THE AURE SKY

Wild Sheep Valley

A narrow, clear stream flowed gently past a small village perched on a hillside. The village, home to about twenty households of hunters, was nestled in the mountains.

On this early autumn morning, a light mist hung in the air as dawn barely broke, and the quiet village still slumbered.

The gate of one courtyard on the hillside creaked open slightly, and a chubby, childish face peeked out. After glancing furtively left and right, the figure squeezed through the gap, quietly closed the door, and bolted down the hillside.

The chubby boy was eight or nine years old, barefoot in shorts and wearing an animal hide vest. His plump body jiggled with each step, the flesh on his face bouncing as he ran.

Reaching the stream at the bottom of the slope, he bent over, bottom in the air, and splashed several handfuls of water on his face before taking several large gulps.

Pfft!

The boy spat out a mouthful of water, shook his wet hands, and wiped them on his bottom. He stared at a round stone drum beside his feet that came up to his waist.

After a moment's contemplation, he clapped his pudgy hands together, took a deep breath, and squatted down to lift the stone drum. Adjusting his grip, he began running upstream along the path by the stream.

Before he'd gone more than a hundred feet, the boy angrily dropped the stone drum with a bang! After it rolled a few times, he went up and gave it a hard kick.

"Ow!"

The boy cried out in pain, clutching his foot with both hands as he fell to the ground, his chubby face turning red from the strain.

"Are you stupid? Is your foot harder than stone?"

A little girl suddenly ran up from behind, quickly squatting down to examine his foot.

Water droplets splashed against his face in the wind as Fatty Dun sprinted all the way to the cold pond beneath the waterfall. Without catching his breath, he untied his leg weights, took off his vest, and threw the short knife from his waist onto the ground.

Splash!

He dove into the pond's ice-cold water, shivering from the shock, but the cold only made him more alert. He swam toward the middle of the waterfall and dove underwater.

After surfacing several times to breathe and diving again, he emerged with a fish in his hand. While the fish was still flopping around, Fatty Dun ate it raw, chewing the fresh fish meat in his mouth.

He ate as if it were a delicacy, finishing the palm-sized fish with relish before diving back in.

At this moment, an old man and a young boy stood on the cliff above the waterfall.

The old man was around sixty, with a weathered, haggard face and graying hair. He wore a blue cloth robe with an animal hide vest over it and fur shoes. His right sleeve hung empty, swaying in the wind.

Beside him stood a youth of twelve or thirteen, wearing a gray-white training outfit and black boots, with a long sword at his waist. His dark face was furrowed with worry.

The youth spoke softly, his voice tinged with frustration.

"Father, that chubby kid is here again. How can he stay in this cold pond for so long when I can't even last a quarter hour?"

The old man's face was grave as he silently watched the pond below. After a moment, he waved his lone arm and said, "Let's go down and take a look. There must be something unusual about this."

"These fish aren't good for cooking. They melt like ice shortly after leaving the water. But they taste delicious raw! At first, they gave me stomach aches, but later I got used to it. After eating these fish, I don't feel cold anymore - I don't even need to wear shoes in the snow."

The old man nodded with delight and took Fatty Dun's hand, walking toward the cave entrance.

"Old uncle, please catch a couple of fish. I'll pay you."

"No need for money, uncle. The fish are easy to catch - they hide in the coldest spots below. Just wait a moment."

With that, Fatty Dun dove into the water with a splash.

The one-armed old man watched Fatty Dun jump into the water, his expression fluctuating between light and dark. After a while, he shook his head and sighed.

Shortly after, Fatty Dun surfaced holding a fish slightly larger than his palm and tossed it to them.

The old man caught the fish, examined it carefully, and sniffed it. It had no scales and no fishy smell. His expression suddenly changed to shock as his hand holding the fish became covered in ice.

In moments, the fish died, its flesh slowly dissolving and dripping onto the ground. The old man nodded to the youth.

When Fatty Dun surfaced again and threw another fish, the youth caught it, sniffed it, and took a bite.

Obviously, the raw fish wasn't very tasty - the youth frowned, not enjoying it nearly as much as Fatty Dun had. He finished the small fish in a few bites while the old man watched his expression intently.

By then, Fatty Dun had surfaced with another fish and offered it to the old man, who waved it away, so Fatty Dun offered it to Zhipeng instead.

Just as Zhipeng was about to take it, his brows suddenly furrowed in pain. His face turned pale as he clutched his stomach, his hands trembling uncontrollably.

The old man immediately took out a medicinal pill and put it in Zhipeng's mouth, patting his back with his palm.

Fatty Dun was frightened: "Uncle, what's wrong with Brother Zhipeng after eating the fish?"

"It's nothing, the fish was too cold and upset his stomach."

The old man spoke while taking out a small knife and giving it to Fatty Dun: "This knife is for you. We'll come back another time for more fish."

The old man scooped up Zhipeng and leaped out of the cave entrance, landing on the shore in a single bound before racing away into the distance.

Fatty Dun stood dazed, holding the knife. By the time he came to his senses and excitedly tried to call out, the old man and youth had already disappeared.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​