Immortal Travel of Longevity

Hearing the commotion downstairs, Yu Hongjin hurried down.

"Mister, Mister, Elder Sister Song..."

She was about to ask if they had found Elder Sister Song, but turning her head, she saw Song Bao already lying on a nearby chair. She was covered with thick quilts, a charcoal fire burning in front of her.

"Don't worry," Yunxiang said. "Your Elder Sister Song just caught a chill and isn't feeling well. She's just sleeping here for a bit."

Yu Hongjin nodded, her mind put at ease. "It's good that she's back."

"Mm." Yunxiang stroked Yu Hongjin's hair. "Hongjin has grown much more sensible..."

Yu Hongjin looked up into Sister Yun's eyes. She blinked, seemingly confused, and said, "Sister Yun, you sound just like the old grannies on the street."

Yunxiang froze for a moment before bursting into laughter. "At my age, am I not already a granny?"

Yu Hongjin shook her head, feeling a sudden daze.

At the very least, she refused to accept that.

Lihua hurried down as well, darting to Chen Changsheng's side in a flash.

Chen Changsheng scooped the cat into his arms and stroked its fur.

Lihua looked left and right before staring up at Chen Changsheng, as if asking a question.

It was likely asking about the Song Family couple.

"They went out," Chen Changsheng said. "They'll be back in a while."

Only then did Lihua speak. "What's wrong with her?"

"She's asleep," Chen Changsheng replied.

Lihua nodded, then sized up Song Bao. Its eyes studied her as it said, "Chen the Good Man, she looks very strange."

"Oh?" Chen Changsheng asked. "Strange how?"

In Lihua's eyes, one could seemingly see Song Bao's erratic, unfixed soul. The three fires of life upon her body were also wavering.

"Her fires are flickering," Lihua said.

Chen Changsheng understood. "It's fine," he said. "They will stop flickering in a couple of days. There's no need to worry."

It was perfectly normal for a soul to behave like this after leaving the body and returning. This was also the period when a person was most vulnerable to the invasion of external evils. The wind and cold were a type of external evil, which was exactly why Song Bao was running such a severe fever.

Lihua nodded, but then asked, "Did that Auntie Song apologize?"

"Apologize?" Chen Changsheng glanced over.

Lihua turned its head and spoke seriously. "If you do something wrong, you have to apologize. But Yu Hongjin told Lihua that Auntie Song might not apologize."

Hearing this, Chen Changsheng and Yunxiang exchanged a glance.

Lihua blinked. "Why aren't you saying anything?"

Its tone was innocent, completely clueless as to why they had fallen quiet.

"She didn't apologize," Chen Changsheng said.

"Why?" Lihua asked in slight confusion. "Does she not know she did something wrong?"

"She probably does."

"Then why didn't she apologize?"

Lihua couldn't wrap its head around it, becoming deeply troubled by the matter.

Chen Changsheng sighed softly. "No one in this world is perfect. Many simple, everyday truths don't always fully manifest in reality."

"Lihua doesn't understand."

Lihua paused before continuing. "In the past, Ruyi told me that if you do something wrong, you have to apologize. Not apologizing means you have no guts. But what does it mean to have no guts? Ruyi told me it means you aren't a good person. Hmm..."

Hearing this, Yunxiang smiled gently. She then asked, "Then does Lihua think Auntie Song is a good person?"

Lihua blinked. "Probably not. She treats this... this Elder Sister Song, um, not very well."

It seemed a little uncertain itself.

Yunxiang continued, "Then look at the rain outside. Is it heavy?"

Lihua looked outside. The rain was crashing down with a loud din, quite a bit of it splashing straight into the room.

"Heavy," Lihua replied.

Yunxiang asked, "In rain this heavy, would Lihua be willing to run outside?"

Lihua shook its head. "Does this have anything to do with the rain?"

"It does."

Yunxiang explained, "Although Auntie Song didn't apologize, when Song Bao came back, caught a chill, and passed out from a fever, Auntie Song immediately panicked. Wearing nothing but a conical straw hat, she rushed out in a frantic hurry to find a physician."

Lihua paused, still not quite seeming to understand.

Yunxiang continued, "It's just like you and Hongjin. Even though the two of you are always bickering, if Lihua is ever hungry and Hongjin happens to have food in her pockets, she'd still be willing to share it with you."

Hearing this, Hongjin was taken aback.

Lihua seemed to finally grasp something, turning its head to look at Hongjin.

Hongjin immediately flushed red. "I—I wouldn't share with it! I wouldn't!"

Lihua simply blinked at her.

Embarrassed by its gaze, Hongjin snapped her head away. "W-what are you looking at?"

Chen Changsheng chuckled. "What your Sister Yun means is that Auntie Song just has a stubborn mouth. Even though she might not say anything nice, if something really happened to Song Bao, Auntie Song would be the most worried of all. The emotional bond between adults and children is vastly different."

Lihua looked back at Chen Changsheng, its little head seemingly beginning to understand as it soaked in their words.

This was no easy feat.

After a long silence, Lihua said, "Lihua thinks it understands... but maybe not entirely."

Yunxiang thought for a moment, then cast another glance at Song Bao. "Perhaps..."

"...it's a fault that can be forgiven, even without an apology."

But at those words, Lihua grew confused once again.

Half-understanding, Yu Hongjin asked, "Is that how it works?"

Yunxiang nodded.

The group waited in the inn for quite a while.

Before long, the couple returned, bringing a physician with them.

The rain outside was still pouring heavily.

Mother Song wore a conical straw hat, but the storm was simply too fierce, and she was soaked to the bone regardless. Father Song had absolutely nothing shielding himself; he held an umbrella in one hand, using it entirely to shelter the physician beside him.

The physician wasn't particularly old, but having been roused in the dead of night, he too looked frantic. He carried a medicine chest by his side, his footsteps stumbling and unsteady.

With the couple supporting him on both sides, they finally made it into the inn.

"Physician Lin, we're here... we're here..."

"Alright, alright..."

The moment they entered the building, Auntie Song forgot to even take off her conical straw hat. She rushed straight to Song Bao's side to check on her.

"Let me check her pulse first. Let me check her pulse."

Physician Lin let out a heavy breath. Father Song hurriedly dragged a chair over, offering Physician Lin a seat.

Chen Changsheng and Yunxiang stepped to the side with Mao'er and Yu Hongjin, ensuring they wouldn't get in the physician's way.

The physician checked her pulse, then reached out to feel Song Bao's forehead.

Physician Lin's expression shifted slightly as he muttered, "This fever... is quite severe, indeed."

"Madam Song, take the medicine I brought and brew it first."

Auntie Song agreed repeatedly, taking the medicine and hurrying to the side, her eyes brimming with worry.

From Chen Changsheng's arms, Lihua watched the room full of people.

The pale-faced Song Bao, the completely drenched Father Song, the solemn physician, and Auntie Song, whose every step was weighed down by anxiety...

The not-too-clever Mao'er seemed to finally understand.

Perhaps it was just as Sister Yun had said.

This was truly a fault that could be forgiven, even without an apology.

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