Li Qiu had walked home holding his breath the entire way, but the moment he crossed his threshold, his tension vanished, and he collapsed straight onto the floor.
The White Wolf's four legs and snout had already been bound by Li Laosan, and it was tossed aside in a corner.
Mistress Zhao hugged Li Qiu with a heart full of anguish, her tears streaming down like a broken spring, completely unstoppable. Li Laosan originally had a stomach full of grievances to air, but seeing his son so battered and his wife in such a state, he had no choice but to swallow his words. The villagers, knowing the family needed privacy, dispersed on their own, leaving only a few young children playing nearby. The half-grown boy who had come to deliver the news first was Li Zhuo, the village chief's only son.
Li Zhuo was the same age as Li Qiu and had been his childhood playmate. Though not as tall as Li Qiu, he was far from being as thin, possessing a sturdy, brawny build.
At that moment, Li Zhuo said to Mistress Zhao, "Third Aunt, Xiaoqiu hasn't eaten in three days, and he carried this beast down from the mountain, so he's completely exhausted. You should hurry and help him into the room to rest."
Li Laosan hurriedly carried his son into the house, laid him down, and stripped off all his clothes. Not an inch of unblemished skin was visible; his entire body was covered in purple and blue bruises, crisscrossed with cuts from sharp brier vines. The sight made Mistress Zhao's tears start falling all over again.
Filled with unanswered questions and a heavy heart, Li Laosan impatiently told Mistress Zhao, "Stop crying, just stop crying! Go boil a pot of hot water, and stew that mountain pheasant." Coming to her senses, Mistress Zhao hurried off to prepare.
Exhausted and drained of all strength, Li Qiu had already fallen into a deep sleep. Li Laosan called Li Zhuo over and demanded, "What is the meaning of this? Weren't he and I supposed to be going to Zhaozhuang to visit his second uncle? How on earth did he end up going up the mountain to catch a wolf?"
Li Zhuo scratched his head and stammered, "Third Uncle, it was my fault. Three days ago, Xiaoqiu and I were playing together, and we made a bet. I said that if he could catch a wolf barehanded—and a live one at that—the rest of us playmates would acknowledge him as our eldest brother. Who would have thought Xiaoqiu would actually take it seriously..."
"Nonsense!" A nameless rage surged up in Li Laosan's chest, though he forcefully suppressed it. After all, it was just children playing games, so he could only say, "You should go home first." Realizing the situation, Li Zhuo sheepishly took his leave.
In his dreams, Li Qiu saw Li Zhuo and the others kneeling on the ground, kowtowing and calling him "Eldest Brother," pledging to follow his lead in all things. He burst out laughing, but the sudden movement pulled at the scrapes on his face, causing him to hiss in pain. He sucked in several breaths of cold air and jolted awake. Opening his eyes, he found his father glaring down at him with a face full of fury. Realizing he had gotten into deep trouble, he hurriedly tried to sit up and beg for mercy. But the moment he moved, every bone in his body cracked like breaking twigs, and he collapsed back onto the bed like a dismantled marionette, grimacing in a pitiful display.
Mistress Zhao had just walked out of the kitchen carrying a bowl of chicken broth. Seeing her son in such a state, she cried out, "My little ancestor, have mercy on me!" and rushed forward to support him.
"You are not allowed to help him!" Li Laosan bellowed. Then, turning to Li Qiu, he commanded, "Go kneel before the ancestral tablets."
Helpless, and knowing that what could not be avoided could not be evaded, Li Qiu dragged himself out of bed. His bones felt completely unhinged, making his walk unsteady as he staggered forward, using both hands to steady himself against the wall step by step. Mistress Zhao wanted to help him again, but one glare from Li Laosan sent her backing away.
When he reached the ancestral tablets, Li Qiu could no longer hold himself up and collapsed heavily onto his knees. Surprisingly, while kneeling to his father usually caused his lower back to ache miserably, today it felt remarkably comfortable, so he simply dropped his weight back onto his calves and waited quietly for his father's punishment.
Unwilling to let him off so easily, Li Laosan gave Li Qiu's rear a few light kicks with the toe of his shoe. Knowing he couldn't dodge it, Li Qiu straightened his posture, but the moment he did, pain flared fiercely through his entire body.
"You wretched brat," Li Laosan barked, "do you know why I am punishing you?"
"I know," Li Qiu answered honestly. "I shouldn't have skipped going to Second Uncle's house."
"Scoundrel!" Li Laosan glared.
"Then Your Son shouldn't have stolen old Uncle Tie's bedboards from the west end of the village..."
"Audacious!" Li Laosan slammed his hand on the table.
"And Your Son shouldn't have stolen Second Aunt Wang's chicken from the north end of the village..."
Li Laosan was left between laughter and tears. Though most of his anger had dissipated, Li Qiu's stunt this time had been entirely too reckless; without teaching him a lesson, who knew what disaster he might court in the future? He kept his face stern, pretending not to hear.
Out of the corner of his eye, Li Qiu saw that the timing was right. He hurried to kowtow and pleaded, "Father, Your Son knows he was wrong. I shouldn't have made that bet with Li Zhuo, and I shouldn't have gone up the mountain alone. I have given Mother and Father a fright."
As soon as he said this, a stabbing pain shot through his knees and waist. Normally stubborn and proud—putting on a show of pain when it didn't hurt, but gritting his teeth in stubborn silence when it truly did—Li Qiu was terrified his father would see him grimacing, so he hurriedly knocked another kowtow to conceal it. He continued, "Even though I made a bet with Li Zhuo, Your Son knew better than to charge blindly up the mountain. But lately, I've heard Father coughing incessantly, especially on cloudy days when your leg pain grows unbearable, yet Father never calls for a doctor. Mother has suffered for so long, and her waist and legs have also developed chronic ailments. Your Son wanted to earn money to seek medical treatment for my parents. The other day, when I heard Li Zhuo say that White Wolf pelts are extremely valuable—and if captured alive, can sell for several strings of cash [Note: one string is about one thousand copper cash]—which would be more than enough to buy medicine for my parents, I decided to go up the mountain..."
Hearing this, Mistress Zhao felt a pang in her heart. She rushed over, pulled Li Qiu into her arms, and cried, "My darling, my darling," over and over again. But this embrace proved too much; the breath that Li Qiu had been holding onto finally gave way, his vision darkened, and he passed out once more, sending Mistress Zhao into a panic of shrieks and shouts.
***
When Li Qiu woke up, it was already the morning of the third day. He felt an overwhelming sense of fatigue, but his bones no longer ached, and he knew his father must have applied the family's ancestral medicinal plaster. Still, his body lacked proper nourishment and remained desperately weak and limp.
Seeing her son awake, Mistress Zhao hurriedly brought over a bowl of chicken broth. Li Qiu took it and drank, instantly feeling much stronger.
His father, Li Laosan, walked in and, seeing that Li Qiu had recovered consciousness, asked, "That White Wolf is full of spirit; last night it actually managed to break free from its ropes. If I hadn't noticed in time, it might have escaped. Since you caught it, what do you plan to do with it?"
Li Qiu pondered for a moment before answering, "Your Son wants to go to Wanjia Town—first to sell the wolf, and second to buy medicine."
"Wanjia Town is a long journey, and you by yourself..." Li Laosan said, still worried.
"Your Son will go together with Li Zhuo and the others."
"Very well, go then. Just remember to come back early," Li Laosan replied, always treating Li Qiu as an adult.
Before the words had even faded, several people walked in through the courtyard. Leading them was Village Chief Li Ershui, followed closely by Li Zhuo and two other young men—Wang Suo and Zheng Shude—who were Li Qiu's childhood playmates.
As soon as Li Ershui stepped into the house, he said to Li Laosan, "Old San, I've brought my Li Zhuo here to make amends." With that, he bellowed, "You wretched brat, still haven't knelt?"
Hearing the genuine fury in his father's voice, Li Zhuo dropped heavily to his knees, and the other two young men quickly knelt beside him.
"Second Brother, what is the meaning of this? Get up, all of you, get up," Li Laosan urged.
Li Ershui cupped his hands in a bow to Li Laosan and said, "My rascal of a son has been spoiled rotten since he was little, lawless and unruly. If he hadn't egged Xiaoqiu on with that bet, Xiaoqiu never would have gone up the mountain alone and put himself in such mortal danger. You know as well as I do that Tianzhu Mountain is crawling with tigers, leopards, wolves, and deer. If anything had happened to Xiaoqiu, I..." He raised his hand as if to strike Li Zhuo.
Li Laosan quickly stopped him, saying, "Second Brother, boys will be boys; getting carried away and acting wild is nothing out of the ordinary. Besides, Xiaoqiu had his own reasons. Because of my bad leg, I've been wanting him to step up and take charge of the household sooner, so letting him wander around the mountains to get some experience and learn a hard lesson isn't a bad thing. That way, we two old folks will have something to lean on in the future, won't we?"
Li Qiu also chimed in, "It was my own stubborn insistence to go; Li Zhuo and the others aren't to blame. Uncle Shui, let them all get up."
Only then did Li Ershui's expression soften. He told the young men to rise and said, "Even so, I must still punish Li Zhuo. But since the four of them made a wager that whoever caught a live wolf would be the eldest brother of the group, today they are here to honor that promise."
Li Laosan quickly waved his hand. "Just children playing games, nothing to be taken seriously."
Li Ershui replied solemnly, "That won't do. The men of Xujiawa value their word above all else. If we speak lightly and break our promises, how can we ever hold our heads high beneath Tianzhu Mountain?"
Hearing this, Li Zhuo and the other two stepped forward, bowed low, and addressed Li Qiu as their eldest brother. Li Qiu hastily tried to get up to help them, but his weak legs nearly buckled under him again. The three youths quickly rushed forward to steady him. Li Qiu waved his hand to show he was fine and said, "The four of us are of an age, and back then it was just a joke spoken in the heat of the moment. Since you insist on calling me eldest brother today, why don't the four of us take it a step further and become sworn brothers?"
Li Ershui smiled and said, "Splendid!"
And so, the four youths lit incense, set up a burner, and with Heaven and Earth as their witnesses, swore brotherhood. Li Qiu was designated as the eldest brother, Li Zhuo as the second brother, while Wang Suo and Zheng Shude became the third and fourth brothers respectively. In unison, they vowed: "By the spirits of Tianzhu Mountain, today we pledge ourselves as sworn brothers, to share life and death, never to abandon or forsake one another. If we break this oath, let Heaven strike us down and the earth consume us!"