Envy that You're My Father
Du Shaofu looked up at the silhouette that entered his room soundlessly –his old drunkard Dad. However, today, his drunkard Dad was spotlessly clean, and he even wore a new robe.
A clean blue robe; Du Shaofu remembered that this blue robe was the one he bought for his drunkard Dad last time.
The messy, and unkempt hair on his drunkard Dad were combed back, leaving a few strands falling down from his temples, framing his handsome resolute face and made it looked even more dashing.
Du Tingxuan followed his son’s gaze towards the blue robe on his body, “It fits nicely.”
“It seems, I looked quite like you.”
After what seemed like half a day, Du Shaofu noticed that most of his facial features looked like his Dad’s.
Du Tingxuan looked at Du Shaofu: “Because you are my son.” His voice was deep and low, full of confidence.
“You are my old man, but it seems this old man had kept many secrets from his son?”
Du Shaofu stared at his drunkard Dad, curled his lips and said, “The sarcophagus thing was done by you?”
“You already knew?” Du Tingxuan looked surprised; his eyes sparkled like the stars in the night sky.
“I didn’t know at first, but after I could cultivate, I could detect the smell of alcohol. The smell of alcohol on my body, other than you who else could it be?” Du Shaofu added: “The next time you want to do sneaky things, take note of the scent of alcohol coming from your body.”
“My son is indeed smart.” Du Tingxuan smiled faintly and said.
“That sarcophagus is a treasure?”
Du Shaofu asked curiously; that sarcophagus in the ancestor’s shrine was definitely not ordinary. It has the benefits of cleansing marrow just like the Physique Refining Law of the Golden-winged Garuda.
And Du Shaofu felt that its effect was no worse than the cultivation law; one of the reasons he achieved major completion in the first layer of Physique Refining Law so fast was due to the mysterious sarcophagus in the ancestor’s shrine.
“It probably is but I don’t know much; I found its usage by accident. Those old men are very respectful towards the items that were left behind by the ancestors and no one is allowed to touch them.” Du Tingxuan grinned as he explained.
A ripple crossed Du Shaofu’s eyes; it looks like his drunkard Dad found out coincidentally what the sarcophagus could do, but not its origin.
“Nothing will happen to Brother Qingchun?”
Du Shaofu once again looked at the little tower in his hand nervously.
“He is very strong, but the spirit body is very weak. If he restored a little more strength, perhaps he could already detect me, or I should say, he could have detected me from early on.”
Du Tingxuan frowned slightly and then he said to Du Shaofu, “His spirit body spent too much force, he needs some time before he can wake up.”
“How long?”
Du Shaofu was anxious, hoping that Zhen Qingchun could wake up faster – not only because he needed to continue learning array formations, but most importantly, he was his sworn big brother.
“I’m not sure, perhaps a year or two. Perhaps three, five years, maybe even longer.” Du Tingxuan said.
Du Shaofu frowned deeply, “Must it take so long?”
“If you have the chance in the future, you can find some elixirs that are good for healing spirit body, that way, he can recover faster.”
Du Tingxuan glanced at the little tower in Du Shaofu’s palm, “I don’t know these things in detail. Towards those hateful Spirit Talisman Masters, I don’t know much about them.”
“I’m also a Spirit Talisman Master.”
Du Shaofu’s frown grew deeper; from his drunkard Dad’s words, he doesn’t seem to like Spirit Talisman Masters much – he is also a Spirit Talisman Master now.
“You are also my son, first and foremost, you are a martial cultivator.”
Du Tingxuan looked at his son for a brief moment before saying, “Don’t you have anything you want to ask?”
“There is.” Du Shaofu nodded. He stared at his drunkard Dad, “If you are unwilling to say, what’s the use if I ask.”
“You haven’t asked, how should I tell?” Du Tingxuan retorted.
“Even if I asked, you won’t necessarily answer them.” Du Shaofu said.
Du Tingxuan: “If you ask, that is your matter, whether I answer or not is my matter.”
Du Shaofu was half glaring at his drunkard old Dad, his brows wrinkled deeply as he stated: “Sometimes, I really envy you.”
“Envy me for what?” Du Tingxuan’s curiosity was roused.
“Envy that you have a son like me, envy that you are my father ….”
“What’s there to envy about this, many people envies me, but definitely not for the reason that you are my son.”
Du Tingxuan observed Du Shaofu as he said with many emotions, “In fact, I had never imagined that you would be able to cultivate.”
“I worked my ass off for more than ten years, being treated as a fool for ten years.” Du Shaofu curled his lips.
“Fortune favors the fool.” There seemed to be another layer of meaning in Du Tingxuan’s words, it flashed passed but wasn’t captured by Du Shaofu: “Do you want to know everything?”
“Want!” Du Shaofu’s eyes lit up instantly, spirited like the seven colors of the rainbow.
“Died knowing the reasons is better than dying ignorant.” Du Shaofu said.
“Come with me.” A brief moment later, Du Tingxuan nodded in agreement, turned around and walked out of the room.
Du Shaofu followed his drunkard father after keeping the little tower safe in his storage bag.
The indigo sky looked limpid as if a crystal-clear water washed over it, vivid yet solemn at the same time.
Trailing behind his drunkard father, Du Shaofu entered the deeper part of the back mountain behind the Du Clan’s compound, much farther inside compared to the spot he chose for practice in the mountains.
This is one of the many peaks in the cascading range of mountains, looking up from below, there were layers upon layers, confusing, grand, and distinct.
But when Du Shaofu reached the peak, he found the scenery was more majestic than he had expected.
This made Du Shaofu have a different feeling altogether; when a person looks up the mountain from below, they would lament that the mountain was too high to be climbed, but at this moment, it silently tells you, that many people had already crossed its peak.
“Don’t tell me that you brought me here for a hike?” Du Shaofu glanced at the surrounding mountains and then looked over to his drunkard father.
“No.”
As his deep full voice sounded, Du Tingxuan’s hands were forming seals, bright runes shot out from the mid-point of his forehead akin to a dazzling moon, exuding a terrifying energy fluctuation.
Hu~la~la!
In the next moment, Du Shaofu noticed the bright rune that came from his drunkard Dad’s forehead seemed to open an illusionary door like unscrolling a painting.
A stretch of runes were triggered that space rippled with a ‘hua~la~la’ sound, mysterious and profound. It engulfed Du Shaofu within, and a series of runes drilled into Du Shaofu’s sea of consciousness.
Pain exploded in Du Shaofu’s head before falling into a scene of illusion, an extremely real illusion……
That place was surrounded with undulating waves of mountain peaks, wide and spacious with misty clouds gathering at the peaks like immortal mountains.
An ancient atmosphere ambled within the vast stretch of mountains as if they had existed since ancient times.
Hou~!
Aooo~~!
Up above a cliff, demonic beasts and demonic flying birds gathered.
Some of these demonic beasts were massive like bulls, howling like hunting hounds, fierce flying mounts; some looked like horses, white and pure, with a horn on their heads with teeth and claws like a tiger, the very image of a war god amongst beasts.
Many of these fierce flying beasts were hovering in the sky; some of them have three heads and six tails, some with colorful feathers called Luan birds[1].
Beast roars thundered in the mountain range, powerful atmosphere broke out from their body, causing the inhabitants of the forest to tremble with fear.
These demonic beasts, any one of them emerging in the outside world would cause many living beings to quiver, and prostate in surrender. Despite that, these beasts surrounding the great cliff seemed to have been subdued by humans.
In the space above the cliff, orbs of light descended; if one observed carefully, these glowing orbs were actually people standing in the air, exuding a sphere of light around their bodies like a star.
Several of them were bright and scarier than the others, like a deity that descended, mighty, overlooking at the mortal realm. A legend!
“Ao Tong, hand over the hell spawns in your arms that should not have existed, otherwise, the clan punishment will hold no mercy!”
From one of the brightest orbs in the air, a loud voice hollered, it reverberated for a long time in the mountain range.
His voice made the mighty beasts tremble, carrying a majestic pressure coming from an ancient time.
“Second Enforcer, my pair of son and daughter are not hell spawns!”
In the large open space of the cliff was a pair of extraordinary man and woman; the woman looked otherworldly, proud and regal as she stared at the person that was as bright as the sun within the sphere glow. There wasn’t the slightest of fear in her clear eyes, and her hands tightened around the two small bundles in her embrace − two tiny infants that looked like they were newborns.
Two little guys that were born not long ago but their eyes were bright and spirited that it could overflow.
The thunderous voice coming from the man terrified the beasts around but the two little guys weren’t scared at all, the little guy on the left was sucking its own little fingers loudly as if they were brushed with sweet honey.
And the little guy on the right was dancing with its little hands and feet, the small face was exquisite for a baby, looking extremely cute.
“Not hell spawns, why were you pregnant with them for three years and six months! When these two were born, the sky was dark, and angry thunderbolts split the earth; this is a penalty from Heaven! To avoid bringing destruction to the family in the future, these hell spawns cannot be left alive!”
Note:
[1] Luan Birds – related to Phoenix. Most of them are Blue/green (Qingluan), purple, and etc instead of fiery red like the Vermillion or Phoenix.