Floating Immortal Order

Beneath the shabby wooden bed, the sounds of rustling could be heard along with the occasional squeaking.

Wang Shi got down and rolled up her raggedy sleeves, revealing her crooked, overworked figure.

“Get out! Shoo!” Using the sparse, frayed broom in her hands, she swatted at the mice underneath the bed.

Squeak squeak! After driving the mice out of the room, Wang Shi let out a sigh and put the broom down, suddenly picking up on a burnt smell. Her eyebrows furrowed, causing her already wrinkled skin to scrunch up even more. “I was only worrying about those stupid mice! I totally forgot about the food!” she exclaimed anxiously.

She hurried into the room and lifted the lid of the pot, callous to the danger of burning her hands. In the corner of the cramped wooden house, there were several bottles of salt and spices and pickled vegetables arranged neatly. Next to it was a stove, letting out bursts of smoke and a burnt stench.

Wang Shi picked up a rag and wrapped it around her hands, lifting the pot off the stove as she endured the scalding heat. She blew on her hands, which were already starting to turn bright red from the burns.

Seeing that only a small portion at the bottom of the pot was burnt, her expression lightened up a bit as she skimmed the top of it and ladled it into a large bowl.

“Mother, I’m home,” a boy about eight or nine years old with a cheerful look on his face called out as he entered the wooden house, carrying a small slab of meat in his hands. “I went to help out Uncle Zhang with hunting today. At the end, he gave me a small portion of roe deer venison!”

Wang Shi gazed affectionately at the boy as she placed the bowl on top of the wooden table. She smiled and said, “You must be tired after going hunting with them. Are you hurt anywhere? Even though Uncle Zhang is there to take care of you, you still have to be careful. I made something for you. You’re still a growing boy, so you have to eat a lot, alright?”

The boy had good eyes and managed to spot the bright red welts on Wang Shi’s fingers. He immediately cried out anxiously, “Mother, what happened to your hands?”

Wang Shi shook her head and replied, “I just burnt myself a little bit, it’s nothing to worry about. Hurry up and eat while it’s still hot. Eat as much as you can so you can grow up big and strong.”

The contents of the large bowl were mainly just watery broth and rice, which only had 6 or 7 leaves mixed in with two meager pieces of meat. Smelling the delicious meat, the boy began to salivate uncontrollably.

He picked up the large bowl, and just as he was about to eat, the boy suddenly seemed to have thought of something. He blinked and said, “Mother, you should eat these two pieces of meat. I won’t eat them.”

Scraping the burnt contents of the bottom of the pot into her own bowl, Wang Shi smiled and said, “Mother already ate not long ago. I had enough meat. The remaining part in the pot was a bit burnt, so Mother will just eat it. It would be a waste to just throw it away.”

The boy looked at his mother, Wang Shi, then lowered his head and picked up the bowl, starting to eat silently.

Wang Shi was an unfortunate widowed mother. Shortly after she gave birth to Little Fu, her husband had died out in the mountains while hunting. In this small village in the middle of the mountains and forests, not having a man in the family was the same as not having a source of income. After all, this area surrounding the village was barren and infertile, so the village’s main source of food came from prey hunted in the mountains.

It was rather strange that this mountain by the village had been able to sustain this village with food for generations, yet there had never been a noticeable decrease in the number of wild animals. On the contrary, they had only seemed to increase. Thus, the people all thought that they were blessed by the Mountain God, and they kept icons of the Mountain God in their homes, remaining extremely devoted in their respect for the god.

By doing other households’ laundry and serving as a maid for some of the wealthier households, Wang Shi had somehow managed to raise Little Fu to nine years of age. Although she still wasn’t over 40 years old yet, these years hadn’t been kind to her, and by now she already looked like an elderly woman.

Little Fu had always been a thoughtful child, helping his hard-working mother with household chores since a young age. And once he became a bit older, he began to insist on going with the village’s hunting squad to hunt in the mountains.

Wang Shi had no choice, so she could only plead her neighbor, Brother Zhang, to take him along with them. As it turned out, Little Fu was very determined, and had a good discerning eye. Every time they went out, he was the most hardworking out of all of them, so everyone in the village praised him to no end. Therefore, even though Little Fu was only nine years old, he could occasionally bring home some game meat, allowing them to supplement their meals a bit.

When Little Fu finished eating, there was a somewhat larger piece of meat left at the bottom of his bowl. “Mother, I’m full,” he declared.

Wang Shi looked over at his bowl. Seeing the meat left over, she shook her head lightly and smiled. “Fine,” she said.

She silently cleaned up the table, storing that leftover piece of meat in the shabby cupboard.

“It’s time to pray to the Mountain God,” Wang Shi said once she finished cleaning up. She pulled Little Fu along to kneel in front of the statuette of the Mountain God, and they respectfully kowtowed several times.

As usual, when Little Fu finished kowtowing, he inadvertently gazed up at the pitch black statuette. This ebony statuette was one of many manufactured by the village a long time ago, and it had several simple patterns and features drawn on it.

Little Fu suddenly felt a horrible wrenching feeling in his heart, characterized by a terrifying feeling of dread, but it disappeared as quickly as it came. He once again carefully examined that statuette of the Mountain God that they prayed to everyday, but couldn’t find anything off about it. For a while, he couldn’t help staring distractedly at it.

“Little Fu? What’s wrong?” Wang Shi asked, her wrinkled face filled with deep concern.

Little Fu looked at her, feeling a pang of sadness. His mother wasn’t even 40 years old yet! Every day, she only ate two meals a day, which only consisted of some vegetables and wild herbs, yet she still had to do so much intense manual labor, causing her to age rapidly. He blurted out, “Mother, I want to grow up quickly so I can go hunting by myself. I’ll make nice clothes for you out of hide and let you eat plenty of meat every day!”

Wang Shi stroked Little Fu’s head, smiling gently. Inwardly, she murmured to herself. Oh, Little Fu… By the time you grow up, Mother will already be old.

Late at night, the village in the middle of the mountains and forests was particularly quiet. The silence was occasionally interrupted by the barking of dogs echoing throughout the night.

In a half-awake stupor, Little Fu’s eyes moistened. Unwittingly, the pain in his chest intensified as he realized something. He shook his head and sat up in bed, rubbing the corners of his eyes. “Where’s Mother?” he wondered to himself.

He got up and pulled on a raggedy sweater. When he opened the wooden door, a gust of the brisk night air swept over him. Little Fu trembled, but he didn’t close the door. Instead, he stuck his head out and called out loudly, “Mother?”

In the middle of the night, where else could his mother have gone? Even if she went to the toilet, she should have been back by now…?

Standing by the door as the cold wind chilled him straight to his core, Little Fu trembled, growing even more worried. Even though he was only nine years old, he had already become quite an understanding child because his family was poor.

Suddenly getting the feeling that he was being watched, Little Fu whipped his head around. But behind him, there was only his poor, scantily furnished home, with the rickety wooden bed and the cupboard and iron pots sitting in the corner.

Next to the bed made of wooden boards, there was a pair of half-sown cloth shoes. The meticulous needlework and dense stitching that went into it were apparent. Wang Shi had saved up for a long time to get two thick pieces of cloth and some shoe soles so she could personally sow these shoes for Little Fu.

The sensation that he was being watched grew even stronger!

Little Fu’s scalp tingled and his hair stood on end, yet he couldn’t find where that feeling was coming from!

He once again swept his gaze over the room, everything seemed the same, except…

Wait! The statuette of the Mountain God!

On the ebony black face of the statuette, the painted eyes looked as if they had come alive! The eyes were glaring straight at him with bitter resentment!

“Aaahhhh!!!”

Frightened out of his wits, Little Fu ended up pissing himself. Heedless of the bone-chilling night air, he sprinted out of the house in horror!

But in the next moment, his vision became hazy and he was suddenly faced with a familiar scene again. Didn’t I already leave the house? Shouldn’t I be in the village streets right now? Why am I back at home?

After all, Little Fu was only nine years old. No matter how sensible he was, his mind was already on the brink of falling apart upon receiving such a scare. His eyes were empty and glazed over as he stood there rooted in place, staring fixedly at the spiteful gaze belonging to the sinister statuette of the Mountain God.

Suddenly, the statuette of the Mountain God seemed to come alive, and it opened its mouth wide, spitting out a pile of ghastly white bones. “Bleghghh, blurgh!”

Little Fu stared blankly at the pile of bones, until he somehow managed to make out a piece of bone that seemed to be disfigured.

His mother’s left pinky had been missing a segment. Two years ago, when she was washing clothes for the village chief’s household, she accidentally crushed the end joint of her left pinky finger.

His vision gradually drew back into focus, and he cried out in heartrending anguish from the bottom of lungs, piercing through the quietude of the night sky. “Motheeeerrr!!!”

All sounds coming from the wooden house abruptly came to a stop. Shortly after, the loud sound of chewing could be heard from within the room, echoing out in an eerie manner.

Bizarrely enough, at that moment, the entire village seemed to become like a ghost town, plunged into an utterly dead silence.

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