Chapter 1

Chapter 1

I met Cui Bao’er under a withered old tree in the wilderness, hundreds of miles from Misty Town.

At that time, the sun was sinking, a mountain breeze was picking up, and I was the only crow perched on a branch, crying.

In the middle of nowhere, a crow wailing at the top of its lungs is quite a terrifying sight.

So when Cui Bao’er passed under the tree, his eyes wide as bronze bells and his hair standing on end as he stared at me, I forgot to cry for a moment and stared back at him with my own round eyes.

“A ghost!” he said.

“Not a ghost, a crow,” I corrected him.

“Ah, I’m dead! I’ve been cursed! I must be dreaming. Gods to their temples, ghosts to their graves, demons and monsters to the mountains and forests… I don’t see, I don’t hear, I don’t believe…”

He muttered at a frantic pace, carrying a tattered basket on his back as he covered his ears and bolted away barefoot.

I flapped my wings and hurried to catch up with him. “Ah, Brother, don’t go! I’m scared!”

“…Ah! Don’t come over here! I’m even more scared!”

I chased him for twenty miles, successfully herding him back to that same withered old tree.

Cui Bao’er was practically on the verge of tears.

“…You monster, what do you want! I’ve never done a bad deed in my life, and I’m dirt poor with nothing to my name. Why are you following me!”

“I’m not a monster. I’m a divine bird flown over from Penglai. My name is Lingdang.” I was also close to tears, looking at him pitifully. “Don’t leave, I’m afraid.”

I really was afraid. The wilderness was desolate and uninhabited, and I had been perched on that branch for three days.

Ten days ago, I flew here from Penglai with my brothers. However, on the way back, we encountered a sea mist. I fell behind the flock and had no choice but to fly back here to wait for them to come find me.

I had waited for three days. It was my first time in the human realm, and with eagles occasionally circling the nearby cliffs, I was naturally terrified.

Cui Bao’er’s clothes were ragged and his hair was a mess, but his eyes were like bright stars, exceptionally brilliant. I felt he must be a good person.

He truly was a kind-hearted man. Once his terror subsided and he heard my story, he let out a sigh of relief, set down his basket, and sat under the tree.

“Fine then, little crow. I’ll stay with you for a bit.”

“My name is Lingdang.”

“Oh, I’m Cui Bao’er. I live in Green Ox Village.”

By the time total darkness fell, Cui Bao’er had been sitting under the tree for an hour and had even shared some berries he’d gathered from the mountains with me.

“I should head back now,” he said.

“Can you please not leave? I’ll repay you,” I cried out.

“Ha! You’re a crow. How are you going to repay me?”

He let out a chuckle, his voice teasing. Then, he looked around and climbed the tree with his bare feet.

“Alright then, I’ll show some mercy. But I’m afraid of wolves at night, so I’ll stay up in the tree with you.”

Under a mountain moon, a man and a crow kept each other company in the silent wilderness, chatting away.

He said Green Ox Village was very poor. Many there were as destitute as he was. Although they lived off the mountains, they would always go hungry when the bitter winter arrived.

I said our Penglai was a fairyland where the phoenixes led all under heaven, protecting the peace of the world.

He said Zhao Jinshen in town was the wealthiest man for a hundred miles around, and that the mice in his house were raised larger than cats.

I said our Crow Clan was also very impressive. Of all the divine birds in Penglai, only we and the phoenixes could fly out of the Black Mire Forest and cross the East Sea.

Finally, he told me the story of the man from Song who waited by a stump for a rabbit.

I thought about it and told him the story of the crow that drank water.

There was nothing unusual about the story-most people in the world knew it-but in my telling, that crow came from Penglai and met a tragic end.

“…It found a ceramic jar, but there was too little water inside. So, it picked up stones and dropped them into the jar, eventually succeeding in drinking the water. But after returning to Penglai, it was burned to death by the clan leader.”

“Why?” Cui Bao’er asked in surprise.

I said, “It was sick. It had developed the Crow Plague in its head. That’s a type of pestilence from your human realm that only we crows can catch.”

“How could they tell it had the Crow Plague?”

“It was dropping stones into a jar, and it even said the divine birds on the Fusang Tree looked like they had three legs and fifteen toes.”

“Hahaha, hahaha…”

“Brother Cui, what are you laughing at?”

“…Lingdang, I think that Crow Plague you mentioned might have another name down here.”

“What?”

“A brain.”

“A brain? What’s that?”

I stared with my round eyes, looking completely puzzled. Cui Bao’er said solemnly, “A type of intelligence. It’s also called being ‘enlightened.'”

I remained confused and shook my head. “I don’t understand. It sounds terrifying.”

“…No wonder you’re called stupid crows.”

“That’s right, we’re called stupid crows to begin with.”

I took it as a matter of course. “If the Crow Plague is called a brain, then we don’t need one. Because brains are scary; they’ll eat us.”

“Who said that?”

“All the crows say so.”

“…You guys are so dumb.”

“Thank you.”

“Forget it, you’re beyond help.”

While we were chatting, the light over the mountains suddenly plummeted. Accompanied by a resonant cry that echoed through the sky, the horizon surged with the movement of yin and yang. Clouds roiled and winds rose, the vibration making my heart ache.

Cui Bao’er was so frightened he hugged the tree, screaming at the top of his lungs.

My face lit up with joy. About to spread my wings and fly off, I said to him, “When you have time, go gather ores in the mountains. Keep any that look decent. I’ll have my brother come collect them in a year.”

“Huh?”

“I’m leaving! His Highness the Eldest Prince of the Phoenix Clan has come to fetch me!”