The Mountain Lord and Spring Mountain

Deep in Cangwu Mountain lies a remote village cut off from the world. Its finest hunter is named Zhou Yan. Like a proud “lord of the mountains,” he is silent and powerful, making his living by hunting and wearing indifference as armor. His world consists of wind, snow, beasts, and endless solitude, until one stormy night, when a half-frozen boy strays into his territory. The boy, Chunshan, comes from the gentle, balmy south. Like a lost sparrow, he arrives covered in snow and scars. He has nothing but a pair of clear eyes and nimble hands. Zhou Yan means to treat him as a passing nuisance and forget about him, but he cannot resist the pleading in those eyes or the boy’s desperate dependence on him. And so, a figure splitting firewood appears outside the hunter’s cold stone house. A bowl of steaming soup is added to the hunter’s meager meals. A ray of sunshine called “Chunshan” enters the hunter’s winter-dead life, never to leave. From “employer and hired hand” to “family relying on each other,” Zhou Yan grows accustomed to Chunshan’s cleverness and tenderness, while Chunshan comes to depend on Zhou Yan’s protection and strength. They hunt and farm together. Amid the little details of daily life, and as they face beasts and society’s prejudices, their feelings quietly grow like vines, twining their lonely hearts together. This is a story about redemption and growth.