Chapter 48: A Child’s Deep Affection

Ye Tian slipped out of the Recycling Station at noon. He went to the bus station alone and bought a bus ticket to the town. Then he walked to the village, which took him almost the entire afternoon.

Walking on the bumpy dirt road of the village, Ye Tian felt very happy. Although the path was uneven under his feet, it somehow felt more solid than the asphalt roads in the city.

The village was as peaceful as ever. It was dinner time, and cooking smoke rose from every rooftop. Occasionally, the sounds of chickens crowing and dogs barking could be heard. To Ye Tian’s ears, these sounds were incredibly pleasant.

“Hey? Xiao Tian, what are you doing back?”

“Xiao Tian, are things going well in the city? Where’s your dad?”

“That’s right, how come you, child, came back all by yourself?”

As soon as Ye Tian appeared in the village, he was surrounded by the villagers. Auntie Fatty even pulled Ye Tian into a hug. She kept saying that the child hadn’t been eating well and had gotten much thinner since he left.

“Grandpa, grandma, Auntie Fatty, hello…”

Ye Tian first greeted the elders around him, then said: “I came back to see my Master. My dad didn’t come…”

“You, child, dared to come all this way back by yourself? You haven’t eaten yet, have you? Come on, come with Auntie Fatty to have dinner at her home.”

There was another argument among the enthusiastic villagers about whose house Ye Tian should eat at. It went on for a while before Auntie Fatty finally pulled Ye Tian to her home.

Although the food was simple, Ye Tian ate it with great relish. After dinner, he played for a bit with his friends who had heard the news and came over, including Fatty Dun. Then, Ye Tian headed towards the mountain alone.

When he was still about twenty or thirty meters away from the Taoist Temple, Ye Tian saw a faint light coming from the side room. He felt a pang of sadness in his heart.

His Master was over a hundred years old, yet he was still all alone with no one to take care of him. As a disciple, he should be attending to his Master in his old age, not going far away to the county town to study.

Thinking of this, Ye Tian couldn’t help but resent his father’s arrangements.

“Hmm? Is that Little Yezi?”

When Ye Tian was about seven or eight meters from the Taoist Temple, the light inside suddenly flickered. The Old Taoist’s voice rang out. Even though Ye Tian’s footsteps were very light, the Old Taoist instantly recognized them.

“Master, it’s me.”

For some reason, Ye Tian’s voice when he called out “Master” held a sob. Since he was a sensible child, Ye Tian had rarely cried in front of others. But right now, he had this urge to throw himself into his Master’s arms and cry his heart out.

With a “creak,” the side door of the Taoist Temple opened. The Old Taoist’s figure appeared. He stood with his back to the light, so Ye Tian couldn’t see his Master’s face clearly. But Ye Tian knew his Master must be very happy at this moment.

“You silly boy, has it only been a week away, and you already miss your Master? Look at your pitiful self…”

The Old Taoist looked at Ye Tian trying to hold back his tears and laughed, giving him a light pat on the head. Although his hand was raised high, it landed very gently.

“Master, I missed you. I won’t leave anymore. I’ll stay here and keep you company…” Ignoring his Master’s teasing, Ye Tian buried his head in his Master’s embrace.

To be honest, during his time living in the city, Ye Tian felt very uncomfortable. The world there seemed like a cage that confined him. Only when he was by his Master’s side did he feel that sense of freedom, of boundless sky and sea where birds fly and fish leap.

“Foolish child, if you want to live a tranquil life like your Master’s, you must first experience the world of mortals.”

The Old Taoist stroked Ye Tian’s small head, his heart filled with emotion. Feng Shui Masters acted against heaven’s will. While they weren’t necessarily doomed, they often divulged Heaven’s Secrets. To avoid bringing calamity upon their families, most lived a solitary and difficult life.

The Old Taoist was no different. After inheriting the Diviner’s teachings, he left his hometown to wander the Jianghu. He never married his whole life, and even the two disciples he took ended up fleeing far from home.

Now, with his end approaching, heaven had sent him a disciple. Although this disciple was still young, his filial piety was truly praiseworthy. The Old Taoist felt deeply satisfied.

“Master, isn’t it also quite nice to live a quiet life up on the mountain?”

In the past, Ye Tian loved excitement the most. But after staying in the county town for a few days, he always felt that kind of excitement was incompatible with him. Comparing the two, he felt more comfortable by his Master’s side.

“Haha, you wouldn’t last a month before getting bored.” The Old Taoist laughed heartily upon hearing this. He took Ye Tian’s small hand and led him into the room.

The entire Taoist Temple, including the side rooms, had been recently rebuilt. But while the buildings were new, the tables, chairs, and furniture inside were all things the Old Taoist had used for over ten years. They gave off a very worn-out feeling.

On the table in the center of the room lay a stack of high-quality paper. Next to the paper was an Inkstone with an antique design. A wolf-hair brush rested against the Inkstone. The faint, refreshing scent of ink floated in the air.

The room was also filled with the smell of kerosene, which came from the “air-deflating wind lamp” on the table. There was no electricity on the mountain. Every night, the Old Taoist relied on this Kerosene Lamp to read and write.

“Master, I’m serious. Either you come down the mountain with me, or I stay up here on the mountain with you?”

Seeing the simple few pieces of furniture, which only emphasized the coldness and loneliness, Ye Tian’s small nose wrinkled again. Before, when he often came up the mountain, he didn’t feel anything in particular. But now, it made his heart ache.

“Nonsense again. Weren’t you still thinking about marrying that little girl, what’s-her-name, Yu something? If you become a wild man living on the mountain, would she be willing to marry you?”

The Old Taoist laughed when he heard this. But as he spoke, something suddenly occurred to him.

His disciple had extremely high talent in Feng Shui and Physiognomy. If he walked this path, and in the future ended up like him, wouldn’t he also face a lonely and difficult life?

As the saying goes, most people who practice Feng Shui and Physiognomy suffer from one of the “Five Flaws and Three Deficiencies.” He couldn’t decipher Ye Tian’s fate, so he couldn’t calculate what the future held for Ye Tian.

Thinking of this, the Old Taoist’s heart became filled with conflict. He had watched Ye Tian grow from a little kid with Yellow Hair to his current size. That affection had long surpassed the bond between master and disciple; he genuinely regarded Ye Tian as his own grandchild.

As a senior, he naturally hoped his junior would have a happy life, surrounded by family and descendants. But if Ye Tian walked this path, the variables in his future would be something even he could not control.

Seeing the Old Taoist suddenly staring intently at him, Ye Tian felt bewildered. He raised his little hand and waved it in front of the Old Taoist’s face. “Master, what’s wrong? I didn’t say I wanted to marry that girl.”

“Ah, it’s nothing, Master’s fine. Little Yezi, do you blame me for teaching you Feng Shui and Physiognomy?”

Distracted by Ye Tian’s words, the Old Taoist came back to his senses. He waved his hand and said with a serious expression: “You must know, in our line of work, there’s always the saying of suffering from one of the ‘Five Flaws and Three Deficiencies.’ And there’s a high chance of meeting with a violent end, dying an unnatural death.”

“Master, why are you asking this? I don’t regret it. Didn’t Chen Tuan and Yuan Liuzhuang in history both live past a hundred? Besides, Master, you’re already over a hundred years old.”

Ye Tian shook his head vigorously. Although he didn’t finish his last sentence, the meaning was clear. His Master was already over a hundred, with clear eyes and sharp hearing. Even if he passed away now, it would be a natural end.

“Haha, well said, well reasoned. I didn’t expect you, kid, to see things more clearly than your Master.”

Hearing Ye Tian’s words, the Old Taoist laughed heartily. He had spent his whole life being adept at calculations, but he had forgotten the principle that “the Heavenly Dao is not partial, but always sides with the good person.” As long as one wasn’t intentionally wicked, why fear misfortune befalling oneself?