The man reached out, gently grasping Shen Tanqi’s wrist, and pulled him towards the edge of the deep-sea mermaid pearl. His fingertips tapped the surface of the pearl. Shen Tanqi turned his head in confusion to look at the man, who smiled lightly and nudged him as if encouragingly, whispering, “Go ahead.”
With his words, Shen Tanqi surprisingly felt a sense of calm. He extended his hand, and suddenly a dense fog enveloped his vision. Soon, the fog dispersed, revealing numerous dazzling light fragments floating in the air.
He hesitated, reaching out his finger to touch one of the fragments. Instantly, he was pulled into the midst of that light.
Before him lay a familiar scene. Shen Tanqi realized he had somehow arrived in the main room of the Shen family’s mansion in Shuoxia City.
The room’s furnishings were much the same as he had last seen them, except there was no portrait of the lady of the house hanging on the wall, nor was there an incense burner.
A soft laughter sounded from behind him, causing Shen Tanqi to stiffen. He turned around.
“Oh, Ah Qi, are you quarreling with your father again?” The woman gently wiped the child’s face with a handkerchief, suppressing a chuckle. “Your father, with his stubborn temper, why do you always provoke him?”
The child raised the sword in his hand indignantly. “It’s because he’s unreasonable! I told him I’ll definitely become the most powerful cultivator, but he doesn’t believe me and even makes fun of me!”
The long sword was heavy, almost larger than the child himself. Trembling, he struggled to hold it up with his thin arms, then quickly placed it back on the ground.
The woman couldn’t help but laugh, bending over with smile. She gently wiped the dust off the child’s face and said, “You, knowing your father hopes you’ll inherit our family business, yet you keep clamoring to cultivate immortality. It’s no wonder he scolds you.”
Hearing this, the child felt even more wronged. He suddenly threw himself into the woman’s arms, crying loudly in her warm embrace, “He’s unreasonable, and even you side with him! Am I really your biological child?”
“Of course you are,” the woman pinched the child’s nose playfully, teasing him. “If you weren’t my own, I would have joined your father in giving you a good scolding!”
Memories peeled away in his mind, revealing their original forms. Shen Tanqi stared blankly, a gust of wind brushing his face, causing him to squint slightly, feeling an urge to shed tears.
They couldn’t see him, and rightly so, as Yu Ce’s father had mentioned that only the owner of the mermaid pearl could see them.
A fragment of broken light jumped out in front of him, and Shen Tanqi slowly came to his senses, reaching out and touching the fragment.
The scene suddenly changed. He saw the child running in the courtyard, dragging a kite behind him. The kite accidentally got caught on a high willow branch. The child pouted and looked towards his parents not far away, shouting, “Dad, mom, the kite—”
Before he could finish, a tall, robust figure strode past Shen Tanqi, almost creating a gust of wind. Shen Tanqi stared in astonishment at the man who walked by—no jade cane, no white hair at his temples; it was the head of the Shen family in his prime.
“You little rascal, you always get the kite stuck in the trees whenever you fly it. Are you doing it on purpose?” The head pretended to be angry, giving the child a light smack on his bottom.
Though the force was minimal, the child pretended to cry out in pain, “Ouch, mom, dad hit me, it hurts!”
The family head was so exasperated that his beard seemed to fly in all directions. He pointed at the woman behind him and said, “Yuan’er, he’s slandering me! This boy is getting out of hand. Can’t you see some discipline is needed?”
“I didn’t slander anyone, oww, it hurts so much.”
The woman stood nearby, unable to contain her laughter at the drama between father and son, laughing heartily.
Shen Tanqi watched quietly as her face lit up with happiness, and he couldn’t help but join in with a gentle laugh.
How wonderful, really wonderful.
It was such a beautiful scene, yet why did he feel like crying so much?
The family head stood on the tree trunk, scolding as he climbed, “Next time, go far away to fly your kite. With so many willow trees here, which one hasn’t tangled up your kite?”
The child watched him laboriously climb and secretly made faces, sticking out his tongue. “Hehe, I don’t want it, I want dad to pick it for me!”
Upon hearing this, the family head turned his head in anger and saw the child making faces at him. Through gritted teeth, he said, “Just wait until I come down, see if your father won’t give you a good thrashing.”
“If you hit me, I’ll let mom hit you,” the child teased, circling the willow tree with the kite string, tying the family head securely to the tree. “Dad can’t come down now, serves him right!”
The child grinned triumphantly, hands on hips, looking at the family head all tied up on the tree with the kite string, saying, “Today, I’m going to join the Rongyun Sect as a disciple. You can’t stop me anymore.”
At these words, the family head’s eyes widened. With a firm grip, he snapped the kite string and locked eyes with the child on the ground. “You haven’t forgotten about that broken Rongyun Sect. I see you haven’t had enough beating.”
The smile froze on the child’s face. Without looking back, he ran into his mother’s arms, pleading, “Mom, save me! Dad’s going to hit me again!”
The family head jumped down from the tree, still holding the kite in his hand, and chased after the child around the woman, threatening to hit him, “You little brat! With such a big family business at home, you don’t want it? You’re running off to be someone’s disciple? You can’t carry anything or lift a finger—what can you even do?”
“I can practice swordsmanship! I can do plenty of things!”The child shouted defiantly, but as he spoke, he accidentally tripped and fell to the ground. The family head seized the opportunity and landed a slap on his bottom.
After a while, after being severely scolded by the family head, the child hugged his kite, holding back tears and biting his lip.
The family head gave him a glance, snorting. “Do you understand your mistake now? Admit it properly and promise not to cultivate immortality anymore, and I’ll let you off today.”
The child clenched his lips tightly, his bottom still sore, but his eyes remained stubborn and determined. “I want to cultivate immortality, I want to become the greatest cultivator, I want to punish evil and promote goodness, and become a great hero!”
As the words fell, the family head’s face grew darker and more somber. He stared at the trembling child with dirt-smudged shoulders and a tear-streaked face, looking dirty like a small mud monkey after the fall.
After a moment, he thought of this metaphor and couldn’t help but chuckle to himself. Perhaps he found it funny but felt a bit embarrassed to laugh out loud. He reached out and gave the child a light tap on the head, whispering, “You think you know it all, dreaming of becoming a great hero.”
The child covered his forehead, maturely furrowing his brow. “Anyway, just leave me alone. When I grow up, I’ll become powerful enough to protect you.”
The family head and the woman seemed to hear something amusing, both unable to contain their laughter. The family head pointed at the child’s nose and said, “You? Protect us?”
“Yes, me.” The child sniffed, wiped the dirt off his cheek, and puffed out his chest. “I can do it. Dad, Mom, don’t you believe me?”
Upon hearing the child’s question, the family head’s laughter choked in his throat. He stared blankly at the determined child in front of him, not even as tall as the stone lions at the door, yet so stubborn and resolute, asking such serious questions.
After a while, the family head exchanged a glance with the woman, who was still smiling lightly, then looked back at the child with some resignation. “Do you really want to go?”
Without hesitation, the child vigorously nodded, clenched his little fists high in the air. “I. Want. To. Go.”
The family head’s heart felt a pang of bitterness. He sighed softly, reached up to pluck the leaves from the child’s head one by one, gently brushed off the dust from his clothes, and muttered something under his breath that Shen Tanqi couldn’t quite make out.
Curiously, Shen Tanqi approached slowly, hearing the family head say softly, “Silly boy, you’re my only precious son.”
“The path of cultivating immortality is long and full of hardships, not something an ordinary person can easily endure. Since you were young, your body has been weak, often falling ill. How can you expect me… how can you expect your mother and me to rest assured?”
In an instant, Shen Tanqi’s eyes welled up with warmth. He was about to step forward when suddenly, a shard of broken light appeared before him. He hesitated for a moment, his gaze falling upon the family head and the woman.
“Enough, enough,” the family head squeezed out a smile, glancing at the woman beside him. “Another day, you take him to Feiluan Sect to broaden his horizons. It’s on the way to Yudong, and you can visit your mother’s home. This child was born to break free. He’ll surpass his father.”
The woman wiped away tears from her eyes, understanding the tacit approval. She nodded and smiled, saying, “Indeed, our Ah Qi has ambitions. He’s destined to accomplish great things. The Shen family can’t contain him. In the future, the cultivation world will surely have Ah Qi’s own domain.”
The family head closed his eyes, suppressing the lump in his throat, and casually whispered, “I don’t ask for him to ascend to immortality. I only wish for him to be safe year after year.”
Not asking for him to ascend to immortality, only wishing for him to be safe year after year.
Shen Tanqi’s eyelashes trembled slightly. His feet seemed rooted to the spot. He wanted so badly, so badly, to rush up and hug them. Even though he knew they weren’t his parents, why did his eyes burn so painfully, and his heart ache so much?
He didn’t understand. Was it simply because he inhabited the body of the original owner that he felt this deep, inexplicable heartache as if they were connected by blood?
It hurt so much, so much in his heart. He could barely catch his breath, nearly drowning in the tears shed by the family head.
The shard of floating light in front seemed impatient, suddenly drifting towards Shen Tanqi’s hand. Instinctively, he touched it, and the surroundings changed once again.
This time, it was the city of Yudong, where heavy snowflakes fell like goose feathers. The cold wind was biting, yet Shen Tanqi stood on the long street, feeling no chill in his body. But his heart felt like it had been pierced by ice, letting in an endless cold breeze.
He saw the once radiant woman, now kneeling in front of a clinic door, holding a child burning with high fever in her arms, tears streaming down her face.
“Why can’t we save him, why, why?”
She screamed almost hoarsely, until the clinic’s door closed shut. The woman knelt on the ground, exhausted, and began to cry uncontrollably.
The child in her arms was scorched by the hot tears, struggling to open his eyes. He choked as he wiped away her tears, “Mom, don’t cry, it doesn’t hurt.”
Shen Tanqi trembled all over, staggering towards them, wanting to speak but realizing they couldn’t see him at all.
“Ah Qi, don’t be afraid,” the woman held him tightly, her gaze suddenly firm and resolute. She clenched her teeth and said, “There must be another way, there must be.”
The child couldn’t bear the high fever, and after saying that sentence, he fell unconscious in her arms.
The woman turned around, using all her strength to carry the child on her frail body, step by step, walking laboriously in the snowy ground.
She hadn’t walked far when Shen Tanqi saw the closed door of the clinic suddenly open a crack. A young pharmacy apprentice tiptoed out, caught up with the woman, and handed her a bowl of freshly brewed medicine steaming with heat.
Surprised, the woman exclaimed gratefully, “Did the doctor send you out? Can this save my child? I’ll pay any amount!”
The young medicine apprentice pursed his lips and shook his head. “The doctor told you yesterday, no one in this world can cure this illness. Those afflicted, within two days…”
The light in the woman’s eyes gradually dimmed, replaced by a despairing emptiness. She murmured to herself, “Is that so… yes…”
Within two days. Within two days. Even the family head, he might not see Ah Qi one last time.
Seeing her in such a state, the young medicine apprentice couldn’t bear it any longer. He whispered softly, “Don’t give up. I heard from several patients that a rare daemon arrived in Yudong City yesterday. Rumor has it that someone accidentally saw scales of the Merfolk on his body. He must have a Deep Sea Mermaid Pearl.”
The woman listened blankly, murmuring woodenly, “The Deep Sea Mermaid Pearl.”
She knew well of its vast powers—the ability to transport people to the past, future, and even farther places.
“Yes, maybe that mermaid can help you.” The medicine apprentice placed the bowl of medicine in her hands and said, “Here, this medicine is for preventing colds. It’s cold out here; drink some to warm yourself up before you go.”
The woman nodded slowly, gently lifting the child onto her back. She whispered softly, “Thank you.”
She was going to find that mermaid. She had to save Ah Qi.
Hello, everyone ヾ(＾∇＾). I hope you enjoyed the story! If you’re feeling generous, please buy me a coffee, share/comment on my translated works! Check out the link below for early chapters. (๑>ᴗ<๑)
