Chapter 1-1

At dawn, just as the eastern sky was beginning to brighten, there was a mountain behind a small village deep in the remote reaches of Shaanxi. The mountain had no name and was rarely visited, but long ago, herb gatherers had built a small house there so they could stop and rest. Perhaps because it had long since fallen out of use, even from a distance the abandoned house looked ready to collapse at any moment. Little by little, the morning sunlight began to fall upon it.

“Wake up.”

Although sunlight was gradually filtering in through the window, the dense forest surrounding the house left the interior shrouded in darkness. A deep, resonant voice echoed through the room. In the faint sunlight, a large scar could be seen running across the man’s face. Combined with his already sharp eyes and angular jawline, the scar made his features look even harsher, enough to make anyone assume at a glance that he was not a pleasant man.

-Rustle.

The man spoke as he nudged something several times with his foot, and soon, a pair of eyes tinged with blue opened in the darkness. As their owner slowly sat up, the sunlight creeping through the window began to illuminate his face. A boy opened his eyes. He had black irises with a bluish tint, black hair faintly tinged with brown, and skin that, despite being dirty, was strikingly pale. He looked to be about eight years old. The boy was clearly Han Chinese, but judging from the color of his hair, eyes, and skin, he appeared to be of mixed Han and Semu ancestry.

“Ah……”

The boy frowned for a moment when the sunlight stung his eyes, then raised his head as his vision gradually adjusted.

“We’re leaving.”

“…Yes.”

The boy nodded at the man’s words and rose to his feet. He then took the sword the man handed him, cradling it in both arms, and began following behind him.

‘Has it already been two years?’

The boy’s name was Bai Shixuan. He did not know when it had begun, but at some point, people had started calling him by that name. What Bai Shixuan remembered was that, from a very young age, he had lived among beggars in a tiny village in Shaanxi. He did not know who his parents were and had been raised alongside beggars. Then, two years ago, when he was six, he met a wandering swordsman and became his sword attendant, roaming the Central Plains with him. The wandering swordsman who had been his master died less than three months after they left together. After that, Bai Shixuan changed masters several times. He could no longer even remember which number his current master was. All he knew was that, in the span of only two years, he had changed masters more than five times. His current master had eventually brought him back to Shaanxi, a place that could be called Bai Shixuan’s hometown, yet Bai Shixuan did not feel as though he had returned home at all. For that reason, he had never told his master that he had once lived here. No—his master probably would not have cared anyway.

Even so, this was still the place where he had grown up. No matter how young and ignorant he had been when he followed a wandering swordsman and became a sword attendant, that did not change the fact that Shaanxi was Bai Shixuan’s homeland.

‘I have nowhere to go back to anyway…….’

There was nowhere for him to return to and not a single person waiting to welcome him. It was his hometown, yet at the same time it was not. Had he not already resolved, when he left Shaanxi, that he would no longer think of it as home?

He tried somehow to steady his weakening heart, but Bai Shixuan was still only a child, and he could feel emotions welling up inside him little by little at having returned to the place where he had once lived.

“Pay attention!”

The man’s sudden shout snapped Bai Shixuan back to his senses. He hurriedly looked around and realized that, without noticing, he had already walked past the man and was descending the mountain alone. He had apparently become so lost in thought that he had started walking down the mountain faster than his master.

-Thud!

“I-I’m sorry.”

When he hurried back toward the man, the man struck Bai Shixuan across the face. Bai Shixuan fell forward onto the ground, but even then, he did not let go of his master’s sword. If he dropped the sword here and let it hit the ground, Bai Shixuan might truly be killed. The sword in his arms was extremely cheap, yet for some reason his master treasured it greatly. No, it was not only his current master. Bai Shixuan’s previous master, and the master before that—every master he had ever served had cherished the sword.

-Thud, thud, thud.

Bai Shixuan curled up on the ground while clutching the sword tightly against his chest, and his master kicked him repeatedly. Perhaps because the sword was held against his front, the man concentrated his kicks on Bai Shixuan’s back.

“Huff, huff.”

After beating Bai Shixuan for some time, the man’s anger seemed to subside little by little. Breathing heavily, he finally stopped kicking him. When Bai Shixuan cautiously opened his eyes, his master was looking down at him coldly.

“Get up.”

“Y-Yes.”

Bai Shixuan hurriedly got to his feet and moved behind his master, who once again began walking ahead. Bai Shixuan followed after him. It was always like this. Not every master had beaten Bai Shixuan, but most of them had been cold, sharp, and vicious. Only his first master had treated Bai Shixuan warmly. Perhaps he had died so early precisely because he had been too kindhearted.

“Aren’t you curious where we’re going?”

“Yes.”

Even if he asked, the man would not tell him. Knowing that, Bai Shixuan simply nodded his small head and answered. If he said he was curious, his master might instead ask why such a thing concerned him and start beating him again. For that reason, Bai Shixuan always followed his masters without ever asking where they were going.

“There is a place in Shaanxi called the Flower Fragrance Pavilion. That’s where we’re going.”

“Yes.”

It was probably a pleasure house. His master had been gathering money by cutting down one wandering martial artist after another, yet he barely ate proper meals and always slept in abandoned houses scattered here and there. Perhaps the reason he had lived that way despite having money was because he had been saving it to visit a pleasure house.

In any case, that was very good news for Bai Shixuan. Aside from his first master, none of his masters had properly fed him, but whenever they went to a pleasure house, the courtesans would often find Bai Shixuan’s mixed Semu ancestry fascinating and give him all sorts of food. Moreover, although Bai Shixuan was usually filthy, beneath the grime he had fair, clear skin and an extremely adorable face. Whenever he was properly washed, the courtesans would invariably look at him with pleased smiles.

‘Will it work again today?’

Part of it was because he was still so young, and part of it was because he was of mixed Semu ancestry. But even as a child, Bai Shixuan had delicate features that suggested he would grow into a man capable of captivating quite a few women. Being so young, Bai Shixuan simply assumed that the courtesans gave him food because he was a child, but that was probably not the only reason.