An old man could be seen pushing a young man in cart across an endless field. Despite the field seeming not to get much rain, it was full of short grasses and, every so often, a herb or vegetable. The pair drew odd glances from the odd forager. They'd pass by without so much as a peep, with the old man focusing of pushing his master forward, while the young master cultivated. They didn't see any crests on the young man's clothes, but no one is that clean and well-fed around here without being prestigious.

Just look at him, clean, neat burlap robe, not a blemish on his skin, long hair tied in a traditional ponytail, and light skin. He must be some noble son! Compared to his master, the servant had clearly seen many years of hard labor. His hair had a bald patch on top and has wispy hair everywhere else. The relationship of their skin was alike that of paper and leather, both in texture and complexion. The man had a slight hunch in his back and callouses on his hands.

With all of that said, no one present, save Fang Hu, would be able to correctly guess Jiahao's age and occupation. Farming as a peasant would normally kill most people by the age of 40, and even if they survived, would end up looking as if Igor hate-fucked a raisin and had an illicit child. Normally, one wouldn't have much of a will left after farming for 60 years, either, so the determined glint in his eyes would have put off any guesses as well.

Fang Hu was having a great day, he had beat some sense into some uppity cultivators, found a way to move and cultivate at the same time, found out that his gold coins were still widely circulated, and got someone to talk to, all at the same time! It was all wonderful, he didn't have to carry three oversized jugs and got to rest his legs for a while. The shade was appreciated as well, it wasn't sunny enough to warrant it, if he had to deal with the sun this whole journey he would have died, but it was a luxury he could enjoy. That, after his journey, was almost enough to make him cry. He hadn't had any luxury since he died.

Jiahao was having a bad day, he lost his cabbages, almost died, was put into a life debt, and found out he now has to push this cart for the next few months, all at the same time! He would have to push his new master for most of the day without break, only getting to take drinks of lukewarm water his master had traded what was left of his cabbages for. He was pissed that he got gypped for his profit, but supposed he was happy that he provided a windfall for Little Yi's family. He had known that family since its current head was but a child. The only good thing he got out of this deal was a gold coin, he could usually get a gold coin with around three years of farming, so even if the conditions were a bit rough, this was quite a hefty sum for Jiahao.

*I'm going to cultivate for the next few days, if you steal anything I'll... well I'm sure whatever I do won't be pretty, capiche?*

"I will be following the way of the dao for the foreseeable future, if you try to steal from your master... then your fate will be in the heavens hands."

"I... this lowly one would never... You need not worry of this, Master!"

Fang Hu could tell that Jiahao wasn't scared. His acting may have been perfect, but 'this lowly one' could hide nothing from his new master. He may have acted meek for countless cultivators, but Jiahao had the ambition for the man of his talent. Fang Hu had let him not taking the life debt seriously slide, but couldn't let him keep this act up, after all, it wouldn't do for a conversation partner to keep thinking such negative thoughts!

*Keep the act to yourself old timer, it isn't proper for an ambitious man of almost seven decades to act so humble. You may have cultivated something different from me, but it takes the same mindset to cultivate. Those who betray me will get their due, whether they speak nice or not, besides, I'm an intellectual, I enjoy earnest conversation, not fancy speak.*

"Your dual nature does you more harm than good, if you keep pretending to be humble in your ambition, you will never realize your destiny. You have cultivated vegetables for more than seven decades, that should give you an edge in cultivating against the heavens. Having a silver tongue will get you nowhere with a scholar, but sharing your earnest opinions will. If you try to use your silver tongue against me, you will find it severed."

Fang Hu considered the matter settled, but Jiahao was sweating, and it had nothing to do with the manual labor. No one had seen Jiahao's true nature with a mere glance before. Is this what a scholar is? He even knew the background and names of all the people he had seen, was his very mind being read like a scroll?

'No, calm down, he may be able to tell my intentions, but there's no way he can tell what I'm thinking. He may be strong, but he's just as arrogant as all the other cultivators you've seen before.'

As soon as Jiahao mentally berated his new master, Fang Hu turned his serene smile his way. Jiahao froze.

*Ha, try what you want. I need to cultivate some, so i'mma head out, mentally of course.*

"If you truly think so little of me, then you can try to do as you wish. The dao is calling me, my presence in this world may diminish for the foreseeable future."

Sighing, Jiahao was just happy that his master truly wasn't the type of person to take petty revenge. However, as he continued to push the cart, he wished his 'master' would tell him his name already. He only just learned that he is some sort of scholar.