I'm Huwa, eight years old, fastest runner in town.
Behind the earth shrine at the east end there's a dog hole — crawl through and you're in the smithy's coal pile. There's a gap in the paper-crafter's wall that's a shortcut to the schoolhouse. And by the herb plot there's a bramble patch Old Bosen thinks nobody knows about — three steps in, there's a little patch of wild staunch-herb. That one I only told Sister Xing'er, so keep it quiet.
Grown-ups keep saying it's dangerous out there. But I know where every snake is, every hornet nest, and which dogs don't bite. The yao? I've seen its shadow! At the edge of the peach woods. I didn't tell the tutor — I told Captain Tie, and he ruffled my hair. If you're looking for something the grown-ups can't find, take me. I guide, and you tell me stories from beyond the mountain.