Carrying a Hoe to Cultivate

179 was being snowed under. He was reporting the information to his superior and had no time for Xia Yi.

Liu SiQian was expecting to give a long explanation, however, Xia Yi surprisingly believed him right away. He was thankful about it but also uneasy, he said to Xia Yi, “But I haven’t eaten anything since yesterday. I am starved. That’s why I was selling foundation establishment drinks in exchange for something to eat. The drinks are very popular in the cultivation world, I didn’t expect that they are worth nothing around here.”

Xia Yi nodded understandingly. He thought of his own experience. He felt he could relate to the loneliness the old man was feeling and started to sympathize with him, “My name is Xia Yi, I know a bit about your world. You can follow me, I will get you something to eat at my house. Elderlies can’t be starved, especially in the cultivation world. Don’t let yourself go off the deep end because of this.” Then Xia Yi brought him back home.

Liu SiQian kept explaining when he was following Xia Yi, “I have been practising inedia for many years now, I haven’t had a bite for all these times. Suddenly, out of nowhere, I felt a hotness burning my insides. I couldn’t calm my breath and I kept sweating. I thought maybe I was being hit or going off the deep end, but I checked to see that everything was normal. Later I realised that I was so hungry that I felt my stomach burning.”

“Stop talking, save your strength to walk to my place, I don’t want to carry you there.” Xia Yi had to teach him what he had learned from his experience, “And, if you are too hungry, you need a staff, a bowl also, then people will know you want to eat, that helps a little.”

Liu SiQian hurriedly agreed.

When they were home, Xia Yi immediately started a fire in the stove, threw a handful into the pot, and took out the big bowl he usually used for holding the noodles.

Liu SiQian had been standing and watching the food in the pot without blinking since the moment that Xia Yi was boiling the water. He swallowed hard and came closer. Sometimes he would touch the cupboard or move the firewood.

Xia Yi quickly said, “You can wait outside, don’t feel embarrassed, I starved in the past as well.”

The noodles were done. Xia Yi took the bowl of noodles out and placed it on the table. As soon as the bowl landed on the table, Liu SiQian eagerly grabbed the chopsticks and stuffed the noodles into his mouth without too much care about the heat. The noodles were so hot that he had to breathe in some air to cool them down while trying to swallow them. Xia Yi kept telling him to slow down on his side.

Liu SiQian began to think that his sleeves were too loose that they were brushing the bowl, so he rolled them up directly. His hair was falling down from time to time, so he straightly made a bun with his hair and a small stick found from the firewood. Now the elegance of a cultivator was nowhere to be seen.

After gulping in all the noodles and drinking the soup, with the bowl empty, Liu SiQian lied in the chair in satisfaction, “When I first arrived, I was surrounded by cornfield. Later when I tried to find the exit of this utopia, I hung around for a day near the village, I was tempted to steal a corn or two but I managed to hold on.”

He then eyed Xia Yi, “If I find the exit, I can bring you with me. You can be an apprentice in Qi Shan Sect. By that time, you will be a being in the cultivation world and no longer mortal. Although your talent is only average, you should be able to form a core in a few years if you work hard and have a spirit clearance core. This would be my repayment to your favor.”

Seeing Liu SiQian was attempting to continue speaking, Xia Yi reminded him, “You cannot cultivate here.” 

“This place is weird. There seems to be so much spiritual energy here, but the spiritual energy inside our body cannot be moved. Magic weapons do not work either.” Liu SiQian wondered, “Is this place being sealed by an immortal?”

Xia Yi could not hold it anymore, “This is not utopia, and this is not your cultivation world. “Do you know of parallel universes?” In view of the confused expression on Liu SiQian’s face, Xia Yi began to explain about parallel universes.

How did these people cultivate or reach the void with such low intelligence? He had been talking and showing him for a long while, then Liu SiQian finally understood the fact that he was in another world.

Looking at the blank expression of the old man, Xia Yi did not disturb him and considerately gave him time to digest the information.  

Then, Kirin came back from outside. It affectionately rubbed against Xia Yi’s feet after entering the yard. Xia Yi carrassed his head softly, “Hungry?” And he went into the kitchen to put some leftovers into the pot of soup, preparing food for Kirin to eat.

“This! This is a kirin?” A scream rang behind Xia Yi. Li SiQian stood up from the chair, his eyes glowing, fingers trembling, pointing at Kirin.

“Yes, he is Kirin. You’ve been here for a day and you already know him?” Xia Yi only thought that the old man was making a fuss. He poured the leftovers into Kirin’s bowl. Kirin was shaking its tail happily and dove in to eat.

“This, this is a kirin. You, you just feed him leftovers?” Liu SiQian asked in shock.

“What else if not leftovers? We don’t have dog food here.” Is this person being agitated? He did not seem sane. What’s wrong with dogs eating leftovers? Do they have to put a bowl of noodles and a pair of chopsticks on the table, sit down and eat together with them?

Kirin finished its meal, licking around its mouth in content, then he went to Xia Yi’s feet, “Go, bring me my whisk broom.” Xia Yi ordered.

Kirin shook its tail, swiftly dashed to the corner, and it jogged back with a whisk broom in its mouth.

Liu SiQian, with his hand on his chest, was watching painfully.

“179, 179 are you there? Is he sick? Come and look at him.” Xia Yi, alerted, began to summon the system.

“Host, I am busy over here. I am making patches for the bugs, take care of him.” After some time, 179’s voice echoed through, but all fell into silence again.

“Don’t act like you are hardworking. How long have I been here? And you are still making patches. I suggest all of you systems should raise your service quality. Don’t just think about the performances.” Xia Yi was pissed when he heard about this.

Li SiQian was following Kirin around, he extended his arms carefully in joy, “Kirin, this is a kirin, I am looking at a kirin.” This made Kirin angry and started to grit its teeth towards him.

Xia Yi: …What the hell, has this person not seen a dog before or is his brain malfunctioning? Or maybe all cultivators are this quirky?

When Liu SiQian seemed normal again, Xia Yi talked to him about his thoughts, “What is your plan from now on? I am not sure if you can go back, but you have to think about how you are going to live in this world. Are you going to keep selling medicines or what?”

“No, I should not stay, I have to find our leader.” Liu SiQian declined with determination, he then explained to Xia Yi after some thoughts, “The honorable immortal leader of the Qi Shan Sect, CangYi, has been wandering out there for over twenty years. The Sect has been managed by the leader before. Recently, when some of our apprentices went out to experience the world, they disappeared mysteriously without any trace. Therefore, the elder fellow apprentice of the leader has brought some elder apprentices in the Sect to find them.”

He sighed when he was talking about the matter, “Who knows all of them would vanish just like the others? Now the Sect is under my charge, if I disappear also, Qi Shan Sect will be in chaos.”

Hm? Why does this sound so familiar?

“179, come out, have you been moving the Sect leader to other worlds?” Xia Yi was calling the system.

“No, they are in their world. I don’t have any records of them travelling to other worlds. We have records about you and Liu SiQian.” System answered.

“Right, I think I have a mission about knowing the whereabouts of the sect leader, do you mean this sect leader?” Xia Yi suddenly remembered the mission he had accepted.

“Yes, Host.”

“Then we should not have to find him. We just wait til the radishes are ready for harvest.”

Liu SiQian frowned worriedly, and he sighed slowly, “I don’t know what place this is. Everyone here is normal, but you have kirins as pets.” He paused and added, “Kirins that are fed on leftovers.”

…What have leftovers ever done to you? As if you were not nearly being starved to death just now. Would you be so picky about leftovers at that time?

“But I still need to go back, the leader has disappeared and I have to find leads about his whereabouts.”

“No need to hurry. We will have leads about your people when the radishes are ready to be harvested.” Xia Yi sincerely said, “There is still half a month to go.”

“We should hope so.” Liu SiQian spoke absent-mindedly.

“It’s true. When my radishes are ready…” Xia Yi stopped talking abruptly. He saw Liu SiQian, with blank expressions in front of him, was no longer moving. The air around him started to spread in the shape of ripples. The old man was also fading away slowly.

“179, 179, is Liu SiQian going back to the cultivation world?” Xia Yi shouted for System anxiously.

“Correct. The bugs had been eliminated after applying patches to the system. Liu SiQian is now going back to his world through the crack of time.” 179 gave a long exhale and said in a light tone.

The figure of Liu SiQian was becoming blurry. It further became a few spots of light, and those lights vanished at the end.