Dont be afraid.

Im not afraid. That young man dipped his hand into the pot without any hesitation.

What happened next was nothing short of surreal. The bugs in the wooden pot seemed afraid of the aura surrounding his hand. None dared to even get close. They scuttled about, trying to avoid the hand. The spot where his fingers touched seemed to have made a vacant area.

Thats expected. Miao Xihe looked pleased when he saw that.

Give me a knife. The middle-aged man nearby immediately handed him a sharp, which Miao Xihe rubbed off.

Im about to take some of your blood, Xiao He, he said. Its not going to hurt much.

Very well, Chief. The young man showed no signs of fear.

Miao Xihe slit the young mans wrist a little and drained about half a bowl of blood.

That should do. He quickly rubbed ointment on the wound, which quickly staunched the bleeding and sealed the wound.

Be honest with me, Xiao He. Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere in your body?

No, I feel fine, the young man said.

I take it that youre not all that willing to stay in here, Miao Xihe said.

Well, Ive gotten used to it, the young man replied.

Bear with it for a while longer. Youd be able to leave soon enough, Miao Xihe pulled the young man into his arms to comfort him.

Its okay, Chief, the young man said.

Thats good to hear. Miao Xihe nodded. He looked very pleased with the development of events.

He stayed around and chatted with the young man for a bit.

Xiao He, lets take a walk outside.

He led the young man past the middle-aged man to a path deep in the cave. It was extremely perilous. That path was on a cliff. It led to a hole halfway up the mountains height. It was somewhere difficult to reach by common folks, even if they had ropes available. It was not just the steep cliff that was dangerous. There were many weird, dangerous bugs like centipedes crawling on the cliff. Their ferocious, unforgiving appearance alone suggested that they were very poisonous.

Come, get on my back.

I can do this on my own.

Just come on up.

Miao Xihe carried the young man on his back. He had no problems leaping about on the steep cliff. It was as if he was a nimble monkey. They reached the hole at the mountain and went outside.

The sun was bright outside. The light was rather blinding.

The young man, who looked like he was about 20 years old, looked vibrant and energetic when the sun shone on him. His eyes were focused and bright as he looked up into the sun. He was mesmerized by the sight.

Xiao He, Ill now recite a passage from a medical book, Miao Xihe said. Commit the passage to memory as best you can.

Will do, Chief.

Miao Xihe began reciting. His voice was not loud. He ready slowly, ensuring every single word was clear. He repeated the passage again and again. He recited the whole thing three times.

Well, have you managed to remember the whole thing? he asked.

I have, the young man said.

Is that so? Miao Xihe asked. Well, recite it for me.

Xiao He immediately started reciting it. He was smooth with his delivery. He did not miss a single word.

Good, very good. Recall what youve just remembered when you have nothing else to do and ponder its contents. It will do you a lot of good.

Will do, Chief, the young man replied.

The old man and the young man quietly sat at the hole halfway up the mountains height, looking off into the distance. After sitting around for quite a long time, the young man rose.

Lets head back, Chief. They will worry if we spend too much time here.

Yeah, sure. Miao Xihe looked at the young man. He had complicated emotions.

The young man was so obedient and cooperative that he wished the young man were his son.

The two of them got off the cliff and went back into the cave.

Ill come again tomorrow, Xiao He.

Have a safe journey, the young man sad as Miao Xihe left the cave.

They dove into the water. When they had confirmed that there was no one around, they emerged outside of the cave. They went into the woods.

Xiao He is a good kid, Miao Xihe said.

Yeah. Hes very obedient and cooperative, which is quite surprising to all of us and puts us at ease at the same time, the middle-aged man who walked by Miao Xihes side said. You havent been treating him well for nothing all these years, Sir.

Miao Xihe stopped and said to the man by his side, Fengxing, if someone were to happen to me this time, you guys will have to take care of the village in my stead.

Why are you saying this all of a sudden, Sir? the middle-aged man anxiously asked. The village cant do without you!

Ive never taken you as an outsider, Fengxing, Miao Xihe said. In fact, youre like a son to me. What is going on out there this time is huge, and some people are very, very displeased with us. Im afraid the villages quiet days will soon be over.

There were more and more outsiders showing up in the village. The villagers were naturally repellent against what those outsiders brought to the place, but would likely change over time. For now, it was only the tradition of the village that bound them. Eventually, some among them would become willing to accept things from the outside. What is happening out there was too vibrant, too fun, and too exciting to resist. Once one of them accepted all that, there would be another and then another. It would become like a dam collapsing. Once an opening was found, plugging it was very difficult. The collapse was a matter of time. By then, there would have been a significant change. The people would have changed, making it harder to control the village.

It looks like what the others foresaw all those years ago will become a reality in my time. Miao Xihe extended his right hand.

He tried his best to resist the waves and maintain the village as it was. However, the waves were simply too strong when they came, and there was no stopping it. All those things that he tried so hard to protect and maintain were set to eventually change.

When they came near the village, the two of them saw some outsiders. There were four men and two women. They all had rucksacks on their backs. They were peering at the secluded paradise with glee and wonder.

See that? Theyre here again. Miao Xihe pointed at the people.

Bring them to see me, Miao Xihe said.

Yes, Sir, the middle-aged man at his side said.

Six young outsiders were sitting in a wooden house, which was Miao Xihes residence. They curiously peered around. The old, rustic wooden building had an elevated seat in it. A middle-aged man was keeping a close eye on those people. There were many rumors about the chief of that secluded paradise on the internet. They labeled him as the staunchest defender of the villages isolationist policies. Furthermore, the chief was said to have done many bad things in the village. He was also said to be an overlord of an area and anything but a good person.

Greetings, welcome to our village, Miao Xihe said with a smile.

Well, things look different from what rumors said. The outsiders looked at each other. Truth to be told, they were all rather afraid when they had entered the house.

Thank you. Greetings, Chief Miao.

Do you all know of me?

There are many rumors about you on the internet.

Is that so? What do the rumors say? Miao Xihe asked with a smile.

The man, who was the leader of the group, smiled and said, Well, nothing good.

Truth to be told, I dont welcome outsiders like you at all.

Would you care to tell us why? This is a nice place. If more people were to come, they would definitely bring a lot of income to the place. Furthermore, with the road getting in here being so bad to begin with, I assume that itd be very inconvenient for you guys, right?

We dont actually have that much desire for money, Miao Xihe said. We are self-sustainable in here. There is no trouble with the bad road since we dont head out much to begin with. You might think that living a life like this is too much of a shut-away and backward. In our perspective, however, we are living a good life. We are happy as we are. You can ask around if you dont believe it. While I cant guarantee that every villager would say so, there would be 95 percent of them who share my opinion.

But, do you guys really want to keep living like this?

Why would you all come here in the first place? Why would you think this is a nice place to begin with? Doesnt it have to do with the place being a secluded paradise?'

Sure. There are no factories, no cars, no smoke or dust, and no noise. There is only nature, the rawest of nature. This place is indeed mesmerizing.

You people are used to life in the city, so youd be very surprised when you see a village like ours, Miao Xihe said. You would like and admire the place very much. However, if you were to think about it, if we were to open the place up and get the roads leading here all paved, would we remain as we are now? I reckon that in less than a few years, everything here would have changed. There would be factories, cars, bars, restaurants, and whatnot. The place would no longer be serene or in tune with nature. It would become more like Old Town of Lijiang instead.

So, have you been outside before?

Indeed I have, and Ive been to more than one place, Miao Xihe replied.