The Paths They Took Apart

"So, Little Tian'en, are you going to the library next?"

After receiving plenty of snacks he could eat whenever he wanted from Old Suolong, Qiansha pinched Mu Tian'en's little cheek and looked with some envy at Little Tian'en's schoolbag, which was already stuffed to bursting.

Qiansha had been craving Old Suolong's beef jerky for a long time.

It was top-grade jerky made from beef cattle specially bred at a ranch in the heart of the inland region, with Crimson Flame Fire Ox blood in their veins. Within just two hours of slaughter, a food-type Soul Master whose Martial Soul was beef jerky had stuffed and seasoned the meat, and a dedicated fire-type Soul Master had roasted it into shape.

And that jerky still wasn't in its final form.

After the jerky was made, Old Suolong, who had been the head chef of their Vast Sea City Spirit Hall Main Hall for decades, added his exclusive seasoning to finish it.

Even Old Suolong himself couldn't keep it in constant supply.

She, Qiansha, had always wanted some, but had never managed to get her hands on it.

Now, thanks to Little Tian'en, she had gotten quite a bit.

But having gained Long, she coveted Shu.

Now that she had seen more, she naturally wanted more.

Noticing the way Aunt Qiansha was looking at his schoolbag, Mu Tian'en instinctively hugged it tighter.

It contained the beef jerky Grandpa Old Suolong had given him.

A trace of hesitation appeared on his face, though.

But in the end, after struggling with himself several times, he held out the schoolbag in his arms.

"I'll share a little with you, Aunt Qiansha. Really, just a tiny bit."

Mu Tian'en had already turned his head away, not daring to look at his schoolbag at that moment.

He opened and closed his eyes, instinctively trying to turn his gaze away, afraid that the next moment he would regret offering up the beef jerky in his schoolbag.

Seeing how Mu Tian'en didn't want to give it up but was also afraid of making her sad, Qiansha held back her drool for the time being and reached out to rub his head.

"All right, I know you're good to Auntie. I won't eat any. Take it to the library with you."

As soon as he heard Qiansha's words, Mu Tian'en pulled back the hand he had held out.

Even so, he gave Qiansha a suspicious look as he did so.

As he remembered it, Aunt Qiansha had once snatched a child's lollipop. Yet now she was passing up food offered right to her mouth.

In an instant, Qiansha read a great deal from Mu Tian'en's gaze.

Irritated, she placed one hand on his schoolbag.

Her voice turned soft and faint.

"Little Tian'en, if you want Auntie to eat it so much, I wouldn't mind having a little extra."

At her deliberate, word-by-word tone, Mu Tian'en almost immediately shrank his neck, hugged his schoolbag tight, and scampered several meters away on his little legs.

He looked thoroughly frightened by Qiansha.

But the next moment, Mu Tian'en ran back to Qiansha on his short little legs and placed a tiny bit of beef jerky he had taken from his schoolbag in her hand.

"Auntie, eat~"

But before Qiansha could pinch Mu Tian'en's cheek, moved as she was, he ran off again.

This time, he didn't come back.

But~

Qiansha watched the little boy scurry toward the library on his short legs, and only then did the smile fade from her face.

"If Xiu were still here, my child would be about that big too, wouldn't they?"

The wind drowned out the woman's murmur and silently swallowed the few tears that fell from the corners of her eyes.

Qiansha looked at the beef jerky in her hand, took a deep breath, and turned toward another corner of the Spirit Hall.

It was very quiet there, a good place to rest in peace.

Elsewhere, Mu Tian'en only stopped his little legs after making sure Aunt Qiansha hadn't followed him.

"Why does Aunt Qiansha always look at me like that?"

Mu Tian'en had grown up in a village, and because he had lost his parents, he was somewhat mindful of the way others looked at him. He was particularly sensitive to the look Qiansha gave him.

But there was none of that so-called pity in Qiansha's gaze, nor the contempt of those who had once mocked him for eating without earning his keep.

Sorrow?

Longing?

Mu Tian'en didn't think he was imagining it.

But in all the time he had spent at the Spirit Hall Main Hall in Vast Sea City, he had never heard anyone tell Aunt Qiansha's story, nor was anyone willing to tell him, not even Grandpa Bohan and Grandpa Suolong, who were closest to him.

Mu Tian'en pursed his lips.

He thought he might find answers to all his questions here.

Mu Tian'en raised his head and looked at the library. It wasn't particularly large, but it was big enough to match several deacons' rooms. He took a deep breath and pushed open the door.

"Whatever books you want, find them yourself." A voice so calm it was almost indifferent rang out in the library.

Hearing the door open, an old man wearing a monocle, with meticulously groomed hair and clothes fit for a dinner party, reluctantly lifted his head from the sea of books. He glanced at the little fellow, who wasn't even as tall as the desk, and pursed his lips.

How many characters could a little child understand?

He probably couldn't even understand some of what the authors had left in these books.

One look was enough to tell that his family had made him come.

The previous few had been the same. After only a few days, they had stopped coming and gone to train with that fool Old Diusi instead.

This one probably wouldn't last long either.

Still, it was better without those little brats around. It was quiet, and only in quiet could he savor the blessings the forerunners had left in these books.

The old man had merely looked up from his busy work and cast a glance at him, failing to recognize Mu Tian'en as the child he had met only days ago, one with whom he had found things to discuss in a world where people generally pursued strength.

Mu Tian'en wasn't the least bit angry, though.

Old Master Ma was always like this. Even at mealtimes, he looked at Grandpa Yan Bohan as though he were a fool. Naturally, he would look the same way at a child like Mu Tian'en, who had only just learned a hundred or so characters yet dared to come here.

He just had to get used to it.

Scratching his head, Mu Tian'en walked into the library.

It was Mu Tian'en's first time there.

Yet from the entrance alone, Mu Tian'en could already smell an overwhelmingly strong scent of ink.

Mu Tian'en sniffed.

Oh~

There was also a faint smell of seafood.

Soon, however, Mu Tian'en reclaimed his brain from his sense of smell.

He instinctively began searching for what he wanted.

Any book with the words "Soul Power cultivation method" written on it was what Mu Tian'en needed.

But once he actually started looking, Mu Tian'en discovered that, to his small frame, this place—which an ordinary Soul Master could have browsed in an hour—was rather large.

Finding those books would take him a great deal of effort.

Besides, there were many characters he couldn't read.

For a moment, Mu Tian'en's whole face scrunched up.

Even so, Mu Tian'en didn't stop walking. He wandered slowly through the library, searching for the books he needed.

Somewhere out of Mu Tian'en's sight, the old man, whose train of thought had been interrupted somewhat by Mu Tian'en's arrival, raised his head again and watched the little boy, a flicker passing through his eyes.

In the old man's hands, something shaped like a book, but without a first or last page, was turning like a drum.