So5E Chapter 1 - Hou Tu, Labourer
“A mixture of 5 elements, impure martial soul, rejected!” An indifferent voice sounded throughout the examination tent, and the young man who was currently being examined revealed a despondent expression.
When the examiner saw that the young man was not making way for the next examinee, he tactfully cleared his throat. This brought Hou Tu’s attention back to reality, and he left the tent with haste as he noticed the other examinees staring at him with contempt and frustration.
Outside of the tent, Hou Tu was greeted by an intense morning sun and a humid summer heat. Hou Tu found this environment much more comfortable. Years of manual labour had left his skin bronze and well suited to endure the harsh sunlight.
He took a moment to ponder the result of his examination before he let out a sigh and began heading towards his residence. In truth, he did not attend the examination with much optimism. Though he possessed a martial soul, he knew the chances of it being suitable for a clan or sect was unlikely.
The only thing that left him surprised was that he had underestimated how unsuitable his martial soul was. Who would have thought that he would possess the extremely rare, and extremely horrible 5 element martial soul?
He would be lucky if he was able to cultivate any method to the second or third layer. This was the fate of somebody with this infamously trash martial soul.
Hou Tu needed to follow several city streets to arrive at his residence. These streets became more and more barren as he neared his destination, and he soon arrived at a small, dead-end alleyway. The walls of this alleyway were covered in doors, and only a few inches of stone separated each of them.
Outside of these doors, children were playing rambunctiously and women were dunking frayed clothing in large wooden buckets. All of these people had uncouth appearances, their faces covered in dirt and their hair disheveled. The odor of sweat and wet fabric permeated throughout the area.
Upon Hou Tu’s arrival, a young child with head-length hair that shot out in every conceivable direction smiled and left his playmates to greet Hou Tu.
“Big Brother Tu!” The child looked to Hou Tu with admiration painted on his face. Hou Tu had always appreciated the sincerity of children, and bent down to rub the boys head and show him a warm smile.
“Little Rascal Zan, have you been listening to your mother?”
“Mmm.” Little Rascal Zan looked at Hou Tu with puppy dog eyes, unwilling to lie but unwilling to speak the truth.
Hou Tu could only laugh at this young boy’s refusal to respond.
It was at this point that the other children caught on to Hou Tu’s arrival, and ran to greet him with zest.
“Little Rascal Zan played in the dirt wearing his clean clothes, so his mother has to wash them again!” A young girl of four or five responded to Hou Tu’s inquiry in Little Rascal Zan’s place.
This girl was Little Rascal Zan’s counterpart within the children’s group, and she was nicknamed Little Angel Da.
“Hmmph!” Little Rascal Zan reacted to Little Angel Da’s words with an annoyed snort, but soon after revealed a smile towards her.
After taking a few minutes to catch up with the children, Hou Tu announced that he needed get ready for work and entered his small residence under the dejected gazes of the children.
Most of these children only had their mothers to rely on, and had naturally grown to view Hou Tu as something of a father figure. This was because, outside of a few reclusive old men, Hou Tu was the only male who lived in this place.
After changing into his work clothes and retrieving his lumber axe, Hou Tu made his way to the nearby forest to begin another day of manual labour.
Because he possessed a martial soul, Hou Tu’s body had experienced some minor refinement from the natural energy of the world. This gave him a physique that was much stronger and tougher compared to normal people.
With this superior physique paired and a conscientious work ethic, Hou Tu had garnered the attention of those responsible for hiring labourers and there was always someone willing to give him work.
Today, he was tasked with cutting down trees within a 10 meter area. This was almost twice the amount that most labourers were tasked with, but Hou Tu was not worried because he would be re-compensated adequately.
Hou Tu had no problem completing this task within the day, and was only covered in a thin layer of sweat as he finished his work.
“Little Brother Tu, impressive as always!” A well built man with a jovial face called out to Hou Tu as he saw him returning from the forest.
“Ahh, Big Brother Yu, you are done as well?” Hou Tu looked to this man with a slight smile.
Peng Yu was a friendly labourer who had been around longer than Hou Tu. When Hou Tu had yet to prove his capability, it was Peng Yu that vouched for him. These actions had caused Hou Tu to be deeply grateful to Peng Yu, and they had quickly formed a friendship as they got to know one another on various labour sites.
“Mm, but I was only assigned a 7 meter area. I’ve fallen behind Little Brother Tu.” Peng Yu feigned disappointment, but in his heart he was happy to see Hou Tu doing well for himself.
“Big Brother Yu shouldn’t put it like this, you still work more efficiently than most!”
Peng Yu smiled and nodded at Hou Tu’s remark, before pulling out a small water jug and passing it to Hou Tu.
Hou Tu gratefully received it and took a few gulps of water before handing it back, letting out a satisfied sigh as he wiped the corners of his mouth with his arm.
“Did Little Brother Tu attend the examination?” Peng Yu raised an eyebrow in curiosity as he asked Hou Tu.
“Bah, don’t mention that waste of time.” Hou Tu displayed a rare face of dissatisfaction as he waved his hand, disregarding the topic.
Peng Yu was surprised, but did not pry any deeper and offered some words of encouragement.
The two fellows conversed for around 15 minutes before dispersing to take care of their other daily tasks.
It was nightfall by the time that Hou Tu arrived back at Widow Alley. He was carrying several items and had an unusually joyful smile on his face.
Under the endless nagging of the curious children, he revealed the reason for his happiness was because he had seen the cities goddess, Xie Wu!
“Hmph, I don’t like that girl one bit!” Little Rascal Zan spoke in a blunt tone.
To Hou Tu’s surprise, Little Angel Da did not contradict the little rascal but instead voiced her agreement.
“Xie Wu is the goddess of my heart, how dare you rascals insult her!” Hou Tu pretended to be angry, but all of the children could see through his facade and only laughed in response.
After being teased for a few minutes, Hou Tu eventually singled out one of the items he was carrying.
“Come now, if you keep teasing Big Brother, he won’t give you any treats!” Hou Tu held the box of sweets up high, out of the children’s reach to tease the children in return.
Little Rascal Zan switched his tune the instant the box of sweets entered his sights. “Grandpa Hou, your esteemed self has the judgement of a noble!”
“Whose grandpa? Are you calling me an old man?!”
“Big Brother Tu, forgive me!”
The sound of children’s laughter echoed out of the small alley as a luxurious carriage pulled up in front of it.