Why Not Dream a Dream of the Jianghu?

"Dabiao?" "I'm fine. Are you all right... Blargh!!" By now Liu Dabiao had crawled out of the latrine pit. His face was twisted with misery, his whole body covered in filth, and he kept gagging. A bloody gash had been split open on his forehead. Only after seeing that the other man was unhurt did Lian Youming pick up the overcoat and rifle from the ground. He listened to the sounds outside, then craned his neck and shouted twice toward the dormitory at the top of his lungs. "Platoon Leader, we're over here!" Before long, Platoon Leader Yang followed the sound and found them. "How are you two?" The other militiamen had their rifles and knives out. Someone held up an oil lamp, sweeping its light back and forth over Lian Youming and Liu Dabiao, and every face was grave. Liu Dabiao was the luckier one. He'd thrashed about twice in the latrine pit, but at least his face didn't look too bad. Lian Youming was another matter. His clothes had been shredded by the Asian golden cat's claws and teeth. He was covered in blood and filth, and his face was dead white. The sight made the onlookers' hearts lurch. Lian Youming smiled. "Don't worry. It's all that beast's blood. I've only got a few scratches." With that, he pointed at the two animal carcasses nearby. Hearing this, Platoon Leader Yang's taut expression eased a little. "How's everyone else?" Lian Youming wiped the blood and grime from his face. Yang Dapao said, "All fine. Just two of the educated girls got a bit of a fright." "Brother Lian, you have no idea. There were wild boars over there too, and a black bear. Oh man, that bear was fat all over, and standing up it was nearly two meters tall. It didn't make a sound and gave us a real scare. Shame it got away in the end." Wu Kui and the others had come along too, axes and shovels in hand, peering out from the crowd. Yang Dapao's thick brows were knitted tight. "By rights, a black bear that's already put on fat ought to be getting ready to hibernate. Why would it come to the forest farm? Shuang'er, what was the situation on your side?" Under the pale moonlight, the girl who had been going into the mountains with the educated girls stepped forward. "Brother Yang, I found a few old wolves over there. I killed them all." "This is downright eerie. First time I've ever seen so many beasts stirring at once, like someone was directing them, coming and going without a sound..." Yang Dapao took a lamp and looked everyone over carefully again, then his face suddenly changed. "Where's Third Uncle Xie?" "I'm here." Just as the words fell, a gaunt old man appeared from the shadows, limping his way out. "Third Uncle Xie, are you hurt?" Xie Laosan's old face was pale. He shook his head. "It's nothing. A lynx clawed me." Lian Youming had meant to step closer, but the moment Xie Laosan emerged from the shadows, something in his eyes shifted almost imperceptibly. Having lived two lives, he'd seen plenty of films and TV shows in his last one about people in night-black clothes prowling around after dark. No matter how you sliced it, Lian Youming couldn't shake the feeling that the old man's build resembled that mysterious figure who had retreated earlier. "Could this old bastard be one of those White Lotus Sect people? And he deliberately got himself hurt to throw off suspicion?" The thought had barely formed before Lian Youming silently replayed Xie Laosan's every move from that day. The man could move through this primeval forest at will, and his movements were quicker and more agile than men half his age. Lian's gaze darkened. Could this man be hiding his true depths—a martial artist? Then what had tonight been about? A beast-driving technique? The White Lotus Sect? For a moment Lian Youming's thoughts raced, his mind full of doubts. Unexpectedly, Xie Laosan looked at him and said with a gentle smile, "You're all right, lad? You actually dared fight for your life against an Asian golden cat that size—a newborn calf really doesn't fear the tiger." Lian Youming had been nursing his suspicions, but at these words a chill ran down the back of his neck. The man definitely had something to hide. If Xie Laosan hadn't seen it with his own eyes, how could he know Lian had fought for his life against an Asian golden cat—let alone an Amur leopard? Just then, Platoon Leader Yang began assigning everyone tasks. "All right, all of you go back to your dormitories first. You two, go to the canteen, heat some water, wash up, and put on some medicine. Whatever you do, don't let those wounds get infected. The rest of us won't sleep tonight—we'll take turns keeping watch. Anything else can wait until daylight." A crowd of people had been wandering the forest farm late at night, hearts in their throats, and they'd long since gone numb with cold. Hearing they could return to their dormitories, they all breathed a sigh of relief and scattered. Once most of the educated youths had gone, Lian Youming and Liu Dabiao followed Platoon Leader Yang to the canteen. Big pots on a big stove—the water heated fast. Braving the cold wind, the two stripped off their clothes and each sat in a wooden tub. Lian Youming was fine. Two washes to get the blood and filth off, some ointment, a change of clothes, and he was back in the dormitory. Liu Dabiao was the unlucky one. He begged Platoon Leader Yang to change the hot water four or five times, but that awful stench just wouldn't wash out. In the dormitory, Wu Kui and the others were already snoring. Lian Youming lay on the heated kang, tossing and turning, unable to sleep. Now whenever he closed his eyes, all he saw was the figure of the Old Man Who Guards the Mountain—swift as a ghost, his movements flying. Especially the sight of the old man killing a vicious beast with a palm strike—it had struck him with a force unlike anything he'd ever felt. That world ordinary people could never reach... No. Perhaps others couldn't reach it, but it was not far from him. Lian Youming's eyes flickered, as if giving off some strange light. He already had the key. Weren't those two pieces of brocade silk the very knocker on the door? Now he only needed to learn and master them, and he could open the gate to that world. "I'm going to train." Without a shred of hesitation, a heart that had once wavered was now firm. And then Lian Youming made a decision that would change his whole life. That surging tide of feeling, that breathtaking tremor—he found his very soul seemed to shudder, his blood heating beyond his control. He had been given a second life, but if this life were only about chasing fame, wealth, and security, what would be the point? He had already lived that same life once before. And if he had never seen that world, it would have been one thing. He could have been like everyone else, content to wear himself out between career and family—marry, build a home, have children, care for his parents, and live out his old age in peace. But now he had seen it—seen a world others could never see—and it was even within reach, laid out right before him. Lian Youming stared at the dark ceiling and, almost unconsciously, stretched out his right hand and slowly closed it. In that instant, he seemed to understand a great many things, and to feel a great many things. Most people merely exist in this world, passing from birth to extinction, leaving no mark, the wind blowing their traces away. But he wanted to truly live. To live as he pleased, not existing for some person or some thing. People have curiosity, and a hunger to know. Lian Youming had once had many ambitions, but now he found he seemed to want nothing at all, desired nothing at all—he only wanted to set foot in that world and see for himself what extraordinary scenery it held. Life is short. Why not dream a dream of the jianghu? ... That night, Lian Youming dreamed. He dreamed he stood alone at the summit of a mountain, commanding the winds and storms, contending with the great heroes of the world.