The Phong Yên secret realm lay on Độ Sơn, three thousand li from Phi Tinh Sect. The chosen disciples set off one after another on their flying swords. As for me, being the sect leader’s most favored disciple, I was naturally kept behind for special attention.
Mộc Phong inspected my luggage. Seeing that I had enough Life-Ending Pills to last me, he nodded in satisfaction, gave me a few more reminders, then waved me off.
As usual, I had my attendants carry me in a sedan chair, making a show of my extravagance. Giang Úc and Giang Miên flanked me, each playing their part to perfection. I spent the whole journey laughing and chatting.
The day we arrived at Độ Sơn, the snow was falling heavily.
I pointed to a snowman at the foot of the mountain and said with a laugh, “That’s incredibly lifelike.”
In the next instant, the snowman suddenly moved. Snow slid rustling off its head, revealing a pair of bright black eyes. I jumped.
Giang Úc hurriedly took me in his arms, his face darkening as he shouted, “Who’s there? How dare you play such demonic tricks!”
The person huddled in on himself, fear flickering in his eyes. There wasn’t the slightest trace of spiritual energy around him.
I furrowed my brow. “Seems to be a mortal.” And one who was nearly frozen to death, at that.
I rescued the snowman. To my surprise, he started following me. He was seven or eight years old, didn’t even have a pair of shoes that fit, and silently trailed behind my sedan chair. Since we were in Độ Sơn territory, the opening of the secret realm suppressed the cultivation of the nearby cultivators. I could barely keep the puppet attendants carrying my chair going, let alone channel spiritual energy into them so they could teleport.
When he fell for the seventh time, I sighed. “Get up here.”
He climbed aboard, trembling, and carefully knelt in one corner. I rubbed my temples, ordered my attendants to change course, and said, “Kid, I’ll take you to the nearest city, Qingzhou. When we get there, you get off, understand?”
His black eyes brightened for a moment, then immediately dimmed again. He stared at me blankly, his face pale. After a long while, a choked sob escaped him. “Immortal, please don’t send me back… I’ll die if you do.”
The snowy scenery outside the sedan chair was breathtaking, but I was in no mood to enjoy it. Looking at the pitiful child before me, I felt a complicated ache rise in my heart.
I remembered a kind of cultivation cauldron: children of five or six were chosen and trained from a young age. They were forced to drink countless medicines every day, leaving their bodies soft and their skin fair and smooth. Unlike the demon clan at Trích Nguyệt Pavilion, who were born beautiful and could reach that state without taking any medicine. Usually, those who trained this kind of cultivation cauldron were rogue cultivators with no sect or affiliation.
Those medicines did terrible damage to the body. Infertility, premature aging… all kinds of pain ravaged their insides. They rarely lived past thirty.
Giang Miên’s eyes reddened as he threw his arms around me, trembling violently. Giang Úc fell silent, too. They both knew the pain of being treated as cultivation cauldrons. Of course, they sympathized.
“All right, then.” I raised a hand to stop the sedan chair, leaned over, and slowly reached out to pat the child on the head.
“I happen to need another medicine boy. Why don’t you come with me?” My gaze rested on his little face. “I found you on Độ Sơn, so how about I name you Thẩm Độ?”
“I-Immortal…” He was so startled he nearly bit his tongue.
Giang Miên spoke up. “Thẩm Độ, why don’t you hurry up and kowtow to thank your master?”
Only then did he come to his senses and kowtow to the ground. “Thẩm Độ thanks you, Immortal!”