Chapter Four- Mother Was An Immortal?!

Wei Chao looked at his father confusedly again. He walked to the kitchen and looked at himself in the bucket of water. When he saw his reflection his eyes widened. He rubbed his eyes and scratched his nose, but it seemed like it was truly real.

Wei Chao turned around to face his father and said, "Father, what exactly did you make for breakfast today? It's been weird ever since I left the house in the morning."

His father simply replied by saying that he made Wei Chao's mother's favorite dish, lotus rib soup. He had saved up some spare money to buy the ingredients and decided to make it today.

As Wei Chao was about to speak, a knocking sound came from the door. Wei Chao and his father went to the door and opened it. There stood a bald, tall man with two distinct wrinkles on his cheeks and a short beard. Without saying a single word, he handed Wei Chao's father an envelope. Wei Chao's father snorted while grabbing the letter. The man didn't seem to mind at all.

He pointed at the letter, seeing his gesture, Wei Chao's father opened the envelope and read the paper. After a while, he put the letter back into the envelope and laughed wildly. Wei Chao was frightened by his father's laugh, he had never seen his father act in such a way. He wondered what exactly was written in the envelope. Wei Chao went up to stand next to his father and pulled his sleeve. His father looked down at him, with tears in his eyes.

Wei Chao had never seen his father cry. Actually, it was more accurate to say that his father didn't let Wei Chao see him cry. Whenever he would feel like it, he would tell Wei Chao he was going to take a visit to the dairy store. He would circle the block shedding tears and sobbing while he walked. Even a man like him couldn't stand the pressure that life put on him. He would think about how other people had it much worse in life, and if he broke under such mere circumstances then he was not worthy of living in the same world as them, but such thoughts didn't help much.

He wiped his tears with his sleeve and said, "Chao'er, we have to go take a long walk." With that, he went into his store and only picked up a little box on one of the highest shelves. It was not very pretty but rather seemed like it was many decades old. He shoved it into his pocket and then grasped Wei Chao's hand tightly. Looking back at his store and house one more time, he exited through the door and stared at the old man, and smiled at him. Seeing his actions the man's face grew distorted. Wei Chao's father laughed and loudly exclaimed, "Haha, fuck you. At least my wife didn't kill herself right in front of my eyes. Hahaha."

He had shouted it out so loud that the entire block could hear it. The man's face distorted even more and he threw a nearby stool at Wei Chao's father. Wei Chao and his father started running faster to get away from the man. The man grumpily stomped into the house and threw some more stuff around, breaking all the chairs, tables, and stools.

Wei Chao didn't know what was happening but what he had just seen was awe-striking. He had never seen his father act like a spoiled child before. It was awkward to him, but he loved it. He loved the way his father laughed and made the old man's face turn incredibly red.

After a few minutes of laughing together and running away, they both stopped. Wei Chao was perfectly fine, but his stomach hurt from all the laughing and wheezing. However, his father was panting. He looked at Wei Chao and said, "How good must it feel to be young, haha. Being old is no fun."

Wei Chao smiled, and then quickly asked, "Father, what was it that you put in your pocket?"

His father reached out into his pocket and took out the old box. He opened it and took out a piece of jade. Into the jade was carved a head that looked like a demon. It had two big horns on its head and sharp teeth. The carving was done so nicely that Wei Chao couldn't believe it.

Wei Chao questioned, "Father, why couldn't you just sell this to pay the old man?" Even though Wei Chao didn't read the letter he knew what it said now. His father laughed and said, "Haha, Chao'er you've grown pretty smart now haven't you? Well, let me tell you a story. The story of your mother."

Hearing this Wei Chao became excited and sat down next to his father on the grass. His father started "Your mother and I met each other many years ago when we both were 19. It was a dark rainy day, and I was returning from delivering furniture to a customer. She had beautiful red eyes. At first, I thought that it was a horrendous creature. Haha, I couldn't see well in the rain. The eyes were getting closer and closer to me. I grabbed my saw from my sack and pointed it at her. When she got close enough for me to see her, I was frozen. Her beauty was mesmerizing, she had long black hair. It was so long it went down to her waist. Her white robes flowed with the wind, it was as if I was looking at an angel. Haha, I couldn't move for a few seconds. When I could, I quickly put the saw away and greeted her. She smiled and said that she needed a place to stay for the night. That feeling, Chao'er, it got me cursing. How could I show her my cranky old house? I had fallen head over heels for her, if I showed her my place there was no chance her father would let me become his son-in-law. I told her that my place didn't have enough room. She tilted her head to the side and said that it was ok, she could sleep on the floor. I was about to say something else when she started sneezing crazily. I put aside all my thoughts and asked her to follow me. She was walking next to me, and I realized that she was just a few centimeters shorter than me. When we reached my place I expected her to be horrified by my shabby house, but surprisingly she still had a smile on her face. I opened the door and asked her to come inside. She came in and sat down in a corner of the room. She started meditating there. I went into the kitchen to make something warm for her, the best things I had were lotus roots and pork ribs I had saved for the New Year. So I made lotus rib soup for us. It was poorly made, Chao'er if I gave you that soup to eat you would spit it out like it was dirt."

Wei Chao commented, "Father, I'm guessing that mother really liked the soup… which made you super happy, right?"

Wei Chao's father laughed. If you looked closely you could see that his face was a bit red. He continued, "Chao'er, you're getting too smart for your age. Hahaha. Well, yes. When I gave her the soup she gulped it down in seconds and said that it was amazing. I made her a mattress using whatever I had and gave her a blanket. She said that there was no need, but I for some reason kept insisting. When I look back at this whole story it feels so cringy. Haha, how young I was. We talked and laughed the entire night. Her smile was on her face the whole time, but it seemed to be hiding something. I told her I would need to wake up early and so I need to go to sleep. She nodded and went to sleep herself as well. When I woke up she wasn't there. I was sad, but I knew I had no chance. There was no way her father would wed her to me. I went to the shop and saw that she was selling furniture. I was surprised, and when she saw me she giggled and said that she had nothing to do so she decided to help me sell some products as compensation for the stay. I told her that it was unnecessary, but she insisted, using the same words I used last night with the blankets. Haha, what a surprise we both started laughing and worked together to sell furniture that day. I asked some things about her background and stuff, but I didn't want to delve deep into her life. We had just met and just because she was being nice doesn't mean I should act all weird and stuff. But she told me everything without hesitation. Wei'er, you won't believe what she said. Haha, neither did I. She told me that she was an Immortal. I think she called it a cultivator. I couldn't help but laugh. She puffed her cheeks and looked away. It was a truly cute sight. She turned around and showed me something I will never forget. She made many gestures with one of her hands and a green ball of fire appeared right there on her hand. She wasn't burnt at all, but when I tried to swat it off her hand it started frying me alive. I supposedly passed out and was laying on the mattress when I woke up. She was standing before me with a puffed-up face. I started laughing at her, she frowned and threw a pillow at me. She kept saying that I was the biggest idiot she had ever seen."

Wei Chao sneered, "Father, mother was an Immortal? That's… Is that even possible? I should probably feel more surprised, but I don't. Oh, and she was probably right about that part. Keep going."

Wei Chao's father continued ignoring his son's words, "She told me more about her life as a cultivator. I found out that her parents were long dead. So my stupid youth brain thought it was ok to ask her if she was married. I don't regret it, but it was definitely the most stupid thing I had done. Her face turned red and she told me that she was not married. She went on about how she ended up here on the outskirts of a small mortal country. She was injured and thus could not progress in her cultivation anymore. So she decided to give up her position in her thing. Ah, it was called a sect. She decided to leave the sect, but the higher-ups couldn't part with her so they let her keep this piece of jade. She called it a Jade Identity. She said if you show this to a cultivator they will treat you with the utmost respect."

He lowered his voice and said, "You see Wei'er, this is the last thing I have to remind me of her, and is also my last hope of finding her. I cannot get rid of this."

Wei Chao asked, "How much money do you owe that man exactly?"

When his father heard this he frowned and replied, "It doesn't matter if I owe him tons or none. His wife had killed herself right in front of his eyes, so he was probably jealous of us. When your mother disappeared, he wouldn't take any payments saying that he needed both me and my spouse to be present. When I would tell him about what happened, he would say that it was a man's disgrace to have his wife run away from him. Haha, that old pig was talking about such a matter? Does he even qualify? It wouldn't be long until my due amount rose past the limit, thus my house would be confiscated."

Wei Chao asked his father to continue his mother's story. His father said, "Chao'er, the rest is for another time, right now we need to find a place to spend the night."

With that, his father handed Wei Chao the Jade Identity token. Wei Chao looked surprised and looked at his father.

He simply replied, "The two most important things in my life are now one, right in front of me. Haha."

Wei Chao smiled and rubbed the token, suddenly he went blank. He could feel the ticklish feeling in his body again. He grasped the jade tighter and he felt the air around him get heavier again. The jade spontaneously burst out with blinding light.