The warmth of the house embraced Li Yuan like a blanket woven from simple memories. The aroma of soup wafting from the clay pot, the soft creak of the wood floor underfoot, the afternoon sunlight filtering through the small window—all of it created a symphony of life that was so... real.
Anna gestured for Li Yuan to sit in a simple wooden chair near a table covered with a clean linen cloth. Lila sat across from him, still gazing with blue eyes full of curiosity, as if seeing a beautiful bird that had suddenly landed in her yard.
"May I ask your name?" Li Yuan asked politely, his voice like water flowing slowly over a smooth stone.
"Anna," the woman replied, stirring the soup in the pot. "Anna Brennan. And this is my daughter, Lila." She smiled warmly at her daughter, who immediately smiled back with a child's innocent cheerfulness.
"Lila Brennan," the little girl added proudly, as if her name was the best gift she had ever received.
Li Yuan nodded with sincere respect. "Beautiful names. I am... Yuan." He chose a simple name, letting go of the formality that might sound strange to their ears. "Just Yuan."
Anna placed a bowl of hot soup in front of Li Yuan. The aroma of simple meat, vegetables, and spices wafted into the air, creating a warmth that was not only in the nose, but also in the heart.
"Please," she said. "I apologize if it's simple. We are not a rich family."
Li Yuan looked at the soup—simple yet made with love, not luxurious yet containing a warmth that no amount of gold could buy. When he took the first spoonful, the taste flowed over his tongue like the warmth of a long-forgotten childhood.
"This is... very delicious," he said with a sincerity that made Anna smile with pride.
Lila leaned on the table, her chin resting on her hands. "Yuan, where did you come from? You look different from the people in our village."
The innocent question of a child, yet it cut straight to the real question. Li Yuan slowly put down his spoon, feeling the weight of the question—not because it was difficult to answer, but because the answer was too profound to explain.
"From a very distant place," he finally answered. "A place that may no longer exist."
Anna sat in the third chair, her own bowl of soup still steaming. Her eyes looked at Li Yuan with a mix of curiosity and something deeper—like someone sensing a great story behind those simple words.
"You speak like someone who has seen many things," she said slowly.
Li Yuan nodded. "More than I should have."
Then, with genuine curiosity, he asked, "May I know... why are you willing to feed a stranger like me? Isn't it dangerous to invite someone you don't know into your home?"
Anna and Lila exchanged glances, then Anna smiled in a way that made her whole face glow.
"In our village," she said, "we believe that kindness, however small, is a seed that will grow into something greater. Maybe today we give soup to a traveler, and tomorrow another traveler will help us when we are in need. Or maybe not—maybe the kindness just circles back to the world, making the world a little warmer."
Lila nodded enthusiastically. "Mama says if we're good to others, the world will be good to us too!"
Those simple words struck something deep in Li Yuan's Zhenjing. For eleven thousand years, he had seen power, cultivation, the endless search for strength—yet here, in this simple house, he found a wisdom that did not require an understanding of the Dao to be practiced.
Nameless kindness, his inner voice murmured in admiration. They practice the Dao without knowing that they are doing it.
"That... is a beautiful way to see the world," he said, and in his voice was a tremor that made Anna feel as if the praise came from someone who truly understood its meaning.
Li Yuan continued eating his soup, then asked, "May I know where I am now? I have been traveling for a long time, and I am not sure which region I am in."
"Oh!" Anna seemed surprised. "You are in Millbrook Village. This is a small village in Greenshire Valley. We are about a three-day journey south of Hearthaven City, if you know that place."
The names were foreign to Li Yuan, but the way Anna mentioned them with a little pride made him realize that this was their world—a small but complete world, a world that did not need grandeur to feel meaningful.
"I am not familiar with those places," Li Yuan answered honestly. "Perhaps you could direct me to the village elder? I would like to introduce myself respectfully, and perhaps ask about this region."
Anna nodded with understanding. "Of course. Our village elder is Thomas Aldrich—a good man, though a little stubborn." She smiled with an affection usually reserved for family. "His house is the largest in the center of the village, with a rose garden in front. You won't have any trouble finding it."
"Can I walk with you?" Lila asked with sparkling eyes.
"After you finish your chore of cleaning the kitchen," Anna answered firmly but lovingly. "Yuan will probably still be in the village for a while."
Li Yuan felt Anna's eyes on him with an unspoken curiosity—questions about how long he would stay, about his true purpose, about why his presence felt so... different.
"Perhaps," Li Yuan answered with a thin smile that revealed nothing yet hid nothing either. "That depends on what I find here."
He finished the soup down to the last drop, feeling each spoonful not just as food, but as a communication with a human warmth he had not felt for too long.
When he stood up to say goodbye, Anna stopped him with a gentle hand gesture.
"Yuan," she said, and in her voice was something that made Li Yuan stop and listen with his full attention. "I don't know where you came from or what you're looking for, but... if you need a place to rest, our door is always open."
Lila nodded enthusiastically. "Yes! You can tell us stories about the distant places you've visited!"
The innocence of the invitation, the sincere and selfless warmth, made something within Li Yuan tremble—not with power, but with something softer yet deeper. Like a seed beginning to sprout after years of sleeping in cold ground.
"Thank you," he said, and in those two simple words was a deeper appreciation than a lengthy rambling. "Your kindness... I will remember."
As Li Yuan stepped out of the small house, the afternoon sun colored the sky with gradients of gold and pink. A gentle wind blew, carrying the aroma of grass and wild flowers, and something else—something he could not name, but that felt like... hope.
He walked toward the center of the village, each step a contemplation of what he had just experienced.
Kindness without cultivation. Wisdom without an understanding of the Dao. A warmth born not of power, but of pure humanity.
Perhaps, Li Yuan's inner voice said with a tenderness that surprised even himself, this world has something to teach me too.
Thomas Aldrich's rose garden was visible in the distance, blooming in a simple grandeur that did not need to ask for attention to be recognized for its beauty.
And Li Yuan walked toward his next meeting with the new world—a world that might change his understanding of what it means to be human.
Meanwhile, behind him, Lila stood at the window, waving her small hand at the figure walking slowly away, not knowing that she had just shared lunch with an entity who had seen the rise and fall of civilizations for eleven thousand years.
But perhaps, in her innocence, she understood something that even Li Yuan was only just beginning to grasp again:
That the truest warmth comes from the simplest things.