Chapter Thirty: Father? Pa? Dad?

  "The four cardinal directions, east, south, west and north, three sides are dead, one side is alive. Following one direction to the end, this place becomes a dream."

  Shangguan Yu read it again, this should be saying that there is one direction that is a way out, and the other three directions are dead ends. And as long as you walk along the way out to the end, you should be able to leave this ghost place.

  He couldn't be too careful, with four options to choose from, and choosing the wrong one would lead to a dead end. But if he continued to stay here, he would definitely die anyway. Rather than waiting for death, it was better to take a chance. But which direction should he choose among these four?

  Shangguan Yu carefully examined the four large doors, except for the four big characters on top that were different - east, south, west, and north - everything else was identical. This time it was a gamble with his life; if he guessed correctly, he would live, but if he guessed incorrectly, he would die, and not guessing at all would also mean death.

  "In my past life, I lived in the East, and in this life, I also live in the East. So I'll choose the East. Even if there's danger in the East, I'm confident I can get through it." Shangguan Yu muttered to himself. He didn't hesitate any longer, and resolutely got up from the ground, walking towards the great gate of the East.

  He was originally extremely weak, without any energy. With a strong will, he walked into the eastern gate. From the moment he stepped through the eastern gate, the dazzling golden light made him close his eyes involuntarily. Shangguan Yu only felt that his weakness had disappeared, and his entire body was once again filled with vitality.

  The golden light dissipated, and Shangguan Yu opened his eyes again. In front of him was a vast grassland, stretching as far as the eye could see, but there was only one main road. He turned his head to take a look, and something astonishing happened. The mountain peaks behind him had disappeared, the gate was gone, everything was gone. He was standing on the road, as if he had appeared out of thin air, with nothingness behind him.

  "Is this my choice? The prairie isn't bad either, it's much better than the empty valley before, at least there's a bit of vitality. It seems I have to walk to the end of this road, don't know how long it'll take." Here, still without any signs of human life, he could only talk to himself.

  Shangguan Yu walked along this road, moving forward without looking back, with only one way to go. He understood that no matter how dangerous the road was, he couldn't leave this ghostly place unless he reached the end. If this direction was correct, he would be able to leave as long as he walked to the end. If this direction was wrong, what awaited him would definitely be endless disasters.

  Fortunately, there were many small animals on the grassland, and he was not in danger of running out of food. However, he had become tired of this grassland, and anyone who had been looking at it for so long would be fed up with it. Shangguan Yu didn't know how long he had walked, anyway, he never stopped his footsteps.

  At this time, Shangguan Yu looked nothing like a twelve-year-old child. He looked at least seventeen or eighteen years old. The most obvious change was his mustache and his height had increased significantly compared to before. Previously he was about 1.4 meters tall, but now he was around 1.8 meters tall.

  Shangguan Yu subconsciously stroked his beard, all the razors were rendered useless. Now he didn't even have a tool to shave with. Moreover, he was on the road every day and didn't have the heart to shave. He hadn't expected this grassland to be so vast, walking for so long without reaching the end.

  He rubbed his eyes carefully, what did he see? He actually saw trees, very tall and thick trees. To think that he had been looking at grass for a long, long time, now seeing trees made him ecstatic. Had he finally reached the end?

  This is a dense forest, with trees towering high, dozens of meters tall. In the forest, there is still a path leading to the east. This time, the end is still not in sight, and Yu Xiang takes another step forward.

  Shangguan Yu had his own persistence, and these could not defeat him. At least one thing he was certain of, this direction was correct, because for so many years he had never encountered danger. With this point alone, it was enough, he believed that he would eventually be able to reach the end.

  After an unknown number of days, Shangguan Yu finally walked out of the forest. At this time, Shangguan Yu was already a middle-aged man, looking like he was in his thirties, but he had become even more stable. The clothes on his body were long broken, and now he simply wrapped animal hides around his body.

  At this time, he encountered a problem. He stood at the edge of the cliff and hesitated, as there was no road ahead. "Since I chose the east, I'll just keep going east. Anyway, if I die here, probably nobody will know. It's been so many years, I don't know how others are doing."

  Shangguan Yu didn't close his eyes, he just walked straight forward as if there wasn't a cliff in front of him. His body was falling, but his heart was calm, he believed this wouldn't be the end for him.

  Splashing

  Shangguan Yu didn't die after all, he fell into the water and sank down to who-knows-how-many meters deep. Next thing he knew, he floated back up, "What?! Is this the ocean?! It's still impossible to see the horizon, am I supposed to swim across it?!"

  He kept complaining in his mouth, but his body didn't stop. He had to swim eastward, and now even if he wanted to go back, he couldn't go back. Fortunately, the water wasn't salty, otherwise he would definitely die of thirst.

  "I finally see the coastline, it's unbelievable, I've been living in the water for so many years." Shangguan Yu looked at his legs again, "It's okay, my legs are still here, if I turned into a merman, that would be truly tragic."

  It's not his fault that he's bored, no one has spoken to him for so many years, and he can only talk to himself. He often jokes with himself, allowing him to keep a smile on his face from time to time. He still believes he can get through this time, even though the marks of wind and frost have already been carved on his forehead.

  This time, the scene in front of him was just the opposite, not a drop of water, but a desert, still unable to see the end. "Grassland, forest, sea, and now desert. I wonder what it will be when this desert reaches its end?"

  Shangguan Yu filled up a lot of water and set off on his journey again. "What's going on? This is even more difficult than Journey to the West, at least they had four people who could talk to each other. This life is so boring, it would be better if a monster came and ate me."

  An old man with white hair walked in the desert, his back slightly hunched and his face full of wrinkles. However, his eyes were very determined, as if nothing could shake his will. Yes, this was indeed Shangguan Yu, who had finally grown old after walking for decades.

  "This is impossible, everything is wrong. Logically speaking, I shouldn't have lived this long. I've been cut off from water for a long time, and although it's getting weaker each time, I haven't died yet. This completely defies reality, I understand now, all of this is fake!"

  Shangguan Yu stood up straight, shouting loudly, "Don't try to deceive me with these illusions! I don't believe it! Everything in front of me must be fake, you can't fool me! I want to leave here, and you can't stop me!"

  "Fei Er, you've finally come to realize. Your persistence and determination have brought great joy to your father. From now on, I won't stop you anymore, let you cultivate the martial way!" This voice came from all directions, loud and clear, covering up all other sounds.

  The desert disappeared, and what appeared before Yu's eyes was a magnificent golden palace with a brilliant light that stretched for thousands of meters. This palace was very grand, looking extraordinary, just like the legendary Xian Palace. Condensing the historical smoke and clouds, recording the years of vicissitudes.

  Shangguan Yu also found that his body had shrunk, he touched his forehead and found that all the wrinkles had disappeared. He looked at his hair, which had also turned black. He had returned to his twelve-year-old appearance once again, indeed, he had gambled correctly, everything before was fake.

  "My god, is it really the Western Heaven to fetch scriptures? Is this the Dajue Temple? But this is also too fake!" Shangguan Yu teased again, but soon he couldn't laugh anymore. He remembered that the person earlier called himself his father, which made his eyebrows furrow into a川 character.

  The grand gate of the temple burst open, and a young man appeared at the entrance. Shangguan Yu naturally also saw him, what kind of young man was this?

  The young man looked about twenty-seven or eight years old, with a few similarities to Yu Rou in his eyebrows and eyes. He walked towards Yu Rou with the elegance of jade and the vigor of a dragon and tiger. His sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes were as sharp as a crown jade, exuding an aura that was both refined and intimidating. A head of thick black hair scattered naturally, each strand looking so carefree. A blue robe fluttered in the clear wind, looking so extraordinary.

  The young man's stature is not particularly impressive, only about 1.8 meters tall. However, this does not affect his majestic demeanor, as if he were a giant standing between heaven and earth, dominating the world. Especially those eyes, like the universe was being destroyed, chaos was evolving, stars were shifting, and the sun and moon were competing in brilliance. His gaze is like a thousand years, as if it had pierced through the vastness of the universe, condensing the mysteries of the heavens.

  "Who are you?" asked Shangguan Yu. This young man looked like no ordinary person, yet he gave him a sense of familiarity.

  "Feather, congratulations to you, Father! With your unyielding will, you have broken the seal that I had placed upon you. From now on, you can embark on the path of martial arts!" The young man's voice carried a hint of inexplicable meaning, a mix of joy and worry.

  "What? Are you saying I can cultivate martial arts from now on?" Shangguan Yu could no longer conceal the excitement in his heart, who else could understand the bitterness he had endured? Watching others enter the world of martial arts one after another, how could he not feel envious? Without cultivating martial arts, how could he become stronger? Shangguan Yu didn't know why, but when the young man said this, he naturally believed him.

  "Not at all, what do you mean by 'father'?" shouted Shangguan Yu. Although this young man looked exceptionally familiar, he couldn't accept suddenly having a father appear out of nowhere. Whether it was true or false wasn't the issue, but how could someone in their thirties possibly address a twenty-seven- or twenty-eight-year-old youth as "father"?

  "If you think it's improper, you can also call me Dad." The young man looked at Shangguan Yu with a hint of a smile, his words dripping with sarcasm, "You can even call me Daddy!"