Beginning of Cultivation
Chapter 40: Path Companion

Chapter 40: Path Companion

The other guards, upon hearing that Chu Wu did not know these people, turned hostile.

In their eyes, Jun Wu Xiao was just a liar claiming to have close relations with someone they revered, which made them extremely unhappy.

"Leave now. If you continue to stay here, don’t blame us for beating you to crawl." The guards said.

Jun Wu Xiao’s face darkened upon hearing this. He was no fool, he knew this was Chu Wu trying to mess with him, and he shouted:

"Damn it, Chu Wu, get your ass out here now. If not, I’ll turn the Chu estate upside down. Then we’ll see if you show your face."

The guards were taken aback by his outburst, gripping their spears and pointing them directly at Jun Wu Xiao. One of the guards said:

"Shut up! Is this a place where you think you can scream and shout? Just because you’re older doesn’t mean I won’t hit you."

Inside the estate, three others had come to see Chu Wu. A girl asked:

"Chu Wu, is this the person you often mention?"

"Yes, it’s him." Chu Wu replied.

The girl seemed puzzled and asked:

"From what I see, your relationship seems very good. Why not let him in?"

"Well, our relationship is just like when I hang out with the three of you. It’s not serious at all when we’re together. In other words, like a bunch of clowns." Chu Wu explained.

The girl laughed and said:

"Pfft ha ha, then I’m kind of looking forward to meeting him."

...

Seeing the guards looked ready to actually make a move, Jun Wu Xiao quickly disarmed them.

The guards were confused, suddenly seeing several spears in Jun Wu Xiao’s hands. One of them exclaimed:

"My spear... where did it go?"

"Mine’s gone too." another guard said.

"This really isn’t making sense. Just a moment ago it was in our hands, how come it’s now in his hands?" another guard added.

Seeing their confusion, Jun Wu Xiao said:

"Hey, the guy who just came in to report. Didn’t Chu Wu tell you to say that he doesn’t know me when you go outside?"

The guard was momentarily startled, but remembering his instructions, he shook his head and said:

"No, not at all."

But the brief moment did not escape the notice of the three. Yue Guang said:

"Now it’s clear. Clearly, that guy wants to mess with you. But why should we wait together with you? If you two want to mess around, go ahead on your own, don’t drag innocent people into it. Look at these poor guards, they’re also utterly confused."

"Ah, then I’ll call him out." Jun Wu Xiao agreed, realizing that intimidating the guards was somewhat unfair.

After all, their duty was to guard, not to play with them.

"Chu Wu, come out now. If you don’t, I’ll just come in myself." Jun Wu Xiao declared.

Chu Wu no longer inside, realized he had to appear, or Jun Wu Xiao would indeed enter on his own. He said:

"The three of you, come out with me to meet them."

Then, the four of them walked out to meet Jun Wu Xiao’s group.

Hearing footsteps approaching, Jun Wu Xiao remarked:

"Finally decided to come out."

"But why are there so many footsteps? Could he be bringing someone to meet us?" Yue Guang wondered.

Jun Wu Xiao shook his head, equally puzzled, and said:

"I give up, we’ll know once he comes out."

Soon after, the doors of the Chu estate opened. Chu Wu appeared accompanied by a man and two women. One of the women wore a vibrant green outfit, her face full of life. The man wore a dark-colored outfit, looking very agile, and the other woman was in purple, her expression dreamy as though she was sleepy yet alert. Chu Wu addressed the guards:

"Today we give everyone a day off, go wherever you want. With the strongest people in the world gathered here now, we don’t really need guards."

The guards were incredibly surprised, not realizing the significance of those present. They responded:

"Yes, sir."

Jun Wu Xiao, looking towards Chu Wu, noticed three unfamiliar faces and curiously asked:

"Hey, Chu Wu, introduce me to these people."

Chu Wu, who hadn’t even had the chance to greet properly, replied:

"The person standing next to me is Sheng Yuan. This man is Zhu Ji Feng and the other is Yan Meng Long."

Jun Wu Xiao nodded, noticing something unusual. It seemed that Sheng Yuan had a particularly special relationship with Chu Wu.

But what struck him as odd was that Chu Wu was over a hundred years old while Sheng Yuan and the other two seemed to be just over forty, according to his guess.

Indeed, they looked quite young, but Jun Wu Xiao could sense that they were cultivators, likely in the late stages of the Body Refinement Realm, making their apparent age of over forty quite fitting.

"Hey, Chu Wu, is Sheng Yuan your wife? And the other two, are they a couple?" Jun Wu Xiao bluntly asked.

Chu Wu was about to introduce that issue, but he didn’t expect to be recognized so early. He said:

"Yes, but also no."

Not only Jun Wu Xiao but also Yue Guang and Dao San Qian were taken aback. However, Zhu Ji Feng and Yan Meng Long understood clearly, as they were in the same situation as Chu Wu.

"Yes is yes, no is no. What the hell does that mean?" Jun Wu Xiao cursed.

"It means that she and I can’t really be called husband and wife. We have thought of a more accurate term, which is Path companion." Chu Wu explained.

Yue Guang found this term quite intriguing and asked:

"What is a Path companion?"

Chu Wu was surprised by her question but then smiled knowingly, looking at Jun Wu Xiao. With experience, he knew what she was up to, much like what Sheng Yuan had done with him.

"A Path companion means a special relationship, essentially a fellow traveler in the pursuit of the Path. The journey of pursuing the Path is so long that the endpoint is unknown, thus the status of a Path companion in one’s heart is naturally higher than that of friends." Chu Wu elaborated.

Yue Guang seemed enlightened by this explanation and finally made a decision. She asked:

"Jun Wu Xiao, would you like to be my Path companion?"

Jun Wu Xiao was momentarily stunned, but quickly responded:

"Yes, I agree."

"You two have finally reached this step. From the start, when I saw you both, I already anticipated this. But why did you agree so quickly?" Chu Wu remarked.

Jun Wu Xiao had no reason to lie, so he simply said:

"There’s nothing too special about it. Isn’t a Path companion just a relationship closer than that of friends? That’s exactly what we are."

"And if you three consider Chu Wu a friend, would you like to be my friends too?" he continued.

He asked this for a reason since his standards for choosing friends were very similar to Chu Wu’s friends.

"Ha ha, sure. I’ve heard Chu Wu speak highly of you, and meeting you today, you truly are as formidable as I heard. I can feel you are much stronger than me." Zhu Ji Feng laughed and said.

"We don’t see any problem with it, after all, our standards for choosing friends are quite similar." Sheng Yuan and Yan Meng Long added.

"Ha ha, good, good, good. Today, I’ve gained three more interesting friends. Oh, and though Chu Wu might have already talked about us, we haven’t properly introduced ourselves, have we? My name is Jun Wu Xiao, pleased to meet everyone." Jun Wu Xiao said with a smile.

"My name is Yue Guang, pleased to meet everyone."

"My name is Dao San Qian, pleased to meet everyone."

The others also introduced themselves.

"Ha ha, it’s been a long time since we’ve met like this. Come, I will definitely prepare a grand feast to entertain everyone." Chu Wu said as he led everyone into the mansion.