0015 - Little Sheng.

His vision returned to normal as color and brightness returned to the world around him. However, he was still able to see the little Lu Sheng's soul.

As color returned to Lu Sheng's sight, he glanced down curiously at the Cane of Obedience in his grasp. To his surprise, the once sleek Ebon rod now appeared as a ragged, rusted scrap of metal rather than the pristine weapon he had in his hands moments before. 

Jagged edges and peeled ashen flakes of unknown metal surrounded a dull, scratched rod. Only the carved bone-white sigil at its crown remained unmarred, though it seemed far less ominous without the frame of the dark rod behind it.

"What just happened?" 

[It's a tool of the otherworld, the afterlife. it will not fully materialize in this side of living.] 

"Oh."

To make it clear, the Automated System resumed back to the new Shinigami senses. Instantly the world desaturated around him again. As his view shifted, so did the image of the staff in his hands. 

Once more it took the form of the smooth, sinister Cane of Obedience. The obsidian rod gleamed immaculately as wisps of darkness danced across its surface. The skull sigil atop it seemed to leer as maliciously as ever.

Lu Sheng blinked, understanding it clearly. Clearly, the Cane of Obedience could only be viewed in its true form by those with the senses of a reaper or the cultivator of Shinigami Soul Reaping Method like himself. 

To normal humans, it would appear scrap and worthless, its powers concealed by their limited perceptions. A clever mask of secrecy, Lu Sheng mused appreciatively. With the Cane disguising its abilities, he could freely carry it out without raising any eyebrows.

He tucked the ashen rod in his waist belt and looked at the child soul of the original Lu Sheng. "What should I call you?" 

"You can call me anything, others used to call me fatty sheng." the childlike young soul answered but with a tinge of sadness that tugged at Lu Sheng's heart. 

He knelt down, meeting its sad eyes. "Fatty Sheng won't do," he said gently. "You're free now, free from that past. How about something new? Something that you wanted?"

The soul-child considered this, his form shimmering slightly. "I like Bacons," he murmured, eyes widening. "Can I have bacon? Lots of it?"

Lu Sheng smiled, warmth spreading through him. "Yes, you can have bacon, lots of it. But I was asking about your name."

The soul-child blinked, his ethereal form shimmering as he pondered the question. "Name? I am Lu Sheng, Big Brother."

"Yes, but I am also Lu Sheng," he innocently stated.

"Big brother is also Lu Sheng?" 

Lu Sheng chuckled kindly, seeing the innocent confusion in its eyes.

"Yes, we share the same name, which could get confusing," he explained gently.

The radiant soul contemplated this, his brow furrowing in thought. Then his face lit up.

"Then you are Big Brother Lu Sheng and I am…I am…Yes! I am Little Brother Sheng, Little Sheng."

Lu Sheng's eyes crinkled fondly at the sweet innocent name chosen by the soul-child.

"Little Sheng it is," he affirmed warmly.

Little Sheng beamed, his shimmering form glowing brighter with joy. He danced around Lu Sheng, his delighted laughter reminding Lu Sheng of tinkling bells.

"I'm so happy to be Little Sheng!" the soul-child declared brightly. "And I can't wait to eat bacon! Big brother promised me lots and lots of bacon!"

Lu Sheng chuckled affectionately.

"System, why is the soul of Lu Sheng so childlike?"

[The only plausible explanation is that Lu Sheng either died early as a child or experienced a soul injury in his early childhood, from which he never fully recovered.]

"A soul injury early in childhood?" He pondered for a moment. "Could it be Yu Yunxia's secret book that had a soul slave method? Do you think she tried to make Lu Sheng a soul slave, failed, and that resulted in a soul injury, stunting the mental growth of Lu Sheng?"

[That is a logical assumption.]

"We would have to investigate Yu Yunxia."

[Yes.]

"Now, let's go and have something to eat."

"Let's go, Little Sheng," Lu Sheng said warmly as he exited his room into the open courtyard, the transparent glowing Little Sheng floated eagerly behind him.

Stepping out as he found it evening already, Lu Sheng was surprised to see a sizable compound around him consisting of multiple connected courtyards and structures instead of just the room he expected. 

All of them are made of stone and cement, not unlike the wooden structures in his previous room and all the other Lu Clan structures he has seen so far.

"This must be the Physician Hall," Lu Sheng mused as Little Sheng floated distractedly towards a blossoming peony bush in the center of the courtyard, enraptured by the large pink flowers. Chuckling at the childish antics, Lu Sheng surveyed his new accommodation.

In addition to his stone room, there were several rooms like a hall, a meditation pavilion, several other rooms likely for guests or attendants, and even a secluded garden courtyard with a small pond filled with glittering carp.

"Is this all for me? why?" Lu Sheng thought appreciatively.

One particular chamber caught his interest, emitting wisps of aromatic smoke from beneath the doorway. Pushing it open, he discovered it was an alchemy workshop, complete with large pots, shelves lined with medicinal clay jars, and cabinets stuffed with books and jade tablets undoubtedly full of recipes and healing methods.

"An alchemy room? Wow, I read so much but seeing it for the first time, it looks so cool!" He opened the large Pill Cauldron and looked inside in wonder. 

A medicinal scent invaded his nostrils, dizzying him with memories of a modern hospital's chemical atmosphere from his previous life.

Glancing back, Lu Sheng spotted Little Sheng still utterly captivated by the peony blossoms, repeatedly trying to grasp them only for his shimmering hands to pass through their petals.

"Having fun over there?" Lu Sheng called amusedly. Little Sheng looked up with a joyful grin and zoomed back to Lu Sheng's side.

"Big brother, look! The flowers are so big and colorful! What are they called? Can I eat them?" Little Sheng babbled excitedly.

"Those are peonies, I guess. They may look pretty but aren't very tasty, I'm afraid," Lu Sheng replied indulgently as he gestured to Little Sheng to keep up.

He looked around more but did not find any kitchen or anything resembling a place where you could cook and eat. "Does nobody eat here? Maybe the kitchen is separate from the Physician hall." He agreed to his thoughts and decided to leave his courtyard.

As he stepped outside, he noticed several people in Physician Hall attire rushing to finish their end-of-day duties. He couldn't help but notice the difference between their attire and his own white patient robe.

"Should I change?" He thought for a moment. "But, where would I find new clothes?"

[Your new room has some if you hadn't noticed there was a wardrobe.]

"Right, let's do that." He quickly returned to his new room, opened the wardrobe, and found a few new robes.

"Umm…how to wear these?" Although he had the memories, his laziness always triumphs over everything. "Automate this."

[One of the books was dedicated to how a member of Physician Hall should clean, dress and other things, do you want me to follow that guidebook?]

"Please do." 

[Automation Initiated.]

His body automatically started following the guidebook. It pulled out the robe and other accessories of a Physician Hall member meticulously carrying them backside of his room, near a water well. 

It carefully placed the buckets near a stool and proceeded to draw water from the well and fill a large wooden tub.

After filling 25 buckets quickly, the wooden tub was full. He took off his white robe and dipped it carefully in the water bucket. 

But it wasn't over. His body started circulating his Spirit Essence around his hands dipped in the bucket of water holding the white robe, and all the dirt in the robe slowly started to separate and mixed with the water, making it dirty.

It pulled out the robe and spilled the bucket's dirty water, refilled the bucket, dipped it normally, and hung it on a nearby bamboo rack to dry. Little Sheng, who had been observing the entire process, floated over with curiosity. 

Lu Sheng watched with interest as his body automatically went through the motions of washing his robes utilizing spirit essence. The technique almost resembled a manual laundering process, albeit done entirely with Spirit Essence and no physical scrubbing.

Before long, the full white robe along with his undergarment was cleaned and now drying on the bamboo rack, with only three buckets of water used. Lu Sheng nodded approvingly at the efficient process.

"Now it feels like I have a good Automated System."

[...]

Next, his body turned its attention to personal cleansing. His body started taking deep breaths and started following a pattern of Spirit Essence circulation within him, as sweat started to gush out of his pores, drenching his skin. However, not a moment later a stench filled the air as if someone hadn't bathed for months.

"What is that?" He quickly asked, trying not to breathe in this stench, pinching his nose to avoid it.

[Automated Breathing Paused.]

"What the…?" He suddenly got the system pinged message about one of the Automation pauses.

[I mentioned earlier that your inner will is superior.]

"Then, don't worry about it and resume as soon as my inner will is gone."

[Acknowledged.]