Rain dripped steadily from the holes in the ceiling, forming muddy pools on the earthen floor. Each drop echoed through the broken silence, a soft reminder of the life Li Cheng and his mother had been forced to endure.
As rain dripped through the rotting roof like time itself, wearing away at the little they had left. Their home, a fragile structure of patched wood and cloth, stood on the outskirts of the city where no one cared to look. It smelled of damp earth and old tears.
For Li Cheng and his mother, it was all they had.
Years ago, they had once lived in comfort, in the warmth of a proper household. But all of that vanished the day his father Li Qiang cast them out like discarded shoes. With cold eyes and a heart hardened by ambition, he had severed ties without remorse.
His mother had clutched his hand as they stood outside the gates of a house they could no longer call home. She had said nothing, but her silence was louder than any cry.
Li Cheng was just a ten years old child, too small to fight the storm life had prepared for him. He followed his mother through the winding alleys and narrow streets of the city, clutching her hand, never knowing where they might sleep next.
Since then, they had wandered, sheltering in alleys, sleeping under temple eaves, scraping by on the kindness of strangers that rarely came. Eventually, they found a crumbling shack far from the city center, and called it home.
Li Cheng father had married again, a woman named Yang Xin, and soon welcomed a son, Li Yuen. In a single breath, Li Cheng and his mother became nothing more than shadows in his past.
Li Cheng grew up with hunger in his belly and dust on his feet. His mother worked tirelessly, stitching embroidery by candlelight, her fingers raw from endless needle pricks. But her work barely fetched enough coins to buy stale rice and scraps of vegetables. There were nights when she would pretend she wasn't hungry just so Li Cheng could eat. And there were many mornings when she failed to hide her coughing.
At the time when children of his age were attending schools and learning how to read and write Li Cheng was hauling buckets of water twice his weight or sweeping market stalls for a handful of copper. He wore second-hand clothes too big for his thin frame and shoes with soles patched by his mother's skilled hands.
But it wasn't just the poverty that made life hard. It was how people looked at him.
In the market streets, whispers followed him like a shadow.
"There goes Li Qiang's discarded son."
"Look at him, dirty thin. What future coul he have."
"A waste of space."
Children his age mocked him openly. Some tripped him for fun. Others threw stones or spoiled his hard work just to see him clean it again. a boy once pushed him into a mud pit, laughing as Li Cheng lay there soaking, with the crowd around doing nothing but watching and laughing at him.
"You'll never be anything," they told him. "You don't even have a core to cultivate spirit energy. You're just trash."
And in this world, where cultivation determined one's worth, being unable to cultivate was worse than being poor. It meant being invisible,Powerless and Disrespected.
SEVEN YEARS LATER
As time passed, the child who once cried in silence grew into a quiet, determined boy. Eight years had turned him lean, hardened his spirit, and lined his hands with calluses earned through endless labor. He ran errands, carried goods, cleaned shops, anything that brought in coins. The world offered no kindness, and people were rarely gentle.
At night, after the city dimmed and lanterns flickered low, he returned home to his mother, his only light in an otherwise dark world.
after hauling stones for a nearby stonemason, he found her staring quietly at the roof where the rain seeped in.
Her hands, worn from years of needlework, often trembled as she sewed under a candle's dying flame. She smiled when she saw him, even when her eyes carried storms.
"I'm sorry, Chang'er," she said softly, her voice thick with sorrow and tears slide down from her eyes. "Everything you've gone through… it's all my fault. If only I were stronger. If only I".
Li Cheng knelt beside her, placing a rough but gentle hand on hers. "Mother, don't say that," he said, shaking his head. "None of this is your fault. Everyone walks their own path. I guess This is mine".....Li Cheng said as he stood up.
"I may not have a core to cultivate in the future but I promise you mother I will never be a useless person just as father has expected".....Li Cheng said with resolve burning in his eyes as he stair in the sky through the hole in the roof.