1 Birth and danger lurking everywhere

Central continent.

Spear bamboo forest.

The sun had just risen, illuminating a tall bamboo forest that surrounded a mortal village. Inside the village, the roosters climbed the houses and began their morning crows waking up the villagers.

Many had a good rest except for those living near a shabby house made of the abundant spear bamboo that gave the name to the mountain.

"Aaahhh!"

Loud feminine screams could be heard inside the shabby house but no villagers worried about it instead they were annoyed.

"Is she still giving birth?"

"It's been all night already. I couldn't sleep for even a second but you are telling me she still hasn't finished?"

"One thing is giving birth and the other is screaming in the middle of the night at the top of the lungs. When I gave birth to each of my 5 sons I never uttered a word."

"It's her first time having children. I too screamed from beginning to end but it was worth it. I gave birth to a beautiful girl… unfortunately she fell ill."

"Sigh, we can only hope her child grows up healthy."

The villagers all gossiped among themselves each having a different opinion, some annoyed and some sympathizing with the woman.

Inside the shabby house, the family members of the couple waited in the living room next to the bedroom where the woman was giving birth.

The parents of the husband and the wife both elderly couples, talked to each other as they waited, the brother of the wife was about to die of boredom, and the sister of the husband tried calming him down.

"Lu Yao everything will be okay. Liang Xin is young and strong." A woman with uneven teeth, an uneven face, and a lower chin protruding forward spoke as she held the shoulder of her brother.

"I know sister but it is just that I can't shake off this feeling as if something will go wrong." An ugly man with similar features as his sister spoke as he trembled due to the anxiousness.

Soon on the other side of the door cries of a baby could be heard. The husband jumped up from his seat in joy.

"My first son! I'm a father now!"

Lu Yao was so happy he wanted to immediately open the door and see his son but he was stopped by his sister.

"You will bring bad luck if you do that." She raised her voice.

The central continent was enormous with so much space, groups of people, and difficulty to travel outside their villages. It was natural that there would be different beliefs and traditions on a small part of the central continent. There was the belief that it would bring bad luck if someone entered without the midwife exiting from the room first.

The man reluctantly obeyed his sister anxiously waiting in front of the door but he didn't have to wait long as an old woman exited a few moments later. "Lu Yao you had a beautiful boy."

Although the old woman spoke with a smile she couldn't conceal the worry on her face as she looked at the face of the man. Lu Yao wasn't the ugliest man she had seen but it wasn't that far either.

Seeing the old woman's expression the man hurriedly entered the bedroom wishing nothing happened to his wife and son.

The rest of the family followed closely behind.

Laying on the bed was an exhausted young woman with disheveled hair, a pale face, and a body drenched in sweat. She was alive smiling weakly as she held her baby wrapped in a cloth as he kept crying.

"Fuck I thought I would die there." Billy complained loudly as he quickly breathed air and endured the pain he felt on his butt.

He was stuck in the uterus for hours. It was a miracle he was still alive but just as he had made it out a wrinkled hand with long filthy nails grabbed him by the feet, raised him high in the air, and slapped his butt with the other.

Although it hurt it wasn't the worst he had experienced but he was still angry not at the old woman that had slapped him but at the white creature that sent him here.

"That fucking alien I thought reincarnating meant getting out of the womb not racing against the other spermatozoids to survive."

Billy still had nightmares of the prison called a womb. Not only did he run for his life just after getting in but after he did that he was trapped there for eight long months inside that dark, warm, and moving prison. He wasn't claustrophobic but he never wanted to return there.

But it wasn't in vain although he almost turned crazy he gained enough time to plan his next moves and unknowingly that experience had aided him in understanding the human path although he still didn't realize it.

"Oh thank you thank you." Lu Yao was relieved as he thanked the heavens for their mercy.

"Who is this man…" Billy looked at the man from the corner of his eye before realizing something.

"Patched clothes, tanned skin, rough hands filled with callouses, and… no Gu master plate. Shit don't tell me I…" Billy could only think of two scenarios: either he was born into a mortal family or one of his parents was a demonic Gu master both heavily complicated his plans.

Lu Yao walked to his wife wanting to see his son but soon the relieved and joyful face he had a few moments ago became blank as confusion and anger invaded his mind.

He didn't want to admit it but he was ugly his wife wasn't that pretty either, only above average but the baby she held in her arms wasn't like the others he had seen. It was as white as milk, had blue eyes, and exuded a mystical aura that was hard to describe but set him apart from everyone in the village.

If Lu Yao didn't know his wife gave birth to him he would even think she stole the baby from someone else.

"Sister, is this really my nephew? He is so cute. What is his name?" Liang Xin's brother spoke as he smiled at the baby.

"With such looks he might even marry a Gu master in the future." Liang Xin's father spoke already thinking about the benefits his grandson would bring before he had even taken his first steps.

"Our grandson is too young for us to be thinking about his marriage." Liang Xin's mother scolded her husband.

"Haha, old friend it seems I lost. You get to pick the surname of our grandson." Lu Yao's father spoke while laughing.

"Finally the grandson I thought I would never have in my lifetime." Lu Yao's mother spoke as she threw glances at Lu Yao and Lu Yao's sister.

"Haha." Lu Yao's sister lightly laughed as she ignored her mother and looked at her nephew.

Although she found it weird that the baby had blue eyes and pale skin she thought it was just a recessive gene after all she knew one of their ancestors had pale skin but she wasn't sure if there was one that had blue eyes.

As for Liang Xin cheating, it didn't even pass through her mind as she knew Liang Xin since childhood and knew how much she loved her husband.

Both families were happily rejoicing with the arrival of a new family member, all except Lu Yao.

Lu Yao might have let this issue pass by simply thinking the heavens blessed him with a beautiful son if the baby had brown eyes but they were blue eyes and none in his or her family hell even the whole village didn't have anyone with blue eyes except for a male Gu master of soul toad sect who had come to the village with his group while they were on a mission of collecting the yearly tribute the village had to give to the sect for protection.

That Gu master came around the time his wife became pregnant. The Gu master stayed for a few days and threw a few glances at his wife from time to time.

Lu Yao quickly connected the dots as a sense of humiliation and helplessness washed over him.

Even if he knew who his wife had cheated him with he couldn't do anything to the Gu master not only did Lu Yao didn't know where he was but the Gu master could instead kill him using a lowly excuse like offending him but there was nothing Lu Yao could do he was a mortal.

Mortals were the slaves of the Gu masters, everyone knew that. It was an unspoken rule that Gu masters indulged on even the so-called righteous path Gu masters embraced that unspoken rule with all their love.

"Liang Lu, Hubby I named our son Liang Lu after our surnames." Liang Xin spoke with a weak yet beaming smile.

Lu Yao remained quiet as he clenched his fists. He loved his wife, especially her beaming smile that always brightened up his day. But now that same smile seemed like it was laughing at him constantly mocking him.

What a shame he didn't know his son's appearance was due to the carefree wisdom heart physique. In reality, his wife had never cheated on him but as a mortal how would he know that extreme physiques were real? All he knew was that they were the names of Ren Zu's children.

Seeing her husband's state Liang Xin asked worriedly, "Did something happen?"

Hearing Liang Xin's question, the family present turned to look at Lu Yao.

"No nothing I just…" Lu Yao paused for a moment, unable to speak. He was unsure what to do. On one hand, he loved his wife but on the other, the feeling of betrayal felt worse than the time a goat kicked him on the testicles. The only difference was that the kick was temporary; the betrayal gave him pain that only increased the more time passed.

"I just need to rest. It's been a long night and I need to tend to the fields."

"Brother Yao, didn't it rain yesterday? Wait, you don't have to water the fields, I will." Liang Xin's brother saw the opportunity to kill his boredom and took it hurriedly walking to the door without waiting for a response.

"..."

Everyone remained quiet for a moment before their gazes turned to Lu Yao.

"Son, why are you being like this? You were the most anxious about this. Didn't you say you wanted to be the first to carry your child?"

"At least come see your wife, she suffered so much to give you a child."

"Hubby?"

Question after question rained over Lu Yao. His parents looked disappointed, his parents-in-law questioned if they had made the right decision to marry their daughter to him, his sister remained quiet, and his wife was speechless.

Lu Yao remained quiet, the pressure of his loved ones felt as if a mountain had fallen on his shoulders.

This was what attachments and responsibilities did. People always preach that family and friends are the most important but not all is happiness and laughs. Like everything in the world, there is a bad side, that bad side is the loss of freedom.

Look at Lu Yao he wanted to get out but couldn't as his relationships were on the line if he left the relations with his family would turn sour it would take a long time for them to go back to normal but even then they would always remember what he did as humans love to emphasize the mistakes of others. Like now Lu Yao had been a kind and a good person since he was born but now that he made something others didn't like everyone seemed to forget his previous actions and started judging him solely on this mistake.

Lu Yao remained quiet; he didn't want to approach the baby, touch him much less carry him. Not because he was unable to but because he didn't know how he would react.

He was burning in anger and pain if he held the object of these emotions he might even try and destroy it.

But with the pressure of his family Lu Yao could only grit his teeth and hope he could contain himself.

With that thought in mind, he mainly focused on his wife and left with an excuse not before having to kiss her wife and baby's forehead.

Kissing his wife was bearable but when it came to kissing his son it was disgusting even though the baby was cute to Lu Yao it was like kissing a piece of shit on the side of the road filled with flies and maggots.

He even had the urge to throw the baby to the ground and step on him until he was dead but he wasn't an idiot not only would he be stopped by his family he would also be hated by them and be punished by the villagers at best he would be executed painlessly at worst he would be killed by the crowd.

To the people that put so much emphasis on family and their ancestors, he would become worse than scum. A maniac that killed his own baby in cold blood would be worse than a wild beast as the beast at least took care of their cubs.

By a miracle, Lu Yao contained himself immediately leaving with an excuse even when his family begged him to stay a few more minutes.

"I think something is wrong with little Lu." Liang Xin's mother informed the others.

"That was close." Billy, now named Liang Lu, was deathly quiet, cold sweat poured down his face as he had sensed Lu Yao's strong killing intent.

Liang Lu now knew his attainment in the human path had surprisingly reached master level. The level where they had intuition relating to their path.