Chapter 16 Will you catch me when I grow up?
Besides hugging, family members often kiss each other affectionately, which is what Yi Jinxiang taught him today.
After learning this, whenever I hear a voice, all I can think about is kissing the mountain god to let him know how much I love him as a member of the family.
I didn't expect that even though I was mentally prepared, I would still feel so unsettled!
Hearing the voices, she didn't dare to look closely at He Mu's reaction. She practically leaped into the blankets and wrapped herself up tightly.
I don't know if it was because of the big movement, but now that I'm hiding under the covers, every time I hear someone's voice, my heart is pounding like crazy. It feels like there's a little bird jumping around in my chest that's about to fly out.
He covered his face, his whole body burning up like a freshly roasted sweet potato, and even his breathing became somewhat disordered.
"No, calm down quickly!"
Hearing someone's voice, he patted his cheek.
Otherwise, it would be too pathetic. What kind of hero would be so unsteady, getting so shy just from kissing his own family?
Remembering his chivalrous demeanor, he quickly took a few deep breaths upon hearing the voice and composed himself.
...Oh right! Let's read a book.
Wenquxing (a mythical Chinese alchemist) says that reading can quickly calm one's mind.
Thinking of this, he heard voices and quickly jumped out of bed to light the oil lamp.
After calming her breathing, Wen Rensheng finally managed to pull her attention away from the scene of the kiss on the cheek.
He carefully opened the scroll that Yi Jinxiang had given him.
"Read, read, don't get distracted at all," Wenrensheng reminded himself.
This scroll was not difficult for Wenrensheng to read, and after Yijinxiang gave him a lesson today, Wenrensheng knew even more basic characters.
He concentrated and quickly and smoothly flipped through half of the book.
This scroll is even more interesting than a storybook; it records strange and wonderful tales unknown to the world. Wenrensheng really enjoys reading it.
But when I got to the chapter on "The Path of Ruthlessness," I began to notice how obscure and difficult the text was to understand, and my reading speed slowed down.
The very first line of this chapter, written with the sound of human voices, was somewhat incomprehensible.
He pointed to each word and slowly read aloud: "Three thousand threads of love departed back then... leaving behind a name on the Heartless Monument, by chance... a secret from heaven?"
"The Monument of Heartlessness?" Wen Rensheng tilted his head. "What is that?"
After turning a few more pages, I heard voices and finally understood.
The Monument of Heartlessness is a stone in Heaven.
It is a stone tablet standing on the mountain behind the Temple of the Old Man Under the Moon in Heaven. The inscription on the tablet lists the Dharma names of all the immortals who ascended to heaven by cultivating the Path of Ruthlessness.
Once the Dharma name is established, the kinship ties of these immortals from their past lives will be completely severed. They will be unable to respond to or express their feelings in any way, and it will be absolutely impossible for them to form any new ties with others.
"So that's how it is..."
That's so pitiful.
Wen Rensheng was still young and didn't understand anything about love and romance. He only felt that not being able to have his family was a terrible thing.
Besides, immortals live for so many years, always alone. Don't they feel lonely and miserable?
He finished reading the chapter with only a partial understanding. It was almost midnight when he heard voices and yawned as he put away the scroll.
He groped his way to his bedside in a daze and slipped into the covers.
"The Path of Ruthlessness..."
Hearing a voice, he half-opened his eyes and murmured it once.
Will he also cultivate the Path of Ruthlessness in the future?
To what extent must one be "ruthless" to qualify for ascension?
Do I need to kill a lot of people, or sever all ties with my closest family and friends?
Hearing voices, she turned to the side, rubbed her face against the soft bedding, and slowly closed her eyes.
Regardless, I don't want to be a heartless person.
Perhaps the love of mortals is like their feelings for their family; it is a process of conveying love, requiring unwavering sincerity, and the approach of one person to another's acceptance.
Hearing someone's voice means they're the type to give their heart.
He will take the initiative to get close to anyone he likes and reveal all his feelings to them.
However, he didn't have much courage; he might only have enough to try it wholeheartedly once.
*
After Yi Jinxiang took Wen Rensheng as her disciple, for some reason, even her temperament changed a lot.
In the past, she stayed in her snake pit and refused to take a single step. Now, she is willing to travel from Cangzhou, which is tens of thousands of miles away, to Fangze Mountain every day, just to help Wenrensheng give a lesson for a day.
Wen Rensheng was also very diligent. He didn't sleep in early in the morning and waited in the quiet room early. If Yi Jinxiang didn't come, he would sit obediently inside and study.
Several more months passed, and summer turned to autumn.
After school that day, after hearing people say goodbye to Yi Jinxiang, he saw the mountain god waiting for him at the mountain gate.
He was leaning against a pine tree by the broken bridge, teasing a chubby little sparrow that had perched on his hand.
Hearing the voice, she stood on the other side of the broken bridge, deliberately watching him silently, wanting to see when he would notice her.
But the mountain god is the mountain god after all, and he noticed the moment he heard a voice and looked at him.
Noticing Wenrensheng's gaze, Mu smiled and gently pushed her hand forward. The sparrow fluttered and flew towards Wenrensheng.
"grumble."
Hearing voices, he soon felt a weight on his head. The little bird folded its wings and nestled in his hair.
"It seems so," Mu teased him.
What do you mean? Does it mean he looks like this chubby little sparrow, or that his hair looks like a bird's nest?
Hearing a soft hum from a human voice, he carefully lifted the sparrow down with both hands and placed it on a stone tablet to the side.
“I have no wings,” Wenren said.
He Mu smiled and said, "That little bird without wings, how do you plan to fly over?"
Upon hearing this, Wenren kicked a small pebble at his feet and looked down at the canyon below the broken bridge.
This is where they first met. At that time, Wenrensheng was being bullied by Chen Lian. It was He Mu who threw down a sword and split the two of them, rescuing Wenrensheng.
This broken bridge also collapsed at that time.
It's still broken to this day, and no one has come to fix it. Every time I hear a human voice, someone has to carry me over.
But Yi Jinxiang had already left, and no one was there to take Wenrensheng back.
He kicked a pebble for a moment, thought for a while, then took a few steps back and made a running motion.
He will become a master of light-footed skills in the future, and this small gap is absolutely not something that can stop him today.
Besides, the mountain god is still on the other side.
Even if you fall, you'll be caught.
With this thought in mind, he took a few steps to run after hearing voices, and when he reached the edge of the cliff, he leaped up.
He Mu watched the figure jump up at the sound of someone's voice, a faint smile appearing on his face.
Just as the sound of human voices was about to fade away, he finally raised his hand and took the fledgling swallow returning to its nest into his arms.
!
"They're here!"
Hearing voices, she rushed into He Mu's arms, hugged his neck, and cheered excitedly.
"You can fly here even without wings!"
The voice was very soft, but the child had gained a little weight in the past six months. He was very comfortable to hold, like a soft dough. Mu then pressed the child down and vigorously ruffled his hair.
"You're so brave, what if you fall?"
Hearing someone say confidently, "You'll catch me."
He Mu smiled and asked, "And what about when you grow up?"
Hearing the voice, he scratched his face and thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "It's the same. You can take it when you grow up."
He felt that no matter what, he would never grow very big, and he could always hide in the embrace of the mountain god.
Besides, "growing up" is something for the future. Wen Rensheng felt that he had a lot of time left, enough for the mountain god to catch him many, many times.
He smiled without speaking. He put Wenrensheng on the ground, then squatted down to be at the same height as him.
“Sheng Sheng,” He Mu smoothed the hair at the back of his head and asked, “would you like to take a look at your spiritual root?”
Spiritual root?
Is it the half that he lost and then regained?
Upon hearing voices, he jumped up and down excitedly, exclaiming, "I want to see!"
“Hmm,” He Mu spread his hands, gesturing for him to take his hand, “Let’s go, I’ll take you to the back mountain.”
Hearing the voice, he nodded and placed his hand in Mu's palm. The moment his hand touched Mu's skin, the scenery on the ground changed.
"Ah!" Startled by the voice, she pulled her hand back. "That scared me to death!"
Although I had already witnessed the magic of the gods to shrink the earth, being suddenly transported to an unfamiliar place still made me a little scared of hearing human voices.
Fortunately, this is still within the territory of Fangze Mountain.
Hearing voices, he looked around.
The terrain behind the mountain is slightly higher. He had always lived in the temple, and this was the first time he had looked down from such a high place.
After the start of autumn, the entire mountain looked as if it had been scorched by the gentle heat of autumn, with the ground covered in a scorched yellow color, and you could almost smell the fragrance of wild fruits falling to the ground just by listening to people's voices.
It was a beautiful autumn.
He looked to the other side and saw a cold pool emitting white steam in the center of the hills behind, which looked completely out of place in the golden autumn scenery.
Hearing voices and sensing a familiar aura emanating from the depths of the icy pool, he couldn't help but leave He Mu and crouch between the two low peaks, looking down.
"The Heavenly Spiritual Root...is it down here?"
He Mu hummed in agreement and together they looked toward the cold pond upon hearing the voices.
"The natural energy is too abundant in spring and autumn, so I moved the millennia-old ice from the North here to temporarily stop it from absorbing more natural energy."
Hearing a voice, he gave a vague "oh" in understanding.
No wonder he didn't feel as much discomfort when he got close to the Heavenly Spirit Root this time.
He Mu spread out one hand and asked, "Do you want to go down and talk to it?"
Hearing the voice, he nodded and said, "I want to try."
He responded to the request of the voice, scooped up the person, stepped onto the low peak, and leaped lightly back to the cold pool.
Only when you get close to the pool and hear voices do you realize the power of this millennia-old ice.
He was already dressed lightly, and the fierce wind made him feel the cold, which cut straight to his face like icy blades. He shivered at the sound of people.
He quickly hid behind Mu and hugged his legs tightly to prevent himself from being blown away by the wind.
"Heavenly Spiritual Root... hiccup, is it really here?"
He heard someone shouting with difficulty against the wind.
He Mu stood still, raised his hand and slowly opened a barrier, blocking Wenrensheng's way.
He slowly said, "Did you sense the aura of the Heavenly Spiritual Root?"
Hearing voices, his breathing became much smoother. He clutched his chest and let out a long sigh.
After his breathing became steady, the flow of spiritual energy in his body became more and more obvious, and even his fingertips were slightly hot, as if spiritual energy was about to leak out at any time.
And for some reason, the sound of human voices even gave me a strong urge to jump directly into this freezing cold pool.
Hearing the voice, he composed himself and nodded, saying, "I sensed it."
He Mu squatted down and put his arm around Wen Rensheng's waist, leaning against him as they looked at the cold pool together.
“Soon I will send you here,” He Mu said. “You will stay here for a while, live with the Heavenly Spirit Root, and then re-accept it as a part of you.”
Hearing a voice, he slightly opened his eyes and looked at He Mu.
"But……"
"Shh," He Mu pressed his finger to Wen Rensheng's lips and said, "carefully sense the aura of the Heavenly Spiritual Root. What is it telling you?"
Hearing the voices, he was somewhat bewildered. He stared blankly at the cold pool, where white mist drifted on the still water, like countless ghosts, slowly circling around the water.
Feelings.
What did it say?
"..."
Gradually, the sound of the wind seemed to subside, and everything in the world seemed to freeze at that moment, even the mountain god became part of the background.
It seemed as if only he and those ghostly, chilling breaths remained in the world.
He quickly understood what the mountain god meant by "feelings".
The "ghost's" emotions were clinging to every inch of his skin, slowly seeping into his senses.
That's a kind of...
Cold, arrogant, and unrestrained, it didn't feel like his own personality at all.
It's more like—
"The Path of Ruthlessness..."
Hearing voices, he murmured unconsciously.
He Mu's expression changed, and he hesitated before asking, "What did you say?"
Hearing the voices, he came to his senses. Remembering Yi Jinxiang's instructions, he quickly shook his head and said, "It's nothing. I just feel that the aura of the Heavenly Spirit Root is very cold, like a stranger, and it doesn't resemble me at all."
He Mu nodded and said, "That's normal. The Heavenly Spiritual Root has been separated from you for too long and has absorbed too much external energy. It will occasionally have its own thoughts. You should communicate with it more after you go into seclusion."
Hearing a voice respond, he then tugged at He Mu's clothes and hesitated before asking, "...By the way, has the Mountain God been doing any good deeds lately? Has he accumulated a lot of merit?"
He Mu mumbled, "Hmm, more or less."
"So what did you do?"
"Killed some people."
Hearing a voice, he pressed on, "Why do you need to kill people to accumulate merit?"
Children shouldn't meddle in adults' affairs.
"Tch," Wen Rensheng scoffed, "I'm not a child."
He's about to have his birthday; he'll be a year older soon.
I wanted to inquire about the Path of Ruthlessness, but the Mountain God seemed unwilling to say too much, so I didn't press him further when I heard the voices.
He gazed at the icy pool for a moment longer, then asked one last question: "How long am I supposed to stay here?"
He Mu gazed at the bottomless, icy pool, his eyes darkening.
He said calmly, "It will probably take about five years. I will protect you until you emerge from seclusion."
Five years.
Hearing someone's voice, he counted on his fingers.
That means she was fifteen years old.
A note from the author:
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Kneading the puppy's face...
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