Chapter 600: Haitang Blossoms

"No, no! You mustn't, you mustn't!"

The woman was almost in tears, terrified. How could an immortal call her "Auntie"? That would shorten her life! She didn't even dare reach out to take the hoe.

"Oh! Was that too old?" Yu Lingdi, who looked like a young boy, scratched his head, a bit embarrassed. "Then... Sister?"

"I..." The woman's legs went weak. Calling her "Sister" was even worse than "Auntie"! "Sister" wouldn't do either!

"Mommy, the hoe..." The child in the woman's arms was a little hesitant. But it seemed to be his first time seeing rain, which made him excited enough to overcome his shyness. Seeing their own hoe in front of him, the child immediately recognized it as the one his father had helped him make, and he pointed at it.

"Slap." The woman quickly reached out and smacked the child's hand back, changing the subject. "That's not ours."

"Mom..." The child was about to speak again, but the woman shot him a glare. The little one immediately pulled his neck back and dared not say another word.

"Is that so?" Yu Lingdi could clearly see that he had scared them. He immediately stood the hoe upright and placed it in front of the woman without touching it. "Then you must be from this village, right? Someone who lost this would surely be worried. If they come looking for it, would you mind returning it to them for me?"

As he spoke, Yu Lingdi squinted his eyes, and his sunny smile, radiant like sunshine, seemed to melt the woman's heart amidst the pouring rain, calming her fear.

"Alright, alright." The woman replied, hesitating before reaching out and taking the hoe.

"Thank you!" Yu Lingdi bowed deeply again.

Then, he straightened his back and asked, "I came here with my senior, but I got lost while running an errand and can't find him now. Have any of you seen this old man?" As he spoke, he pulled out a portrait on oiled animal skin from his pocket; it was completely unaffected by the rain.

The woman could clearly see the face in the portrait. It was a gaunt, somewhat frightening face, very thin, with heavy dark circles under its eyes. A crooked straw hat was pressed down on its head, and its gaze was sidelong, as if looking at something unseen. Lifelike! The woman had never in her life seen such a realistic portrait. It felt as if the person were about to step out of the paper. However, searching her memory, she couldn't recall ever having any interaction with this old man.

"Ah—" The child in her arms suddenly gasped. A memory flashed through the woman's mind. Dark circles, straw hat... Her pupils contracted as she fully remembered something. Wasn't this the person Little Yi had just mentioned? The immortal who had arrived some time ago, taken over the abandoned thatched hut, and then continuously shot out white flames that didn't burn people? As her thoughts raced, the child in her arms blurted out words after his gasp.

"I saw... mmm." The woman quickly covered his mouth. Interactions between immortals never led to anything good. No matter how pleasant Yu Lingdi sounded, the woman could tell it was just a ploy! These two were definitely at odds. If she revealed the old man's whereabouts to the person in front of her, and then the old man came back to cause trouble, could she handle it? But if she didn't tell...

"Little brother, have you seen this old man?" Yu Lingdi's gaze had already shifted from the woman to the child.

The woman's expression darkened. She knew there was no escaping it, so she let go of the child's mouth. Sure enough, immortals, flames... once you got involved, it always ended badly! That damn fellow, he said he'd go out for a bit, but he hasn't returned for years. I knew it... The woman's face was mournful, her eyes red. Rainwater slid down her wet hair from her forehead, and as it entered her eyes, it carried away a few tears.

Children are the most sensitive. He could vaguely sense that something was wrong. Seeing the big brother in front of him lean closer, Little Yi looked up at his mother, then suddenly bit his lip and shook his head. "I don't know him."

"Huh?" Yu Lingdi was stunned for a moment, then smiled. "Big brother isn't a bad person, little brother, you don't need to be afraid of me." His eyes curved, revealing a brilliant smile.

"Mommy..." The child, instead, was frightened and shrank into his mother's arms. The woman turned the child's head away, holding him tightly, a look of determination in her eyes.

"He went that way." She pointed in the direction where the figure had disappeared, saying, "The person you're looking for just flew that way. That's all I know; I'm not clear about anything else. He's an immortal; we dare not disturb them."

"Uh..." "Immortal?" Yu Lingdi was startled by this title. He seemed to understand why the woman kept a natural distance from him, as if he were a bad person, the moment she saw him. They weren't even from the same world. How could she not be afraid after suddenly witnessing a miracle? He had wanted to ask for more specific details, but Yu Lingdi knew he couldn't push it further.

"I'm sorry." He straightened up again, solemnly taking two steps back. "I've scared you; I'll leave now." After taking two steps back, Yu Lingdi seemed to remember something. He quickly turned his head and pulled out a jade pendant. Seeing the woman flinch back in fear, he immediately thought of the hoe from earlier.

"Oh, sorry, sorry, I'm really not a bad person." He knew the woman was sensible, so he didn't beat around the bush. "I'll leave this with you. If you're afraid that person might come back for revenge, then smash it. It will protect you." Nodding heavily, Yu Lingdi thumped his chest and said, "I'll also rush over immediately and won't let you get hurt."

The woman didn't take the jade pendant; she just held her child and remained silent.

"Uh..." "Alright then." Yu Lingdi gave an awkward smile and dared not step forward. He simply offered the jade pendant suspended in mid-air, while he himself retreated two steps, signaling that he had no ill intent. "So, I'll go?" Yu Lingdi asked. Seeing that she still didn't take the pendant, he persuaded, "Please keep it; consider it for the child." With that, he turned around and quickly ran away.

"The jade pendant..." The woman looked at the jade pendant floating before her, her expression complex. How could she not know what this was? Little Yi had a similar spiritual jade pendant left by his father around his neck. From this brief encounter, she could tell that the boy-like man harbored no ill will, but... She reached out and took the jade pendant.

The woman then caught sight of the thatched hut nearby with its roof blown off. Although the hut was gone, for such a long time, the old man inside had only recently shown any signs of activity, just in the last few days. This kind of conduct was much more reassuring than the sudden downpour! The woman suddenly shouted loudly, "He's not malicious either, he hasn't hurt anyone!"

"Tap!" The figure running wildly in the rain abruptly stopped. Rain poured. Then, the person in front waved a hand. "Thank you, I know, he really is my senior. You two should go back quickly, don't get cold from the rain!"

"Splash, splash..." "Drip, drip..." "Pat, pat..."

The sudden rain came quickly and left just as fast. When the child turned his head from his mother's embrace, the sky had cleared, and the rainwater on him had dried at some point.

"Mommy?" The child seemed to vaguely realize he had made a mistake; even his calls were cautious. Suddenly, he saw the faintly glowing jade pendant in his mother's hand, his eyes lit up, and he reached out to grab it.

"Slap." The woman immediately slapped his hand away, put the pendant down, and found a corner to bury it.

"Mommy?" The child seemed not to understand this action. This jade pendant was so beautiful, even prettier than the one Daddy left. Why bury it?

"Little Yi, you must remember this," the woman's voice wasn't harsh; instead, she squatted down and said softly, "Although we live in such a poor place, even if we are poor, our ambition must not be short. We don't accept charity. Even if some things look beautiful and make one yearn for them, what shouldn't be accepted simply cannot be accepted. This jade pendant is very beautiful, isn't it?" she asked.

"Beautiful," the child nodded heavily, then immediately added, "But we can't take it!"

The woman's mouth was slightly agape; she hadn't expected her child to blurt out the words. She immediately said with relief, "Yes, we can't take it, including that flame earlier. I didn't know you had accepted it, but from now on, you are absolutely forbidden to show it again, understand?"

"Mm." The child nodded heavily.

"Let's go home." The woman held the hoe in one hand and the child's hand in the other, carrying them home, one on each side. After walking a couple of steps, she seemed to remember something. "Little Yi, you saw where Mommy buried the jade pendant just now, right?"

"Yup!" The child nodded his head.

"That's a secret, okay? You have to protect it and mustn't dig it out yourself. Otherwise, the immortals won't bless us."

"Okay!" The child, hearing it was a secret, jumped up happily. "I'll protect it well."

"Let's go then. Mommy also dug up a sweet potato over there today; we'll go back and cook it for you."

"Yay! We get to eat sweet potatoes!"

"Creak." The door of the roofless thatched hut creaked open, and a boy-like figure with lowered eyes walked out. The moment he stepped out, the sky suddenly darkened.

"Tap, tap, tap..." Raindrops fell. But before many could fall, Yu Lingdi waved his hand, and the dark clouds completely dispersed. He looked at the two figures, one large and one small, walking away in the distance, his eyes filled with an unspeakable complexity.

"Did I do something wrong?" He felt he hadn't done anything wrong. But in reality, he must have done something wrong. Otherwise, the woman wouldn't have been so wary. And the child wouldn't have turned his back to him.

"Is this... the mortal world?" Yu Lingdi murmured, as if enlightened. He turned his head and said to the hut, "Number Thirty-three, I think I understand why the Hall Master wanted me to come out and experience more."

"Mm." A muffled voice came from inside.

The next second, Yu Lingdi stepped aside, and a tall, black-robed man, bent at the waist to avoid the door frame, walked out. He was a full two and a half meters tall, and even wrapped in a black robe, the bulging outlines of his muscles were visible. Yu Lingdi stood before him like a child, only reaching above his waist.

"The Hall Master said that once you achieve enlightenment and break free from worldly attachments, you can 'sever your path'," the tall man, called Number Thirty-three, spoke in a dull voice, his tone very strange, and he scratched his head to accompany his words. "At that point, you should be able to easily defeat me."

"Oh, you can scratch your head now. It seems you've made quite some progress on this trip," Yu Lingdi chuckled.

"The Hall Master also told me to learn more from you humans, otherwise, if my tone doesn't change when I speak, I'll just sound like a toy." He suddenly tilted his head back and laughed, "Ha, ha, ha." The laughter had only three sounds, all flat-toned, like a machine, extremely odd.

"Pfft!" Yu Lingdi immediately held his stomach, bursting into laughter. "Laughter isn't like that. Human laughter comes from the heart, it's emotional laughter. Yours is still too robotic; you should learn more in the future!"

"Oh." Number Thirty-three scratched his head again, a thoughtful look in his eyes.

"Laughter?" He suddenly patted his stomach. "Pff." A short, flat sound, surprisingly crisp, then abruptly ceased.

Yu Lingdi burst out laughing again, nearly fainting from that chuckle. "Pff?"

"Hahahaha, you're hilarious, that's not how you laugh either..."

"Then how?" Number Thirty-three wanted to ask more, but his voice suddenly trailed off as he looked down at the side of the door. Yu Lingdi's pupils also contracted as he looked down. There were a few withered blades of grass in the doorframe of the thatched hut. But these originally dry, yellow blades of grass suddenly quivered between their playful banter and began to turn green. They even straightened slightly, growing slowly.

"Wood element," Number Thirty-three's voice was devoid of emotion. "Above 'severing the path'."

Yu Lingdi hadn't expected to encounter such a powerful being just as he entered the outer reaches of the Eight Palaces. It seemed Elder Wuyue wasn't just talking nonsense! Had the situation in White Cave deteriorated to this extent?

The two stared at the weeds in the door crack for a few more moments, then simultaneously raised their eyes and looked towards the village entrance. They saw a man in white gracefully walking towards them from a distance. Apart from his long, raven-black hair, the man was dressed entirely in pure white, without a single speck of other color. Even the few inches of exposed skin were as smooth and delicate as a woman's. His face was covered by a white veil, three layers thick, bound tightly. His white boots appeared to touch the ground, leaving footprints. Yet, with every step, he floated a hair's breadth above the ground, never actually touching it. Dirt, water stains, dust... None of these could be found on this man. He was like an immortal who had just stepped out of a pure and spiritual celestial court, pure to the extreme.

"Who?" Yu Lingdi's eyes narrowed, his expression grave. From the moment the man took his first step into the village, the desolate ground suddenly burst with life. Some wild flowers and weeds trembled slightly as if uncontrollably, and began to grow slowly. In the middle of the road, amidst a puddle of water, a dazzling pink-white begonia flower broke through the soil and bloomed.

Afterward. "Rustle..." A path of flowers unfolded, and a delicate fragrance filled the air. The man floated, one step, two steps... Then, in an instant. He arrived not far from the two. The distance was exactly three zhang.

"Excuse me..."