Chương 87: Sheep Boy

Sheep Boy was born in the northwest corner of the great grassland, where the borders of the four dynasties met. East across the desert lay the Great Wei Dynasty. North over a few mountains was the territory of the Great Zheng Dynasty. West across the upper reaches of the Xijiang River was the Great Li Dynasty. And south through the grassland, one arrived at Shangyuan Prefecture of Great Sheng. Sheep Boy had no surname. His mother had been raped by grassland bandits, and he was the result.

His mother said: "The day you were born, the whole grassland was raining. I held you, just born, in my arms and ran across the prairie. We chased the running goats together, like legless wild dogs." Sheep Boy grew up drinking goat's milk, so his mother named him Sheep Boy. They say cheap names are easy to raise, and indeed it was true. His fate was just like his name: bumpy and uneven, yet somehow he always managed to survive. When he was five, his mother died of illness.

As he was about to starve to death, he was lucky enough to meet an old woman who took him back to Ravine Village, let him live in her home, and raised him like her own son. The old woman said: "The day I found you, the whole grassland was raining. The clouds were thick and heavy, squeezing across the entire sky like a big black dog with fat wings." When he was ten, the old woman passed away. The villagers took pity on him and helped him bury her. Every day, different families would give him food.

And so, eating from a hundred kitchens, he survived. In his eyes, all the adults in the town were his father and mother. When he was fifteen, Ravine Village was raided by bandits. The entire town, men and women, young and old, were slaughtered. He hid in his own backyard, but the ruthless bandits found him. Just as the blade was about to fall, he shouted:"You can't kill me! My mother was raped by a bandit, and that's how I was born. Without bandits, there'd be no me. So you're all my fathers!"

"Hahaha..." The fierce bandits all burst out laughing. The bandit leader pointed his bloodstained blade at him and said, "This kid's clearly an idiot. Keep him around to do our odd jobs." And so, Sheep Boy survived once again. He followed the bandits back to their lair. At first, he did all kinds of chores. Later, the bandit leader saw that he was strong and powerful, so he taught him horsemanship and martial arts. Sheep Boy had great talent for martial arts.

After two or three years of training, he became the strongest fighter under the bandit leader. In sparring matches with other bandits, he could take them down in just two or three moves. But Sheep Boy had one big flaw: whenever he picked up a blade to kill someone, his heart would race with fear, and his hand would tremble uncontrollably. So in all his years with the bandits, he had never taken a single life. To the other bandits, this was a sign of cowardice, weakness, and fear of death.

Most of them looked down on Sheep Boy with contempt and disdain, often picking on him and causing trouble. But the bandit leader liked Sheep Boy. Once, when they were fighting another bandit gang on the grassland, Sheep Boy had taken a knife to the back for him, saving his life. When he was twenty, the bandit leader said to him: "The day I led the brothers into Ravine Village, it was raining. I love killing in the rain, because the rain washes away all my sins.

And when I saw you in that backyard, curled up in a corner like a wild dog, the rain stopped. That was heaven's sign, telling me not to kill this child. Heaven was right. Because I spared your life, you later saved mine. We're even. Neither of us owes the other. Go, boy. You're not cut out to be a bandit. Head south. Leave the grassland. Go to Great Sheng. That's where your vast sky awaits." Sheep Boy didn't want to leave. He had long since come to see the bandit leader as his father.

He didn't want to leave his father's embrace. But as a good son, he had to obey his father. So he left. That day, the entire grassland was raining. Dark clouds covered the sky, thunder and lightning flashed. He rode his horse south. A troop of Great Sheng cavalry passed by him. Later he learned that those cavalry had been sent to destroy his father's gang. All those fierce bandits died. Their heads were cut off and taken back for bounty.

Their bodies were left where they fell, baked in the sun for half a month until they rotted, and eventually devoured by a few passing wild dogs. Green Mountain City in Shangyuan Prefecture was Sheep Boy's third home. He found work at a blacksmith's forge. Every day he stoked fires and swung a hammer. The pay was meager, but enough for him to afford a little wine and some fatty meat every day. Stolen novel; please report. He fell in love with a girl from a silk shop.

She kind of liked him too, but her father thought he was too poor and refused to agree to the match. One day, he knelt at the silk shop's door, begging the girl's father to approve their marriage. The father, seeing how tall and strong Sheep Boy was, didn't dare refuse outright. So he lied and said: "It's not that I don't want to marry off my daughter. But last night, the Everlasting Emperor appeared to me in a dream and said you two aren't suited for each other.

If you don't believe me, go to the City God Temple and ask the Everlasting Emperor himself. If he nods in agreement, then I'll agree to the marriage." That night, Sheep Boy braved the rain and rushed to the City God Temple. In the center of the main hall stood a statue of the Everlasting Emperor, kind and benevolent, a gentle smile on its lips. Sheep Boy knelt, kowtowed three times, then looked up at the Emperor's statue and pleaded earnestly: "Everlasting Emperor, my Heavenly Father!

Please nod your head and agree to let me marry Ajiao!" The Everlasting Emperor just stood there, neither nodding nor shaking his head. Sheep Boy grew anxious. He climbed onto the statue's shoulder and slapped it on the back of the head. Whether it was because of his great strength or because the statue was old and worn, the Everlasting Emperor's head broke off and rolled to the ground.

"Haha! The Emperor nodded! He nodded!" Sheep Boy picked up the stone head and ran out of the temple, ready to go to the silk shop and marry Ajiao. A drunken City God happened to pass by him, his face flushed red as he laughed: "Sheep Boy, you idiot! Where are you going with a stone egg?" Wait. That stone egg looked familiar.

"Oh my god, you idiot! You smashed the Everlasting Emperor's statue! Are you crazy? Put it down!" The City God flashed over and snatched the stone head from Sheep Boy's hands, examining it nervously.

"It's not too bad. A little repair and it'll be fine. Sigh. There goes my wine money. Wait... Sheep Boy, you're paying for the repairs."

"City God, please give me the head! I'll give you all my money! I'm going to marry Ajiao from the silk shop! I can't do it without it!" Sheep Boy dropped to his knees in front of the City God, wailing. Seeing how pitiful Sheep Boy looked, the City God didn't press charges for damaging the statue. He just kicked him twice and told him to get lost. And so, Sheep Boy got lost from Green Mountain City. Everyone in town had learned about his disrespect toward the Emperor.

That was a celestial being, and the Emperor of all immortals at that. How dare he? The blacksmith wouldn't keep him anymore. Ajiao from the silk shop wouldn't even see him, let alone marry him. But he was truly lucky. If it had been any other City God, his offenses would have been enough to have his head chopped off ten times over. Sheep Boy traveled to many prefectures and counties, looking for work. But he wasn't clever, and no one would hire him. With no work and no money, he had to beg.

He'd grown up eating from a hundred kitchens, so he was used to it. He traveled through Great Sheng, begging all the way, until he reached the capital. There he continued to beg. In other people's eyes, he was nothing but a wild dog begging for scraps. He felt that way too. He had always been a wild dog. Another rainy day. Dark clouds pressed down over the entire capital. Sheep Boy lay by the roadside, looking up at the sky. Raindrops as big as beans fell, smacking against his face.

Then, out of nowhere, an oil-paper umbrella blocked his view. The black canopy was like another mass of dark clouds, enveloping him in an instant, leaving no escape. The man holding the umbrella was middle-aged, dressed in fine robes. He took Sheep Boy to a steamed bun shop, ordered five baskets of buns and a bowl of hot soup, and let Sheep Boy sit down to eat slowly. Sheep Boy wolfed down all the buns and drank all the soup, his stomach just full enough that he couldn't eat another bite.

The fine-robed man said: "Your name is Sheep Boy. You're from Green Mountain City." Sheep Boy nodded.

"Yeah, that's me. I'm Sheep Boy. Wait—how do you know me?" The man laughed without explaining. Instead, he said meaningfully:"The new era is coming."

"What are you talking about? I don't understand." Sheep Boy scratched his head. The man continued: "If Green Mountain City had no cultivators, you wouldn't have been driven out. If Green Mountain City had no Everlasting Emperor, the silk shop owner would have let you marry his daughter. Am I right?"

"Right, right, right! Absolutely right!" Sheep Boy nodded frantically. The man went on: "Whether cultivators or celestial immortals, they've never helped us. They've only conspired together to oppress us mortals. We could have lived happily, with dignity, standing tall. But now we've become slaves, bullied and tormented, living like wild dogs. We have no home. Our so-called homes are just the cultivators' pigpens and sheep pens. They raise us like livestock. We've never had dignity.

We live only to become offerings for the celestial immortals above. This world shouldn't be this way. We need change. We need to live with dignity."

"Right, right, right! That's absolutely right!" Sheep Boy nodded like crazy. That day, the fine-robed man said many things, and Sheep Boy remembered every word. For some reason, his memory was sharper that day than usual. He could recall everything after hearing it just once. Finally, the man said: "Go. Walk south. Tell all mortals what I've told you. Let all the mortals of the world unite and overthrow every last cultivator!" And so, Sheep Boy left the capital and headed south.

He gained a new name, "Tang Yue," and joined a powerful organization: the New Era Anti-Cultivator Alliance. He also learned that the fine-robed man's codename was "Helmsman." The Helmsman said: "Most mortals are numb. They will doubt you, accuse you. But you must believe in yourself. Remember your original purpose." The Helmsman said: "Don't argue with the numb. Our task is to find the awakened among mortals and gather them together." The Helmsman said: "We will unite the awakened of the world.

We will gather strength slowly. When the new era arrives, we will lead the numb masses like an unstoppable flood. We will smash the cages built by the immortals. We will slaughter those cruel cultivators. We will build a great new age." Sheep Boy—no, he was now called Tang Yue—carried the Helmsman's words in his heart at all times. He traveled south, searching for awakened mortals. But unfortunately, everyone he met was numb and indifferent. One day, he arrived at a place called White Flower City.

The people here were much warmer and friendlier than in other cities. But they were still numb. No, worse than numb. They seemed bewitched by demons, having completely lost themselves!