Chapter 600: Begonia Blooms

“No, no!”

The woman was nearly in tears. How could an immortal call himself something as familiar as “aunt”?

That would shorten one's life!

She didn't even dare reach out to take the hoe.

“Ah! Did I get it wrong?”

Yu Ling Di, looking like a young teenager, scratched his head awkwardly. “Then… sister?”

“I…”

The woman's legs went weak.

Calling her sister was even worse than aunt!

Sister wouldn't do either!

“Mother, the hoe…”

The child in the woman's arms shrank back a bit.

But it was his first time seeing rain, which made him excited enough not to be shy.

Spotting the hoe in front of them, the child recognized it instantly as the one his father had made with him, and he pointed at it right away.

“Smack.”

The woman quickly slapped his hand away and changed the subject. “It's not ours.”

“Mother…”

The child tried to speak again, but the woman glanced back sternly, making him shrink his neck and stay quiet.

“Is that so?”

Yu Ling Di could tell he had scared them.

He stood the hoe upright and placed it in front of the woman without touching her.

“Then you must be from this village, right?”

“If someone lost something, they'd be worried. If they come looking, could you help me return this item to them?”

As he spoke, his eyes narrowed into a smile as bright as sunshine, which seemed to melt the woman's heart in the pouring rain and calm her fear.

“Al… alright.”

The woman agreed, hesitating as she reached out to take the hoe.

“Thank you!”

Yu Ling Di bowed again.

Then he straightened up and asked, “I came here following my senior, but I got lost on a side task and can't find him now. Have you seen this old man?”

He pulled out a beast-skin portrait from his robe, which wasn't affected by the rain at all.

The woman could see the face clearly.

It was a gaunt, almost frightening face, very thin with heavy dark circles under the eyes, topped by a crooked straw hat, and the eyes were looking sideways at something.

It was lifelike!

The woman had never seen such a realistic portrait in her life.

It felt like the person might step right out of the paper.

But searching her memory, she couldn't recall any connection to this old man.

“Ah—”

The child in her arms suddenly cried out.

A flash of memory crossed the woman's mind.

Dark circles, straw hat…

Her pupils shrank as she remembered.

Wasn't this the person Xiao Yi had mentioned earlier?

The one who had come a while ago, taken over an unoccupied thatched hut, and kept spitting out white flames that didn't burn people—an immortal?

In that instant, the child in her arms blurted out after his exclamation.

“I saw… mmph.”

The woman quickly covered his mouth.

Interactions between immortals never led to anything good.

Even if Yu Ling Di sounded perfectly nice, the woman could tell it was just smooth talk.

These two were definitely not on good terms.

If she told this one where the old man was, and he came back for revenge later, could she handle it?

But if she didn't say…

“Little brother, have you seen this old man?”

Yu Ling Di's gaze had already shifted from the woman to the child.

The woman's expression darkened. She knew she couldn't avoid it, so she let go of the child's mouth.

Sure enough, immortals, flames… getting involved was always bad news!

That damned guy had mentioned it once and never returned.

I knew it…

The woman's face turned pale, her eyes reddening.

Rainwater slid down her wet hair from her forehead, mixing with tears as it entered her eyes.

Children are the most sensitive.

He vaguely sensed something was wrong.

Seeing the big brother leaning in, Xiao Yi looked up at his mother, bit his lip, and shook his head. “I don't know him.”

“Ah?”

Yu Ling Di was stunned, then smiled. “I'm not a bad person, little brother. You don't have to be afraid of me.”

He smiled brightly, his eyes curving.

“Mother…”

The child shrank further into his mother's arms.

The woman turned the child's head away, holding him tightly, her eyes flashing with determination.

“He went that way.”

She pointed in the direction the figure had flown. “The person you're looking for flew that way just now. That's all I know. He's an immortal; we don't dare disturb him.”

“Uh…”

An immortal?

Yu Ling Di was taken aback by the term.

He started to understand why the woman had kept her distance from him, as if he were a bad person.

They weren't from the same world, and suddenly seeing something divine would naturally scare them.

He had wanted to ask for more details, but Yu Ling Di knew he couldn't push further.

“I'm sorry.”

He straightened up, stepped back two paces seriously. “I scared you. I'll leave now.”

After taking a couple of steps, he remembered something, turned back quickly, and pulled out a jade pendant.

Seeing the woman flinch in fear, he immediately thought of the hoe earlier.

“Oh, sorry, sorry, I'm really not a bad person.”

He knew she was perceptive, so he didn't beat around the bush. “I'm leaving this with you. If that person comes back for revenge or anything, just smash it.”

“It will protect you.”

He nodded firmly, thumping his chest. “I'll come right away and make sure you don't get hurt.”

The woman didn't take the jade pendant; she just held the child silently.

“Uh…”

“Then that's it.”

Yu Ling Di gave an awkward smile, not daring to approach, and held the jade pendant out in the air, stepping back to show he meant no harm.

“I'm leaving now?”

He asked, and seeing she still wasn't taking it, he added, “Keep it, for the child's sake.”

With that, he turned and hurried away.

“The jade pendant…”

The woman looked at the floating jade pendant in front of her, her expression complex.

How could she not know what this was?

Xiao Yi had one around his neck, left by his father.

From their brief encounter, she could tell the young man had no ill intent, but…

She reached out and took the jade pendant.

Glancing at the thatched hut in the distance with its roof blown off, she thought: The hut might be gone, but that old man had been there for so long and only recently caused a stir.

This was more reassuring than the sudden downpour.

The woman suddenly called out loudly, “He doesn't mean any harm either! He hasn't hurt anyone!”

“Splash!”

The running figure in the rain stopped abruptly.

The rain poured down.

Then, the person ahead waved a hand.

“Thank you, I know. He's really my senior. You two hurry back and don't catch a chill from the rain!”

The heavy rain continued…

The light rain drizzled…

Drops fell steadily…

The shower came quickly and left just as fast.

When the child twisted around in his mother's arms, the sky had cleared, and the rain on their clothes had dried without them noticing.

“Mother?”

Xiao Yi seemed to realize he had done something wrong, even his call was cautious.

Suddenly, he saw the jade pendant in his hand, glowing faintly, and his eyes lit up as he reached for it.

“Smack.”

The woman swatted his hand away, put it down, and buried it in a nearby spot.

“Mother?”

Xiao Yi didn't understand why.

This jade pendant was so pretty, even better than the one from his father. Why bury it?

“Xiao Yi, remember this.”

The woman's voice wasn't scolding; she squatted down and said gently, “We may live in a poor place,

But even if we're poor, we shouldn't lose our dignity. We don't accept charity out of pity.

Even if something seems wonderful and tempting, if it's not right to take, we won't.

This jade pendant is beautiful, right?” she asked.

“Yes, it is.”

Xiao Yi nodded vigorously, then added quickly, “But we can't take it!”

The woman was slightly surprised; her child had beaten her to the punch.

She smiled approvingly. “Yes, we can't take it. And as for that flame earlier, I don't know if you've already accepted it, but from now on, you must never show it again. Understand?”

“Yes.”

Xiao Yi nodded firmly.

“Let's go home.”

The woman picked up the hoe in one hand and took the child's hand in the other, heading back.

After a few steps, she remembered something.

“Xiao Yi, did you see where I buried the jade pendant?”

“Yes!”

The child nodded enthusiastically.

“That's a secret, okay? You have to guard it and not dig it up yourself, or the immortals won't protect us.”

“Okay!”

The child jumped with excitement at the idea of a secret. “I'll guard it well.”

“Then let's go. Mother dug up a sweet potato earlier; we'll cook it for you when we get home.”

“Yes! Sweet potato!”

“Squeak.”

The door of the thatched hut without a roof creaked open, and a figure resembling a young boy with downcast eyes stepped out.

As soon as he did, the sky darkened suddenly.

Drops of rain began to fall.

But before much fell, Yu Ling Di waved his hand, and the dark clouds dispersed completely.

He watched the two distant figures, one adult and one child, his eyes filled with an indescribable complexity.

“Did I do something wrong?”

He felt he hadn't done anything wrong.

But clearly, he must have.

Otherwise, the woman wouldn't have been so guarded, and the child wouldn't have been so cautious.

“Is this what the mortal world is like…”

Yu Ling Di murmured to himself, as if gaining some insight.

He turned back to the hut and said, “Number Thirty-Three, I think I understand why the hall master wanted me to get out more.”

“Hmm.”

A muffled voice came from inside.

The next second, Yu Ling Di stepped aside as a tall man in a black robe, bent at the waist to avoid the doorframe, walked out.

He was over two and a half meters tall, his body wrapped in the robe, but the bulging muscles were still visible.

Next to him, Yu Ling Di looked like a child, barely reaching above his waist.

“The hall master said that once you see through the mortal world, you can cut your path.”

“Then, you should be able to defeat me easily.”

The man called Number Thirty-Three spoke in a dull tone, scratching his head as he did.

“Hey, you're even scratching your head now. Looks like you've learned a lot too,” Yu Ling Di laughed.

“The hall master told me to learn more from you humans, or else my speech will sound like a toy's.”

He suddenly threw his head back and laughed, “Ha, ha, ha.”

The laughter had only three flat tones, like a machine, strangely mechanical.

“Pfft!”

Yu Ling Di burst out laughing. “Laughter isn't like that. Human laughter comes from the heart, with emotion. Yours is still too puppet-like. Keep learning!”

“Oh.”

Number Thirty-Three scratched his head again, thinking.

“Laughter?”

He touched his belly. “Pfft.”

A short, flat sound burst out, startling and abrupt.

Yu Ling Di laughed so hard he nearly doubled over. “Pfft? Ha ha ha, you're hilarious. That's not how you do it either…”

“How then?” Number Thirty-Three wanted to ask more, but his words stopped suddenly as he looked down at the door.

Yu Ling Di's pupils shrank as he looked too.

The thatched hut's door had a few dry straws.

But in the midst of their banter, the straw that had been yellow suddenly trembled and started turning green.

It even straightened up slightly, growing slowly.

“Wood element.”

Number Thirty-Three's voice was emotionless. “Above the path of cutting.”

Yu Ling Di hadn't expected to encounter such a strong opponent just entering the outer edges of the Eight Palaces.

It seemed Wu Yue's senior wasn't just talking nonsense!

Had the White Grotto situation really deteriorated this much?

The two stared at the straw for a moment, then lifted their gazes toward the village entrance.

There, a man in white approached leisurely.

The man had black hair, and his entire outfit was pure white, without a single impurity.

Even the exposed skin was as smooth and tender as a woman's.

His face was covered with three layers of white veil, tied tightly.

His white boots seemed to touch the ground, leaving footprints, but each step was suspended just a hair's breadth above, never truly making contact.

Mud, water, dust… none of it touched him.

It was as if he had stepped straight out of a pure, ethereal immortal realm.

“Who are you?”

Yu Ling Di's eyes narrowed, his expression serious.

From the moment the man entered the village, the barren ground burst with life.

Weeds and wildflowers trembled uncontrollably, growing slowly.

In the middle of the path, from a puddle, a vibrant pink-white crabapple flower broke through the soil.

Then,

“Rustle…”

A path of flowers spread out, their fragrance wafting.

The man stepped through the air, one step, two steps…

In an instant,

He stopped not far from them,

Exactly three zhang away.