CG Chapter 134: The Sky, The Heart, The Mind
Greatness and happiness alike rise from the utmost depth of one's being. A man may reach the peak of existence, grasp immortality, and remain supreme for all eternity, yet still walk with an unresolved heart.
The Journey. The Path. The Dao.
These three in one are what make immortality matter beyond just escaping the decay of the body and soul.
A man with a small heart cannot even contain himself, but one who understands his true nature can take on the whole world with a smile.
With that, he may watch everything around him crumble into ash, as it turns into naught. Yet, knowing that he gave it his all, enjoying every single blade of grass and each fleeting moment, it would all be worth it.
The Sky. The Heart. The Mind. A dream beyond a dream. A glimpse of the greatness of mortal man.
Because, in the end, the path is only yours to walk.
At that moment, Aretius stepped out of his shabby hut.
His body was shriveled, and his skin was weathered, yet his face carried a rare genuine smile toward himself as he witnessed the blue sky for the first time.
He was lost in thought, thinking about his next steps in this world.
Out of nowhere, a young girl, holding a small straw basket in her hands, with long dirt-covered black-brown hair that framed her below-average-looking freckled face, ran toward him as she shouted,
"Old man Mozi! Old man Mozi!"
She shouted from afar, wanting to get his attention.
She stopped in front of him and held the hem of her clothes while taking long, heavy breaths, feeling exhausted from the run.
Aretius didn't move, feeling internally indifferent, as if he were looking at a walking corpse.
He kept the same faint smile lingering on his lips and somehow made it look more sincere than before.
"Do you need anything, Lin'er?" he asked in his hoarse yet kind voice.
"My… my mother wanted me to give you this."
She quickly handed him the straw basket that held a few pieces of freshly picked vegetables, some lotus roots, a few green cabbages, and even some winter radishes that were rare at this time of year.
The girl's face turned a bright shade of red as she looked at the humble basket, before turning her face toward him. Her hands shook as she continued to speak.
"She knows that it's not much, but she wanted to thank you for your help with my father's medical fees previously."
Stopping for a few seconds, she hesitated before speaking again, "I… will make sure to pick more for you once the harvest gets better next season."
Aretius internally shook his head while gently patting the dirt from her hair, simply saying, "You can leave it inside. I need to finish some old business."
Hearing his words, Xiao Lin felt a deep sense of relief, as he had never accepted any of their previous thank-you gifts.
As his old hand gently rubbed her head, she felt a quiet happiness, knowing that their village had such a kindhearted old man.
Fortunately for her fragile and naive dreams, she didn't know that their old kindhearted Mozi was no more, nor that the vegetables she worked so hard to pick were going to rot in the abandoned house.
But what seemed to be most fortunate was that she didn't know the shriveled hand of Aretius had not caressed her head out of affection.
Instead, he was testing whether he could still use his old abilities of blood control and what changes had occurred to them.
Of course, he already had an understanding of his abilities, but testing them on an actual human gave him more insight into his current level.
Adding all of this together, he understood that although his current abilities were extremely limited, once he started his martial arts road in the Jianghu, his powers would quickly skyrocket, and his abilities might show new sides that they couldn't previously show.
Even more important than that was that he had a vague moment of enlightenment on how to use the martial arts of this world to create a new path.
But it was still too early to say whether it was possible or not.
As Aretius walked away from the village with his hunched back, he carried with him only a couple of items.
He had his old carving knife hidden inside his clothes, the plump peach wooden sword on his waist, the tobacco pipe, and, lastly, a small silver coin pouch containing his entire savings over the years.
To anyone watching, he looked like a weak old beggar who could fall at any moment.
Even with his weak body, if any normal person dared to strike him down, they would taste the same fear that made the Heavenly Will of Eldervale die without a fight.
Behind him, the village looked like an insignificant speck of dust, an ant struggling to survive in its last days, as the aura of death and decay surrounded it from all directions.