I have a panel that reduces proficiency.

Chapter 71 Clearly a Long-Awaited Reunion

"Mianmian? You're my younger sister!"

Fang Shi was even less likely to yield to Wu Mianmian and tried to push the person in his arms away.

But he was shocked to find that he couldn't even lift a single finger.

The black mist had somehow wrapped around his limbs, binding him like invisible chains.

He opened his mouth to rebuke, but before he could utter a word, he felt a soft touch.

Immediately afterwards, a violent shock pierced through his sea of ​​consciousness.

Fang instinctively erected a defensive line, holding firm and preventing it from advancing even an inch further.

"Brother, don't push me, let me in, it'll only take a moment."

South of Panshi and north of Qiyuan, there lived a family.

Fang Chengye's ancestor was a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator who followed the Taoist priest of Sanpan Temple to open up the Great Wilderness and lived in Songyuan Town.

However, the family's division of property in the past led to their downfall in Qi Garden.

By the time he took over the business, he had become estranged from the Songyuan family.

Chengye cultivated immortality in his early years, and only had a son when he was nearly thirty.

Knowing it was a boy, they were overjoyed, but little did they know that three years later, he would turn out to be an idiot.

The neighbors, upon hearing this, all whispered among themselves, fearing that he had been driven mad by the foul air.

That night, the candlelight flickered red as Chengye and his wife sat facing each other.

"My dear husband, is there really no hope for the child?"

"I have spent half my life cultivating immortality, and in my early years I damaged my foundation, which is why I have this little bit of bone and blood. Even if it is just turbid qi rushing to my brain, or even if my soul is scattered, I will snatch it back from the hands of reincarnation."

"With the little we have saved, we can't even afford a single high-grade spiritual herb. I've heard that the Hundred Herbs Pavilion at the east end of Pan City has a Turbidity Removal Pill, which costs a thousand fragments of spiritual energy per pill. Even if we sold ourselves, we still couldn't afford one."

"Since we've been harmed by the turbid energy, we should seek a solution at its source. Though the depths of the Great Wilderness are extremely dangerous, there must be things that counteract it in places shrouded in turbid energy. Perhaps there are demon beast cores that can dispel the turbidity, or spiritual plants and herbs that can open the mind. Even if all else fails, hunting some demon beasts and exchanging them for spirit stones is still a path. Although I'm just a rogue cultivator at the third level of Qi Refining, what is there to fear in venturing into the Great Wilderness for my son?"

"Then I'll go with you. More people mean more help, and we'll have someone to assist us whether we're gathering herbs or hunting animals."

"It's just a pity for the child; he has to be cared for by others."

"It's better than watching him live a life of idiocy."

The following day, Fang Chengye and his wife entrusted their mentally challenged son to their friend, Guo, and set off into the Great Wilderness with a magic sword and several talismans.

Hunt monsters, take their demon cores and fur, and sell them at the market.

Venture deep into the valleys to find the legendary awakening herb and purifying flower.

He faced danger several times and narrowly escaped death.

Cheng Ye's chest was torn apart by a demonic beast, the flesh rolled up, the bone was visible, and blood stained half of his clothes. He was bedridden for three months before he could get up.

His wife was also poisoned by miasma. Her face turned ashen, and blood oozed from her seven orifices. She was kept alive by a single pill and remained unconscious for seven days and seven nights before she finally awoke.

Over the years, this process was repeated until a spiritual liquid was obtained, which was used to cleanse the son's marrow and open his orifices.

They obtained the Transformation Pills refined by Baicaoxuan and fed them to the child one by one.

Time flies, and seven years have passed in the blink of an eye. The foolish child is now ten years old.

Although he still stutters and is slower than other children, he can at least recognize people and call them "father" and "mother," and his eyes have become clearer.

However, in the eyes of the children in Qi Garden, he was ultimately an oddball.

"Fool, if you crawl around like a dog three times, I'll give you a piece of candy."

"A fool who can't even recognize his own parents, does he even deserve to be called a human being?"

"Look at you, you deserve to be a beast in Qi Garden for all eternity."

Several children tied a rope around his neck, intending to pull him along to crawl.

Who knew that although the child was mentally challenged, he was born with a great deal of strength. No matter how people pulled him, he would only walk and would not bend down.

The children had no choice but to lead the way by rope, letting him stumble along.

"Stop! Who gave you permission to bully Tugen!"

A clear, childlike voice rang out from behind.

A girl of about five years old ran over, spread her arms to block the mentally challenged child, stood on tiptoe, and reached out to pull at the noose.

"It's that girl from the Wu family again!"

"Why are you throwing a tantrum?"

"That idiot is a menace!"

The girl shouted, "Tugen isn't a menace, he's my brother!"

The children were unconvinced. Most of them were eight or nine years old, and the oldest was eleven. Most of them had some cultivation, while the girl was only five years old and had just begun to sense the Qi. How could they be afraid of her?

But remembering his family's instructions, he learned that this girl was the daughter of Wu Que, the leader of a hunting team in Qi Garden.

He then loosened the rope and turned to leave.

The little girl tiptoed and clumsily untied the rope with her small hands, her fingertips lightly touching the red marks on the mentally challenged boy's neck: "Tugen, are you alright?"

Did they hurt you?

The mentally challenged child stared blankly at her, then shook his head woodenly: "No."

"How could there not be?"

The little girl tugged at his sleeve, her lips slightly pouting, and said, "Tugen, you're my brother, you can't always be so silly."

.

Even so, how could she not know that he was truly an idiot?

However, being a child at heart, he quickly forgot his earlier unpleasantness.

She pulled Tugeng to sit down under the locust tree by the door, and took five smooth pebbles from her pocket: "Let's play pebble grabbing, it's your turn!"

The simpleton took the pebble blankly, flipped his hand, and the pebble scattered all over the ground with a clatter.

The little girl wasn't annoyed. She picked it up and counted it again for him: "You have to catch it like this, palm up!"

After several attempts, Tu Gen finally managed to catch one or two, a bewildered smile appearing on his face.

As the sun dipped westward and the shadows of the trees grew longer, the two of them, one patiently teaching and the other clumsily learning, continued their interaction.

The pebbles were picked up and scattered, then picked up again, and before they knew it, the sunset had quietly painted the sky.

The little girl, resting her chin on her hand, gazed at the sunset glow on the horizon and murmured to herself, "Tugen, why do you think the sun sets?"

She didn't expect a response, since she had never received any reply since she could remember.

To everyone's surprise, the simpleton raised his head, gazed at the setting sun, and said, word by word, "Because—the earth is turning."

He picked up two pebbles from the ground, placed the larger one in the center, and held the smaller one in his palm, slowly rotating it: "We—are moving."

The little girl froze, staring at him with wide eyes: "Tugen, what are you talking about?"

Tugen just stared blankly into the distance, saying nothing more.

The girl initially dismissed it as the ramblings of a madman.

But in the days that followed, Tugen became increasingly different from usual.

He often sat alone by the door, gazing at the clouds drifting across the sky, muttering to himself: "The stars are also the sun—the earth beneath my feet is originally round—"

These are incomprehensible words of a madman.

"Has the child's illness worsened?"

"Is Tugeng possessed by some evil spirit?"

"Look at him, spouting nonsense about the heavens and stars all day long. He must have damaged his mind and lost his senses."

Only the little girl was secretly delighted.

She could clearly see that although Tugen still spoke strangely, his eyes became clearer day by day, and although his responses were still slow, he was no longer the foolish and silly person he used to be.

Similarly, Mr. and Mrs. Fang Chengye were also very pleased.

Although the child was still incoherent, he was no longer as muddle-headed as he had been seven years ago.

Moreover, he had been through many desolate places and had not come away empty-handed.

"Master, this is—rice root?"

"If the rice root mentioned in 'The Biography of the Dao Ancestor' is really this thing, it might be able to cure Shi'er's dementia."

"It's probably fake. How could a true innate spiritual root be so withered, not even a trace of spiritual energy could seep out?"

"Even if it's fake, just a remnant of a spiritual plant, it might still help with Shi'er's dementia. Let's ask Brother Wu Que for help; he's very knowledgeable and can help us identify it before making a decision."

However, before Fang Chengye and Wu Que could set off, Tu Gen suddenly returned to normal overnight.

He was neither foolish nor gossipy; his eyes were clear and his speech was articulate.

Fang Chengye was overjoyed and hugged his son, tears streaming down his face. He immediately taught him all the talisman techniques that the Fang family had learned.

On this day, the girl found the house and Tu Gen was sitting upright at the table, sketching talismans with a pen.

"Tugen, let's go collect pebbles! I brought six today, one more than yesterday."

"No, I want to study the art of talismans."

"Just play for a little while, the sun is still high in the sky."

"Father said that these ten runes must be drawn today."

"oh."

A few days later, the girl came again.

Tu Gen was still at his desk, with an old book in front of him.

"Tugen, let's go watch the sunset under the locust tree. The sky is so beautifully red today."

"Let's do it another day. I've only read the first volume of 'Introduction to Talismans,' so I can't delay any longer."

"Then I'll sit here and wait for you to finish reading, okay?"

"No need to wait any longer. Examine these, and continue tracing the symbols."

The girl stopped talking, stared at his profile for a while, and then silently left.

A few days later, the girl tiptoed into the yard and took something out of her pocket—two grasshoppers woven from grass, their green leaves glistening and their antennae trembling. She had asked the old lady next door to teach her how to make them after a long time.

She glanced at the earthen root sitting in front of the table and thought to herself: Last time, the stone didn't respond, and he didn't go to watch the sunset either. This grasshopper was made by my own hands, so he should like it, right?

"Tugen, look! I've made two grasshoppers. This big one is for you, and the little one is for me. Let's make them fight!"

"Mianmian, I still need to study the art of talismans, and I really don't have time to play with you. Father said that now that I am awake, I should have a proper name. From now on, you don't need to call me Tugen anymore—call me Fangshi."

Mianmian's hand froze in mid-air, and the grasshopper made of straw trembled slightly in her palm.

"You—you've changed!"

She slammed the two grasshoppers to the ground, her eyes already red and brimming with tears. "Tugen is gone! You're not Tugen! I'm never playing with my brother again!" she cried.

After saying that, he turned and ran, his footsteps thumping through the courtyard and disappearing outside the gate.

Before the table, Fang Shi slowly bent down, picked up the two grasshoppers with broken antennae from the ground, remained silent for a long time, and finally placed them beside the talisman paper.

Five years later.

Fang Shi sat upright at the desk. As the talisman brush touched the paper, a dark golden floating talisman slowly lit up before disappearing.

Fang Chengye stood behind him, watching for a long time, a sense of satisfaction gradually appearing in his eyes.

"You've mastered this floating talisman. With this skill, you can make a living. Now your mother and I can go to the Great Wilderness with your Uncle Wu Que without worry."

Fang Shi put down his talisman brush, looked up at him, and asked, "Father, where are you going?"

Fang Chengye looked past the window and gazed at the distant horizon, saying, "Seeking the Dao, for you, and for me."

Soon after, news came that Fang Chengye and his wife, along with Wu Que and his wife, had ventured deep into the wilderness, encountered a beast tide, and had not been heard from since.

Fang Shi sat at his desk all night.

The next morning, he pushed open the door and went straight to the next room.

He was going to ask Wu Mianmian whether the news was true or false.

But halfway there, his pace slowed down. He suddenly remembered that since the day she dropped the grasshopper and ran out of the yard, he had never spoken a word to her, and he could hardly remember what the girl looked like.

He stood outside the Wu family's courtyard wall for a long time, the autumn wind swirling withered leaves past his feet, and finally pushed open the half-closed gate.

A middle-aged man with a stout build stood in the courtyard, while a young couple bent over and pressed their fingerprints onto a contract on a stone table in the courtyard.

Fang Shi recognized him as Manager Tian, ​​the person in charge of renting out houses in the Qi Garden area.

"Where is the Wu family?"

Without turning his head, Steward Tian stuffed a contract into his pocket, waved his hand impatiently, and said, "The lease is up. The Wu couple were stuck in the Great Wilderness and couldn't pay the rent, so they rushed to the edge of the Great Wilderness long ago. What else can we do?"

He turned around, looked Fang Shi up and down, and suddenly chuckled, saying, "Oh, it's you, kid. Your family's lease is about to expire, don't blame me for not reminding you—if you can't pay the spirit stones, you'll be kicked out next month."

Fang Shi silently turned around and left the courtyard.

He knew about the edge of the Great Wilderness—the place where wandering cultivators who couldn't afford the rent for Qi Garden would build a dilapidated shed to stay.

However, he spent an entire afternoon wandering through those shacks, asking everyone he met, but he still couldn't find any trace of Wu Mianmian.

When I got home, it was already dark.

Fang Shi did not light a fire to cook, nor did he put up any talismans or draw any spells. He did not even perform the dust-avoiding incantation. He simply lay down on the bed, fully clothed.

Outside the window, autumn insects chirped, but inside the room was completely silent. He simply opened his eyes and stared quietly at the roof beams.

"Tugen, why do you think the sun sets?"

"Because—the earth is turning."

"We are moving."

"Tugen, what are you saying?"

"The stars are also the sun — the earth beneath our feet was originally round —"

Those words suddenly surfaced from the depths of my memory, as clear as yesterday.

Fang Shi suddenly pressed his forehead, and a sharp pain exploded from the depths of his consciousness. Bustling traffic, skyscrapers, and neon lights flickered in the night.

That night, Qiyuan Town fell into silence. A slender figure, shaped like a lake, sneaked into the town from the edge of the wilderness. Under the cover of darkness, it made its way to the outside of the old Guo family courtyard.

The figure was hunched over, reaching out to touch the cold door panel. The forehead pressed against the door, the shoulders trembled violently, and a faint sound escaped from the throat.

Suddenly, a faint wisp of spiritual energy drifted over from not far away.

Although the spiritual energy was faint, it was extremely pure, and it was emanating from the Fang family's courtyard next door in wisps.

She trembled, bit her lip hard, and swallowed her sobs back down her throat.

He then found the most secluded corner outside the Fang family's courtyard wall, sat down cross-legged, and closed his eyes.

Breathing gradually became even.

The figure finally stopped trembling.

The next day, Fang Shi opened his eyes... [Name: Fang Shi]

Life expectancy: 15/98 years

【————】

He remained silent, suddenly realizing that the spiritual energy that had been leaking out of the house all night was still emanating from it.

So he went out and left.

He passed through the cultivation room, crossed the courtyard, opened the gate, and set out to find Li Daoyuan.

But then they saw a child sitting in the corner outside the door.

He was about ten years old, thin as a lake, wearing a tattered Taoist robe patched upon patched, barefoot, with unkempt hair and a dirty face, and was meditating with his eyes closed.

Fang Shi frowned and asked, "Who are you?"

The child opened his eyes, stared at Fang Shi, and said, "I am Wu Tong, a beggar wandering on the edge of the Great Wilderness."