"A Janitor!"
"Huh!?"
"Hahaha!"
"Ah." Di Tou thought. "It must be a joke." He concluded. "I should laugh now."
"Hahaha"
And in such a way we came upon our present moment, in which two old men standing just inside one of the most famous restricted zones in the continent, not a single soul anywhere near them, were laughing their heads off just past midday.
"Are you shocked little head? Are you started? You get to work under, I, Mu Di Bai, the legendary janitor!"
"Ah." Di Tou responded.
"Aiya, what a kind and generous soul I am, and how lucky you are! Even the carp that jumped over the dragon bridge to peek into the harem of the Dragon King last summer didn't manage to get such an elevation in status in one day."
"Ah." Di Tou responded. He seemed to have heard something amazing and scandalous just now. But that wasn't really the point now was it. What happened to the legendary golden thigh? What happened to the mysterious old man taking him in and discovering his talent and making him a hero. What happened to the spatial manipulation art. How the f*ck had he managed to be put in a situation where his first job was a janitorial one. Even in his past life, as a typical middle of the road student he had managed to land in a semi-managerial position for his first full time job.
"Hehe, it must be fate that brought us together today little head, our natural affinity must be greater than the sun and the moon."
"Sun and the moon your mother!" Di Tou thought. Heck, what affinity do the sun and the moon have anyways? One is up in the day and the other is up in the night. They might as well be running away from each other, heck he really wanted to run away from this sunny old man right now so maybe the metaphor was apt... *pui* that was besides the point, how the hell had he managed to get onto this bandit's wagon and how the hell was he going to get off?
"I'll take it that you're too in shock from the grace I'm offering you and that you've already agreed. It's time to go little head! The sun is setting, we should get back soon."
"Hehe, great sir… I-"
"Hehe no need to say more." Mu Di Bai squinted his eyes, "Only an idiot would want to reject this offer, and you're not an idiot are you little head?"
"Hehe…"
"Besides, if you were to reject this position, it's not like I could justify bringing you back with me to the academy, and your village isn't anywhere near us." A troubled expression settled upon Mu Di Bai's face, "I guess… the only option would be to throw you into the ferocious beast forest as an exile, after all you don't belong to any of the orthodox sects, and none of the villages are all too friendly to outsiders at this time of year."
Mu Di Bai suddenly started smiling again, "But none of that would be a problem now would it little head, a smart and astute fellow like you wouldn't even dream of looking down upon an honorable position such as yours truly."
"HEHE." Di Tou sweated, "Of course not great sir, this little one…" at this point Di Tou had long since fallen past the level of thick skin to feel shame at calling himself little one or a servant, "was simply worried that a vulgar uneducated man like me would be unable to accept this tremendous honor and expectations that come with such an…" Di Tou paused "esteemed position." Di Tou spat out.
"Haha, good, good, good, important things must be said three times, it's rare to see a fellow nowadays that's so able to snatch the opportunities that come before them. I tell you, the younger generation nowadays, hiash, they really don't know what's good for them. Last time I offered the chance to Li Chang Hu, and that little brat… Hehe… That little brat dared to look down on this Laozhi."
Mu Di Bai paused, before laughing cryptically, "Hehe..."
"I strung him up by the strings of his inner cloths from the peak of the 92-layer pagoda so he could get a good look at what looking down at people feels like."
Mu Di Bai returned to being all smiles, "But you on the other hand little head, you really have what it takes. A good eye, a good brain, and great humility, ah, I almost see 3% of my greatness when I was in my prime in you little head."
"From now on you'll be working as a janitor with me at the Tian Shi Fu academy."
Haish, Di Tou sighed in his head. All of a sudden he really did miss just being an ordinary person. Was there really anything wrong with telling people that the most interesting thing that had happened to him recently had actually occurred 8 years ago and it was being able to witness the neighborhood drunkard showing off his secret talent of piano?
Yes?
Okay, maybe there was a problem with that, but at this moment Di Tou would give just about anything to get back to that life. But the past must be laid to rest, what was important now was ensuring he made it through the day, so with a defeated heart, Di Tou replied.
"Alright, thank you for your appreciation."
But the moment the last word left his mouth, something changed.