After saying that, she swayed her hips as she walked away.
The courtyard fell silent for a moment.
Mother Wang stamped her foot in anger. "That sharp-tongued woman! All she can do is make snide remarks!"
Su Mo smiled and shook his head. "It's all right, Mother Wang. Let her talk."
He truly hadn't taken it to heart.
He'd met plenty of people like her in his previous life. When you were down, they trampled on you; when you got back on your feet, they sneered at you; and when you made it big, they fawned over you.
A year from now?
Su Mo lowered his head and looked at the faintly burning character for "Dao" on the back of his hand.
A year from now, who would be slapping whose face was anyone's guess.
Just then, Su Zhaowan came out of the house, pushing her wheelchair.
Mother Wang hurried over. "Zhaowan, why did you come out? You haven't recovered yet."
Su Zhaowan smiled and shook her head. "It's all right. I've been lying down too long. I just wanted to get some fresh air."
She looked at the villagers in the courtyard, her eyes reddening. "We've been lucky to have everyone looking after us all these years. Now that Xiao Mo is leaving, we'll have to trouble you all from here on."
Mother Wang took her hand. "What do you mean, trouble? We've been neighbors for years. It's only right."
Su Mo went over and crouched in front of his mother.
Su Zhaowan reached out and stroked his head. "Once you get to the city, take good care of yourself. Don't try to save money—spend it when you need to. Write your mother a letter every month and let me know you're safe."
Su Mo nodded. "Don't worry, Mother."
Tang San stood nearby, hesitating as if he wanted to say something.
Su Zhaowan saw him and smiled. "Xiao San, come here."
Tang San walked over and respectfully greeted her. "Auntie."
Su Zhaowan took his hand. "Now that Xiao Mo is going to the city, you need to take good care of yourself too. You're classmates, so look out for each other from now on."
Tang San nodded solemnly. "Don't worry, Auntie. This disciple will take good care of his master."
Su Zhaowan froze. "Master?"
Su Mo hurriedly waved his hands. "It's nothing. He just says things like that."
Tang San looked serious. "I'm not saying it for fun. Su Mo is my master."
Su Zhaowan looked at her son, then at Tang San, and smiled. "All right. You young people can decide these things for yourselves."
The sun climbed higher.
It was time to leave.
Old Jack drove the carriage to the courtyard gate. Tang San had already loaded the luggage. There wasn't much: a few changes of clothes, a bag of dry rations, and the sack full of books that belonged to Su Mo.
Big Black Ox hopped onto the carriage and settled into a comfortable spot.
Su Mo took one last look at his mother.
Su Zhaowan sat in her wheelchair, smiling as she waved to him.
"Go on."
Su Mo drew a deep breath and climbed aboard.
The carriage started forward slowly.
The wheels creaked as they rolled over the dirt road.
The fine steed pulling the carriage turned its head in confusion.
Su Mo looked back too, watching the figure grow smaller and smaller.
She kept waving.
Only when he could no longer see her did that hand finally drop.
Su Mo turned back around without a word.
Tang San said softly beside him, "Master, don't be sad. Once you've finished your studies and come back, you'll be able to cure Auntie's illness."
Su Mo nodded.
Big Black Ox rubbed against his arm.
"Moo." (I'm here.)
Su Mo smiled and kicked Big Black Ox off the carriage.
"Old Ox, you're too heavy. Get down and pull the carriage."
Big Black Ox let out a miserable "Moo."
(How could you do this to me?)
At last, the carriage could travel normally.
It rolled farther and farther away.
Holy Soul Village dwindled behind them to a tiny black dot.
Ahead, the sunlight shone bright in the direction of Notting City.
Notting City.
In a run-down inn, Yu Xiaogang's eyes snapped open.
He gasped for breath, drenched in cold sweat. His gaze fixed on the mottled ceiling above him, confusion gradually giving way to clarity.
"I... came back?"
He slowly sat up and looked down at his hands. They were the hands of a middle-aged man, with thick knuckles and calluses from years of holding a pen.
Then he looked around: a cramped room, yellowed walls, a table missing a leg, and a hole in the window paper that let the cold wind blow inside.
Yu Xiaogang froze for three seconds.
Then memories surged over him like a tide.
Memories of his previous life.
He remembered how he had died.
Lying in bed, so old he couldn't move, with not a soul beside him.
Liu Erlong? She had left long ago.
Bibi Dong? That lofty empress had always been his regret.
There had only been Tang San.
Tang San, whom he had raised.
"Gangzi."
Tang San had visited him once before he died.
Just that once.
He had stood beside the bed, his gaze complicated, and said, "Gangzi, I've become a god."
Yu Xiaogang had trembled with excitement, wanting Tang San to take him to the Divine Realm, but all he could manage was a hoarse wheeze.
Tang San had continued, "Thank you for teaching me all these years."
Then he had turned and left.
That was it?
Yu Xiaogang had wanted to shout, to ask him: I raised you for all these years! I taught you so much! I helped you plan your Soul Rings, analyze your Martial Soul, and reach the pinnacle! And all you can say is thank you?
But he couldn't shout.
He could only lie in bed, staring at the ceiling, feeling his life ebb away, bit by bit.
There had been only one thought in his mind before he died—
I raised a god.
What about me?
What am I?
Then he died.
Yu Xiaogang sat on the bed, slowly absorbing these memories.
Then the corners of his mouth began to rise.
Higher.
And higher.
At last, he burst into laughter.
"Heaven has eyes! Heaven has eyes!"
He jumped out of bed and paced barefoot across the cold dirt floor, trembling with excitement.
"I've been reborn! I've returned to where it all began!"
In his previous life, he had been a coward all his life.
He was clearly a master of Martial Soul Theory, yet people treated him like trash.
He had clearly raised Tang San into a god, yet he himself had remained only a Soul King until the day he died.
He had clearly had two women who loved him.
Liu Erlong, passionate as fire; Bibi Dong, wielding power over the world. In the end, he hadn't kept either of them.
Why?
Because he had been too kind!
Because he had been too much of a gentleman!
This time, he wouldn't make the same mistakes again!
Yu Xiaogang stopped pacing and stared out the window, his eyes gleaming.
"Tang San, in this life, you'll still be my disciple."
"But your wrong choices in your previous life mean I won't carefully cultivate you again."
"I'll keep you under control until you take me to the Divine Realm. Then I'll kick you aside!"
"Liu Erlong... In this life, I won't run away anymore. I'll make her follow me, heart and soul."
"As for Bibi Dong..."
He narrowed his eyes, a meaningful smile tugging at his lips.
"That lofty empress—I wasn't worthy of her in my previous life. But this time, I have the memories of my previous life. I know her secrets. I know she has feelings for me."
"Once I win her over—"
"Spirit Hall will belong to me, Yu Xiaogang!"
"Women on both arms, enjoying the blessings of two beauties at once—that's the life!"
The more he thought about it, the more excited he became, pacing in circles around the room.
As he turned, his foot caught on something, and his big toe slammed straight into the bedpost.
To make matters worse, he had an ingrown toenail!
"Hss—ah!"
A pain that pierced to the bone!
He looked down.
A broken bed.
A broken room.
A broken inn.
Yu Xiaogang looked down at himself. His coarse clothes had been washed until they were faded, and his socks had two holes in them, with his big toe sticking out.
He drew a deep breath.
"No rush, no rush."
"Once Tang San gets here, everything will be fine."
He went to the table, picked up the chipped old mirror, and smiled confidently at the weathered face reflected in it.
"Yu Xiaogang, you can do this."
"You have the memories of your previous life. You know the plot inside out. You understand Tang San better than anyone."
"In this life, you're the protagonist!"
The face in the mirror smiled brightly.
Outside the window, a vendor's cries rang out.
A new day had begun.
Yu Xiaogang put down the mirror and began washing up.
He would meet his "good disciple" in the best possible condition.