"That child is called Su Mo. He's a genius."
"Too bad heaven envies talent."
Inside the awakening hut in the center of Holy Soul Village.
Village chief Old Jack bent forward respectfully as he introduced Su Yuntao.
Su Yuntao was a twenty-sixth-level Battle Soul Master sent by Spirit Hall.
The moment he stepped into Holy Soul Village, he was drawn to the child who stood out from the rest.
The child was called Su Mo. He was six years old, with delicate features and an elegant air that seemed out of place in a farm child.
At that moment, he was lying on his side across the back of a sturdy black ox, his right hand behind his head and his left hand dangling a book open to a page. He slept soundly.
The most astonishing thing was the Big Black Ox.
Its eyes were narrowed as its gaze followed the words on the page, moving slowly from line to line. Now and then it even swayed its head, as if savoring their deeper meaning.
A closer look at the title revealed just two words.
Analects
"What do you mean?" Su Yuntao asked, intrigued.
Old Jack sighed, wrinkles gathering across his face. "His mother came to the village alone while she was pregnant, with a belly as big as a drum. She said she was fleeing a disaster. The following month, the night Su Mo was born, she hemorrhaged badly. She survived, but she could never stand on her legs again. That put an end to her livelihood."
Su Yuntao's brow furrowed slightly.
"All these years, she's survived on rice and grain donated by the villagers," Old Jack continued, his voice full of pity. "But his mother is a proud woman. She couldn't bear to accept charity for nothing, so she dragged her sick body around mending clothes for people."
"And the child has done us proud! Somehow, he knew all his characters by the age of three, could write stories by four, and at five started renting out books from a stall at the village entrance. It's been a huge hit. Every coin he earns goes toward medicine for his mother. Such a filial boy."
"Reading at three, writing books at four, supporting his family at five..." Su Yuntao was shaken. "Such talent! He truly is a genius!"
Unable to contain his curiosity, he walked closer.
Beside the Big Black Ox stood a little stall. Several wooden signs, neatly sorted by category, were propped up, with books laid out beneath them for display.
Su Yuntao's gaze swept over the category signs, and his breath caught.
Wuxia:
The Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils, The Return of the Condor Heroes, The Legend of the Condor Heroes, The Deer and the Cauldron, The Smiling, Proud Wanderer...
Fantasy:
Battle Through the Heavens, Martial Universe, Sword Comes...
Tales of the Strange:
Journey to the West, Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, Grass Python Hero, Female Ghost Knight...
Alternate History:
Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Water Margin, Dream of the Red Chamber...
Comics:
Armor Hero, Seer, Ultraman, Pokémon...
When Su Yuntao's gaze landed on the plain cover of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, he couldn't look away.
The pages seemed to glimmer with a faint golden light in his eyes, as if the clash of weapons and the thunder of warhorses were rising from between the lines.
His soul seemed to yearn to read the book!
"Speaking of the great trend of the realm, it divides after long unity, and unites after long division..." he murmured, reciting the opening line. His fingers trembled slightly.
"Master Su Yuntao." Old Jack's voice sounded at just the right moment. "The children are all here, and Tang San has arrived too. Do you think it's time to..."
Su Yuntao snapped back to his senses, only to realize he had been standing in front of the books for quite some time.
He swallowed, then struggled to tear his gaze away from Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
As a twenty-sixth-level Battle Soul Master from Spirit Hall, he had seen more books than he could count. Never before had he lost his composure like this.
Yet a novel written by a six-year-old had thrown him into disarray...
"Let's begin." He forced himself to turn and walked toward the Awakening Stone in the center of the hut.
At his words, several children reluctantly closed the books they had rented and excitedly lined up.
Their faces glowed with the peculiar light of having read a good book, an expression he seldom saw in other villages.
"Su Mo, stop sleeping." Old Jack went over to the ox's flank and called to him.
The Big Black Ox lifted its eyelids and glanced at Old Jack, wearing an expression of near-human exasperation. Then it gently nudged the child on its back with a horn.
Su Mo turned over but didn't wake.
Only his brows were deeply furrowed...
"Teacher Su, I like you!"
"?"
In the dream, a hurried, bashful confession rang out from a corner on the third floor of the library.
The copy of Douluo Continent in Su Mo's hands slipped rigidly to the floor.
The girl standing before him was red-faced as the evening clouds. She twisted her hands together nervously, wrinkling her dark blue school uniform.
This was Lin Xiaowu, the class's Chinese representative—the girl who always sat quietly in the front row, excelled in her studies, and was the most popular in class.
Su Mo took a deep breath, but couldn't feel the slightest bit of happiness.
He heard his teaching certificate let out a piercing shriek!
Then came a summons from the education bureau, media coverage, and explosive headlines.
"Shameless Teacher Lures Underage Beauty!"
"Where's the morality!" "Where's the bottom line!" "Where's the humanity!" "Where's the lesson plan!!!"
"I'm sorry, but I can't say yes," Su Mo said, trying to keep his voice gentle but firm.
The girl's eyes instantly reddened, but she still asked stubbornly, "Is it because I'm your student?"
"No." Su Mo shook his head gently, conflict flashing in his eyes. "It's because we have the same mother!"
Huh, huh, huh?
So the lovers were destined to become siblings?!
"Ah?!" Xiao Wu's eyes widened in shock.
"I meant the motherland!"
The air froze. Outside the window, the red flag fluttered in the wind.
"Pfft."
Xiao Wu couldn't help laughing, then quickly covered her mouth, her cheeks turning even redder.
"Teacher Su, you're always like this." She lowered her head, wiped away the tears at the corner of her eyes, and lightly tapped the floor with her toe. "I was confessing to you so seriously..."
Su Mo rested his hand on her head and gently stroked it.
Xiao Wu: (๑・́ω・̀๑) (looking up innocently)
Su Mo said solemnly, "You young people are full of vitality, in the prime of life, like the sun at eight or nine in the morning."
"My duty is to protect you as you grow straight toward the sky, not to let any wayward feelings block your light."
"Little comrade, your future shouldn't lie with me."
Xiao Wu nodded silently, her expression complicated.
Then her eyes grew resolute.
"Teacher Su, I understand."
"I'll work hard, and become someone as outstanding as you!"
"So, on the day of the college entrance exam, will you come cheer me on?"
"You're impossible to say no to." Su Mo nodded helplessly. "All right. I'll definitely be there."
Xiao Wu gave Su Mo a radiant smile, then turned and ran off.
Her footsteps were light, swallowed by the library carpet, leaving only the rustle of turning pages echoing in the quiet.
Su Mo watched her disappear down the hall and sighed softly.
He walked to the window, took a cigarette from his pocket, and placed it between his lips without lighting it.
This was a library. Smoking was forbidden.
He just needed a familiar motion to calm himself.
"Someone as outstanding as me..."
"Maybe in a few years, you'll have forgotten all about me..."
In his dream, he had lived in a world called Earth.
He had grown up in an orphanage, with limited access to education.
After running into one dead end after another, he had passed by his old school, Hope Academy, and met the elderly principal.
The principal had taken him in and made him a teacher.
The work was exhausting, and the pay wasn't high, but it was steady enough to keep him alive.
Boom!
A muffled bang interrupted his memories, followed by a sharp, acrid smell of burning!
The world around him suddenly turned orange-red.
Fire!
It was all fire!
The fire alarm blared!
Over the shouts of the crowd, someone cried:
"The library's on fire!!!"