Love of Nirvana (Liu Shui Tiao Tiao)

Side Story: The Youth of Changfeng

Spring in Nan'an Prefecture was beautiful, but I heard that the spring on Baolin Mountain in the northern suburbs was even more breathtaking.

However, I didn't dare to venture up Baolin Mountain because of the Changfeng Manor located there. The manor's master was said to have once been the leader of the martial arts world, and there was also someone who had been the renowned Marquis Zhenbe, commander of thousands of troops.

As for me, I was just an orphan living in three dilapidated rooms, surviving on the charity of neighbors. I didn't even know my surname. My old mother, before she passed away last year, always called me "Goudan" (lit. "Dog Egg"), so everyone called me that.

The neighbor's boy, Xu Jun, was different. His father had served in Marquis Zhenbe's army, and last year, he went up to Baolin Mountain with his father. He's been bragging about it ever since. Although I could beat him in every fight, I couldn't outdo his boasting, even though his father had only been a cook in the Zhenbe army.

So, I wanted to go up to Baolin Mountain once and see the legendary Changfeng Manor.

That spring, many people in Nan'an Prefecture died from a terrible plague. When Xu Jun's father also succumbed to the disease, Xu Jun became an orphan too.

The city was filled with corpses. Xu Jun and I could only drag his father's body on a cart to bury him on Xiaomao Mountain outside the city. I pulled from the front, and he pushed from behind, but we were too weak. Before reaching Xiaomao Mountain, we were exhausted, and the cart overturned.

Xu Jun could only cry. I cursed at him a few times, but I had no strength left to put his father's body back on the cart.

At that moment, a beautiful carriage stopped in front of us. A melodious voice came from inside, making me think it was a fairy singing from heaven. Then, someone helped us bury Xu Jun's father, and we followed those people northward. They took us to a large manor where there were many boys around our age. Then, they told us that from that day on, we were part of Changfeng Manor.

Xu Jun immediately stopped crying, but his face was still covered in snot. A boy bigger than me standing nearby laughed at him. Of course, I wouldn't stand for it. This big guy wasn't tough at all, and I knocked him down with a few punches.

Others came to help him, and Xu Jun came to help me. It was a satisfying brawl until some adults came to separate us. Then I heard that fairy-like voice again. When I looked up, I truly saw a fairy standing before me.

"What's your name?" she asked.

I could only grin and say, "Goudan."

The nasty boys laughed uproariously, especially the one I had beaten up. I glared at him fiercely and shouted, "What's so funny! I am who I am, and my name is Goudan!"

The fairy smiled beautifully. "Goudan doesn't sound nice. From today on, your surname will be An, and your name will be Chen."

I hesitated for a moment, then loudly replied, "No."

"Why not?" The fairy crouched down to look at me.

"I'm Goudan. If I change my name, my dead mother won't be able to find me when she's reincarnated."

The fairy stood up, smiling, and said to someone nearby, "It's him. Take him to the young master."

That person told me to call him "Chief Steward." I followed him for a long way, climbing up a very high mountain. He said that from that day on, I belonged to the young manor master and should obey him in everything. The young master of Changfeng Manor was said to be the future leader of the martial arts world from birth. I wondered if his martial arts were really that great. I was excited.