68: Chapter 67 First Coming to Liuyang 68: Chapter 67 First Coming to Liuyang Before parting, Hou Niao gave Chong Ling the three basic cultivation techniques he had for him because he realized the youth’s cultivation was solely reliant on talent and lacked proper guidance, a result of the environment he grew up in.

Fang Yazi accepted them generously, without the slightest refusal, because in his simple heart, a gift from a friend should be taken with gratitude!

As they said goodbye, the young Fang Yazi turned around without hesitation and headed back into the Poplar Forest, taking the same path they had come from.

It seemed that this stubborn boy wanted to traverse it again.

Though his realm was not high, his determination was remarkable, indicating his future achievements would be boundless.

Hou Niao looked for a carrying basket in a nearby village, placing the child in it and carrying him on his back, a common practice for rural travel with children; yet despite its being only about a dozen jins, the child weighed on Hou Niao as if he were a mountain.

It was as if he were carrying a mountain on his back.

With his horse gone and no desire to buy another, he yearned for the release that comes with sweating profusely and took the chance to contemplate the recent happenings.

The battle at the Poplar Forest entirely transformed him, both as a person and in his cultivation.

He felt it was time to properly plan his future.

He walked and thought, his heart moving from full of sorrow to a gradual calm; from indifference to resolute composure.

Some things in his heart shattered, but new buds of hope started to sprout.

When he truly began to form his own ideas, neither the demon nature of the Quanzhen Sect nor the lowliness of the Daoist Sect mattered anymore.

He walked out of the Poplar Forest and also found his own direction.

…Life has no roots and drifts like dust on a deserted path.

Scattered by the wind, one’s true self is no longer the same.

This journey lasted nearly half a month because he was slow in contemplating matters and because he had a child with him, necessitating the need to find lodgings each night where they could bathe and eat a hot meal.

A child of a few years could not endure the rigors as he could.

After half a month, covered in grime and with a face full of stubble, only his eyes were exceptionally bright.

Finally, on his birthday, he entered Liuyang City.

He had a merchant’s guide and his identity was verified without hassle.

The gatekeepers did not trouble him; in Anhe Country, the presence of city walls paradoxically created a sense of ease, unlike in Shan Country, where though no walls existed, they were constructed in everyone’s minds.

According to the information he received, Capital Commandant Li’s old friend was a hermit named Guan Kexiu, who enjoyed a hundred years of life, indicating his eminent status.

To be on good terms with a figure like Capital Commandant Li, could he be anything but extraordinary?

The so-called hermits are honored titles for those with significant cultivation achievements, who don’t join sects or power factions, and enjoy life on their own terms.

Such individuals typically do not get easily embroiled in the interests and disputes of the cultivation world, and instead, due to their wide connections, become bridges between different power organizations.

Like Guan Kexiu, he was a diviner.

A true diviner seldom speaks lightly; they divine changes in heaven and earth, fortunes of nations, and personal qi fortune, a world apart from the charlatans found in the streets.

Guan Kexiu’s divinations were somewhat famous in Anhe Country, at least in the cultivation world.

It’s said that he hadn’t given a divination for over ten years.

Whether this was true or not was uncertain.

Prying into the secrets of heaven calls for divine punishment.

While one might still be reckless in their youth upon mastering an art, as one grows older, they become more timid and more reverent of the Heavenly Dao, so remaining silent is a very normal choice.

Hou Niao entered the city just as it was noon, and he had no interest in rushing to the centenarian’s abode to consume longevity noodles.

Instead, he casually found a restaurant to fill his stomach; one large and one small bowl of noodles, accompanied by a plate of beef and assorted vegetarian delicacies, were selected in consideration of the child’s nutritional needs.

He didn’t dwell on the issue of what birthday gift to bring.

After all, he wasn’t going to collect a debt, so what was there to think about?

What truly troubled him was how to find a home for the child.

The trouble was that a four or five-year-old child is at the most difficult stage of growth and needs the care of an experienced woman; fortunately, if guided well at this age, the child might be able to forget the slaughters that even adults prefer not to recall and could hope to completely heal from that psychological trauma.

He still didn’t know what the child thought of him in her heart.

He guessed she probably saw him as a big demon, right?

Her silence, in a way, represented her thoughts.

It was an embarrassing situation for him, and he couldn’t even explain to the child, who was at the age for sucking on lollipops, nor did he wish to explain.

In Hou Niao’s view, the best approach was to arrange for foster care as soon as possible.

As long as he remained in the child’s sight, she would not be free from her nightmares; moreover, he believed that placing the child in the more relaxed environment of Anhe would be far superior to that of Shan Country.

How could he find a suitable family?

This was a vexing matter for him.

The family had to truly care for the child, to be sincerely good to her and persistent, to treat her like one of their own and not to buy her as an adopted daughter-in-law.

“Capital Commandant Guan of the South City?

I know, I know, leave the tavern and head south, cross the Majiu Bridge, pass through Xiangyi Square…

Never mind, it’s no use telling you so much as a customer, that place is relatively secluded, it’s for hermits.

But in Liuyang City, no one is unaware of the Immortal Guan, so you just have to ask, and you will undoubtedly find the Guan Mansion.”

The host was very enthusiastic.

Every city has its own pride, and for Liuyang City, Immortal Guan was a source of pride for the common folk—predicting the future, interpreting the will of heaven; to mortals, these seem far more relevant to everyday life than Techniques and Realms.

Hou Niao acted upon the advice and headed to the south of Liuyang, first finding an inn to tidy himself up.

Clothes can be old, a person can be thin, but being neat and fresh is the basic etiquette, the fundamental courtesy of a guest.

He had the landlady get the child a set of new clothes and then put her back in the bamboo basket.

Although Anhe Country enjoyed a peaceful atmosphere, such tranquility was a breeding ground for darkness, and the disappearance of children was not uncommon.

He, too, was once an old official of Anhe and knew this well.

He dared not leave the child alone in the inn, nor did he have anyone to entrust her to, so he had no choice but to carry her on his back.

It was a bit eye-catching, but it was unavoidable.

After getting things in order, when he was on his way to the Guan Mansion, dusk was approaching; a centennial birthday celebration would typically have the gifts and well-wishes delivered early in the morning.

Given that he had come from afar, arriving a little late probably wouldn’t matter as long as he didn’t miss the day.

The banquet seemed to be scheduled for the evening.

The closer he walked, the more guests there were, half of whom were local cultivators from Liuyang, and none of them of low Realm.

They paid no attention to him, a minor cultivator carrying a child.

The Daoist Sect had this merit—it was more enlightened and relatively tolerant of the unorthodox.

Nobody would question him even if he were carrying a corpse, let alone a child.

The crowd grew thicker, and from the exchanges among the guests, Hou Niao gathered that today, during the centennial banquet, Immortal Guan was going to perform divination?

It felt somewhat like the birthday star exerting their influence?

Indeed,

For twenty years feasting on Poria, half their writings are from Laozi’s scriptures.

Previously dwelling in the merchant’s abode at the eastern market, now they have newly built the Taoist’s pavilion in South City.

Carving stone and nurturing peaks, there’s no need to buy honey; sitting on the mountain, weighing herbs, no need to compete with the stars.

Ancient hermits often possess the skill of divination, so seek Master’s counsel on matters of Qi Fortune and fate.