“Ah?”
Wenren Sheng seemed like he hadn’t understood and repeated,
“Read books?”
Wenren Sheng was a demon who lived on the mountain, and there were no places on the mountain with teachers to instruct students. Besides, he hadn’t gone down the mountain for three years already, and even his storybooks were ones he had flipped through repeatedly from before.
It could be said that Wenren Sheng was now completely illiterate.
“Aren’t you trying to become a great hero?” He Mu propped up his cheek as he looked at him. “Then first read some books, then cultivate.”
After he finished speaking, he picked up a white arm guard hanging from his waist and gestured for Wenren Sheng to extend his hands.
Wenren Sheng obediently stretched both hands out in front of He Mu.
He Mu took his hands, pushed up the sleeves of his robe, and slowly wrapped the arm guard around his forearms.
As he wrapped, he said, “Those who walk the jianghu upholding justice and righteousness, or eliminate tyrants to bring peace to the people, are mostly full of knowledge. There are few unlettered brutes among them. If you want to become a great hero, you must read books.”
Wenren Sheng lowered his head to watch He Mu’s actions. He was a bit ticklish, and his fingers curled slightly.
“I’ve read lots of storybooks,” Wenren Sheng asked cautiously. “Does that count as having read lots of books?”
He Mu said, “Of course not.”
Then he was done for. He was an illiterate.
Wenren Sheng thought sadly.
He immediately deflated his mouth, like a child who had done something wrong, and didn’t make a sound.
He Mu finished wrapping the arm guard up to half of Wenren Sheng’s palm, cut it, and secured it. Only then did he look up and notice Wenren Sheng’s low mood.
“Unhappy?” He Mu couldn’t help but laugh. “Because you don’t want to read books?”
Wenren Sheng fiddled with his fingers and struggled to calculate, “Then if I start reading books now, go to the academy down the mountain every day, and study for a year, a year is… three hundred…”
He mumbled calculations for a long time, then suddenly looked up at He Mu and cast a pleading gaze toward him.
“Studying for a year, is that enough?” Wenren Sheng said pitifully. “I want to become a great hero quickly.”
“What are you thinking.”
He Mu looked at Wenren Sheng helplessly and pinched this kid’s cheek.
A kid was just a kid, even his thoughts were so naive.
Not to mention whether Wenren Sheng could go from illiterate to great scholar in just a year, just the matter of fusing the heavenly spiritual root alone would take He Mu quite some effort.
The half of the heavenly spiritual root that Chen Lian had cut out, He Mu had already extracted entirely with spells. But after that half heavenly spiritual root was separated from the body, its growth speed had spiraled out of control. Its current power had long surpassed what Wenren Sheng could bear.
In other words, it didn’t recognize its master now.
He Mu had to find a way to suppress its temper, then guide the spiritual root into Wenren Sheng’s body. Not only that, Wenren Sheng would need a period of secluded cultivation to prevent the spiritual root from backlash.
By the time the heavenly spiritual root fully fused, three or four years would have passed, and Wenren Sheng would have grown into a big kid.
At that time, who knew if Wenren Sheng would still want to become a great hero.
“Ah, no good…” Wenren Sheng said disappointedly. “Alright, then I’ll use just a bit more time. No problem, I’m not in a big hurry.”
Even as he said “not in a hurry,” Wenren Sheng’s expression clearly showed his reluctance.
After the incident at the Return to One Sword Sect, the desire to grow stronger in his heart had grown even fiercer. Even just now in his sleep, he had dreamed of himself becoming a great hero and the world’s number one sword cultivator, bubbling with happiness.
He was very anxious, just like a child who had just gotten a treasure and couldn’t wait to play with it all day.
But there was another reason he didn’t want to read books.
If he became a student at the academy, then he wouldn’t be able to stay with the Mountain God all day.
The Mountain God was his new family, and he didn’t want to be separated from his family yet.
Wenren Sheng couldn’t help but sigh.
Sigh… If only the Mountain God taught him to read.
That way, he wouldn’t have to worry about being separated from the Mountain God, and he could even beg the Mountain God to teach him martial arts. It would be killing two birds with one stone.
At this thought, a flash of inspiration struck Wenren Sheng’s mind.
He perked up again, grabbed both of He Mu’s arms with his hands, and chased after the question, “Then then then, who will be the teacher to teach me?”
He Mu curved his eyes and asked in return, “Who do you want to teach you?”
Wenren Sheng quickly glanced at He Mu, then hurriedly withdrew his gaze and said, trying to cover it up, “It doesn’t have to be you… that’s fine too!”
He Mu tapped his cheek with a finger and looked at Wenren Sheng somewhat troubled.
He did want to teach, but unfortunately, he himself hadn’t read many books.
Before ascending, He Mu had been an escort, a killer, and a protector. After ascending, he had even fought and won a battle for the Heavenly Court. He had basically done jobs that involved wielding blades and guns.
Although he wasn’t illiterate after living for centuries, he was still a bit short of being a teacher.
He Mu had wanted to refuse outright, but Wenren Sheng stared at him with big blinking eyes, the expectation in them practically shining bright enough to blind.
For the first time, He Mu felt intimidated by a child’s gaze.
He shifted uncomfortably.
He closed his eyes, then opened them again.
But Wenren Sheng still stared unwaveringly, his eyes clear and bright like a puppy’s, fixated on him.
“…”
After a moment, He Mu really couldn’t withstand it and finally reluctantly lifted his hand to cover Wenren Sheng’s eyes.
“…Alright, I get it.”
He sighed and said,
“I’ll teach you.”
The expression on Wenren Sheng’s face instantly bloomed like a flower. He dodged He Mu’s hand, excitedly grabbed He Mu’s wrist guard, and couldn’t help but jump in place.
“Great!” he shouted happily.
In that case, he was willing to read books. After all, it was with his favorite Mountain God. Even a hundred more years wouldn’t matter!
Wenren Sheng was really too excited. Just thinking about his future life always having the Mountain God’s company made him feel like he was soaked in honey, his mood sweet and silky.
In his excitement, he couldn’t help but pounce forward and hug He Mu all at once.
“So happy,” he buried himself entirely in He Mu’s embrace, shaking his head as he rubbed back and forth. “…Really like it.”
He Mu was caught off guard by this little sparrow’s pounce into his arms, his hands frozen in midair.
Looking down, Wenren Sheng was like a gray ball, his round head constantly nuzzling against him, mumbling something in his mouth. He was extremely cute.
He Mu chuckled lightly and pinched the back of Wenren Sheng’s neck with one hand.
“So loves to rub against people—are you a little dog?”
Hearing this, Wenren Sheng suddenly snapped awake.
Way too abrupt!
He hurriedly let go of the embrace, his cheeks flushing pink.
For a moment, he didn’t dare meet He Mu’s gaze and could only pinch the corner of his clothes as he hastily explained.
“Family does this,” he paused, then said maturely, “You have to get used to it slowly.”
After saying that, regardless of He Mu’s reaction, he hummed a tune to himself and left the room same hand same foot.
After making the promise with the Mountain God, the worry weighing on Wenren Sheng’s heart settled.
However, although they had agreed to study, Wenren Sheng had just woken up, his stomach rumbling with hunger, and he had no mind for reading books at all.
He Mu simply made two conical hats, and the two snuck down the mountain again to stroll through Xiang City’s night market.
Xiang City wasn’t considered a prosperous place in the mortal world, and the immortal sects didn’t pay much attention to it either. Besides the Return to One Sword Sect that had already fallen and been reorganized, there weren’t any notable factions here.
Because of that, life for Xiang City’s common folk was fairly peaceful.
Wenren Sheng carefully lifted the veil of his conical hat with both hands and curiously looked around.
Xiang City had no curfew, and the night market was much livelier than during the day. All along the road were stalls of every variety, and Wenren Sheng’s two eyes were too busy to take it all in.
But he still prioritized his stomach first, sniffing around for the aroma of food.
He Mu casually pulled the veil of Wenren Sheng’s conical hat back down and said, “Hide a bit. You’re a famous person now.”
Wenren Sheng looked up at He Mu and asked puzzledly, “What does famous person mean?”
“It means you’re very famous.”
After saying that, He Mu snatched a stick of tanghulu from a passing stall without looking back and handed it to Wenren Sheng.
Before the stall owner could shout, He Mu flicked a few pieces of broken silver from his hand like a magic trick, perfectly landing them into the stall owner’s palm.
Wenren Sheng caught the tanghulu, his eyes shining brightly.
“Oh— the way a great hero buys tanghulu!”
“Childish,” He Mu said with his hands behind his back. He corrected, “This is the way an immortal buys tanghulu.”
Wenren Sheng looked at He Mu, nodded, and said solemnly, “Mm, this is the way an immortal buys tanghulu. Then I’ll be a great hero first, and after I’m done being a great hero, I’ll be an immortal.”
He Mu smiled and said nothing.
Wenren Sheng took a big bite of the tanghulu and then contentedly covered his face, sighing, “So sweet.”
After that bite, he remembered He Mu hadn’t finished speaking and tugged at his clothes proactively.
“And then? Why am I so famous now?”
He Mu let him pull and said, “Of course because of that sword qi you used. You took down a mahayana realm powerhouse in one go. Even I, at ten years old, could at most take down a soul formation realm one.”
Wenren Sheng was embarrassed by the praise. He took a reserved bite of tanghulu.
He Mu continued, “The Sword Sect people saw you unleash that sword, knew they had little chance of winning, and knelt one by one to surrender.”
Wenren Sheng chased, “And then? And then?”
“You really want to know?” He Mu suddenly stopped and nodded toward the tanghulu in Wenren Sheng’s hand. “Give me a bite.”
Wenren Sheng looked at the half-eaten tanghulu in his hand and said somewhat shyly, “But I’ve already eaten half…”
He Mu didn’t mind at all. He leaned down and, during the gap while Wenren Sheng spoke, bit off the one he hadn’t finished.
With a crunch, He Mu bit through the hard sugar and tasted the fruit inside, frowning slightly.
“Kids really love eating this stuff?” he said. “So sour.”
Wenren Sheng nodded and eagerly brought the topic back. “And then? What did you do after they surrendered?”
“Oh,” He Mu said. “I shook the Three Pure Ones Bell one by one, killed the ones worth killing, disbanded the sect, and only left the dog in the courtyard.”
He paused, then added,
“It’s just a pity one still got away in the end.”
Wenren Sheng tilted his head. “Who got away?”
He Mu said, “That Fake Wudi. By the time I arrived, he had already hidden and fled.”
“Fake Invincible.”
Wenren Sheng thoughtfully repeated it.
At that time, when he unleashed the sword, his attention had been entirely on that White-Bearded Old Man, so he really hadn’t noticed the impostor’s figure.
It seemed he had planned to escape early.
If he had attacked together with that White-Whiskered Elder, Wenren Sheng’s sword qi might not have had the chance to be unleashed.
Why did he run then? So strange…
But Wenren Sheng only thought about it for a moment before tossing the suspicion aside and pulling He Mu around to shop and eat everywhere.
The two played at the night market until nearly midnight.
Only when He Mu saw that Wenren Sheng was really too sleepy did he carry him on his back, found an empty corner, and used the Earth Shrinking Technique to return to Fragrant Ze Mountain.
The moment they got home, Wenren Sheng automatically groped his way to the bedside, took off his outer robe, folded it neatly, and burrowed into the bedding to snore away.
He Mu placed the little trinkets he had bought somewhere, then went back to the bedroom to check on Wenren Sheng’s condition.
As soon as he entered the door, he found Wenren Sheng buried in the bedding, not even a single strand of hair exposed.
He Mu sighed helplessly.
He pinched the edge of the quilt and lifted it, making a “just as expected” expression.
The kid under the quilt was gone, leaving only a Floppy-Eared Little Wolf curled up with its tail, its fur somewhat damp from being covered.
These past few days when Wenren Sheng was in a coma, the transformation technique had always been undone. Only when he woke up did he turn back into human form.
But Wenren Sheng himself was completely unaware and still thought he was hiding perfectly, insisting every day that he was a human without a tail.
Really so dumb.
