Fine, I’ll get all of you so the village can be at peace.”
Xuan leapt into the air as the wolves launched. As he descended, he hit each of their heads with his cane.
Just one tap on each wolf’s head.
Then, he descended effortlessly onto the ground, while the wolves crashed, one by one, with no struggle left.
Xuan picked two of the better wolves and grabbed them by their tails. Carrying them on his shoulders, he leaned on his cane and walked down the mountain.
Back at the village, Xuan gave out the wolf meat house by house, with plenty of leftovers.
The villagers praised Xuan, but they also told him fighting wolves was too dangerous. They said they had enough meat to eat if they were frugal.
Every trip to the mountains was like giving one’s fate to the heavens. If the animals ambushed him, he’d never see another day.
Xuan was touched by the villagers’ kindness, so he always agreed with them and said yes, and that these wolves were found dead under a tree, that he was just lucky.
Understanding Xuan’s white lies, they didn’t question him. They just always brought Xuan and his teacher extra eggs and meat around the holidays.
As Xuan walked around in the village, he neared a house at the end of the village. Before he went in, he walked to a small stream to wash off the blood on the wolf.
Then he carried the wolf toward the house as he hummed a tune.
It was easy to tell from Xuan’s reaction that it was the home of the village beauty, Liu Yanyun.
“Hey, pretty girl, come with me to sing a mountain song . . .” Xuan hummed to himself.
Usually by this time, Yanyun, who was probably drying persimmons at home, would be singing back in her melodious voice, “I’ll sing with you . . .”
Xuan couldn’t see Yanyun’s face, but he heard from other men in the village that she was beautiful and the pride of the village.
But he loved her voice more. He thought her voice was angelic and pure, an attractive sound that soothed his ears.
But today, the reply was not what he expected.
“Mom! How . . . how could you do this?!” Yanyun’s anger could be heard among the sounds of an argument.