Chapter 25

"Ohh~" The baby seemed to be conversing with Kaijun.

The old man who was rowing at the back of the boat scoffed. "Since when did you become a father?"

"That's why Xiaobao, it's best if you stick with your father." Kaijun told the baby, ignoring the old man's remarks.

"Ah!"

Ming Yongnian frowned. "Xiaobao?"

"Xiaobao, little baby, you haven't named your child I'll have to call her something right? Just calling her your baby is really confusing, so she's temporarily Xiaobao, it's the same as calling her little baby." Kaijun explained.

The baby now dubbed as Xiaobao only commented with "Bah!" as a response to her new nickname.

"Don't go around naming people's children for them." The old man chided.

"It's just a temporary nickname." Kaijun reasoned lightheartedly.

But it didn't lessen the old man's sour mood. Then the old man seemingly swapped faces once more, smiling softly from ear to ear. "Immortal please ignore the fool, and enjoy Dongfu's scenery. Is this the two immortals' first time visiting our city?" Turns out the old man could speak with sweet honey dripping from his tongue.

"I visited Dongfu a very long time ago and at that time I did not have the chance to enjoy the view." Feng Delun answered.

Ming Yongnian studied the river, his hand rubbing the baby's head. "The last I visited the city was constantly flooded."

The old man's eyes squinted trying to recall when was the last time the city flooded. "Flooded? I can't recall a time when the city was flooded."

"Of course not, your ancestors probably haven't moved here yet." Kaijun said.

Which upsets the old man. "How long are you going to play pretend? You're not an immortal." He scoffed.

Kaijun only shrugged his shoulders. "It's your choice whether to believe me or not."

"Even if the emperor himself came and told me that you are an immortal I would not believe it!" The old man was rather adamant.

Kaijun who was standing the entire time finally sat down with a smile. "Old man please continue with the tour I won't interrupt you anymore."

"That was my plan from the start!" The old man harrumphed.

Without Kaijun's interruption the old man began retelling them stories of certain details of the city, it was only Feng Delun and the old man's chatter that filled the boat.

"That bread shop over there had been in operation for a total of three hundred years! The family who runs it was still the same for all these years." The old man began to boast.

"Three hundred years?" Feng Delun was surprised.

The old man laughed, a tooth was obviously missing when he opened his mouth. "That's right, three hundred years! After the now previous emperor ascended and started learning the arts of cultivation, the people of our kingdom began to attempt to follow in his footsteps. We little people like to do this, when someone up high did something amazing, we also wish to follow in their footsteps.

"The emperor must've seen our enthusiasm to learn cultivation, one day it was announced that there would be a school that would teach the basics of immortal cultivations. According to the stories the first day the school opened, people piled together like mountains! These days it became a must to send the young ones to the school to learn cultivation.

"Although the knowledge provided by the cultivation school is not as advanced as the ones provided by the sect, for us it was enough to merely extend our age, and allow us one foot into the immortal realm. The average age of the citizens in Dongfu these days range around fifties to a few hundred years, if their cultivation is good."

"No wonder the disciples hailing from Dongfu tend to have more basic knowledge and a firm cultivation base. They are also the most accepted disciples in any sects." Feng Delun wholeheartedly praised. The quality of disciples hailing from Dongfu was always guaranteed to be a good seedling.

"I am happy to hear that our Dongfu people are seen as such."

Feng Delun and the old man continued to exchange words. While Ming Yongnian distractedly watched the scenery of the city.

In his long memory this river caused many grievances for the people of Dongfu, many lives were lost in the floods, buildings razed. Yet still the people remain in this land. Persistent, ever stubborn.

There were houses, buildings along the river, where the people would once avoid at all costs, now it seemed they enjoyed the presence of the river, welcome it even. They used the destructive river as a means, a road, to travel around the city.

The baby was quietly studying her father's face, although her father is an iceberg man — which according to her knowledge an iceberg man has trouble making expressions — she just knows that currently her father was sad about something.

So she did what she knew would cheer him up. Her tiny hands firmly grasped onto her father's robes and with all her strength she lifted herself up.

Chuu~

Ah! Her kiss landed on her father's jaw, she was planning to kiss his cheeks not her father's jaw, what a mess! Forget it, she kissed her own palm and slap it onto her father's cheeks. An indirect kiss also counts as a kiss! She was soo smart, her chest puffed up in pride.

How odd, her father wasn't moving, he didn't seem to be breathing either, his eyes is also large. Was he sick?

Her tongue wasn't ready for this but she has to try for her father. "Bah, bah!" Father!

The Shanban shook with Kaijun suddenly standing on the boat. "Xiaobao! Say it again, say it again!"

"Sit down you fool!" The old man screamed.

Their boat was drawing people's attention at this point.

Her head lolled to the side, say what again?

"Bah, bah?" This?

Kaijun clapped his hands together in enthusiasm, like he was injected with high sugar concentration and chicken blood. "Nian!!! Your daughter just said her first words, she called you papa!"

I was trying to say father, but if papa works for you… why not?

Her father only response was, "Oh…" He didn't seem as sad as he was before.

"Bah, bah!" I'll call you papa from now on if it means you'll be happy!

Their sight seeing on the boat ended by the time the sun was setting, when they got off the boat the old reminded them, "Immortals make sure to watch the fireworks, they should set it off when the sky is the darkest, we'll never know when the next fireworks celebrating a new emperor would be. Hopefully in another five thousand years!" The old man laughed.

"We will, thank you for telling us." Feng Delun said.

Kaijun threw the old man a medium grade spiritual stone, the old man caught it with a scowl. "That's the payment, thank you for taking my friends on a trip around the city."

"You brat! If you're really an immortal pay me with high grade spiritual stones!" The old man shouted angrily.

Waving his hand, Kaijun followed Ming Yongnian and Feng Delun, dissapearing into the crowd of people.

The old man sighed, he was about to row his boat and return to his usual spot when he spotted a brown pouch on his boat. Did the immortal left it behind? He couldn't help but peeked into the pouch, his eyes widened, lips parted in surprise. His hands felt like holding a hot cake, he almost dropped the pouch if it weren't for how precious the things inside this pouch was.

After a second peek he found there was a piece of paper, when the old man read it his vein almost burst from anger.

"YOU BRAT!!!"

Written on the paper was "Old man, we won't be seeing each other for a long time, this is the compensation for all those times." The old man did not hesitate to throw the paper as far away as he could.

If someone read that piece of paper they would misunderstood, and thought the old man had been cheating on his wife! Even worse once people found out that the pouch contained only the highest grade spiritual stones, they might thought that the old man had been selling himself out! That despicable brat!

…But for now the old man supposed he should keep the pouch safe, that's right, there was no way he'll use it!

***

Kaijun was laughing, a skip in his steps.

Feng Delun had a stinking suspicion that Kaijun had done something that would anger the old man to death. Dear the lords in heaven, why must he found himself constantly stuck with fools like Jiang Xiaotong!

Kaijun led them to what the man claimed to be the perfect spot to watch the fireworks, which was none other than the rooftops of a random building. Their robes fluttered in the night wind, Ming Yongnian felt that the baby had buried herself deeper into his robes, he adjusted his lapels, enough to shield the baby from the wind.