“Eat up, we haven’t had proper food in a long time. Now that we have some, we should make the most of it. I’m so little, no one will blame me.” Jack Cooper took big bites of the rice ball, encouraging Henry Clark to eat quickly as well.

There are many advantages to being young and having a baby face. Who knows how Jack Cooper managed to communicate with those mulberry-picking girls, but he actually got two eggs. At this time, such things were absolutely precious.

“How about you marry her? We made your fiancée run off, so now I’ll help you trick another one. Look at that little girl—she’s got a few freckles on her face, but she’s still pretty. I asked around, her family is wealthy. If you marry her, we’ll be living the good life right away.”

Henry Clark didn’t say a word. He lifted his leg and kicked Jack Cooper on the butt. For a moment, he forgot this guy had turned into a three- or four-year-old child, and actually sent him flying.

Jack Cooper immediately burst into loud tears. A large group of mulberry-picking girls rushed over, scooped up Jack Cooper, and surrounded Henry Clark, chattering and scolding him. Jack Cooper lay comfortably in the arms of one of the girls, winking at Henry Clark.

A tall mulberry-picking girl carried Jack Cooper toward the village. Henry Clark wanted to get Jack Cooper back, but they wouldn’t give him up. With the language barrier, there was no way to communicate, so he had no choice but to follow them into the village.

In the small basin stood thirty to fifty bamboo houses. Yellow dogs with curled tails lazily basked in the sun. When they saw the unfamiliar Henry Clark, they barked a couple of times, then lay back down to continue sunbathing.

The mulberry-picking girl came to the largest bamboo house, raised her voice and called out twice. Her voice was clear and melodious, but unfortunately Henry Clark couldn’t understand a word.

An old man with a black cloth wrapped around his head and a full head of white hair and beard appeared at the side of the bamboo house. He was stunned when he saw Henry Clark, then hurried down the steps and, in a thick Guanzhong accent, asked Henry Clark, “Why has a Han man wandered to this place?”

“I, along with my younger brother, was unfortunately separated from my family. May I ask, elder, is this place under the jurisdiction of Dousha Pass?” Henry Clark awkwardly bowed.

Back by the river, Henry Clark had seen the four ancient characters for “Dousha Guyi” carved on a stone stele. He’d seen this in later times, so he knew this was the original appearance of the famous ancient town of Dousha, with the mighty Dousha Pass not far away.

Nature’s craftsmanship had carved out this natural barrier, locking Yunnan and blocking Sichuan—a vital passage for Sichuan to enter Yunnan, and a key point on the Qin and Han “Five-Foot Road.” Because of the sheer cliffs on the opposite bank, split in two by the river, a giant stone gate was formed, sealing off the ancient route between Yunnan and Sichuan, hence also called “Shimen Pass.”

The old man looked at the disheveled Henry Clark, then at Jack Cooper lying in the arms of the mulberry-picking girl, and sighed, “You’re right, this is the ancient town of Dousha under the jurisdiction of Dousha Pass. The Five-Foot Road has become more and more unsafe. Two years ago, there were tigers, and merchants stopped coming for half a year. After the tiger menace passed, bandits took over Wuliu Mountain. Seeing that you brothers have nothing with you, settle down in the village for now, and we’ll make plans later.”

The old man’s words were exactly what Henry Clark wanted to hear, and he thanked him profusely.

The people here were extremely simple and honest—so much so that Henry Clark didn’t know what to say. There was an uninhabited, dilapidated bamboo house in the village, and the two brothers were to make their home there. The villagers each gave a scoop of rice or a scoop of beans. Though the bedding was old, it was washed very clean. The old clan chief even gave Henry Clark an iron pot and a small bag of salt, which was already a generous gift—especially when Henry Clark learned that it was now the fourth year of the Song Dynasty’s Qingli era.

The mulberry-picking girls helped Henry Clark clean the bamboo house from top to bottom, then lit mugwort to thoroughly smoke out the place. Jack Cooper watched in terror as centipedes and all sorts of bugs fled from the cracks in the bamboo house. Worst of all, a green snake as thick as Jack Cooper’s arm also slithered out.

Henry Clark and Jack Cooper were both scared, but the mulberry-picking girls weren’t. A round-eyed little girl grabbed the green snake and tossed it back into the bamboo house, muttering to herself.

The old clan chief smiled and said to Henry Clark, “Don’t be afraid, that’s a house-guarding snake. It’s harmless and eats rats and bugs. If there isn’t one in the bamboo house, you can’t settle down.”

The tall mulberry-picking girl blushed, placed a small yellow dog in front of Henry Clark, and quickly turned and ran away. The old clan chief laughed heartily, the other mulberry-picking girls made a commotion, Jack Cooper grinned slyly, and only Henry Clark was left confused.

As the sun was about to set, smoke began to rise from the chimney of the dilapidated bamboo house. The firewood in the hearth crackled, and the bamboo house was already quite dim. The flames lit up the two faces, and as the aroma of rice wafted from the iron pot, Jack Cooper gulped and said to Henry Clark, “The Song Dynasty isn’t so bad, is it?”

Chapter Five: Life is the Best Teacher

Jack Cooper seemed very satisfied with his current life. This legendary experience had taken him far from all humiliation and sadness. In this world, the only person who never mocked him was right by his side, so he felt he hadn’t lost anything at all.

But Henry Clark’s heart was groaning. When he was struggling to survive, he could savor raw bamboo shoots, but now, holding a bowl of white rice, he had no appetite—especially since there was even a small strip of oily smoked meat on top.