Carrying a Hoe to Cultivate

Actually, deep down inside, Gu Wen Zhu already believed Jie Shang a little. This was because of the flashbacks he had been having since he met this guy. In these flashbacks, Jie Shang was staring at him gently and he could feel himself feeling calm and pleasant.

Leave alone the fact that Jie Shang, without any hesitation, pointed out that mark behind his ear and said that it was a soul protection mark.

Father Gu panicked. He could only give him the medicine from the doctor of the village and used a handkerchief to clean his body time after time. When his mind was wandering between reality and a coma, he felt his body becoming lighter as if it had no mass, and it floated upwards along the flow of the air.

He could even float and look at his own body, looking at himself lying in bed with closed eyes in silence.

Father Gu was dipping the handkerchief in water with a concerned face, and he used it to rub his back. When he was about to float outside the window with the wind, he looked at his body to see that blue birthmark behind his ear slightly glowing and showing an unfamiliar pattern. Then he felt a strong sucking force and he was in his own body again.

Perhaps, this was the power of that soul protection mark that Jie Shang was mentioning, and it was protecting his soul which was about to leave? Gu Wen Zhu was deeply puzzled and confused. He could not tell what kind of feelings he was having at the moment.

He had been told by a stranger, out of the blue, that the parents who had been loving him were not his biological parents, and this stranger guy here was his father. Anyone could feel hard to accept.

Xia Yi was shocked as well but did not show that on his face. He stared at Jie Shang in front of him calmly, holding Gu Wen Zhu’s hand tightly, and felt Gu Wen Zhu’s hand cold and wet.

In his mind, the system was screaming, “Host. So Gu Wen Zhu is not from the farming world. He has his biological parents on this side. Then what is with his parents on the other side? Host. You are the wife of the son of the demonic world. Host. I am having a terrible hunch that Ciang Yi–”

“Shut up.” Xia Yi interrupted 179 fiercely, “You say anything again then I will file a complaint about you.”

Jie Shang was staring at Gu Wen Zhu intently, he was eager to prove that he was Ze Yuan, “Years ago, I was hurt by the Elders of the demonic world and went to cultivate alone. When I received the information of you going to Mount Yu Lu, I forcefully left the cultivation space but it was all too late…”

“Ze Yuan, you are indeed Jie Shang’s son.” Ciang Yi’s voice rang beside him.  He breathed in deeply as if he had made some kind of decision, “And I am your biological father.”

With this, everyone around went dead silent.

One of the apprentices had his sword slip out from his grip and the sword hit the ground with clanging sounds. That sound was so piercing in that space. No one could recover from the shock quickly enough. All of them still had their jaws dropped.

Only 179 was screaming inside Xia Yi’s head excitedly, “I called that, right? You see I was right, yes? And you told me to shut up.”

Xia Yi was holding Gu Wen Zhu’s hand. It was shakening to him but his face was still calm.

“The cultivation world and the demonic world had been opposite to each other. I was bound by the rules and had been following them too strictly, making me ignore you two for all these years.” Ciang Yi’s voice was slightly hoarse. Everyone in the open space could hear him, loud and clear. “As for myself, there is not one moment that I was not thinking of you. There was not one moment that I was not tortured by guilt. I never had a day where I could live freely. For all these years my cultivation space, I finally had figured some of these out–”

Xia Yi found that although Ciang Yi’s lips were moving, his expression was calm. And there was no sound transmitted into his ears. It was as if he was seeing a pantomime.

What had you figured out? Huh? Just say it. Don’t just go silent. No, it doesn’t feel right. It’s not that he did not speak. They were transmigrating!

Xia Yi immediately looked around him. He was right. The air was moving and the surroundings started to ripple just like a pool of water.

“179. I think we are transmigrating again!”

“Correct. Host. Quick. Wave at your mother-in-law and father-in-law. Say goodbye.”

Gu Wen Zhu sensed the weirdness as well, but he could not say a thing and his body could not move. He could only watch Jie Shang and Ciang Yi grow more terrified and tried to grab him with extended arms but failed.

The other kirin,  Big Black, who was lying on the ground, stood up immediately and growled this way with a hint of anxiety. Gu Wen Zhu tried to be calm and grabbed Xia Yi’s hand. After a whole lot of the world turning upside down, they were already in the swirl of time.

When things calmed down, Xia Yi heard a few dog barks and opened his eyes. Seeing that big red Chinese word “Xi” sticking onto the window and the candles which had burnt off, and the other few pieces of furniture made by Gu Wen Zhu, he exhaled in relief.

So they were home.

Kirin had turned back into a dog and was searching anxiously around. It was as if thinking why the surroundings had changed and did not know why Big Black, its father, was gone. Gu Wen Zhu was standing, stupefied, still holding onto Xia Yi’s hand, his face frozen. Obviously, he had not recovered from the situation that happened just now.

Xia Yi called, “Zhu.”

Then his mind suddenly came back to reality. He looked around, then he faced Xia Yi to show a flabbergasted face, “We are back?”

Xia Yi nodded. Scanning around the scene, it was still the way it was on their wedding night. The only thing that was different was that there was a layer of dust.

“Yi. I, and them.” Gu Wen Zhu looked at Xia Yi, wanting to speak but not what to say first.

“It should be dark in no time. I shall prepare you dinner.” After dazed for a while, Gu Wen Zhu recovered and went outside quickly and headed towards the kitchen. Xia Yi knew that he needed to be alone to clear up things in his mind, and so he did not follow.

Seeing Gu Wen Zhu’s figure entering the kitchen, he crouched and rubbed Kirin’s head. He said gently, “My good son. We will live past this. And we will see your dog father again. I am actually only your adoptive father. The other one just now was your real father. Right?”

Kirin did not respond. It only licked Xia Yi’s hand, then fell silent, and became less irritated.

After some time, dinner was ready. The two sat down, facing each other, and said nothing.

Xia Yi always peeked at Gu Wen Zhu to see his face calm as if nothing happened. It might be because of the fact that he had been peeking for too many times, Gu Wen Zhu used the chopsticks to clang his bowl, “Eat.”

Xia Yi could not hold up anymore and put down his bowl and chopsticks, “Zhu. What is on your mind?”

Gu Wen Zhu was eating the rice in his bowl in big mouthfuls, not saying anything.

Just when Xia Yi thought he was not answering him, Gu Wen Zhu swallowed the content in his mouth and said suddenly, “I did not know them. My parents are Gu Da Shi and Li Xiu Er.” Then he carried a piece of tofu with his chopsticks and placed it into Xia Yi’s bowl, “Eat. Don’t think.”

Xia Yi nodded and picked up his bowl and chopsticks once again, eating mouthfuls of food.

At this moment, there was a squeak from the front door. Someone pushed the door open and peeked in.

In view of the two of them having dinner, Qi Zhou went in and said in relief, “It’s good that you are back. Where have you been vanishing all these days? Were you at Qi Shan?”

“Mr. Wang has been asking me about you everyday. So I just told him that you two were at Xia’s home. He was making me so nervous. If you come back any later, I don’t know what to tell the villagers.” Qi Zhou complained.

“Old Meng went back?” Xia Yi asked.

“Yes. He just turned into light spots then he was gone.” Qi Zhou stood in the yard, looking clueless of what to do. “I saw him vanish. So I thought you might be back and come here to check it out. It’s good that you are back.”

Xia Yi saw him looking lost so he comforted him, “Don’t worry. You will be transferred back in no time.” Xia Yi asked, “Have you eaten?” 

Meng Wan Zi was back. Qi Zhou, a cultivator who never cooked, could easily starve to death. Let’s let him eat here from now on.

“I have eaten.” Qi Zhou answered absentmindedly, “Gu Bei Cheng made a meal for me.”

Xia Yi nodded. It was fine as soon as he did not starve to death.

At night, Xia Yi lay silently beside Gu Wen Zhu, his face leaning on his chest, listening to that heart pounding strongly. No one spoke. After a while, Gu Wen Zhu started talking. His voice was low, sounding like it was from his chest, “When I was small, we were poor. I could only watch the kids in the village eating malt syrup. And I did not dare to ask my father for it. My stepmother was not well in health either. We used all the money to buy food and medicines for her. So one day I went home, and my father pulled out a piece of candy and gave it to me. I can still remember what it tasted like. It was especially sweet. I let my father taste it, he wouldn’t have it. Then I gave it to my stepmother, she shook her head.”

He stopped all of a sudden. Then he breathed in deeply for a few times. He turned his head to face the other side and stared through the windows into the darkness. All those beautiful things that happened in the past, when coming out from his mouth, it sounded like a bad story.

A moment later, he soothed himself and spoke calmly, “They would never have left me, except when death departed us. Gu Da Shi and Li Siu Er are my actual parents. I don’t have other parents.”

Xia Yi, eyes closed, leaned on his chest without moving. He waited, then he stretched out his arm to touch Gu Wen Zhu’s face.

His fingers were soft and warm. He used them to rub lightly around that deep and sharp outline, carefully and affectionately. Gu Wen Zhu tilted his head and let his face touch that soft palm closely. He felt a little confused, a little bitter, or maybe he was afraid of something else.

On the next day, when Xia Yi woke up, he found that it was already noon. Gu Wen Zhu had already gone to the farmlands, leaving him some steaming meat porridge and buns.

“179. How come you didn’t wake me up? I had been sleeping for so long.” Xia Yi was troubled.

179 quickly defended himself, “I have called you many times. I played symphonies in your mind but there was no response from you. Host. You can really sleep.”

“Oh right? Then sorry, I may not be well lately and need some more training.” Xia Yi, porridge in one hand and bun in the other, took in mouthfuls of food and listened to 179’s new missions.

“Host. Those lettuce matured on your wedding day and your mission is complete. After all these days, you should take on new missions and farm.”

Xia Yi sipped some porridge, “Quickly announce it. Don’t interrupt my meal. I need to collect the lettuce after this.”

“Please accept the mission. Host.

Mission: Rescuing Qi Shan Sect’s leader and all the apprentices.

Completion 0/1

Award–”

While the system was announcing the award, the sound suddenly stopped as if the computer was tripping.

“179?” Waiting for some time, seeing that the system was not responding, Xia Yi began to have doubts, “179. Are you here or not?”

A moment later, the robot voice of the system echoed, “I am here.”

“What just happened? Your voice got cut off?” Xia Yi asked.

“Nothing.” 179 faltered out the word.

“What really happened?” With System sounding like that, Xia Yi became alerted, “No. Is there something wrong with that award?”

179’s voice was unsteady, “Nothing of that sort. Host. You are thinking too much.”

“Then tell me about it. What’s that award?”

“So, award. It would be a normal big gift pack, with some cores inside, nothing special, everything’s the same.” 179’s voice became normal again.

“Is that so?” Xia Yi’s voice sounded doubtful.

“Yes.” 179’s voice sounded serious.

Alright. This system is rubbish, but he never lies. With Xia Yi not asking anymore, 179 sighed in relief.

“Then tell me what’s with the new mission.”

“Whatever. You can plant whatever you like.” 179 was absent minded.

“What ever I like?” Xia Yi was shocked.

It was the very first time 179 was irresponsible about his job and did not even give instructions for it.

“179. Then I want marshmallows?” Xia Yi tested him.

“Okay.” 

“179. I want to plant some ice cream? Plant some sun?” Xia Yi continued to ask.

“You can.”

“Have you been listening to me?” Xia Yi could not help but yell at the system to wake him up.

You are not instructing me to do the mission and just let me plant whatever. However, ‘whatever’ is a thing too hard to plant.

“Okay. Carrots.”

After the meal, Xia Yi picked up the hoe and walked towards the land. He greeted the villagers on his way.

“Yi. You are back from your home.”

“We haven’t been seeing you and Gu Wen Zhu and we knew that you left at midnight. We were worried that you might have been taken by the monsters and fairies from the mountains. Ha ha.”

…Home.

Alright.

Home it is.

When he arrived at the land, Xia Yi breathed in the fresh air deeply.

This smell of wet soil and fresh vegetables was so familiar. He simply wanted to dig the soil for three days straight.

It feels good.