What to do if you find out that you are a cannon fodder in a cultivation novel?

“Young master Bai, I am curious, why are you replacing the nanny?” asked the lady

Normally I would say 'none of your business!' But she should be asking for the sake of my future employees so I answered with

“My aunt assigned her to me. She would not do her job from time to time and always has a good reason for not doing it, even when her mistakes affect me negatively! When I complained in the past, my aunt who manages the family household would always tell me that it was done for my well being...” 

It is hard to explain well… they don’t have the term gaslighting in this world!

“Mmmm like not waking you up on time for school and getting scolded by the teacher but as a kid you need to sleep more?”

“How do you know?!” Wow, did she know me before today?

“Hahaha” she laughed.

“Sorry… mmm … simple, your requirement is to wake you up on time so it means that the previous nanny would skip it from time to time. Then you talked about her having good reasons for her mistakes, a kid your age needing more sleep is definitely a perfect answer to that. As for the teacher's scolding, when you are late for school this is what usually happens”

She is good. she could be female Holmes

“Ah here they are, let me present you” a gray haired woman who looked like a nice grandma with 2 boys came to my right.

“Young master Bai YuShin, this is grandma Li and her 2 grandsons. The oldest is Li Yao and the youngest is Li Bo”  

Li Bo sh*t I remember that name! He was the first and only person I had to kill. 20 years into the future, he started to murder men between 40 and 60 years old in the villages surrounding AnNan city. By then, the city was long gone so no one stopped him until we met. 

At that time I was hunting for food in a mountain nearby and met him in a cave when it started raining. We just greeted each other, I preferred to avoid telling people my name - as my reputation preceded me - and he did the same. So we were two strangers sharing a fire in a cave when he started talking about his past and present. He must have felt that I was stronger than him and was looking for a way to die before killing more people.

It all started during that freezing winter. His grandma died after getting the cold sickness and his brother died protecting him from the villagers' uprising that killed some of Huo’s city refugees. Eventually he ended up being kicked out of the shelter at spring time and wandered to other cities. Two decades later, he met by luck one of the villagers who had beaten up his brother to death. That man was reminiscing about the old bad days with his friend; the freezing winter and Huo city's refugees who were so weak that they needed to die to stop wasting emergency resources. The rest was history…well future that I wanted to change.  

“I have 2 questions for you grandma Li; do you have a problem working for a 10 year old and can you allow your grandsons to work for me?” I started

“Young master Bai you are 9 years old” said lady Holmes

“I am 10 tomorrow!”

“Yes sorry, I will let Grandma Li answer then”

“Master Bai, I have no problem with working for you. As for my grandchildren, as long as it is an activity that does not affect their health or ethics I have no objections” a good and loving grandmother’s answer. I was a bit envious. I turned to the boys

“How about you, what is your answer?”

“Same as grandma. I will work hard for you and be loyal!” said Li Yao

“Same as grandma and brother” said Li Bo with a voice barely heard. Sure enough, a shy little mouse like him would not turn into a murderer under different circumstances 

“Good enough, your salaries will be based on your cultivation base and the amount of work done. Expect at least the usual wages. Could you get your belongings now?” it was pretty late and we had to go back before nightfall 

“Right away!” said Li Yao before running inside. Li Bo took Grandma Li's hand and followed him with a slower pace

'Li Bo, In this life, you will not lose your family nor turn into a murderer I will have to stop' I vowed inwardly 

Because it was past dinner time, I chose to order some takeout meals from a nearby restaurant so I bid farewell to lady Holmes - I needed to avoid answering more of her questions - and asked the coachman to wait for the family of 3.

I was still waiting for the food to be prepared when they all joined me. I gave some money to Li Yao to get us a steamed bun each from the peddler across the street to pad our stomach while waiting. I did not forget the coachman's part, but I chose to give him money to go buy something for dinner in case they did not serve him dinner at Yu’s residence. He was my aunt’s spy but I was not heartless to let him starve.

After taking our order, I put it in my dimensional ring to keep it hot - I liked how both Li boys opened their eye in amazement when they saw the food disappear - Then we went back to the residence