Chapter 4 Understanding Emotions

  "What is this..."

  Li Mu stared blankly at the sea with his mouth agape, unable to snap out of it for a long time. As the saying goes: Not listening to the old man's words, the loss is right in front of you. Li Mu finally discovered that this sentence was an undeniable truth: A woman's chest is indeed untouchable!

  The first time I went out to gain experience, I killed a scoundrel and rid the people of a scourge. The Jade Emperor didn't even give me a reward, but instead colluded with two old white-bearded men to send me to this place as a laborer. Being a laborer is nothing, but now it's even worse - suddenly I've become a slave. What kind of karma did I accumulate in my past lives to deserve such punishment?

  When Ao Ran walked away, he left a dragon energy in Li Mu's body. This way, no matter where Li Mu went, she could always catch up to him. However, because of this dragon energy, it indirectly helped Li Mu heal his wounds. Ao Ran didn't know which tendon he had pulled that made him still willing to help Li Mu, even though it was unnecessary.

  "Cut it out, you're in charge."

  Li Mu jumped up from the ground, sweeping away the depression in his heart. Today there's wine, today I get drunk, tomorrow if there's no wine, then go drink cold water. The master said before, life doesn't always sail smoothly, the more it's tempered, the sharper it becomes. The master's words, can they be wrong? Take advantage of being young and don't hurry to splurge, or else you'll be depressed until old age.

  Qingshui Village is not very big, with only thirty or so households. Li Mu was too lazy to go find his own cave dwelling, and decided to take a look around the environment first.

  The only piece of clothing was stained, covered in sand, with a richer chest, and tears plus snot. The hair was messy and disheveled, with a green and red mark on the face, which was Ao Ran's handmade masterpiece from last night. The originally handsome and elegant image now looked like a beggar. At this moment, Li Mu casually grabbed something and found an extra bamboo stick in his hand...

  Li Mu tidied up, repeated his usual air, and the sun had already risen to the top of his head. However, for the land masters who walked in the soil, no matter how scorching the sun was, it couldn't dry out their hearts. Li Mu pinched the soil and strolled around leisurely.

  At this time, the young and strong people in Qing Shui Village basically went out to work, leaving behind some old and weak ones. Qing Shui Village is indeed the poorest village in the county, it can be described as:

  The rotten beam and withered grass are about to be destroyed by the wind, the swallow and sparrow have parted ways without looking back; there is no salt or rice in the pot, bowl, or pan, the old and young are holding their bellies and waiting for smoke from the kitchen.

  But this can't be blamed on them, sometimes heaven is just unfair, and the whole village doesn't have a single piece of land that can be used to grow grain. Helplessly, their young men and women had to go to other villages to work as long-term laborers, in exchange for some food to fill their stomachs.

  Li Mu, who had lived on Tongyuan Mountain since childhood, may not have had a life of luxury and wealth, but he never worried about food or clothing. He often heard that many people in the world were suffering from poverty and hardship, but this was the first time Li Mu saw it for himself. Sympathizing with the weak is human nature, and Li Mu's heart felt sour and uncomfortable. Every cultivator who rises to power says they want to save all sentient beings, but after thousands of years, people's lives are still so poor and miserable. It's really unknown what those high-and-mighty gods are doing. They spend their days singing and dancing, indulging in wine and beauty, and casually taking out enough money for a meal that could feed the entire county for half a year.

  Li Mu is not a savior, he can't save these common people, nor can he control those high and mighty gods. But he also won't shamelessly stretch out his hand to beg for food from these ordinary people, and doesn't even have the thought of building temples or land.

  "Little Moon, you're back." A young woman dressed in simple clothes with patches all over her body walked back with a basket, a natural smile on her face. An old lady leaned against the door and looked up, seeing the girl in front of her, a hint of delighted joy appeared on her face, and she walked towards her with stumbling steps.

  Xiao Yue hurried over to support the old woman and said kindly, "Mother, you must be hungry. Today, Li the official gave us our wages, ten coins more than usual." Xiao Yue excitedly shook the money bag, as if this was the most exciting thing in her life.

  The old woman was overjoyed when she heard the words, and hastily stretched out her hand to touch her money bag. A pair of dry and withered hands covered in black spots trembled as they reached out, the five fingers having become deformed, with the middle finger bent upwards at a ninety-degree angle. The other four fingers were also crooked and not straight, and the money bag was almost stuffed into her bony palm.

  "Mother, please come in quickly. I'll help you cook and also need to deliver lunch to Father and Brother." Xiaoyue helped the old woman into the house, took out half a bag of uncooked rice from the basket, and started making fire to cook.

  After her, many women came back from outside the village one after another, each with a happy expression on their faces. They were all families who worked as long-term laborers in Li Yuanwai's household, and today was the day to receive their wages. Li Yuanwai was a kind-hearted person, and apart from the basic wages, he would also give each household five kilograms of grain as a gift.

  "Mother? Father?" Li Mu had never seen his parents since birth, and only knew that the closest person to him was his master. Apart from this, he didn't know that there were other relatives in the world such as aunts, uncles, and cousins. Familial love was really too unfamiliar to Li Mu. In the past, when he was at Tongyuan Mountain, there were many senior and junior brothers who accompanied him, and Li Mu couldn't feel it. But now, pure familial love was right in front of him, how could Li Mu remain unmoved?

  Originally, it was out of curiosity about girls that he wanted to observe Xiaoyue for a while. But now, Li Mu is really moved by her filial piety. He quietly hid aside, watching the warm scene of an old and young couple in this simple room.

  Xiao Yue's hands moved quickly and skillfully, soon steaming the rice to perfection and stir-frying a small dish. She first filled an old woman with a bowl of rice, then divided a portion of the dish into a small bowl in front of her. To save time, she casually pinched a ball of rice, only putting a little bit of vegetables inside. The rest was packed into a jar and put into a basket.

  After doing all this, she didn't rest and said to the old woman: "Mother, I'm leaving."

  The old woman looked at her daughter with a worried heart and reminded her again: "Be careful on the road."

  "Eh." Little Yue responded cleverly.

  Every household has tasks to do every day, and Xiaoyue's household has three people, so they have more tasks than others. In order to save time, she had to bring lunch to the fields early, so she could save time eating and eat while on her way. This way, when her father and brother were having lunch, she could do some extra work.

  Li Mu followed Xiao Yue on the road, seeing her eating dry rice balls and reluctant to drink a sip of water. Qing Shui Village is close to the sea, so the well water drawn out is all salty. They want to drink water, they must go five miles away to have it. Xiao Yue is reluctant to drink, she wants to save it for her father and brother.

  The neighboring village is called Lijiawan, it's a big village, because many wealthy families have the surname Li, so it's called Lijiawan.

  "Hey, kid, you've crossed the line." Li Mu followed Xiao Yue all the way to the border of Lijia Bay, but was suddenly blocked by a middle-aged man with a thick beard.

  Li Mu glanced at him and said indifferently: "Is there a rule that can't be crossed?"

  The middle-aged man thought for a moment and seemed to say: "If you pass by without any problem, but don't cross the border to beg for food."

  "I'm just here for a stroll." Li Mu didn't want to bother with him, and the beggar's words were so unpleasant, was this young master a beggar?

  The middle-aged man followed him, like a big uncle selling goods, and said to Li Mu: "You are the new land in Qing Shui Village, aren't you? You must not be familiar with the surrounding situation. Do you want me to introduce it to you?"

  "Just say it."

  The middle-aged landowner Suo Suo neck said: "As a landowner, there are four forces around that can't be provoked: first... hey, are you listening again?" The middle-aged landowner saw Li Mu's absent-minded appearance, his heart only on the woman on the ground, and suddenly became anxious.

  "Just say it, why so many useless words." Li Mùtiān wasn't afraid of anyone, even the great Tongyuan Immortal, so why would he care about offending some power.

  The middle-aged land god was taken aback, but instead of getting angry, he just wanted to drop the matter. However, thinking that only half of the boring day had passed, he continued with a patient tone: "Firstly, it's Dongshan Dawai, you can't mess with him. He has 300 henchmen under his command, skilled in using demonic fire. But generally, they won't bother us land gods."

  "Secondly, there's the Nanshan Taoist temple. There's a monk inside who's very powerful and has a bad temper, so don't provoke him. Thirdly, there are local ghost messengers, this kind of remote place has many lonely ghosts and wild spirits, you'll naturally experience their ferocity later on. Fourthly, also the one that absolutely cannot be provoked, is our neighbor East Sea. The East Sea Princess Ao Ran is arrogant, willful, and unreasonable, if you provoke her, then you can look forward to a good life from now on." Every time the middle-aged land spirit mentions a power, he recalls his own experiences when he first arrived. He's looking forward to Li Mu, this newcomer, future encounters, it seems like there won't be any more dull days for a while.

  He had no idea that he had spoken so much, but Li Mu hadn't listened at all. It wasn't until the mention of Donghai that Li Mu showed a slight reaction: "Could it be that the person I met last night was the princess of Donghai?" This kind of embarrassing thing couldn't be told to outsiders, and Li Mu impatiently said to the middle-aged man: "Are you done talking? If you're done, then hurry up and leave, don't bother me."

  "You..." The middle-aged man's face suddenly turned red with rage, and he was so angry that he almost burst out of his skin. "Not listening to the old man's words, you'll suffer in front of your eyes. You, you, you just wait and see." The middle-aged man threw down a sentence, like a sulky child, and walked away without looking back.

  Li Mu looked at the middle-aged man with disdain and curled his lips: "You've already eaten this loss, now you're speaking up."

  On the ground, Xiaoyue was walking when a young man suddenly jumped out from the side of the road. He looked to be about her age. Xiaoyue was startled and patted her chest, scolding: "It's you! You scared me half to death. What do you want?"

  The young man looked like he wanted to say something but didn't dare, hesitated for a while before mustering up the courage, took a deep breath and walked to Xiaoyue's side, grabbed Xiaoyue's hand and said in a resolute tone: "Xiaoyue, I have something to tell you, I've liked you for a long time, will you be my wife?"

  Xiao Yue was stunned, and it took her half a day to come back to her senses. Her face suddenly turned into a red apple, and she looked at the young man in front of her, not knowing what to do. The young man had a bigger temper, and he knew that if the girl didn't refuse, it meant she was consenting. He slowly leaned in and greedily kissed her sweet little mouth.

  Xiao Yue finally came to her senses, hastily shaking off the young man's hand, and scolded: "Don't do this, let others see." Although she refused with her words, the joyful color on her face revealed that in her heart, she agreed. The young man was overjoyed, foolishly smiling at Xiao Yue, and happily said: "Tomorrow I'll have Zhao Danni go to your home to propose."

  "You'd be the last person I'd marry, disgusting." Xiaoyue pushed the young man away with a twist of her body, looking somewhat embarrassed. "I'm going to deliver lunch to Father and Brother, too lazy to bother with you." With that, she quickly escaped.

  The young man was overjoyed and walked away happily. Only Li Mu was left standing there with a puzzled face: Did that mouth-to-mouth thing just now count as eating? Didn't Xiaoyue refuse him, why is he still so happy?

  In terms of emotions, a fool can't understand things between men and women. However, Li Mu still learned a lot, originally girls need to be liked, they need to use their mouth to touch her mouth in order to please them.