Eternal Tale

The conversation shifted, and it said leisurely, ”Your body is too weak, just like your father. Cultivating immortality is hopeless for you, so don’t harbor too many desires. Just stay put.”

Upon hearing this, Qian Wuhen shook his head vigorously, ”Father said that immortals disappear. I’ll just follow him and farm, never yearning to become an immortal.”

After speaking, a hint of fear appeared in his eyes, undisguised and without any scheming. The environment here was too clean, devoid of any worldly filth.

”Listening to your father is the right thing to do.” Frog Daoist stood on his shoulder, arms crossed, with a hint of ancient wisdom in his eyes. ”Let’s not talk about this. Let me tell you a story.”

”Okay!”

Little Wuhen picked up the hoe and started turning the soil again, while Frog Daoist began a long-winded tale beside him. The more Little Wuhen worked, the more energetic and excited he became.

However, Frog Daoist took a second look at the hoe. The aura it emitted was that of an old item...

It knew Chen Xun’s nature well, stingy to the core. If you weren’t family, you wouldn’t even get a glimpse of these things. It was said that these were the tools they used to eat in the small boundary back in the day.

As Frog Daoist continued his story, he multitasked, his eyes narrowing as he glanced deeply in the direction of the waterfall.

After all these years, Chen Xun finally didn’t treat it and White Spirit as outsiders. As it thought about this, its eyes began to brim with pride. The position of guardian immortal beast was as good as secured!But this Little Wuhen, it was quite concerned about him, knowing he was a postnatal Dao medicine body. Going outside alone would be like walking with a great opportunity, unable to survive a day.

Yet, all the creatures in the Five Aggregates Sect knew it, all damn relatives... Even the ancient beast came to acknowledge kinship, making it very safe.

It fooled others into thinking the ancient beast was not dangerous, just a big wild animal.

As for immortals, Qian Wuhen had never seen one, believing his relatives were all like his father, mere mortals, never encountering an immortal.

Frog Daoist chatted with Little Wuhen for a long time, teaching him various nurturing techniques under the moonlit night, emphasizing the absolute prohibition of consuming blood and flesh...

Qian Wuhen looked at Frog Daoist with longing eyes. He had wanted to go down the mountain with his father to earn spirit stones to buy meat, but he didn’t expect his body to have congenital issues.

He was obedient and always listened to advice, silently giving up on eating meat. Wild vegetables and fruits were quite tasty too.

Qian Wuhen understood his father’s hardships, having been weak since childhood, yet his father raised him alone to such an age. Even Frog Daoist said his father had done right by him...

Absolutely wonderful!

Little Wuhen was deeply moved, roasting sweet potatoes by the field, giving two to his Frog Uncle, asking him to take them to his White Spirit Uncle, and saving the rest for his father.

”Ribbit~, kid, I’m leaving. I’ll come to see you another day.”

Frog Daoist held a sweet potato larger than its body, charred and steaming, calling out as it walked away, ”Learn more from your father, so you can walk the world in the future!”

”Take care, Frog Uncle~~” Qian Wuhen laughed, waving, ”I know.”

A stick of incense later, beneath the waterfall.

Chen Xun sat on a rock, eating roasted sweet potatoes, and patted Qian Wuhen on the back of his head, ”Oh, the taste is not bad, but your skills are still a bit lacking compared to your father’s.”

”Father, today Frog Uncle told me many stories.”

”Oh?” Chen Xun smiled, ”Tell your father about them.”

By the moonlit pond.

Chen Xun placed a hand on Little Wuhen’s shoulder, the latter animatedly recounting the tales to Chen Xun, making him laugh heartily. This Frog Daoist could spin a tale better than the Dao Ancestor...

Gradually, the night deepened.

Little Wuhen seemed tired, unceremoniously falling asleep on Chen Xun’s lap. He had always been a heavy sleeper since childhood, and even as he grew, it remained the same, though he slept peacefully.

Chen Xun’s voice completely faded, as he quietly watched Little Wuhen sleeping on his lap, a silent smile appearing on his face. The wind here was strong, and the waterfall was loud.

But he had grown up here since childhood, long accustomed to every sound, every plant.

Chen Xun gently took out a small quilt to cover him, no longer practicing his punches, quietly watching him sleep peacefully.

...

Two years later.

Chen Xun donned a worn-out straw hat, packed up pots and pans, and took Little Wuhen down the mountain. The latter carried quite a few things, including sweet potatoes and wild vegetables.

”Aunt Chu Zhen, I’m going down the mountain with Father!”

”Aunt Hua Qian, I can’t carry all this stuff!!”

”Uncle White Spirit, there’s enough wild vegetables, too much to eat, too much to eat...”

”Uncle Ancient Beast, you’re so big, like a mountain, hehe~~”

...

Qian Wuhen greeted everyone along the way, his expression full of excitement. Their family had so many relatives, even a small mountain path was filled with familiar faces.

Many little wild beasts also came to see them off. Qian Wuhen’s pure smile never faded, though he didn’t see Uncle Tian Yun, who was probably lost...

Qian Wuhen sighed inwardly. He actually liked Uncle Tian Yun a lot, finding his demeanor very refined. Even looking at a blade of grass together, he could speak of many profound truths.

His father couldn’t do that!

But he often got lost with him, and sometimes it was Qian Wuhen who had to bring him home, making him a very interesting uncle.

Throughout the journey, his father remained silent, seemingly not on good terms with these relatives, as they never exchanged a word. Qian Wuhen dared not ask much.

His father, when silent, had an air of authority. Though Qian Wuhen admired him, he also feared him.

He remembered when he was younger, being mischievous and running around, his father had hung him in front of their thatched house and whipped him... It had become a shadow in his heart.

And this mountain path took months to traverse...

Chen Xun took Qian Wuhen, walking and stopping, braving the elements, finally leaving the small mountain path of the Five Aggregates Sect. Of course, they hadn’t yet left the Jade Bamboo Range, but by foot, it would take decades.

Qian Wuhen was secretly excited, maintaining enthusiasm for all new things. He could look at an ancient tree for a long time, asking his father all sorts of questions.

But this time, Chen Xun was surprisingly patient, explaining every plant and tree to Qian Wuhen, making him exclaim in surprise, realizing for the first time how knowledgeable his father was!

He was definitely not just an ordinary farmer, as those relatives said.

Another two years passed, through spring and summer.

On a wide road, snow fell heavily, travelers hurried, and carriages moved quickly.

In the hazy distance, two small figures gradually approached, one tall and one short, dressed warmly, only their eyes visible, walking slowly on the snowy road.

”Father...”

”Hmm?”

”It’s a bit cold.”

”Come closer.”

”Okay.”

”Still cold?”

”Not anymore.”

The shorter figure slowly looked up, eyes filled with warmth and a smile.

Suddenly, a bone-chilling coldness swept over!

”This aura... It’s hard to resist.”

”Just a Qi cultivation phase being, yet carrying a supreme Dao medicine, flaunting it in the market!”

”We’ll take this child.”

...

Several deep, cold voices echoed in the swirling snow, filled with endless greed. A great opportunity had stumbled upon them in the wilderness!

And there was no strong presence around, absolute fortune.

These voices didn’t reach the child’s ears. He was just a mortal, without divine sense, completely unguarded, simply following his father.

Step...

The figure in the worn-out straw hat slowly halted, those exposed narrow eyes suddenly flashing coldly, speaking calmly, ”Friends, aren’t you afraid of living too long?”

The calm, amiable voice drifted in the fierce cold wind.

In that instant, countless ice crystals formed, like peerless blades, suspended in the air, casting a pale shadow, exuding an endless chill, descending slowly from the boundless heavens...

At this moment!

The pupils of those deep figures contracted violently, their previous arrogance frozen in terror.

In that split second, they felt an indescribable rupture, as if the entire world was about to be frozen, causing their souls and immortal essence to tremble.

A powerful, shocking fear enveloped them, just a calm word was enough to make their hearts tremble with fear!

As they were about to turn and flee, they realized it was too late...

Their bodies were uncontrollably sliced, watching helplessly as their flesh, primordial spirits, everything was slowly cut to pieces by the falling ice crystals, and they could do nothing!

In just a blink, a faint scent of blood lingered in the swirling snow.

The man in the worn-out straw hat took the child’s hand and continued on their way.

”Father, did something happen?”

”No, perhaps a weak beast was foraging.”

”Oh, oh.”

Their voices gradually faded in the fierce cold wind, their figures completely covered by the snow, their whereabouts unknown.

Before long.

A thick, bloody lake spread at the original spot, even the swirling snow couldn’t cover it. One of them was well-known in a small place, with the potential of a Great Ascension Venerable at the late Unity phase.

Yet, he met a tragic end on this nameless path, later devoured by a passing wild beast, leaving no trace behind.