Tales of Herding Gods Chapter 1: Don’t Go Outside When It’s Dark

‘Never venture out after nightfall.’

This warning had echoed through Disabled Elderly Village for generations, though the origins of the rule were lost to time. Regardless of its source, the validity of the statement was undisputed.

Within the village, Granny Si felt a growing unease as she watched the sun begin its slow descent behind the mountain peaks. As the final rays flickered out, a heavy, absolute silence gripped the world. Every sound vanished. Darkness surged from the west like a physical tide, consuming mountains, rivers, and forests before finally sweeping over Disabled Elderly Village.

Standing at the four cardinal points of the village were four ancient stone statues. They were weathered and moss-covered, their creators and age unknown even to someone as old as Granny Si.

As the shadows deepened, a soft radiance began to pulse from the stone figures. Seeing this familiar glow, Granny Si and the other village elders let out collective sighs of relief.

The gloom outside grew dense and oppressive, yet the village remained a sanctuary of safety within the light of the statues.

Suddenly, Granny Si’s ears twitched, and she gasped in shock. “Listen! I hear a child wailing out there!”

Standing nearby, Old Ma shook his head dismissively. “That’s impossible. Your mind is playing tricks… Wait, I hear it too! A baby is crying!”

Aside from Deaf, the elders exchanged bewildered looks as the sound of an infant's cries drifted through the dark from beyond the village borders. It seemed impossible for a baby to be in such a desolate, remote region.

“I’m going to find it!”

Granny Si moved with sudden agility, rushing toward one of the village statues. Old Ma scrambled after her, shouting, “Have you lost your mind, Old Woman Si? Stepping into the darkness is a death sentence!”

“The terrors in the dark fear these stone statues. If I carry one with me, I won’t perish so easily!”

Granny Si leaned down, attempting to hoist the heavy stone. However, her hunched back made the task impossible.

Old Ma sighed and shook his head. “Move aside. I’ll carry the statue for you!”

Another elder approached with a heavy limp. “Old Ma, you only have one arm left. You won’t last long carrying that weight. I have both my arms; let me take it.”

Old Ma glared at him. “And how far will you get on that lame leg, you Damned Cripple? My one arm has more than enough strength!”

Bracing himself, he lifted the massive statue with his single arm. “Old Woman Si, let’s move!”

“Stop calling me a damned old woman! Cripple, Mute, stay alert. We’re taking one of the statues, so don’t let anything from the darkness sneak inside!”

……

As Old Ma and Granny Si stepped past the village boundary, strange, formless entities drifted through the surrounding murk. However, as the statue’s light touched them, they let out guttural screeches and retreated back into the shadows.

Following the sound for several hundred paces, they reached the bank of a wide river. The cries were coming from the water's edge. Because the statue’s light was limited, they had to navigate by sound, moving upstream. After a short distance, the wailing became loud and clear. Old Ma’s arm was trembling under the strain, nearly at its breaking point. Granny Si’s sharp eyes caught a faint, shimmering light ahead. It was a basket caught against the riverbank—the source of the cries.

“It really is a baby!”

Granny Si reached out to grab the basket but froze in shock. Beneath the basket, a pair of pale, water-bloated hands emerged from the river. These hands were holding the basket aloft, keeping the child above the water and pushing it toward the shore.

“Rest easy. The child is safe now,” Granny Si whispered softly to the figure beneath the surface.

As if understanding her, the female corpse released its grip. The current took her, and she vanished into the dark downstream.

Granny Si lifted the basket, finding a baby wrapped in cloth. A jade pendant rested on the infant, emitting a soft, fluorescent light. The glow was remarkably similar to that of the stone statues, though much dimmer. It was this jade that had shielded the child from the horrors in the dark.

Because the jade’s power was limited, it could only protect the infant, leaving the woman vulnerable.

“It’s a boy.”

Back in Disabled Elderly Village, the inhabitants—a collection of the old, the weak, and the maimed—gathered around. Granny Si unwrapped the cloth to inspect the baby, her few remaining teeth showing in a wide grin. “Finally, our Disabled Elderly Village has someone healthy!”

Cripple, leaning on his single leg, asked skeptically, “You really mean to raise him, Old Woman Si? We can barely look after ourselves. We should probably give him away…”

Granny Si snapped at him. “I’m the one who rescued this child! Why on earth would I give him away?”

The villagers fell silent, unwilling to challenge her temper. Just then, the Village Chief arrived, carried on a stretcher. His condition was the most dire; while the others were missing parts, he had no limbs at all. Despite this, he commanded absolute respect. Even the fierce Granny Si showed him deference.

“If we’re keeping him, he needs a name,” she noted.

The Village Chief asked, “Old woman, was there anything else in that basket?”

Granny Si searched the basket again and shook her head. “Nothing but this jade pendant. It has the word ‘Qin’ carved into it. The stone is flawless and holds a mysterious power. This isn't a common trinket… perhaps he comes from a wealthy clan?”

“Should we name him Qin, or use it as his surname?”

After a moment of reflection, the Village Chief decided, “His surname shall be Qin, and his name Mu. Qin Mu. When he is older, he can work as a herder. That should provide him a way to survive.”

“Qin Mu.” Granny Si looked down at the baby, who showed no fear of her withered face and actually began to giggle.

…

Years later, the sound of a flute drifted across the riverbank. A young herder sat atop a cow, playing a bright, melodic tune. The boy appeared to be eleven or twelve,