After the awkward arrival, the small group silently toured through the few alleys that existed inside the hidden village. The habitable area only housed a small number of individuals that could be counted on two hands, there wasn't many need for a lot of habitation. Plus all of the elders were astute spiritualists that were adept at mystic arts that made their life far easier than normal villagers.
The dozens of cottages were accompanied each with a small sized courtyard. Some of the empty spaces housed crops and others were used as gardens for numerous spiritual plants and flowers. The area was part of the wilderness, where spiritual energy was abundant and plentiful in some area and other places were completely barren in some cursed regions.
Luckily, the area where the village was built had been specifically picked up through an extensive search using the elders' personal resources and fund. Although the area surrounding couldn't be counted as being luxurious in its energy, a small eye of spiritual energy could still be found under the village.
That decent sized source of spiritual energy was plentiful when it comes to the old spiritualist that had since long stagnated in their peaks.
Most of them no longer needed any more spiritual energy to raise their cultivation, with only a few of them still using spiritual beast's core to recharge their spiritual power. Thus making the small source of energy sufficient for the maintenance of the village's need. The elders later gave the name Toe for the village after the small size of the spiritual eye.
The Toe village may look simple and completely lacking of any magical atmosphere but the reincarnated drunkard could still feel through the small interaction they had with the cold Vitenka and the burly Buckethead that the village wasn't any normal place at all.
"Although it doesn't feel that good to be around this cold grandma. That tall man definitely looked like an interesting dude…" he thought as his eyes gazed at large crops of wheat that shone brightly with a healthy golden color.
Due to his still developing physique and lack of training, he couldn't help but feel any spiritual energy coming out of the grains but he was still somewhat mesmerized by their outer appearance.
Every time the wind moved, the golden colored wheat would dance in rhythms with the calm breeze. The serene atmosphere basking the entirety of the Toe Village appeased the soul of the transgressed man.
He couldn't but feel that his eyes were staying close longer with every eye blink and before long, he felt the warm hand of his grandfather catch his back as his newborn body forced itself into sleep.
"Damn this body…" he grumbled in a low curse before completely falling asleep.
Sheng Wang couldn't help but release a silent chuckle. His eyes turned softer as a small smile crept on his face, Vitenka looked at the scene with a strange gaze as she couldn't help but feel strange emotions resurface.
Although the man in front of her had aged by dozens of years, his figure still looked as reliable as in the past. A feeling that started from the positive scene, ended up producing anger in the fiery heart hidden behind her cold resting face.
"It's good to see you too." She said briskly in a completely neutral and dull tone.
Sheng Wang looked puzzled at her direction, he didn't find anything to say and only looked silently at her quietly departing figure. Even though the area of the village was small, he knew that spiritualists of her level could go for as long as a few months or years in seclusion if they dedicated themselves purely to cultivation. However, he didn't want to force any interaction with her. He was too tired and pained to endure any trouble related to his past.
That feeling reaffirmed itself when his head lowered to look back at the small toddler he was holding between his thick forearms. He knew that the sole duty he needed to focus on was on taking care of the fragile baby. Educate and help him develop his mind and talents.
The experienced man never picked clues that the newborn that had traveled with him for the past few weeks was revived by receiving the soul of a reincarnated twenty-eight-year-old man.
Through the day, he had only felt that the small child was eating well and was very perceptive for his small age. Something that wouldn't alert anybody as they would only deem it as positive qualities. Rather than being suspicious, Sheng Wang overprotected and loved the newborn, especially with the fact that apart from him the small baby was the sole survivor of the Sheng clan.
A few minutes passed as he, too, quietly enjoyed the view of the small settlement. He silently hummed in satisfaction as he felt that he could finally breathe a little bit.
The tragic events that happened in the imperial palace left were still far too fresh for him to forget. But he still felt that this place could give them a semblance of peace and security. Enough stability for the growth of Sheng Hao, where he would be able to live safely until he grew old enough for him to travel the world if he wanted to.
Until then, he would focus his time on taking care of the toddler's growth and make sure that nothing wrong would happen to Hao. Buckethead's heavy steps soon resounded near the quiet pair of Sheng, his hands moving left and right as he showed the way to his old friend.
Before long, the group arrived in front of a silent cottage, the empty courtyard and unused garden showed that this habitation hadn't been used in more than a few years.
"The elder that used to live here didn't give signs of life for the past dozen years. Good luck with the dusting too!
"You might find some tiny creatures hiding in every corner of the house!" the burly elder jokingly added before quickly departing toward his own habitation.
Although Buckethead wanted to stay to discuss with his old friend, he could feel that Sheng Wang was tired and injured. He wasn't in the best mood to appreciate a conversation with an old friend; thus the burly man simply showed him the way and dropped the pair of Sheng in front of their new home.
If Hao had been awake, he would probably have eyed the small cottage with a strange gaze. Probably due to the strange architecture that made it look like it was built by elves. With vines and plants extending around the walls of the small construct, making it seem as if the small house was part of nature itself.
"Look like I have some work to do before resting…" sighed Sheng Wang while looking left and right for a safe spot to place the sleeping baby he was holding in his hands.
After a few seconds, his eyes noticed a strange piece of wooden furniture that looked like a rocking chair. The armrest was reinforced with lush green palm leaves that had lost part of their greenish hue.
Sheng Wang couldn't help but feel that he knew the elderly that used to live in this place. There wasn't any specific clue that directed his thoughts, but he could feel in his guts that he knew the person in question. As he started clearing out the way that led to the small house, taking out a few dead weeds that had grown far past the point where they were acceptable, he came to notice a small mark engraved on the wooden door.
The moment his eyes landed on the engraving, his movement came to a stop and the atmosphere surrounding the old man changed slightly. His mind couldn't help but fall once again in reminiscence, dozens of images flashing one after another inside of his head.
The momentary loss of focus made him lose control of himself to the point where an intense shivering started with two clenched—severely trembling—fists that traveled to the rest of his body.
Had Hao been awake, he would have instantly noticed that his grandfather's mood was going through terrible ups and down. The village that was supposed to take him out of his nightmarish reveries was—on the contrary—taking him down a mental path that caused much more trouble than it ended up helping.
It was only after a few minutes of intense trembling that Sheng Wang's trembling figure came to a stop. After shivering like a fragile leaf for a few minutes, pearly drops of sweat had accumulated on the old man's forehead and his back was drenched to the point where it looked like he had just come out of a pool.
At the same moment when Sheng Wang's reminiscence came to a stop, a silent sigh was released from a peculiar cottage that sat in a corner of the Toe Village.
The person that had released the pained sigh was the old female spiritualist that had reprimanded Vitenka. She had continued monitoring the pair of Sheng ever since they had entered the village, even now her sense was focused on the old man.
Although none of the elderly were against Sheng Wang's presence, she knew deeply that the stories and adventures the one surnamed Wang had shared with them in their youth was filled with pain and emotion.
In the end, drama was part of human nature and even spiritualists weren't exception to that rule. Sometimes, it was even the contrary as the cultivation of spiritual energy made the heart of a spiritualist more inclined to following their true heart.
Thankfully, Sheng Wang came back to his sense before his spiritual energy started deviating. The energy traveling through his energy path had nearly turned astray, slightly injuring his damaged veins and spiritual meridian in the process.
A chilling breeze calmly brushed his skin, he slowly exhaled one long breath that seemed to clear his thought with the movement of the air currents surrounding him.
His head turned toward the rocking chair where he had placed Hao, a beaming smile appeared on his face as the chubby face of his grandson spread a cuddly warmness in his chest.
"Let the past stay in the past…" he whispered silently before continuing his work. After the short but intense panic attack, the old man's mood seemed to slowly regain some strength as he resumed his work. Although he was tired, he was in no mood to sleep again under the vast starry night.
The events in the Jianshen Imperial grounds had left him feeling tired, with the trip through the wilderness not lessening that feeling at all. Tonight, Sheng Wang wanted to eat a warm meal and sleep in a cozy bed to help rejuvenate his troubled spirit.
He could feel that his grandson was particularly sharp, and from experience those kinds of toddlers demanded far more energy to manage than other children.
Who knew what kind of danger the small baby would put himself into when nobody was looking at it. The apparent curiosity he held toward the world made him sure that the young boy was like him, a true-blooded adventurer.
An hour after he started cleaning their habitation, Sheng Wang finally stepped with the small baby inside the quiet cottage. A harsh sensation attacked his nostrils, the tingly sensation tickling the back of his throat and forced a sneeze out of his dry throat.
"Well, looks like I'd better use some energy to speed up the work." He exclaimed in his head with a self-deprecating grin. Although the injuries related to his cultivation were severe, it wasn't to the point where he wasn't able to apply a little bit of his spiritual energy.
Soon enough, the windows were fully open causing soft rays of light to enter the small bungalow. A small and silent whirlwind was born in the middle of the house. After a few spins, the twirling air current danced out of the house and took out small piles of dusts and insects in the same process.