It was a sunny in the noon of the Green Rock town and the already busy streets of the central area had just gotten even busier.
The stores in this area were crowded with people. While some were there for the pills, some were for the artifacts and also for other things.
Likewise, the White Clouds store was also crowded with people and the staffs of the store were running around to meet the demands of the customers.
The White Clouds store was a branch of the Xu clan which was in the city of about 500 miles from Green Rock town. This store was managed by manager Chen (real name was Chen Xu) along with twenty staffs.
In one corner of the store, there stood a boy with black hair and handsome face silently observing the people around him without any change of expression.
“Hey Ren.” One of the staff approached him with unfriendly gaze and continued, “There is a new batch of pills and artifacts from the clan in the city. Manager Chen wants you to go and carry them to their respective room. Go now.”
The boy called Ren, full name Ren Xu, nodded and walked away to do the things he was tasked with.
One hour later.
Ren was done with the work and walked to the manager Chen's office while wiping the sweats on his face with his sleeves.
As he reached the door of the office, he finds manager Chen sipping the tea from his seat.
Manager Chen was surprised at the arrival of someone but calmed down after knowing the identify of the person.
Putting down the tea on the table, he asked, “Finished with the work I presume?”
“Yes.”, replied Ren.
Manager Chen, “Okay, you can go back.”
Ren bowed and left the room.
Seeing that Ren had left, Manager Chen went back to drinking his tea.
°°°′°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°
Ren returned to the main store which was in the down floor and quickly went back to his usual place and stood there.
After some time, left alone with no one to bother him, he was feeling sleepy even with all the noises, due to lack of sleep in the previous night and that also he had been woken up the store manager Chen Xu early in the morning from his deep sleep. But he forced himself to stay awake.
With a soft sigh, he slowly turned his head to the window besides him and looked at the clear blue sky and watched the birds flying with envy and felt how he wished to be like them, free and without any shackles and be where he wanted to be.
And then he thought about his life before coming to this town. He was born as the son of the clan master of the Xu clan. It was said that the day he was born, there was a loud sound and lighting in the sky even when there was no rain and the sun was still up in the sky. It was like the world was going to split apart any soon.
That’s why he was regarded special, not only because he was the son of clan master but also because of his birth. And when he still a little kid, he was respected by everyone and was loved and cared by both his father and mother.
But as he grew older, everyone realized that he was unable to cultivate even when he was tested to have no problem in his meridian and dentian since his birth. So he was shunned by everyone and his treatment in the clan became colder and colder.
Even his parents were no exception and were like everyone else. His relationship with them became further and further. The once loving and caring parents were became someone he couldn’t even imagine and that’s what it hurts him the most.
His father acted like a stranger towards him and wouldn’t even recognize him as his son and act like he didn’t exist. His mother was worse, whenever they came across each other, she would look at him with disgust and hatred like she he wasn’t even human.
Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.
The clan members would often bully him on the point that he had to crawl to his bed with heavy injuries. No one would give him a helping hand, not even a pity look from his clan and from even the servants. He was like a dirt in everyone’s eyes.
His father remarried and his mother left the clan and went back to her own clan when he was just four years old.
As he grew older, he sometimes had the urge to commit suicide and free himself from this miserable world but at that time, he would feel like he had something to accomplish and that he cannot die and give up yet.
Like that he lived in the clan until last year, when he was sent to the Green Rock town to work for the clan's branch store on the order of his father, the clan master.
Usually, the person from the Xu clan will be sent to the side branch to work for the clan businesses if he/she was considered to have low achievements in their cultivation and that also after they are of fifteen years or above. But he was an exception like his father couldn’t wait to get rid of him from his sight and was sent away when was just thirteen years old.
The White Clouds store was not much different from the main clan. The staff members' treatment towards him was cold, some treated him with disdain and some with hatred. His mentality was matured enough to know that the disdain was because of his inability to cultivate and the hatred was because they were sent away from the main clan and as the son of the clan master, their hatred was directed towards him but this was something he got used to it a long time ago.
His work was not much different from the slaves as he had to clean the store, clean the items and even wash their clothes and that he had to be ready anytime for the orders.
But when he thought about it, he felt like this place was much better than the main clan as he got less beating because they were busy with the work in the store and that he at least get an earning to feed himself.
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°
“Hey you. Hey……”
A voice of came from behind him.
Startled at the sudden voice which woke him up from his thoughts, Ren turned around to face the owner of the voice. But to his surprise, what stood in front of him was a beautiful young girl of about 12-13 years old.
The surprise didn’t last for long as he only raise his brows and quickly bowed to the young girl and said, “Apologies, young miss.”
And straightening him after bowing, he asked, “What can I do for you, young miss?”
Seeing the attitude of Ren, the girl was displeased and annoyed because in her life, the people she meets would either pay greet her with respect or fawn on her but he was neither and that also he was just a staff member of the store.
“humph……I was informed that there is a new batch of pills in the store. So I came here to buy some for my cultivation.” The girl said while puffing her cheeks in anger while the two women looked at him with piercing gaze like a dagger.
Ignoring the anger of the girl and the gaze of the two women, Ren replied, “Yes, there is. I can take you there if want.”
“Lead the way then.” The girl said.
“Okay, this way please.” Saying that Ren started walking towards the stairs leading to the upper floors followed closely behind by the irritated girl and her two followers.
As they were about to reach the stairs, one of the staff member stood on their way with a smile his face. Ren knew that this man name was Shemo Xu of about twenty years old. He knew him because Shemo Xu was the first person to beat him up here in this Green Rock town.
Shemo Xu face the girl and bowed to her and said, “My apologies to the beautiful miss Lin Liu but after seeing you here in our store, I feel like I have greet you no matter.”
Miss Lin Liu appeared happy at the attitude of Ren and said, “It’s okay. I am here to take a look at the new batch of pills and buy some.” Pointing at Ren while looking a bit unhappy, she continued, “And this person was just taking us there.”
Shemo Xu, seeing the reaction of miss Lin Liu, became angry at Ren and scolded, “Ren. Were you being rude to the young miss Lin Liu? Do you know who she is?”
Seeing that Ren was silent, he continued, “She is the only daughter of the Liu clan master. And remember, her name is Lin Liu. At young age, she has already broken through qi condensation level. Her talent is something you cannot dream to achieve. So, you should give your utmost respect whenever you see her.”
After saying all that without taking a breath like he prepared it in advance, Shemo Xu turned to Lin Liu and said, “Miss Lin Liu, I am sorry for the trouble you had to go through. Please ignore that piece of trash who couldn’t even cultivate to elementary level with a clean meridian and dentian intact and follow me. I will lead you to the pills you desired.”
“Oh…” surprised at what she heard, Lin Liu looked at Ren with interest like he was some new kind of breed.
Then she turned to Shemo Xu and said, “After you.”
Shemo Xu snorted with disdain looking at the expressionless Ren and turning to Lin Liu, he gave a happy smile and said, “Please follow me, miss Lin Liu. I will take you to find a suitable pills for you.”
And they went up the stairs, leaving Ren behind. But he can still hear the girl called Lin Liu asking about him with great interest and Shemo Xu calmly explaining about the Ren to Lin Liu like he knew him more than Ren knew about himself.
Feeling glad that he had freed himself from the trouble and had more time for himself, Ren slowly walked back to his usual place as he continued to observe the people around him.
And the looking at the outside of the window, he waited for the day to end so that he will be done with the work in the store and he'd be allowed to go to bed to let his sleepy eyes get a rest.