Volume One: The Dragon Rises from the Wilderness Chapter One: The Winter Hunt

Early winter.

The morning light is hazy.

A solitary figure climbs up the ridge.

It is a boy of about fifteen or sixteen, braving the cold wind, his youthful face lifted, beads of sweat glistening on his brow, breathing heavily, his lively eyes filled with both excitement and unease.

Yu Ye is heading to Spirit Flood Gorge to take part in this year’s winter hunt.

Winter hunt is what the mountain folk call it. Though Yu Family Village, Bai Family Village, and Feng Family Village are situated in remote corners, they preserve ancient customs to this day, holding rites for spring hunting, summer gathering, autumn slaughter, and winter hunt. Each year, at the turn of autumn and winter, the young and able men of the three villages travel together over two hundred miles to Spirit Flood Gorge, hunting wild beasts and curing meat for the winter, or gathering herbs to trade for cloth, salt, iron tools, and other necessities to supplement their daily needs.

Yet, Yu Family Village has ancestral rules—minors are forbidden from leaving the mountains to hunt.

Yu Ye, only fifteen, is not yet of age, but he slipped out of the village in secret, embarking alone on the journey to the winter hunt.

He had travelled through the darkness for half the night, and the sky was growing brighter.

Yu Family Village, and the Star Plain Gorge where it lies, were long out of sight. All around, only mountains upon mountains, shrouded in morning mist, the world blurred in every direction.

At the foot of the mountain lay a river valley.

If he remembered correctly, heading south from here for another ten miles or so would bring him to Spirit Flood Town.

Spirit Flood Town was the necessary gateway to Spirit Flood Gorge.

Yu Ye paused to take in his bearings, then dashed down the ridge.

Moments later, he was standing in the river valley.

The valley spanned dozens of yards wide, sparse trees and heaps of rocks scattered about, empty and desolate.

Yu Ye glanced at the sky, then walked to a pile of stones. He dropped his wooden stick and bundle, tugged open his sheepskin robe, and sat heavily on the ground.

Spirit Flood Town was not far now; a brief rest before continuing would do.

He pulled his bundle from his shoulder and took out a rice cake and a water skin.

The rice cake was hard and cold, so he broke it apart and chewed it slowly. The water skin, sewn from deer hide, held three pounds of fresh water.

Mountain folk are used to hard lives; a bit of water and rice is enough to stave off hunger.

Yu Ye was about to eat and drink when he suddenly sensed something strange around him.

The empty river valley was cloaked in mist. Just then, a faint shadow, dark and swift, passed through the morning haze, seemingly gliding above the ground, leaping three or four yards at a time, and in the blink of an eye, paused ten yards away, casting a glance in his direction before drifting away.

Yu Ye hurriedly rubbed his eyes.

His father had told him that tigers and leopards, fierce as they are, can leap three or four yards—something ordinary people cannot do.

But the shadow was not a tiger or leopard; it seemed to be a traveler. Indeed, it looked like a thinly dressed young man. Yet if he were a mountain villager hurrying on, why move so silently and leap such distances? Was it perhaps a spirit of the wild?

A chill ran down Yu Ye’s spine.

Mountain folk do not fear tigers, leopards, or wolves, but they do fear ghosts and gods.

In the blink of an eye, the strange shadow vanished.

His father had said that mountain men are full of courage, and even in the face of death, they must not flinch.

Thinking of his father, Yu Ye’s expression dimmed.

He could never forget that stormy night last year, when his fifth uncle, close friend of his father, brought news that his brother Yu Yao had perished in Spirit Flood Gorge. As for how his father died, or where his remains lay, his uncle was vague, only saying the wild beasts were fierce and the body could not be found.

Yu Ye had been eager to go to Spirit Flood Gorge, but not knowing the way, he asked the elders in the village for help, only to be refused again and again. He then decided to join next year’s winter hunt, but was reprimanded by Grandfather Three, who said he was still too young to go hunting outside. He had lost his mother young, and his father raised him with great hardship. Who would have thought his father would meet such a tragic end—gone without a trace, neither alive nor dead? How could Yu Ye simply let it go?

This was why he was willing to break ancestral rules and insist on going to Spirit Flood Gorge.

This year’s winter hunt would begin at dawn today. Having waited anxiously for a whole year, he set out last night, intending to follow his clansmen once they departed and travel to Spirit Flood Gorge.

Yu Ye chewed his rice cake as memories flooded his mind.

The pain of losing his father and longing for family made his mood sink even lower. Sadness and weariness washed over him, and Yu Ye could not help but doze off. Having run most of the night through the mountains, he was truly exhausted...

Daylight grew bright.

The morning mist had not yet cleared.

A mix of hoofbeats, wheels, and barking shattered the silence of the river valley.

Two large carts and a group of men entered the valley, with several dogs running and frolicking alongside.

The mountain folk of Yu Family Village had gathered before dawn at the ancestral hall, slaughtered a rooster as offering, set off firecrackers to ward off evil, and then began their journey for the winter hunt, arriving here together.

On the leading cart sat a young man in his early twenties, dressed in a fur robe and hat, with a square face and round eyes, short beard, holding a whip and occasionally striking the old horse in the harness. He was Yu Baoshan, Grandfather Three’s grandson. His father, Yu Youcai, was driving the second cart close behind—a sturdy middle-aged man with a weathered, dark-red face.

The other twenty or so men followed on foot, carrying knives and sticks, or bows and arrows, all striding hurriedly.

There was also a father and son lagging behind, one silent and dull, the other peering around excitedly.

“Father, can we reach Spirit Flood Gorge in three or five days?”

“Mm.”

“Sixth Uncle…”

“Hurry up.”

The father and son were Yu Ergou and his father Yu Shitou. Sixth Uncle was Yu Ye’s father, so called by local custom.

It was Yu Ergou’s first time going to Spirit Flood Gorge, and his excitement led him to ask question after question. His father wanted to take the chance to remind him of a few things, but for some reason had grown irritable.

“Woof, woof—”

Dog barks sounded ahead, and the carts and horses slowed.

A dozen yards ahead, at a narrow point in the valley, a figure slowly rose from the pile of rocks, apparently woken from a dream, rubbing sleepy eyes.

“Yu Ye?”

Yu Ergou exclaimed in surprise.

The figure among the rocks was a boy, hair tied messily, fur robe loose, face covered in dust, looking quite bedraggled—it was Yu Ye. His playmate, and a good brother from the village, as familiar as could be.

He was not the only one surprised.

Yu Baoshan, on the cart, glanced back and pulled the reins. Once both carts stopped, he called out loudly, “Yu Ye, what are you doing here?”

“I…”

Yu Ye had come to rest, but was too tired and fell asleep. Now, there was no point in hiding. After hesitating, he spoke honestly:

“Brother Baoshan, I’m going to Spirit Flood Gorge.”

“Hmph!” Yu Baoshan snorted, scolding, “The family elders have said, minors may not join the winter hunt. You dare break the ancestral rules?”

The family elder referred to Yu Baoshan’s grandfather, Grandfather Three, respected patriarch of Yu Family Village, who, being advanced in years, could no longer join the hunt.

“Third Uncle…”

Yu Ye looked toward the second cart behind Yu Baoshan and pleaded, “Third Uncle, please let me go with you!”

But before he could finish, he was brusquely interrupted—

“Yu Ye, go back to Yu Family Village!”

Yu Ye ignored Baoshan and called again, “Fifth Uncle…”

Yu Ergou’s father was fifth in the family, and the younger members called him Fifth Uncle. Fifth Uncle seemed unable to avoid the plea, hesitating, “Third Brother, this child is stubborn…”

Third Brother—in this case, Yu Baoshan’s father, Yu Youcai—sat on the second cart, stroking his beard and pondering, “He’s still young, but in my opinion…”

Yu Ye quickly raised his voice, “My father met disaster, his body never recovered. You all were close friends with him—how can you stand by?”

He would not rest until he reached Spirit Flood Gorge.

A few elders in the group shook their heads and sighed—

“Ah, what a filial son!”

“Orphaned, poor child!”

“Hard to break ancestral rules, but the sentiment is understandable…”

“Well… since he refuses to go back, let him come along, and ask the older brothers to keep an eye on him.”

Yu Youcai thought for a moment, then said no more, waving his hand and urging, “Baoshan, let’s go!”

Crack, crack—the whip sounded, hooves beat, wheels rolled, dogs frolicked, and the group pressed on.

Yu Ye could scarcely believe it.

He could go to Spirit Flood Gorge?

“Yu Ye—”

A voice called out.

“Ergou—”

Yu Ye answered, grabbing his stick, slinging his bag, and running over.

Catching up with the group, Yu Ergou waved at him.

Yu Ergou, a head taller, about seventeen or eighteen, wore a cloth scarf and sheepskin robe, his dark face smiling as he whispered, “Brother, running out of the village alone and defying your elders—what nerve!”

Yu Shitou, about the same build and looks as Ergou but with more wrinkles and beard, was silent and taciturn, keeping his eyes forward as he pressed on, murmuring, “Travel with Ergou.”

Yu Ye was still overjoyed.

He had expected punishment for breaking the rules, but after arguing his case, his wish was granted.

If you don’t try, how will you know the outcome?

Yu Ergou had been close to him since childhood. It was Ergou who had told him the exact date of the winter hunt, making his journey possible. Ergou patted his waist and puffed out his chest, declaring, “Going to Spirit Flood Gorge, you have Brother Dog to protect you, look—”

Good friends now journeyed together, growing more affectionate.

“A hunting knife?”

Yu Ergou had a beastskin scabbard at his waist, with the handle of a knife showing. He patted the handle, boasting, “My father’s hunting knife, passed to me. Do you have a weapon? Let Brother Dog take a look.”

Mountain folk never lack blades and axes, but a sharp hunting knife is valuable.

“My father’s hunting knife was lost in Spirit Flood Gorge.”

“You’re empty-handed?”

“I have a short knife.”

Yu Ye patted his waist as well—a small knife hidden in his breast, his father’s keepsake, which he did not show lightly.

Yu Ergou laughed, “Ha, with just a little knife, how will you fight wild beasts? If your Sixth Uncle were alive, he’d never let you risk your life…”

“Pah, pah!”

Before Ergou could finish, someone turned and spat twice—it was his father Yu Shitou, raising his hand skyward and muttering, “May the spirits protect us, no taboos!” Then he scolded in a low voice, “Don’t talk nonsense in broad daylight!”

Yu Ergou quickly shut his mouth.

Yu Ye dared not speak either; he knew the mountain customs.

When traveling, speaking of life and death is taboo, lest it offend the spirits and bring disaster.

What exactly are spirits? No one can say, but all revere and believe in their omnipresence and power.

Yet, if the spirits are truly so miraculous, why did they not protect his parents…