Fortunately, Jia Yuan had unconsciously executed the only way to escape back to the “real world” from the sea of souls. This was to keep part of one’s soul connected to the physical body, and then when the appropriate time came, to use this part of the soul to guide the rest back to the safe recesses of their body.
In the process, the souls of the Song that had inhabited the host’s body would also be returned to the sea of souls. Of course, this required that one had strong enough willpower and strength to convince or force the Song to return to their sea.
By some miracle, Jia Yuan had managed to pull his soul back into his body without knowing this. Good thing too, or this would be a short book.
As his soul returned to his body, the fire blazing around him shrank in size. As it faded away, Jia Yuan opened his eyes and looked around.
Everything around him, the ground, the houses, the grass. Everything was burnt, and some things were still on fire. Plumes of smoke rose into the air, and rose into his nostrils, choking him.
After a brief coughing fit, he looked to the side, and saw that some of the villagers he had been fighting alongside earlier were staring at him with...questionable expressions on their faces.
“Um, why are you staring at me like that?”
The villagers glanced at each other and collectively heaved a huge sigh. This kid didn’t even know what he’d done!
From the villagers’ midst a tall, middle-aged man stepped out.
“Hello young sire, may we know your name? I am the eldest son of the village elder, and can speak for him. My apologies that he is not here right now, but he should be coming back soon. He’d evacuated the village along with the women and children after we first spotted the bandits.”
Jia Yuan felt rather content at the man’s words. For his entire life, the only titles he had possessed were “child”, “orphan brat”, and worse. “Young sire” was far kinder on the ears.
“Hello, sir. My name is Jia Yuan. I just happened to be passing by when I noticed the bandits attacking, so I came to lend a hand.”
“Thank you for helping, Jia Yuan. If it weren’t for your actions, the village may have been overrun by the bandits by now.
“As nightfall is only about an hour away, you are welcome to spend the night in the village. Much of our food was burned by the bandits and...uh… nevermind, well, don’t worry. We should have enough to treat you.”
“That won’t be necessary.” Jia Yuan scratched his head. A free meal sounded nice, but he didn’t want to encumber the villagers.
“Well, in the meantime you can rest here if you’d like. Here, Wan Shi, your house should still be fine, right? Could you be so kind as to bring this young hero to rest at your house?”
“Yes sir, I will do so.”
Wan Shi turned to Jia Yuan.
“Come. My wife was cooking when the bandits attacked. If you’d like, we can eat some of what she finished before she and the kids return, or we can wait for them so my wife can finish cooking. I, uh, don’t know how to cook, myself.”
And so, Jia Yuan followed this man to his house. Along the way, he secretly accessed his ring and took out an Absorption level soul pill and a fire-based body pill. He then glanced at the man, Wan Shi.
Seeing that Wan Shi was looking away from him, Jia Yuan quickly popped the two pills into his mouth and swallowed them.
He let out a soft sigh as the two pills quickly nourished him. Even though he hadn’t been conscious during the battle, the Song of Swords had exerted his body to the brink of its capabilities, and after spending only two minutes in the darkness of the, he had been mentally exhausted as well.
After a brief walk, the two arrived at Wan Shi’s house, and Jia Yuan briefly cast his eyes at the house’s exterior before walking in.
The house was decidedly nicer than his father’s old shack, and despite the strong smell of smoke outside, the house was insulated enough that the smell of smoke wasn’t overwhelming, and the flavorsome smell of the delicious food that had been cooking just moments prior still gently caressed his nostrils.
Aside from a fairly large bed, Jia Yuan noticed two smaller mattresses on the ground and asked, “Do you have kids?” while motioning toward the mattresses.
“Mm. They’re probably around your age. A boy and a girl. Speaking of which, how old are you, if you don’t me asking?”
“I’ll be turning twelve within the year.”
Wan Shi wasn’t too surprised, as he’d been expecting such an answer, but he still let loose a long sigh.
“If my children were as capable as you, I’d die happy.”
Hearing this, Jia Yuan was puzzled. More than the man’s words, he’d detected a small waver in the man’s voice.
After thinking about it for a few seconds, Jia Yuan suddenly realized - the man was afraid of him! But why?
His mind returned to the scene he’d seen when he’d awoken from the sea of souls. Could it be that the destruction he’d seen...had been caused by himself?
Impossible!
What? When did I reach the 3rd level of Absorption? How did I progress so quickly? But, there’s still no way I could have caused such a scene!
Jia Yuan had only just realized that he had progressed to the 3rd level of Absorption, which was rather normal. After all, when he’d progressed, his soul had still be in the process of returning to his body, and he hadn’t utilized his Song since.
Either way, this speed of cultivation was simply too frightening! Wan Shi didn’t know, but Jia Yuan understood that he had progressed from the 1st level of Absorption to the 3rds level in a matter of a few minutes!
Usually, progressing required hours upon hours of training in both the body and the soul. In addition, although Jia Yuan didn’t know, the Song of Swords had the dangerous requirement of only being able to progress through combat - in other words, if Jia Yuan lived a peaceful life, his cultivation would never proceed.
From the moment he acquired the Song of Swords, he had been put on a path of bloodshed.
After a bit of thought, Jia Yuan realized that his body and mind must have been put through an even higher level of exertion than he had originally imagined, and that he had also been the cause of the destruction he’d seen.
Feeling that the silence had become rather awkward, Wan Shi awkwardly cleared his throat.
“Never mind that, young one. As it is, let me represent the village in thanking you - it’s just as the elder’s son said. If you hadn’t intervened when you did, the village itself may have been wiped out. At least we survived.”
Afterwards, Jia Yuan and Wan Shi swapped some small talk until the women and the children of the village returned.
A woman burst through the door of the house, followed by a boy and a girl, both of whom looked to be around Jia Yuan’s age.
“Honey! Are you alright?” The lady wrapped Wan Shi into a hug, then backed off and examined his body for wounds.
“I’m alright, I’m alright. Look at you, so worried. I’m fine, aren’t I? Haha, calm down. We have a guest!”
“Oh? Ah!” The lady turned and saw Jia Yuan - but was instantly puzzled. Who was this child, and why was he in her house?”
Thankfully, Wan Shi quickly came to the rescue.
“Honey, meet Jia Yuan. Jia Yuan, this is my wonderful wife, Guo Yi. Dear, you may not believe me, but if it weren’t for this child, the village may have been overrun.”
“Really?” Guo Yi faced Jia Yuan and smiled. “Thank you very much for saving the village! Here, stay for a while. I’ll treat you to a feast!”
That year, Wan Shi’s farm had had a good harvest, so while his family wasn’t able to be wasteful, it was within their ability to splurge on some extra food for occasions such as these.
After all, the bandits had been successfully repelled, and although the village had been heavily damaged, their farm had been on the far side of the attack, and hadn’t been touched by the bandit attack.
Although Guo Yi was still confused as to how a child such as Jia Yuan could have affected the outcome of the attack, she still moved to prepare the promised feast for Jia Yuan. Of course, she would definitely ask her husband about it later.
After an hour of laborious activity, she had finally prepared all of the dishes.
Jia Yuan had been watching the entire time. By now, the dishes he saw on the table, combined with the aromas floating through the air, had long caused a lake of saliva to form in his mouth.
Seeing Jia Yuan’s gaze on the food spread out before him, Guo Yi laughed. “Alright everyone, dinner is ready!”
“Enjoy!”
Everyone quickly crowded around the table of dishes and began to eat. As for Jia Yuan, he started wolfing down the food as if he had six stomachs.
How could anyone blame him? He’d only ever eaten congee - a meal with an unseasoned piece of meat would likely qualify as the best meal he’d ever had. But now, in front of him, he had vegetable congee, eggs, various meats, and even some strange foods he had never before seen.
The eggs and meats were beautifully cooked and seasoned, and explosions of flavors jolted Jia Yuan’s mouth.
Yet, all the wondrous food had in part been a trap laid by Guo Yi and Wan Shi. While they wanted to thank Jia Yuan for his contribution in saving the village, they were also curious as to his background.
A clear indication of one’s background, was one’s manners - especially tableside manners. So, during the meal, they paid close attention to Jia Yuan’s mannerisms.
Their conclusion? This child was simply too unrefined!
Not only Wan Shi and Guo Yi, but even their children were gobsmacked. This Jia Yuan simply had no manners at all! Partway through the meal, they actually stopped eating and just watched as Jia Yuan systematically devoured the food on the table.
“Wahh, this food is so good! Heh? Why aren’t any of you eating? Is there something wrong with the food?”
Wan Shi awkwardly cleared his throat and responded. “Ah...that…
ahem
, you seem to have quite an appetite, young man.”
“Oh, normally I don’t have too much to eat and earlier I’d expended a large amount of my energy so...ah… I’ll do my best to hold back, sorry.”
Jia Yuan looked at the food on the table, crestfallen. He had indeed eaten more than his fair share.
“Ah, don’t worry about it! Just keep eating, we have more! Eat up, eat up!”
As Jia Yuan resumed eating, Guo Yi and Wan Shi glanced at each other. What Jia Yuan said had confirmed their thoughts. This child was most likely a commoner, from a poor household. At the very least, Jia Yuan’s family was significantly poorer than theirs.
Wan Shi cast an eye over Jia Yuan again as the meal progressed. A child from a poor family was such a cultivation talent… just the thought of it caused him to shudder. Luckily, the child seemed to have a kind disposition.
After dinner, Jia Yuan played around with the two children until midnight, when they all settled in for a peaceful night.
Jia Yuan woke early the next morning and did his best to sneak out of the house without waking up Wan Shi’s family, After all, they’d had quite an exhausting day previously, with the bandit attack and all.