Five Immortal Sects

Chapter 1: Mountain Village

In the vast and endless Desolate Moon Continent, in the southwest border, the rolling Great Green Mountains are connected into an endless undulating dark and crisscrossing line.

At this moment, the sun had already set, and the darkness of night was gradually deepening. The village at the foot of the mountain has been lit up with dim oil lamps. The leaves of several old locust trees at the head of the village were rustling in the wind.

Occasionally, the distant barking of dogs echoed from the village, triggering a chorus of responding barks that slowly faded into silence…

The oil lamps cast flickering shadows on the cracked earth walls, projecting blurry silhouettes of people.

“It’s settled then! Joining the army means at least having enough to eat, and if he’s lucky, he might even have a bright future!”

The old man sitting by the door and leaning against the door frame has an old face. His skin is rough due to years of labor. His back is a little hunched when he sits, and he holds a pipe in his hand.

The pipe hung from his mouth, and after speaking, he took a puff.

“Pa, pa, pa…”

The sound echoed loudly in the quiet room.

“But, Little Five is only fourteen years old, still so young…”

The old woman was sitting on a simple, short chair, her clothes were worn out, and her face was covered with wrinkles, and she was crying.

The old man spoke up.

“These past two years, the locust plague has left many families without food. Those who can, work in the city, while others go far away. Our Little Three’s leg was injured from overwork, and he can’t do much. Little Five, though only fourteen, looks like he’s sixteen or seventeen. Who wouldn’t believe it?”

“Now, joining the army means having enough to eat, and we’ll even get some silver in advance. Later, when he’s settled, he can send some money back home every month.”

After speaking, the old man took another puff of his pipe, while the old woman continued to sob quietly.

Outside, a figure leaned against the wall, facing away, staring blankly at the outline of the mountains in the distance in the dark night. He didn’t speak for a long time, and was lost in thoughts.

In the silence of the room and outside, time slowly passed, and the mountain village under the night sky seemed exceptionally still.

After a while, the figure outside the house stood up, turned around, and walked back inside.

This was a half-grown boy, about 16 or 17 years old, but looked somewhat frail, with a dark complexion and ordinary features. He wore tattered and worn-out clothes with many holes.

As soon as he entered the house, he glanced at the people inside and said in a low voice, “Father, Mother, you don’t have to worry. Many people in the village have gone out, and our harvest is barely enough to fill our bellies.”

“Although the village head leads some people to hunt in the mountains occasionally, it’s still difficult to venture deep into the mountains. We can only hunt some wild chickens and rabbits in the outer areas, which is not enough to share.”

“I want to go out and take a look. My third brother and fourth sister are at home, and they can take care of you.”

The half-grown boy was only 14 years old, but he had grown faster due to his frequent hunting and farming activities in the mountains. However, he was very frail due to malnutrition in recent years.

The boy’s name was Li Yan, and he was usually quiet and taciturn. He had attended a private school with the village’s old scholar, along with other children of similar age, for six or seven years.

After the old scholar passed away, Li Yan’s study time decreased, and he often followed the village adults to hunt in the outer areas of the Great Green Mountain.

At first, he would secretly follow them, but as time went on, he was discovered, and when he returned, he would inevitably get scolded and beaten by his parents.

However, this was a common experience for village children, who all grew up under the scolding and beating of their parents.

As Li Yan grew older, he began to openly follow the hunting team into the mountains, gradually becoming familiar with the habits of wild animals and participating in the adults’ hunting activities.

Due to his frequent running and jumping in the mountain streams, his body grew stronger and more robust.

However, due to the locust plague in the past two years, the main food harvest had greatly decreased, and the family could only eat half-full meals. Unlike before, Li Yan’s body had become thinner and weaker.

Li Yan had five siblings, and his two older sisters had already been married off at the ages of 10 and 12.

His fourth sister, Li Xiaozhu, had also found a suitor, but due to the locust plague, the suitor’s family was not wealthy, and they couldn’t afford the betrothal gifts. However, they promised to prepare the gifts as soon as possible, and it was likely that the marriage would take place within a year or two.

As for his third brother, Li Wei, he had injured his ankle while farming a few years ago. Due to the family’s lack of silver, they couldn’t afford to find a doctor, and he was left with a lame leg.

Li Wei, who was half-kneeling and supporting his mother, looked up at Li Yan with a hint of apology.

“Little Five…”

“Third Brother, you don’t have to say anything. The family will need you to take care of it more in the future.”

Li Yan smiled lightly and interrupted, “Maybe in the future, I’ll become a general or something, and then I’ll take care of all of you, and we’ll live a life of luxury.”

Li Wei looked at him, then let out a soft sigh, and turned his head to look at his mother, who was still sobbing quietly, while being comforted by his fourth sister. He comforted her, saying, “Then, in the future, our Li family will surely be prosperous and glorious, all thanks to the Brother Five!”

In fact, Li Wei and Li Yan were not completely unaware of the outside world. Villagers who went to the city to sell wild game meat or fur, or went to the city to buy things, would often bring back stories to share.

This was a border town, and to the south was the Meng Kingdom. The two countries would occasionally engage in battles, and the probability of being conscripted into the army was high, especially in recent years with frequent outbreaks of war.

Therefore, they often conscripted soldiers from the villages. In the past, conscription required each village to write a guarantee, proving the recruit’s age, identity, and family background.

Now, as long as the village head sent someone, they could join the army, with fewer restrictions.

These wars were also due to the current dynasty’s emphasis on civil governance and moral education, which led to neighboring countries becoming restless and frequently engaging in battles.

As a result, the imperial court’s military dispatches could not meet the local military’s needs, and they had to rely on local conscription to supplement their troops.

While outsiders might not know the local situation, some local villagers were aware of the circumstances, and the likelihood of being conscripted was higher. Therefore, the enthusiasm for joining the army was not high among the local villagers.

The local defense forces, bound by the current dynasty’s laws, could not forcibly conscript soldiers.

So, in recent years, as long as someone joined the army, they would receive a sum of money as a “settling-in fee” for their family, which was actually an incentive to encourage people to join the army.

This policy, however, only led to poor farmers sending their sons to join the army, while wealthy merchants would not do so.

However, these matters were not something that the village women would know about, as in this male-dominated society, men rarely discussed these things with their wives.

Their village, located over 200 miles from the county town, had only 12 or 13 households, and it was unlikely that anyone would join the army.

These matters, however, could be topics of conversation for the villagers when they gathered to chat, and Li Wei and Li Yan could hear some news while working in the fields or following the hunting team into the mountains.

The room fell silent again, and after a long time, old Li knocked his pipe on the doorstep and said, “I’ll go find the village head, you all rest.”

After finishing speaking, he walked towards the village under the moonlight, and soon, a hunched figure disappeared into the autumn moonlight, and the night wind had already cooled down!

The moonlight filtered through the wooden window frames with broken paper windows, casting a glow on the ground. The two people, Li Wei and Li Yan, lay back-to-back, covered with a worn-out cotton quilt with exposed cotton padding.

“Brother Five, when you’re in the army, you need to stay calm. You must endure what you can endure. Don’t force yourself.”

“Uh-huh!”

After a moment of silence…

“If… if there’s a war, and you’re in a situation where no one is watching, don’t rush to the front, be sure to fall behind!”

“Uh-huh!”

After another moment of silence…

“At home, don’t worry, with the enlistment allowance, I’ll take care of our parents. Every month, you can use the silver to buy some meat to eat, and you’ll get stronger and won’t be bullied.”

“Uh-huh! Brother Three, you take care of the farm, our parents are getting old.”

“Okay, as long as I’m here, our parents won’t go hungry.”

“…”

The silence and occasional whispers continued in the darkness.

The moonlight was like water, and the night was cool and clear!

At midnight, the door of the main room creaked open, and the two brothers stopped talking.

Then, the low, inaudible voices of their parents came from the side room, murmuring and whispering, making it hard to hear…

Not long after, the soft sobbing of their fourth sister and mother could be heard, and it seemed that the fourth sister had been accompanying their mother all along.

Li Yan was still lying with his back to his third brother, staring blankly at the wall in the darkness.

The cracks on the wall seemed to be the voices of their family members, one by one, echoing in his heart…