The Supreme God Returns as a Mortal

The First lesson

Chapter 5: The First Lesson

Lin—that was his mother's name—came back one evening with a single, hard piece of bread.

It was all she had managed to beg that day. The city was in the grip of a famine, and even the wealthy were hoarding their grain. The other beggars had fought over scraps like wolves, and Lin, weak and malnourished, had come away with almost nothing.

But she saved the bread for Tian Yuan.

"Here, little one," she said, crumbling the hard bread into soft pieces and dipping them in water to make them edible. "Eat. Grow strong."

Tian Yuan stared at her with his ancient, knowing eyes. She was skin and bones, her cheeks hollow, her hands trembling. She hadn't eaten in three days. And yet, she was giving him the only food she had.

"Eat," he said.

The word was garbled, infantile, barely recognizable. But it was there. His first real word. Not "mama" or "papa" or any of the usual babble. Just a single, clear command.

Lin froze. Her eyes widened. "Little one... you spoke?"

"Eat," he repeated, pointing at the bread with a chubby finger. "You."

Lin's face crumpled. Tears spilled down her cheeks. "My baby," she whispered, pulling him into her arms. "My sweet baby. You spoke your first word, and it was for mama?"

Tian Yuan felt a familiar surge of annoyance. i***t. I'm not being sweet. I'm telling you to eat so you don't die of starvation. If you die, who will take care of me?

But even as he thought it, he knew it was a lie. The truth was simpler, more human, and far more terrifying.

He didn't want her to die.

She ate the bread. He watched her, his tiny face serious, and when she offered him a piece, he shook his head. "Full," he said, another garbled word.

She laughed—a broken, tearful, beautiful sound. "My little genius. You'll be a scholar one day, I know it. My son, a scholar, can you imagine?"

Tian Yuan could imagine. He could imagine a great many things. But most of all, he could imagine a future where Lin was no longer hungry, no longer cold, no longer weak.

And he would make it happen. Even if he had to do it as a mortal.