Chapter 114: The Child Has Grown Up

That night, Chang Yu had a strange dream, seen entirely from a third-person perspective.

It was a scorching afternoon. An old man with a snowy beard, dressed in white, was walking through a lush mountain forest with a large wicker basket strapped to his back.

“Huh? Why does this man look so familiar?” The longer Chang Yu looked at the white-bearded elder, the more familiar he seemed.

“This... This isn’t my master, is it?” After a careful look, Chang Yu instantly reached that conclusion.

This dream was rather interesting. He had actually dreamed of Master Haoer...

For a moment, Chang Yu felt both moved and excited.

In the past, he had never once imagined that he could enter Master Haoer’s dream. It was something he would not even dare to think about.

Who was Master Haoer? He was a highly accomplished immortal of great virtue and profound cultivation.

What standing did someone as lowly as himself, a mere beginner at the very bottom of the cultivation world, have to intrude into an immortal’s dream?

“Could it be that the increase in my soul power has given me a deeper grasp of this dream-entry talent?” With no evidence to rely on, Chang Yu could only guess wildly.

“I’ve never entered my master’s dreams before. Perhaps it’s because I haven’t mastered my innate talent well enough?”

“If that’s the case, then once my soul power and innate ability grow strong enough, might I even be able to alter the dreams of those immortals?”

“To pin those great immortals who can move mountains and overturn seas with a wave of the hand right down in their own dreams and grind them into the ground?”

While Chang Yu’s thoughts churned in confusion, Master Haoer suddenly stopped, reached into the wicker basket on his back, and took out a small hoe.

“Is he... gathering herbs?” Chang Yu was not stupid; at a glance, he could tell what Master Haoer was here for.

At that moment, Master Haoer looked no different from an ordinary herb gatherer. He rolled up his sleeves, crouched down, and swung the hoe at a nameless herb growing beneath the roots of a tree.

In no time at all, he dug the herb out of the soil, roots and dirt together.

After placing it into the basket, Master Haoer was just about to leave when he seemed to notice something and froze.

“Hm?”

Master Haoer looked toward a tree root not far away, his expression carrying a hint of doubt.

He slowly walked up to the “root” and, after studying it for a while, said thoughtfully, “It has already developed sentience?”

“No wonder it learned how to disguise itself. If I weren’t so observant, I really would have thought you were just an ordinary tree root.”

“If I’m not mistaken, you should be a poria that has cultivated for a thousand years. What an excellent medicinal ingredient.”

“Whether steeped in tea or infused in wine, it will produce effects ordinary poria simply cannot match. This is truly a fine thing...”

He reached out and gently stroked the dry, rough, wrinkled body of the “tree root.”

At the same time, the “root” seemed to sense danger as well, trembling ever so slightly, as though it were afraid of Master Haoer.

“You need not be afraid.” A kind smile appeared on Master Haoer’s face. “I won’t do anything to you.”

“Though you are a medicinal herb, you have already developed sentience. You are a type of spirit of plants and trees; I would not recklessly harm your life.”

Master Haoer was true to his word. Since he said he would not dig up the poria, then he truly would not dig it up.

He brushed the dirt from his robe, then was about to leave this place when a sudden impulse stirred within him, bringing with it a faint sense of omen.

This was what people called acting in accordance with the Dao and attaining unity between heaven and humanity.

When a cultivator reached a certain height, such sensations would often arise.

Master Haoer knew that something related to him was about to happen, or was already happening; otherwise, the heavens would not have sounded a warning.

He silently glanced at the “tree root” before him, withdrew his right hand into his sleeve, and immediately began to count on his fingers. Very quickly, a trace of understanding lit up in his heart.

“So that is how it is. The one with whom you are fated is not me, but my dear disciple.”

“If that is the case... then I, who have always kept my word, may truly have to eat my own words for once.”

“There is nothing for it. Since you are fated to my disciple, I shall have to wrong you.”

“One day, when you meet my disciple, you will naturally be able to regain your freedom.”

While sizing up the “root” with an odd look in his eyes, Master Haoer raised the hoe in his hand.

“Little one, do not blame this old man for being ruthless. Following my disciple is, for you, an excellent opportunity.”

“Rather than growing in the soil, slowly drawing in the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and the essence of sun and moon for hundreds of years before barely managing to take shape...”

“Why not borrow my good disciple’s belly to nurture your transformation? Who knows how much time that would save you.”

“Besides, anyone who can become this old man’s disciple is invariably blessed with tremendous fortune and extraordinary talent. If you follow him, you are bound to gain many advantages.”

“To be able to share such deep karmic ties with him in the unseen world is, in truth, your own good fortune and blessing.”

As he spoke, the hoe in Master Haoer’s hand came crashing down with thunderous force, aimed straight at the soil beside the “tree root”...

“You old scoundrel, you’re rotten to the core!”

At that moment, the seemingly unremarkable “tree root” in Chang Yu’s eyes actually spoke.

“Didn’t you say you wouldn’t dig me up? Why are you suddenly going back on your word?”

Why did that voice sound so familiar?

The moment Chang Yu heard that childish voice, tinged with a trace of mischief and bright, crisp in tone, he froze. Then he remembered: wasn’t that Yangyang’s voice?

So... the old “tree root” Master Haoer had been examining all this time was Yangyang?

Before he had transformed, Yangyang had already been sly as a fox. He was definitely not crying out in outrage in hopes of winning Master Haoer’s sympathy.

He was buying himself a little time while Master Haoer was momentarily distracted.

With a sudden burrow, he shot straight out of the soil and flew into the sky.

“Good heavens, I never knew... a poria could even fly,” Chang Yu thought, staring at Yangyang, whose whole body was flashing with yellow light, with a thousand words of shock burning in his heart.

“Ho! Where do you think you’re running?” Master Haoer flicked his sleeve, and a large gourd flew out from the wide opening of his robe.

It was an antique-looking gourd, the very same kind Chang Yu had once seen on the herb rack.

A fierce suction surged from the mouth of the gourd. In the midst of flying sand and rolling stones, countless fallen leaves and pebbles were drawn into it.

The wind howled violently. The trees in the forest bent under its force, and even Yangyang, already high in the air, could not escape that strange gale.

“Aaahhhh!”

Yangyang flew back even faster than he had gone—no, more precisely, he was sucked back.

In the blink of an eye, he was drawn into the gourd by that uncanny wind, with no chance to struggle.

Seeing that Yangyang had been caught, Master Haoer wasted no time. He extended two fingers and pointed from afar at the gourd, a pure white light gleaming at his fingertips like polished jade.

The white radiance shot from his fingers and firmly sealed the mouth of the gourd. Satisfied, Master Haoer then capped it with the stopper.

“You shameless old man! What is this place? Why is it so dark? Let me out!”

Yangyang’s furious voice came from within the gourd. Because he was trapped in its belly, his voice sounded muffled and deep.

“Brat, with your little bit of cultivation, you still think you can fight this old man? You’re far too green.” Master Haoer stroked his goatee with ease, bearing the air of a peerless master.

“I suggest you behave and stay in that gourd. When your opportunity comes, you’ll naturally be able to come out.”

“Right now, I’m going to teach you a secret method for taking form through the human body. Listen carefully to the incantation...”

“If, one day, you encounter my disciple, all you need do is recite the incantation while burrowing into his belly.”

Seeing this, how could Chang Yu still not understand that he had been set up by this bargain master?

“Damn it! I knew it. This had to be Master’s doing!”

Flames raged in his heart. At that moment, Chang Yu was furious to the extreme.

He clenched his teeth so hard that his cheek muscles bulged on both sides, and a sharp grinding sound came from between them.

“I knew it. How could I, a grown man, possibly have a child for no reason at all? So it was this old bastard who arranged everything in advance, even teaching Yangyang the incantation used for transformation!”

“I wondered why Master knew I’d had a child recently when I hadn’t even told him!”

“So it was all planned long ago. This is a scheme, a blatant scheme!”

“And going out for drinks? I think Master only ran off to hide from me during this time!”

“You rotten old man! Pay me back for my lost youth, pay me back for my miserable life! Pay me back for my mental suffering! Pay me back for the trauma you’ve left on my soul!”

On the other side, after Master Haoer tucked the gourd back into his sleeve and was about to leave, he suddenly stopped.

“Wait a moment!”

“Only just realizing it—when did I ever have a disciple? Why don’t I know about it myself?” Master Haoer’s expression was full of confusion and bewilderment.

He had been so busy just now that he had nearly forgotten...

He had always traveled alone and had never taken on a disciple at all.

“Though I really did have the idea of accepting a disciple recently, I haven’t even started spreading the word yet. So where did this disciple come from?”

Frowning, Master Haoer pinched his fingers to calculate. After a long while, his brow finally relaxed.

“So it was the disciple I will take in the future. I thought I was coming down with amnesia!”

“So... my disciple met me in a dream. How rare. Still, such a talent is indeed well suited to cultivating the arts of our poria lineage.”

“So my disciple is not from my world. That is rare too, though not something altogether unacceptable.”

“After all, there are countless great worlds among the heavens and myriad realms—endless, boundless three-thousand great worlds. We cannot casually look down on people from other realms.”

“As long as he can become my good disciple, why should I care which world he comes from? No matter where he is from, I will treat him as though he were my own flesh and blood.”

“I’ll treat him as dearly as... my own son. Though I, Master Haoer, am already quite advanced in years, I remain unmarried and untouched by the ways of the world. I am truly... a model for the single life!”

Dawn slowly drew back the curtain, and sunlight passed through the window and into Chang Yu’s room.

“Hm? It’s morning already!” Yangyang rubbed his eyes and opened them groggily.

Having just woken up, his thoughts were still a little hazy. It seemed he needed some time to clear his head.

He tried to sit up in bed, only to realize an extremely important fact.

He... Chang Xiaoyang, senior figure of the poria world, leading talent of the world of transformation, outstanding spirit among the plant-and-tree spirits, had actually been...

Tied up in a mess of ropes and bound to the bed. The shocking discovery made him cry out in terror:

“Chang Yu! Chang Yu!”

“Has Katarina come? Has she come?”

“Spare me the effort. Katarina didn’t come.” Chang Yu was crouched by Yangyang’s bedside, gently picking the dirt from under his fingernails, a gleaming kitchen knife lying on the floor beside his feet.

He had already been crouching there for a long time, waiting for this very moment when Yangyang would wake up.

At that moment, Chang Yu wore a warm smile like a breath of spring, looking like a polite and refined big brother next door.

But Yangyang knew that Chang Yu was very wrong right now, or rather... extremely wrong.

“What exactly happened?” Yangyang thought, and then asked aloud, “Why are you tying me up?”

“You previously promised Katarina that you would take responsibility for raising me.”

“But what happened? Is this how you raise me? You hypocritical man!”

“At the very least, I’m your own child, and this is how you treat me? Your own flesh and blood?”

“I’ll ask you just one thing.” Chang Yu’s gaze was calm and steady, containing not the slightest trace of personal emotion.

“This matter of using my body to take form... was it something you and my master had already plotted in advance?”