1 I Shall Defy the Heavens

Outside of a crowded convention hall in modern day San Francisco, a storm approaches.

Patrick Yang is attending an anime convention to celebrate his 30th birthday. He typically avoids these events that involves large crowds. In short, he is an extreme introvert.

This year was especially lively as the convention hosted an array of web-novelists from overseas. They had invited a famous xianxia author following the rise of xianxia and wuxia based comics and animations. This author went by the pen-name: "Snacking on Peanuts".

Patrick had been a fan of this author ever since the international release of his first novel, "Overturning the Heavens". He couldn't miss out on his chance of obtaining an autograph and meeting one of his favorite authors.

He dreamed of the life these xianxia and wuxia heroes lived; so much that he became obsessed with it. He came to study many things related to the ways of the dao, buddhism, chinese medicine, and martial arts; both real and fictional.

His eyes gleamed with hope and anticipation as he stood in line patiently. He wore a smile, the day couldn't be any better.

The lines for autographs were long; so long that they extended outside the convention center. Being from another city, he made an hour and a half trip just for this event. He had arrived when the skies were clear and sunny. As he waited throughout the day, the weather slowly changed from bright and shiny to gray an gloomy.

Those queued up behind him grew impatient and restless, they could sense a storm approaching as the skies darkened. Nonetheless Patrick patiently waited, praying that the rain would not start before he had a chance to go inside. His smile slowly faded as time went on and the queue slowly inched indoors.

He felt it unbecoming of himself to meet his idol drenched in rain and possibly smelling off; as the heaters inside the convention hall would only serve to ripen the stench of water and sweat, likening itself to the smell of a wet dog or musty locker room.

Patrick had many insecurities; but bad first impressions with the people he looked up to were one of his worst fears. Many of his failed romances stemmed from bad first impressions such as and not limited to: being slapped by a bully in front of Stacy Rodriguez, slipping on dog poop in front of Regina Lim, and ripping his pants while picking up Christina Hartman's eraser after she dropped it while having a nice conversation with him in Calculus II class.

It had just began to sprinkle as his portion of the queue entered the convention building

"Whew."

Breathing a sigh of relief, he made his way to greet his idol. Finally standing before him, Patrick was full of joy as he exchanged a firm handshake and greeting

"It's very nice to meet you sir. I'm a fan of all your works. And I thank you for allowing me to immerse myself into the worlds you create."

Inspecting the cosplayer before him, "Snacking on Peanuts" wore a look of astonishment before bearing a smile on his face.

"It's my honor to meet such fans of my works. It's not everyday someone cosplays a support character. You've done an impressive job!"

They exchanged a few pleasantries and Patrick gathered his autographed merchandise and left. He had gone to the event solely for the autograph. He had planned to go straight home after meeting his idol.

The convention center was at max capacity, and he didn't particularly like cramped places.

He didn't like the idea of having to engage in idle banter with other fans and otakus in an awkward attempt to befriend one another.

Inside he desperately wanted new friends; but his introverted tendencies combined with his inferiority complex made him fear any and all forms of human socializing.

He had bought an overpriced umbrella and made his way out of the building.

He headed towards a crosswalk as he had scheduled a ride back home.

He was suddenly pulled into an alley by four individuals before he could mutter a shout. The people who ambushed him seemed to be a bunch of teenage youths.

Knowing that the annual convention brought many tourists to the city, as well as having a cash-only sales policy; they decided to start mugging people for some quick cash.

"Don't try anything funny. Nothing good happens to a fat fu** who thinks he can be a superhero like in his delusions."

They took Patrick's backpack while one of muggers pointed a knife at him. The teenager who held the backpack began emptying the contents of the bag onto the wet pavement searching for any valuables.

"Damn! Is this really all you got? Just some dumb book and a photo of you and your girlfriend? Where's your wallet?"

Angered by the actions of the youths, Patrick's fists balled up as his body trembled and tears welled up in his eyes. He reached into his chest pocket and grabbed his wallet; tossing it to them.

"I got no cash on me, just my card. Now, just leave me be."

The one holding the knife began to motion the knife left and right. He did not agree with Patrick's words. He was the leader of this ragtag group of teenage thugs.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Your cell phone too. We live in a time when things are all digital. Don't take us for fools. The moment we take your cards and head off, you could easily take the time to call and cancel them. We can't be having that now, can we?"

As soon as the last words left his mouth, lightning flashed and thunder rang in everyone's ears.

Taking this chance to fight back for once in his life; Patrick ran with his might.

"Aah!"

He aimed to disarm the leader, extending his left hand to grab the handle.

As he was running a bright light descended from the clouds above.

His adrenaline was running rather high; Patrick saw everything occur in slow motion.

His whole uneventful and tragic life passed before his eyes. The life of a coward was coming to an end as he felt the force of a mountain weigh on his head; lightning coursing through his body every microscopic second.

"Aaah! It hurts so much! Graaah! Wh-Why?"

The first and final time that he had ever thought to stand up and fight to deny life it's cruel and torturous comedy would be the end of him.

"What wrongs have I done in my past life to receive this degree of suffering?"

Angered, he knew that dying with such hatred for the heavens and his fate might turn him into a vengeful spirit. And so he chose to accept the end of his life.

With his last breath he began to laugh and chuckle at the heavens in a desperate and final attempt at mocking them. He looked like a crazed man, laughing despite being charred from head to toe. It was truly a pitiful sight.

"Hahaha! Hehehe! Hahaha.....u-"

A crowd had begun to form as they had seen lightning strike in the alleyway and heard Patrick's screams of anguish.

"Fu**! Fu**! Fu**! We gotta get out of here guys! I can't have this on my record! I'll get rejected from Berkeley. Let's go! Run!"

Terrified, the teenagers ran as the haunting laughter of the dying man echoed in their ears; striking fear into their very hearts and souls.

Patrick would be pronounced dead upon arrival of the paramedics. His death would be featured on the local news and declared to be freak accident. His family would go on to mourn him and move on with their life with due time.

As for the Patrick's soul, it left the world and drifted high into the heavens where it awoke.

A soul form of Patrick appeared and was confused as he was in a void-world.

It was all but darkness, no sound and nothing to view. He spoke from his mouth but heard nothing. He then had a thought to himself.

"It would be weird if my voice could only project from my thoughts. Hahaha, what a weird world I've come to after death. Well, at least I won't suffer anymore."

"I wouldn't be too sure of that now, young man. Don't be quick to assume things." Said a mystical and wise sounding voice.

"What? Who's there? Show yourself this instant. I fear no ghost or demon, for I haven't done you any wrong."

A elderly looking figure appeared, one that radiated a light that made any person feel as safe as a baby in its parents embrace.

"Who are you? And where have you taken me to? Is this all a part of the cycle of reincarnation?"

The old man shook his head.

"No. This place is merely a temporary space created outside of the realms of existence. I have brought you here as I have a proposition to make."

Patrick scratched his head

"Ehhh? This situation seems familiar..... Wait! Am I going to be put in another world?"

The old man wrinkled his brows.

"You're not at all concerned with the fact that you've just died?"

Patrick shook his head

"No, my death came and I accepted it. My death will hurt those I've affected in life, but they'll move on. I take my life-long suffering and death as a way of paying off my karmic debt sown from my previous lives; no matter how evil I was."

The old man nodded his head in satisfaction.

"Mmmm, I was not wrong in selecting you, your knowledge of the greater dao and understanding of truths is formidable. Would you like to find out now about why I chose you?"

Like a kid about to receive candy, Patrick nodded.

"Mhm!"

Looking like a teacher, the elder began to speak

"As you know there are many worlds in existence. I am a person who governs such worlds and I have come here to invite you to a certain world. It is one containing magic, cultivating, and immortals like myself. This world is stuck in its own hellish samsara, always ending in it's destruction. I've lived longer than the creation of these worlds itself and watched this certain world destroy itself countless times before. By observing it over and over again I've come to find that this world was missing something. And you are the final piece in this puzzle. You are the one to make this world last forever and you will be the one to create a new god for this world. I, a supreme immortal implore you to agree."

"Really? Me? How will I do such a thing like creating an immortal?"

"By simply existing."

Thinking for a couple of seconds, Patrick agreed.

"Alright you've got a deal. Now what's your name again?

The elder shook his head.

"With time you will find out. I look forward to meeting you again."

And with that the elder made formations with his hands as he drew runes like in fantasy martial arts films and dramas. The runes enveloped Patrick in a golden light that made him feel more solid; and he then shot up like a rocket.

He was not ready for the sudden deployment; he was just about to discuss terms and rules with the supreme immortal. He had hoped to obtain some form of cheats or an object at the very least.

"Ahhh! A warning would've helped."

Travelling throughout the various realms, Patrick would see many interesting things.

He saw a world in which there were no humans, but anthropomorphic animals. The next world he saw had a group of six heroes fully clad in armor riding robot beasts as tall as the skies.

He figured he might be able to travel between these realms in the future so he didn't want to peek in and be the guy saying, "Seen it already! Next!" So he decided to close his eyes and wait for his arrival.

He easily drifted into slumber for what felt like mere seconds. When he awoke, he felt a his whole body shake. The shake itself felt akin to one a mother would give to their child when they were late for school because they had forgot to set the alarm the night before.

The first thing he saw were a group of six children in front of him and two next to him. They were all dressed in hanfu attire.

He was being held up by his left shoulder by a boy and a girl was seen under his right shoulder with tears in her eyes and a running nose. All these kids looked to be from the ages of five to seven years of age.

Then in the next moment a flood of memories surfaced in Patrick's mind. It was memories of the person whom he shared a soul with.

While asleep his soul was born into a new world. He lived on a continent known as The Land of Principles.

Like its name insisted, it consisted of five nations that coexisted through various treaties and pacts. Every country had its ruler but was governed differently.

The central nation was the strongest of the five nations. It stood as the one that unified all the nations together and mediated any issues between the various nations. The four surrounding nations could only agree to signed treaties and pacts despite the many prejudices some of them held against each other.

Patrick had been reborn in the nation to the east in a remote farming village called, Peach Blossom Peaks. This village traded rice and alcohol with a nearby city called, Mulberry City.

He was born to a farmer and his wife. Surnamed, Chu, they gave their son the name of Fan. Patrick had been named Chu Fan in this world. He had a sister named Chu Mei, aged fourteen, at the time of his birth. And she was a fair beauty, subtle in many ways that made her seem very charming.

His family was a happy one; until he turned two and his village was raided by a gang of thieves. He was handed to his sister and the two of them were hidden in a rice barrel.

From there they heard the sounds of cruel torture. Their mother was raped; and their father forced to watch until having his throat slit. Their mother would later commit suicide by the swallowing of her tongue, following their father into the after-life.

Chu Mei could only place her hands over her mouth to stop herself from crying; and she could not risk startling the calm and emotionless child in her arms.

They stayed hidden and were transported in the rice barrels until the "dirty" rice itself was sold off to a well known family of the Mulberry City, the Zhu family.

They were discovered in the rice barrels by the chefs of the Zhu family manor. The two were pitied after hearing the story of their town's destruction.

They were allowed to serve the family as servants. It was important to say that they served a branch family of the lowest ranking at this time.

When Chu Fan turned three years old, he had yet to speak or mutter a sound. People began to think and suspect him of being a mentally handicapped person.

Fearing the worst for her brother, Chu Mei begged the head of the lower branch family to have her married into the family. Her wish would came true as she was married off to the youngest son of the main branch family.

The youngest son, Zhu Jia, was aged twenty-four years old and his wife had just died after falling and suffering major head trauma. Chu Mei made a fitting candidate to fill in the place of his wife.

She became the step-mother to Zhu Jia's two children, Zhu Ling and Zhu Hua. They were the same age as Chu Fan.

In a bid of kindness, Zhu Jia allowed for Chu Fan to be brought into the main branch as a kitchen's assistant. From the age of three until present, Chu Fan would: chop firewood, wash the dishes, and rinse the vegetables.

Should he be seen as slacking in any of those chores, he would receive a couple lashes from the heavy-handed head maid of the Zhu family: Zhou Ren.

Her hostility towards him stemmed from her jealousy of Chu Fan's sister; she had a secret crush on Zhu Jia.

Considering the fact that Chu Fan never spoke or cried, she felt he had a purposeful use as her personal beating bag and stress reliever. She would make sure to never leave a scar or big bruise that would warrant an investigation of her punishments.

Chu Fan's sister would often make him play with her step-children, hoping to find him some companions and change his timid nature.

What she didn't know was that the children loved to take Chu Fan to the forest and ditch him there. They hated the fact that they're new mother was so young and that they're father didn't mourn for their mother long enough before getting remarried.

They treated him with disdain solely because he was related to their step-mother; they hoped the pain of abandonment would transfer from the brother to his sister. But nonetheless Chu Fan took the torture and shook his head in defiance when questioned about why he came home so late. Only to be beaten by Zhou Ren for his silence.

This process would repeat every other week until Chu Fan was aged five. And even then had he yet to speak a word.

The events that unfolded the day that Patrick's soul would awaken was as follows.

It was the second anniversary of his sister's marriage and the Zhu family patriarch thought it would be fitting to throw a banquet. Their family business profits had nearly tripled ever since Zhu Jia's marriage to Chu Mei.

Zhu Jia was a man who loved to please his wife; he doted on her and gave her many extravagant gifts despite her telling him to save money. Thus, he had to work three times as hard; or his patriarch of a father would have lectured him till he cried like a child.

On that day the grand feast was to be held, Chu Fan was expected to carry a large amount of chores. He finished each and every chore he was given with finesse.

With nothing left to do, he was told to run off and play. Zhou Ren could find no excuse to beat him that day.

It was nearing sunset when he went to see his sister, she was busy conversating with the various wives of other prestigious families. With his sister so busy, he left to enjoy the silence of solitude at the garden.

Entering the garden, he saw that beside the koi fish pond sat a little girl. She looked to be the same age or younger by a year at most. She turned around to see who was approaching and Chu Fan got a better look at her face.

This little girl seemed very gentle, her cheeks were rather chubby. But her eyes were as beautiful as the crescent moon, grey in color. You could stare into the depths of her soul and feel a warmth emanating from her eyes. Her smile made Chu Fan's heart race and his face flushed red.

Noticing the boy, she was elated.

"You don't like that unruly group either huh? A bunch of stuck up brats only if you ask me. They don't deserve a shred of respect without their family names."

Smiling for the first time, Chu Fan only nodded in agreement.

She tilted her head and tapped her chin in thought.

"You don't talk much do you? That's fine. My dad said it's rather smart just to smile and nod sometimes, even if you don't agree with the other party. 'It gives you the upper hand in extracting information. And it allows you to end the conversation whenever you want to end it.' is what he taught me. Wait, are you doing that to me also?"

Chu Fan's mind went blank for a second. He then shook his head and bowed in an apologetic manner.

The girl then proceeded to laugh.

"That's okay. Don't fret it. I was only kidding. Come over and sit with me."

With no way to refuse her, the boy made his way to sit near her and keep about a meters distance between the two of them.

The girl then proceeded to get mad and scolded him.

"Are you saying I'm too fat and stinky. So much so that you can't be too close to me?"

Not knowing what to do, Chu Fan panicked and ran to her side. He plopped himself as close to her as he could.

She began laughing.

"You're hilarious! I only meant for you to sit closer to me. Not for you to make us conjoined twins."

She sighed.

"I haven't had this much fun since my brother left for the capital."

After blurting those words, she sat for a couple of seconds silently; clearly in a deep thinking. Eventually tears started to well up in her eyes.

"Wuwuwuwuwu! Wah!"

Shocked by the crying girl next to him, Chu Fan tried hard to wonder what he might have done wrong to make this silly little girl switch moods so often.

He didn't know what to do; so he thought of what his sister would do if he cried.

He hugged her and placed his left hand over her left shoulder. He began to stroke her head with his right hand in a loving manner.

This served to defeat the purpose completely as this only caused her to cry even more. But he was determined to comfort her; he repeatedly stroked her head and patted her left shoulder. Eventually the crying came to an halt and only sniffling could be heard.

While sniffling, the girl explained her reason for crying.

When she mentioned her brother, she thought of how her father had neglected her ever since her mother's untimely death following her birth. Her mother died of pneumonia as she'd always had a weak constitution.

Her only company and source of entertainment came from her brother who would buy her candy and all the foods she ever wanted to eat. He would also tell her tales of his travels and bring her exotic toys from the various kingdoms he visited. A year earlier, her brother had left to become a general of the imperial army of the Eastern Nation; she was left alone with her father to care for her.

Her father was a man of aesthetics, so girls had to meet a certain criteria when growing up; at least according to him.

Seeing how she was chubby for a girl her age, he noticed how much he had neglected on his duties as a parent. Thus, he had began limiting her on a variety of things.

The things he did were: put her on a strict diet, make her learn a variety of things ranging from dancing to tea ceremonies, and personally teaching her martial arts to strengthen her body as well as self-protection.

He didn't know how to take care of his child emotionally, therefore he would rather give her a promising future.

Quietly, Chu Fan sat there listening to the girls problems while sitting in the same comforting position they had been in. They had completely forgotten about time.

The sun was now gone over the horizon, giving way to the moon and stars which illuminated the skies. And the image of the two of them passing the night away, while staring at the moon was forever etched into Chu Fan's heart as a memory to cherish forever and always.

"Oh dear! It's night already?"

Noticing how late it was, the girl panicked and got up. She wiped her snot and tears on Chu Fan's sleeve.

She innocently smiled at him and bowed.

"Thanks for hearing my trouble. I know there's not much you can do to help my predicament; but it helps a lot to have somebody to share my troubles with. Oh yeah, I have yet to introduce myself. Hehe, my name is Huang Mudan. What's yours?"

Chu Fan didn't know how to reply to the girl who had just smeared her snot on his sleeve and the corner of his mouth twitched. He grabbed a branch laying on the ground and wrote with his right hand in the gravel, "Chu Fan."

She knitted her brows, and looked at him suspiciously.

"How did you know I was hungry? What's there to eat here?"

With a dead-pan face, Chu Fan shook his head and got up.

He signaled with his hand for Huang Mudan to follow him to the kitchen where he grabbed them some food. The two children took their bowls of food and returned to the garden where they ate happily in each others company.

After finishing their food, Chu Fan grabbed the plates and was making his way back to the kitchen. The moment his right foot got outside the entrance, a hand came chopping down on Chu Fan's left wrist, prompting him to drop the bowls which shattered upon impact.

Earlier, a small group of children had seen Chu Fan and Huang Mudan leaving the kitchen with food, they were wondering what the couple were up to and chose to investigate.

The owner of such hand was Zhu Ling. One of the broken shards happened to bounce back and lodge itself behind his left palm.

Infuriated at how he made himself look like a fool in front of his friends and his sister, he grit his teeth.

"Damned servant! I know what you're doing; you stole food just now, right? And to silence me witnessing your crimes you tried to smash a bowl over my head. Luckily I blocked your hand, only to hurt my left arm. You'll pay for this once father hears of your wrongdoings."

Following this, Zhu Hua knew to jump in on the scheme also.

"Well, I knew you came from a family of thieves. But never would I have thought that you'd be dumb enough to steal in the open. And then you try to hurt my brother when he confronts you about it. How dare you? We were ready to forgive you but seeing as you've no remorse, we can only report you to the family patriarch and have you thrown out after cutting of one of your hands. Isn't that right boys?"

Zhu Ling's entourage looked each other in the eyes and nodded together with sinister smiles. They immediately answered.

"Right! Now all we have to do is apprehend this thief."

"This little fatty would make a great meal for the dogs."

"Pigsy, you should know better than to steal from the plate when your only worthy of the scraps."

"Struggle all you want, we're catching us a fat pig today."

Chu Fan began to tremble and shiver, he was presently staring at the ground. The group of boys began to laugh as they closed in on him.

*Slap*

The sound was loud and clear; it stopped everyone as they turned in the direction of the sound.

It was Huang Mudan, she was furious. She was standing before Chu Fan who was now on the ground; no longer shivering as he looked at the floor.

She had slapped Chu Fan, which stunned everyone present. There was an awkward silence for a couple of seconds.

"Why won't you fight back? Silence proves nothing of your innocence. Letting these idiots govern your life while you sit silently like their plaything to abuse will only result in a miserable death. Get up and fight." Huang Mudan angrily shouted at Chu Fan.

Then from the entrance a marble shaped rock came flying towards the back of Zhu Ling's head.

*Knock*

"Ow! Who was it? Who is so bold as to hurl rocks at me?"

A boy popped up from behind the entrance wall with his arms folded.

"Well said!"

He gave Huang Mudan a thumbs up.

"Zhu Ling, I saw everything. How could you abuse your family standing and power to bully a mere servant? Are you a bigger person deserving of the Zhu Family name by doing this? Although I agree with this girl that he needs to stand up for himself. I still can't stand for this type of injustice."

Zhu Ling grit his teeth.

"F***k off Zhu Zhong. You don't even have a say in this family. Your dad is simply a store manager; he barely makes the cut to be considered be in the main branch as the son of the family patriach's mistress. Your only doing this because grandpa doesn't love your-"

*Bam!*

Before his words finished Zhu Ling was sent flying a good two to three meters by a punch to the left side of his face.

Nobody could react in time because this was more-or-less a sucker punch, and a good one it was.

The owner of such a fearsome fist was Huang Mudan. Her actions caused Zhu Zhong to fear her somewhat and respect her. He had expected her to be a pampered young mistress, with no power to back her words.

Following her punch, Zhu Ling's lackeys all ran to him to help him up. They were angered by seeing their friend and leader in such a state.

Zhu Hua was just about to throw a punch when her hand was grabbed by Zhu Zhong. He pushed her to the ground near the lackeys and her brother.

In a fit of madness, Zhu Ling sprinted at full force towards Huang Mudan.

"Fu***ng bi**h, you'll regret that!"

Seeing this she had already braced for impact, clenching her jaw and shutting her eyes tightly. To her surprise though, she felt no pain.

Taking a peak, she noticed the other children all held similar expressions: their mouths agape and their eyes almost sticking out of their sockets.

Huang Mudan turned to see Zhu Ling on the ground and Chu Fan levitating two meters off the floor.

In the moments before Huang Mudan was to be punched, Chu Fan had gotten up and offered himself as a human shield to receive Zhu Ling's punch.

He was currently enveloped in what could only be described as a moonlight aura. There he floated for a good four seconds until a bolt of lightning came descending from the heavens as one would see only in heavenly tribulations.

This scene was followed abruptly by the deafening boom of thunder that shook the very earth surrounding the estate, as if an Azure Dragon itself was descending upon the mortal realm to dole out its judgment.

Shortly thereafter, the children circled around Chu Fan.

Huang Mudan, the only one having any sort of connection to Chu Fan, came to his side and wept.

"Help him up! Can't you see that he's hurt."

This woke Zhu Zhong from his dazed state as he quickly came to help Chu Fan.

Swiftly after that scene we come to the present; where Patrick's soul is awaken from it's slumber.

At this point in time, it's safe to say that the two of them have become a sole existence. Patrick came to accept himself as Chu Fan. And Chu Fan accepted Patrick's vast amount of memories and personality as his own. Thus a new Chu Fan came into existence.

There was a large crowd gathered in the garden at this point.

The lightning and deafening thunder made it seem as if an immortal had descended the heavenly realm to grace their event with his/her presence.

Zhu Jia and the family patriarch came to question the children as to the events that transpired earlier as they were at the epicenter of it all.

Pushing her way through the crowd, Chu Mei saw her brother in a pitiful state and rushed to hold him, moving the other children aside.

Chu Fan realizing his sister was holding him; with teary eyes he said.

"Big Sister Mei, I'm very tired. Let me sleep for a while."

Following the sentence he fainted.

Shocked by his sudden ability to speak and his fainting; she cried hysterically.

"Someone save my brother, he's all I have. Without him I may as well have died with my parents all those years ago. My brother was all that has ever kept me living till now."

Among the crowd was a doctor who made his way to examine Chu Fan. After a brief examination, he said.

"The boy really has taken a nap, though he seems to be in a rather deep sleep. His soul force shows some fluctuations. Could that light have affected him somehow?"

From the crowd Huang Dan, Mudan's father gave his insight.

"The lightning may have merely startled him, causing harm to his soul force. I think he should stabilize after three days rest. There's no need to worry."

And so the event was swiftly ended and everybody headed home.

Over the next three days Chu Fan would dream of his past and cry in his sleep. His past was just too sad for a five year old. His sister never left his side during those days.

Attributing his fainting to his abuse, many of the maids and even the cooks ratted out Zhou Ren and her nasty ways. They feared that Zhu Jia would punish them all following a thorough investigation of how Chu Fan had been treated by them.

They were all spared but Zhou Ren.

The reason for this had been that while investigating Chu Fan's mistreatment, Zhu Jia stumbled upon a jade necklace he had gifted his first wife when they first got married. Initially, he thought one his children had lost it. But he had found the necklace in Zhou Ren's bedroom tucked away under her mattress.

It turns out that prior to Zhu Jia's wife dying; he had ordered Zhou Ren to bring an exotic dessert to his wife in their bedchamber. Jealous that she'd never to get a taste of Zhu Jia; she stole a bite of the exotic dessert.

She was not expecting Zhu Jia's wife to witness her crimes and confront her about it. There dispute over dessert turned into a yelling match, followed by shoving and hair grabbing. Zhou Ren eventually pushed too hard and Zhu Jia's wife tripped over a stool and subsequently died from head trauma.

Chu Fan's mistreatment from his own children were addressed also. They had been coached and egged on by Zhou Ren herself. She would say many things like, "Your father loves his new wife more than he ever loved your mother. Look how quick he was to marry her, and she even brought her 'brother' here. That might as well be their bastard child. We'll never know. If it were me, I'd abandon him in the forest. He'd do better for the rest of the world as food for the beasts."

Zhu Jia, with approval from the family patriarch went forth with the punishment of removing Zhou Ren's vicious tongue from her mouth. She would also have her her right hand cut off so that she may never harm another child again.

They let her live in exile as a beggar, so as to send a message to evil and scheming individuals. She would later go on to live as a local legend for naughty kids; teaching them to behave lest the ugly evil woman would come and rip their tongues out.

With Chu Fan's matters settled; Zhu Jia assured Chu Mei that no harm would ever come to Chu Fan while he worked for the Zhu Family.

Zhu Jia also gave his children a good lecture. They ended up crying from the guilt.

They felt that they did all those terrible things to Chu Fan and he merely accepted it, they could never make it up to him in this lifetime. They wanted to apologize but felt that they didn't deserve it, for they had truly harmed an innocent bystander when it came to matters of their family.

The third day had finally come; and the vermilion rooster crowed. Zhu Jia, Chu Mei, Zhu Ling, and Zhu Hua would all be there ready for Chu Fan when he woke up.

Feeling the sun's rays hit his eyelids; his eyes twitched.

Noticing it was time to wake up, he got up and yelled, "Damn, I can't be late for work today. Damn ugly woman's gonna give me a beating if I'm a second late."

Shocked by the number of words he knew, the family of four visiting him just stood there with their mouths hanging.

Chu Mei smiled as she had tears of happiness. Her brother had finally gained the ability to speak. And he was much more alive than he had ever been.

"Wait, Chu Fan. You've been resting for three days. You don't need to get back to work so quickly. Promise you'll rest well for a week before going back to work. All these years I've never had a nice chat with you. Why were you feigning ignorance?"

Noticing his guests; Chu Fan turned and promptly gave a fist-hand salute. Followed by, "Greeting brother-in-law. Greetings sister Chu Mei. Hello my nieces and nephews."

Shocking them again they could only wait for him to initiate a conversation.

He pondered for a second scratching his head.

"Ah! The reason I've never spoken a word for so many years? It's because my soul had laid dormant for many years and that affected a lot of my abilities. I don't know what happened yesterday but, I fell down and voila! Now I can speak. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll go out and play now."

And he speedily left the room to explore the city. He gave them a half-baked excuse because he couldn't possibly convince them that the he was a reincarnated soul who was wary of his past life. They'd never believe him anyways.

Surprised to hear this from a five year old Chu Mei could do nothing but shake her head. If a child wanted to spurt nonsense, then he would simply do so. She had never gotten him to confess in the past; so hearing a fake excuse now was better than not getting an answer at all.

Throughout the two years he had been around, he had never ventured out past the Zhu Family Estate's front gates.

As the past Chu Fan, he was scared of the vast world in front of him. Not having the ability to speak struck fear in him as he knew strangers would initiate conversations with him.

The only times he had ventured outside had been through the back gates of the estate; which would always result in him getting abandoned in the forest. And him having to walk back home in the lonely darkness.

As he reached the gates, he opened them as wide as could. Just like in the Xianxia dramas he had watched he exited the estate in a fashion that made him resemble a baby bird taking its first flight.

He made his way through the city skipping. In his Chu Fan had finally become the hero of his very own xianxia story personally recruited by a supreme immortal.

He checked out all the stores in the city and made a note in his mind which foods he would try first.

Considering most of the common ingredients you could get in a xianxia were foreign to his original world, Chu Fan figured he'd have to try all the "exotic" foods in this world.

He made his way into various shops selling armors and weapons; of which he'd get tossed out while somebody yelled at him.

"No window-shopping!"

"No touching the merchandise!"

"Hurry up and buy!"

"You break! You buy!"

"If you're not buying anything get out. Besides you're too young to playing with any of these things."

He was walking past an inn when a child shouted in a familiar voice.

"Hey you're that kid Chu Fan from the other night, right?"

Turning his head, he noticed a boy walking with his hands folded across his chest. This kid was the same age as Chu Fan.

Chu Fan examined him from head to toe.

"Yeah, I'm Chu Fan. And you are?"

"I'm Zhu Zhong. Say, what happened the other night?"

Chu Fan gave a fist-hand salute and bowed.

"Greetings! The other night? Hehe...uh...Ah! What happened was just a bit of lightning. I'm fine now."

Zhu Zhong was unwilling to accept his answer and ran to Chu Fan's side.

When he was close enough, he put Chu Fan in a head lock.

"It's not that simple. There's no way it's that simple. If it was simple lightning you wouldn't have levitated and you'd be dead by now."

Chu Fan then gave up trying to resist after a few seconds.

"Ow! Ow! I'll tell you just let me go."

Zhu Zhong finally let go after three seconds.

"No more nonsense! Tell me now."

Chu Fan then dusted himself off and patted his belly.

"Of course you can trust my word. Trust in my word that I'll never tell you a thing Piggy! Haha!"

He darted into the crowds with Zhu Zhong hot on his trail.

"How dare you make fun of my family name. I'll make you regret that Shorty."

With children running in the bustling market like that, the surrounding adults could only smile and shake their heads as they remembered their days of youth and ignorant bliss.

"Haha! Bleh! You'll never catch me Piggy!"

As they were running, Chu Fan bumped into a girl, knocking her onto the floor.

Zhu Zhong swiftly caught up to the shorter and stubbier Chu Fan who was currently rubbing his butt on the ground.

"Dummy, if you knocked her over then help her up."

Still in a daze, Chu Fan hesitated and Zhu Zhong had already helped her up.

Seeing the face of the girl, he recognized that it was Huang Mudan.

She was helped up by Zhu Zhong. The way she made eye contact with him as he helped gave Chu Fan goosebumps.

Huang Mudan made eye contact with Zhu Zhong and turned her head away in embarrassment. She then turned to notice a familiar face in the crowd, that of her father's. She had snuck out of the house without his permission and was currently on the run.

Horrified, she pleaded to the two boys.

"Please, both of you need to hide me. I snuck out and my father's going to punish me even harder if he finds out I snuck out to eat candies."

Chu Fan knew what to do here. In any classic xianxia or drama, he was to grab her hand and run ahead of her, letting her stare at his figure.

And so he reached behind him for a hand only to feel air. He looked behind him to see two figures gone. When he turned around, the two of them were already running.

While running Zhu Zhong shouted back at Chu Fan.

"Shorty, you've got this. Do your best to distract the City Lord until we find a place to hide."

Shrugging his shoulder, Chu Fan shouted back at him.

"Of course, I got this. A mere city lord is no problem to me."

The moment those words left his mouth his dreaded feeling of goosebumps confirmed what possibility he did't dare think of.

He had been sent to this new world not to become the hero of the story at all. He had been duped by the "supreme" immortal into becoming the scrub supporting role character, the fat f***ker friend of the main character. He was meant to live life with little meaning, especially until the true main character was of a certain strength level and would abandon him.

Angered by the sudden realization that he'd been conned into taking the support role; Chu Fan bellowed towards the heavens.

"I SHALL DEFY THE HEAVENS AND THEIR EXPECTATIONS OF ME. YOU HEAR ME 'SUPREME' IMMORTAL! TWO CAN PLAY AT THIS GAME! I KNOW THE WORLD AND YOU'LL NEVER BEAT ME!"

Vowing to defy the heavens was a bold and brash thing to do. And in doing so, Chu Fan had caught the attention of a certain city lord. The city lord would have to teach a child not to say such brazen words out loud. And thus, Chu Fan had fulfilled his promise as a supporting character while receiving a good spanking.