Yang Qing waited for ten minutes joyfully enjoying his oolong tea before Cao Ying appeared from the kitchen with a table tray filled with the meals Yang Qing had ordered. The tray seemed to have an isolation array inscribed on it as none of the smell leaked out. Yang Qing’s eye gleamed as he saw Cao Ying come over that he quickly gulped down his remaining tea before he hurriedly got up almost rushing Cao Ying.

“Enjoy Judge Yang Qing.” Cao Ying said as he placed the food tray by the side of Yang Qing’s table.

“Thanks very much, Cao Ying.” Yang Qing hurriedly said as he opened the trays deciding which dishes to start with first.

“Hello my precious, which one of you will be the lucky ones to undertake the great mission mmh it shall be you barbeque pork buns just perfect to be washed down with Jiang Fu’s oolong tea.” Yang Qing said as he removed a large plate filled with over a dozen barbeque pork buns. Half of them were steamed with the other half was baked. The moment the plate full of buns was placed on the table, the thick steamy air of buns suddenly exploded filling the whole table even waking Cheng Yuan from his trance state.

He was surprised to see a table filled with buns. However, its sweet and savory smell made it hard for him to keep his mind straight. When one broke through to the core formation realm one could spend almost half a year or more without needing to eat or drink. Some even substitute the need for food by eating fasting pills which can help them stay longer without needing to eat anything. The longer they do this the easier it becomes for them to lose the part of themselves that desired food. Cheng Yuan was part of this group of cultivators who substituted food for fasting pills that he even forgot what food and desiring food felt like. The close he came to it was drinking milk tea. He had visited the various mess halls in his sect during his rounds but not once in those rounds did he feel the urge to eat as he did at this moment. He felt like some part of him that he had sealed and deemed unimportant was unlocked.

“Judge Yang Qing this…..?” Cheng Yuan wanted to continue but he rapidly stopped to cover his mouth with robes due to how much drool was dripping. It was a small waterfall about to grow into a full-blown rapid.

“Hehehe eat sect master Cheng Yuan. I can’t eat all this alone so there’s no need to be reserved about it.” Yang Qing said as he pulled a plate over to Cheng Yuan’s side and filled it up with half of the pork buns before he had a chance to decline.

“Tsk my pork buns!! Being a host sucks. Is the remaining food even enough to fill me up? Maybe I should add more? Yes I’ll add more I already have the 1000 spirit stones from Dai Chen” Yang Qing internally grieved before he was upbeat again but outwardly he had no change in expression other than the warm amiable expression a host should have.

Cheng Yuan on seeing the plate filled with pork buns didn’t have the heart to refuse for one he didn’t want to spite Yang Qing’s kindness with his refusal and the other reason was he couldn’t help himself the buns just looked too delicious begging to be eaten. He picked one up with his chopsticks with the smell getting dense the closer it was to his mouth. 𝑜𝘷𝑙.𝘰𝑟𝑔

“Crunch” the sound of something crispy being broken sounded the moment the baked bun was in his mouth. The flavors of the pork soon exploded in his mouth as the juices splashed out. With every bite, it was sweet, spicy, and savory. Cheng Yuan could detect an intrinsic firey texture to the pork itself like it was its natural attribute. That quality seemed to ignite the memories of his youth when he was hot-blooded and carefree. The days when he dueled with his fellow disciples, the competitions, the exhilaration it felt breaking through from body refining into the qi condensation realm and to the foundation realm, succeeding and failing in missions, times with his master, Peng Zhen, and the late Zou Wen. All these memories came flooding back and with it the passion for life which he doesn’t know when but had been slowly worn away with time.

Cheng Yuan felt his face heat up as tears dropped down his face, he tried to stop it but some part of him didn’t want to and just wanted to enjoy that release. That was the part that won out in the end.

“I don’t know about others but I have never really liked these cultivation principles out there that dictate for one to grow they need to be indifferent to everyone and everything. To be a calm spectator and be detached all in the name of pursuing the peak. But is that really alright? Before being cultivators we are people first. How can we achieve anything if we deny such an important part of ourselves? Laugh, cry, be satisfied, be angry, argue, makeup, hate, love, eat, drink and have things in your life that you will never let go of no matter what, and on this long journey try to hold on to who you are as much as possible and not stick to other people’s definition of what a cultivator should be.

Cultivation is a part of life like sleeping and yawning, you can’t let it be all your life is about it should always just be a part that enhances your life like eating food to satiate hunger. Cultivators are blessed with a long life do you want to spend that life alone, burying who you are, or do you want to spend it living? Cheng Yuan decide what living means to you, you’ll find the world just a little bit exciting every time you work towards that answer. Keep dreaming, keep trying, keep failing, keep growing and add more color to your life Cheng Yuan,” Yang Qing calmly said as he stared into the pork bun with a deep look like he was looking at some unfathomable secret but the drool and the silly grin that appeared second later ruined his whole expert like demeanor.

“What world will you show me master pork bun, your humble student awaits your teaching.” Yang Qing joyfully said as he took a bite of a steamy pork bun that left his eyes curved up into crescents in satisfaction.

Cheng Yuan had his eyes wide open as what Yang Qing just said sent waves in his heart and mind. He saw himself in a dark space and ahead of him, he saw someone surrounded by chains. Without even seeing who was in there he instinctively knew it was a four-year-old child and that child was him. He was currently locked by thousands of chains however there was a breeze flowing around the chains shattering each of them one by one. The chains kept shattering until only less than a hundred were left before the breeze disappeared. With the shattered chains some body parts of the four year Cheng Yuan could be seen. His left shoulder down to his hand was exposed. Cheng Yuan with trembling legs walked forward to the four-year-old him and tried to touch his left palm.

The moment he did he heard a childlike voice whisper in his head,

“Don’t forget me.” The illusion shattered and Cheng Yuan came too. His shoulders and heart felt lighter even his body felt younger and his mind clearer. He stared deeply at Yang Qing whose eyes were still crescent shaped taking delight in the taste of the pork buns. Cheng Yuan gently woke up and bowed solemnly which drew some looks from the customers around the restaurant.

Mao Yunru stopped chatting with her friends as she thoughtfully looked at Yang Qing’s table.

“What is he planning?” She couldn’t help but wonder.

Yang Qing acted completely oblivious to what was happening around him deeply engrossed with his bun. Cheng Yuan sat down and continued eating with less apprehension than he did at first though he was still a bit reserved.

“I’ve only helped you partly the next steps are all yours. All the best sect master, I hope you’ll show me what sect you’ll make that made it worthwhile for you to take the risk you did ….mmh the bun is already finished? Did those scumbags reduce the size again?” Yang Qing quickly opened his eyes as he closely scrutinized the size of the remaining pork buns with heavy suspicion growing on his face with every second he looked at those buns.