The First Alchemist - Chap 2

Chap 2 - Sheng Yi

Once a part of him accepted the idea that he had somehow possessed the body of Chem Al, his mind was able to clear up enough to try to figure everything out.

This was a child’s body, his parents were still poor, and this village did not look prosperous. That could only mean one thing. This point in time was before the great Chem Al created alchemy.

In other words, someone had killed Chem Al with poison before he could introduce alchemy to the world! The consequences of this could change the course of human history!

No, this must not happen! He had to make it right!

But with Chem Al dead, the only one who could do that was him. However, he may have been the greatest alchemist of his time, but he didn’t know if his skills could match up to The First Alchemist.

The boy looked like the weight of the world was on his shoulders, not knowing if he could handle it. Meanwhile his parents were staring at him with worried eyes. “At least he’s not running around muttering things,” Chem Feng said.

“But he’s just standing there, not say anything,” Chem Mai said. “We should take him to the medicine woman.”

Chem Feng scoffed at that. “You know she can’t do anything.”

Suddenly, their son whipped around and faced them. “The medicine woman of Sorka Village? As in Sheng Yi? Take me to her now!”

Although he had been trying to figure out what was going on and what he should do next, a part of him was still aware of his surroundings. When his parents mentioned the medicine woman, he knew exactly who they were talking about because that woman was crucial to the creation of alchemy. If he was going to introduce alchemy to the world as Chem Al, he needed her help.

“What? Little Al, what’s wrong?” Chem Mai asked.

“Please! Please! Please! Just take me to her!” Chem Al grabbed his mother’s hands and started pulling her away from the hut.

“Okay, okay,” she said as she stumbled forward, trying to keep up. The father followed along.

But pretty soon they came to a stop because Al didn’t know where he was going. Although the village was small, it was obvious he couldn’t tell where the medicine woman’s house was.

This added to his parents’ worries. He should know where her house was because they had taken him there often enough. Their son was born a cripple. He couldn’t cultivate profound energy so he’ll never become a cultivator no matter how hard he tried. In this world where strength was respected, this was a serious matter. Even if it was the smallest hope, they still took their son to the medicine woman to try to help him, but there was no result.

However, their son seemed to have no memory of this so his parents had to lead the way. They walked from the center of the village to the edge, passing by small huts and farmland that looked nearly barren. Soon they ended up at a broken down hut, close to the pathetically fragile wall that surrounded the village. The hut looked neglected. It was as far from a mansion as it could possibly be, but Chem Al didn’t care. He could already smell the wonderful scent of herbs and medicine coming from inside.

This was it. This was the home of the second person he most respected in all of history. He was about to meet one of his heroes. With a shaking hand, he knocked on the door.

No answer.

After waiting a moment, he knocked again, this time a little louder. Still nothing.

Growing a little impatient, while still being respectful, he started banging on the door. Respectfully, of course.

“What the fuck? Who is that?” a hag-like voice came from inside the hut. Even if you had never see the face that the voice belonged to, you could already tell that it came from an old hag.

Chem Al’s smile slipped a little. Those weren’t exactly the first words he had expected to hear from one of his heroes.

“It’s the middle of the night! What are you bothering me for?” the voice shouted again.

Chem Al blanched. In all of his excitement, he had forgotten that it was nighttime. No wonder she sounded cranky. He hoped he hadn’t offended her. “Please forgive me. It’s just that I wanted to see the great Sheng Yi so much that I forced my parents to bring me here without thinking. I sincerely apologize if my presence has disturbed your sleep.”

No sound came from inside the hut, causing Chem Al to break out into a sweat. Coming here like this must have been unforgivable.

What he didn’t know was that Sheng Yi was standing on the other side of the door in shock. From the young voice, she could already tell that it was that Chem Al kid talking to her, but what shocked her were his words. He didn’t sound like he was being sarcastic. In fact, he sounded so apologetic that it seemed like he was half a second away from bowing. When was the last time someone had apologized to her or showed her so much respect?

Sheng Yi pulled open the door and saw a young boy that looked like he had been struck dumb. Chem Al wasn’t say anything. His jaw just hung there, open. It was almost like he had turned into an eternally surprised statue.

But it was Sheng Yi who was surprised with what Chem Al did next. The boy’s knees fell to the ground and suddenly he slammed his forehead into the dirt so hard it almost seemed like it shook the world.

“Take me as your disciple!” Chem Al shouted.

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