Further training

Su Mu felt things had gotten a little troublesome.

He still had not learned all the characters, and now the maid thought he had deceived her. She probably would not teach him anymore.

At that thought, Su Mu felt a headache coming on.

He looked around at the calligraphy rubbings and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he was back on Earth.

He had been away from Earth for a while now. If he did not return soon, he feared his body here would starve to death.

He picked up his phone, ordered some takeout, and checked whether anyone had sent him any messages.

Su Mu did have a few friends, but they rarely contacted one another. They were the sort whose friendship stayed strong without needing to keep in touch.

There were no calls on his phone, though there were a few texts, all advertisements.

Looking at the contacts on his phone, Su Mu hesitated before making a call. "Dad."

"What made you suddenly call home today?"

A steady voice came from the other end, sounding a little surprised.

Su Mu suddenly felt his eyes sting. "Nothing. Just wanted to call. How's your health these days?"

Su Mu's father used to work on a construction site. An accident had landed him straight in the hospital and nearly left him paralyzed.

Although he had recovered afterward, his health was nowhere near what it had been, and he could no longer do heavy labor.

The construction boss had paid a little compensation, and that had been the end of it.

"My health? Same as ever. You don't need to worry about that."

Hearing his son's concern, Su Mu's father grew a little hoarse.

A long silence followed.

"Take better care of yourself. Stop working all the time."

Su Mu took a deep breath and tried to persuade him.

Even at home, his father could never quite sit idle. Their home was in a village, and those who lived by the mountains lived off the mountains.

Whenever he had spare time, he would go up the mountain to do some work and earn a little money.

"While your dad can still move, every little bit I earn counts. I can't make much now, but I can still help you a little later on. You'll need a house and bride price when you get married. Your mom and I have to help you out somehow."

Despite hearing what Su Mu said, his father stuck to his own thinking.

Su Mu's eyes stung even more. "Dad, you really don't have to. If your son has what it takes, he'll get married. If not, staying a bachelor all his life is fine too. Your health isn't good now. Take care of yourself."

Su Mu had experienced that work on the mountain himself. Not only was it exhausting, but a whole day could leave his back bent under the load, and he might not even earn a hundred yuan.

But his parents were like that. Sometimes they would go even when it rained.

His father said nothing this time, but it was clear he had not taken any of it to heart.

That determination to do everything for their children had long since become something a few casual words could not sway.

Helpless, Su Mu asked about his mother.

"Where's Mom? What's she doing?"

"I'll call her over."

His father spoke, then called out to his mother in the distance.

After a while, his mother's voice came through. "Hello?"

"Mom."

Su Mu answered her.

"You called home today, huh? Have you eaten? Eat well while you're out there. It's best to cook for yourself. Food outside isn't clean. So, have you got a girlfriend yet? Are you still in touch with that girlfriend you had before?"

Hearing his voice, his mother began chattering away.

Her words were filled with concern.

In the past, Su Mu would probably have grown impatient long ago upon hearing his mother bring up girlfriends again.

But now, he listened to her earnestly, responding softly.

After talking for over ten minutes, his mother hurriedly said, "All right, let's leave it there. Phone calls cost too much."

Worried about the phone bill, she hastily hung up.

Meanwhile, on the mountain, a husband and wife stood beneath the blazing sun, their figures somewhat stooped.

"Our son sounded a little off today. Do you think something happened to him out there?"

His mother sounded puzzled as she wiped the sweat from her forehead.

"How big a problem could it be? Hurry up and get more work done so we can buy him a house sooner. Without a house, he can't even get married."

"And whose fault is that? How did you have an accident when you were just doing your job? Not only did we barely get any money from the construction site, we spent all our savings too. Otherwise, we would've bought our son a place in the county town long ago!"

Once the subject came up, his mother could not help bringing that matter up again.

They had received little money for the accident at the construction site back then. Instead, it had eaten through nearly all the family's savings, and over the years, he still needed medicine from time to time.

It was simply a bottomless pit.

Listening to her, his father's expression was unreadable on his dark face. He simply began working in silence.

Seeing him like that, his mother stopped speaking too. Quiet settled over the scene, leaving only two figures working beneath the blazing sun.

"Thank you."

At the door, Su Mu accepted his takeout, offered his habitual thanks, and closed the door again.

Only after returning to his room did Su Mu begin eating, a little at a time.

On his phone, the Foundation Establishment Group he had joined earlier had already accumulated several hundred messages.

Su Mu opened it and took a look. He found that they had an upcoming activity and were planning another round of further training.

After reading a few more messages, Su Mu understood what they meant by further training. They were actually arranging to sit cross-legged in a forest together and practice breathing.

"You've been cultivating for so long. Have you made any progress?"

Looking at the messages, Su Mu thought for a moment and sent one of his own.

He knew his own condition. The hospital could do nothing for him now, so he might as well stop going. Otherwise, registration, scans, and the like would cost a great deal of money.

"Do you believe in Foundation Establishment?"

Seeing Su Mu's message, someone asked a question instead of answering.

Su Mu raised his eyebrows slightly at the message. "Of course I do. Otherwise, I wouldn't have joined this group."

He had even been to the cultivation world. Naturally, Su Mu believed in such things.

Qingyi: "Haha, good thing you answered so directly. If you'd said you didn't believe, or given some ambiguous answer, you'd have been kicked out by now."

Shanluan: "With an answer that firm, you're one of us from now on."

Everyone in the group joked and laughed, and the atmosphere seemed extremely harmonious.

"So do you have any ways I could try cultivating?"

Looking at their messages, Su Mu quietly sent a reply.

He felt that if he could cultivate, perhaps he could change his paralyzed condition.

"Whenever you have time, come join our further training. You can give it a try."

The people in the group did not answer his question directly. They simply invited Su Mu to try it.

Perhaps some things could not be posted directly in the group chat, or perhaps they were still somewhat wary of Su Mu.

Su Mu looked down at his body and sighed.

In his condition, even leaving home was difficult, let alone heading into the mountains with them.