Immortal Travel of Longevity

Heavy rain fell over Shangjing City.

Ruyi sat beneath the eaves, watching the endless downpour. Resting her chin in her hands, she wondered when Uncle Chen would return.

She waited a long time, but ultimately never caught sight of Uncle Chen.

At some point, it suddenly dawned on her that Uncle Chen had perhaps already left, and it might be many years before she saw him again.

Ruyi could only sigh softly and head back inside.

Still, she was willing to wait a few more days.

She felt that Uncle Chen wouldn't just leave without saying goodbye.

But in truth, Chen Changsheng had run into an unexpected accident, which was why he hadn't been able to bid her a proper farewell.

Qing Tianyou and Mo Yu had taken Mo Yuan to the Tongtian River Dragon Palace. After Mo Yuan woke up, he had told them that perhaps only the Old Dragon King could temporarily stabilize his injuries.

Ruyi stayed at the Jingzhaoyin Office for over half a month, but since Uncle Chen never returned, she eventually gave up.

"Ruyi, Ruyi, let's play five-in-a-row."

"No, I don't want to. Go find something else to do..."

"Oh..."

Lihua was incredibly disappointed. Everyone had left, and there was no one around to play with it.

Meanwhile, Ping'an was busy with official duties every day and rarely had a moment of free time. As a result, Lihua spent all day wandering aimlessly around the estate or strolling through Shangjing City.

Then, one day.

Ruyi told Ping'an, "I have to go."

Ping'an froze for a moment. "You're leaving, Sister?"

Ruyi nodded. "I'm too restless staying here."

To put it plainly, she had long grown accustomed to a life of wandering. Forcing her to stay in one place and live a comfortable, cozy life just made her feel stifled.

Besides, she had already planned to head to the Northwest after this trip to Shangjing to see the sights there. Now, it was time to set off.

Ping'an couldn't bear to see her go. He opened his mouth and said, "Sister, it was so hard for you to make the trip here..."

Ruyi blinked at him. "Just focus on being a good official. You know your sister has strange ideas and does whatever pops into her head. Plus, I've stayed long enough this time. It really is time to go."

Ping'an pursed his lips. "Is the jianghu really that important to you, Sister?"

Ruyi paused at that. She shook her head and replied, "It's not the jianghu. If I had to put a name to it, I suppose I'm just a traveler."

"There are so many things I want to see."

That was truly how Ruyi felt.

Hearing this, Ping'an knew he probably couldn't stop her.

He lost his appetite, keeping his head lowered as if deep in thought.

Ruyi looked at him and smiled. "As for you, Ping'an, just do your best as an official. Remember what I told you—don't be foolish and obsess over being the perfect official. No matter what you do, don't lose yourself. Sacrificing yourself for others is a great righteousness, sure, but didn't Uncle Chen teach us that a gentleman does not rescue recklessly?"

Ping'an blinked in surprise. "You still remember that, Sister?"

"Did you forget?"

"No, I haven't."

"Looks to me like you did."

Ping'an was a good official, but he was also a failed one. After all, few officials pushed themselves to the extremes that he did.

But it wasn't hard to understand why. Perhaps it was because Ping'an had endured his own share of hardships in the past; he knew all too well how the world's suffering could torment a person, which was why he always chose to lend a hand.

People in this world always had their reasons for the things they did.

Ruyi felt that someone like Ping'an might one day go down in history just like Magistrate Liu. But if historical fame came at such a price, Ruyi would rather he never achieved it.

He was the Metropolitan Governor, but more importantly, he was her little brother.

Ruyi patted Ping'an's head. "Be good now. I'm just going out to see the world; I'll be back before you know it. If anyone bullies you, write me a letter. Send it to... send it to Ximing City. I'll definitely pick it up. If you're having a hard time, I'll rush straight back without stopping. Whoever bullies you, I'll beat them up for you. Even if it's the emperor himself, your big sister dares to thrash him."

She spouted wild, boastful nonsense.

Yet in truth, Ruyi wasn't lying.

The one thing she couldn't stand was seeing Ping'an bullied.

As far as she was concerned, she was the only one allowed to bully him. No one else could.

Oh, Uncle Chen could bully him a little bit too.

But only the two of them.

Ping'an didn't try to persuade her anymore. He understood his sister's temperament. Rather than holding her back, he wanted her to do whatever she truly wanted.

"If you run into trouble, Sister, you have to write to me too. I might not be the highest official, but I can still bring a lot of people to rescue you."

Ruyi smiled and agreed, "Mhm. I will."

Lihua listened to the siblings' conversation from the sidelines.

It narrowed its eyes and couldn't help muttering, "You two are so sappy, Lihua can't even eat its fish anymore."

"Does this concern you?" Ruyi shot it a glare.

Lihua glanced back at her and gave a soft snort. "Lihua doesn't talk to unreasonable people."

"Then you don't get to eat your fish either."

"No, no, no! I want to eat, I want to eat!"

"Fatty Lihua."

"So what if I'm fat?"

Lihua didn't even bother arguing about that anymore.

Over the years, it had grown quite a bit. Getting fat was no longer enough to deter its yearning for fish.

Two days later.

Ruyi had packed her things and was ready to depart.

Ping'an had contacted a trading firm. The manager of the firm was a good friend of his, and their caravan just happened to be heading to the Northwest. While they wouldn't go all the way to Ximing, they could at least look after her along the way.

"I'm off!"

Holding Lihua in her arms, Ruyi looked back at Ping'an.

Ping'an nodded. "Mhm..."

Ruyi gave a small nod, then climbed into the horse carriage.

"Sister!"

"What is it now?"

"Have a safe and peaceful journey."

Ruyi chuckled. "You idiot. You are Ping'an, and I am Ruyi. You should be wishing for everything to go exactly as I wish."

Ping'an smiled helplessly and replied, "Then may everything go exactly as you wish, Sister."

Ruyi smiled and waved goodbye. The horse carriage soon rolled forward, and before long, it passed out of Shangjing City.

Nestled in her arms, Lihua asked, "Ruyi, is the Northwest fun?"

Ruyi thought about it for a moment. "It should be pretty fun. I heard that further northwest, there's a giant pile of sand. You can roll around in it."

"That's so stupid. Lihua is not rolling around in the sand."

"Is that so?"

"Mhm, mhm. No rolling."

Lihua asked another question. "Are there a lot of fish in the Northwest?"

Ruyi hummed thoughtfully. "I'm afraid you're going to be disappointed. The further that way we go, the fewer fish there are."

"..."

Lihua paused before asking, "Can Lihua get off the carriage?"

"No."

"Why didn't you tell Lihua earlier?"

"You didn't ask."

"Lihua wants to get off!"

"You are not getting off!"

"I want to get off!!"

"No!!"

"Ahhhh, Ruyi!"

Lihua immediately received a smack on the head.

"What are you yelling for?!"

"..."

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