Chapter 1 — Dusk Seals the Village, Enter Not the Wild Night

When night falls, do not go out.

This saying had circulated through Yincan Village for many years. When exactly it had first been passed down, no one could trace. Yet it was truth, beyond all doubt.

Granny Zhu of Yincan Village watched the setting sun inch its way behind the mountains, and anxiety stirred in her breast once more. As the sun sank and the last thread of light vanished, a sudden, profound silence fell over heaven and earth—not a sound to be heard. Then the Gloom crept in slowly from the west, devouring mountains and rivers, roads and trees in its path, until it reached Yincan Village and swallowed it whole.

At the four corners of Yincan Village stood four ancient stone statues, weathered and mottled, so old that even Granny Zhu did not know who had carved them or when they had been raised there. When the Gloom descended, the Night-Guarding Idols gave off a faint, ghostly luminescence in the darkness. The statues still shone, and Granny Zhu and the village elders breathed a sigh of relief. The Gloom beyond the village grew thicker still, but with the light of the statues, Yincan Village remained, for the most part, safe.

Suddenly, Granny Zhu's ears twitched. She froze, then cried out, "Listen! There's a child crying outside!"

Old Ma shook his head. "Impossible. You misheard... Wait—there really is a baby crying!"

The cry of an infant came from the Gloom beyond the village. All the elders who were not deaf heard it. They exchanged glances. Yincan Village was remote and desolate—how could a baby have appeared nearby?

"I'll go take a look!"

Granny Zhu grew excited. She scurried on her tiny bound feet to one of the village statues. Old Ma hurried after her. "Old Granny Si, are you mad? It's dark! Step outside the village and you're dead!"

"With this statue on my back, the things in the Gloom will fear it. I won't die so easily!"

Granny Zhu bent down, trying to hoist the statue onto her back, but she was hunchbacked and could not lift it. Old Ma shook his head. "Let me do it. I'll carry the statue and go with you!"

Another elder limped over. "Old Ma, you have only one arm. You won't last long carrying the statue. I have both hands—let me carry it."

Old Ma glared at him. "You lame old fool, you've got a broken leg—can you even walk? I may have only one arm, but this arm is strong as iron!"

He lifted the statue with his single arm, steadied his footing. The statue was unimaginably heavy. "Old Granny Si, let's go!"

"Don't call me old granny! Lame Sou, Mute, all of you be careful. We're short one statue now—don't let anything from the Gloom slip in!"

...

Old Ma and Granny Zhu left Yincan Village. Strange things prowled around them in the Gloom, but whenever the statue's light fell on them, they screeched and retreated into the darkness. Following the crying, they walked a hundred or so paces and came to the bank of a great river. The baby's cries came from the riverside. The statue gave off a faint glow that did not reach far. The two of them carefully traced the direction of the sound and walked upstream along the river. After several dozen paces, the crying was close by. Old Ma's single arm could barely hold on. Granny Zhu's eyes lit up. She saw a tiny glimmer of light—a basket resting on the riverbank. The glow came from the basket, and so did the crying.

"There really is a child!"

Granny Zhu stepped forward and reached for the basket, but paused—she could not lift it. Beneath the basket was an arm, blanched white from soaking in the river. It was this arm that had held the basket and the child within it aloft, all the way to the shore.

"Rest easy. The child is safe now," Granny Zhu said softly to the woman beneath the water.

The female corpse seemed to hear her words. Her hand loosened, and she was swept away by the river, vanishing into the Gloom.

Granny Zhu lifted the basket. Inside was a swaddled infant, and atop the swaddling cloth lay a jade pendant that gave off a faint glow. The pendant's light resembled that of the statues, though far weaker. It was this jade that protected the child in the basket from the things in the Gloom. But the pendant's glow was faint. It could protect the child, but not the woman.

"It's a boy."

Back in Yincan Village, the villagers gathered around—all of them old, weak, sick, or maimed. Granny Zhu peeled back the swaddling cloth for a look and grinned, her few remaining teeth scattered and crooked. "Yincan Village finally has a healthy person!"

Lame Sou, who had only one leg, was startled. "Old Granny Si, you plan to raise him? We can barely feed ourselves! I think we should give him away..."

Granny Zhu flew into a rage. "I found this child with my own skill—why should I give him away?"

The villagers murmured and nodded, not daring to contradict her. The Village Head arrived on a stretcher. He was more pitiful than the rest—the others at least had hands and feet, just fewer than normal, but he had neither hands nor feet. Yet everyone held him in deep respect. Even the fierce Granny Zhu did not dare to be insolent before him.

"Since you're going to raise him, you should give him a name."

The Village Head said, "Old Granny, is there anything else in the basket?"

Granny Zhu rummaged through it and shook her head. "Only this jade pendant. No notes or anything else. There's a character on the pendant—'Qin.' The jade has no impurities, and there's a strange power within it. It's no ordinary thing. It must come from a wealthy household."

"Is he called Qin, or is Qin his surname?"

The Village Head pondered. "Let Qin be his surname. His given name shall be Mu—Shen Mu. When he grows up, he can tend livestock. At least he'll get by."

"Shen Mu." Granny Zhu looked at the infant in the swaddling cloth. The baby was not afraid of her at all—he babbled and laughed.

...

By the river, the sound of a flute drifted over. A cowherd sat on the back of a cow, playing. The notes were clear and melodious. The cowherd was eleven or twelve, with delicate features, red lips and white teeth. His clothes hung half open, and a jade pendant rested against his chest. This youth was the very infant Granny Zhu had found by the river eleven years ago. Over the years, the village elders had raised the child through hardship. Granny Zhu had somehow acquired a cow, and baby Shen Mu drank its milk every day, surviving the period when infants were most prone to early death. Though the villagers of Yincan Village were a fierce-looking lot, they treated him well. Granny Zhu was a seamstress, and in daily life Shen Mu learned tailoring from her, herb-gathering and medicine-making from the Alchemist, leg techniques from Grandpa Lame Sou, sound-location by ear from Grandpa Blind Sou, and breathing exercises from the handless, footless Village Head. The days passed quickly enough. This cow had been his wet nurse in infancy. Granny Zhu had originally planned to sell it, but Shen Mu could not bear to part with it, so the task of tending the cow fell to him. He often grazed the cow by the river. Green mountains like dark brows, blue waves and white clouds—it was a pleasant life.

"Shen Mu, Shen Mu, save me!"

Suddenly, the cow beneath him spoke. Shen Mu jumped in fright and leaped down from its back. The cow's eyes brimmed with tears as it spoke in human tongue. "Shen Mu, you grew up on my milk. I am half a mother to you. You must save me!"

Shen Mu blinked and ventured, "How can I save you?"

The cow said, "You have a sickle at your waist. Peel off my hide, and you can free me from this plight."

Shen Mu hesitated. The cow said, "Have you forgotten the grace of one who nursed you?"