Immortal Travel of Longevity

Mao'er was indeed pondering this possibility.

But it had also fallen into a strange silence, likely hesitating between the "self" and the "true self." Was killing memories the same as killing someone else?

Mao'er couldn't figure it out.

It said no more to Chen Changsheng. Before long, it retreated back into Lihua's body, hiding somewhere unknown.

Not long after, Lihua woke up.

Its head ached. It felt strange—no matter how long it had slept in the past, it had never felt so groggy. Why did its head hurt so much this time? Something wasn't right.

"Mmm..."

Lihua rubbed its eyes and spotted Chen Changsheng sitting nearby. "Mister, how did Lihua fall asleep?"

Chen Changsheng said, "Perhaps you were just too tired."

Chen Changsheng offered a warm smile, explaining no further, and went upstairs.

Ruyi had recovered somewhat, though her wound still ached. The moment she saw Mister Chen walk in, she immediately began to whine.

"Ouch, it hurts, it hurts so much..."

It was painful, of course, but not enough to actually make her cry out like that.

Not knowing whether to laugh or cry at her dramatics, Chen Changsheng walked over. "Why weren't you crying about the pain a moment ago?"

Ruyi giggled. "It really does hurt. If you don't believe me, Uncle Chen, why don't you try taking two knife wounds? It's agonizing."

Chen Changsheng shook his head. "Just focus on resting for now. Once your injuries are mostly healed, leave this place. Times are tense with the war; it's best not to wander outside."

Ruyi replied, "If I don't wander outside, where else can I go? Back to Qingshan City to be a seamstress? Who knows if Sister Yun would even take me back."

At those words, Chen Changsheng paused slightly.

An instant later, his expression returned to normal. He simply said, "Your Sister Yun is no longer with us..."

"No longer with us? Did she go back to the Southern Parts? That makes sense, given Sister Yun's age now..."

Halfway through her sentence, Ruyi froze. Realization dawned on her, and she looked up at Uncle Chen.

A complex array of emotions swirled in her eyes.

She tried to speak several times, but the words caught in her throat.

Ruyi pressed her lips together and finally whispered, "How could that be...?"

"Many years have passed," Chen Changsheng said.

Ruyi's thoughts drifted, as if the truth had only just hit her.

A year or two could slip through one's fingers in the blink of an eye. Without noticing, a long stretch of time would vanish. If one didn't stop to think about it, it was hard to grasp just how much time had passed.

"It really catches you off guard," Ruyi murmured. "The older you get, the faster the years fly by."

Sitting on the edge of the bed, Chen Changsheng said, "Isn't it always like that? When you have the time, remember to go back and visit Sanniang. You two children are always wandering about; you rarely go home to see her. Don't wait until bad news reaches your ears to finally return."

Ruyi lowered her head and whispered, "I will go back right now..."

Chen Changsheng gave a soft hum of agreement.

Ruyi looked up. "What about you, Uncle?"

Chen Changsheng paused, then said, "Your Uncle Chen still has a lot of things to busy himself with. I'm not as free as I once was."

"Is that so..."

Ruyi's mood dipped. After a long moment, she spoke up again, "Then you have to remember, Uncle Chen—there's a house waiting for you in Qingshan City, okay?"

Chen Changsheng zoned out for a brief moment before nodding. "I remember."

Ruyi nodded.

Chen Changsheng then stood up. "Go back soon. This Chen should be leaving as well."

Ruyi wanted to ask him to stay, but knowing how busy Uncle Chen was, she held her tongue. She could only sigh softly, watching him leave.

Chen Changsheng went downstairs in the Wine Tavern.

Du Aniang was sitting downstairs, teasing Lihua. Seeing Chen Changsheng, she asked, "Finished talking?"

Chen Changsheng nodded. Du Aniang then remarked, "Senior seems to carry quite a bit of karma from the Red Dust. That cannot be good for Cultivation."

Chen Changsheng thought for a moment before replying, "It doesn't quite work like that. I came from the Red Dust to begin with, so why should I distance myself from it now? This Chen is not a guest in the Red Dust, but a person of the Red Dust."

Du Aniang blanked for a moment before a smile touched her lips.

She let out a quiet sigh, simply stating that the Red Dust was a grueling place.

The senior stepped out of the Wine Tavern.

Lihua came out to see him off.

It looked at Chen Changsheng and asked, "Chen the Good Man, Chen the Good Man, Lihua wants to eat dried fish. Does Chen the Good Man have any left?"

Chen Changsheng shook his head. "I'll bring you some next time, how about that?"

"Okay, okay! You have to keep your word." Lihua silently committed the promise to memory.

Chen Changsheng smiled, gave its head a rub, and prepared to leave.

As Lihua watched Chen the Good Man walk away, a hint of reluctance filled its eyes.

But it knew that the Mister's tasks were very important and very dangerous. Even if it followed along, it would only be a burden.

So, it simply stopped thinking about it.

The somewhat simple-minded Lihua was always like this. If something was bothersome to think about, it just wouldn't think about it—a very straightforward approach.

Of course, that was exactly why it was always happy, unlike the humans it saw every day who constantly wore miserable expressions.

Chen Changsheng once again left the Mortal World.

Mao'er had indeed given him some useful information.

First was the news that the demon hadn't died.

Hadn't Yu Xuan completely killed him back then?

This struck Chen Changsheng as bizarre. He had seen it in Yu Xuan's memories: with Yu Xuan's Dao Cultivation, she could even steal fragments of the world's will right from under the Heavenly Dao's nose, let alone deal with this demon.

Could it be that he couldn't be killed, or was there some other hidden reason?

Second was the matter regarding that severed head.

If it hadn't been suppressed inside the spirit cage, then where was it being kept?

And then there was Mo Yu.

He ought to have known about many of these things, yet to this day, he rarely brought them up. This was especially true regarding the matter of Lihua and him joining the Demon-Summoning Divine Lord's ranks. He clearly could have explained it back then, yet he had insisted on giving a different answer.

Chen Changsheng guessed that perhaps Mo Yu had done it to protect Lihua. After all, the Nine-Petal Demon Lotus was inherently a demonic object. Given the lessons of the past, he had no choice but to be careful.

That made sense.

He decided to set these matters aside for now.

Chen Changsheng felt that his immediate priority should be to find Jian Shenghua.

He couldn't shake the feeling that this demonic cultivator, who had once served under the Demon Sovereign, was plotting something. The suppressed demonic body, in particular, brought him a vague sense of unease.

As he was lost in thought, his gaze landed on a specific spot where he sensed a trace of demonic energy.

"Hmm?"

Chen Changsheng furrowed his brow and looked up.

The moment his gaze landed there, the demonic energy seemed to realize it had been spotted and instantly concealed itself.

Chen Changsheng immediately touched down, arriving at the exact spot where he had sensed it.

A light drizzle was falling here, turning the ground slightly muddy. A set of footprints was clearly visible.

They had just been made.

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