CH 51

In the yard, the hoe had turned into a long spear sparkling with silver light. It steadily floated in the air. Gu Wen Zhu, holding Xia Yi, had stood on it. Kirin was flying as well. It wanted to come.

Xia Yi hesitated for a moment. He was afraid that its sudden appearance might scare people. So he patted Kirin’s head, “Son. We will bring you to see your grandfather and grandmother next time. How about you stay at home this time?”

Kirin was not at all satisfied, but it still went back to the door obediently and lied on the blue stone pavement. Seeing this, Xia Yi had a guilty feeling. Not only was he not a good husband, he was also a bad father.

After asking the servants about the directions, the hoe flew into the sky, dashed out from the clouds, and headed towards the east. They flew past floating islands of different sizes and mountains of different shapes. They were out of the area of Qi Shan in a short while. Some villages and houses appeared under their feet. Some farmlands with roads crossing in between could also be seen.

The farmers were farming. With people standing on a hoe flying past above them, they did not seem stunned at all, only looking like they had gotten used to it already.

Some people with their hoes supporting them moved their hand to the pergola to lean and watch, some just glanced and continued their work. It was as if the thing that was flying above them was only two birds instead of two persons on a hoe.

Sometimes they flew a little bit too low, some of the fellows would even greet them loudly, “Cultivator. Have you eaten yet? Are you going to kill some demons?”

This was the direction where people exit Qi Shan. This must have been like a standard route with people flying around every day. Xia Yi was afraid that they might frighten people at the beginning, so he made Gu Wen Zhu fly high above the clouds. Then he saw people’s reactions and discovered that he was overreacting, therefore they were flying lower now.

The air at higher grounds was thinner and their vision could be blocked by clouds at times. They had lowered a bit more somewhere and were being stopped by someone waving his hands.

When they descended to ask about it, that person held out a can with a small opening, “Please, cultivators, my farmland is too wide, could you fly around and help to spread some fertilizers?”

Xia Yi looked at him, thinking that this fellow was really good at doing this, he must have been stopping a lot of cultivators to fertilize his land for him, he even had this can with a hole with him. Thus, the two had the can in their hands, flying around on top of the farmland for a lap.

They were just like a plane for farming without actually consuming any fuel. They asked about the directions on their way and had exited the mountain area not long after, a large plain appeared in front of their eyes.

Huang Zhong Prefecture must be near.

When they saw a big city on the ground, they controlled the hoe to fly beneath the clouds and slowly halted outside the city’s gate. Following the flow of people passing through the inspection conducted by the lieutenant at the city’s gate, the two walked on the street of the Huang Zhong Prefecture. 

A lot of people were on the lively street with all their shoulders touching.

Xia Yi saw plenty of cultivators carrying their swords and dusters coming and going on the main street. No wonder this was the cultivation world.

There were some others selling some medicines and cores on the side of the street. They just placed a piece of blue cloth onto the ground and put the cans and bottles on top of it, shouting and selling.

“There was a surprise during the night. The client’s grandmother was dead for three days, then he gave me this core, and she climbed out from the coffin and ran five rounds around the yard. Wang Er is making some reviving cores. I wish all the elderlies could live long and prosper.”

“Good news, good news. The sect was down. The sect leader brought the female apprentices with him to flee, making the male cultivators have to sell all the cores for money to travel back home. From now on, the cores will be selling at a discounted price. We only want the cost back.”

Both of them asked people about the directions on their way, and they had arrived at the street where the house was.

A servant who was dazed sat in front of the front door. He saw Xia Yi, stupefied, then he rubbed his eyes and shouted loudly merrily, “Young master is back.” Then he turned to dash into the yard to tell everyone.

They had not even reached the door yet but could already hear that servant yelling on his way, “Master and madam, young master is back, young master is back.”

Xia Yi was feeling excited as well, thinking that he will be seeing his parents immediately, his heart pounded quickly. He grabbed Gu Wen Zhu’s arm instinctively. With this grab, he found that Gu Wen Zhu’s muscles on his arm were incredibly tense and he was standing very straight. Then he looked at his face and saw his stern face with lips pulling inwards, apparently dwelling in nervous feelings.

Right. This is the first time he is seeing his father-in-law and mother-in-law. Being nervous is unavoidable.

As a considerate good husband, Xia Yi suppressed his uneasy emotion and showed a calm face. He comforted Gu Wen Zhu by patting the back of his hand, saying in a light tone, “Don’t be nervous. You are such a good man. They are going to love you.”

Gu Wen Zhu responded with a low sound. He breathed deeply discreetly.

Just when they had entered the yard, they saw Xia’s parents came out from the living room in a hurry.

Father Xia walked towards that servant and said, “If this is a false alarm, I am going to kick you out.”

Just when he finished his words, Mother Xia halted her steps suddenly and shouted out happily towards the front door, calling Yi.

Upon seeing his mother’s face again, hearing that familiar calling again, Xia Yi felt excited firstly, then a sharp pain in his chest.

Is this mom? No, this is my mother. He walked up a few steps with red eyes, holding his mother tightly, he called out with a shaken voice, “Mother.”

Mother Xia had her eyes reddened as well. She patted Xia Yi’s back, and said in a blaming tone, “You are a big boy now. You have to stop clinging to your mother someday. Look at you. You have only been away from home for a short period of time.”

“He has been going through a lot out there. He just missed you.” Father Xia wanted to act more sternly but could not help smiling.

“Father.” Xia Yi then turned to hug his father, burying his face against his shoulder, sobbing, “I missed home and I missed father and mother.”

Father Xia panicked, he felt delighted as well as embarrassed, making him faking coughing at the end, “Boy. Alright, alright. You are a man now. It’s not good to cry. And we even have a guest here.”

Despite the content of his words, his tone was full of unmistakable love.

Hugging his father in silence, Xia Yi felt as if he had travelled through infinite time.

The younger him was walking in the front with an impatient expression, his father following him with his bag in his hands.

His father wanted to walk beside him a few times, but he fastened his pace to keep the distance. Then, when he was lying on the sofa alone, staring at the black and white photo on the cabinet, he would always think, if he had the chance to walk with his father side by side again, he would hold his father’s hand and never let go, and also give him a tight hug.

Mother Xia was beginning to chuckle beside them, Xia Yi thus then let go of his father and stood straight.

“Is this cultivator in the same sect as Yi?” Xia Yi turned to face Gu Wen Zhu with an enthusiastic smile.

With his handsome look, elegant aura, and the uniform of Qi Shan Sect on him, Gu Wen Zhu looked like out of this world. Father Xia naturally paid him respect, then he wanted to greet him with folded hands.

“No no.” Gu Wen Zhu quickly stepped forward to hold Father Xia’s hands to stop them.

By then, Xia Yi finally realized that he had not introduced them yet, and he therefore lowered his voice to say shyly, “Father, mother. Allow me to introduce you to my wife, your daughter-in-law, Gu Wen Zhu.”

“What?” Xia’s parents could not believe their ears and threw each other a suspicious look, asking together at the same moment.

“I didn’t have time to mail you first. I got married at Qi Shan. This is my wife. His name is Gu Wen Zhu.” Xia Yi raised his voice a little, “I am returning home this time to see you as well as to introduce him to you.”

He said it clearly so that his parents had heard it sound and clear. Although they had heard this clearly, they were still wondering why they could not comprehend this. Married? Wife? With this man?

Gu Wen Zhu took a step forward, bowing deeply with folded hands, saying with a loud voice, “Gu Wen Zhu, your son-in-law, is here to see you. My greetings.”

“Bu, but you are a man.” Words slipped from Mother Xia’s mouth.

Xia Yi saw his parents’ face changing drastically and thought this was bad. He had spent too much time in the farming world and had already got used to homosexuality. Therefore, when he came to this cultivation world, he just brought Gu Wen Zhu back home as if it was normal, without realizing that it was different.

Mother Xia was stunned. She looked at Gu Wen Zhu, looked at Xia Yi and could not recover from the shock. Is this a man-like woman? But he really does not look like one. He even has a thin layer of stubble on his face.

Father Xia had been a magistrate for years and had heard a great deal about love affairs among men and women from his colleagues. He knew that it was a trend for some rich people to have affairs with some men. However, those were not serious relationships and could hardly be. Those people were only doing that secretly to have fun, they would not get married to those men.

It was never heard of to have a man bringing another man back home under broad daylight and claiming that they had married each other like Xia Yi did.

“The leader of the Qi Shan Sect found that you are talented and wanted to have you as his apprentice. I did not intend to let you go in the first place, but you said that you have to go. And so you went. You are a grown-up, your mother can no longer control you. I don’t want to stop you from developing your career either. But you, you have only been learning for some days, and you are bringing a man back home telling me that you have already gotten married?” Mother Xia had her tears falling from her eyes, scolding Xia Yi, crying uncontrollably.

Xia Yi could not give an explanation. He could not tell them that he was not their real son and might be a fake. Your son evaporated right when I transmigrated. I just missed my parents too much, and thought that you are my actual parents. And I cannot say that I transmigrated from the farming world, that I and Zhu actually already have a marriage certificate there. Our marriage is protected by the law there.

Xia Yi noticed his father’s face looking pale, and his father’s breath was rough with his chest moving heavily up and down. The eyes of his father were searching around the yard. Xia Yi instantly felt bad.

This familiar look must be looking for a rod or a broom. This was just like the look every time his teacher called to tell on him in his home world.

Xia Yi was nervous and desperately hid behind Gu Wen Zhu. He grabbed his clothes tightly and shouted, “Zhu. Help. My father is going to hit me.”

Gu Wen Zhu was anxious and he also treasured Xia Yi, he hurried and told Father Xia, “Father. It’s us who are naive and got married without informing you first. But we had an explanation. Please forgive us for this.”

Forgive you? You still want me to forgive you? Right, after Xia Yi divorces you foxy man. Also, who is your father?

In view of Father Xia’s lips trembling with his finger pointing at him speechlessly, Gu Wen Zhu bowed deeply with folded hands. When he straightened himself again, he said sincerely, “Father. Please calm down. Do not let your rage affect your health. Although the two of us got married without telling you, I promise you to treat Yi well for the rest of our lives. You can depend on me to take good care of Yi. You can be rest assured of this. Please stay healthy and wait for your grandson from me and Yi in a couple of years.”

“Dear!” Followed by the scream of Mother Xia, Father Xia’s body fell backwards. He had passed out.