Immortal Travel of Longevity

The sun gradually sank behind the mountains.

Chen Changsheng gazed into the distance, spotting a city bathed in the light of the setting sun.

It was a city that felt familiar to him.

Ximing City.

The former royal capital of West Xiao.

Seeing this city after so long felt like running into an old friend.

He quickened his pace, passing through the gates just before nightfall.

Yet the moment he stepped inside, a rotting stench assaulted his nose.

Chen Changsheng frowned.

People lay scattered along both sides of the street. Their clothes were in tatters and their breathing was weak, as if they had starved for days.

Broken bowls sat on the ground, though most just laid out a scrap of torn cloth in place of a begging bowl.

"Spare some food..."

As Chen Changsheng walked past, the crowd swarmed him.

"My lord, please spare some food!"

"My lord!"

"Have mercy, my lord. I'm starving to death."

The crowd boxed Chen Changsheng in completely.

The people grabbed at his trouser legs or fell to their knees and kowtowed. Without exception, they were sallow and emaciated, their eyes sunken deep into their skulls.

Chen Changsheng watched this in a daze.

In his memory, the city had looked nothing like this just yesterday.

In the blink of an eye, it had become completely alien.

Chen Changsheng noticed other figures lying motionless on the street. It was only upon closer inspection that he realized they weren't just too weak to get up; they were already dead.

That rotting stench was coming from their bodies, which were already swarming with flies.

Who knew how many days had passed without anyone coming to clear the corpses away.

The people in front of him continued to kneel and kowtow. Chen Changsheng glanced at them, shook his head, and parted the crowd to press onward.

It wasn't that he was heartless, but he simply had no way to ensure everyone got something. A few copper coins could easily spark a brawl, and people might die in the ensuing struggle.

That was something he did not want to see.

The crowd chased him for a short distance before giving up.

They returned to wait for the next person to enter the city, ready to drop to their knees and beg just as they had before, all to scrounge up a single bite of food.

Chen Changsheng followed the path in his memory. Quite some time later, he arrived at an alleyway.

Stopping before a door, he reached out and knocked.

Knock, knock...

There was no movement behind the door.

But Chen Changsheng could sense a presence inside. The person seemed to be staring at the door, hesitating over whether to open it.

"Shopkeeper Long, we shared some drinks three years ago."

There was still no movement.

A moment later, however, the person looking at the door seemed to remember something.

"It's you."

Long Zhongzheng got up, walked over, and opened the door.

He looked out, and upon seeing the man in green robes standing at his doorstep, his memory of him gradually sharpened.

Chen Changsheng offered a warm smile. "Shopkeeper Long, it's been a while."

"Come in, quickly."

The moment Chen Changsheng stepped inside, Long Zhongzheng quickly shut the door.

"Have a seat."

Chen Changsheng looked over and noticed Shopkeeper Long limping forward.

"What happened to your leg?" Chen Changsheng asked.

Long Zhongzheng sighed. "I ran into some trouble and couldn't get out of the way. I was left with this limp."

He paused, then asked, "What brings you here?"

Chen Changsheng said, "I was just passing through. I remembered I had a friend here, so I decided to pay a visit."

Long Zhongzheng blinked in surprise. "We only met once and shared a few drinks."

"Yes," Chen Changsheng said. "Is that not enough?"

Long Zhongzheng paused. "You aren't here on business?"

Chen Changsheng smiled. "I don't have any other motives. I'm purely here to see a friend."

Long Zhongzheng couldn't find any flaws in that answer, but truthfully, he still found Chen Changsheng hard to believe.

Or rather, he found it hard to believe that someone like that existed.

Still, the man was already here, so he had to be a good host.

After all, they did know each other.

Long Zhongzheng sighed. "I can't treat you to a drink this time around. I'm completely broke. I'd split a single copper coin in half to spend it if I could."

"It seems the last few years haven't been kind to you."

Chen Changsheng continued, "When we met back then, This Chen remembers you as a highly respected Shopkeeper Long."

Long Zhongzheng let out a wry laugh. "Are you mocking me?"

"Just speaking the truth," Chen Changsheng replied. "Back then, every gang in Ximing City was willing to do you a favor. That wasn't a lie, was it?"

Shopkeeper Long sighed. "True enough, but times change. No one enjoys smooth sailing forever. People change too. They aren't going to keep doing me favors over some old sentiment."

"What caused it?" Chen Changsheng asked.

Shopkeeper Long waved a hand in resignation. "I was trying to protect a child..."

"That boy's father crossed a certain gang, and they came for revenge. They wanted to wipe out his entire family to prevent future trouble. I'd known the kid for a long time, so in a moment of foolish pity, I went to plead with the gang's bosses. But they wouldn't give me the time of day. I thought I'd try again and kept begging them, but it only pissed them off. In the end, they kicked me out, and that's how I ended up with this limp."

Seeing him massage his leg, Chen Changsheng said, "You sound like you regret it."

"Of course I do. I lost a leg and my entire livelihood was ruined. But the worst part is, I didn't even manage to save the kid."

He sighed.

Listening to his complaints, Chen Changsheng felt that Shopkeeper Long didn't actually regret sticking his neck out; what he truly regretted was failing to save that child.

"And afterward? By all rights, you should have left Ximing."

"I'm crippled and penniless. Where am I supposed to go? Besides, look at the state of the world right now. Where could I go?"

"..."

Chen Changsheng paused for a moment before asking, "Is Great Xiang really in that much chaos?"

"Isn't that a stupid question?"

"This Chen truly is ignorant of the situation. I traveled far away for a time, so I know very little about the affairs of Great Xiang."

"You really don't know?"

"I do not."

"Then let me tell you."

Shopkeeper Long knew far more about the situation than Xiao Er in Jianggu City had.

Living right in Great Xiang, he had seen it all with his own eyes—the five opposing factions, the constant warfare, and the chaos bleeding into the streets.

"People are starving! Do you know what that means? They have nothing to eat, so they gnaw on tree bark and stuff themselves with guanyin clay until their stomachs burst. And that's considered a good way to go! I've seen people boiling human flesh... it's just..."

"And that was before things got really bad. During the absolute worst of it, there was burning, killing, and looting everywhere. If you could rob someone else, you lived. If you couldn't, you were dead."

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