Guarding the River of Time-Chapter 402 - 392: The Reincarnation Tree, Transparent Fruit, and the First of the Crippled
As I approached, I discovered it was a tree.
Standing before this tree, I realized how small I truly was.
The trunk emitted specks of Immortal Light, resembling veins that covered the entire tree. Looking up, the crown blocked the sky and sun, and the leaves were small and varied—diamond-shaped, maple-shaped, needle-shaped... all kinds.
Thumb-sized fruits grew on the leaves, somewhat resembling Lantern Fruits. Su Mu had seen such fruits before when he helped an old man build a bridge and saw similar-looking fruits in the man’s yard, but only in appearance.
He couldn’t tell if it was his imagination, but the essence of these Lantern Fruits was remarkably like the floating points of light in the void.
The difference was, these Lantern Fruits were fixed to the tree, while the points of light were ethereal, drifting and floating in the void, rootless and aimless, like wandering spirits.
Upon closer inspection, one could see besides the main trunk, there were nine branches, each bearing a single Transparent Fruit at its tip, as if carved from White Jade.
Thunk—
The next second, a Transparent Fruit suddenly fell, landing in front of Su Mu.
Su Mu lowered his head, picked up the Transparent Fruit, and as he stared at it, his consciousness began to blur. Driven by an inexplicable urge, he swallowed the Transparent Fruit whole.
As the Transparent Fruit entered his stomach,
Su Mu’s consciousness grew hazy and indistinct; his whole body emitted a white light.
Soon, his body transformed into a Transparent Fruit, floated to the treetop, and became one of the tree’s Transparent Fruits.
....
No one knew how much time had passed; consciousness and memories vanished, as if it all turned into a dream.....
.....
"Hey, hey, hey! Wake up."
Su Mu felt someone shaking him awake. Slowly opening his eyes, he was met with an ugly face full of disgust.
"Old Mu, it’s ten copper coins in total."
The Waiter yelled at the middle-aged man, who was plastered like a soggy mess on the wooden table.
Su Mu rubbed his eyes, began searching his pockets, and after a long while, managed to pull out three copper coins.
"Three coins?"
"Someone come! Another freeloader, drag him out and beat him!"
With that, several burly men rushed out from behind the curtain, lifting Su Mu into the backyard, and stuffed him in a sack.
The men grabbed thick rods, ready to beat him dead and toss him into the river. After all, he had no background, just a wanderer who freeloaded all the time; nobody would care if he was killed.
Just as they were about to start, the tavern manager emerged and said, "There’s an important guest at the tavern; don’t cause any trouble. Just throw him outside."
"He’s a Household Slave at the City Lord’s Mansion; it wouldn’t be good to kill him."
Hearing this, the men reluctantly complied and tossed Su Mu outside the walls.
....
Since he hadn’t sobered up, Su Mu was too lazy to move, so he just lay there in the sack and fell asleep.
Night fell.
A chill swept through, waking Su Mu abruptly. He opened his eyes, broke free from the sack, and found himself discarded amidst a heap of garbage.
Sitting atop the garbage pile, Su Mu slapped his temples, feeling foggy and unable to recall what he seemed to have forgotten.
...
He staggered to his feet, suddenly realizing his right hand felt empty. Reaching out to touch, he discovered his right hand was missing.
Organizing his thoughts, his memories began to flood back; it seemed he had truly drunk too much, nearly forgetting who he was.
Since birth, he had had no right hand.
Perhaps because he was crippled, his parents abandoned him, leaving him to wander from childhood. With an incomplete body, it was difficult to find work to make a living. He had wanted to try seeking a master for Cultivation, but upon seeing his congenital deficiency, the Taoist priest in the temple also shook his head.
And so, drifting aimlessly for decades, he was now forty-four years old, still a frail wanderer, surviving amidst the crowd.
However, this year, he had a stroke of luck and entered the City Lord’s Mansion, becoming a Household Slave.
....
The city he lived in was called "Changxun City," and in the whole Dongyuan Continent, it was considered a large city, ranking among the top ten.
Several hundred years ago, "Changxun City" was just an obscure little town.
Five hundred years ago, Changxun City produced a Child of Fortune. This Child of Fortune was promoted by the Upper Realm, reportedly having joined the Heaven Shepherd Alliance army.
Because the Child of Fortune’s name was "Liu Changxun," it was renamed "Changxun City" from that day forward.
Dongyuan Continent is one of the Great Worlds under the Heaven Shepherd Alliance, and it has a rather low presence because there are thousands of such Great Worlds under the alliance.
To be promoted to the Upper Realm and become a formal soldier in the Heaven Shepherd Alliance army is considered an utmost honor.
As for Su Mu, he lived from childhood in this bottom-tier Changxun City, where even a tavern manager could easily decide his life or death.
....
Reeking of alcohol, he certainly dared not return to the City Lord’s Mansion.
Although he was a Household Slave there, his status was extremely low due to having no Cultivation, and he typically did errands.
From his trouser pocket, he took out his last five copper coins, bought a clean set of clothes, changed into them, and hurried back to the City Lord’s Mansion.
.....
Today, the City Lord’s Mansion held a grand feast.
It was to celebrate the legendary City Lord Liu returning home from the Upper Realm for a family visit.
However, only one table was set up in the City Lord’s Mansion, a family banquet, because Liu Changxun insisted on keeping things low-key, not wanting to attract attention.
"Uncle, I toast to you!"
A young man, raising a full bowl of wine, toasted the middle-aged man in the cyan robe seated at the head.
After speaking, he drained the bowl in one gulp.
All those present at the banquet were high-level members of the City Lord’s Mansion, with Cultivation at the Golden Core Realm.
The strongest was the cyan-robed man at the head, who had reached the Mahayana Stage, two large realms higher.
"Little Lu, you must take your uncle as your role model!"
One of the men advised the young man who was toasting, smiling.
In response to the crowd’s praises, Liu Changxun just smiled slightly, not saying much, appearing very modest.
Because, before he went to the Upper Realm, he was confident, aiming to achieve great things, to rise step by step to success and fame.
After arriving at the Upper Realm’s Immortal Domain, he realized his own insignificance.
Despite striving for centuries, he was merely a humble soldier under the 984th backup squad of the 784th external regiment in the Heaven Shepherd Alliance army!
"External," meaning he was not yet qualified to be part of the "formal regiment."
Thus, during his one-month family visit, he kept a low profile, feeling he had no achievements worth boasting about.
The higher he climbed, the more he realized his smallness.
...
ps: Deep apologies, only one update today; a family member is undergoing surgery at the hospital, and I have to stay overnight. Updates will return to normal tomorrow.
The side stories won’t be dragged out; they’ll conclude shortly. These side stories are very important.
