"The teacher of an Immortal Emperor, here in this remote region of the Lower Realm?" Wu Tian’s brows furrowed. It is said that when one achieves enlightenment, even their pets and livestock ascend to heaven. Still, he asked, "Please tell me, where is he?"
"Why is the teacher of the Undead Martial Sovereign still here? Heh, I daren’t say." The storyteller thought for a moment before adding, "I’ll have one of my employees take you there."
He clapped his hands, and a teenage girl immediately walked out. The storyteller whispered a few words to her, and the girl looked at Wu Tian and the others with a smile. "Respected guests, I will take you there right away."
Wu Tian nodded. She led the way with his group following behind. He wasn’t in the mood to talk, but Si’er struck up a conversation with the girl and learned her name was Hua’er. She was given the name because flowers were blooming everywhere on the day of her birth. Her family members had all passed away, so she lived alone and worked part-time in the storyteller’s shop to support herself.
"Are you very familiar with this teacher of the Undead Martial Sovereign?" Wu Tian couldn’t help but ask after they had walked for a while.
"Yes, Grandfather Tian Wen lives right next door to me. Everyone in our village knows that his disciple is the Undead Martial Sovereign. He also often treats the villagers’ illnesses for free. I’ve heard he’s ten thousand years old. An old man like that truly commands respect," Hua’er said, her face full of admiration.
This was what puzzled Wu Tian. Take himself for example. On his path to becoming an Immortal Emperor, he had also known teachers and friends. After he received the Heavenly Mandate and ascended to his station, those old acquaintances and mentors had all flourished.
"I don’t know about that." At this, Hua’er’s expression suddenly grew serious. "I hope you’ll reconsider. The old grandfather gets irritated and angry whenever he hears the title ’Undead Martial Sovereign’."
"Don’t worry, I know how to handle this," Wu Tian nodded, already forming a suspicion.
They continued down a secluded alley, finally arriving at a godforsaken village where only the elderly lived, practically devoid of young people. It seemed the poverty here had driven all the youth away. Along the way, several elders greeted Hua’er, and she greeted them back in kind. In a village like this, everyone knew everyone. A common greeting was, "Have you eaten yet?"
"You see, this is Grandfather Tian Wen’s residence." Hua’er stopped in front of a dilapidated thatched cottage.
Wu Tian observed the cottage. Although it was run-down, it was quite large and had a small courtyard enclosed by a fence. It’s truly difficult to imagine the teacher of an Immortal Emperor living in such a dilapidated place, completely devoid of Spiritual Energy.
"A king once invited him to be the State Preceptor, offering him a life of luxury with the finest clothes and food, but he refused," Hua’er explained, seeming to notice their confusion.
Wu Tian nodded. There has to be more to the story. While some people are noble and principled, choosing to live in such a destitute place despite having the means to leave surely has nothing to do with integrity.
"Hua’er! Hua’er!"
Suddenly, a young man in tattered clothes, carrying buckets of water to go cook, saw Hua’er and ran over joyfully. "Hua’er, you’re finally back! Do you know how long I’ve been waiting for you?"
Hua’er asked with a look of disgust, stepping back to put some distance between them. "Waiting for me? What for?"
"Hua’er, we’re neighbors. We grew up together. Isn’t that what people call childhood sweethearts? Hua’er, I want..." The young man hesitated, then gritted his teeth and blurted out, "I want to marry you! Stop working outside and come back. A wife, kids, and a warm hearth—that’s the life for us."
"No, that’s your life, not mine," Hua’er said, shaking her head.
The poor young man gazed at Hua’er, mesmerized by her beauty. "Hua’er, why do you keep rejecting me? Don’t you know? My feelings for you have never changed?"
Hua’er shook her head and stated firmly, "I don’t like you!"
"You don’t like me? How could that be? We were so close when we were kids." The poor young man staggered as if struck, finding her rejection impossible to believe. His eyes then fell on Wu Tian, and his brow furrowed as his voice grew frenzied. "Who is he? Hua’er, tell me, who is he?!"
"Who he is has nothing to do with you," Hua’er reasoned. "I can only introduce you if he agrees. I can’t reveal anything without his permission."
"Hua’er, I get it now! I get it! You must like him! You despise the poor and chase after the rich, that’s why you look down on me!" the poor young man cried, grinding his teeth. Pointing an angry finger at Wu Tian, he yelled, "You dress better than me, and your family is richer than mine, haha, so I can’t compete. But you! I can tell just by looking at your pretty-boy face that you’re a philanderer! You can’t give Hua’er happiness, so please, just leave, will you?"
Wu Tian chuckled, speechless. To use a phrase from Earth, what the actual fuck? I only came here to find Tian Wen, but I ran into this kind of drama instead?
He sighed, shrugged, and said, "I have nothing to do with Hua’er."
"Really?" The young man frowned slightly, still unconvinced. His expression grew intense as he yelled, "Then why doesn’t Hua’er want me?!"
Hua’er bowed apologetically to Wu Tian, then turned back to the young man. "Si Lin, you’ve misunderstood. It’s not that I despise the poor and chase after the rich. I dislike you because I see no hope in you. You just want to stay in the village, thinking it’s enough to have a full belly every day. You have no goals in life. That’s not the kind of person I want. To me, you’re just a neighbor."
"What is that if not despising the poor to chase the rich? You want me to go out and work? To strive? But I’m poor! What hope could I possibly have? I might as well just be a good villager. Hah... I may be poor and incapable, but Grandfather Tian Wen isn’t! I’ll have him give me justice!"
With that, he dropped the water buckets, his face streaked with tears, and ran straight into Tian Wen’s thatched cottage.
The little one in Wu Tian’s arms shook its head and commented, "He must be almost thirty, right? A grown man, still crying! And he doesn’t even work. A man like that is truly hard to like."
Hua’er nodded in agreement, but then her expression grew worried. "Now we’re in for it."
"What’s wrong?" Qin Yuhan asked.
"Do you have any idea how much influence he has here?" Hua’er asked, a little frustrated to see Wu Tian and the others still looking so relaxed. She had met many people, but she had never seen someone like Wu Tian, whose expression remained calm no matter the situation. This time, however, the matter was serious.
"Influence in the village?" Wu Tian said. "Does he often do things for the elders? Judging by his appearance, he doesn’t seem like the type to be respectful to them."
"This is how it is," Hua’er explained. "Our village is called South Ear Village. All the young people have left to find work, leaving only Si Lin and the elders. He doesn’t go out of his way to show them respect. It’s just that the elders occasionally miss their own children and grandchildren, and with no one around for them to dote on, Si Lin has become a substitute. The elders project all the affection they have for their absent descendants onto him. If you offend him, it’s impossible to get by in this village."
Wu Tian and the others hadn’t expected the situation to be like this. The loneliness of the elderly was heartbreaking. Si Lin, on the other hand, reaped affection without any effort. He did nothing, yet received the elders’ doting love. It’s a truly frustrating state of affairs.