A Quiet Childhood Part Two

Following Sheng Hao's soft knocks, the door opened in front of the beaming toddler. It wasn't the first time that Hao had come to visit the old witch's house. In fact, the old witch had been the senior he had interacted the most after the free-spirited Buckethead.

If at first, he might have been scared by her horrible voice and fear inducing outer appearance. Through their interaction, he had come to understand that the old lady's mind wasn't anything like her physique.

The tones that could be heard in her harsh voice sounded like broken glass but there existed an underlying kindness behind the shrill voice.

"Come inside." The two words that greeted Hao didn't surprise him as he had already noticed her presence from the small windows.

He followed the invitation and stepped through the thin but solid wooden door. A small but cozy restroom entered his eyes, Hao's gaze was immediately attracted to a small ball shaped figure that was hanging on top of a filled shelf.

The first time he had stepped inside the small house. He was surprised and nearly spooked by the furred creature that looked like a domestic cat.

Before coming here, he didn't know that this word housed domestic felines. The decent sized cat had been named Little Black due to the large dark-colored fur that covered the entirety of its frame.

As soon as Sheng Hao stepped through the house, the small whiskers of Little Black moved in rhythms with his eyes opening wide due to the noise of steps creaking on the poorly parked floor.

His golden colored eyes glared curiously at the newcomer. When it recognized the familiar toddler, it pounced nimbly from the top of the stack of shelves and quietly ran in swift gaits in his direction.

"He already love you a lot." Spoke the old witch that was stepping out of the kitchen and into the restroom with hands filled with wooden plater.

The sound of Little Black's purrs spread before Hao even had the time to touch the feline creature. The small boy couldn't help but laugh heartily in agreement with the old witch.

His small hand caressed the head of Little Black before stepping toward the couch that sat in the middle of the restroom. The old witch was used to Sheng Hao's silence, she was in fact unbothered by his lack of words.

Although she had heard him speak a word or two, most of what he said only showed that he understood the speech of the seniors.

She silently watched him make his way to the couch, awkwardly climbed on top of it before beaming a large smile at her direction.

Her eyebrow rose as she couldn't help but respond to the smile with a small crooked grin of hers. Although the reincarnated man found her facial appearance very displeasing, he couldn't help but find quality in the eyes of the old witch.

The crescent shape her eyes would take when she smiled showed that hidden behind her current appearance was a physique that had once toppled nations and caused wars among men.

He kindly accepted the cup of tea the old witch was gifting him, receiving it with both hands as he wasn't able to afford to hold with only one of his small chubby hands.

Although he had grown a lot through the past years of quietness in the Toe Village, his body was still possessing that inherent chubbiness of a newborn baby.

All in all, Sheng Hao absolutely didn't mind his baby fat as he enjoyed the kind looks and cheek pinch he received from the elders. A sort of attention he had come to forget through the past years he had spent on Earth.

"How is that old fart doing?" exclaimed the old witch without holding the silver tongue hidden inside her mouth.

The comment nearly made Sheng Hao spill the tea he had sipped with difficulty due to its temperature. "She really doesn't mince her words…" he silently noted as he forced his tongue to roll down the back of his throat in an attempt to swallow the hot beverage.

A painful sensation traversed his chest but was soon followed by a soothing and nearly refreshing wave that spread from his chest to the rest of his body. His chubby cheeks turned rosy under his effort, with his small chest rising up and down for a few cycles before calming down.

It was only then that he answered the silver-tongued witch with a nod that was accompanied with gesticular hand movements.

"Hmmm … not bad!"

"Tell him to continue his treatment or else he won't be able to take care of himself in the future." She responded briskly as if she had already prepared the answer to her question beforehand.

A small silence spread after the small interaction. Sheng Hao couldn't help but think deeply about the words of the old witch, his eyes never leaving the reflection of his face on the cup of tea he was holding between his small limbs.

The old witch couldn't help but release a short sigh. Her eyes never quitting the small chubby figure sitting across her. The interest in her gaze wasn't hidden and she could sense that the child mindlessly sitting here was far from the act of a simple toddler.

Through the past two years, she had ample times to interact on several occasions with the small child. She had also used the Formation protecting the Toe Village to monitor his actions from time to time.

The discovery that came with her monitoring left her even more intrigued by the toddler. She could sense that hidden behind curious watery eyes was hidden an intellect and a mind that was on par with that of an adult.

Never had it crossed her mind that the small toddler's body was in fact inhabited by the spirit of a deceased thirty-year-old drunkard. Such facts were rare even in the Portalia Continent.

When odd cases like this happened, it was through elusive and mystical arts that required extensive sacrifices. Thus were practice that touched to dark arts and were usually banned from the mainstream spiritual practices.

She would never think that the small child that came with Sheng Wang served as a receptacle for an otherworldly soul. Thus, her interest rose and the old witch had concluded that the toddler was a particularly sharp-minded child. The likes that would receive an extensive education the moment their talents were discovered.

After staying silent for a long period of time that was spent on looking silently at the young boy, finding him more and more pleasing to the eye with every second the old witch spent on gazing at his large watery eyes. The old witch broke the silence.

"Your life in the village isn't too boring?" She asked in a neutral tone as if she was really trying not to influence the answer she would receive from the small toddler.

She could sense that Hao was currently developing at a fast rate, a precocious mind akin to a rough gem that needed to be polished and refined. Inwardly, the old witch felt excitation when it came to shaping the development of the youth sitting in front of her.

Although she didn't know if the kid had any talent in cultivation. Due to being far too young for the awakening of his spiritual soul, she knew that being a spiritualist was far from being the sole craft that existed in the world.

Sheng Hao felt a chill run down his spine, he could sense that the old witch's question was far from being simple.

"This old lady is far from being a simple grandma… This question is far from being a simple remark…" he quickly exclaimed in his mind as he silently shook his head to answer the old lady facing him.

His chubby cheeks wiggled left and right, causing the witch's smile to turn wide.

"Although there isn't any other children in the village. If Sheng Wang bothers you too much, you can always come hang out here and keep me some company." She responded in a brisk manner that somewhat forced the young toddler to once again shake his head in disapproval.

The expression on the old witch changed as she misunderstood the child's gesture. Sheng Hao's gesture didn't mean that he was against keeping company to the old lady, but he was trying to explain that life with his grandfather wasn't anything he would judge as being bothersome.

The attachment the reincarnated drunkard felt toward his old man in this world was peculiar. Waking up to his gigantic bearded face was still one of the freshest memories he had in this new life. And the journey through the wilderness further reinforced that feeling and made him realize that Sheng Wang was genuinely a caring person.

The bouts of grumpiness his grandfather went through were far from being problematic for Sheng Hao. On top of that, the young boy could sense that his grandfather was hiding several things from him.

The story behind his arrival in this world was far too strange, to this day he didn't come to any reason that could explain his transmigration.

The tranquil atmosphere in the Toe Village gave him ample time to digest all the strange events that happened. He knew that he had died, and he was also sure that the baby his soul had inhabited had already died prior to the transmigration.

Sheng Hao tried fixing the misunderstanding, but his inability to talk made the situation even more confusing. Thankfully the old witch didn't seem to take his reaction at heart, she simply smiled wider in return and even released a silent giggle.

She could feel that some sort of strong complicity had been created with Sheng Wang's grandson.

"Take these with you." She interrupted his clumsy behavior and threw a leather bag on the table separating them.

"They're pills from the last batch of herb I grew. Give them to your old man and tell him that he's going to need to work for the next batches." Her sentence caused an intense flash of light to appear on Sheng Hao's eyes.

In the past months where they lived in the Toe Village, Sheng Wang had spent the majority of his time resting and meditating. Even circulating his spiritual power through his pathway was a painful procedure that he only did when he needed to process the medicine prepared by the Old Witch.

Their effect was producing large results as Sheng Wang complexion recovered by a large margin after the few months of care. His physique a far cry when compared to when they had just arrived in the village.

The next sentence the old witch caused further confusion to appear on the face of Sheng Hao.

"As for you! You can pick any book from my own collection." She calmly said with her hand directed toward the numerous shelves hanging on the walls.

"You won't understand anything from them … but I don't have any children's books for you to enjoy." She continued with a pensive light flashing inside her eyes. "Consider as a little gift from me."

"How can I understand anything? Although I understand this world's language, I don't think I have any knowledge on their written script…" he thought in his mind as his small arms pushed his body away from the comfortable couch.

He stepped calmly toward the wall of shelves with apparent curiosity flashing on his two large eyes. Sheng Hao didn't want to bother the old lady, he simply picked a large book that wasn't far from his height and returned to the couch that faced the Old Witch.

The book chosen by Sheng Hao didn't surprise the Old Witch. Most of the content here was part of her own collection and research. As an alchemist that took care of growing her own resources and dabbled in numerous other mystical arts.

"This one is about natural plants and fauna that can be found in some zone of the wilderness."

"Just look at the drawings, it'll already be enough for you. I'll take the time to read it for you another day." She explained shortly before she rose from her seat.

"Now go take care of that grandfather of yours and let me take care of my work." She ended with a shrill tone while moving her hand to express that she wanted the young boy to leave.

The action might have been rude but that didn't stop the reincarnated man from laughing as he swiftly departed from the house.

Soon after, the small toddler was once again walking down the path leading to the small cottage where he lived.

The large book he was holding formed an image that would cause anyone who saw him to chuckle lightly. His wobbly legs were having even more trouble walking than usual as the book was nearly a third of his current body size.

"Nothing is easy with a body this small." He cursed mentally while kicking a small pebble that was sitting in the middle of the road.

"If only I could age faster." He thought with his leg accelerating in the direction of the wooden cottage that entered his eyes.