Jinhua

Zhao Fengnian knelt on the ground, head bowed, going over the three paths in his mind several times. He extended three fingers and pressed them down one by one. When he pressed the last finger, his fingers stopped.

"Immortal Master, I choose the third option."

Looking at his face, which was covered in snot and tears, Liu Jin asked, "Why did you choose this path? This is the slowest, and the most painful."

"Because in that basement," Zhao Fengnian raised his head, his voice hoarse, but he enunciated each word with great force.

"When I woke up, I found myself lying in the middle of a magic circle, surrounded by people in black robes. They looked at me like I was meat on a chopping board."

That feeling—that your life is completely out of your control, and people can do whatever they want with you. I never want to experience that again in my life.

The third path was the slowest and the most painful, but from beginning to end, every step was one I forged myself. The fire was mine, and so was my life.

It hurts, but it's my own pain. It's not something given to me as charity, nor is it something forced upon me.

Liu Jin opened his palm, and a wisp of extremely thin, ghostly blue flame rose from his palm. It was pure essence fire, unmixed with qi fire or divine fire, and only the size of a finger joint.

But it burned quietly in Liu Jin's palm, like a sapphire just taken out of the oven.

He handed the flame to Zhao Fengnian, who took it with both hands, carefully cradling it in his palms. He looked down at the dancing blue flame, his mouth stretching to his ears, but his eyes reddened.

This time, I'm not feeling wronged, I'm happy.

"First, find a place to settle down. Refine this wisp of essence into your body. The process will be very painful. You also have the Gluttony Mark in your body, which will resist, so the pain you feel will be twice that of others."

"So, did I get a good deal? One instance of pain, double the experience."

Liu Jin didn't respond to that. He stood up and slung the bamboo box back over his shoulder.

Zhao Fengnian picked up the flame from the ground, patted the dirt off his knees, and suddenly spoke again, his voice more hesitant than before: "Immortal Master, I have one last question."

"explain."

"You taught me martial arts and saved my life. How is that any different from being a master? Why are you unwilling to formally accept me as your disciple? Is it... is it because you look down on me?"

He asked very carefully, without a hint of doubt, only pure confusion and gratitude towards Liu Jin.

It seems that unless Liu Jin gives him an answer, he can't properly place this favor in his heart.

Liu Jin turned around and looked at the young man who was covered in mud, was obese, and whose soul had a dark red tumor.

His gaze lingered on Zhao Fengnian's face for a moment before he spoke, his tone calm, as if he were talking about something perfectly ordinary.

"We are all Earthlings, and we are all equal. You were delivering food before you time-traveled, and I was living my own life before I time-traveled. No one is born more noble than anyone else," he said.

"Precisely because we are of the same status, we should walk different paths. I am passing on my spiritual fire to you because you came to me for help, and I happen to have the ability to assist you. But on the path of cultivation, each person has their own way of walking."

My path is to devour fire, but yours may not be. If my path is the only scenery on the road of cultivation ahead, it will be too boring.

Even if I'm the strongest now, it doesn't mean you're only fit to follow behind me in the future. Think of it as me burning a hole in the rules; where you go after you crawl out is your own business.

Zhao Fengnian stood there, holding the cluster of embers in his hands, his mouth agape, unable to speak for a long time. After a long while, he suddenly wiped away his tears and snot, and bowed deeply to Liu Jin's retreating figure.

He didn't call him "Immortal Master" or "Master," he just bowed. Then he carefully placed the essence fire against his chest and jogged after him.

......

"Wow, is this really my dad? Even my own dad wouldn't put in this much effort."

"Suddenly I feel much better; at least I don't have a nationalist on my head anymore."

"You're being sarcastic! Everyone's secretly happy about this good thing, but now that you've exposed it, is it still a good thing?"

"Isn't it better to prepare mentally beforehand? Otherwise, it'll be so painful later!"

"Ignore this idiot, let's see if the little fat guy can finish the job."

......

Zhao Fengnian placed the fire against his chest, and could still feel its warmth through his clothes. It wasn't scalding, but rather comforting, like a hand warmer tucked into one's bosom in winter—not burning, but making his chest feel more at ease.

He jogged to catch up with Liu Jin, his feet sinking into the soft soil and fallen leaves, the black pine forest slowly closing in behind him. After walking for about half an hour, the trees gradually thinned out, the dirt path under his feet turned into a gravel path, and the outline of the city wall could be vaguely seen in the distance.

"Big, Big Brother," Zhao Fengnian called out breathlessly, then paused for a moment, realizing that the title sounded much better than "Immortal Master." "There's a city ahead!"

Liu Jin saw it too. The city wall wasn't very high, and the gray bricks were mottled from the erosion of time. A few clumps of withered grass grew on the top of the wall, swaying gently in the wind.

The city gates were wide open, and two bored soldiers stood at the entrance, their halberds leaning against the wall. One was yawning, and the other was picking at his nails.

Above the city gate is a stone plaque with three large characters engraved on it: Jinhua City.

Liu Jin didn't react particularly to the name "Jinhua". Before his transmigration, he didn't know much about Liaozhai, only that it was a collection of stories about ghosts, foxes and immortals, but he couldn't say exactly what stories were about or where they took place.

But he noticed the footsteps beside him had stopped. Zhao Fengnian stood in the middle of the gravel road, looking up at the stone plaque above the city gate, his expression complex.

A smile played on her lips, but her brows furrowed; her entire face seemed to be receiving two completely different signals at the same time, unsure whether to laugh or cry.

"What's wrong?"

"Brother," Zhao Fengnian gave a wry smile, "do you know where this is? Jinhua. There's a story in Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio called 'Nie Xiaoqian,' and the first line is 'Ning Caichen, a native of Zhejiang, came to Jinhua.'"

He turned to look at Liu Jin, his expression even more subtle: "Truly, the stories of Liaozhai come and go, but Nie Xiaoqian remains constant."

Before becoming a food delivery driver, Zhao Fengnian spent two years in university. Although he dropped out to work as a delivery driver, he still read a lot of books in the library. He had read Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio more than once, especially the stories that had been adapted countless times, and he knew the plots by heart.

He began to tell Liu Jin, counting on his fingers, what would happen in Jinhua City: Ning Caichen would come, stay at Lanruo Temple, and meet a female ghost named Nie Xiaoqian at night.

The female ghost was controlled by a tree spirit called Grandma, who specifically seduced men who stayed overnight at Lanruo Temple.

Nie Xiaoqian will fall in love with Ning Caichen, be forced by her grandmother to harm him, secretly protect him, and finally go home with Ning Caichen, going through many twists and turns to achieve a happy ending.

Yan Chixia will also appear; he is a bearded swordsman carrying a sword box who will slay demons and take Ning Caichen as his disciple.