No demons in all realms

Chapter 16 The Schoolteacher

A figure streaked across the sky and landed right next to Youyang.

"This aura... is that of a late-stage Celestial Immortal... a demon..." Chen Luoluo realized, and the sword energy on her body suddenly dissipated.

The man simply exhaled, and the sword energy around Chen Luoluo instantly dissipated. He said lazily, "Don't waste your energy, you can't beat me."

He picked up Youyang, his gaze complex as he murmured, "For a mere mortal like this, have you ever regretted your choice?"

The man glanced coldly at Chen Luoluo and said contemptuously, "Foolish human, you don't even know who saved you? No wonder, even with the bloodline of the Demon King, this is all the strength you have." With that, the man vanished from the spot in a flash.

……

After an unknown amount of time, Youyang slowly woke up, only to find himself surrounded by a blinding white world. Touching the gauze over his eyes, he uttered incredulously, "Am I...blind?"

"The young master is awake? How are you feeling?" The man's relaxed tone carried a hint of worry.

Hearing the man's voice, Youyang felt a strange sense of familiarity and cautiously asked, "Excuse me, where is this? Who are you? And what happened?"

The man didn't speak, but flicked his finger and sent a golden light into Youyang's body.

"Ah!" Youyang screamed in agony. He felt as if his brain was being torn apart, and dead memories flooded back like a tidal wave. It took him a long time to process this massive amount of information.

The man sighed and said helplessly, "I found the best doctor in the mortal world, but he said that this poison is too strange and can only save your life. This poison has invaded your internal organs and even blinded you. I'm afraid you will not be able to cultivate in the future."

As if resigned to his fate, Youyang laughed bitterly, "Hahaha, it doesn't matter anymore. I was a cripple to begin with, and now I've just become a blind cripple."

The man felt very uncomfortable seeing him like this.

Since that day, Youyang has been lying in bed for a whole month.

Uncle Jin, the shapeshifter, would bring him herbal medicine every day.

After a month of recuperation, Youyang is now able to get out of bed and walk. Uncle Jin found him a bamboo cane to use for exploring.

Youyang was learning to walk by feeling his way along, bumping into door frames, tables, and chairs from time to time, leaving him covered in bruises. But he never made a sound; after each bump, he would feel his way to his feet and continue walking.

"Uncle Jin, I want to go for a walk." Youyang's voice came from inside the house.

"Where to?"

"Anywhere is fine, I can't stay here forever."

Uncle Jin was silent for a moment, then said, "What can you do outside in this state?"

Youyang leaned against the doorframe, his eyes, hidden behind white gauze, "looking" in Jin Shu's direction. A slight smile played on his lips, a smile that was hard to tell if it was genuine or self-deprecating.

"I think I feel like I'm still alive."

"good!"

Before he left, he said, "From now on, there will be no more disciples of Wanjian Manor, no more Youyang, only a blind man named Su Yang."

Uncle Jin stood at the doorway, watching the figure groping its way forward, and softly asked, "For such foolish humans, what happened back then... do you ever regret it?"

Su Yang didn't turn around. Leaning on his bamboo cane, he walked forward step by step. His voice wasn't loud, but it was very clear: "I don't regret anything. I won't regret anything I've done."

Uncle Jin watched him disappear at the end of the road, and after a long while, he sighed softly.

The first year is the hardest.

He couldn't see the road, so he could only use a bamboo cane to feel his way and rely on his senses to move forward. Sometimes he would reach desolate mountains and wilderness, without a soul in sight. He could only follow the sound of the stream to find water and gather wild fruits from under the tree roots to fill his stomach.

Once he fell into a pit and couldn't climb out no matter how hard he tried. He just lay there at the bottom of the pit, wondering if he was going to die there.

The pit was very deep, about two people high. In the past, he could have easily jumped up, but now he had no spiritual power at all, and was no different from an ordinary person.

They're even worse off than ordinary people; at least ordinary people can see...

"Youyang, oh Youyang," he muttered to himself, lying at the bottom of the pit, "to be reduced to this state, unable even to climb out of a pit, how shameful!"

No one answered him.

He reached out and touched the pit wall; it was made of mud and was somewhat damp.

He took a deep breath and began to claw his way up the pit wall. His nails broke, his fingers were blistered, but he gritted his teeth and inch his way up.

By the time he climbed out of the pit, it was already dark. He was covered in mud, and blood was seeping from all ten of his fingers. He lay on the grass beside the pit, panting heavily.

He could hear the chirping of insects, smell the scent of grass, and feel the coolness of the wind on his face.

He laughed, a truly joyful laugh, and casually yet earnestly murmured to himself, "It's so good to be alive!"

In the second year of his travels, Su Yang arrived at a small village.

Although it's called a village, it only has about twenty households. Nestled against the mountains and beside the water, it's a quiet place.

When Su Yang entered the village with his bamboo cane, it was midday. The village was quiet except for a few barks from dogs.

Just then, he heard the sound of reading aloud.

The voice was very childish, like a few children reading aloud. But the voice was intermittent; sometimes it would stop mid-reading and then resume after a long while.

Su Yang followed the sound and found a dilapidated mud house. He didn't push the door open, but just stood at the doorway, listening intently.

Or perhaps his noise disturbed the children inside, because the previously noisy mud house quickly fell silent.

"Who are you looking for?" a childish voice asked. It was a little boy, about seven or eight years old.

"I just heard the sound of reading aloud, so I came to see. Are you reading?" Su Yang asked.

After a moment of silence, another child said, "We're learning on our own. The village teacher is gone, and no one teaches us to read."

Why did the schoolteacher leave?

"Because he had to support his family, and the village couldn't afford to pay him for teaching, he went to teach in town."

Su Yang stood there, a strange feeling welling up inside him. "Are you guys studying?"

"Six," the little boy said. "We'll take turns using one book, and whoever finishes will pass it on to the next person."

Su Yang remained silent.

He could picture the scene: several poor children, unable to afford a tutor or books, yet unwilling to put down their books, taking turns reading a tattered one.

"Do you want to study?" Su Yang asked seriously.

"Yes!" several voices answered in unison.

Su Yang smiled; this was the first genuine smile he had given in the past six months.

"If you don't mind my teaching, then I'll teach you?"

The room was silent for a moment after he said that, then a chattering sound broke out.

"Are you a gentleman?"

Why are you teaching us?

"Our family doesn't have the money to pay the tuition..."

Su Yang waved his hand, and the children immediately quieted down. He groped his way into the house, found a stool to sit on, and leaned his bamboo cane against the side.

"I won't take any money. Just give me a meal."

The children were stunned for a moment, then a little girl said timidly, "But...but you can't see, how can you teach us?"

Su Yang thought for a moment and said, "You read it to me, and I'll teach you. If you read it wrong, I'll correct you, and if you don't know how to read it, I'll teach you how."

The children looked at each other, all feeling that this was a bit far-fetched.

The little boy who spoke first bit his lip and thought for a while. He then picked up a book, walked up to Su Yang, opened a page, and began to read.

"Heaven and earth were dark and yellow, the universe was vast and boundless..."

"Primordial Era".

"The vast universe," the little boy repeated, "Sun and moon... sun and moon..."

"Yingze" (盈昃)

"The sun and moon wax and wane, the stars and constellations are arrayed. Cold comes and heat goes, autumn harvests and winter... winter..."

"Winter hibernation".

He would read two words at a time, and after reading several pages, the little boy was sweating profusely, but Su Yang patiently taught him one word at a time.

After reading it aloud, Su Yang patiently asked, "Do you remember it clearly now?"

"I've got it!" The little boy's voice was much brighter.

"Read it again."

The little boy read it again, and this time it was much smoother. Although he still stumbled over his words, at least he pronounced each one correctly.

"Sir! You really are sir!" The little girl's voice trembled with excitement.

Su Yang smiled when he heard those innocent and childlike voices.

He suddenly realized that being blind and losing his cultivation wasn't so bad after all.

He discovered that he could also teach these children to read, which at least in his eyes was meaningful.