荒墟牧神 - 第1章 暮色封村，莫入荒夜 - 雲海書庫

he basket. In it lay a swaddled infant, and atop the swaddling lay a jade pendant that gave off a faint light. This pendant's light was very similar to the statues' light, but far weaker; it was this pendant that had kept the child in the basket from being harmed by the things in the darkness. Yet its light was too dim—it could protect only the child, not the woman. "It's a boy." Back in Hidden Remnant Village, the villagers crowded around; they were all old, weak, sick, or crippled. Granny Zhu opened the swaddling and looked, then grinned, her broken teeth sparse. "Our Hidden Remnant Village finally has a whole person!" One-legged Lame Weng said in surprise, "Old hag, you mean to raise him? We can hardly support ourselves! I think we should send him away..." Granny Zhu flew into a rage. "I found this child by my own ability—why should I send him away?" The villagers shuffled and murmured, not daring to contradict her. The village headman came over on a stretcher; he was more pitiable than the rest. The others at least had some limbs, just fewer than ordinary people, but he had neither hands nor feet. Still, everyone respected him deeply; even the ferocious Granny Zhu did not dare act rashly. "Since we're going to raise him, we should give him a name, shouldn't we?" The headman said, "Old woman, look—is there anything else in the basket?" Granny Zhu rummaged through it and shook her head. "Only this jade pendant, no note or anything. There's a character on the pendant—'Qin'. This jade is flawless, and it contains a strange power; it is not an ordinary thing. It must be from a great household." "Is he called Qin, or is Qin his surname?" The headman pondered, then said, "Let his surname be Qin, and his given name Mu—Qin Mu. When he grows up, we'll have him herd cattle; at least he can make a living." "Qin Mu." Granny Zhu looked at the infant in the swaddling, and the infant, unafraid of her, actually gurgled and laughed. ... By the river, the sound of a flute drifted over; a cowherd sat on the back of a cow playing a flute, the notes clear and melodious. The cowherd was eleven or twelve years old, with handsome delicate features, red lips and white teeth, his clothes half open, and a jade pendant hanging on his chest. This boy was exactly the infant Granny Zhu had picked up by the river eleven years before. Over those years, the village elders had raised him with painstaking care. Granny Zhu had somehow acquired a cow and fed the baby Qin Mu cow's milk every day, getting him through the period when young children often died. Though the villagers of Hidden Remnant Village all looked fierce and menacing, they were very good to him. Granny Zhu was a seamstress; on ordinary days Qin Mu learned tailoring from her, learned to gather herbs and refine pills from the Pill Master, learned leg techniques from Grandpa Lame Weng, learned to locate sounds by ear from Grandpa Blind, and learned breathing techniques from the limbless village headman. So the days passed quickly. This cow had been his wet nurse in childhood; Granny Zhu had originally planned to sell it, but Qin Mu was unwilling, so the task of herding cattle was also assigned to him. He often grazed the cow by the river—green mountains like ink, blue waves and white clouds, quite pleasant. "Qin Mu, Qin Mu, save me!" Suddenly the cow beneath him spoke. Qin Mu was startled and hastily jumped down from its back. The cow had tears in its eyes and spoke in human language: "Qin Mu, you grew up drinking my milk; I am like a half-mother to you. You must save me!" Qin Mu blinked and asked cautiously, "How can I save you?" The cow said, "There's a sickle at your waist. Peel off my hide, and you'll free me from my predicament." Qin Mu hesitated. The cow said, "Have you forgotten the kindness that nursed you?" Qin Mu raised the sickle and carefully cut into the cowhide. Strange as it was, when the hide was cut open, not a drop of blood flowed, and the inside of the hide was empty—no flesh, n