Chapter 1354: Shi Wuyou · Forge Ahead (Part 1)
"Dad!"
In the dark cave, a small body crouched on the ground, curling up and murmuring softly. His tears had long since dried up, for there were no more to shed.
After an indeterminate amount of time had passed, when the clamor from outside finally ceased, the small body managed to stand, but stumbled and fell due to having been crouched for too long.
As he ate the food left by his father, he used his hands to dig through the soil. Although he was only five years old, he had already started learning martial arts from his Uncle Sorcerer Lord a month earlier, and had now reached the Third Tier of the Hidden Qi Realm.
Several days later, the boy emerged from the cave, covered in filth and with his face barely discernible, except for his bright eyes that shone with unwavering determination.
Looking at the devastation in his view, his nose tingled.
Had his father not come to fetch him because he had encountered some disaster? Could that man, worshipped by the world of East Victory, really be dead?
First it was Grandma, then Dad, and Grandpa, whose life or death was unknown. Shi Wuyou, at such a young age, had lost his closest kin one after another and nearly lost the strength to keep traveling.
But remembering his father’s words and the expectations he had for him at the time of his departure, Shi Wuyou mustered up his spirit again.
"Mom needs my protection, Nine Heavens Mountain needs my protection; I cannot let Dad down!"
Hatred and grief often crush a person, but they can also cause someone to unleash unprecedented potential. Shi Wuyou was the latter.
At the age of five, it seemed as if he shattered his fear of the unknown at that moment, setting out alone on a journey to the Nine Heavens Mountain, far across a thousand mountains and rivers.
Several days later, he became a complete beggar, for lack of money to buy food, he had to use his limited cultivation to pick wild fruits in the outskirts or catch fish in the streams to roast. Sometimes as he passed through villages, a kind-hearted woman might give him a steamed bun, and he would thank her profusely.
During those lonely, cold nights and journeys through towns, Shi Wuyou learned many survival skills.
Without the protection of kin at such a young age, he had seen much sorrow and joy, encountered much cunning and deceit, and had been fooled many times. On one dangerous occasion, he almost got captured by a group of highly skilled human traffickers who wanted to harvest his organs.
But with increasing survival wisdom, Shi Wuyou always managed to escape from predicaments with a cool head.
"Dad, you didn’t leave me anything. Are you trying to temper me this way?"
Three months later, Shi Wuyou made it to the central region of the South Sea continent.
On an official road, a carriage suddenly stopped.
"Little guy, where’s your family?"
Out of the carriage stepped a man with a mustache and shifty, triangular eyes.
In almost an instant, Shi Wuyou’s gaze became vacant, and he continued walking forward as if he were an imbecile. Experience taught him that when facing an opponent who overpowers him, he must first feign weakness to lower the guard of his adversary.
Having learned the art of concealment from his Uncle Sorcerer Lord, unless faced with a Supreme Lord, he would appear as a harmless child to anyone else.
Using this tactic, Shi Wuyou had avoided many disasters.
"This physique is truly unparalleled; haha, if I offer up this little fellow, I’ll surely be handsomely rewarded by the Assembly Master. Fortune has smiled upon me!"
As a Master of the Three Talents Association, Mi Kaiyuan’s cultivation had reached the Eighth Tier of the Dragon Gate Realm. Subduing a foolish child was as easy as pie for him. Without a second thought, he grabbed Shi Wuyou and returned to the carriage.
In the following days, Mi Kaiyuan didn’t use soul-searching techniques. If he had to exert his full power to overpower a five- or six-year-old child, he would rather quit.
So he enticed him with benefits, made many indirect inquiries, and even purposely created unexpected scares, but Shi Wuyou forever maintained his foolish appearance.
Even when Mi Kaiyuan presented a defanged cobra in front of Shi Wuyou, the precocious child still managed to remain unfazed.
"What a fool, a waste of such a physique. However, he’s even more suitable to be trained as a death soldier."
Mi Kaiyuan completely underestimated Shi Wuyou, merely taking care of his needs and even hiring a woman to clean him and change him into new clothes.
"Wow, such a pretty little brother!"
"So cute, just like a porcelain doll!"
As the carriage made its way through the market, an occasional gust of wind would lift the curtain, and Shi Wuyou would always draw a round of gasps from passersby.
Yet, his heart was filled with impatience. He couldn’t defeat Mi Kaiyuan, even if he multiplied himself a hundred times. If he were truly taken to the headquarters of the Three Talents Association, he wouldn’t stand a chance of escaping.
Then one day—
The carriage was stopped by someone. Shi Wuyou was surprised to see a look of panic on Mi Kaiyuan’s face as he darted out of the carriage and started talking with the people outside.
Listening to their conversation, the other was also a Master of the Three Talents Association and his status was no less than Mi Kaiyuan’s.
Shi Wuyou remained exceedingly calm, and by listening to the content and tone of their exchange, he quickly judged that the two were not close.
With that in mind, he decided to take a risk.
Shi Wuyou took the initiative and jumped out of the carriage.
"Eh, this kid has such high potential!"
Zhao Qian’s eyes narrowed sharply as if a miser had seen untold treasure, his face revealing extreme greed.
On the contrary, Mi Kaiyuan was internally frantic with regret. He should have locked the fool in the carriage earlier on and not become careless.
Whoosh!
An assassin’s dart flew at Mi Kaiyuan, thrown by Zhao Qian himself.
If it had been any ordinary genius, Zhao Qian would have let it slide, but Shi Wuyou’s talent was, in his eyes, unmatched and unprecedented.
Compared to the geniuses he had captured, they were like sand to a diamond, incomparable at all.
Even the Assembly Master would surely be unsettled upon seeing this child, how could he let him slip by?
Therefore, Zhao Qian wasted no time with words, immediately launching a surprise attack with his hidden weapon, with full force, hoping to kill Mi Kaiyuan instantaneously.
But Mi Kaiyuan was cunning himself. The moment Shi Wuyou appeared, he had been secretly vigilant of Zhao Qian.
Thump, thump, thump...
One moment the two great experts had been in good spirits, the next they were at each other’s throats like sworn enemies, using every possible means, even their tricks of last resort, until at last they were both badly injured and fell to the ground unable to rise.
"Brother Mi, you can’t beat me, and I can’t beat you, so why don’t we join forces and deliver this boy together, how about it?"
Zhao Qian was left with half a life, barely having the strength to lift his hand, such severe injuries would require at least half a year to heal.
"Hmph, you got the better end of this deal."
Full of anger and resentment, Mi Kaiyuan was unable to do anything to the other party and could only temporarily compromise. It was all that foolish child’s fault, once he had recuperated for a while, he swore he would break both of the boy’s legs.
Suddenly, Mi Kaiyuan saw a look of shock and fear in Zhao Qian’s eyes across from him. Before he could react, a palm strike that didn’t seem very heavy hit him hard in the chest, sending him tumbling away.
"Pu!"
Blood spurted wildly.
"You, you..."
Mi Kaiyuan looked at Shi Wuyou in disbelief. The other’s eyes were bright and clear, his movements swift and deft—far from the idiotic demeanor he had displayed earlier. Moreover, his cultivation had incredibly reached the Fifth Tier of the Qi Absorption Realm, and he was only about five or six years old!
When Shi Wuyou had been traveling alone before, he often went hungry and cold, yet his cultivation still rocketed up at a tremendous pace.
If he hadn’t recently been afraid of being noticed by Mi Kaiyuan and thus refrained from cultivating, his strength would have been even greater.
Without wasting a moment, Shi Wuyou struck another palm at Mi Kaiyuan’s chest, ending him. He then rushed towards Zhao Qian, striking out with both palms in succession.
"No..."
Thump, thump!
Zhao Qian was sent flying, suddenly breaking into loud, crazed laughter and falling to the ground, lifeless. With such talent and scheming, the boy’s future was limitless—he died without any regrets.
Taking a deep breath, Shi Wuyou searched the bodies of the two men, finding a stack of banknotes and some healing medicines. Any hidden weapons or poisons had already been used up by the pair.
He quickly pocketed his finds and entered the dense forest, not daring to show himself on the main road again.
But Shi Wuyou’s luck was really terrible, despite all his precautions, he still encountered a figure from the Martial World, a very beautiful woman.
"Little brother, my name is Charming Fox, what’s yours?" (Chapter 20)
Seeing Shi Wuyou’s simple-minded appearance, Charming Fox laughed merrily, looking teasingly at his little face: "I saw everything that happened on the official road earlier, little brother. To be so skilled in martial arts at such a young age, not bad at all!"
Shi Wuyou’s heart sank like it was in an ice cave, after all, he was just a five or six-year-old child, and his face turned white.
Charming Fox watched him with interest, her eyes suddenly softening: "Little brother, sister won’t hurt you. Tell me, what’s your name, okay?"
"My name is Huer."
Shi Wuyou said.
Huer was his nickname, and Sorcerer his mother’s surname.
Charming Fox let out a pleasant chuckle.
Contrary to Shi Wuyou’s expectations, this enchanting woman seemed to truly have no ill intentions towards him. She not only helped him disguise his appearance, turning him commonplace, but also purchased a horse-drawn carriage in a nearby town and advised him not to venture out.
Whenever they passed somewhere, she would get off the carriage by herself and bring back exquisite food, generously letting him taste them.
At ordinary times, she was like a strict older sister, constantly urging him to practice martial arts. At night, she would become extremely tender, giving up the most comfortable spot in the carriage for him to rest.
Since he did not know where the Nine Profound Mountain branches were located and dared not reveal his identity, Shi Wuyou had to continue living such a life.
The two spent days and nights together, through the passing of seasons, and after two full years, the carriage finally arrived at the Flying Horse Dynasty’s Xuanwu State. Pulling back the carriage curtain, the silhouette of Nine Heavens Mountain was easily visible not far away.
Charming Fox said with a smile, "Little brother, this is as far as I can take you."
Shi Wuyou looked at her in surprise, murmuring, "Sister, how did you know..."
"Although sister’s exposure to the world is limited, with such qualifications and martial prowess at your age, looking across the world, perhaps only the son of a great clan leader can compare."
Charming Fox winked. There was a more important reason she hadn’t mentioned—Shi Wuyou’s appearance, which bore a six out of ten resemblance to his father.
Shi Wuyou’s cheeks burned red.
Over these two years, Charming Fox had taken great care of him, treating him even better than herself. He, however, had kept many secrets from her. Now that the truth was revealed and the last shred of doubt had vanished, he felt both ashamed and embarrassed, unable to look her in the eyes.
After a moment, he gathered the courage to speak from the heart, "Sister, come back with me to Nine Profound Mountain."
Charming Fox shook her head, "Sister is used to wandering. If there’s a chance, I will come to visit you. I just hope to not be ignored by the future clan leader as some nomadic woman."
"I won’t do that!"
After repeated requests were in vain, Shi Wuyou once again expressed his gratitude to Charming Fox before heading towards Nine Profound Mountain, looking back every three steps.
"Idiot, move on!"
Finally, as Shi Wuyou walked into the distance, the tears Charming Fox had been holding back flowed uncontrollably. Two years of companionship, how could there not be feelings?
But she knew very well that he was the Young Master of Nine Profound Mountain, a person standing above the clouds, whereas she carried an unmentionable past and was a lowly wanderer from the dust, seemingly belonging to two different worlds.
Just like back then.
"Shi Xiaole, little brother Shi, do you still remember me? Where are you now? Everyone says you’ve died, but sister doesn’t believe it."
Reflecting on their life and death experiences back in Moyun City seemed like only yesterday, but that youth in green had long since become someone she could only look up to.
Charming Fox let out a sad sigh, wiped away her tears, turned the carriage around, and slowly left, continuing her aimless journey in the Martial World. Not until many years later, when she was found by Shi Wuyou and brought into the Life and Death Pool, did her life take on an even more exciting new Chapter.
