The Urban Dao Child

Yang Dao stopped for a moment before he took a step inside the dining hall. He could see that every pair of eyes present inside the dining hall was staring at him. He could sense, at least, thirty such pairs. He smiled and then set his foot inside the dining hall.

The seeming gentle aura around him turned to a dominating presence as if a switch flipped inside him. Steward Jill was half a step behind him and she seemed to have seen Yang Dao growing taller all of a sudden. She had no idea what happened to him. Yue Yun clear her throat gently and only then did she wake up from the illusion.

She could have sworn that one moment ago, she had seen a two-meter tall guy with a wide back walking in front of him. Yang Dao walked inside, the dining hall and made his way directly to the chair where Jenny sat, looking at him with a proud smile on her face.

The dining hall had a lot of small tables placed inside but in the center laid a big table. That was meant to belong to the master of the family. This table was different than the rest, it could accommodate eight people and be made of black and white jade. Unlike the wooden ones around.

The wooden tables also had different carvings. The higher the authority in the family the better and detailed the carving on the table. Yang Dao noticed all this and walked up to the center of the dining hall. On the way, he sensed someone gazing at his back with a strong sense of hatred. However, he did not react and kept moving forward.

Only when he reached the table and stood beside Jenny did he turn his gaze to the source of the hateful gaze. It was just a mere second, he caught sight of the person and began to scene the whole room. Yue Lei Wang said, “This is my grandson, Yang Dao. He will be staying here from now on. Does anyone has any objection?”

None of the family spoke, and Yue Lei Wang continued, “I now announce him as my official successor. Do you have any objection?”

Someone stood up and said, “Master of the family, with all due respect, your grandson is not born in our family. How can he be the successor? His linage is different than us.”

A few people nodded at this, and more and more people came forward to make objections over this decision. Yang Dao, meanwhile, sat down on the chair next to Jenny and began to help himself with the food as if all this was not happening because of him. The people saw his actions, they did not expect him to be so nonchalant to all this.

A person from the opposition group spoke, “Look at his mannerism. We are here discussing such a serious method and he has to eat food.”

Yue Lei Wang wanted to say something when Jenny spoke up, “Dao, they are talking about you. Would you like to answer them?”

Yang Dao gulped in the noodles in his mouth and said, “Yes, why not?”

He stood up from his seat and said, “As far as I know, the Yue family is not a bunch of inbreds so the blood purity is diluted for everyone. Unless I am wrong. This is a fact. As for mannerism, in my family, it is said that a human works hard for food. Yet, here you are sitting inside the dining hall and talking about something like this. Disrespecting your hard work and food.” ρꪖꪕᦔꪖꪕꪫꪣꫀ​ꪶ​

His words made the people surprised and they could not refute it all. The boy said, “I will be my grandfather’s successor, and not the leader of your clan to inherit it. So you people better calm down.”

With that said he sat down at his table and began to eat. An old man spoke up, “Hmmm, kid do you think, you can walk in our house and talk so rudely with us and we will do nothing about it?”

The boy replied, “Oh, how can I not know? The whole planet must have come to know, how your steward attacked me and missed. I was taught by my mother, treat others the way you want them to treat you. Do you understand that, sir?”

He put emphasis on two words, missed, and sir. He was not rude earlier, but he did not intend to hold back this time. He wanted to finish his meal but these people were like flies. Buzzing in his ears every other moment.

Yue Jiren suddenly chuckled as he said, “What my nephew said, is correct. We need to relax and eat. All this is meaningless. The seat of the patriarch is not something that is passed down to the next generation on a whim. But you need capabilities to and prove them in the trials. Am I correct, Uncle?”

Uncle in his mouth was Yue Lei Wang. The latter nodded and the scene descended into silence and the people began to eat. Yue Jiren was sitting on a table one level below the master table. After drinking some wine he asked, “Why do you wear such bland clothes, Nephew Yang Dao. Shall I buy you some colorful ones?”

Yang Dao was eating a dessert, when he had to pay attention to the other things instead of food he would get annoyed. The boy sighed and said, “Why do you wear black clothes, Uncle Jiren?”

Yue Jiren replied, “Because I like it.”

Yang Dao answered, “Same for me, also, I like to eat my food in peace. How about you?”

He asked in a dumb tone. As if a child asking someone a question in ignorance. His age was ten years and not so small for a cultivator child but Yue Jiren was not an impatient man. He smiled and said, “Indeed, eating food in peace is a good thing. Everyone likes it. I am done eating, I will see you around, nephew.”

“Be careful on your way, Uncle.” said the boy.  The dining today was akin to fighting a war or minds.. What Yang Dao did not notice was a sneer sitting on the corner of Yue Jiren’s lips as he turned around and the hatred flashing inside his eyes.