Immortal Travel of Longevity

When the man watching him from the street stood up, Chen Changsheng realized it was time to leave.

Five or six people slowly converged on him. Chen Changsheng turned into an alley.

By the time those men closed in, they found the alley completely empty. He was long gone.

At that exact moment, Chen Changsheng had already appeared outside Water's End City.

Before his eyes lay the vast, boundless desert, without a single wisp of smoke in sight.

This meant he still had a very long road ahead of him.

Chen Changsheng hesitated.

In truth, he was aimless. His entire journey had been without a destination, so he simply picked a random direction, not caring where it would lead.

But eventually, he would arrive somewhere.

It was difficult to leave human traces here, yet living creatures still survived in this harsh land.

The wind and sand poured down. Chen Changsheng had no idea how long he had been walking, but he could feel the blowing sand around him gradually lessening.

Eventually, he spotted an oasis. He saw people with a horse carriage fetching water here.

Most likely, they were going to transport it to some city to sell.

Chen Changsheng had originally intended to join them, but upon realizing they were North Desert People, he held back and didn't intrude.

If he wasn't welcome, there was no need to approach them.

Of course, Chen Changsheng wouldn't say he disliked them. They were all human; the only difference was their character.

He bypassed the oasis and continued further away.

It wasn't until he spotted solid earth in the distance that he realized he had chosen the right direction and hadn't been walking in the opposite direction.

After an unknown amount of time, he saw a city standing before his eyes.

Engraved upon the City Wall were the characters for Jianggu City.

It sat right near the edge of the desert, yet the city bore such a name.

Chen Changsheng felt curious about this, so he walked into the city.

What surprised him was that the guards stationed outside the city were also North Desert People, but they only gave him a passing glance without stopping him.

This meant that Jianggu City was now a city of the Northern Desert as well.

Among the people entering the city, there were many who came from Great Xiang.

It was easy to tell from their appearances.

Most of them were hauling goods, covered in dust from a long, weary journey.

He understood that this meant Great Xiang and the present Northern Desert were still conducting trade.

The fact that trade routes still remained open with an enemy who had seized five of Great Xiang's cities was hard to fathom.

After entering the city, Chen Changsheng came to a food stall.

He ordered a bowl of noodles and began asking Xiao Er for information.

Xiao Er told Chen Changsheng about Jianggu City.

The name was unusual, but its history explained why. Many years ago, this place had been the end of the Tongtian River. However, as the wind and sand encroached and the river dried up, the old riverbed was buried, and there was no longer an end to speak of.

But the name had been passed down ever since.

What caught Chen Changsheng by surprise, however, was that Xiao Er was actually a native of Great Xiang.

Chen Changsheng asked, "You're a native of Great Xiang. Why did you come all the way out here?"

Xiao Er gave a helpless sigh. "I had no choice. Who would willingly come to a place like this?"

"No choice?"

Xiao Er went on to explain the current situation within Great Xiang's borders. Between the constant warfare and the lack of arable land, the commoners had no food to eat. Whatever little grain they did manage to grow had to be handed over to the lords presiding over them.

The heavy taxes were absolutely suffocating.

Left with no other options, Xiao Er had fled to the Northern Desert with a few men from his hometown and opened this shop.

They didn't make many silver taels, but they could at least scrape by and avoid starving to death.

Chen Changsheng furrowed his brows at this.

Through Xiao Er's slow recounting, he also learned about the Rebellion of the Seven Kings back then and the current five great factions.

"In the blink of an eye, Great Xiang has actually become like this..."

Hearing this, Chen Changsheng sighed inwardly, an inexplicable sourness rising in his heart.

More than that, he was a little worried.

He wondered how Qiuyue Fang was doing. And Qingshan City? What would it look like now?

Xiao Er sighed and said, "When we first arrived, we were afraid the North Desert People would cause us trouble. Only after settling here did we realize we were overthinking it. They're vastly different from the rumors. They aren't jackals and tigers; on the contrary, most of them are very reasonable."

Many years ago, when the Northern Desert invaded Great Jing, they had massacred cities. But now, things were vastly different.

Under the passage of history, the people had gradually acquired etiquette and education.

All of this was thanks to the policies of the West Xiao era.

At that time, the King of West Xiao had heavily promoted education, thereby teaching the North Desert People reason and etiquette. Over a decade of constant exposure, it completely transformed this ethnic group.

Chen Changsheng said, "The King of West Xiao of that time did indeed place special importance on education."

Xiao Er smiled. "I heard a few North Desert guests mention earlier that the King of West Xiao even made them go to school back then. They were already thirty-four years old, meant to be leading troops in battle, but they still had to attend school alongside the little kids."

Chen Changsheng could not help but find it rather ironic.

Many years ago, the people of the world had hated the North Desert People and condemned them as murderous and brutal. Today, the world had descended into chaos, the Mortal World was littered with the bodies of the starved, and everyone feared for their lives. The elites in high positions had abandoned their dignity and forgotten propriety and righteousness. Yet the very morals they cast aside had been picked up by the North Desert People they had once cursed as brutal.

Chen Changsheng asked, "Then if you become wealthy later and are no longer bullied by others, will you still return to Great Xiang?"

Xiao Er paused for a moment and smiled. "Of course I would."

But Xiao Er was lying.

He could naturally see that Chen Changsheng was not a North Desert person.

He was Xiao Er, a man running a business. He wasn't about to say something his customer wouldn't want to hear.

Seeing this, Chen Changsheng said, "This Chen does not care about these things. Just tell the truth. I won't take my anger out on you for it."

Hearing the customer say this, Xiao Er paused and asked, "You want to hear the truth, sir?"

"Yes."

Xiao Er sighed and said, "If you ask this lowly one, in truth, I don't know whether I would go back or not."

"Ultimately, I'm just a Xiao Er. The only things I worry about every day are whether I can eat my fill and whether I can afford clothes. A gentleman like you must be a scholar, and scholars understand the greater good of family and nation. We aren't like that. We're just frantic to stay alive. A person has to survive first before they can spare a thought for those lofty ideals. I might be rambling, but what I do know is this: here, I can ensure my family stays fed and safe from bullies. But if we went back to Great Xiang, we'd either starve to death or be worked to death..."

"But if we really could go back, who wouldn't want to? Ultimately, that is our home. Who hopes to remain in a foreign land?"

"But as things are now..."

"Who would dare go back?"

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