The Unordinary Boy Of The Ordinary Village

It's the middle of the summer, the sky is clear blue with some white clouds in the midst of the sky in the shape of stratus and the heat from the blinding sun is immense. It was like a god was glaring down at the world with no intention of sparing any living being.

In the immense heat there was a boy harvesting the rice crops of a big square rice field with a sickle in hand, he was wearing a straw hat to cover him self from the glaring sun he was wearing a roughly worn tunic with tattered pants both were in the color of gray.

He looked to be about twelve in age and he started harvesting the rice from the side of the field and he took the rice crops and put them at the side of the field in a dry land. This boy was Zhang Hao he was about 4 feet 11 inches had jet black hair reaching down his shoulder his face was fair, had sharp angles and the most eunique thing about him was that he had light green eyes. Despite being quite thin he was a charming boy with hints of maturity in his eyes.

and as he was at the end of one side of the field there was a man doing the exact same thing as him on a field opposite of him, this man was about 5 feet 10 inches with a muscular build with black messy hair reaching his back. This man is Zhang Heng the father of Zhang Hao and he was in his early forties.

They both looked at each other then nodded and carried on harvesting the rice crops and by the time both of them finished it was already at a point where the sun was going down. Both of them tied the harvested crops with ropes and carried them back. 

They were walking on a dried elevated mud road and in each side of the road there were fields of rice crops. In the fields there were other farmers either harvesting crops or planting them.

As they were walking Zhang Heng said in a deep voice. "It's a good harvest this time, looks like the heavens have given us good luck this harvest" 

Zhang Hao said in a childish voice "Yes father this time we wont have to eat one less meal a day this season" his happiness was evident in the way that he spoke. Last season the crop yield was not good because of a drought, because of the low yield they struggle with money and trading they went from eating three meals a day to barely two. 

Zhang Heng also looked to be in a good mood so he said "today we are eating cow meat at dinner" 

Zhang Hao looked shockingly at his father and asked "Really?" 

"Yes, so lets get home fast" said Zhang Heng in a confident tone. It was because in the village the cows are valuable and aren't killed regularly so cow meat is rare and are eaten if something big is happening.

Hearing that Zhang Hao jumped and ran towards his home. As he was getting closer to his home it came into his view. It was a rectangular house with thatched rooftop and the house was made out of wood and mud bricks. The house was big with a courtyard at the front. He entered the courtyard dropped the crops in the courtyard fast and ran to the door to open it and shouted

"Mother, I am home" 

"You came home faster then usual, from the way you are acting seems like your father told you about today's dinner." said an ordinary woman who came out of the kitchen.

She looked ordinary with jet black hair reaching her bottom and brown eyes that look very deep. She was Li Na and she was in her early thirties.

As he got closer to hug her she stepped aside and dodged her sons hug.

She frowned and told him in a angry voice "You stink right now go and take a bath or else you might not be getting dinner." 

"Yes, Mother I will be as clean as a clear sheet of paper" said Zhang Hao in a frightened voice and ran into the back of the house to take a shower. As he started cleaning himself his father entered the house and gave Li Na a big hug. As a result he got pushed back and Li Na gave him a glare and said

" You stink just as much as Hao'er go take a shower or else" 

Zhang Heng went into the shower so fast he looked like a phantom zooming through the wind. He knew better then anyone how mad his wife gets if anyone isn't clean and hygienic. So he joined his son in the shower. 

"Come to the dining room after cleaning yourselves" said Li Na as Zhang Heng was entering the back of the house.

As they both were done with cleaning themselves they came out of the shower with some rough clothes and as they came out the smells of cooked meat assaulted their noses. The sound of a gulp could be herd from Zhang haos neck. Both the pair of father and son headed to the dining room. 

The dining room was big enough to fit four people and had a round table in the middle. The ground was covered with mats made of coconut leaves and the walls were made with dark brown mud bricks. The room gave of a very homely feeling that can make anyone who entered it relaxed.

In the dining room the round table had meat stew in the pot with pulled beef in the side with short ribs. Li Na was sitting in one end of the table, she was smiling and told them "Both of you sit down and start eating after all there is a news I want to tell both of you"

Both Zhang Heng and Zhang Hao sat down at the round table and started eating the dishes. As soon as the meat entered Zhang Hao's mouths his eyes went wide open with joy and said in a muffled voice " Ish sho gudh" 

Li Na said with a smile " Don't eat so fast Hao'er your food isn't running away and eat with manners" the last words were said with ominous voice. She is the one who taught how to read and write to Zhang Hao as she is the only one in this family who got taught by a scholar when she was little. So she is one of the only few literate people in the village 

Zhang Hao gulped down the food in his mouth and said " Sorry mother I won't do it again"

Li Na retorted " I have heard that way to many times from you little rascal"

Zhang Heng interrupted by saying " Leave him be tomorrow is an important day for him let him be as comfortable as possible"

"Even then he can't act like this in front of the immortals he needs to be as well mannered as possible or he might anger the immortals" Li An argues back with a calm voice.

Meanwhile Zhang Hao got a bit nervous hearing their conversation because of the topic at hand, tomorrow he will be heading to a Immortal Platform to see if he had spiritual root this would determine how he will lead the rest of his life. If he had spiritual core he would be on the path of becoming an immortal and if he didn't he would be a mortal doing mortal jobs, probably becoming a farmer like his father.

Li An seeing her son being nervous suddenly she tried to take his worries away by saying "Don't worry Hao'er even if you don't have spiritual core you will always have a home to come back to us". 

Zhang Heng smiled hearing this and said " Indeed son no need to be nervous or pressured after all it is up to fate. 

Zhang Hao got a little less nervous after hearing them out and started to calm down. 

Li Na looked around and said in an excited voice " Listen both of you about the news that I wanted to say..." As she said that both father and son looked at her with interest. 

"I am expecting another child" she said in an bubbly voice and both Zhang Heng and Zhang Hao looked at first shocked then excited. 

Zhang Heng stood up and hugged Li An and said in an excited voice " I am having another child!" While Zhang Hao went and hugged both of them and said emotionally

"I am going to have an little brother or sister". 

All three of them chatted until both the red moon and the blue moon was already in the sky. After talking about everything it was time to go to sleep. Both Zhang Heng and

Li An went to their room and Zhang Hao went to his small room which had a single bed and table beside the bed which had a window which could be opened and closed with a stick.

He laid down on his bed excited about the fact that he was going have a little sibling and he was also a bit nervous about tomorrow because of the test of the immortals.

The the village he was in was under the umbrella of the Radiant Lotus Sect. They are the hegemon in the surrounding area. People from over a hundred different tribes, villages ,cities and many kingdoms will come to the immortal platform to check if their child had spiritual core. The reason for Zhang Hao's nervousness is that someone having a spiritual core is rare, the odds are one in a thousand. So the chances of him having one is very low and he is already twelve which was the last age when the spiritual core awakens. The last two times he went he didn't have a core yet. 

Having these thoughts in mind he eventually fell asleep and woke up next morning.