Chapter Seven

  Shi was not enough to stay in the forest, so he pretended to pick up some dry branches and firewood while secretly watching a large group of people flying over from the mountain. The five or six people who stayed behind also gathered together and hid in the broken cave where the hunters had set foot. Shi didn't feel at ease until then, and continued to gather firewood in the forest. Originally, he had his mother's heavenly silk scarf to hide himself, but thinking of his grandfather's words about the great cultivators' divine powers, which could recognize and break through anything, he took off the scarf and hid it, taking on the appearance of an ordinary child gathering firewood in the forest. As a result, he coincidentally avoided this disaster. Shi not enough put away his mother's heavenly silk scarf artifact and then used flexible branches to bundle up the dry firewood, shouldering it and heading down the mountain.

  In the mountains, about six or seven miles away, there was a small village in the mortal world. As the time approached dusk, on the winding road, a weak and feeble figure walked alone with difficulty. The setting sun stretched its shadow very long. Along the mountain path, the small figure gradually disappeared into the green shadows of the village. Among the people squatting there, one was a cultivator who was a disciple of the Lu family's master. His eyes stared at the weak figure until it entered the village and disappeared among the houses before he stopped.

  Insufficient and not daring to look back, he entered the village directly, and soon found a dilapidated courtyard, gently putting down the firewood, and quietly sneaking into the cattle shed. The wind was strong in the mountains that night, and dark clouds rose again, followed by heavy rain pouring down incessantly. The grass shed was on the verge of collapse, although it had not collapsed yet, but the wind blew from all sides, and before midnight, the shed started leaking rain. When did he suffer such humiliation? Moreover, having gone hungry for a day, he was both hungry and cold, curled up beside the haystack, sobbing softly.

  "Mom, waaah... Grandpa, waaah..."

  He cried out "Mom" and wailed for half a while, then cried out "Grandpa" and wailed for another half while.

  "Hey, old man! It sounds like there's a kid crying outside!"

  "Are your ears not working properly? It's the middle of the night, where did this crying child come from?"

  "Why don't you go take a look."

  "Sleep! Sleep! Tomorrow the rain will stop, and I still need to repair the thatched hut!"

  Not daring to cry again after hearing the voices of people inside the house, she continued to sob uncontrollably.

  On the second day, early in the morning, the sky was still not clear, but the rain had lessened. He was woken up by the cold wind before dawn. He quietly left the broken courtyard, wrapped his body with a silk scarf, and circled around to head towards that mountain hill. He climbed up a big tree and looked towards the hiding place of those cultivators in the distance, but found that the cave was filled with water, yet there was not a single person inside. It seemed that they could not bear the suffering of the rainwater and had retreated to another place.

  Insufficient hiding in the tree, quietly waiting for his mother to come and find him. One day passed, but his mother didn't arrive. The second day also passed, and his mother still didn't arrive. By the third day, Insufficient was so hungry that he could hardly bear it, and he lay weakly on a branch. He felt around in his tattered pockets and pulled out a small bottle of medicine. It was his grandfather's medicine, which his grandfather had told him not to take lightly.

  "It must be edible! Otherwise, why would Grandfather always give me these danwan to eat?"

  Insufficient to persuade himself, he took out a few deep green pills emitting a strong medicinal fragrance and sparkling light. He smelled them, mixed them with his mouth, and swallowed several mouthfuls of saliva. Unable to bear the hunger, he raised his hand and swallowed all seven or eight pills into his abdomen. The medicine was actually bitter, but it dissolved as soon as it entered his mouth. The bitter and astringent pill liquid with a slightly spicy flavor entered his abdomen, and in just a moment, a fiery hot air flowed from his lower abdomen straight up to his head, then he blacked out and lost consciousness.

  After an unknown period of time, a faint cry of an old man came from afar:

  "Willow! Inadequate! What can be done about this? You all leave, and I alone remain in the world, what's the point of that?! Ah, ah, ah... Woe, woe..."

  Insufficient to open his eyes, under that tree tens of feet away wasn't it his grandfather?! Insufficient had never seen the old man stamping his foot and wailing. Suddenly a surge of childishness arose, he loudly shouted:

  "Grandpa!"

  The old man was startled and looked around, but there was no one else, thinking it was an illusion, so he cried out again.

  "Grandpa! I'm scaring you!"

  Not seeing his grandson, the old man cried again and shook the tree branch loudly. The old man saw the tree branch move and suddenly flew up to the top of the tree, but couldn't see his grandson, so he called out in a trembling voice:

  "Not enough, good kid! Don't scare Grandpa, come out!"

  "I'm right here, oh yeah, it's this silk scarf that mom gave me!"

  Not enough to wipe away tears, smiling at Grandpa. Shi Yi suddenly hugged Not Enough and burst into loud wails.

  "Grandpa, I'm hungry!"

  "Good boy, grandpa will give you something delicious!"

  The old man took out a dan bottle from his waist bag and handed it to Insufficient Dao:

  "Dig in! It's delicious!"

  "Grandpa, I won't take this medicine. I've already taken a few pills from this bottle and it's killing me!"

  "What medicine?"

  Grandfather was startled.

  "Exactly this! You won't let me eat it!"

  "Oh no!"

  The old man's face changed greatly, and he hastily grasped the insufficient hand to feel the pulse. Only after a while did he sigh:

  "What a strange thing! How many grains did you eat?"

  "About seven or eight grains."

  "Ah! My ancestors! This medicine is called Sacred Spirit Dan, a sacred medicine that enhances one's spiritual awareness. Even for cultivators with high levels of magical power, it takes at least a year and a half to refine the effects of just one pill. Ordinary people can't even handle seven or eight pills; taking just one would cause their body to explode! This is truly an extraordinary thing!"

  The old man was greatly puzzled, but after a moment's thought, he suddenly said:

  "Hurry up and leave! It's not safe to stay here for long."

  He then hugged his grandson, drove the cloud southward along the mountain slope and escaped. Twenty or thirty miles away, under a mound of earth, in a pine forest, an old man stopped his escape from the light, revealing himself.

  "Willow! You died so miserably!"

  The old man wept again and said with a sigh:

  "It's time for you to go, your mother has untied her belt, go and bid her farewell!"

  "Grandpa, Mom... Waaah, Mommy, Mom..."

  "This isn't over, we will avenge this great injustice! Follow Grandfather for now!"

  The old man and his grandson flew towards the ancient city of Guzhou. In just a few days, they arrived at a town north of the city called Fanjia Town. They didn't go to the inn in the town, but instead went to an elderly couple's home to borrow a place to stay.

  Shi Yi and his grandson only told the old couple that their hometown was plagued by disease, all their family members had died, and their little grandson was also ill. They traveled thousands of miles to find a doctor, and fortunately, the child recovered. With nowhere else to go, they came to seek refuge with relatives, but they had already moved away. The old couple were kind-hearted and took in Shi Yi and his grandson.

  Half a month passed, and Shi Yi and his grandson had nothing to do but eat idle food. They couldn't help feeling uneasy in their hearts, so they asked the old man to introduce them to something to do. The old man was quite straightforward, went out for half a day, and came back saying:

  "You look like a scholar, and at your age, you're not suited for hard labor. Coincidentally, the private tutor from Mr. Fang's household has left, why don't you go give it a try."

  "Oh, thank you for introducing us."

  "It doesn't matter."

  Then the two old men went to Fang's house. Mr. Fang was also a scholar, and he had a great conversation with Shi Yi, so he invited Shi Yi to be a private school teacher.

  Shi Yi dared not use his real name, so he changed it to Shi Qu Bing. The study was the old property of the Fang family, with not many houses, but enough for Mr. Shi to live in and teach the Fang children. Shi Yi and his grandson moved into their new home, simply tidying up before settling in. After three to five days, they opened a school and started teaching. Shi Yi rarely went out, only taught and passed the days, which were quite leisurely. However, his grandson would sometimes suddenly become stupid and stare blankly. Despite Shi Yi's repeated guidance, he remained the same, leaving him to sigh in frustration.

  At the end of the day's study, Shi Yi called his grandson over.

  "Not enough, how old are you this year?"

  "Grandpa, your grandson is already nine years old."

  "It's a pity, predecessors were wise and capable at the age of seven, able to handle great responsibilities, with both literary and military talents. You are already nine years old this year, Grandfather has some things to tell you, are you willing to listen?"

  "Grandfather, although I am not comparable to that great and virtuous person, but I have set my ambition high, please tell me about it."

  "Good, insufficient, you can know what kind of family I am from?"

  "Xiu Xian Dao, De Da Fa Zhi Jia."

  English Translation: "The Way of Cultivating Immortality, Obtaining the Great Method's Family."

  "What is the Cultivation Path?"

  "It's just cultivating and becoming an immortal!"

  "Becoming an immortal is no easy feat! My family has been a prominent one for thousands of years, and only one person has ever ascended to the heavens. To cultivate the Dao of immortality, one must be extremely intelligent, brave, resilient, and tolerant, and also have a great deal of heavenly luck!"

  "Grandpa, I'm going to be a great wise and brave and strong and patient ninja."

  "Alright! Insufficient, are you thinking of your mother?"

  "Yes, Grandfather."

  "It's all because of your inadequacy! Your mother sacrificed herself to save you, and by the time Grandfather found her, only a wisp of her soul remained. Grandfather used the Nine Spirit Divine Box, the treasure of our Shi family, to collect that last shred of her soul, but unfortunately, it was too late to bring your mother back to life."

  "Grandfather, is that really my mother inside the divine box?"

  Insufficient to hold back tears and ask.

  "Yes! You must diligently cultivate your magical powers, first to save your mother from her predicament, and secondly to protect yourself in order to continue the bloodline of our family's legacy. The entire clan of over a thousand people was harmed by our enemies, now only you and I remain. Alas, your father... my poor child! He died in battle to save your mother and me too! You will have to endure extreme hardships! Bear extreme pain! Achieve extraordinary abilities! Accomplish extraordinary feats! Revitalize our family! Avenge our blood feud! Grandson, ah... you... you... alas! The weight on your small shoulders is like a mountain range! My poor grandson, ah..."

  It is hard to express what I mean; my voice chokes and I can hardly continue.

  "Grandfather, I wish to learn good magic, cultivate good Taoist principles, save my mother, pass on our family's teachings, and avenge the blood feud!"

  "Kid!......"

  Shi Yi stroked his insufficient hair with tears streaming down his face.

  So the old man and his grandson worked hard in private school during the day, and every night they studied Taoist magic and immortal techniques. Although it was extremely hot or cold, they never stopped for a moment. Mr. Fang was very happy to see that his children and grandchildren were all talented. Many scholars and poor students from neighboring villages came to study here. Even the famous Jin family in the countryside sent their granddaughter, Jin Cheng'er, to study here. Jin Cheng'er was over ten years old, beautiful and elegant. She had been seriously ill and died, but woke up again on the third day, which was considered a strange event at that time. Jin Cheng'er was intelligent and eager to learn, and she got along very well with Na Bu Xu. She was deeply loved by the old master. Often, when discussing with Da Lun Fu and others, Mr. Fang would nod his head in approval.