"Brother Yi? Oh! Brother Yi! Are you here begging for food too? Here, I'll move over and make room for you!"
Hearing Da Chun's voice, your nose instantly stung with emotion.
This was your real, genuine hometown friend!
There was a young girl following close behind Da Chun, always hiding behind him, looking very afraid of strangers.
But the way she looked at you was strange, as if she was trying hard to recognize who you were.
"Da Chun, what's going on? Why aren't you at Yuelai Inn, why are you in Makou Town? And who is she?"
Da Chun's ability to express himself was weak.
He mumbled and babbled for a long time, and you had a hard time understanding him.
Instead, it was the girl hiding behind him who acted as his mouthpiece, telling you about her and Da Chun's experiences over these years.
You were shocked to learn that this girl was actually your Third Sister's daughter!
Not long after you were conscripted, Shen Qingshan also fell into a trap, was falsely accused of being a murderer, and the county magistrate wanted to behead him.
Combined with what happened to you, Shen Qingshan realized this was blatant framing and false accusation.
He refused to be captured without a fight and fought his way out of the county government office.
While fleeing with his wife and daughter, Shen Qingshan was surrounded and blocked by martial artists from both the county government and the Dragon Protection Department, and unfortunately died in battle.
In the chaos, Third Sister Chen Yun handed her daughter over to Da Chun, who happened to be nearby, while she herself led the pursuers away.
Although Da Chun wasn't very bright, he knew neither the county government nor the Dragon Protection Department would tolerate Third Sister's family, so he unhesitatingly took Little Nannan and left Baiyun County.
The two depended on each other for survival, fleeing all the way, begging for a living.
You looked at your niece's sparkling eyes, filled with fear of strangers, her delicate features distorted by malnutrition, her youth covered in filth.
Your heart ached.
You couldn't imagine how much hardship she and Da Chun had endured wandering around all these years.
It was a miracle they were still alive.
"Nannan, I'm your uncle, don't be afraid..."
Your niece seemed to remember something.
"You are my uncle, I remember the little mole at the corner of your eye."
You touched your beauty mole and smiled, "Yes, it's me. Come, Uncle will take you to eat something delicious and buy some new clothes!"
Meeting you meant Da Chun and Nannan's hard days were over.
The two settled down in your martial arts school.
Da Chun did odd jobs at the school, moving things, sweeping the floor, doing what he could.
The anger in your heart was hard to quell.
"Why was the county government so determined to kill Shen Qingshan? Right... when I'm nearing the end of this lifespan, I might as well go investigate and get to the bottom of it!"
You suppressed the impulse to go to Baiyun County right now.
It had been so many years anyway, there was no rush for this moment.
A few more years of cultivation, a few more trait draws, and the chances of success when investigating Baiyun County would be greater.
Year Twenty-Eight, age forty-five.
Drawing trait...
Draw successful!
"Monster Aura" (Green): Wherever demons pass, they leave behind an aura. This aura becomes visible to your eyes.
Adjust trait?
Yes/No
"This is useful, equip it!"
There were plenty of demons in the Five Domains world. Being able to see demonic aura would undoubtedly help avoid demonic disasters.
Chen Yi in the simulation was currently at the Spirit Gathering realm and had 7 trait equipment slots.
Currently equipped traits were: Simulator [Mythic], Photographic Memory [Purple], Low-Grade Bone Structure [Green], Serious Punch [Green], Effort Guarantees Reward [Green], Spider Sense [Green], Monster Aura [Green].
Year Twenty-Nine, age forty-six.
Drawing trait...
Draw successful!
"Ginger Gets Spicier With Age" (Purple): Your cultivation speed, physical strength, vitality energy, etc., will not decline as your body ages. In fact, the older you get, the faster your cultivation speed becomes, with a maximum increase of up to 5 times.
Adjust trait?
Yes/No
"Another good one! Epic!"
Getting non-white traits two years in a row, is my luck turning around again?
Although Chen Yi in the simulation was only forty, "Ginger Gets Spicier With Age" would take effect immediately if equipped now.
Because in this life, due to pill toxins and the attack from the Ten Thousand Souls Banner, he had aged faster than a normal person, already meeting the "old" criteria for Ginger Gets Spicier With Age.
You replaced "Serious Punch" with "Ginger Gets Spicier With Age".
Da Chun and your niece had been living here for over two years now.
The impact of childhood trauma and the hardships experienced growing up on your niece was gradually fading.
She practiced martial arts together with the apprentices at the school.
You discovered she actually had High-Grade Bone Structure!
Among ordinary people, her talent was quite good.
After she could basically communicate normally with others, you contacted Xu Linglong and recommended her to the Clear Soup Sect, hoping she could achieve something in the martial path.
Although at her age, starting was a bit late.
You gave your niece a name, Shen Siqin.
"Uncle, you must take good care of your health. Your coughing has gotten worse these past two years. You need to take the medicinal soup Aunt Linglong sent you on time, don't complain it's bitter..."
Shen Siqin kept reminding you as she was leaving, worried about you.
You smiled and waved your hand.
"You, just take care of yourself."
Shen Siqin was also reluctant to leave Da Chun.
But Da Chun was cheerful, shouting for her to come home early for dinner.
Da Chun was carefree, happy every day as long as he had something to eat. The hardships he experienced those years didn't weigh on his heart at all.
Year Thirty-Three, age fifty.
"Cough, cough..."
The bad news was, at only fifty, your bodily functions seemed like those of a seventy or eighty-year-old.
The good news was, "Ginger Gets Spicier With Age" was speeding up your cultivation even faster.
"Next time, I shouldn't use pills to boost cultivation. If I do take them, they should be good ones, taken sparingly, taken selectively..."
What a painful lesson.
Under the dual effects of "Effort Guarantees Reward" and "Ginger Gets Spicier With Age", your martial realm had improved somewhat over the years.
You had just recently broken through to Spirit Gathering third layer.
"Should I go to Baiyun County now, or hold out for a few more years..."
Year Thirty-Four, age fifty-one.
You never married in this life, so you had no children.
It definitely wasn't because you couldn't have them, but because you never met the right person. Yes, you never forced matters of the heart.
Year Thirty-Five, age fifty-two.
The business of the martial arts school was basically handed over to your head disciple, Tian Wen.
This man had poor martial bone structure, but he had a good head for business, managed the school well, and was very filial to you.
You heard that war had broken out again in the south.
The Southern Borderlands situation, which had stabilized through marriage alliances, was in turmoil once more. A Female Emperor who had unified the Hundred Kingdoms of the South had risen powerfully and began counterattacking the Central Plains.
Year Thirty-Eight, age fifty-five.
Your physical condition was deteriorating daily, something also evident from your increasingly fast cultivation speed.
You were already at Spirit Gathering fifth layer.
The maximum speed boost from "Ginger Gets Spicier With Age" occurred when you were nearing death.
Knowing your days were numbered, it was time to go to Baiyun County and demand an explanation from the county government!