Heavenly Star

It was a fairly solid straw house. Although simple, it was organized neatly. The bamboo mat on the bed was clearly handmade. Beneath it there was straw cushioning, which was quite soft to lie on. Lying on top of it, Ye Wuchen felt a thousand thoughts going through his head. Ning Xue sat by the side of the bed and spoke softly, “Big Bro, I really like the people here. They’re not scared of me, and they don’t hate me. Plus, they’re so nice to us. They’re all really good people.”

“They are.” Ye Wuchen responded with a gentle look at her. “Xue, do you want to stay here forever?”

Ning Xue nodded at first, but immediately shook her head. “If I could stay here with Big Bro forever, I would be so happy. But I miss Sis, I miss Tong Xin Big Sis…and so many other people. They must think we’re not around anymore and must be sad. If we could go back, then they wouldn’t have to be sad anymore.”

A stifling feeling came to Ye Wuchen’s chest and he closed his eyes slowly. Two years was enough to change many things. How were they doing, were they well…

“We’ll go back,” he said in a low voice, raising his head with eyes that seemed to pierce through the simple roof, shooting into the distant sky. “We’ll make it back. Destiny is like a capricious child: sometimes cruel, but sometimes so very kind.”

Creak…the half-closed wooden door was pushed open slowly. A figure hesitated at the door before walking in, head lowered, with a bowl that filled the room with warmth and the aroma of medicine. This was a girl of twenty five or six. Her whole body emanated an enticing mature aura. Whether it was the proud, perky breasts underneath her rough clothing or her full, round buttocks, her figure was the kind that a younger girl could only wish for. But she still had the soft, smooth skin of a fifteen or sixteen-year-old girl, while her expressions and movements betrayed a timidity that only girls in their early teens possessed in the outside world.

The old man had only one son. His son had one son and three daughters. The eldest daughter passed away soon after birth even with everyone’s efforts. A year later they had a daughter named Er Ya who turned twenty five this year. Three years later they finally had a son, the third child Gong Luo, and seven years after that they had a daughter Si Ya, who was fifteen.

This girl was Er Ya. When Gong Luo had been helping Ye Wuchen in, he saw her immediately and felt a profound astonishment. Brows elegant as slender new moons, skin fair as powder, soft eyes, bright red lips…To think that such a small world was hiding a soul-snatching beauty like this.

Ye Wuchen’s gaze made her face bright red, and she turned around to run away, hands over her face. Gong Luo laughed, “How about it, isn’t my sister pretty? Just call her Er Ya.”

Now she walked into the room again, her head still lowered. In front of the sudden new guest from the outside world, she couldn’t let herself relax. The most important reason for this was that Ye Wuchen’s appearance was too perfect. To an unmarried girl who faced nothing but familiar faces day after day, it had quite the effect.

“Thank you, Sister Er Ya.” Ye Wuchen said with a smile when she put the bowl down. She stood there for a moment, staring, unsure how to respond. In the end she flushed bright red and ran out as if escaping from the room.

“Big Sis Er Ya seems really shy,” Ning Xue giggled to herself, picking up the small spoon in the bowl and stirring it until it cooled down. The spoons here were all homemade, and very rough. But in this isolated, deprived world, the fact that these existed was already proof enough of the spirit of these people.

It was quite funny that a young woman of such age would have such a personality and act like that. Ye Wuchen smiled understandingly before suddenly asking Ning Xue, “Why do you think she’s still unmarried?”

Ning Xue thought for a minute with her head tilted and blinked, “I don’t know. Do you know?”

Ye Wuchen shook his head with a smile, but he was already taking note of things in his heart. Sometimes things that seemed simple were the key to solving all mysteries.

Picking up the black spoon, Ning Xue tasted the bitter medicine. “Big Bro, it’s ready. You can drink it now.”

“How about you feed me.”

“Okay. Heh heh.” Ning Xue giggled sweetly, bringing the spoon to Ye Wuchen’s mouth again and again, watching him drink it happily. Halfway through the bowl the old man appeared at the door before backing away again, exclaiming to himself that the two of them really had an unusual bond. It was only when Ye Wuchen finished the whole bowl that he walked in casually, helping Ye Wuchen inspect his body again.

“How is it?” Ye Wuchen asked.

The old man looked for a while before shaking his head and sighing. “Your body is no longer able to receive power. Even medicine like this that should repair your vital energies isn’t of any use. It all just leaks out. I’ll try some other methods while you stay and rest. Don’t worry, our ancestors have passed down many impressive methods. There must be a way to heal you.” He patted Ye Wuchen’s shoulder comfortingly.

“Sorry to worry you so much.”

The old man smiled and shook his head, walking out. After a while, Er Ya walked in on light footsteps, cleaning up the bowl without even speaking to them.

“Xue, don’t worry.” Ye Wuchen worried that Ning Xue would be sad because of what the old man had just said, so he tried to comfort her.

“I’m not worried. You said that you’d be able to recover, so I believe that.” Ning Xue smiled and comforted him instead.

“Three, come out. Your daddy’s back. I heard that you picked up an outsider, lemme see what he looks like!”

A loud voice made both Ye Wuchen and Ning Xue jump in their skins. Hearing what he said, they laughed. His voice reminded Ye Wuchen of Hua Zhentian. The difference was that Hua Zhentian was naturally loud, while this man’s voice had an astonishing power backing it. The mere sound of it made their eardrums ring and their hearts tremble.

The man who entered was a medium-sized, dark-skinned middle-aged man. His dirty clothes were torn in many places, and a straw hat with a big hole in it rested on his head. He wore wooden flip flops, completing the image of a countryside man coming home after work. Unlike a farmer, though, he didn’t carry hoes or shovels, but a black bear that was several times his size. Even though he carried such a huge bear, he didn’t seem to be tiring from it at all. Even his footsteps didn’t seem heavy. It was as if he were tugging along a bunch of light cotton.

The middle-aged woman next to him was dressed just like him. Medium-sized, slightly plump, dark-skinned, casual clothing, with the same straw hat and wooden shoes. But she held a lot more things in her hands, probably seven or eight types of wild bird, wild chicken, wild hares. If you looked closely, you’d see that on each of their still necks was a small leaf.

The man threw the black bear aside. It landed on the ground with a loud thud, dust spraying everywhere. He walked toward Gong Luo’s room. When he pushed the door open, he hesitated.

“Hello, sir. I’m the outsider that Gong Luo picked up, and this is my sister.” Ye Wuchen said with a smile. He glanced the man up and down.

The man looked embarrassed for a moment before bursting into laughter. “Haha, I’m just an uncultured guy and I speak pretty casually. Please don’t take offense. I heard that there’s something wrong with your body, let me take a look at you.”

Just as he was about to walk in, he was pulled back. The middle-aged woman who had pulled this man aside walked in and looked at Ye Wuchen with excitement, a wide grin stretching across her face. “Oh, oh! So everyone was right, what a handsome young man. The more I look at you the better you look. You’re much more handsome than Three here, oh! This little lady’s hair is so beautiful…you’ve just arrived here, you must be hungry. If you want anything to eat I’ll go and make it for you. I don’t know much about anything else, but I’m a damn good cook.”

Her enthusiastic words came out one after the other, Ye Wuchen couldn’t say anything even after opening his mouth several times. Finally he found a chance to speak, “Hello, auntie. I am pretty hungry.”

In his current condition, he no longer really felt hunger. But Ning Xue must be hungry after such a long time without eating. The only meat she’d had in a long time was the rabbit she picked up the other day.

The middle-aged woman giggled happily after hearing their response. “All right, all right, I’ll go and cook for you right away.” Saying that, she ran out without waiting for a response.

Only then did the man have a chance to walk in with a chuckle. “Oh, just ignore that crazy woman…”

Thud…something slammed into the back of his head. It was a wild chicken, accompanied with a shout, “Who are you calling crazy woman?!”

The man immediately shuddered, glancing over his shoulder. It was only when he made sure that he was safe before he smiled timidly. “Heh heh. Come here, I’ll take a look at you. Not much cna get me stumped.”

The people in this pure world was enthusiastic, selfless, diverse, but also quite interesting. It looked like his life here wouldn’t be so dull after all.

The next few days, Ye Wuchen and Ning Xue were taken care of by Gong Luo’s family. Ye Wuchen never had a chance to see Si Ya. It was only after asking Gong Luo that he found that Si Ya was training in the mountains in the south with her grandmother. He also learned that their ancestors warned them that no matter what they abandoned, they couldn’t throw away their training. Everyone needed to start training in a style that didn’t have a name. Gong Luo was the strongest out of his generation.

What kind of training could turn a mere twenty-year-old into a someone with godlike powers, and give everyone else here shocking powers? Ye Wuchen couldn’t keep his mind off it. These people isolated from the world had no idea that if they came to the outside world, with their power, they would be a force that would make the whole continent shudder.