A Scholar

Xie Huide left, weighing a few taels of loose silver in his hand.

He left the horse trader to grieve alone.

You hurried all the way toward Willow Tree Village.

You transformed your battle qi into a horse and raced at breakneck speed.

You calculated the point at which Wei Xia's family would be on the verge of starving to death and went there a month early.

That was to avoid any unforeseen mishaps.

You traveled for three to five days at a stretch before finding an inn to settle down and rest.

Along the way, you still encountered some bandits and roadside thugs blocking the road.

But with a few casual bolts of true qi, you turned those bandits, who did not even deserve to have names, into minions.

Throughout the process, your horse did not slow down in the slightest.

They caused less obstruction than speed bumps.

More than twenty days later, you arrived at Willow Tree Village.

The moment you saw the village, your heart sank.

Because Willow Tree Village this time was completely different from the third simulation.

There had been no drought at all.

The villagers of Willow Tree Village were all farming and living their ordinary lives.

Yet strangely, every other household in Willow Tree Village was perfectly normal.

Miao Jiayao's home, however, was completely empty.

The house had long since fallen into ruin and looked as though no one had lived there for ages.

"Is this simulation really so random?"

You muttered to yourself.

"But why was it only Miao Jiayao's family that had vanished? Is it targeting me?"

You suspected that the Simulation Device had set you up.

Just as you were about to find a household and ask what had happened to Miao Jiayao's family,

a familiar voice came from behind you.

"Young master, you look unfamiliar. Are you here looking for relatives?"

Your brows rose, and you turned around.

Wei Xia was standing there, smiling brightly at you, her eyes filled with friendly curiosity.

Wei Xia was twenty-eight this year.

Compared to the sorrowful face she had worn from hardship in the third simulation, Wei Xia now had a gentle complexion and a composed bearing.

Although she was still dressed in the plain clothes of an ordinary village woman,

her entire spirit was utterly different.

At a glance, she looked like someone who had never suffered much hardship.

Seeing Wei Xia like this, your eyes lit up.

You were very curious about the life she was living now.

And whether she still had anything to do with Miao Jiayao.

You chuckled and politely asked, "Miss, may I ask where Miao Jiayao's family from Willow Tree Village has gone?"

Wei Xia asked, "Are you their relative, young master? You must not have been in contact for quite some time, then?"

"Indeed, we have not been in touch for quite a while."

Wei Xia nodded gently. "Then it is no wonder. Miao Jiayao's family left Willow Tree Village more than ten years ago."

"They left? Why did they leave?" you hurriedly asked.

Miao Jiayao had actually left Willow Tree Village in this simulation, and it seemed Wei Xia no longer had any connection to him either.

That meant everything had changed. Wei Xia certainly would not go to Xuanming Temple to pray for a child two years later.

Nor would she become pregnant with Miao Liwu.

Naturally, the martial arts genius Miao Liwu would never be born.

You felt a slight pang of regret.

You had rather deep feelings for Miao Liwu.

After all, he had dropped so much equipment for you.

You had even hoped that this time, he could drop a little more for you... No, you hoped that he could safely live out a wonderful life this time.

Who would have thought that forget living out his life—he would not even be born?

You sighed inwardly. All you could do was lament that the will of Heaven was unfathomable.

Wei Xia then explained why Miao Jiayao had left.

"More than ten years ago, Miao Jiayao's family found an old woman and wanted to buy a wife from her so they could carry on the family line. But that old woman was a swindler—she took their money and disappeared!"

You were slightly surprised. This was a brand-new version you had never heard before.

Wei Xia continued softly, "Later, Miao Jiayao's parents suffered such a blow that they passed away one after another. To escape his debts, Miao Jiayao ran away and never came back."

You fell silent for a long while after hearing that.

You nodded, sighing inwardly. He still loved buying wives so much.

You looked at Wei Xia. She seemed to be living quite well now.

Just as you were about to ask in detail what kind of life Wei Xia was living these days,

an excited child's voice came from behind her.

"Mother, look! Don't I look like a great hero?"

Hearing that still-familiar voice, your eyes brightened.

Your gaze passed over Wei Xia's head and landed behind her.

A sturdy little boy of five or six stood there.

The boy clutched a long wooden stick as thick as a baby's arm.

With all his strength, he held the stick diagonally aloft in one hand, pointing it toward the sky.

His little face was flushed red from exertion, and the arm holding the stick trembled slightly.

Yet he stubbornly kept the long stick raised, waiting for Wei Xia to turn around.

When Wei Xia heard the boy's voice, the gentle smile on her face turned doting.

She turned to look at him.

The little boy gave Wei Xia a pure, radiant smile, stubbornness and determination written all over his face.

"All right, all right. Mo'er looks the most like a great hero~"

Wei Xia smiled and shook her head, then quickly walked over.

She lowered the wooden stick he had picked up from who knew where.

Wei Xia wiped the sweat from the boy's forehead. "The moment you come outside, you start playing like mad. You'll catch a chill soon!"

The boy wiped the snot on his face from his left cheek to his right with his sleeve. "Hehe, I won't, Mother!"

Looking at these two familiar people before you, you felt as though a lifetime had passed.

This little boy Wei Xia called Mo'er did not merely resemble Miao Liwu—they were exactly the same.

His mannerisms, his tone of voice, even his habit of wiping his nose were utterly identical.

You could be certain that this little boy was Miao Liwu!

Only, his name had changed this time.

You found this world far too interesting.

From the looks of it,

Wei Xia had likely married Miao Liwu's biological father in this simulation.

Otherwise, she could not possibly have given birth to Miao Liwu.

Could it be that Wei Xia had gone to Xuanming Temple to pray for a child again? That would be fucking melodramatic.

But after thinking it over again,

you felt that something was still not right.

Since Wei Xia had given birth to Miao Liwu after praying for a child at Xuanming Temple,

and now she had also given birth to Miao Liwu after joining with his biological father,

did that mean the man who sowed the seed at Xuanming Temple and Miao Liwu's current father were the same person?

Damn! What kind of plot was this?

Could Miao Liwu's biological father's usual hobby be sowing seeds at Xuanming Temple?

Good heavens, that Child-Giving Guanyin with boundless merit!

Just who the hell was this guy?

You decided that you absolutely had to meet him today.

At that moment, Wei Xia led the little boy over. "Mo'er, call him Uncle."

"Hello, Uncle!" the little boy called out crisply.

You smiled and rubbed his head. "What is your name?"

The little boy puffed out his tiny chest. "My name is Lin Mo. Because Mother hopes I'll be like Father, with ink in my belly!"

Father... with ink in his belly? He was a scholar?

You scholars really do have some tricks up your sleeves!