The filthy little beggar was scrubbed again and again until his fair skin was finally revealed. Without the layer of mud and dust hiding it, his gaunt, emaciated face was fully exposed.
The maids washing the young beggar could not help but show pity on their faces.
Many of them had been bought as servants by wealthy households during lean years, so they had seen their share of miserable, starving people. Yet, they had never seen anyone in as horrific a state as this child. He was practically a walking skeleton, with nothing but a thin layer of skin stretched over his bones.
Taking a dry towel from a maid, the old housekeeper wrapped it around the young beggar’s dry hair and asked gently, “What is your name?”
The little beggar did not answer. He spread his five fingers and stared at them like they were some fascinating novelty, turning his hand over and over to examine it, even bringing it to his mouth to take a couple of bites now and then. When he bit himself too hard, he did not cry out. He simply bared his teeth, released his grip, and went back to playing with his remaining fingers.
Before his hair was even wiped dry, he had already tasted all five of his fingers.
Seeing this, the old housekeeper could not help but suspect that the beggar brought back by the young master might be a fool.
Yet, considering how submissively he had obeyed the young master in the main hall earlier, he did not seem like a fool either.
Though these thoughts crossed his mind, the old housekeeper did not forget to offer a stern reminder: “You will never have to live a miserable life out in the cold again. Remember, it was the young master who was kind enough to bring you home and give you a good life.”
The beggar raised his head. Though his newly cleaned face was severely emaciated, a pair of bright, watery eyes saved his appearance, giving him a touch of cuteness.
Looking into those large, misty eyes, the old housekeeper found himself unable to say the rest of his harsh words.
“There is no need for a child like you to do any heavy labor in the manor anyway. You just stay here and keep the young master company, alright?”
The beggar blinked, his crystal-clear eyes radiating an undeniable look of pure silliness.
He did not really understand what the old housekeeper was saying, but that did not stop him from using the gestures he had learned from the young master to handle him.
Watching the boy nod repeatedly like a chicken pecking at grain, the old housekeeper smiled so broadly that deep wrinkles appeared around the corners of his eyes. He patted the beggar’s head. “Alright, alright, hurry up and put on some clothes. The young master is still waiting for you to eat.”
Without knowing how much of it he actually understood, the boy’s eyes suddenly lit up. He jumped off the stool and bolted toward the door.
“Oh dear!” The old housekeeper rushed after him, swiftly catching the back collar of the beggar’s undergarment and pulling him back. “Put on your clothes first before you go!”
A wide variety of dishes, large and small, crowded the table. Cen Xianyun hovered his chopsticks left and right, completely lacking the appetite to dig in.
It was not that the food tasted bad. The young master was chronically ill, with a weak stomach and a meager appetite. The manor’s cooks had been replaced batch after batch, trying every trick in the book to make delicious dishes to encourage him to eat more. However, no matter how delicious light, mild medicinal dishes were, eating them constantly was bound to get tiring.
Over a month had passed since the day he had his “moment of clarity before death and came back to life.” He had been eating these medicinal meals for a whole month now, and just looking at them made him lose his appetite.
Seeing this, the old nanny bent down and advised, “Young Master, please eat a little at least.”
Cen Xianyun took a deep breath. Looking at the old nanny’s face full of affection and worry, he could not bring himself to refuse her outright. He could only purse his lips to buy time. “Let’s wait a bit. I will eat after the cat I picked up arrives.”
[The little kitty is here~]
The system’s cheeky voice rang in his mind. Cen Xianyun looked up just in time to see the old housekeeper leading Long Aotian into the dining hall.
Fine. Cen Xianyun picked up the chopsticks he had just set down, silently noting down another score against the system in his heart.
“Young Master,” the old nanny glanced at the child beside the housekeeper, her expression turning into one of disapproval. “How can you treat a perfectly fine child as a…”
The moment Long Aotian entered the door, he spotted the young master sitting by the dining table. The aroma of the food made his stomach rumble loudly. A stomach that had been starving for who knows how long could never be filled by just two meat buns.
He broke free from the old housekeeper’s grip with all his strength and trotted over toward the table.
There were no other children in the manor, so naturally, there were no clothes fitted for a child. The garment on the beggar was the young master’s old clothes from last year, which were far too large for him. The excessively long sleeves and pant legs caused him to stumble and totter as he ran.
“Slow down.” The old nanny frowned. Fearing the child might fall, she hurried forward to catch him.
Unexpectedly, the child was unusually agile. Taking advantage of his small, thin frame, he ducked right under her arms the moment he bent down.
Cen Xianyun watched as the newly cleaned Long Aotian cleared every obstacle and charged right in front of him. Unmoved in the slightest, Cen Xianyun raised his hand and pointed his chopsticks at Long Aotian. “Stand right there.”
Whether he did not hear clearly or simply did not understand, the boy did not stop his pace and slammed straight into Cen Xianyun’s chest.
“Cough, cough!” Cen Xianyun was hit so hard he almost spat out a mouthful of blood. The system’s gloating laughter sounded like a hundred thousand drakes singing at the top of their lungs, making Cen Xianyun’s vision go dark and his ears ring.
“Hurry up,” Cen Xianyun shouted in his mind for the system to shut up, the chopsticks in his hand having already dropped to the floor long ago. He reached out and grabbed Long Aotian, who was still frantically trying to burrow into his chest. “Get off me!”
His pale face flushed deep red. If not for his primordial spirit sustaining him, this single blow would have caused this body to draw its final breath right then and there.
The old housekeeper and the old nanny hastily rushed forward to pull the beggar away, rescuing the suffering young master.
Cen Xianyun patted his chest, taking a long while to catch his breath. When he opened his eyes, he was met with three pairs of deeply concerned eyes.
The housekeeper and nanny were naturally worried out of genuine care, but could this ungrateful cat even comprehend what worry was?
Cen Xianyun waved his hand and cleared his throat. “It’s fine. Let’s eat.”
The concern in Long Aotian’s eyes vanished completely in an instant. His eyes gleamed bright, and he turned to pounce onto the dining table.
Without grabbing a bowl or chopsticks, he used his bare hands to scoop up handfuls of food and shove them into his mouth. He stuffed his mouth so quickly that he did not even have time to swallow. His sunken cheeks puffed out from being stuffed with food, making him look rather cute in a strange way.
Having lived to such an age, how could the housekeeper and nanny have ever witnessed such a scene?
Both of them stood frozen in shock for a good while before regaining their senses. The old housekeeper immediately stepped forward to stop the beggar’s ravenous devouring. Just as he took half a step, he saw the young master wave his hand, leaving the housekeeper no choice but to stop in his tracks and step aside.
Watching Long Aotian gobble up his meal, Cen Xianyun gained a bit of an appetite himself. He unhurriedly picked at the food that had not been ruined by Long Aotian and ate it.
A person who has been starving for a long time should not suddenly binge eat.
Once he was about half-full, Cen Xianyun put down his chopsticks. Refusing to let Long Aotian continue eating, he ordered the servants to hold Long Aotian back and clear the table.
“Hiccup, hiccup!”
Having eaten far too much, Long Aotian collapsed onto a chair like a blob of mud, continuously hiccuping. The bath he had just taken was essentially wasted. Vegetable broth left mottled stains across the soft fabric, ruining the garment beyond repair.
Cen Xianyun let out a yawn, feeling increasingly regretful about why he had picked up such a huge hassle. If not for this, he would have returned to the immortal mountain long ago to sleep in peace.
The old housekeeper stepped forward and held down the child, who was struggling to roll off the chair to leave the dining hall alongside the young master. The housekeeper hurriedly asked, “Young Master, how should we arrange for this child?”
Cen Xianyun’s departing steps paused. He turned around against the light. “How should I know? Uncle Wu, just arrange it as you see fit. I’m tired. I’m going to rest first.”
“Ah,” the old housekeeper looked at the beggar covered in soup stains. After hesitating for a moment, he shook his head. “Forget it, let’s take him to get another bath first.”
As for the rest, they could figure it out after the young master woke up.
[Uncle Wu was trying to ask what Long Aotian’s name was just now, wasn’t he?]
“Yeah.” Cen Xianyun kicked off his shoes and socks, diving into the soft bed.
The fragrant scent of incense wafted from the bed, and the soft bedding swallowed up half his body like a cloud.
Compared to the immortal mountain, there were still some perks to being here.
Cultivators believed in asceticism to temper the mind. Even a supreme figure like Immortal Venerable Lingheng kept a pitifully sparse cave manor that certainly lacked such a comfortable bed.
[Why didn’t he ask anymore?]
“Why are there so many whys?” Cen Xianyun grabbed the corner of the quilt and rolled over, wrapping himself up like a silkworm cocoon. “Alright, shut up and let me sleep.”
[Sleeping again?]
The system wailed in complaint and was about to say more, but the host had already unilaterally cut off the communication channel. No matter how much it howled like a ghost in his mind, he ignored it entirely.
On the other side, the old housekeeper was facing a dilemma. There were plenty of rooms in the manor, but most were vacant and left uncleaned, making them unfit for anyone to live in right away.
Having just eaten his fill and taken another warm bath, Long Aotian was now so sleepy he could barely keep his eyes open, his small head nodding off continuously.
“Yo… ung… ma… ster,” he grabbed Uncle Wu’s hem, opening his mouth to utter babbling sounds.
Uncle Wu was somewhat surprised. The beggar had not made a single sound before, leading him to think the boy was mute. Now it appeared there was nothing wrong with his throat, he simply did not seem to know how to speak.
What a tragic fate.
The old housekeeper had no wife or children. Now that he was old, he felt extra sympathy whenever he saw young children like this.
He bent down and tilted his ear to listen carefully to the beggar’s murmurs. “What are you trying to say?”
“Ma… ster, ster!”
“He must be talking about the young master,” the old nanny said as she walked over, carrying a bowl of newly brewed, steaming medicine. “Is that right?”
Long Aotian froze, wearing an innocent and clueless expression as he nodded half-understandably.
“Then drink this, and I will take you to find the young master.”
She had already heard from Uncle Wu that this child was a beggar picked up by the young master. Having lived on an irregular diet of starving one meal and stuffing the next, eating so much so suddenly would surely wreak havoc on his stomach, which was why she had brewed a bowl of digestive medicine to bring over.
Long Aotian leaned forward. Without using his hands, he buried his head directly into the bowl, gulping down the medicine with loud slurping noises. In no time at all, he drank the foul-tasting medicine down clean.
Releasing Uncle Wu’s hem, he threw himself into the nanny’s arms without looking back, not forgetting to slur out a reminder to her: “Ye-ye!” (Grandpa!)
He still could not pronounce the three words for “Young Master” (Xiao Shao Ye), but the two syllables “Ye Ye” had already come out quite naturally.
One could only wonder what kind of expression the young master would make upon waking up, only to suddenly discover he had acquired a “grandson” who was barely a few years younger than himself.
“Come, I’ll take you to find the young master.”
Blood.
Bright red, thick, and foul-smelling blood covered both of his hands. He looked down, desperately trying to locate the wound amid the sea of red.
With so much blood spilled, it ought to be a severe injury, right?
Why was there no wound?
“Lingheng!”
Who was that?
Cen Xianyun followed the sound and looked over. The person’s face was blurred, save for a pair of eyes that were shockingly bright. The sorrow and anguish filling them caused his heart to tighten inexplicably in response.
“You aren’t Lingheng. Who are you?”
Even more blood erupted from the wound at his chest. Cen Xianyun suddenly realized that the blood on his hands was not his own, but the person’s in front of him.
“Even now, are you still unwilling to tell me your real name?”
He, or rather “Lingheng,” took half a step forward, as if wanting to say something. But seeing the other person step back, he ultimately said nothing.
“Lingheng, do you really want to…”
Sizzle!
“You can’t…”
Sizzle, sizzle!
Cen Xianyun tried hard to concentrate his mind, yet he could not hear clearly what the other person was saying. Loud static noise blocked the transmission of the voice. All he could see was the surging blood continuing to pour from the wound, staining the moon-white robes red.
“Lingheng,” the person staggered forward, whispering like a lover leaning into his ear, “Kill me, I beg you.”
“I don’t want to be…”
What?
“Can you really bear to…”
“Lingheng!”
[Host!]
The two voices overlapped. Cen Xianyun snapped his eyes open, an intense chest palpitation causing him to open his mouth wide and gasp heavily for air. It took him a long while to awaken from the bizarre dream.
The window in the room was not completely closed. A cool evening breeze swept up the thin gauze before the bed. Cen Xianyun shivered from the cold, only then realizing he had broken into a cold sweat that soaked his plain white undergarments.
[Host, are you alright?]
Cen Xianyun raised his hand to cover his eyes, letting his vision sink back into darkness.
His usually lazy mind, which preferred not to think, was now clearer than ever. He asked softly in his heart: “The Master God said this world is on the verge of collapse, right?”
[That’s right, otherwise Long Aotian wouldn’t keep dying young…]
“Why?” Cen Xianyun interrupted the system. “There are no signs of energy leakage in this world. Why is it on the verge of collapse?”
[…]
Suddenly, Cen Xianyun felt something wriggling beside his waist. Uncovering his eyes, he looked down to see a modest-sized bulge moving under the quilt.
His groggy brain was still somewhat unfocused. He stared at the wriggling bulge, falling into deep thought.
What on earth had crawled into his bed?