NOVEL NEXT Chapter 71: Here at last
This fall had been warmer than usual but wells and ponds froze overnight.
In the morning, it started snowing heavily and it did not stop until 2 days later. Few houses collapsed in some villages. Luckily, with the early preparation, those buildings were empty and no loss of life was reported. The city was so well prepared that there was no damage reported yet.
Uncle Huai had hired a team of crafters that made message talismans and distributed them to all village chiefs in the area. This was to quickly respond to life threatening situations and get frequent reports
The first week of the freezing winter, I was tense.
I was tense because I recalled what happened in my first life;
Waking up alone and freezing. Finding nanny Wei's frozen body on her bed1Reminder: nanny Wei was the spy of his first aunt Liu. At that time, in the 1st life, MC had to move to a shabby courtyard. A quarter of the servants at the Yu residence died that first night. Their cultivation was too low. I was already expelled from school but I heard about poor students found dead with their entire families...
In this life, it was a week after the snow that the real problems started. A crooked village chief who did not distribute materials as planned, thieves, hungry beast attacks… With all that, aunt Yan, Uncle Huai and everyone working for the city were swamped. They were much busier than during preparation time. I could not help them so I just continued making pills, reading books, cultivating and passing some quality times with my friends.
Uncle Hei was too busy to take care of his grand nephew so I invited Jiang-ge to stay with us. Sui-er would come visit us or we would go to see him once in a while to study and gossip
There was the issue of fire pills being fake. Some people bought them from unknown alchemists without identifying them by the city as it was cheaper. There were so many cases of poorly done or fake pills, arrays and talismans that an entire department was created to deal with the counterfeits.
Low level pills and arrays made by students of AnNan school were known to be the best. Thanks to that, our school's reputation increased multiple fold and sects started contacting AnNan's students. As for me, I rejected them all. I was not planning to join a sect, I was used to creating my own techniques and was rich enough to afford most of the materials by myself.
Li Yao decided to join the city guards with my approval. He moved out of my residence to go to live with new recruits. He was allowed to come visit us once a week. Instead of crying, Li Bo was proud of him. The barracks were close by but grandma Li prepared some food for him and I gave him a dimensional space bracelet that I bought in one of my numerous shopping sprees. I promised the same one to Li Bo after he graduates from school. He refused to take it before that.
Since the coming of the winter and the final proof that my theory was correct, a lot of people have tried to find the identity of the sage. So far, no one figured it out but there was a wave of interest in learning advanced mathematics that even scholars, famous for their 5 arts, decided to dip into it. I just hoped that some would breakthrough to keep the interest going
The day I reached level 7, Li-er was already level 9 of Qi condensation. It happened so fast that even aunt Sun was surprised. I was happy that he would soon be strong enough to protect himself and his mother.
He grew up these few weeks to look like a proper 7 year old but with level 9 of Qi Condensation, his body and mind matured overnight to look like the same age as me. He still preferred sleeping with me than alone but he was not anymore the naïve little boy I first met. We would cultivate together, discuss my cultivation theories and incorporate his ideas. He even learned how to make ice after I told him about ice cream.
This proved once again that nothing could motivate a child as much as a promise of ice cream.
In a moment of weakness, aunt Sun told grandma Li a bit about his father and concubines. I heard it... by luck.
Fine, it was not luck. I was spying but I was sure aunt Sun knew I was there
The tiny bit of respect I had for her husband disintegrated completely. I do believe she should never accept going back to him, not even for her son’s future. I could only warn Li-er and prepare him as much as I could. So far, with the speed of his growth, Li-er exceeded my expectations!
In the end, the first to come was not Li-er’s father but his uncle. Aunt Sun had contacted her family early on to tell them she was safe and sound. Sun LaoYi was a late stage nascent soul cultivator who had a kind face toward his sister and nephew but a fierce one toward everyone else. The housekeeper’s daughter cried a lot when she saw him.
Even with his fierce look, I liked him a lot. He valued his family and it showed. He was a great backer to Li-er in the book and believed he would in this life too.
“Father delayed that low life you call husband so I can convince you to come with me” announced Sun LaoYi while I was with them sipping tea. I understood that the greeting part was done and the family discussion part was starting so I stood up to leave
“I will let you catch up. I have to…read a book!” I said before retiring. I hoped he could convince her to leave with him. It would mean that they would go earlier than expected but as long as they were safe I would accept it.
I had already finished reading all the array books of the deceased monk and found them mind blowing. The fundamentals were different from what I learned from array master Kui’s books but they made more sense for me. I tried some of the level 1 and 2 arrays from those books. 3D arrays were level 6 at least so I could not play with them yet but I understood the logic behind them. They were way more efficient than the usual ones and could be charged over time with ambient spiritual energy!
“Array books again?” asked Li-er all of the sudden
“Ahh. You scared me!” I was too focused to feel him coming “Anyway, shouldn't you be talking with your uncle? He seems to really like you”
“Mother knows I prefer to follow uncle LaoYi. I left to give him time to convince her. I already bid them good night” he answered back
“Mmm. I think you would be safer and happier at the Sun’s family”
“I believe it too" replied Li-er while taking out the stealth stone from his sleeve “Could we have a serious talk?"
“Sure” I replied wondering what was serious enough to use the stealth stone2 When the stealth stone is activated, no one can see, feel or hear those within its range