17th

To be fair, Mo Junhua wasn't entirely to blame. By the time things escalated to that point, she herself had many faults. For instance, she was terrified of Mo Junhua, reacting to him like a mouse to a cat. For another, there was her effort in maintaining their relationship, slowly accepting him. And then there was the issue of dealing with the mistress when she came knocking, driving her out.

These were the life lessons she reflected on after her cultivation. That's why Mo Junhua became her Heart Demon Tribulation. Her life's misery originated from him.

Lan Tian let out a deep sigh. She didn't want to be entangled with him in this lifetime. Unfortunately, Lan Tian didn't realize that some things in the world will still happen, whether you wish for them or not.

The busy farming season of seven days passed quickly, and Lan Tian finally didn't have to carry water anymore. After the hectic work in the fields, mid-August arrived soon.

After two months of nurturing, Lan Tian had grown fatter, plush and round like a lotus root, also slightly taller. She looked at herself, fair and tender, and was quite pleased, thinking she resembled the festive paper-cut children pasted on doors. Today was the day to measure her height again. After breakfast, Lan Tian merrily went to the kitchen to fetch a piece of black charcoal.

In the courtyard, Grandma Sun, Zhao Li, and Mo Yuanle each held a winnowing basket, shelling corn kernels. The household had a stone mill; half the shelled kernels would be ground into flour for when food was scarce, and the other half crushed to feed the chickens.

There were scale markings on the door frame, indicating last month's height. Grandma saw Lan Tian comparing her height against the frame and asked her what she was doing. Upon learning that Lan Tian wanted to mark her height, Grandma took the charcoal and drew a line as Lan Tian requested.

"Grandma, mark it for me." Lan Tian called out as she stepped over the threshold and stood dutifully by the door frame. Grandma Sun looked up and smiled. It was too hot, and many kids in the village wore bellybands to keep cool. When in Rome, ah. Zhao Li made several of these bellybands for Lan Tian.

At first, Lan Tian refused to wear them, but seeing that all the village kids, boys and girls alike, Taohua, Cha Hua, Shitou, Tie Jun, wore them, she reluctantly agreed. Today, Lan Tian was also wearing a bellyband, a red one embroidered with goldfish among lotus flowers, paired with green lantern trousers. Her hair was tied into two buns, secured by Red hair ropes, an exact living depiction of festive door-cut children.

Grandma Sun moved the winnowing basket aside, dusted off the corn leaves from her clothes, and holding the charcoal, cautioned, "Stand still, don't move. Grandma is drawing it now!" Zhao Li glanced over curiously, "Tiantian, what are you having Grandma draw?"

"Measuring my height, to see if I've grown taller." After Grandma had drawn the line, Lan Tian turned around to check and saw that she had grown taller. The second line was one centimeter higher than the first, which made Lan Tian so happy that she hopped and skipped, grabbing a handful of corn kernels to feed the chickens. She bounced around as she picked up a stool to join in the shelling. Her family loved to see her laugh.

The second half of the year meant the start of school, and Lan Tian would attend too. Grandma, Uncle, and Aunt had been discussing this, and Zhao Li was preparing a schoolbag for Lan Tian these past days. Speaking of school, Lan Tian remembered something.

After two months of intuition, Lan Tian confirmed that her greatest asset – the portable dwelling – was gone, and cultivating hadn't yet made it into her schedule. She had to find a persuasive reason; otherwise, her family might think she was crazy.

Thinking it over, Lan Tian could only leverage her late Grandpa. Rural folks believe in such things. With a troubled look on her face, she glanced back and forth at the three of them, appearing hesitant to speak.

"What's going on?" Zhao Li tugged at her buns, "Who's bullying our Tiantian? Tell Aunt, and I'll take care of them for you."

Lan Tian still didn't speak, her eyes filled with sorrow as she looked at the three, twiddling her fingers and muttering hesitantly, "Grandma, I saw Grandpa." At these words, the three adults' expressions changed.

"Child, don't talk nonsense, you know that, spit it out this instant," said Grandma Sun, who couldn't bear to hear such talk. In the countryside, it was believed that one would dream of the deceased only if their own end was near; it was said that the dead came back to take the living with them. She spat on the ground repeatedly and had Lan Tian do the same, as if this could erase the ill omen.

Mo Yuanle furrowed his brows, while Zhao Li hugged Lan Tian, clearly agreeing with Grandma.

Alright then, Lan Tian couldn't argue with Grandma and spat on the ground a few times, while Grandma Sun muttered, "Children don't know any better, they speak nonsense, don't take it seriously, don't take it seriously, let the wind blow it away, let the wind blow it away," bowing in all directions before she stopped, and she warned Lan Tian sternly, "Don't ever speak of such things again, do you hear? Grandma will punish you if she hears it again."

Lan Tian noted the softening look on Grandma's face and didn't give up persuading: "Grandma, listen to me, Grandpa didn't come to take me, he came to teach me something. Remember how I bumped my head a few days ago? That night, I found myself in a strange place in my sleep. It was pitch black, couldn't see anything, there was no one, no light, no sound. I was scared, scared I'd never see Grandma again, just floating around in that place."

"Suddenly, a light appeared out of nowhere. The light said to me, 'My dear granddaughter, this is not where you belong, hurry back, your Grandma is waiting for you at home.' I was terrified, my limbs froze, and every hair on my body stood on end; I thought it was a ghost coming for me. After a long wait with no such event happening, I gathered my courage and asked who he was. He said he was my Grandpa."

"At that moment, I called him a liar. I said that my Grandpa had passed away long ago, he couldn't be here. He told me that he became an Immortal after his death because he saved many lives during the war and was granted virtue. He said he has always been concerned about Grandma back in the mortal world and knew that Grandma had adopted me. Immortals cannot descend to earth at will; he could only watch over us from the heavens."

"Grandpa told me about the place called 'Void', that if human souls ended up there for long, they would gradually dissipate, and their bodies in the mortal realm would eventually die as well. He said since he became an Immortal and foresaw a tribulation in my fate, he came down specially to save me and even imparted an Immortal Law for me to learn well."

"Was it really your Grandpa who said this? He became an Immortal?" Grandma Sun was a bit dazed, finding all this mystifying, while Mo Yuanle looked at her thoughtfully. Why had the girl suddenly become so fanciful? He didn't believe in spirits and deities and suspected that villagers or other children had fed her some stories. He made a mental note to inquire about it later. Zhao Li was befuddled, looking from Lan Tian to her aunt, then to Mo Yuanle.

Lan Tian met Uncle Wu's skeptical gaze, grinned cheekily at him, and Mo Yuanle's mind turned to mush. Disoriented, he couldn't recall his suspicions anymore, and by the time he remembered them, the suspicions had turned into reality, obviating the need for further inquiry.