The Legendary Janitor

In the crowd a disgruntled voice called out "Che, you can really name things huh? Dragon and ginseng, you might as well call it the legend of the sun and the moon at this point." But despite that nobody left the crowd, clearly interested in hearing what Auntie Jue had to say.

Eyes returned to Auntie Jue, satisfied, she rubbed her hands on the side of her dress, straighting her back a bit. "But the old man protested, 'It won't be good for your future' and the youth replied, 'For you I would give the sun and the stars, much less my future and my life; and after five days and five nights of arguing the old man begrudgingly agreed."

The first voice that had called Auntie Jue an old lady called out "Hey! You really went and threw the sun and stars in there huh?!"

Ignoring the crowd, Auntie Jue continued, "But the old man had a condition, their relationship must not affect the youth's cultivation, after all he was older and wiser, and while he treasured this forbidden love, he knew better than the youth that he could not waste his energy on these frivolous things."

Smacking her lips and pulling a wooden thermos out of nowhere, Auntie Jue took a long swig, eying the audience.

"For awhile, everything went well. The boy was over the moon, he had found his love! With renewed vigor he cultivated, his speed jumping up another notch! From a genius son of the heavens, he became an unparalleled genius, the type that appears once in a thousand years! But…" 𝑏𝑒𝑑𝘯𝑜𝘷𝑒𝑙．𝑐𝘰𝘮

Auntie Jue paused again, taking out a bag of sunflower seeds from her bag, and cracked one open.

"Go on already!"

Auntie Jue gave the young man in the crowd who had called her out three times now a nasty eye, "But, before long the secret was out. Jealous, one snot nosed brat in his class had followed him one night, and elated the young dragon didn't notice. Before long, the story was out! The dragon had fallen in love with not a flower, not a phoenix, but a spicy old ginseng!"

The youth in the crowd who had been heckling Auntie Jue had three black lines appear on his face. Hey! Why did it feel like he was getting called out as a snotty nosed brat here? He hadn't had a snotty nose for well over three decades now!

"All around, various voices carrying tinges of envy and jealousy began to mock the young dragon. 'Look at the fool, he loves a man, and an old man nonetheless' one would say, and the other would respond, 'I bet the old man is an alchemist, he must be eating pills to cultivate faster than us' and they would agree, sneering at the young dragon…"

"But despite this, the dragon continued unfaltered, if anything it felt relieved that the secret was out, it was proud of it's love! But on the contrary, the old man, he could not bear the accusations. He was a simple man, content with a quiet life, and couldn't bear to hear all the voices accusing the young dragon he loved! So one night he called the dragon over, hoping to speak to him privately."

A hush fell over the crowd as they hung onto Auntie Jue's every word.

"The young dragon came with great expectations, was the ginseng going to ask for his hand in marriage? To meet his parents? What should he wear, ah? But instead he was devastated. The ginseng asked to break it off with him. The dragon cried and pleaded, 'Why? Why must you do this? Can't you see that I love you?' But the ginseng held firm, even as his heart broke watching the dragon break down in tears."

Taking a breath, Auntie Jue continued, "In the end, the ginseng only said two words, 'Go back' and turned his back on the dragon, hiding the tears that he shed. Devastated, the dragon left his heart in shreds…"

Forgetting all the grievances he had against Auntie Jue just a moment ago, the young man couldn't help but ask, "and then what?"

Scratching her neck, Auntie Jue responded, "And then…" Auntie Jue paused, rolling her eyes as she thought, "And then, the dragon returned back and threw himself in cultivation, trying to forget the woes in his heart. In fact, long ago he had been imparted a high heaven ranked heartless manual due to a tortuous encounter, but he had always refused to cultivate it due to his love, but at this moment he could want nothing more than to forget, so he cultivated with a frenzy."

Auntie Jue suddenly started to speak softer, "Months passed, the young dragon in seclusion cultivating, in just months he rose all the way from the foundation stage to the Qi Sea stage."

"What the heck? Isn't that too exaggerated?" Months for foundation to Qi Sea? Lady, aren't you afraid that people won't notice you're lying?" A certain young man grumbled, before getting aggressively shushed by the rest of the crowd.

"But in the meantime the rumors did not die down, and the old ginseng worried for his lover tried reaching out to the young dragon to make sure he was doing okay, only to receive no response for the young dragon was in seclusion. In a great fear, he ran over to the Academy, questioning nearby youths as to the condition of the young dragon, and if he was doing okay or not."

Taking another sip of water, Auntie Jue continued, "But in a great stroke of misfortune, the first person the ginseng asked happened to be the snotty nosed brat who had first followed them, in a fit of malicious rage, the brat responded, 'Ah? That idiot? He grew a mental demon and crippled himself while cultivating, after that he went back to his mortal home depressed' before walking away."

"In great reprehension, the ginseng lamented, what a fool he was! He had known since long ago this would be the outcome, but overcome by his love he had let his judgment blind him and harmed the young dragon! Of course, the dragon was fine, but the ginseng didn't know that, and this oversight cost him everything…"

Auntie Jue paused again, dusting her hands and looking at the small pile of empty sunflower seeds that had grown in hight beside her.

"And then what?"

"And then… You'll have to come back next time to hear the rest of the story!" Auntie Jue laughed.