Chapter 35
Ordinary Men and Immortal Masters
Village Chief Bu cooked up the bacon he treasured and brought out wine he hid for year, though he ended up putting the wine back since Mu Yu didn’t drink. Village Chief Bu stood next to Mu Yu as he felt he didn’t have the right to sit, and told him to not hold back. In addition, he was bummed he didn’t tidy up the house before Mu Yu came back. Had he known Mu Yu would drop by, he would’ve tidied up a month earlier. Mu Yu went through a lot of trouble to coax Village Chief Bu into joining him at the table.
Watching Mu Yu wolf down the food reminded Village Chief Bu of when the boy used to beg for a meal joyously. He was even more proud with the fact Mu Yu’s ego wasn’t inflated after his success.
“Mu Yu, you can stay here or your house for the night. I cleaned your house daily. I had your house renovated after you departed. I didn’t let anybody go near it since that’s your erstwhile home!”
Though Mu Yu was touched to hear that, part of him was disappointed it was no longer the house he knew. “I will stay here.”
Village Chief Bu only had one bed at his place. Young Mu Yu often ran over to sleep with him when the boy had nightmares. He always wanted to have Mu Yu cohabit with him, but the boy refused to leave his house as he held onto hope his mother would eventually return.
“I will tidy up later. I will sleep on the floor.”
Mu Yu shook his head in refusal, but they could sort out the bedding issue later. Village Chief Bu went and informed the villagers of Mu Yu’s return. Unsurprisingly, the villagers crowded around the outside of the house, burning to catch a glimpse of Mu Yu. Out of courtesy to the villagers who helped him in the past in one way or another, he went out to politely greet everyone.
The villagers were delighted to see Mu Yu and have him politely greet them, even bragging to fellow villagers an immortal master greeted them. He planned to shake hands with only Uncle Qian. As soon as they shook hands, everyone went into frenzy, attempting to shake his hand. Uncle Qian even vowed to never wash his hand.
Whether or not putting cultivators on pedestals was for better or worse remained yet to be seen. Only cultivators were aware deities didn’t exist, and they weren’t qualified to be deities. The only thing separating them from ordinary men was their ability to cultivate their spiritual energy. Village Chief Bu had to come back and tell everyone to prepare for a celebration to convince them to leave.
“Mu Yu, share your experience of becoming a deity with these kids,” said Village Chief Bu, pointing at the children.
Mu Yu had no idea how to handle the command. Village Chief Bu already took off, while the kids cheerfully ran over.
“Brother Mu Yu, is it fun being a deity?”
“Can deities transform?”
“Brother Mu Yu, fly.”
“Brother Mu Yu, do deities eat?”
For the first time, Mu Yu came to realise how amazingly patient Village Chief Bu was when he handled children. He surmised Village Chief Bu probably had urges to rip his own ears off when he pestered the elder with a barrage of questions.
“I don’t know if deities can fly, but I can.” Mu Yu summoned his flying sword to his feet and levitated, much to the joy and astonishment of the kids. He raised a hand and asked, “I’ll take you for a ride. Who wants to join me?”
The kids jumped up and down, crying out to Mu Yu. Mu Yu took Ermao and Gousheng with him first. Discovering playing with children was quite fine, Mu Yu silently chided himself for fearing heights when he started out. He was the oldest child around since the others around his age went off to assist in the fields with their parents. Mu Yu had some experience handling kids – courtesy of the twins on Mount Dustfallen. It was tough to find children more mischievous than the twins.
Mu Yu took the children for rides all afternoon. He took Gousheng up to branches to see bird nests and Changsheng to a lake to wash the pants he wet. He gave everyone a tour of the area behind the village that nobody dared to venture to. There used to be a wasp nest back there.
Meanwhile, the village was decorated with red lanterns. The aroma of food being prepared travelled through the air. Firecrackers left smoke screens behind after going off. Village Chief Bu was missing, however.
Lying on the haystack at the grain-drying field, Mu Yu told them about his life as a cultivator. Despite him not illustrating it as something colourful, the children were in awe as they earnestly listened. Adults passing by would make short stops to satisfy their curiosity.
“Immortal Master Mu Yu, we have trouble! We have trouble!”
“What happened, Uncle Zhang?”
Face ashen and panting heavily, Uncle Zhang stuttered, “V- Village Chief Bu is in trouble!”
“What happened?” asked Mu Yu, heart skipping a beat.
“We went to buy some rice wine and red candles from Raindrop Village. They, too, are preparing a grand welcoming for an immortal master. Village Chief Dahu insulted you, so they got into an argument. The immortal master then went and hung him up. They told me to come back and g-”
Mu Yu and Uncle Zhang vanished in a flash before the latter could finish.
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