I am the old, fiery-faced man from the senior department.

Return to the Seven Enlightened Path

"Little Yan... Waaah... Remember me, Little Fish. You must come back after you find your family... I'll make you delicious seaweed soup... (*?????)"

Ah Quan sighed helplessly and pulled Xiao Yu, who was holding the little girl tightly, back to where he was.

"The outside world is not like the village. Although we won't encounter bad people with the Venerable One here, we still need to be careful and not leave the Venerable One's side."

A-Gui handed a bag of dried fish to the young girl and carefully gave her instructions.

"Ah."

The young girl, holding a large bag of dried scales, responded softly.

"Don't worry, don't worry."

A hand covered the little girl's head, rubbing her little head like a kitten, and a hearty laugh broke the atmosphere of parting among the group.

"You two little ones can rest assured. Since you've entrusted her to me, I'll definitely protect this little darling well."

A woman from the Jiao tribe, dressed in the simplest of clothes—a shirt and jeans—yet still exuding a bold and unrestrained spirit, made a promise to the two men.

"Please, Grandma."

As soon as Xiaoyu finished speaking, the woman suddenly froze in her smile.

She wanted to reach out and pinch the girl's cheek, but considering there were other children around, she could only sigh softly and then make a self-deprecating remark.

"Tsk, I've gotten so old in the blink of an eye."

"Oh, no way. You're still as charming as ever, Grandma... Waaah, I know I was wrong. Grandma..."

Xiao Yu was just about to compliment the woman and suggest she look after the young girl more, but upon seeing her increasingly strange smile, she immediately realized she had touched a nerve. Embarrassed, she could only stick out her tongue, trying to get away with it cutely.

"The car is about to leave. Hmph, you're lucky, girl."

The woman glared at her, then bent down and picked up the little girl.

"Hey, take care, Grandma. Little Yan, don't forget me!"

The little fish waved its scales as it bid them farewell, attracting the attention of passersby and receiving a response from the two women.

"Little Fish, I will remember this."

"You brat! You wait until I come back next time!"

The bus slowly drove away from the station. After confirming that the two people... especially the young girl, were really not coming back, Xiaoyu burst into tears and threw herself into A-Quan's arms.

"Brother A-Quan... will we never see Xiao-Yan again?"

"No...no. When we have more money later, we can go see her. We can ask Grandma then, she'll definitely know where Shouyan is."

Ah Quan gently comforted her.

But he also knew in his heart that the child was no longer one of them, and that they might never see each other again in this life unless something unexpected happened.

"Um……"

After staying for a while, the two left together and returned to their small village.

On the other side...

On the bus heading to the city, Fu Xun looked at the little girl who was quietly leaning against him with some worry.

"Although I agreed quite readily... I've never taken care of children before."

Looking at the delicate little girl, who was as tender as a piece of porcelain, she hesitated for a long time before finally placing her right hand on the little girl's forearm with the lightest touch.

"Well, little one, the road ahead is still long. Do you want to take a nap?"

How can we prevent children from causing problems due to misbehavior?

If the child falls asleep, then there won't be any problems.

That's so true to me!

Fu Xun praised himself for his cleverness.

What is this?

"what?"

Fu Xun lowered her head, and the little girl was staring curiously at a scale on her wrist.

"This..."

Fu Xun looked around to make sure the passengers were busy with their own things and wouldn't notice anything outside before he quietly explained to her.

"Well, those two little guys already told you, right? About the Venerable One and all that."

She held the baby girl in one arm and touched the cobalt blue scale with the other.

"This is a gift from the divine ruler. It is also our proof."

"You know the Divine Lord, right..."

Upon hearing this question, Fu Xun couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth.

She felt she had asked a pointless question. Which Yan citizen didn't know about the Divine Lord?

"Ok, I know."

As Fu Xun expected, the young girl nodded vigorously.

"I need to find Him... Waaah?"

The little girl raised her eyes and looked at Fu Xun, who was poking her forehead with his finger, with a puzzled expression.

"You mustn't be rude to the deity."

Fu Xun solemnly admonished her.

"polite?"

The young girl was even more confused.

What is politeness?

"Oh...you don't know...that's right, you're only seven or eight years old, maybe your parents spoil you a lot and haven't told you these things."

Seeing that the little girl's puzzled expression seemed genuine, Fu Xun shook his head, feeling worried that the little girl had such irresponsible parents.

"Politeness is... well, behavior. A polite child makes others like you more."

Fu Xun was struggling to teach the young girl.

What is liking?

"Like...like is the opposite of dislike."

"And what is 'hate'?"

The young girl's confusion gave Fu Xun a real headache.

What's wrong with this little brat? What do her parents do? It's one thing if they don't teach her manners, but why don't they even teach her to like or dislike things?

"Like? Hate? Uh... well... like this dried scales."

Just as he was having a headache, Fu Xun's eyes lit up, and as if he had grasped a lifeline, he picked up the bag of dried fish and showed it to the little girl.

"If I give you this dried scale, will you be happy, little one?"

"I'm happy...receiving dried fish scales will generate positive emotions."

The young girl stared at the bag of dried fish scales, then thought about Fu Xun's words and asked softly, "I want dried fish scales... Is this what liking someone means?"

"Ah...more or less, yes, that's right. This is what liking someone is."

Fu Xun, as if rewarding a child, took out a dried scale and handed it to the young girl.

"Huh? Why... are you taking it?"

The little girl looked at her in confusion, not understanding why she had given her the dried scales but then took them away.

"How do you feel if I take it?"

"...I felt nothing."

"..."

Fu Xun narrowed his eyes, then handed the dried scales to her again.

Although the young girl was puzzled, she could not resist the temptation and reached out to grab it.

Just as the little hand was about to touch the scale, Fu Xun smiled and bit the scale in one bite.

"now what?"

"……Hate?"

The young girl looked at her uncertainly.

Being teased like this... she didn't really care, but she learned quickly and, based on her experience, soon figured out what liking and disliking felt like.

Now that she knew what liking someone meant, she brought up the topic that had been dropped earlier.

"If I'm polite, will He like me too?"

The young girl looked at Fu Xun, wanting an answer.

"That's not very polite."

Fu Xun pinched the little girl's chubby cheeks and corrected her on how to address the God.

"You must address the Divine Lord properly as Divine Lord. Or, like us, address him as Your Majesty."

"Oh... God. If I'm polite, will you like me?"

The young girl asked again.

Of course.

Seemingly thinking of something happy, Fu Xun smiled.

"Then how do I find the God Lord?"

If conditions permit, finding Him is a higher priority than finding lost blood relatives.

"Hmm. You want to find the God? It's very simple."