“Whoever is stronger is the one who rules; the weak have no right to rule themselves. This, in fact, is the only rule that exists between Heaven and Earth.”

“Birds and beasts aside, even the flowers, grass, and trees here are alive. Have you seen that yet?”

Bei Shi led Chang An through the small courtyard and into the woods behind it. There grew a strange kind of plant. Its branches and twigs were no different from those of an ordinary tree, but from a distance, it looked as though water were flowing over its bark. Only when one approached did one discover transparent patterns on the trunk, moving rapidly without a moment’s pause, so fast that they were dazzling to the eye.

“I have.”

Bei Shi took long strides, making no particular effort to wait for Chang An. The child had no choice but to run and stumble along behind him as he continued, “A big flower ate me.”

Bei Shi stopped short and turned back to look at Chang An, who was neither missing an arm nor short a leg. Raising an eyebrow, he asked in surprise, “Then how did it manage to spit you back out?”

Chang An proudly puffed out his chest and answered, “I stabbed a hole in it.”

“…”

Amused by the child’s appearance, Bei Shi ruffled his bird’s-nest-like hair and laughed. “Oh, so you’re a little wolf cub after all. Then let me see what you’re capable of.”

He took the little knife, no more than two palms’ length, from Chang An’s hand and swung it backward at a branch, from below upward, at an angle almost perpendicular to the ground. There was a light sound, and that section of branch was sliced off. Bei Shi reached out and caught it. A refreshing fragrance rose from inside the small branch. Sure enough, there was water inside.

“This tree is called a qiongjiang tree, which means ‘a tree containing celestial nectar.’ Once a branch has been cut off and dried, the flesh inside the bark can be burned and eaten, and it tastes extremely delicious. The outer layer, however, is exceptionally hard; it resists insects and pests and can even ward off fire. It is an excellent material for building houses.”

Bei Shi held the branch under Chang An’s nose and asked, “Would you like to taste it?”

Chang An was not afraid. He had already been drooling at the smell and immediately leaned forward, wanting to take a bite from Bei Shi’s hand. But before his mouth could touch even a bit of the bark, Bei Shi circled the branch beneath his nose, as though teasing a puppy, then took it away and drank the contents himself in one gulp.

Chang An: “…”

Bei Shi let out a satisfied “Ha,” and when he lowered his head, he discovered that the little wolf cub was glaring at him with a look of pure hatred. He seemed to find this endlessly entertaining and burst out laughing. “If you want to drink it, do it yourself. Once you’ve chopped enough branches, I’ll build you a shelter. Otherwise, you can sleep on the roof.”

Chang An gritted his teeth at him, took the little knife, and without a moment’s hesitation brought it down hard on the branch. But with a “clang,” the blade actually flew off, leaving not even a mark on the branch.

Chang An was stunned for a moment. Then he summoned the same relentless, all-or-nothing determination he had used when hacking at the man-eating flower, and struck the qiongjiang tree repeatedly with his knife. Before long, he was panting heavily.

Bei Shi watched him with interest.

Although the man had been unwilling to associate with people for many years, he still knew what children of this age were like. Whatever they were doing, whether they succeeded or failed, they would instinctively turn around to look at the adult beside them. Sometimes they were seeking praise; sometimes they were seeking help in their distress.

But Chang An was different.

His entire mind seemed to have been drawn toward the tree that he could not cut down, and he had completely forgotten that there was anyone else around him.

Bei Shi suddenly reached out and caught the back of the little knife’s blade.

“The branches of the qiongjiang tree are harder than the steel used to forge knives,” Bei Shi said. “No matter how capable you are, you cannot use an egg to smash a stone. But its branches can be cut down. Do you know why?”

Chang An looked at him in confusion.

Bei Shi said calmly, “Because everything in this world, from the moment it is born, no matter how powerful it may be, has its inherent weaknesses. All things generate and overcome one another, and the order cannot be disrupted. Heaven will not create something that even Heaven and Earth cannot contain. That is why a blade has only one sharp edge, yet can cut through anything—so long as you can find your opponent’s weakness.”

“Watch carefully.” As Bei Shi said this, he reached from behind and took hold of Chang An’s little hand. Chang An felt the irresistible strength coming from the man’s hand as Bei Shi guided his hand and swung the blade.

The change in the feel of the blade immediately told him—the branch had been cut open.

But as Bei Shi slowed his movement, the knife could no longer be pushed upward even another inch. It became lodged between the sections of branch that had seemingly been cut apart, while the fragrant tree sap dripped steadily onto the ground.

Bei Shi continued, “The patterns on the qiongjiang tree are its weakness. Only when you catch the instant the pattern changes and strike along it can you cut off the branch. But you have only a split second. If your knife is not fast enough and you fail to pierce the entire branch before its pattern changes again, the blade will become stuck inside. Do you understand?”

Chang An listened, but his face was full of confusion. Half understanding, he asked, “Everything has a weakness. Does a knife have a weakness too?”

Bei Shi smiled, released his hand, wiped the dirty dust from the child’s face, and said, “A knife is just like you, little cub. Your entire body is full of weaknesses; with a light bend of the hand, you could snap. But so what? Wherever the blade points, everyone has to tremble in fear.”

Chang An pressed the matter to the very root “Then why is that?”

“You won’t understand.”

Bei Shi fell silent for a moment. Feeling that he could not explain it clearly, he said no more.

The man was like someone whose moods changed without warning. As he spoke, the smile on his face suddenly disappeared. He tapped the back of Chang An’s head and said, his tone even somewhat cold, “Unless you master your own blade—starting now, you will chop trees. When you have chopped enough branches to build a wooden house, you can move inside and live there. Until the house is built, you are not to go forward beyond my courtyard, nor backward beyond this forest. Otherwise, you are responsible for your own life or death. Understood?”

After saying this, he clasped his hands behind his back, turned around, returned to his own little wooden house, and paid Chang An no further attention.

With Chang An’s eyesight, it took only a short while of staring at the rapidly changing patterns on the tree before his eyes became dazzled.

Bei Shi had only told him that the knife had to be fast, but had not told him that, ultimately, the speed of a knife depended on “strength.” With Chang An’s thin, weak wrists, even if he possessed extraordinary talent and could keep up with the changes in the qiongjiang tree’s patterns, it would still be impossible for him to swing the knife that quickly.

Bei Shi actually still had no genuine intention of teaching him. He intended to use this method to make the little fellow retreat in the face of difficulty. Learning the blade might sound easy, but as an sub-beast, he was born without the strength required to wield such a deadly weapon.

Some things were limited by natural talent and could not be forced. Even if he truly managed to master it, ten or twenty years later, those heavy blades would sooner or later damage his wrists and cause irreparable injuries to his bones. He already looked like someone who would not live a long life to begin with—why struggle against fate like this?

In Bei Shi’s view, this little thing had not come here to survive. He had come here to seek death.

What a pity. He had been born a little wolf cub, yet had forgotten to grow claws and fangs. How far could he possibly go?

An entire afternoon passed. As expected, the qiongjiang trees had remained completely unmoved, as though water were flowing across them; not even the slightest scar remained on the surface of their branches. Chang An’s palms had already been rubbed raw, and both arms were completely swollen. His chin and chest were stained with his own nosebleed, but he casually wiped it clean and paid it no attention.

Chang An had practically lost all sensation in his body. The little knife in his hand was thrown back by the hard bark, and he staggered before falling heavily onto the ground.

Chang An could not catch his breath. His chest felt as though it were blocked with cotton, his temples throbbed violently, making his vision swim with patches of colour, and a faint metallic taste of blood rose in his dry, coughing throat. He felt as though he could no longer lift even a single finger.

He sat on the ground for a while, then raised his head and looked at the towering qiongjiang tree before him, which seemed as though it could never be defeated.

Thus, Chang An, a little over seven years old, encountered the first seemingly invincible enemy of his destiny—a tree.

He felt a kind of despair stretching so far that he could not see its end.

Bei Shi stood silently behind Chang An and poured him a cup of water.

The boy had not given up once during the entire afternoon, which had actually exceeded Bei Shi’s expectations. Yet from the looks of things, he was about to give up very soon.

A road whose end could not be seen even at a glance could frighten even a steadfast adult, let alone a little thing whose mind was not yet fully developed. He would keep him here for ten days or half a month, fatten him up a little, and then, for the sake of being the descendant of an old acquaintance, simply send him down the mountain. Bei Shi shook his head, crouched beside Chang An, watched him gulp down water, picked up his little knife, and tossed it lightly in his hand. Thinking he was patiently guiding the child, he said, “Little cub, why are you so determined to learn the blade? Didn’t the person who looked after you ever tell you that an sub-beast like you would be better off learning a craft if you want to live well?”

Those words touched a sore spot in Chang An’s heart. He glared fiercely at Bei Shi without saying anything.

Bei Shi tapped him on the head, not gently at all. “I’m asking you a question, little cub. You should show respect to those who are stronger than you.”

“Zhe Yan wanted me to become a carpenter.” Chang An’s voice was already hoarse; even the clear quality characteristic of a child could no longer be heard in it.

“Isn’t being a carpenter pretty good?” Bei Shi asked in surprise. “Why did you run away?”

“I didn’t run away.” Chang An tilted his head aside, avoiding the hand that liked to mess with his head, and said frankly, “The carpenter’s wife poisoned Zhe Yan to death. I burned their entire family to death, so there was nowhere left to learn carpentry.”

Bei Shi: “…”

The man stared at him, dumbfounded, for a long while before finally stammering, “Y-you said what? You burned their entire family to death?”

“Yes!”

Chang An admitted it without the slightest hesitation or any sense of guilt over being a murderer.

Bei Shi frowned, his expression becoming stern, and said coldly, “Even if you wanted revenge, there were still the clan leader and the elders to decide the matter. How could you simply kill someone on your own? Besides, killing someone is merely a matter of taking a life. Even in the case of a blood feud, there is no reason to exterminate an entire family. You little brat, you have been this ruthless since childhood; what will become of you when you grow up?”

Chang An declared with complete justification, “The carpenter spoke ill of Zhe Yan behind his back and did bad things to him. His wife poisoned Zhe Yan to death. Was I not supposed to take revenge? What are the clan leader and the elders supposed to be? Why should they get to decide?”

Faced with such an unreasonable little brat who stubbornly refused to listen, Bei Shi had originally wanted to raise his hand and slap him, but he was afraid that he might lose control and accidentally beat him to death. Thus, although he had already raised his hand, he lowered it again in a rather unnatural manner and said with a furious glare, “Nonsense! People of the same clan live together, so naturally there are rules. Do you really think the clan leader and the elders would not give you justice?”

Chang An jumped up from the ground, having already forgotten Bei Shi's earlier instruction that “one must respect those stronger than oneself,” and shouted loudly, “Zhe Yan can't come back to life! Shouldn't the person who caused his death die?”

No one had dared stomp about and roar in front of him like this for many years. Bei Shi could not help staring for a moment at the small creature before him, all bared teeth and raised claws.

Chang An's lips had turned slightly blue—the entire afternoon seemed to have exhausted him beyond his limits, yet it had not diminished his momentum in the slightest. Pointing at Bei Shi's nose, he said, “Zhe Yan told me that when someone shows you kindness, you repay that kindness, and when someone wrongs you, you repay that wrong. Even if I were given justice, would my grudge simply disappear? Would that mean I could be lazy? Besides, what use is giving me justice? I'm not the one who was poisoned to death. What am I supposed to do with that thing?”

Bei Shi suspected that this little wolf cub did not understand at all what “justice” even meant.

He might not even know how to write.

Chang An snatched the small knife back, shouted, and once again lunged at the qiongjiang tree, hacking at it with wide, powerful strokes as though his life depended on it, as if the qiongjiang tree were his mortal enemy. Bei Shi almost suspected that he was going to protect the tree's bark and bite it with his teeth.

Bei Shi thought for a while, then suddenly laughed and asked, “‘When someone shows you kindness, you repay that kindness; when someone wrongs you, you repay that wrong’... You little brat are rather interesting. Then tell me, instead of seeking out the people you need to repay or take revenge on, why are you learning the blade from me?”

“If I can't learn the blade, I'll have to listen to other people in everything I do. How could I repay my own debts and avenge my own grudges?”

Bei Shi had not expected to hear such a sentence from Chang An. He was almost looking at the little brat in a new light.

In this vast and desolate continent, were skills unimportant? Naturally, they were important. But why were beastmen who could transform into beasts held in the highest regard? Was it not because they were strong, because they possessed the power to fight, and because they could survive better in this northern continent where the weak were prey to the strong?

Whoever was stronger became the ruler; the weak had no right to determine their own fate. This was, in truth, the only rule between Heaven and Earth.

Both fair and cruel.

A man can become beast... A man can become beast...

Bei Shi gave a self-mocking smile—wasn't it all the same thing to begin with?

 

Translator : DarNan