Echo Part 1

Qu Linfeng entered the town trembling with fear.

More than ten years had passed since the Shi Rou Chaos, and there were no traces of war to be seen anywhere. The Suspended Tree was no more, long-lived elderly had increased, and while there were occasional disasters in the realm, the imperial court had weathered them all. The jianghu gradually stabilized, with the demonic cult Red Hook dominating, while among the righteous sects, Ku Mountain rose to prominence and Taiheng slowly regained its former glory.

Ku Mountain and Taiheng differed greatly in style. Taiheng, with its established foundation, still tended to recruit wealthy youths and carefully nurture them from a young age. Ku Mountain's requirements were much more lenient; even older children from poor families could join if they had the ability, and Ku Mountain was happy to accept them.

Children from poor families were naturally willing to take a chance. Ku Mountain was considered an up-and-coming major sect. Even if their martial arts couldn't match Taiheng disciples in the future, it was still a way out.

This time, Qu Linfeng was going to visit Ku Mountain.

He had just turned twelve, leaving his adoptive father for the first time to enter the city with a familiar farming family. The town was bustling with people and lively stalls. Once the children's eyes landed on them, they couldn't look away. Qu Linfeng lived in an especially remote area and had rarely been to the market, instantly captivated by paper pinwheels and twisted sugar figurines.

"Old Li, since we rarely come here, let's buy some candy," the farmer's wife, unable to bear the sight, quickly urged her husband. They had sold their goods well this time, making a small profit, and could afford to spend a copper coin.

The cart-driving farmer understood and bought a stick of sugar syrup. The woman tasted a bit herself and gave most of it to Qu Linfeng.

Qu Linfeng put on a serious little face, politely thanked them, and quickly slipped a coin into the woman's pocket. He moved so fast that the farmer's wife didn't notice at all.

"You're such a sensible child, not making a fuss. Your father must really care to let you go," the woman felt some affection seeing him lick the candy bit by bit.

They naturally knew about Qu Linfeng's background.

A disheveled cripple lived in their village. The cripple had lost a foot, couldn't do heavy work, and didn't like to socialize. He found an abandoned house in a remote area to live in, unwilling to even greet the villagers. Although the cripple was proud, he still needed to eat and drink. With his unique skill of literacy and letter-writing, he could at least make a living.

The Li couple often left the village to sell goods and were quick-witted. They had advised the cripple to teach children and be a half-baked teacher. But the cripple reacted as if gravely insulted and refused without a second thought. A few years ago, matchmakers saw that he was good-looking and educated, and wanted to arrange a marriage for the cripple, but they were almost driven out of the yard.

Over time, even though the villagers were warm-hearted, they gradually stopped paying attention to him.

The cripple's only activity was to go to the fields to watch farmers work and chat. His gaze was often complex, completely incomprehensible to others, a thoroughly strange person.

Until he picked up Qu Linfeng.

This child was abandoned outside the village. When first discovered, Qu Linfeng's legs were paralyzed, and the village doctor said there was no cure. Everyone looked at each other hesitantly; no family was well-off, who would be willing to raise a cripple destined to be a burden? In the past, just being "heaven-hated" would have been enough to get rid of this child.

To everyone's surprise, after a long silence, the cripple took the child home. A few months later, the cripple seemed to have used some kind of "internal energy healing" technique, and the baby's legs could move. He was given the name "Qu Linfeng," which was out of place in the village.

The cripple remained very silent, not even allowing Qu Linfeng to call him father. Qu Linfeng was sensible from a young age, knowing to run errands for his "adoptive father". He was good-looking and got along well with the villagers, which in turn made the cripple less disliked.

"My adoptive father said that since I've learned to read, I should go out and explore," Qu Linfeng said obediently.

Farmer's wife: "... Oh my, he can actually speak like a normal person? He's considered educated after all, why doesn't he teach his own son properly?"

"My adoptive father said that one must see things for oneself. His eyes are his, and my eyes are mine," Qu Linfeng shook his head. "I chose Ku Mountain Sect myself. I've heard that as long as one is willing to work hard, Ku Mountain Sect will pay for one's education."

When he first mentioned this to his adoptive father, his crippled adoptive father had a subtle expression but ultimately said nothing.

The small donkey cart swayed into Ku Mountain's staging post. Ku Mountain Sect was recruiting disciples, and the town was quite lively. Qu Linfeng, carrying a small bundle, said a sincere goodbye to the Li couple and boarded Ku Mountain Sect's small horse-drawn carriage.

Most of the passengers were young people, among whom a youth with his hair tied up was particularly eye-catching. He wore silk clothes, looking much wealthier than the others. The young man was looking at the carriage roof with disdain, clearly not considering the others worthy of his attention. Fortunately, it wasn't far from here to Ku Mountain, and the carriage only swayed for two days, not enough time for conflicts to arise among the youths.

Many young people gathered here hoping to join Ku Mountain Sect, and the surroundings were quite lively. One side was performing a play about the founding of the country, while the other was discussing books related to the Suspended Tree, both attracting many people.

"I know about this, it was done by the first generation sect leader of Ku Mountain! He spent a fortune to collect all the fragmentary records from the country's founding, even examining the histories of Luojiu and Xilong, and managed to sort out the events of that time clearly and thoroughly."

The silk-clad youth said loudly, with a hint of showing off in his tone.

"He Cheng'an was a demon raised by the Suspended Tree. First, he raised and used the nameless General Yin, then personally harmed him! One of the Twin Heroes who appeared later to save the country was the reincarnation of that General Yin. It was a celestial being transformed from the same star, even keeping the same name."

Qu Linfeng tilted his head—this seemed inconsistent with what he had heard. According to his adoptive father, one of the Twin Heroes was General Yin himself. But thinking about it, they were just from a small place, his adoptive father must have heard the news wrong. How could anyone live that long?

"...The other of the Twin Heroes was the first generation sect leader of Ku Mountain, also a celestial being transformed from a star. He specifically spent a fortune and effort to clear General Yin's name, all for the sake of their heavenly friendship!"

The silk-clad youth continued.

Many boys and girls gathered around admiringly, but Qu Linfeng was more interested in other things. From this angle, he could faintly see the outline of the sect on Ku Mountain mountain, looking very impressive.

Ku Mountain Sect's method of selecting disciples changed every year and was unpredictable. It was unknown whether he would be chosen. It was said that one year when time was tight, they even sent a goose spirit to select people. Tens of thousands of people wanted to enter Ku Mountain Sect's main branch, and after selecting batch by batch like this, only about a hundred could be chosen in the end. Qu Linfeng had already decided that if he wasn't selected, he would obediently become a menial worker at a staging post. At most, he would take on a few more jobs, but he would definitely continue his studies.

That night, the boys and girls were arranged to stay at an inn.

There was only one person watching over the inn, a man with his eyes bandaged, seemingly blind. Although he was blind, his hands and feet were exceptionally nimble. Qu Linfeng, having done many chores himself, immediately felt a sense of kinship.

He carefully moved to the man's side, imitating him by picking up a bucket of water, wanting to strike up a conversation. The man acted as if he had eyes in the back of his head, instantly turning towards him. Before Qu Linfeng could speak, he heard a scream—

"It's over!!!"

A man came rushing in at escape velocity. He crouched low, his feet sliding far across the floor, stopping right in front of the menial worker. The man wrapped his arms around the worker's waist, his face extremely miserable.

"San-zi, I accidentally led thieves in here, you can't just stand by and watch me die!"

Menial worker "San-zi": "..."

Menial worker: "Get up first, there are children here."

Seeing this man suddenly appear, Qu Linfeng's neck hair stood on end. Although the man in his thirties was crying miserably, the evil aura he emitted made Qu Linfeng's spine go cold.

The man ignored the worker's words: "You have to explain clearly to that person, the thief was originally aiming for his little treasury. I, the Venerable... ahem, I was just used, it really has nothing to do with me."

The worker helplessly said: "Why didn't you catch the thief?"

"That thief's lightness skill was superb, I didn't even notice him tailing me. Ku Mountain is such a big place, I can't search it all."

"If you hadn't rushed in without warning, the thief wouldn't have been able to break through Ku Mountain's mountain-protecting formation," the worker responded dejectedly.

The man was stunned, looked up at the ceiling, and started muttering strange things like "Why should I submit a visiting card together with those cats and dogs," "Who are we to each other," "How can you bear to treat me like this," and so on.

Whether to change the subject or not, he "discovered" Qu Linfeng at just the right moment: "Who's this, a child coming to join the sect?"

"Yes."

"Since you're going to arrange a selection anyway, why not use this as a test," the man's eyes flickered, as if he was about to cry the next moment. "I've activated the mountain-sealing formation, the thief can't escape. You can say it was all arranged, that fox... that person won't be too hard on me."

The worker wiped his face hard and let out a long sigh.

"Tell me, what did the thief steal to scare you like this?"

"The... the Cure All With Medicine Flag."

"...Ah Si, has the young sect leader of Red Hook been decided?"

"Don't say such terrifying things!"

Qu Linfeng, listening on the side, was completely confused but managed to catch a few key words: "As long as everyone searches the mountain together, we'll definitely be able to find the thief."

The worker smiled bitterly: "We don't know if the thief is dangerous, this matter should still be left to them"

He shook off "Ah Si" who was clinging to him and wouldn't let go, his face showing even more helplessness.

"But helping with some minor tasks can also reveal some character. I'll... report this later, maybe it will work out. Your name is Qu Linfeng? Meeting like this is fate, you can come along with us to search."

The next day, people were awakened at the hour of the Tiger*. Over a hundred people were divided into five teams, each led by two Ku Mountain disciples, and they really went up the mountain. The silk-clad youth and Qu Linfeng were assigned to the same group, looking very unhappy.

*T/N: 3-5am.

Ku Mountain wasn't large, but it had dense forests, thick grass, and many caves. The roars of beasts could be heard one after another, making people's legs weak just from listening. It was late autumn, and maple leaves covered the ground like a blazing fire. The scenery before them was beautiful, but no one was in the mood to appreciate it.

"Why are we looking for things?" he complained in a low voice. "It doesn't feel like being a great hero at all."

Ah Si suddenly turned back: "What's wrong with looking for things? If it weren't for the thief we need to catch, according to the original plan, you'd be searching the whole mountain for demon flowers."

"Even searching for demon grass would be more interesting than running errands for others!"

Ah Si sneered and glanced sideways at the silk-clad youth, who became even more defiant, instantly baring his teeth and claws: "Looking at your dress, you're not from Ku Mountain, why are you ordering us around?!"

"What, do I have to join Ku Mountain Sect to be considered part of Ku Mountain?" Ah Si retracted his viciousness, grabbed the menial worker's arm, and started making faces on the spot. "How can I say, I'm also—"

But before he could finish, his head was pressed down by the menial worker San-zi: "What are you telling the kids?"

Ah Si clicked his tongue and changed tactics: "Brat, what's your name?"

Silk-clad youth: "This young master's name and title remain unchanged, surname He, given name Jiu!"

He raised his head, not at all hiding his rich person's aura.

"Alright, I'll remember you," Ah Si said ominously.

Qu Linfeng was speechless. A man in his thirties seriously arguing with a fourteen or fifteen-year-old child, the scene was quite ridiculous. He helplessly glanced at San-zi, seeing in the other's eyes a very similar fatigue.

The children were not allowed to scout ahead, and they hadn't encountered any dangers. As time passed, almost everyone began to treat it as a sightseeing trip. Some people started picking up maple leaves, and the conversation became lighter. Just then, Qu Linfeng suddenly sensed a strange aura.

Someone was watching them, their gaze filled with intense hostility.

He immediately pulled He Jiu, who was still sulking, and the expressions of San-zi and Ah Si also instantly became solemn. He Jiu reacted quickly, coming to his senses and pulling out a small knife.

"Who's there?!"