Spring Trees and Sunset Clouds

After sending off the young little soldiers, the days in Guang Tian returned to their usual tranquillity and bustle. Nan Ge Er lived a troubling life every day as usual. During spring, his tea stall opened once again. Though it wasn’t doing as well as in the summer season, Nan Ge Er did have a trump card in hand—storytelling.

Plus, the location of the tea stall was rather great. If described in modern terms, it was in the most bustling and prosperous area with excellent people flow and numerous carts passing by. Sometimes, occasional passersby would listen in to a part of the story, have a cup of tea and rest while gossiping a bit. Of course, currently in Guang Tian, one additional topic had been added into the gossips—Nan Ge Er and Mo Shu’s story which everyone couldn’t help gossiping about.

Various absurd rumors flew around; some residents even went over to the main star of the gossip, Nan Ge Er, just to inquire the truth of the rumors. Being the subject of the hot topic of discussion agonised Nan Ge Er, but he still had to open his tea stall every day. There was no choice for him; if he didn’t have a side business, the cost needed for the household would not be enough. Setting aside the need to help out with the household expenses, it wasn’t as though he could just stop going out and buying groceries, so…it was unavoidable!

However, weirdly enough, although Nan Ge Er was in utter bitterness, Mo Shu, as the victim of the gossip, didn’t seem to be troubled by it at all. He’d still wake up early every day and come back late every night. Nevertheless, since Nan Ge Er was sleeping together with Mo Shu, Mo Shu would arrive home slightly earlier. He would try his best to wrap everything up fast, and then sleep together with him. If not, Nan Ge Er, usually unable to sleep sound, would be easily awakened, and couldn’t get back to sleep throughout the night afterwards..

Nan Ge Er’s room hadn’t been tidied during the whole winter period, so it had turned into a jumbled mess. Even the bed and tables were unusable due to the decay. To save on expenditures and to avoid wasting time and energy to clean up the room, even though the weather was getting warmer, Nan Ge Er and Mo Shu maintained the status quo of sharing a room—since the two of them were guys, there was nothing to be embarrassed about.

As for the views of the townspeople? Who are you kidding? Everyone has regarded me as Magistrate Furen long ago, what in the world would I be afraid of then?! Nan Ge Er vocalised in his heart.

It was currently noon. When Nan Ge Er ended his storytelling for the day, he drank a gulp of water and decided to close his stall. Today’s sales are not bad and were just as before. He had made some calculations. Once spring was over, he could take a break for the whole summer. Meanwhile, he could rear more livestock and farm more vegetables to supplement the housekeeping money. If he opened his stall in summer too, he would not need to do so in autumn and winter. Anyway, the plan would just be as such. With the income from a season, plus the vegetables farmed daily and the livestock reared, he could get through two seasons easily, with a little more to spare.

Thinking about it, life in Guang Tian was seriously too relaxing. It was common for everyone to be slightly wealthy there. Also, almost everyone was well built and educated, and public security was great too. He felt that under the present regime of this world, the existence of this place should, at least, be impossible. However, he was living there right now.

“Oh, you’ve already closed your stall, Nan Ge Er?” An unfamiliar voice rang out, interrupting Nan Ge Er’s train of thoughts.

“Daddy, it’s all your fault!” A begrudging voice of a young child rang out behind him too. “You walked so slow, and even talked to others on the way! Look, now the stall’s closed!”

“Xiao Zhen, it’s been a long while since daddy met his old friends, you know,” the male commented with a hint of embarrassment.

“There isn’t any problem for daddy to reminisce with your old friends, but we left early in the morning, alright? Daddy, you’ve reminisced for one whole day. You could have just let me go over myself.”

The male gasped, “Oh my, how can I do that? Xiao Zhen is so cute, what if you get kidnapped by baddies?!”

“But, Ah Niu and the others are all allowed to come over and listen to Nan Ge Er’s stories themselves. It’s all because of you.” Although Nan Ge Er wasn’t familiar with the person talking, honestly speaking, he had already got used to every single person in the county calling him Nan Ge Er.

Listening to the conversation of the father and daughter situated behind him, he involuntarily smiled while turning around, “Erm… huh?” One of the two people standing in front of him was actually someone he recognised.

He exclaimed unwittingly, “Supernatural General!”

That’s right, the guy, currently scratching his head with a bitter smile from his own daughter’s reprimanding, was indeed the most outstanding general in Bei Jun. In just three years, the guy turned from a small soldier into a prominent and invincible great general. At that period, he was known to every single person in Bei Jun. In battlefields, he could plan far ahead, anticipate his enemies with god-like precision and emerge victorious in every battle, with strength comparable even to supernatural beings. Thus, whenever he was mentioned, everyone would commend him as ‘Supernatural General’.

However, this Supernatural General died on the battlefield during a successful expedition. Nan Ge Er was even the one who had managed the burial of Supernatural General’s mangled corpse… But now… the male, who was called Supernatural General by Nan Ge Er, froze momentarily before raising his head to scrutinise Nan Ge Er carefully.

Nan Ge Er could guarantee, with the sole reliance on looks, the guy definitely wouldn’t be able to recognise him by appearance alone. When he washed his face every morning, he would always touch those bumpy crevices on his face. His facial features could be considered to have changed beyond recognition, with a look entirely different from a typical person. Fortunately, everyone in the district was abnormal, so they weren’t afraid.

As for his voice, he guessed it was probably unrecognisable too. His vocal cords were torn due to his constant painful cries during the beatings he had endured in those years, so his voice would always bring about a slight hissing sound, causing it to sound hoarse and rough.

As for things like grace… Being a criminal jailed for three years, what grace would he have left? Or should he say, the prince he was originally was just a dark, scheming fellow, having no slightest bit of grace. Plus, his present status was just a helper in the government…

Alright, there were many titles added to it now; such as the boss of the tea stall, famous storyteller in the district, the favorite teasing object of the citizens in the red-light district, and the popular topic of gossip for everyone, the other target in Magistrate-Daren’s scandal… Nan Ge Er found it rather bizarre that he could actually go over those past incidents so lightly, and then think of his current situation in such a mocking tone.

Following that, he said something which shocked even himself, “I’m Bei Mo Li.” He exposed his identity clearly.

The country surname of Bei Jun was ‘Bei’, the country surname of Jun Yao was ‘Jun’. The country surname of every country was uniformly that of the first word in the country’s name; it could be deemed an established rule in this world.

The Supernatural General opposite of him revealed an aghast expression as if he had just seen a ghost. Nan Ge Er found the male’s expression quite laughable. It was way creepier for him to see someone ‘already dead’ in front of him, alright?!

“Long time no see.” Being someone who had experienced numerous life and death situations and commanded in battlefields, his shock had only lasted that bit of a moment before being covered up with a smile.

“Daddy, have you met one of your old friends again?” The little girl beside him frowned in displeasure, emphasising on the word ‘you’.

The male’s confident demeanor vanished at once, as though it was a mere illusion… “Well, Xiao Zhen, you know, daddy, I…”

“Daddy, you don’t have to explain.” The young girl was unperturbed as she cut the guy’s sentence off, “It’s alright, Xiao Zhen is used to it. you would always meet old friends every day.”

Speaking of which, the Supernatural General seemed to be outspoken, befriending a wide range of friends…

The guy looked at Nan Ge Er awkwardly, “My girl, erm, ahem…” Nan Ge Er smiled as well.

“Come to think of it, if daddy and Nan Ge Er are old friends, we can come over every day to listen to Nan Ge Er’s storytelling.” The young girl, aged no more than five, spoke out impishly.

You really do know how to calculate, huh…

Supernatural General let out a resigned sigh, “Xiao Zhen!”

“In that case, take your time reminiscing with your old friend, daddy.” Xiao Zhen laughed with her tongue poking out, “I’ll be playing a bit nearby,” before taking to her heels and rushing out.

The father with a daughter-complex still nagged behind her, “Xiao Zhen, beware of those innocent-looking boys, they are all baddies who will snatch you away from daddy in the future!”

After Xiao Zhen’s silhouette disappeared, Supernatural General was still a little worried as he looked aa Xiao Zhen’s vanishing back.

“I know every kid nearby.” Nan Ge Er smiled, “I’ll help you find her later, don’t worry.”

“I know that it’s fine.” Full of gloom, Supernatural General sat on a bench he found nearby, “But if those boys know about my Xiao Zhen, they’ll definitely come over to propose marriage. Xiao Zhen is so adorable…”

Come on… No matter how adorable your Xiao Zhen is, she isn’t even five yet, how would others be able to come over to propose marriage… Nan Ge Er made a face. He poured a cup of tea and placed it in front of Supernatural General, “Drink up.”

“Thank you.” Supernatural General finally stabilised his state of mind. He took up the teacup on the table and drank a mouthful before raising his head to glance at Nan Ge Er. “I never knew you were actually interested in men.”

Nan Ge Er jerked his lips as he replied, “Neither did I.”

Bastard, as expected, everyone in the district knew about it!

Supernatural General chuckled, refusing to comment, “You…” What he said seemed to have a thousand words hidden in it. In the end, he could only spit a word out, without anything uttered after it.

Nan Ge Er was able to understand the complicated emotions of the other party. He smiled, “With the passing of five years, both of us had some changes.”

Supernatural General grinned, “No, I didn’t change, the one who changed is you. I’m always someone from here.”

“Oh.” Nan Ge Er’s brows rose. He didn’t care whether Supernatural General planned on telling him the reason or not; that wasn’t important. He only smiled customarily, “What a great place, even the dead can be revived.”

Supernatural General chuckled, “I didn’t die at all. Just that when my wife died, I felt attachments to nothing, so I returned to my hometown.” He didn’t hide anything.

“Here?” At first, Nan Ge Er thought Supernatural General was just stranded here; it ended up really being his original hometown.

“Here.” Supernatural General nodded, expressing his confirmation, “Apart from here, I can’t think of anywhere in the world that I’m able to settle down in.”

“You’re the Supernatural General,” Nan Ge Er commented. Is there anything you can’t get? Why did you come back here pitifully?

“This is my only home.” Supernatural General smiled, “A place for me to settle down and live in peace. We’re born here and will return here; this is our fate.”

“Why?”

“The world can’t bear us.” Supernatural General chuckled. “We have nowhere to go.” As he sipped a gulp of tea, he looked at Nan Ge Er, “Your Highness, don’t you feel so?”

Nan Ge Er went silent.

“Only people belonging here can return here. Only people with nowhere to go would stay here.” Supernatural General laughed, “This is the rules. Ever since birth, every child here learns marching, division of troops, entering battles, and killing enemies instead of learning verses, poetry, and songs; learning martial arts and weapons instead of virtues.” Supernatural General smiled, “After reaching a suitable age, they can choose to gain experience outside or to stay and earn a living. You should’ve witnessed this.”

“Those kids intend to enter Jun Yao’s army and carve out achievements?” With that said, if Nan Ge Er still believed that Guang Tian was subsidiary to Jun Yao, he would really be an incorrigible fool.

“Yes.” Supernatural General smiled. “That’s why I said the world can’t bear us. This is our sole and final destination.” He grinned, “I only used a certain tactic to return here.”

Nan Ge Er thought for a bit, “Why did you tell me that? By right, it should be a great secret of Guang Tian, shouldn’t it? Is it alright to tell that to an outsider like me?”

Supernatural General laughed all of a sudden instead, “Do you think you’re still an outsider?” With a chuckle, he continued, “Or do you think there’s somewhere else you still can go to?” Nan Ge Er was speechless.

After a long silence, Supernatural General stood up abruptly, “I have to go look for my Xiao Zhen; those rascal boys.” His daughter complex broke out again.

Nan Ge Er twitched his lips, “I’ll help you.” As he walked beside him, he suddenly asked Supernatural General, “The reason why you guys exist.” Why in the world does such a grand, secretive and frightening power exist?

The monarch of every country appeared to have no idea of its existence. What in the world were they trying to accomplish? If one Supernatural General existed, then there must be a second one existing somewhere. The presence, unique to a powerful person, which he had personally witnessed and felt, was so common and concentrated here.

Supernatural General turned his head to glance at Nan Ge Er, laughing, “Do you want to know?”

Obviously.

“Go ask Mo Shu-Xiansheng then, he will tell you.” Supernatural General chortled, “All of us follow his orders and abide by his summons. He is the ruler and will of this place.”