"Disciple, I have some good news for you."
"What good news, Master?"
"Our Mysterious Cloud Temple has gone bust."
"..."
On the stone steps of the Mysterious Cloud Temple on Azure Cloud Mountain, a stooped old Daoist and a handsome young man stared at each other.
A long silence passed.
Jiang Tian came to his senses, his expression blank with disbelief. His voice trembled as he said, "Master, you're joking, right? Our Mysterious Cloud Temple has so much going for it. How could it go bust? Didn't an old beggar come begging yesterday and give us fifty yuan?"
"You little brat, what can fifty yuan do? And did you think I wouldn't know? Didn't you sneak down the mountain with that money last night to buy pig's trotters?"
At the mention of this, the old Daoist bristled and glared. If they still had those fifty yuan, their temple could have held out for another two days.
"Master, I'm sorry. I'll go hunting right now. I'll definitely..."
Jiang Tian gave an awkward smile and scratched his head, turning to leave as he spoke.
"Stop!"
But the old Daoist stopped him, looking at him with a solemn expression. "Tian, tell me. Have you been longing to leave the mountain?"
Seeing the old man's serious expression, Jiang Tian's heart skipped a beat. No way. Could this old man really see what I was thinking?
Indeed, he had been desperate to leave the mountain for a long time.
Jiang Tian had spent ten full years on this mountain. Apart from the old man, his only daily companions were snakes, rodents, insects, and ants. He could go six months or a year without seeing another living soul, let alone a woman.
"Well, Master, what are you saying? I'll stay by your side for the rest of your life, look after you in your old age, and give you a proper burial."
Jiang Tian scratched his head as he spoke.
At that, the old Daoist said flatly, "Go down the mountain."
"You came here when you were eighteen. Ten full years have passed now. It's time you went out and saw the world."
Ten years earlier, the old Daoist had inexplicably taken Jiang Tian up the mountain while he was on his way to school, saying that he had an innate Dao body and was a natural talent for Daoist cultivation.
Over the next ten years, the old man had subjected him to all sorts of brutal training.
Every day, he had to rise before dawn to practice, carry water, gather firewood, tend the fields, dig up medicinal herbs, and study all manner of strange things. He could only rest at midnight.
Even that so-called rest was actually cultivation, sitting in meditation and regulating his breathing to draw in qi.
Day after day, year after year.
In the first few years, he had tried to escape countless times, but the old man had caught him and beaten him mercilessly every time. Several times, he had nearly lost his life. After that, he had never dared bring up leaving the mountain again.
Yet now, out of nowhere, the old man was telling him to leave of his own accord.
"Master, are... are you serious?"
Jiang Tian thought he must have misheard and dug at his ears in disbelief.
"I'm not joking. The sect has gone bust. What are you staying here for? Do you expect me to keep feeding you?"
The old Daoist raised his brows, his beard bristling.
Realizing that he wasn't joking, Jiang Tian was overjoyed. Had the day I'd been waiting for finally come?
"Master, can I really leave the mountain?"
He asked again to make sure.
The old Daoist ignored him and merely let out a quiet sigh.
"I know you hate me. You've been cooped up in these mountains for over a decade, getting up earlier than the chickens and going to bed later than the dogs every day. But I did it all for your own good."
"You have an innate Dao body, and you started late. I couldn't stand by and watch such a promising talent go to waste..."
Jiang Tian's expression stiffened. In truth, his feelings toward his master were complicated. If not for him, he would probably have graduated from university, found a job, and started a family by now, wouldn't he?
Yet it was also this man who had taught him all these skills.
"Tian, I can't bear to see you go..."
The old Daoist suddenly spoke again, looking at Jiang Tian with reddened eyes.
Jiang Tian froze. This was the first time he had ever seen that expression on the old man's face.
"Master, there's no need to say any more. It's all in the past."
Jiang Tian shook his head.
"Go on. There's nothing much here to take, just some spiritual herbs and an old sword. If you don't mind them, take them with you. Forge your own path through life, and don't disgrace this old man, understand?"
The old man handed him a bundle.
Jiang Tian took it, dropped heavily to his knees, and kowtowed several times to the old Daoist. "Master, take care!"
With that, he turned and walked down the mountain.
Watching Jiang Tian's retreating figure, the old Daoist smiled in contentment, then slowly closed his eyes.
"Go on. Go on."
Hearing the old Daoist's murmur,
Jiang Tian held back his tears and took a few more steps. Suddenly, he turned sharply. "Master, wait for me. Once I..."
Before he could finish, however, he noticed that the old Daoist had closed his eyes and was sitting there motionless.
Alarmed, he hurried over and shook the old Daoist. "Master! Old man! What's wrong? If you want to sleep, go back inside. You'll catch a chill out here!"
But...
No matter what Jiang Tian said,
the old Daoist gave no response.
He reached out to check beneath the old man's nose and found that he was no longer breathing.
An autumn breeze swept past, and the old Daoist toppled stiffly onto the stone steps, the smile still lingering on his lips.
It was as though he really had only fallen asleep.
Jiang Tian looked at the old Daoist's body without a word and quietly buried him.
He kept vigil before the grave for a very, very long time before finally rising and saying:
"Old man, maybe I used to hate you, but I don't anymore..."
After saying this, he took out the longsword the old Daoist had left him. His entire body transformed into a streak of sword light and vanished into the sky.
Had a Daoist cultivator been there to witness it, they would surely have been astonished that anyone could fly on a sword in this age of dwindling spiritual power...
In the outskirts of Yunzhou City, Great Xia, before an unremarkable house.
This was the home Jiang Tian had never stopped thinking about for ten years, the place that held all his memories of growing up.
The single-story house before him looked dilapidated, but it was clean. Someone must have been living inside.
"I'm back. I'm finally back."
Standing outside the gate and gazing at the familiar scene, Jiang Tian felt his eyes grow wet, though he hadn't cried in a long time.
He had imagined this sight more times than he could count. Every memory of his life here had given him the resolve and motivation to endure his years on the mountain.
"Mom, Dad, little sister... are you all doing well?"
Jiang Tian forced down his excitement and pushed open the weathered gate.
He stepped through and went inside. Everything before him was just as it had been when he left.
The familiar courtyard.
The familiar old well.
And the familiar porch.
"Nothing's changed. None of it..."
Jiang Tian let out a long breath and steadied his emotions.
Just as he was about to rush happily inside and surprise his family,
a frightened scream suddenly came from within the house:
"Lame Yang, get out! Don't touch me! Get out!"
"Jiang Wan'er, just give in. Don't you still want to go to university? Just let me have you once. If you let me do it once, I'll give you ten thousand yuan for tuition. How about it?"
"You bastard! Don't touch me! Sob... get your filthy hands off me!"
Smack!
"You little bitch! You dare hit me? I tried being nice, but you threw it in my face. You asked for this!"
Hearing those voices, Jiang Tian went rigid.
That voice...
Was someone assaulting my sister?
In an instant, rage blazed through Jiang Tian, and an overwhelming murderous aura erupted from his body. He appeared outside the door as though he had teleported, kicked it open, and roared:
"You dare lay a hand on my sister? You're dead!"
Before you continue