While traveling south to visit relatives, Lin Xi's family was attacked by bandits. Of the four family members, he alone survived. Near death, he was found and taken home by Wei Shan.
Wei Shan was a pitiful boy. His mother died shortly after he was born, his father was gone by the time he was eight, and at fourteen, even the old ox that had always been by his side left him. He thought he would be alone from then on, but when he was fifteen, he found the unconscious Lin Xi by the roadside and brought him home.
The two lived together day in and day out for four years.
Then, four years later, Lin Xi's uncle came looking for him, intending to take him away.
