“Don't talk like that, Master. You're only fifty-five this year. With a martial artist's blood qi, you should be in the prime of your life.”
Su Yueli interrupted him with a frown, the dancing firelight reflecting the stubbornness deep in her eyes.
Having spent twenty years together day and night, Lu Chen had taught her everything he knew. He was not just the guide who had ushered her into the martial path, but her family.
A teacher for a day, a father for a lifetime.
She hated this bleak, lifeless atmosphere, which felt as if he were delivering his final wishes.
Lu Chen looked into her earnest, clear eyes and sighed in his heart.
He knew his own body better than anyone. Twenty years ago, his heart meridians had been completely shattered, and he had only managed to cling to life by relying on that defective pill. Now, he was running on empty, his life force nearly spent.
He had only held on until now because Su Yueli had given him hope of passing down his legacy.
His body was already spent; now, even the strength to throw a punch had nearly dissipated.
In the end, he simply chuckled. “Alright, I won't say such nonsense. Your master still wants to see you shatter the void with your fists.”
As he spoke, he remembered something. “Right, Er Shizi was pacing around outside the forest for half the day, saying he had something to tell you.”
Er Shizi?
Su Yueli searched through her memories.
Twenty years ago, there had indeed been a child in the village who was two years younger than her. He should be in his mid-thirties now, a middle-aged man with a family to support.
Back then, they had only run into each other a few times in the village, and they were by no means close.
Thinking of this, Su Yueli agreed, “I understand. I'll head down the mountain tomorrow.”
“Mm. You've been cultivating with me for twenty years. Going down this time is a good opportunity to look around,” Lu Chen said with a smile.
“...”
The night deepened.
Su Yueli had no desire to sleep. She sat alone on the edge of the cliff, looking up at the night sky.
The moonlight was like frost, the night wind like surging ocean waves. A solitary moon marked the beginning, as the years waxed and waned.
After a moment of quiet reflection, Su Yueli had a rough idea of why Er Shizi had been looking for her.
She figured it was probably another letter from Shen Qing'an.
The last time she had received a letter from him was fifteen years ago. The envelope had turned yellow from being handled so much, and she still kept it on her.
It had only mentioned that his business in Fengling City was doing well and life was getting better, warning her not to practice so hard that she succumbed to qi deviation.
“Fifteen years...”
Su Yueli murmured, her voice quickly carried away by the night wind.
Calculating his age, Shen Qing'an must be thirty-eight by now. In the mortal world, a man of his age should have married and had children long ago; his kids might even be nearing the age of starting their own families.
With his business acumen, he would surely have married a sensible and virtuous wife, spending the rest of his life in peace.
That was good.
“I'm so envious...”
Su Yueli sighed, looking down at her lower abdomen where her dantian lay, and felt even more frustrated.
Just then, a gust of night wind swept across the cliff, prompting her to pull her robes tighter. Staring into the endless night, she felt a suffocating tightness in her chest.
Everyone in this world was moving forward along the long river of time.
Growing stronger, starting families, aging, and eventually turning to dust. It was as if she alone had been left behind on the riverbank...
The next morning, the mountain mist had not yet dispersed.
Su Yueli stepped onto the dry leaves as she walked out of the ancient forest. Er Shizi, who was pacing back and forth outside, heard the rustling and looked up.
With just a single glance, the farmer, now nearly forty and with a face weathered by the elements, froze.
Or rather, he was completely spellbound.
Her pristine, ethereal face gave him an absurd sensation that time itself had been shattered.
Twenty years had passed. He had transformed from a young boy into a rugged man, yet the Su Yueli before him looked almost identical to how she had in his memories from twenty years ago.
“Do you have a letter for me?”
Su Yueli walked up to him, looking at the man who had changed so much, and broke the silence.
Er Shizi snapped out of it and nodded hastily. “Ah... Yes, yes!”
He lowered his head, not daring to look into her cool, clear eyes.
“The letters are at the village entrance. Also... the old village chief couldn't hold on anymore. He passed away yesterday morning.”
Su Yueli paused mid-step.
He was gone...
Counting the twenty years that had passed, the old village chief must have been ninety-two.
At the bottom of the cultivation world, where lives were as cheap as grass, to live to such an age and die peacefully of old age was already a mortal's greatest blessing.
But the words “passed away” weighed heavily on Su Yueli, leaving her with a sense of helplessness.
Back then, in that small mountain village, the only ones who had treated her well besides the Shen brothers was the old village chief, who had often sneaked her coarse flour porridge.
For mortals, death was always so quiet and ordinary.
An old acquaintance was like a hemp-wick lamp that had run out of oil, suddenly going dark. The hunched old man in her memories had ultimately returned to a handful of yellow earth.
Su Yueli looked up at the silhouette of the village in the distance and pursed her lips.
“I should go pay my respects.”
The two of them walked in silence along the dirt road. The mud walls and thatched roofs that had once been so familiar now felt strangely alien to Su Yueli, as if they belonged to another lifetime.
It wasn't until they neared the village entrance that Er Shizi spoke up, his face flushing red as if he had been holding it in the entire way.
“Yueli, how come your looks haven't changed at all? Have you secretly become an immortal?”
Su Yueli stopped and looked at him, shaking her head. “While martial artists don't live as long as cultivators, we can still delay aging to some extent.”
“I see. I really thought you had become an immortal, haha...”
Er Shizi scratched his head and chuckled, seemingly convinced.
Su Yueli had only offered a casual excuse. After all, mortals knew very little about cultivators and martial artists.
Just like her in the beginning, when she had wanted to cultivate or practice martial arts, she had found no path forward due to the massive barrier of information.
They soon arrived at the village entrance. After promising to visit the village chief's house, the two parted ways.
Su Yueli went to the place where mail was kept, where three letters were waiting for her.
According to Er Shizi, they had arrived one after another over the past dozen years. However, because the villagers feared the wild beasts in the mountains and she was hard to find, the letters had remained here.
Thus, they had been delayed all this time.
Su Yueli picked up the three letters. Some of the envelopes had turned heavily yellowed and brittle, while others were still relatively intact.
Dusting them off, she tore open the letter from fifteen years ago.
“Ali, reading this is like seeing you in person:
I have some news for you. I've become the second manager of the Fuyuan Merchant House in Fengling City, with dozens of workers under me. Now, whenever I go out, people bow and scrape, calling me Master Shen.
Mortal silver isn't as hard to earn as you think. I recently closed a big deal. Once the boss distributes the year-end bonuses, I'm going to buy a private courtyard with a water well in the inner city.
By the way, I heard you've started practicing martial arts. But martial arts can harm the body, so don't turn yourself into some uncouth wild woman. Once I have the courtyard, I'll hire a carriage to pick you up from Black Wind Ridge. In the city, as long as I, Master Shen, have meat to eat, you won't be left with just soup.”
The handwriting was bold and powerful, pressing deep into the paper. Every stroke seemed to radiate the high spirits of a young man.
Su Yueli looked at the letter and curled her lips into a smile. The guy was indeed doing quite well.
She opened the second letter, which was from ten years ago.
“Ali:
I have some good news. My father has retired as the head manager, and now I'm the one in charge of the Fuyuan Merchant House.
The city is incredibly bustling, and it has everything. But there's just too much socializing, and all this drinking is taking a toll on me. The doctor told me to rest up more.
I originally planned to head back this year to see you and pick you up, but I've just taken over the merchant house and really can't get away. You should stop practicing those fist techniques. I had someone look into it, and even if a mortal martial artist practices until they die, they can't even defeat a cultivator of the Second Realm.
Just rest up in the village. Once I clear out the stock on hand, I'll head back to see you.”
One could tell that the handwriting was still neat, but it seemed to have lost some of its sharp edge, replaced by a sense of stability.
For the past twenty years, she had been practicing her punches up on the mountain and hadn't returned to the village at all, which was why she hadn't known Shen Qing'an had been sending letters.
Now, she truly felt a sense of looking back across lifetimes.
Su Yueli sat there for a long time before picking up the final letter, which had arrived five years ago.
“Ali:
A while ago, I brought some people back to the village, planning to take you to the city. I didn't expect you to still be practicing martial arts in the mountains. I searched with my men for a long time but couldn't find you, and the villagers didn't know where you were either.
I stayed in the village for a few days. Everyone has changed a lot, and the village chief has aged significantly. I thought you might have married by now, but I didn't expect you to still be so obsessed with martial arts.
But this winter is really cold. My legs ache every night. I guess I've enjoyed too much comfort, and my bones have grown soft.
As for me, I've gained a lot of weight. If you ever come down the mountain and see me, you probably won't even recognize me.
If you ever come down the mountain and see these letters, write back.”
Su Yueli put the letters away, pursing her lips.
The Shen brothers were essentially her only close friends. She had received a lot of kindness from them in the past, and seeing that he seemed to be doing well now made her genuinely happy.
“Still, thirty-eight years old...”
Su Yueli murmured softly, reaching up to touch her still-youthful cheek. The gentle young boy of the past had now likely turned into a chubby, middle-aged man, yet she hadn't changed in the slightest.
Could it be that she was truly immortal?
But in this world, did immortality truly exist?
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