Immortal Travel of Longevity

The guest rooms at Liuyun Temple had always been clean and tidy.

When Xuanhuang was around, he tidied them often. When Daoist Fuyun was here, he instructed his disciples to keep them well-maintained. Now, Tao'er swept the place regularly. The bedding had been replaced, and everything in the room that could be swapped out had been updated.

The wooden floorboards creaked underfoot. Rather than an annoyance, the sound stirred up a flood of memories, full of fond yearning.

Late that night, after Tong Zhihuan finished his work at Tongji Hall, he finally noticed a peach blossom that had drifted onto his table. He picked it up, and the petals dissolved into a line of text. Seeing the handwriting, Tong Zhihuan froze.

He hurriedly packed his things and headed home to fetch Nianyi.

"Nianyi, Nianyi!"

But when Tong Zhihuan entered the house, he found Tong Nianyi fast asleep in her room, the Tabby Cat resting beside her.

Seeing this, Tong Zhihuan swallowed his shouts.

Asleep so early today?

He was terrified of waking his daughter.

He tiptoed out and shut the door behind him. He also left the Gourd behind to prevent any scoundrels from slipping into the courtyard and threatening his daughter. He had laid down Formations both inside and outside the yard—a testament to his caution.

After Tong Zhihuan had left.

The supposedly fast-asleep Tong Nianyi suddenly whispered, "Big Cat, Big Cat, my dad is gone."

Lihua opened one eye. "Better safe than sorry. Let's pretend a little longer."

"Oh."

The girl and the cat continued feigning sleep on the bed.

Half a quarter-hour passed before they finally dropped the act.

Tong Nianyi sat up in bed and asked, "Who are you so afraid of?"

"Lihua has never been afraid of anyone," the cat replied.

"Then why are you hiding in my room?"

"It's cold outside."

"But it's the middle of summer."

"..."

Lihua stood up and whispered, "Your dad definitely went to see Chen the Good Man. When Chen the Good Man gets here, don't mention me. If he asks, just say you don't know, alright?"

"Ah, is that the Chen the Good Man you're always talking about, Big Cat?"

"Yeah."

"Didn't you say Chen the Good Man is really kind, like a gentle old grandpa?"

"Well..."

Lihua said, "That might be true, but he can also be pretty fierce. Lihua is afraid of getting punished."

"Is there anyone besides Aunt Ruyi who can punish you?"

"What does Ruyi count for? If this Great Immortal Li called her name, she wouldn't even dare answer."

"Then I'll tell Aunt Ruyi you said that."

"Absolutely not! Think about it—Ruyi is so competitive, she definitely wouldn't admit it. You'd just be hurting her pride."

"Big Cat, you're always spouting nonsense with such a straight face."

"I am not."

Tong Nianyi covered her mouth and giggled, reaching out to pet Lihua's head.

Lihua didn't resist, simply lying on the edge of the bed and accepting the pets in silence, praying that Chen the Good Man wouldn't punish it over the whole Great Immortal Li business.

...

Tong Zhihuan hurried up the mountain to pay his respects.

The moment he saw Mister Chen, a thousand words felt insufficient to express his feelings.

He knelt on the ground and kowtowed.

"Tong Zhihuan greets Mister."

Chen Changsheng pulled him to his feet. "You're getting on in years, an elder in your own right now. You shouldn't go around kneeling to people anymore."

Tong Zhihuan smiled. "Mister Chen, I only look old."

"I know."

Chen Changsheng said, "Regardless, This Chen can't stand these formalities. Don't kneel next time."

Tong Zhihuan scratched his head and made a mental note of it.

Tao'er stood beside him and pinched his waist, muttering softly.

"Idiot."

Tong Zhihuan just smiled at Tao'er, completely unashamed.

Seeing the harmony between husband and wife, Chen Changsheng felt genuinely happy for them.

Tong Zhihuan then asked, "Mister, Miss Ruyi and Master Jin San have also come to Qiuyue Fang. Now that you've returned, will you be leaving again?"

Tao'er nudged him, and Tong Zhihuan immediately realized his slip of the tongue. Wasn't such a question putting Mister in a difficult position?

Chen Changsheng didn't evade the question, answering simply, "I still have to leave."

Hearing this, both husband and wife looked a bit crestfallen.

Naturally, they deeply missed the days when he was still around.

Back then, the temple had been lively, filled with many people.

But Chen Changsheng changed his tone, adding, "However, if everything goes smoothly, I probably won't leave again after that. When the time comes, This Chen will settle down right here."

The two were thrilled, and their chatter soon flowed endlessly.

Chen Changsheng answered them one by one, eventually finding himself a little overwhelmed by their barrage of questions.

They talked straight through to midnight.

Chen Changsheng finally interrupted. "Alright, alright. You're both parents now, how can you still be so careless? Tong Nianyi is still at home. Are you two not worried at all? Or do you plan to sleep on the mountain tonight and ignore your daughter down below?"

Tong Zhihuan said, "You're right, Mister. Tomorrow, when Nianyi wakes up, I'll bring her up the mountain to stay."

"You..."

Chen Changsheng laughed, shaking his head in helpless amusement.

"Alright, off you go. The two of you should head back. This Chen understands your good intentions, but there's no need for this. It's not like I'll disappear by tomorrow. The sun will still rise even without me. Just treat things normally."

In the end, he managed to persuade them.

Thinking of Tong Nianyi back home, the couple reluctantly made their way down the mountain.

Before leaving, Tao'er made sure to remind Mister that it was cold on the mountain and he needed to dress warmly. She had probably grown so used to lecturing Tong Nianyi over the years, and besides, that was just her caring nature.

After they left.

The Daoist temple quieted down.

Chen Changsheng dragged a chair over to the Main Hall and sat down, draping a blanket over himself as he settled in.

The night was silent, save for the endless chirping of insects and birds.

It didn't feel lonely. Instead, it offered a kind of tranquility that he thoroughly enjoyed.

Having wandered for so many years, he truly did miss this place.

Qiuyue Fang was where everything began, and Liuyun Temple was the place that had once taken him in. It felt like home.

Just sitting here was enough to make him feel completely content.

...

Waking up early the next morning, Chen Changsheng made a trip to the Back Mountain.

He pulled out his Gourd, only to remember that he had given all his wine to Old Huang halfway up the mountain at Qingxian Temple.

"No wine, so peaches will have to do."

Deciding to make do with what was available, he went and picked some peaches on the Back Mountain.

This peach tree had been planted by Shang Lu, who later became Daoist Fuyun.

He was buried right nearby.

He divided the fruit, giving each of the two graves three peaches.

Chen Changsheng took a peach for himself, munching on it as he sat there and chatted idly with the two of them.

"You two, master and disciple, were both stubborn."

This was his assessment of them, and he felt it was highly accurate.

But as he looked at the two silent graves, Chen Changsheng couldn't hide his lingering sense of longing, to the point that it took him a long while to remember to throw away the peach pit in his hand.

And so, he dug a small hole on the mountain, tossed the pit in, and covered it with soil. This way, the pit would soon take root and sprout into a sapling. Perhaps, in a few years, it would grow into a peach tree, and when the time came, it would bear plenty of fruit once more.

The Daoists of Liuyun Temple had always done the same thing.

Though peaches would eventually be plucked by people, one day, they would always fall to the earth to take root and sprout.

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