A Will Eternal

Chapter 1: I'm Bai Xiaochun

   

Mount Hood lay in the Eastwood Mountain Range, and at its base was a quaint little village. The villagers there lived off the land, and didn't have much to do with the outside world.

Currently it was dawn, and the villagers were congregated at the village gate to see off a young man of fifteen or sixteen years of age. He seemed thin and weak, but had a healthy, fair complexion, and an overall charming appearance. He wore an ordinary green robe that had apparently been washed so many times it was nearly worn through. Something about the way he was dressed, plus the innocent look in his eyes, made him seem exceptionally quick-witted.

His name was Bai Xiaochun.

"Dear elders and fellow villagers," he said, "I am on my way to learn about immortal cultivation. I shall miss all of you!" The young man wore a slightly pained expression, as if he couldn't bear to part with his fellow villagers. This made him look even more charming than before.

The surrounding villagers exchanged glances, shrugged helplessly, and then pretended to look even more reluctant to see him leave.

A white-haired old man stepped out of the crowd and said, "Xiaochun, ever since your dad and mom left us, oh so long ago, you... you have been, er–" he paused for a moment "–such a good kid!!" Seeing that Bai Xiaochun hadn't left yet, he continued, "Don't tell me you're not interested in living forever? All you have to do is become an immortal, and then you can live forever! That's a really, really long time! Well, it's time for you to leave now. Even a baby eagle must learn to fly eventually. No matter what situations you run into out there, you have to hang in there and keep moving forward. Once you leave the village, you can't come back, because your path will always lie ahead, not behind!"

The old man patted Bai Xiaochun kindly on the shoulder.

"Live forever...." Bai Xiaochun murmured. A tremor ran through him, and a look of determination slowly filled his eyes. Under the encouraging gazes of the old man and the other villagers, he nodded his head seriously and looked around at everyone one last time. Finally, he turned and walked away from the village.

As he disappeared off into the distance, the villagers started to look more and more excited. Their forlorn expressions turned to those of joy, and the kind-faced old man began to tremble. Tears even streamed down his face.

"Justice from the heavens! The weasel... is finally gone! Who was it that told him they saw an immortal in the area? Whoever it was, I'm going to give you a huge reward on behalf of the village!"

The village was soon echoing with cries of rejoicing. Some people even took out gongs and drums and began banging them excitedly.

"The weasel is gone," someone said, "but oh, my poor chickens. He hated the roosters crowing at dawn, so he somehow got all the kids in the village to eat every chicken we had...."

"Today is the beginning of a new era!"

By this point, Bai Xiaochun was still fairly close to the village, and could actually hear the sounds of the gongs and drums. He even caught wind of some of the cries of excitement.

He stopped in his tracks, a strange expression on his face. After a moment, he cleared his throat and proceeded on his way. Accompanied by the faint sounds of rejoicing, he began to make his way toward Mount Hood.

Mount Hood wasn't a very tall mountain, but it was covered with thick vegetation. Therefore, despite the fact that it was dawn, beneath the trees, it was dark and quiet.

"Double-Dog told me that he was hunting some wild pigs a few days ago and saw an immortal flying around...." Bai Xiaochun proceeded along, heart thumping. Suddenly, a rustling sound could be heard from some nearby shrubs. It almost sounded like a wild pig, and it immediately caused Bai Xiaochun to grow extremely nervous. The hair on the back of his neck stood up straight as he asked, "Who is it? Who's there?!"