Mount Dustfallen
Mu Yu didn’t have the foggiest idea where he was flying to. All he knew was they were flying north. He was only twelve; he rarely ventured outside the village. They gradually reduced their speed after somewhere between four to six hours and switched to walking on feet. Mu Yu figured he could go for five to six days.
“We’ve arrived,” announced Feng Haochen, pointing to a mountain up ahead.
The striations of the towering mountain were as the first few wisps of white hair for the elder of the land. The mountain swept upward toward the white clouds. Several houses were concealed in the forest. The crane’s sung to each other. The birds migrated to and from in the forest. There was no trail up the mountain, so no ordinary man could climb the mountain hundreds of metres tall. A platform with green trees was located between its cliffs. There was a small trail snaking up to a higher summit. Cliffs formed the top while green foliage of varying sorts formed the top, where smoke whisking towards heaven was visible.
“That is Mount Dustfallen. There is a formation barrier around it, making it impossible for ordinary men to climb. You’ll be free to descend the mountain once you learn to fly on your sword.”
Typically, Feng Haochen would fly straight up to the mountain. The barrier was obviously useless against him. Nonetheless, it was reasonable for him to take Mu Yu up for it was the latter’s first time ascending it.
Mu Yu noticed an people casually lying strewn on bulging, smooth boulder on the platform halfway up the mountain. “Shifu, they are…”
Feng Haochen looked up at said people and smiled hopelessly. “They’re your siblings, your fellow disciples. It appears they haven’t been doing well during my absence.”
Mu Yu scratched his head. Logically speaking, they should’ve been loving life without their shifu there to keep them on a leash. Since Feng Haochen didn’t intend to explain, Mu Yu didn’t pry.
The two soared up and landed on the platform. The vacant space before them was relatively expansive. There was a plain timber door with “Dustfallen” written on it shabbily. Feng Haochen and Mu Yu ascended a swirling bluestone staircase – which was surprisingly sturdy in spite of its disordered designed – that led into the forest. A variety of vegetation grew around the staircase; some of them formed an aesthetic arch.
Feng Haochen halted in his tracks after they crossed a terrace. He swept his gaze over the terrace and shook his head. “The silly kid pulled all the plants out when I told him to tidy up the weeds.”
Feng Haochen planted the scallions again as he walked by them and pulled out the weeds. Mu Yu never heard anything about cultivators having to invest in agriculture.
“Let me, Shifu!” Mu Yu offered a hand, resurrecting the scallions.
“Oh, that’s right. I picked up a treasure,” Feng Haochen suddenly remarked and winked. He dusted the soil off his hands.
Mu Yu was a veteran in the fields, so he knew how to plant vegetables. “Shifu, I can help you with planting vegetables.”
“Haha, that’s a good idea. Let’s go! You can help me with it while I’m absent. I’ll handle it myself when I’m around.”
“Why do you personally plant vegetables when you are a sect patriarch?”
“Farming is an attitude towards life and a cultivation method. Many cultivators brush it off as something they are too good for, deeming it pointless. Everything in life is cultivation. The question is how you perceive and define minor things,” enlightened Feng Haochen, walking with a relaxed demeanour.
Mu Yu always assumed cultivation’s sole purpose was to gain power, consequently freeing him of any obligation to trouble himself with mundane tasks. Feng Haochen’s perspective was a new one. The more he heard from Feng Haochen, the more he felt Feng Haochen operated at a level he couldn’t hope to comprehend. Then again, if Mu Yu could grasp Feng Haochen’s cultivation method with a single glance, what was the point of journeying to Mount Dustfallen?
They arrived at the observation platform. They had to go to the boulder, yet a boy and a girl around three to four years old leapt up onto Feng Haochen’s shoulders. The two kids donned red bibs and sported two adorable hair buns. The two played with Feng Haochen’s beard grumpily, yet cheerfully, much to Mu Yu’s confusion. The young boy initially mistook them for monkeys.
“Shifu is back! Shifu is back!”
“We finally have food to eat!”
It didn’t take long for their joy to erase all of their misery.
“What happened? Did you cause trouble again?” Feng Xiaochen asked the kids with his eyes narrowed and a smile.
“Thank heavens you are back, Shifu. We would have had to eat thin air if you did not come back,” remarked a maiden around Mu Yu’s age and attired in red, in high spirits.
“Shifu.” A burly youth scrubbed his head as he climbed up from a boulder. He was a head taller than Mu Yu and in his mid-teens. He exuded the aura of an honest individual with his silly chuckle
“Miaomiao, Kongkong, hurry down here. Shifu just came back and is tired!” A youth around twenty demanded of the two kids on Feng Haochen’s shoulder. The youth had a refined appearance and mature vibe. Unsurprisingly, he was the eldest amongst them.
“I refuse!” Kongkong, the boy, tugged Feng Haochen’s beard.
“I refuse, too,” exclaimed miaomiao, the girl, wrapping her arms around Feng Haochen’s neck.
Feng Haochen grinned from cheek to cheek. “It’s fine. What are you all doing? Where’s An Yuan?”
“Uncle An has gone to prepare food,” answered Kongkong. “Shifu, please do not make us eat Uncle An’s cooking anymore. His food is not for human consumpt-”
“Yeah?”
The sudden remark startled Mu Yu. The middle-aged man with his eyebrows furrowed appeared before them without Mu Yu realising. He stared at Kongkong. Kongkong poked her tongue and looked away.
“Welcome back, Patriarch,” greeted An Yuan, sternly, aloofly and primly unlike the others.
“By the way, this is Mu Yu. He’s now another member of Dustfallen Sect, so introduce yourselves.” Feng Haochen introduced Mu Yu without letting An Yuan impact him. He sent Mu Yu a hand gesture.
Mu Yu ran over, laughing subtly. He politely introduced himself. “Hello everyone, I am Mu Yu. I look forward to getting along with everyone.”
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