NOVEL WEB 121. Extra: Encountering people from Sun Fuyu’s past (plus bonus baby!)
With the New Year fast approaching, Sun Fuyu limited his daily training in favour of running errands to help Wen-ge. On this particular day, Sun Fuyu went and purchased some items from the Equipment Hall.
As he headed out, an inner sect cultivator was heading in.
Wu Qinqing, the inner sect cultivator, froze in fear when she saw Sun Fuyu.
Less than two years ago, Sun Fuyu was worse than her. He was a soft persimmon she could take spiritual stones and magical items from. But now, who in the sect didn’t know that Sun Fuyu had won one of the brackets at the big tournament? Sun Fuyu was levels above her. He could squish her as easily as she could suppress a mortal.
Sun Fuyu glanced at Wu Qingqing. For a moment, his eyes darkened. But thinking about her was a waste of his time. With a curt nod, Sun Fuyu made to move past her.
“—Wait!”
Sun Fuyu paused and turned to face Wu Qingqing. “Yes?”
“The past—I apologise extremely deeply, I’ll repay everything that I took from you—”
Sun Fuyu’s cool expression didn’t change. “No need.”
“Then, I’ll double, no, triple the repayment!” Wu Qingqing wasn’t stupid. How could she leave this hanging between them, a thing that could lead to Sun Fuyu suppressing her in turn in the future?
Impatience crept into Sun Fuyu’s tone, “I truly don’t care about you anymore. I have more important things to do.”
“But is there anything you want?” The concept of being forever in debt to Sun Fuyu did not sit well with Wu Qingqing.
“Donate to some poor outer sect cultivators then. Goodbye.” Without any politeness, Sun Fuyu stepped on his sword and flew away.
Left down on the ground, Wu Qingqing’s lips tightened. Donate? To poor outer-sect cultivators? But she had to grit her teeth and follow his instructions out.
Sun Fuyu couldn't care less about Wu Qingqing’s conflict. With the magical items bought, it was time for him to go and buy mortal items for the New Year.
He headed back home first (Home!). By this time, Wen Zhihao had wrangled all the young children into going-out mortal clothing, hats and scarves.
Everyone piled into the flying cart, excited for a trip to one of the mortal towns with the largest pre-new-year markets.
And who could blame the children? This was the first, best Spring Festival they would have with their new family.
It didn’t take long for the flying cart to reach the edge of the mortal town.
“Is that the market we’re going to?” Xu Yifan asked, peering down at the streets below. She inhaled in the delicious food scents from the market and licked her lips. A little foodie at heart, she asked, “Uncle, Little Uncle, can we have a snack before shopping?”
“That is a very good idea, Fanfan,” Wen Zhihao said with his own deep inhale. He was able to separate each scent and had a vague idea of where each came from. He directed the cart to land in an open area a few minutes away from the busy market.
Sun Fuyu helped lift each child out of the cart; Ruan Lanxi, impatient, simply jumped down.
While Sun Fuyu put away the cart, Wen Zhihao leaned down and neatened everyone’s clothes.
“Do you all have your money pouch? Remember to keep it close, okay?”
Six little buns nodded.
“Alright!” Wen Zhihao straightened, picking up Xiao Bai at the same time. In this kind of crowd, it was best to keep Xiao Bai close to him. “Let’s go that way, I smelled something good coming from there!”
“Go go go!” Xu Yifan said brightly.
Wen Zhihao led the way, while Sun Fuyu walked at the back. Two golden-robed cultivators with six young children unavoidably attracted attention.
“Shit! What are the cultivators doing here? Taking whose rich children?”
“Oh, you must be new. That’s Master Cultivator Wen and Master Cultivator Sun, they come here frequently.”
“Are they policing mortal towns now? Then those children—”
“Hahahaha, you’re dumb, I like that in a man.”
“...Big sister, please tell me…”
Sun Fuyu’s ears were pricked, alert. Such conversations were dismissed as harmless.
After carefully looking around, Xu Yifan bravely and confidently ordered fragrant grilled meat and tofu on a stick by herself, paying with some copper coins from her money pouch. The other children followed her example.
“Ah, Master Cultivator, your children are very good!” the proprietress said. She gave the children a warm smile.
“Thank you,” Ah-Yi said brightly, making the proprietor laugh. “Have a good day, Aunty!”
Wen Zhihao herded the children to a place where they could stand and eat without being jostled. He had gotten one meat-on-a-stick himself. He beckoned Sun Fuyu over.
“Come, share this with me.”
Sun Fuyu was always so stern and serious looking when they went outside like this. Wen Zhihao just wanted him to relax for a bit.
Wen Zhihao bit off a piece first and then held it out to Sun Fuyu. “If you have some, it counts as an indirect kiss.”
Sun Fuyu blushed. “Wen-ge,” he grumbled. Nonetheless, he reached over and tugged a piece of meat off.
“...That person looks a lot like Fuyu…”
Sun Fuyu’s head turned sharply. Across the street, a man and woman were walking by with two teenagers at their heels.
It was the woman who had just spoken: his mother.
“Shit! That’s him, hurry, get away from him!” Father Sun shoved his wife and two children away from Sun Fuyu.
Mother Sun gasped. “Fuyu is still alive? That fortuneteller lied? He looks well,” she added, jealous. She gritted her teeth, thinking of all the suffering she had gone through, all the rumours that the others had spoken about them and their family.
“He’s violent,” Father Sun hissed, not realising that Sun Fuyu could hear him perfectly. “Those cultivators, who knows what kind of demons and spirits they contracted to extend Fuyu’s lifespan! Dammit, we shouldn’t have come here!”
“No, this market has the best new year clothes!” Mother Sun countered.
“Mama, I want handsome new clothes, or else how are you going to find me a wife?” the oldest teenage boy whined.
Sun Fuyu exhaled forcefully. It wasn’t even worth his time to introduce his husband and children to his blood family. His parents didn’t even want his filial piety.
He turned away from them and met Wen Zhihao’s concerned eyes. The gaze filled him with love.
Sun Fuyu smiled back reassuringly. He took out a clean handkerchief and bent over to clean the hands and mouths of the children.
Whether coincidental or on purpose, they didn’t see Sun Fuyu’s blood family again as Wen Zhihao led them around the market buying new year's goods and gifts.
An entire circuit of the market left young children with tired legs, aside from Xiao Bai whom Wen Zhihao had carried.
It was now approaching evening: time for proper food back at the Sect.
The flying cart had just reached the outskirts of the town when Wen Zhihao and Sun Fuyu both heard the sound of a baby crying.
The two glanced at each other. Wen Zhihao directed the flying cart to the noise.
Babies crying was common, but this sound came from an unpopulated area, and there seemed to be no other humans around.
The children looked curiously when Wen Zhihao landed the cart in a nondescript area, with snow on the ground and scattered trees around.
Hidden slightly in the shade of the trees was an old altar, and large footsteps were imprinted in the snow towards the altar and then away from it.
The bundle of cloth on the altar was crying.
Wen Zhihao threw away his confusion and approached the poor baby. Immediately, the baby quieted as Wen Zhihao’s aura enveloped it, immediately falling asleep.
Sun Fuyu’s eyes darkened. The children also knew what had happened. This baby had been abandoned, and conveniently used as an offering at the same time.
Wen Zhihao reached for the baby and picked it up. A weird sense of familiarity pricked his mind.
The aura of this baby...the tiny amount of qi that circulated, necessary for life...It was familiar.
Wen Zhihao knew this qi.
Everyone’s internal qi was unique. This qi was the same as the original owner of his body, the original ‘Wen Zhihao’.
The original owner’s old qi had been quickly replaced by Wen Zhihao’s in his body, but his sword had retained its traces for a longer period of time.
Somehow, the original ‘Wen Zhihao’ had been reincarnated into the young, somewhat ugly looking, baby in his arms...
Based on the now-faded memories of the original owner of this body, the original ‘Wen Zhihao’ had been a little angsty cultivator like the others.
Wen Zhihao would give him a better life this time. It was the least he could do after taking the original’s body.
Wen Zhihao turned to his husband and children and smiled sheepishly. “Everyone, meet the new baby in the family. Let’s think of a good name for him.”
Somewhere up in the Heavens, a minor god was covering his head protectively. He had been happily farming, growing grapes twice as big and with four times as much qi as ordinary magical grapes, when the senior god had dragged him out of the fields and forced him to gaze down at the Mortal Realm.
“Where is the lucky life that human was supposed to have? His father just abandoned him!” the imposing god growled.
“He is supposed to be lucky,” the minor god whined. His eyes widened when he saw the flying cart and the subsequent events. “Look, look, look! Having that new cultivator Wen Zhihao as a parent is extremely lucky! His life will be much more peaceful now.”
He inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. It looked like his luck charm on the baby worked, albeit in weird ways.
The senior god pressed his lips together...Unfortunately, the minor god was correct.
“You are very lucky,” he finally said, with a dismissive wave of his golden sleeve.
The minor god quickly nodded his head. “Very lucky, very lucky! Senior, please have some of these grapes as an apology gift for making you come down to this Heavenly Realm!”
After plying the senior god with heavenly fruits, the minor god straightened his clothes and headed back to his heavenly farming. His fields were a riot of colour from multiple types of plants and vegetables and fruits. Some of them even earned praise from the other gods, which was the best praise he had ever received…
Heavenly farming was much more enjoyable than heavenly administration!
After getting the kitchen staffs’ help, the new baby was clothed, nappied, and fed. It was too late for them to acquire a new bed, so for now, the baby was placed on Wen Zhihao and Sun Fuyu’s bed.
The little baby slept well, his little cheeks already becoming a little rosier, and face a little less ugly.
Sun Fuyu had just learned from Wen Zhihao’s mouth that this baby was the reincarnation of the original Wen Zhihao.
Instead of conflict, Sun Fuyu gave a sigh of relief. He smiled at Wen-ge. “This means that the original soul won’t return to your body!”
That didn’t stop other souls from possessing Wen-ge, but Wen-ge was now a Nascent Soul cultivator, and foreign spirits would have a much harder time than the original body’s spirit.
Wen Zhihao hummed. “We still don’t know how I transmigrated over...it surely wasn’t like Li Fanghua. What would have happened if I didn’t come?”
Sun Fuyu’s mouth turned upside down. “I don’t want to think about it.”
If his Wen-ge never came, then no one would stand up to him, and the other outer sect cultivators would continue to bully him. Even with Sun Fuyu’s effort, he wouldn’t have been able to proceed as well if his meagre cultivation resources were constantly stolen.
Wen Zhihao’s eyes softened. “Then, what if it was Xiao Yu who came to my world?”
“I think that, no matter what, we would get married,” Sun Fuyu promptly answered. “Because we’re soulmates. The red string of fate connects us, regardless of the world.”
Such a beautiful picture warmed Wen Zhihao’s heart. “I love you.”
Sun Fuyu reached out and took his hand. “I love you too.”
The extras may feel a bit random...because they are. The extras should all be over by the end of this month.