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Hou Niao slowly walked back through the drizzle to his home in the south of the city. It was no longer the grand residence he had lived in before his father left, but an utterly ordinary little courtyard house. He had poured all his former wealth into the bottomless pit of cultivation, with little return.
For someone raised in a household like his, childhood memories offered little worth recalling. Tedious, innumerable statutes had been his sole companions as he grew up, rather than the plentiful time other children had to play, or even to study music, chess, calligraphy, painting, and the hundred schools of philosophy.
So his temperament was, in fact, somewhat obsessive. For someone raised under an education in law, this was also an inevitable result.
He had no friends. He had even thoroughly offended every connection his father had built over a lifetime, earning himself the name of an ungrateful wolf that could never be tamed.
People said the obsessive were more likely to succeed, yet he had only sunk deeper and deeper into the mire of failure.
Aside from him, the household consisted of just one old servant, Uncle Sun. It was not that he could not afford more servants, but that no one wanted an employer like him. Even going out to buy vegetables meant drawing scornful looks, being kept at a respectful distance, or even receiving a sneaky punch. What ordinary person could endure that?
Uncle Sun was an old retainer who had served his father, a man of few words. But however simple and honest he was, he had still heard something of everything that had happened at the government office today. He did not even need to make inquiries; the unfinished fireworks and firecrackers outside the gate said it all.
"Young master..."
Hou Niao waved a hand. "The Hou Household is finished. There's no doubt left. Uncle Sun, how much silver is still on the books?"
Uncle Sun's voice trembled. "Young master, just bow your head this once. Your father had so many friends when he was alive. Surely there's a chance someone will leave an opening in the net..."
Hou Niao smiled bitterly. "They're precisely the ones trampling me hardest! Why invite humiliation? The old Hou Household can't afford that disgrace!"
Uncle Sun caught his sleeve and pleaded earnestly, "Then run, young master! Go to another city, another country. With your abilities, how could you have no prospects? The most important thing is to flower and spread branches. You must leave some flesh and blood behind for the Hou Household."
Hou Niao was resolute. He took Uncle Sun's hand. "Uncle Sun, there's no escaping. Have you ever heard of anyone in this world escaping the Daoist Sect's pursuit? Never mind another country-I couldn't even get out of Fufeng City. Getting caught again would only make me a laughingstock.
"There isn't much time left. Stop fussing, Uncle Sun. We need to hurry and deal with what matters."
Old tears poured down Uncle Sun's face. He had served his old master for a lifetime, yet after just a few years with the young master, they had fallen to this state. He truly could not imagine how this young master had brought himself to such a pass.
But in one respect, father and son had the same temperament: their word was final. Once they decided something, they never changed it. What could an ignorant old servant like him do?
"...There are still over six hundred taels of silver on the household books. That's ready money. There are also some belongings and such..."
Hou Niao nodded. He had no use for it anymore. "Take two hundred taels to Sister Hua in Narrow Alley off Broad Street, as thanks for her help over the years. Keep the rest for your old age, Uncle Sun, including this house.
"I imagine no one will keep pursuing the matter after I'm gone. If you really cannot bear the harassment, Uncle Sun, sell the house and return to the countryside."
Sister Hua of Narrow Alley off Broad Street was, well, a widow. Anyone with eyes knew what sort of help she could offer. As for Hou Niao, no one was willing to marry their daughter to him, while visiting the pleasure quarters violated the law, so he could only settle for a compromise...
Uncle Sun hesitated a little. "Young master, Sister Hua gave birth to a son the year before last..."
Hou Niao turned and walked toward the study. "He isn't mine... Just do as I said. Go."
Besides comforting him, Sister Hua had, in fact, comforted others. For a mistress, someone with his temperament was far too dull, offering no enjoyment at all. He knew this perfectly well.
His personal relationships were simple: he was all alone. Perhaps this was also the ultimate destination of every ruthless official.
He entered the study. Apart from an entire wall of shelves filled with Anhe law, the only exceptions were some books on cultivation. Of course, there were no particularly precious volumes among them. With his aptitude, he could not even make sense of these commonplace works in his practice, much less more profound Daoist learning.
Sitting down at his desk, he looked back over his life, his spirits somewhat dimmed. He had already recognized the original sin behind his present outcome: he had believed that stepping onto the Dao Path would let him fulfill his grand ambitions. In truth, the Daoist Sect was just like the mortal bureaucracy. What one could accomplish depended on one's standing and strength. How could ideals alone suffice?
A book lay neatly on the desk-the Overview of the Great Dao. He had leafed through it countless times over the years. He probably would never have such an opportunity again...
Human cultivation on the Brocade Continent had begun fifteen hundred years ago, at the moment spiritual energies began to revive. Hence the present designation of year 1453 of the Brocade Calendar. In the various countries, however, people were still more accustomed to using the current dynasty's reign era. In the Anhe Kingdom, for instance, it was now the thirteenth year of Anhe's Yuanhao era, meaning the thirteenth year since Emperor Yuanhao ascended the throne.
Once spiritual energies appeared, humanity immediately entered the age of cultivation. This was a watershed: the entire continent became fundamentally different from the Brocade of old. After over a thousand years of change, the continent's present arrangement had gradually taken shape-a cultivation world unique to the Brocade Continent.
He did not understand the more profound matters, nor did he need to figure them out. His present strength might not allow him to comprehend so much anyway. To him, what mattered most were the next few steps after entering the Dao Path, rather than reaching for distant heights.
Pulse Movement, Qi Gathering, Foundation Cultivation, Grain Avoidance, Bridge Linking, Profound Connection... These were the cultivation levels within his knowledge. There were others above them, but those were beyond what he could know. As a minor unaffiliated cultivator who had never truly entered the Daoist Sect and had only succeeded in Pulse Movement through a chance convergence of circumstances, calling him a Daoist Sect disciple rather overrated him.
He was currently at the most basic introductory stage of Pulse Movement, while Wind Inspector Chongling was an expert who had reached the Bridge Linking realm, only one step away from Profound Connection. Profound Connection was an extremely important realm for cultivators, because they could fly!
It was a watershed.
Generally, cultivators like him who came from outside the established system would, if they had the chance to enter the Pulse Movement realm, seek an opportunity to join the true Daoist Sect after consolidating their cultivation. It was not as though he had never tried. Unfortunately, they would not accept him, because his aptitude was rubbish.
For a young man who had just entered the Dao Path, brimming with ambition, this was undoubtedly an immense humiliation. Thus, the Hou Household's once reasonably substantial fortune had been squandered within two short years. The estate his father had left, considered quite considerable in mortal eyes, was nothing in the cultivation world.
Hou Niao had finally understood that the Daoist Sect had reason to look down on him; they were not deliberately singling him out. In fact, eight or nine out of ten people who stumbled onto the Dao Path as he had met this same outcome.
Thus, the world had one fewer bitterly striving cultivator, but one more ruthless official.
Ask no one you meet about the Dao; thwarted, I have already forgotten words. .. You are reading the work of the great author Duo Duo, The Sword Was Originally Demonic.