Chapter 368: Separation in Life (Part 3)

Chapter 368 -141: Separation in Life (Part 3)

‘Forget it. At the end of the day, he’s one of our Great Yu people. Others wouldn’t have a Four Symbols Order. It’s best to avoid stirring up trouble. Let’s just create a file and bury it.’

…

‘There’s no rush to begin the tribulation.’

After leaving Shangluo, Fang Rui thought for a moment and decided to head to Wuzhou.

In this lifetime, his path had led him from the Three Southern States to Wuzhou’s Huaiyin Prefecture, and then to Shangluo.

In the final moments of this life, he decided to turn back and retrace the path he had traveled.

…

「Huaiyin Prefecture.」

Xun Buhe and Niu Bajin were long dead. Fang Rui saw their descendants but didn’t disturb them with a visit, merely casting a glance their way before leaving.

…

「Yunzhou.」

Eagle’s Beak Gorge, the lair of a colony of Earth Armor Centipedes.

On this day, Fang Rui returned. He gave the nest of Earth Armor Centipedes, who had clearly forgotten their master, a sound thrashing. After beating them into submission, he found the Stone Jar he had left behind.

A century’s worth of accumulated Mountain Stone Spirit Milk, through constant compression and the passage of time, had now transformed into the resplendent Earth Spirit Milk.

Earth Spirit Milk was a precious Heavenly and Earthly Treasure, beneficial even to Upper Three Grade Martial Artists.

Under the resentful glares of the Earth Armor Centipedes, Fang Rui emptied their entire stash. He left them with a parting, “Not bad, keep up the good work,” and the now-empty stone jar, before drifting away.

…

「Changshan County.」

Fang Rui returned to Willow Alley, only to find that everyone he had once known was long gone. Not a single person recognized him.

In front of the Fang Family ancestral home, the very place where his journey had begun, a little girl in pigtails asked, “Mister, you’re not from around here, are you?”

“Oh? How did you know?”

“Because I know everyone in this alley! Plus, your clothes are really different! Oh, are you looking for someone? I can help you!”

“Haha!”

Fang Rui didn’t answer, his laughter just sounded lonely. “I left home young and returned an old man. My accent hasn’t changed, but my hair has grayed. The children I meet don’t know me; they smile and ask where this traveler is from.”

When he finished,

his eyes fell upon a Jade Pendant around the little girl’s neck and narrowed. “Do you know a Jiang Aniu?”

Jiang Aniu, nicknamed Niu Dun, was none other than the son of his old acquaintance, Jiang Ping’an.

“Jiang Aniu… That name sounds familiar. Please wait a moment, mister.”

The little girl tilted her head, thought for a moment, then quickly turned and trotted inside. “Grandpa! Grandpa! Do you know…”

A short while later.

A white-haired elder leaning on a cane came out. He bowed to Fang Rui and said, “Jiang Aniu was my father. He passed away thirty years ago. Might I ask if you were an acquaintance of his, sir?”

‘Jiang Ping’an’s grandson… The age matches up.’

‘And when I left the Three Southern States, I did give the deed to the house to Jiang Ping’an… It’s no wonder the Jiang Family descendants are living here.’

Fang Rui thought to himself, then sighed. “An old acquaintance, yes. Might I come in for a bowl of water?”

“Of course, please come in, sir!”

“Thank you.”

Fang Rui stepped inside and took a turn about the room. As he looked at the few, faintly familiar objects that remained, deeply buried memories resurfaced. Scenes from the past—with Mrs. Xue of the Fang Family, Third Lady, Fang Ling, and Nannan—flashed before his eyes.

“Sir? Sir?”

“Sorry, I was lost in thought.”

Fang Rui shook his head and drank the bowl of water. Afterward, he tossed the man a gourd filled with Earth Spirit Milk. “You gave me a bowl of water, so I give you this gourd in return.”

“This gourd contains Spiritual Milk. When a child is born into your family, you can feed it one or two drops…”

“Huh?!”

As he was speaking, he suddenly sensed something. After a quick calculation with his fingers, his gaze fell upon the little girl with a peculiar look. “It seems one of your descendants will be a future disciple of mine? The ways of fate… are truly marvelous and beyond words!”

The old man and the little girl were both dumbfounded, completely unable to understand how an old man like Fang Rui could tell a little girl that one of her descendants would become his disciple.

Fang Rui offered no explanation. He simply stood up and strode outside.

With one step, he was dozens of feet away. In the blink of an eye, he was gone entirely, as if everything that had just occurred was nothing but an illusion.

“Th-this…”

Old Man Jiang rubbed his eyes. Staring at the heavy gourd in his hand, he was still in disbelief. Only after asking his granddaughter again was he certain that he hadn’t been dreaming.

But he was world-wise and sharp with age. Coming to his senses, he immediately shut the door, gave his granddaughter a stern warning, and carefully hid the gourd away.

…

「The outskirts. A deep mountain.」

Fang Rui reached out, plucking a flower. “Flowers may bloom again, and I, too, shall be young once more.”

“Let it begin!”

Brilliant streams of light surged around his body. With every step he took, he grew a year younger. After several dozen steps, all signs of his old age had vanished completely.

KREEE!

Fang Rui stepped into the air, landing on the back of an Immortal Crane. He rode it high into the sky, soaring straight into the clouds, bathed in a magnificent radiance.

—Indeed, he had already released the Flowing Cloud Cyan Simurgh. This was a newly tamed Exotic Purple Feathered Crane.

…

“An Immortal!”

In the forest, Zhang the Woodcutter saw this scene, his eyes going wide and his mouth hanging open, wide enough to swallow a toad.

THUD!

In his shock, the axe fell from his hand.

After he returned home.

Zhang the Woodcutter told everyone he met that he had seen an Immortal in the mountains, but no one believed him. The story even became something of a local joke.

He, however, remained steadfast in his belief that Immortals existed, and he even thought that being able to witness one meant he was a person of great Qi Fortune.

「Decades later.」

The former Zhang the Woodcutter had become the fabulously wealthy Landlord Zhang. At the very spot in the mountains where he had witnessed the Immortal, he spent a fortune to build the Xianhe Building, all for the slim hope of seeing the Immortal once more.

But—

To no avail.

A thousand years later, the great poet of the New Yu dynasty, Cui Hao, came to visit the site.

He wrote a poem:

The Immortal has flown off on his crane; all that remains is the Xianhe Building.

Once gone, the Immortal Crane will not return; for a thousand years, white clouds drift idly by.