Chapter 549: Leaving the Village

"Sit."

Yu Lin pointed to the chair beside him, his tone casual.

Yao Xian sat down as instructed, posture respectful, sitting only on half the chair, his spine straight as a rod.

Yu Lin did not look at him, his gaze still fell on the distant fields.

"When will you leave again?"

Yao Xian blinked slightly, then replied:

"In four days."

He paused, then added: "Chu is attacking Chen on the pretext that Chen rebelled against Jin; since you are from Chen, you naturally must return to contribute."

Chen State.

The You Yu clan, descendants of Emperor Shun.

The current ruler is called Gui Ruo, known as Duke Ai of Chen.

The surname Gui originates from Emperor Shun's original surname Yao; because they lived at Gui Rui, later generations took the place name as their surname, adopting Gui.

Yao Xian hails from Chen State, sharing the same origin as the Chen royal house; naturally he is also a descendant of Emperor Shun.

Someone then discovered this.

Why does the ruler of Chen State bear the title "gong" (duke), while the ruler of Chu Guo bears the title "wang" (king)?

The difference is a long story; to cut it short.

According to Zhou Chao rites, feudal lords were ranked as gong, hou, bo, zi, nan—these are merely ranks, not the title of "wang".

Chen State was a feudal lord formally enfeoffed by the Zhou Emperor; it faithfully observed the rules, thus naturally called "gong".

And Chu Guo...

Chu Guo originated in Danyang of the middle Yangtze; early on it was merely a southern barbarian tribe, and the Zhou Emperor granted it only the rank of "zi".

Later Chu Guo continually expanded, annexing neighboring small states, occupying the Jianghan region, becoming the southern hegemon.

Later King Wu of Chu directly said: "My ancestor Xiong Yu was the teacher of King Wen, and died early. King Cheng raised my forefather, granting him the fields and lands of the zi and nan ranks to reside in Chu; the barbarians all submitted, yet the king did not raise his rank, so I self-proclaim myself king!"

This set the precedent of self-enfeoffing oneself as king.

The Zhou Emperor could not control it, and could only let him be called that.

Afterwards, the feudal lords followed suit, and more and more began to call themselves kings.

But that is a story for later.

Yu Lin withdrew his gaze and glanced at Yao Xian.

"Four days..." He pondered a moment, then said, "Since you must return, then bring Li Er."

Yao Xian was stunned.

Li Er?

Why?

He opened his mouth, but for a moment did not know what to say.

"Sir," he chose his words carefully, his tone somewhat difficult, "How... how can this be done?"

He paused, then said:

"Li Er is still young; if anything happens to him abroad, I cannot bear the responsibility."

Yu Lin waved his hand.

"You need not bear responsibility; I will take care of everything."

"You just need to take him there."

Yao Xian fell silent.

He looked at Yu Lin's calm face, and the words on the tip of his tongue were swallowed back.

Since you say so, sir, there must be reason in your words.

But...

He gritted his teeth, still wanting to say more.

Yu Lin spoke again:

"After the task is accomplished, I will pass on to you a method."

Yao Xian's words got stuck in his throat.

A method...

That method had already made him the leader among the shamans.

Adding another, that would be... damn!

He took a deep breath, stood up, and bowed respectfully.

"Xian, I will respectfully obey your command, sir."

Four days later.

At dawn, the village entrance of Qu Ren Li was already crowded with people.

Men and women, old and young, in groups of two or three; some held children, some leaned on canes, some were his little companions.

All had come to see Li Er off.

This little troublemaker, though noisy, had been noisy for six years, and in that noise feelings had developed.

Hearing that he was going on a long journey, the villagers spontaneously gathered, chattering with advice.

"Be careful on the road, don't run about recklessly!"

"Remember to eat your fill, don't go hungry!"

"Don't chase after pretty girls, you're still young!"

Li Er wore a brand-new outfit, his hair neatly combed, standing beside Yao Xian, his small face showing a bit of pride and also a bit of reluctance.

This was his first time traveling far from home.

Li Shi squatted in front of him, adjusting his collar over and over, as if it could never be neat enough.

"A-Er," she said softly, "when you're out, listen to Mr. Yao. Don't run around, don't cause trouble, and think things through when problems arise."

"Okay." Li Er nodded, behaving as if he'd become a different person.

"Also," Li Shi said, lifting her head to look into his eyes, "you must always watch your safety; outside is not like the village, and people's hearts are hard to read."

Li Er grinned, revealing his two front teeth that hadn't fully grown in.

"Mother, don't worry," he said. "I will definitely come back."

He paused, then added, "When I come back, I'll bring you something delicious!"

Li Shi smiled, but her eyes were a little red.

She stood up, stepped back, and gave her place to someone else.

The villagers came forward one after another, some rubbing his head, some patting his shoulder, some stuffing a few dry rations into his arms.

Or a little friend shoved his favorite toy into his arms.

Li Er accepted everything without refusal, murmuring "Thank you, uncle," "Thank you, aunt," "Brother, you haven't wasted your care for me!" and so on.

Finally, he walked up to Yu Lin.

Yu Lin looked down at him without speaking.

Li Er looked up at the man who had been by his side since birth, his eyes bright.

"Yu Lin," he said, "when I return, I'll bring you a treasure!"

Yu Lin raised an eyebrow.

"What kind of good stuff?"

Li Er thought for a moment, then answered seriously:

"Anyway, it'll definitely be something good! If I see it, I'll bring it for you!"

Yu Lin chuckled, ruffling his hair and messing up the neatly combed strands.

"All right," he said. "I'll be waiting."

Li Er touched his tousled hair, not annoyed, just grinning.

Then he turned and ran toward Yao Xian.

Yao Xian was already standing beside the giant bird, reached out, lifted him up, and placed him on the bird's back.

Li Er clung to the giant bird's neck, turned his head, and waved at the crowd below.

"Mother! Yu Lin! Uncle Aunt! Er Gou, Da Wa... I'm leaving!"

"I will come back!!"

The giant bird let out a long cry and flapped its wings upward.

The wind howled, kicking up dust from the ground.

The villagers raised their hands to shield their eyes, squinting toward the sky.

The giant bird flew higher and higher, farther and farther, gradually shrinking to a black dot before disappearing into the clouds.

Li Shi stood where she was, head tilted upward, motionless for a long time.

Yu Lin stood beside her, also unmoving.

After a long while, he spoke softly:

"He will become famous throughout the world, his name echoing through the ages."

Li Shi gave a slight nod:

"Mm."