Volume One, Chapter Two: A Letter Sent Across a Thousand Miles

Early the next morning, just after finishing their exercises, the two brothers hurried to open Yibing’s door. But before it was half open, a round ball of flesh burst out, tumbling this way and that across the courtyard—one moment trying to climb onto the roof, the next digging at the base of the wall—leaving the brothers dizzy just from watching. In the end, they simply sat on the steps, their cheeks propped in their hands, taking in the spectacle.

Thus it went for seven days. For the first three, the brothers sat and commented on the display; for the remaining four, they grew too lazy even to watch. They knew that as soon as breakfast was brought out, Yibing would immediately quiet down and roll toward the table as if blown by the wind.

Slap, slap! As usual, two hearty smacks on the face marked the start of the meal.

But halfway through breakfast, the brothers noticed something different about Yibing. He seemed utterly despondent, as though he’d lost all zest for life—even his eating had slowed by several beats.

“Yibing, what’s wrong?” one of them asked.

“I want to go home…”

“You—” The elder brother raised his hand, but the younger quickly pulled it down. “We’re not stopping you!”

“This place is too strange… I…” Yibing pouted and fell silent.

“What’s the rush? You can always go home after you’ve finished your training!”

“But… but I left without my family knowing. They must be worried sick!” Yibing suddenly grabbed the younger brother’s hand. “Could you let me go back just to let them know?”

The two brothers exchanged a glance, then simultaneously shook their heads at him. This fellow ran so fast—if they let him go, catching him would be harder than snaring a rabbit!

“Yibing, to be honest, we brothers do feel a bit sorry for you, but we had no choice! For some reason, our master suddenly decided he wanted four new disciples within a month. Seven days ago, after much effort, we’d only found three and were despairing over how to explain the shortfall when we saw you. We thought you were a wild child and… well…” The elder brother recalled the ordeal of carrying Yibing that night and swallowed hard at the memory.

“In a way, it’s fate, don’t you think?” The younger brother pinched Yibing’s chubby cheek. Seeing no response, he coughed awkwardly. “How about this: write a letter home, and I’ll deliver it for you. That way your family will be at ease!”

“Really?!” Yibing’s head shot up.

The elder brother glanced at his sibling, then nodded. “Really! But you must commit to training under our master.”

“How long will that take?”

“A few years—three to five, if you’re talented; for someone like you, maybe seven or eight,” the elder brother replied, cursing himself inwardly. “Why did we pick such a plump one? Who knows what the master will do to us…”

“What?! I’m not doing it! I—” Yibing grew agitated, his round cheeks quivering.

“With Yibing’s determination, it won’t take that long, right?” The younger brother hurriedly covered Yibing’s mouth.

“Yes, yes, of course! Just look at how many holes you’ve dug in one morning!” the elder brother quickly amended, glancing at the pockmarked courtyard with a secret loathing. They couldn’t call on earth spirits to fix the ground, so it would fall to them to tidy up.

“But I didn’t dig a way out…” Yibing muttered in dismay.

“Once you finish your training, you’ll master the art of earth-burrowing and be out in no time!”

“Really?”

“Of course! Here, let me show you—” The younger brother stood to demonstrate, but then changed his mind. “Ahem… Better let my brother show you the art of summoning objects from afar. He’ll bring you a pot lid from the kitchen!”

The elder brother shot his sibling a murderous glare, thinking, “Is this fool trying to teach earth-burrowing now?!” Then, putting on a cheerful face for Yibing, he reached toward the kitchen, and to everyone’s astonishment, a pot came flying into his hand!

“See? Impressive, isn’t it?” he began to boast, but when he turned, his face turned white. What he’d grabbed wasn’t a lid at all, but a steaming hot pot!

Yibing burst into delighted laughter, his chubby body shaking all over.

“Just grabbed the wrong thing…” the elder brother growled, plunging his scorched hand into a nearby water barrel, sending up a curl of steam.

“Catching rabbits will be so easy now!” the younger brother nearly doubled over with laughter.

After the price of one burnt hand, Yibing finally agreed to seriously consider his training. The elder brother suffered in pain, yet felt a strange joy; the younger was simply thrilled, for reasons even he couldn’t explain—he had taken a liking to the little chubby boy.

“Can this technique really catch rabbits underground?” Yibing asked as he wrote his letter home.

“Absolutely, absolutely! Didn’t you just see…” The elder brother was fuming—his hand nearly cooked, and still not believed!

“Yibing, I’m surprised you can write!” The younger brother had thought he’d have to do it for him.

“Mr. Liu at the village school taught us…” Thinking of his classmates, Yibing’s eyes grew red.

“So, what would you like for lunch?” the elder brother quickly changed the subject.

“Meat!”

“No, this is the Celestial Mountain and the Immortal Abode—we can’t eat meat here! Every plant is sacred; even a hint of meat is forbidden.” He glanced instinctively at his injured hand.

“What about that rabbit leg…”

“Quiet! That was a vegetarian rabbit leg, made of tofu!” The elder brother gave him a smack.

“But it doesn’t taste like tofu at all…”

“Don’t cry… As long as you behave, your brother will go buy you something tasty from outside, alright?” The younger brother soothed him, shooting the elder a look that said, “Vegetarian rabbit leg, indeed! And you still steal!”

Once the letter was written, the elder brother inspected it before sealing it up and handing it to his sibling. Yibing hadn’t written anything out of turn; he merely explained that he’d been caught by an immortal while chasing rabbits and was now being forced to train on the Immortal Mountain, but would return home as soon as he’d finished—also, not to let anyone eat the yams under his bed.

“I’ll see him off…” Seeing the younger brother shoulder his bag and head for the door, Yibing hurried after, only to be pulled back by the elder.

“No need, just stay put!” the elder thought to himself, “This chubby boy may look foolish, but he’s slyer than he appears!”

“Big brother, what’s our master’s name?” Yibing asked curiously as he sat back down, realizing he didn’t even know his master’s name.

“Big brother? Who’s your big brother?” the elder snapped.

“Then what should I call you? You never told me!”

“I’m Hongkun, he’s Hongpeng, and our master is called… just call him Daoist Menghong,” the elder replied, stopping abruptly as he spoke.

The next day, before dawn, came an urgent banging at the door. Hongkun was baffled—this door was enchanted; mortals couldn’t enter, and immortals had no need to knock. Who could it be? Opening the door, he found Hongpeng, leaning on a crutch, bloody and battered, and missing a shoe.

“Brother?”

“Elder brother!”

“You… you…”

Hongpeng’s lips trembled, and then he burst into tears.

“Don’t cry, brother. Tell me, what happened?”

“Yesterday, I went to Mujiazhuang to deliver the letter as we agreed—slipped it through the door at midnight. But… but…”

Hongkun craned his neck in anticipation.

“There was a pit in their yard! I fell straight in—thank heaven for my skills, or I’d have been skewered by all the branches at the bottom! As it is, I only hurt my leg,” Hongpeng said, his pride shining as he raised his chin.

“You’re half-immortal—what about your magic?”

“I tried to leap out immediately, but then a bucket of dog’s blood was dumped right on me—my powers stopped working…”

“No wonder you knocked—the immortal aura’s gone!”

“At least I didn’t fall back into the pit! But as I was climbing out, a stick cracked me across the leg, my shoe flew off, and then I was caught in a fishing net.”

“What kind of place is this Mujiazhuang?”

“They dragged me inside, claiming I was a child thief! I explained and explained, and only when I produced the letter did they finally believe me.”

“And then they let you go?”

“Not at all! I was beaten with sticks as a kidnapper!” Hongpeng’s indignation was pitiful to behold.

“You told them our master is an immortal from the heavens, and accepting their son as a disciple is their family’s greatest blessing?”

“I did, but they said there are too many fake immortals nowadays, and even if I am genuine, their village fears neither gods nor ghosts!”

“Impossible! And then?”

“I got desperate and blurted out, ‘It’s because your Yibing insisted on learning the art of snatching rabbits from afar that he wouldn’t leave my master alone—otherwise, we’d never have taken on such a chubby disciple!’”

“And then?”

“They believed me instantly, served me tea! The family apologized for their child’s trouble and begged our patience. They even sent lots of food as thanks!”

“Oh…” Hongkun eyed the bag hungrily. “Still, they shouldn’t be digging pits and clubbing people everywhere!”

“In truth, it’s our fault…” Hongpeng muttered, head down.

“Let’s not talk about it.” Hongkun felt guilty himself, thinking, “Thank goodness I didn’t go! It really does sound like we kidnapped a child.”

“At first, they couldn’t find Yibing and thought he’d been eaten by wolves, so the whole village searched for three days!”

“If a wolf had eaten him, the poor beast would have burst!” Hongkun could hardly believe his ears.

“Then someone suggested a night thief had stolen him, or an old demon had snatched him, so every household began digging pits and preparing dog’s blood.”

“It’s all our master’s fault, going mad and making us do such dubious things!”

“Here, this is the reply from Yibing’s family.” Hongpeng handed over a letter.

Without a word, Hongkun opened it. It said that since Yibing’s disappearance, the family had been grief-stricken, the entire village out searching until Hongpeng’s letter brought relief. They were glad to hear he was training with an immortal and wished him success—but if he found it wasn’t his calling, he should return home and study. Also, the yams under his bed had rotted; he needn’t worry about them.

“Brother, I’ve got an idea. Since his family thinks Yibing isn’t cut out for the immortal path, shouldn’t we be considering other options?”

“What options?”

“If our master keeps delaying, maybe we should use this time to find another disciple?”

“Another one?” Hongpeng was taken aback.

“Yes! This chubby fellow is hard to explain—never mind the trouble moving him about, but if he ever learns to float, can you imagine? Instead of a sage-like immortal drifting among the clouds, we’d have a great ball of flesh hovering in the sky. Where would that leave our master’s reputation?”