Immortal Travel of Longevity

In the sixth year of Shunzhi, as the time of Huaixu approached.

The realm was already a picture of thriving prosperity.

Every trade had gradually returned to the prosperity of peaceful years, and had even surpassed it.

Continuous reforms were also underway, touching upon the laws, agriculture, and the military.

A golden age was approaching.

Nanbeilou had also started doing business. Or rather, people had been doing business in Nanbeilou from the very beginning, but the arrangements were relatively loose, with everyone looking out for themselves. It was only later, when Ping'an integrated everyone's resources and established Nanbeilou as a unified merchant firm, that they gradually made a name for themselves and began to thrive.

Their most famous venture was Nanbeilou's armed escort business, which had never once made a mistake.

This time, however, the escort was not moving goods, but a person.

It was an esteemed provincial graduate. Word was that he had been demoted and exiled to the Southern Parts. He had offended quite a few people during his time in Shangjing, but there were also those who did not want him dead. They bribed the escorting officials to change the arrangement, hiring Nanbeilou's guards instead to deliver him safely to the Southern Parts.

After practicing the Sword for two years, she was vastly different from before. Her demeanor had shed its childishness, replaced by a sharp edge, and she looked far more composed.

Though she had started learning martial arts late, she had still received the personal instruction of the tower master. She quickly caught up to some of the martial artists in the tower, occasionally even fighting them to a draw. Ultimately, however, her physical strength was inferior to a man's, leaving her with more losses than wins. She felt she had disappointed her teacher's expectations; becoming a Sword Immortal was most likely an impossible dream.

"Hyah."

The horses galloped forward. In truth, she was not supposed to be part of this escort mission.

She was heading back for a much more important matter.

She was going back to attend a funeral.

A few days earlier, the escort agency had brought back a letter.

Her grandfather had passed away.

Traveling back alone was not entirely safe, so the tower master arranged for her to travel alongside the escort team so they could look after her.

After two days of hard riding, Yu Youyu finally returned to Qingtian Ward.

Someone was already waiting for her outside the ward.

It was the people she least wanted to see.

Those two old hags, those great demon kings!

Even though Yu Youyu had long since understood the past misunderstanding, she still held no affection for Ruyi and Dong Chiyu. Upon seeing them, she asked, "Where is my grandfather?"

Ruyi opened her mouth. "Your grandfather, he..."

Yu Youyu pressed her lips together, understanding what she meant.

She sprinted the rest of the way back. She had not been home in years, and now that she had finally returned, the house was draped in white silk. The grandfather she had missed the most was lying in that Sarcophagus, never to speak again.

Before she even crossed the threshold, her tears began to fall uncontrollably.

The master playing the funeral music asked her to step forward, draping a mourning cloth over her. Standing before the mourning hall, she broke down, weeping loudly.

"Grandpa, your unfilial granddaughter Youyu has come back to see you."

The old man had asked for his funeral to be kept simple, but Ruyi had still hired the funeral master to send him off in peace. He had been frugal his entire life; he deserved a bit of grandeur in death.

Naturally, Ruyi was the one paying the silver taels. She was not short on money, though she wished she were, if only so she would not have to spend it on this.

Yu Youyu did not close her eyes for three days, eventually collapsing in the mourning hall.

She had cried her tears completely dry.

With her grandfather gone, it meant she had no family left.

He had actually left a letter, but seeing her poor emotional state, Ruyi had not brought it out yet.

It was not until after the old man was buried and Yu Youyu's emotions had slowly settled that Ruyi handed the letter to her.

[My good granddaughter, Grandpa is leaving now. Everyone has to die sometime, either today or tomorrow. I've lived long enough, and I don't feel I've missed out on anything. My only worry is you. In my earlier years, I often wondered what would happen to you if I just passed away, leaving you all alone. You're a young woman; would you be bullied? Would you fail to marry into a good family? With no relatives to stand up for you...]

The letter's contents were mostly ramblings, but it was exactly this short, disjointed chattering that made the sorrow so hard to suppress, causing her tears to fall like rain.

[Grandpa's days are numbered. If we don't get to see each other one last time, don't be sad. I heard Wang Xiaomei say that people turn into ghosts after they die. Grandpa won't leave that quickly. Maybe when you're reading this letter, I'll be right beside you. Once I've seen you, I'll be able to rest easy. So don't be sad. Don't be sad, and don't cry.]

[From now on, you have to live well. Eat more, put on some weight. Be a good girl now.]

The letter ended there. There was nothing more.

After reading it, Yu Youyu seemed to calm down. She wiped away her tears and looked around the empty room. She felt that her grandfather might be right here, watching her, so she could not cry.

This little girl who always used to cry could finally hold back her tears.

Afterward, Yu Youyu stayed in Qingtian Ward and reopened the wine shop.

She just wanted a few days of peace and quiet.

Pouring and selling wine, Yu Youyu felt as if she were reliving the past.

She could not help but sigh. A person changed with every passing year; she was vastly different from before.

She figured it was mostly because she had learned the Sword.

With few customers coming to buy wine, she often spaced out, her mind filled with childhood memories of her grandfather.

Until one day, the weather grew hot, and the chirping of cicadas echoed through the mountain forests and the ward.

The shrill buzzing was annoying, but it also reminded everyone that summer had arrived.

And on this day, an acquaintance arrived outside the wine shop.

When Yu Youyu looked up, she saw a raggedly dressed, unkempt man standing in front of the shop holding a Gourd.

She recognized him at a single glance.

"The Madman."

Yu Youyu called out.

The man glanced at her, then offered his Wine Gourd.

Yu Youyu opened her mouth, her heart filled with questions. She wanted to ask why he had given her that Sword, and just who he really was.

She wanted to ask, but The Madman was not likely to answer her.

Yu Youyu snapped out of her daze. She took the wine pot and filled it to the brim for him.

The Madman had returned.

The streets of Qingtian Ward became clean once again.

This long-lost feeling suddenly sparked people's memories, and when they turned around, they saw The Madman on the street.

"Ah, isn't this... isn't this The Madman?!"

"What madman?"

"Ah, you wouldn't know."

"He came back? He's still alive!"

Several people walked out into the street and invited The Madman into the tea house.

They pressed The Madman down into a seat.

"Madman, do you remember me? I gave you a Dry Flatbread before."

The Madman kept his head lowered, looking at no one, appearing completely serene.

"Forget it, you probably don't remember anything anyway."

The man sat down, pushed a cup of tea toward The Madman, and asked, "Where did you go before? I thought you had regained your senses and left on your own. How come you've come back recently?"

The men questioned The Madman, but did not receive a single word in reply.

That was until The Madman stood up on his own and walked straight out of the place.

The crowd watched him go, feeling a strange emptiness in their hearts.

"If he wasn't mad, what kind of person would he be?"

Someone asked, and everyone could not help but wonder.

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