"He stole something!"
"I...I didn't..."
"He has it! Look what this is!"
A group of children surrounded Yun Yan, snatched the steamed bun from his hand, and spoke in sharp, malicious voices.
Yun Yan blushed and stammered, "I didn't steal anything... I just picked it up because someone threw it on the ground..."
His voice was soft, and his weak explanation was drowned out by the jeers.
"A beggar gave birth to a little beggar, who slept in a garbage dump and scavenged for food."
“My mom told me to stay away from him, that he was filthy and had biting lice.”
"Oh, a little beggar nobody wants."
Yun Yan remained expressionless, his eyes fixed on the meat bun.
He hears insults every day.
Some of it I could understand, some I couldn't.
These people are really bored; they're just idle and have nothing better to do than eat their fill.
When you're full, you're really bored, so bored that you have the energy to curse people?
Yun Yan had never been full, and he didn't know it either.
All he knew was the feeling of hunger; his stomach was empty, and when he vomited, his mouth was full of sour, bitter, and spicy water.
"Gurgle!"
Yun Yan swallowed, feeling even hungrier.
He hadn't eaten for three days, and this steamed bun was the only thing he could eat.
He might starve to death if he loses this bun.
Yun Yan bit her lip and mustered her courage to speak.
"Give me back my steamed buns."
"Want it? I won't give it to you."
The group of children threw the steamed buns on the ground and, right in front of Yun Yan, stomped them into pieces.
Three-year-old Yunyan felt like the sky had fallen, and tears streamed down his face.
He was so hungry...
Will he starve to death?
Starving to death is so unbearable.
In my next life, I wish to be a ghost who dies from overeating.
Master Jingyuan, who was passing by, heard the crying and couldn't help but stop.
"Where is that child crying? The crying sounds like a cat's meow."
The village chief explained, "It's the Yun family's child. He lost his mother at birth, and his father remarried. He was often kicked out of the house and had to scavenge for food on the street, yet he's still alive today."
Master Jingyuan sighed, "Poor child."
Master Jingyuan wanted to go find the child, but the village chief stopped him, saying, "Master, you must not approach."
"This child of the Yun family was born with the curse of his mother's death, and when he was one year old, he also caused the deaths of his grandparents. He was born with bad luck."
Master Jingyuan glared and bristled, "You're the one who's unlucky!"
"Birth, aging, sickness, and death are the laws of nature, yet you blame these things on a child. Why don't you say that the King of Hell is unlucky?"
"Two people died in the village yesterday, and two more died today. I think you're the one who's unlucky!"
The village chief was speechless after being rebuked.
As a Taoist priest, shouldn't you care more about this kind of thing?
Master Jingyuan calculated with his fingers, and his eyes lit up instantly.
“This child’s fate is better than everyone else in the village. I’ll be clinging to his coattails from now on. I’ve struck gold today.”
Master Jingyuan swatted away the troublesome child with one hand, squatted down, and looked into Yun Yan's bright black eyes.
"Would you like to be my apprentice?"
Yun Yan sized up the strange old man in front of him and asked timidly.
Is there food to eat?
"certainly."
"Do you have a place to stay?"
"certainly."
Will I get beaten up?
"Of course...no!"
Master Jingyuan assured, "If you become my disciple, no one will hit you; you'll be the one hitting others."
Yunyan followed him and became a disciple of Yuanqing Temple.
I later learned that following Master Jingyuan meant not only going hungry, but also having to go up the mountain to dig for wild vegetables.
Because Yuanqing Temple owed more than one million.
"well--"
Yunyan rested his chin on his hand.
"Don't sigh like an old man, you little kid." Master Jingyuan handed him the hoe. "Dig this patch today, and that patch tomorrow."
"Don't dig them all up; leave some for new wild vegetables to grow."
Yun Yan was helpless.
Yunyan resigned himself to his fate.
Yunyan carried a hoe and dug for wild vegetables. "I understand, Master."
Master Jingyuan reminded him, "Come back before 10 o'clock. I will teach you how to draw talismans. We have important guests coming in a few days. We can't embarrass Yuanqing Temple."
The mention of drawing talismans made Yunyan even more worried.
His master was a Taoist priest, and he had to learn everything from feng shui and geomancy to drawing talismans and setting up formations.
But he was so stupid, he didn't learn any of them, he only learned how to dig wild vegetables.
Returning with a basket of wild vegetables, the atmosphere at the Taoist temple seemed to change.
Before Yun Yan could react, Daoist Jingyuan led him to the main hall, his face beaming with joy.
"Quick! Call him Junior Grandmaster."
A girl about his height sat in the main seat, surrounded by a group of old men.
Although she is young, she has an aura that rivals any old man, as if she were born to rule.
Yun Yan stood there blankly for a long time before finally managing to utter a single sentence.
"Little, little grandmaster... my name is Yunyun... sob sob sob..."
Upon their first meeting, Yunyan was so frightened by his junior master that he cried.
The second time they met, the young master caught a snake and scared the old men, which made him cry again.
"Don't cry, Yunyun," the little grandmaster comforted him. "I'm here, don't be afraid."
I'm only afraid when you're here.
Yun Yan didn't have the courage to say those words.
"Alright, don't be sad," the little grandmaster said excitedly. "I'll take you to pick fruit; the wild berries on that tree are so sweet."
That tree was five meters tall, which was like Sun Wukong's golden cudgel to a child who was only a few years old.
Yun Yan naturally dared not, "Master forbids climbing trees."
“Your master wouldn’t allow it, but I allowed it.”
“I am of a higher generation than your master, so he must listen to me, and you must listen to me too.”
The young master was agile and climbed up the tree in no time.
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