Yu Yan shook his tiny head, then take a step forward, following his father from behind.
"Have a safe trip, make sure not to let him fall in the river!" Followed by his mother's farewell.
He turns around and waves his hand, forming a beaming smile, giving off the same reaction a child would.
Then, Yu Yan and Yu-Hwang disappeared from her view as they closed the door behind them.
'Such a strange style of building', He thought.
In front of him is another wooden building with a rectangular shape, and in the middle of that is some stripe of white, which he assumed is painted for decoration.
Meanwhile, the foundation of the building is some sort of stone, big pebbles of stones laid down acting as the foundation to the entire building, he wonders if it can withstand a floor during monsoon season, especially when there is a river nearby.
At the front door of each wooden house is a red lantern hanging under a rising block of wood resembling a miniature dragon, he guess that this is some sort of talisman, or superstition practiced by the villagers to ward off ghosts and supernatural entities.
"This way, little Yan." His father beckoned with a warming smile, snapping his daze state, causing him to feel estranged.
This caused Yu Yan to turn his head to the right, where his father was standing, waving his hand several feet away.
Then, he quickly ran forward, chasing Yu-Hwang.
Because of his tiny teeny legs, he had to take several strides in order to catch up with Yu-Hwang.
Seeing this, Yu-Hwang slowed down his pace, keeping his distance close to Yu Yan, who was conflicted.
'A father...' He can't help but remembered his past life as an orphan, surviving and scavenging for food in some desolate town, before being picked up by Song Yang and granted the opportunity to cultivate.
Yes, the song family was in some way his family, but... they only saw him for his potential and talent with cultivation, perhaps, only Song Yang truly see him for who he truly is.
Would he rather be an orphan for the rest of his life, or followed the Song's family back then to walk on the path of cultivation?
Thinking about this, he can't really pin an answer to it.
Now, he is a son of a poor family.
At this moment, Yu Yan look to his left, seeing the bright filling smile on his 'father' face, perplexed,' Is this a mortal life? How can he be satisfied with living a plain, arduous life filled with laborious years of work only to amount to being poor?'
As they walk, Yu Yan feels the blazing heat from the high sun above the sky as sweats drench his small shirt.
This causes him to pinch the ends of the shirt near his neck, occasionally tugging it to cool off his body.
At this moment, a holler came from their left, attracting their attention.
"Yu-Hwang! You are going out to fish again?" A middle age man questioned, Yu Yan feels a hint of excitement in his voice, which perked his interest.
"Yeah, do you want some fish again?" Yu-Hwang smirked, standing as uprooted as the flat wall of their house, showing clear confidence in his skill.
Strangely enough, Yu Yan noticed that everyone they walked past didn't seem to question or react to his father's gimmicks.
Clearly, his father has quite a reputation in this small village!
"Of course! Who else in this village can compare to you when it comes to fishing?" He swiped the edge of his nose with his thumb, praising Yu-Hwang.
On the side, Yu Yan tugged his leg, attracting the middle age man's attention.
"Is this your son, I rarely get to see him." He said, smiling and pointing at Yu Yan. "His name is Yu Yan right?"
Then, he moved his finger toward himself, wondering," Little Yan, do you remember me?"
Yu Yan stares blankly at the middle age man for a good few seconds, then flatly answered.
"No."
"..." The middle-aged man was rendered speechless, flashing his gaze between his father and him like a pendulum as his finger was frozen mid-air.
"Haha!"
Seeing Yu Yan's attitude, Yu-Hwang laughed so far that people nearby turns their heads, attracting even more attention.
"I'm your next-door uncle, call me Uncle Sun!" He recover his bearing and proudly said.
To which Yu Yan once again answered," No."
Sun Dong stared at Yu Yan, before wryly smiling at his father," Your son is really... unique."
"Alright, stop messing with my son, I will bring you back some fish if there is spare." His father laughed, waving his arm to bring him closer, and walked away from Sun Dong, feeling a dazed gaze at him from behind.
'My sharp sense and powerful soul are still present in this life.' He commented, ignoring Sun Dong's gaze.
Yu Yan clenches his fist, feeling the weak powerless infant body strength, and looks around him with great interest.
He does have to admit that this new world that was unfamiliar to him is quite intriguing, especially since he is just a tiny little kid at this moment who cannot do much.
You can even say that this sensation is a breath of fresh air from his old boring, monotone mundane life.
'Maybe it's not too bad to indulge in this life.' He thought.
Then, he closed his eyes while following Yu-Hwang, taking in a deep breath.
At this moment, Yu Yan is trying to sense the natural law of heaven and earth.
'What is going on with this world? The natural law in this world is not there!' His heart drummed, as a cold layer of sweat streamed from his alarming soul, blending in with the warm physical sweat.
'That's impossible!' He tried to sense the natural law of heaven and earth again, to no avail.
'The natural law of heaven and earth is missing? How is that possible!?'
As long as the universe exists, dao exists!
As long as the dao exists, then natural law will be born!
The dao is the way, it is the way of heaven, way of earth, way of life, way of death— The dao is one, but birth ten thousand myriad ways!
Natural laws are like enforcers of the way.
Just like how society has a way, the government has a way, and machines have a way, and so does heaven and earth!
When society is born, the way of society is also born!
When the way of society is born, then naturally, the laws and regulations of society are born!
This is what we come to know as laws that make what is legal and not illegal to do!
When heaven is born, the way of heaven is thus, birth!
We call this the 'Heavenly Dao'!
When the earth is formed, the way of the earth also follows!
As Yu Yan was shocked, and stunned by the revelation of the natural law of this 'new' world, his father stopped his foot after walking for a couple of minutes.
"Here we are, Liuye river!" He glee with excitement.
Yu Yan recovered his bearing, shoving the strange discovery of natural law to the back of his mind and looking at the river before with an indifferent gaze, after all, he had seen more majesty sight than this small river in his life.
The river was not that wide, only tens to dozens of meters long, but what did catch his eye is the clarity of the river's water.
It is as if he was looking at the clear glass as the water show no reflection toward the skies nor earth, people, or animal alike.
In addition to the clear water, he feel the cold breeze brought by the river simply standing at the edge of it which made brought this strange soothing feeling that affected even his soul, along with a strong hint of vitality that is difficult to put into words, so he didn't.
At this moment, his father swirls his head left and right, trying to look for something.
Yu Yan can only assume that he is trying to find a place to sit that is good for fishing.
Then, his gaze stopped at a tree nearby, gleaming at the shade beneath the tall tree.
"Little Yan, let's go to that tree, that's a good spot to fish!" He excitedly pulled Yu Yan along, making Yu Yan sigh, wondering if this man is really a middle age man in his 30s with the childish way he is behaving.
But, he didn't resist and simply let his body naturally follow his 'father', taking his own step forward.
And so, Yu Yan accepts the word father in this life.