Carrying a Hoe to Cultivate

Looking at the bowl of mind clearance potion coming closer and closer, sadness hit Cheng Ming when he recalled the bitterness that he had tasted. As a cultivator, he was out of this world and had been adored by everyone. He had never experienced something like this, being pinned down on the bed by some mortal humans,trying to pour medicine into his mouth.

Since he had been dumped in this crappy place, he had starved, he had farmed, he even lost his powers, even his beloved honourable immortal master had forgotten about him somehow. 

Desperation filled his heart at this instant, he stopped struggling. He lied on bed with his eyes staring at the ceiling blankly, two drops of tears slid down his face from his eyes.

Seeing this, Li Zhu took the chance to go near to feed him the mind clearance potion. Xia Yi pushed the door open at this moment and entered the room, “Li Zhu, stop feeding medicine to my uncle.”

When Cheng Ming heard Xia Yi’s voice, his eyes sparkled with hope. He turned and shouted, weeping, “Help me Xia Yi!”

“Yi, you are back!” Mr. Wang was surprised, “Where have you been? Everyone has been searching for you.”

“I just went to the nearby village, buying something for Zhu. Sorry sorry, I made you all worry.” Xia Yi was talking and bowing to apologize. He had been planning to ask the silversmith of the nearby village to make a pair of rings, this should serve as a good excuse for now.

“You have to tell someone before going to buy something, look at how worried everybody is. We wanted to make your uncle tell us your whereabouts, but he is just too crazy.” Mr. Wang was scolding Xia Yi and walking out to the yard with a gong.

“Gong gong gong–we have found him–gong gong gong–everybody back, we have found him.”

Searching everywhere in the mountains with a torch in his hand, Gu Wen Zhu was distressed, his lips chapped. The night was falling deeper, as well as his heart. Yi would never go into the mountains, however, he had already looked everywhere else, he might really be in the mountains. What if he had been dragged away by some animals…

His body was beginning to quiver, his face was turning pale. He had to keep those dangerous thoughts away from his mind on his way through the woods on both sides of the road, his voice had turned hoarse due to the fact that he had been calling out constantly, “Xia Yi, Yi.”

“Stop! Stop! Silence.” A man suddenly shouted loudly, “I think I heard the gong.”

They all halted and listened close. The sounds of the gong came from somewhere far away at the bottom of the mountain.

“It’s Mr. Wang, Mr. Wang is striking the gong. They have found Yi.” Somebody shouted in excitement. He wanted to tell Gu Wen Zhu about that but found that the man had swiftly dashed down the mountain. The road was uneven and hard to walk, therefore, he sat on it and slid himself down directly. Within a while, he vanished from their visions.

Xia Yi helped Cheng Ming up. Cheng Ming was crying gratefully. And Xia Yi explained to Mr. Wang and the others, “My uncle is not too bright, but I should be the one to be blamed. I was afraid that he insisted on following me to the nearby village, so I told him that I was going to cultivate.”

“But you DID go to the cultivation world.” Cheng Ming mumbled discontentedly.

He was intending to say more but controlled himself not to when he saw Li Zhu was going to fetch the medicine.

Then, a series of rapid footfalls echoed from outside the yard. Gu Wen Zhu barged in with big footsteps, calling anxiously, “Yi.”

He pushed the door so hard that it hit the wall, producing a loud sound, and the door swung back a little. He stood at the door, staring at Xia Yi, stupefied, his chest was moving up and down along with his heavy breath. Then he came closer, stopped in front of Xia Yi, and eyed him from head to toe.

“I am fine, Zhu, sorry, I just wanted to ask the silversmith to make me something–” Without even finishing his sentence, Gu Wen Zhu grabbed him into his arms, hugging him tightly.

Gu Wen Zhu buried his face against Xia Yi’s neck, he took a deep inhale, not moving a single bit.

Mr. Wang and the others watched in shock. Only when Li Zhu pulled his arm, signaling him to exit with an expression, did Mr. Wang nodded quickly and went out together with the doctor. He looked back suddenly when they reached the door, and hauled Cheng Ming with them also. He spoke with the tone of lulling a child, “Come come come, we are bringing you to see fairies, there are a lot of them out there, by the stream.”

Cheng Ming sensed that he was going to be pulled outside, he immediately grabbed onto the door frame and reminded Xia Yi in a loud voice, “The fruits of the Heavens are ready, remember to harvest them.”

Mr. Wang and Li Zhu exchanged a look.

Seems like he needs to continue treatment.

Everyone silently went away, Li Zhu even closed the door behind him.

Xia Yi listened to the rapid thumping of Gu Wen Zhu’s heart, perceiving the smell of his sweat blended with the scent of the grass and the trees. He lifted his arms to hug him back, landing his hands on Gu Wen Zhu’s huge back.

“I was afraid that something might happen to you, I am scared.” After a long period of time, Gu Wen Zhu spoke again, slightly shivering, reflecting the fear in his heart.

“No, Zhu, nothing will happen to me, you can be well assured.” Xia Yi thought for a while, then he left Gu Wen Zhu’s hug, he cupped his face with his hands, looking straight into his eyes, “Zhu, there is something I need to tell you. I might disappear all of a sudden again, I can’t tell when it is going to happen and when I am coming back. But, don’t be afraid if that happens, don’t spread out and search for me, I will try my best to come back as soon as possible.”

“What is going on, can’t you just tell me?” There was confusion in Gu Wen Zhu’s eyes.

“Zhu, it is not that I don’t trust you, it is just that this is too surreal, I am afraid that you can’t take it. I will tell you all about it later when it’s time.” Xia Yi gazed into Gu Wen Zhu’s eyes sincerely.

“Something that I can’t take? Do you have an engagement? You are already married?” Gu Wen Zhu was growing nervous, “Maybe…you even have a child?”

Xia Yi was flabbergasted, Zhu, what have you been thinking about?

With Xia Yi not answering, Gu Wen Zhu’s nervousness increased, “If you have married, you can divorce. Now that you had fled, that man must have been bad to you. I can take it even if you have a child, your child is my child, I will raise them up properly…”

“Zhu, stop guessing, I have never married and I have no child, I don’t even have a girlfriend–I don’t even have anyone that I am seeing.” Xia Yi gave Gu Wen Zhu a kiss on the cheek, “I only have you.”

Gu Wen Zhu exhaled in relief, his expression softened, “Then tell me, I can take it no matter how ridiculous it is. Something like you were a mountain fairy who had transformed into a human to come to the village. Or you had been transferred to the cultivation world to cultivate, just like what your uncle had mentioned.”

Thinking about Xia Yi’s uncle’s crazy talk, Gu Wen Zhu could not help but laugh.

After chuckling for some time, he found that Xia Yi was not doing the same and was only looking at him emotionlessly. Hence, he slowly stopped smiling. In doubt, he started to have a bad feeling about this.

As expected, Xia Yi said calmly, “Yes, it is just like what my uncle had said, I had been transferred to the cultivation world.”

Gu Wen Zhu was stunned and could not say a word.

“What? You do not believe me?” Xia Yi side-eyed Gu Wen Zhu.

“I do, I do.” Gu Wen Zhu shook his head, finding it not right, he then nodded repeatedly with sincerity.

Xia Yi was then satisfied. He had started it anyway, so he became like a dam with a lifted gate and just poured everything out, “That single-plank bridge… those people all called me their fellow apprentice… those magical gourds hahahaha…I have been fooled a lot for my whole life, but that sheet of magical bamboo stripes really got me…”

Xia Yi gave lively descriptions about his experiences in Qi Shan, Gu Wen Zhu’s expression became increasingly frozen and shaken.

And so Xia Yi promptly ended his talk and asked, alert, “Do you think that I have gone crazy? You want to drug me as well?”

“No no, I just need some time to calm myself down.” Looking back at Xia Yi’s fierce face, Gu Wen Zhu quickly shook his head.

On their way home, Gu Wen Zhu was staggering and he almost fell a few times, but Xia Yi grabbed him immediately before he tripped himself, “If that’s so, your uncle is not mad. Both of you think that there was another world out there, and the people there were all gods?”

“Not gods, they are cultivators. But that’s close enough, if they have cultivated to a high level they will become gods.” Xia Yi clarified.

He had only told Gu Wen Zhu about Qi Shan, without mentioning about the system and his home world, he was worried about giving him too much information that he may not be able to comprehend and might go crazy.

The weight grew heavier on Gu Wen Zhu, now that he knew that Cheng Ming was not Xia Yi’s fourth uncle. He did not know what he had told Xia Yi that made Xia Yi believe in him, thinking that he was a god, as if he was jinxed.

Jinxed? I remember there was this cult called the Fang Xian Dao some years ago, they told people that they were gods, deceiving those who believed in them in order to get money from them. Is this Cheng Ming from that Fang Xian Dao?