“Ling'er, I'm back,” Su Yueli said, nodding softly.
Hearing this voice that she had almost forgotten, Tie Ling'er could no longer hold it in. Like a child, she threw herself into Su Yueli's arms and wept bitterly.
To outsiders, this scene would look incredibly bizarre.
An old woman nearing sixty with graying hair was sobbing heart-wrenchingly in the arms of a young girl who looked to be in her early twenties.
Yet Su Yueli felt nothing but heartache. She gently patted Tie Ling'er's back, letting the old woman's tears soak her clothes.
The two went to sit in the side hall of the inner courtyard. Tie Ling'er wiped away her tears and personally poured Su Yueli a bowl of freshly brewed wine.
“Sister Yueli, after you left back then, I learned how to drink too,” Tie Ling'er let out a self-deprecating laugh, raised her bowl, and took a big gulp, a faint flush rising to her face.
Su Yueli raised her own bowl and downed it in one go.
“My father passed away four years ago.”
Tie Ling'er set down her bowl, her eyes dimming. “He lived to ninety-eight and passed away very peacefully. But on his deathbed, he kept murmuring your name, wondering if something had happened to his girl Yueli out there.”
Su Yueli's fingers turned slightly white as she gripped her wine bowl.
“Thirty years ago, my father heard that something had happened in the Imperial City. He took his blade and went there himself to look for you.”
Tie Ling'er continued, lost in her own memories. “But he was only a Fifth Realm martial artist. He couldn't find any information at all in a place like the Imperial City. After he came back, he fell bedridden, and his blood qi completely deteriorated...”
Su Yueli remained silent, a tidal wave of guilt washing over her.
She had thought that hiding in the ruins was the safest option, never imagining that her old friends on the outside would suffer thirty-one years of torment because of her.
“Where on earth have you been these past thirty-five years?” Tie Ling'er couldn't help but ask as she stared at Su Yueli's face, which bore absolutely no trace of time.
Su Yueli sighed and told her everything—from winning the championship at the Martial Arts Tournament, to how she had crippled the genius of the Pang family, and how she had been forced into the Cangyun ruins.
Hearing that Su Yueli had endured thirty-five long years in those pitch-black ruins, Tie Ling'er listened with bated breath, her heart pounding.
And when she heard that Su Yueli had now entered the Tenth Realm of the martial path, becoming a legendary Martial God, Tie Ling'er's mouth fell open in sheer disbelief.
“The Tenth Realm... a Martial God?” Tie Ling'er's eyes were filled with shock and envy. “Sister Yueli, you actually became a legend of the martial path?!”
After her shock subsided, Tie Ling'er's gaze drifted to Su Yueli's youthful face. She asked tentatively, “Sister Yueli, you haven't aged a bit in thirty-five years. Could it be... you've become an immortal?”
Su Yueli let out a bitter laugh and shook her head. “No, I'm no immortal. It's just a strange condition I contracted in my early years that prevents my face from aging. How could there be immortality for mortals in this world? It's nothing more than dragging out one's existence.”
Upon hearing the words “strange condition,” the envy in Tie Ling'er's eyes gradually faded, replaced by a touch of sympathy.
She was over fifty now. Though her body was aging, she at least had neighbors around her and had experienced the many flavors of human life.
But what about Su Yueli? She possessed a shocking Martial God cultivation and eternal youth, yet she had to fight thirty-five years of dead silence in absolute solitude.
And in the future, it would likely be even longer.
“Not aging... is actually quite bitter.”
Tie Ling'er held Su Yueli's hand, which was still fair and delicate, and comforted her. “Watching the people around you grow old and die one by one while you remain frozen in time... That kind of feeling must not be easy to bear.”
Su Yueli squeezed her little sister's rough hand in return, a gentle warmth washing over her heart.
Night fell, and a cool breeze began to blow.
From the side hall, two figures stepped out, making their way under the cover of night toward the barren hills outside Qingzhou City.
On a remote, weed-choked hillside stood an inconspicuous, solitary grave. The stone tablet was carved with the words: Grave of the Late Father, Tie Tu.
Su Yueli lifted her skirt and knelt before the grave with a soft thud.
Taking out a jar of aged liquor from her storage bag—one she had brought from the brewery—she slapped open the clay seal and slowly poured the clear, strong spirit onto the soil before the tombstone.
“Senior Tie Tu, I've come to see you,” Su Yueli murmured.
Staring at the stone tablet, a rare look of warmth flickered in her eyes. “I am now a Tenth Realm Martial God and have the power to protect myself. Down there... you can drink in peace.”
Standing to the side, Tie Ling'er watched Su Yueli speak to the tombstone, and her tears began to flow uncontrollably once more.
After paying their respects, they walked down the mountain, the cold moonlight stretching their shadows long behind them.
Su Yueli turned her head to look at Tie Ling'er. Seeing her unsteady steps and how she had to catch her breath after just a few paces, she frowned slightly. “Ling'er, why didn't you find a husband all these years? With a man to support you, you wouldn't have had to tire yourself out running the brewery alone.”
Tie Ling'er shook her head and let out a carefree laugh. “My standards were too high when I was young. Having grown up around martial artists like my father and you, how could I look at the ordinary men in the city?”
“Later, as I got older, I just got used to being alone. I think how I am now is quite nice—free and unburdened.”
At this point, Tie Ling'er playfully nudged Su Yueli's arm. “But as for you, Sister Yueli, you still look like a young girl in her twenties. If you ever meet a man who catches your eye, you should seize the chance and start a family of your own.”
Start a family?
An unpleasant image instantly flashed through Su Yueli's mind.
It scared her so much that she shuddered, her hairs standing on end.
Her lips twitched as she shook her head repeatedly. “No way! Would you even want that kind of ‘blessing’? I absolutely cannot accept that sort of thing. It's pure self-inflicted torture.”
She pursued the Ultimate Martial Path and eternal life.
To her, mortal romance would only become unbreakable red dust ties, a burden on her Dao Heart.
Most importantly, she was missing that extra two ounces of flesh, and she couldn't bring herself to accept that kind of intimacy.
Chatting all the way, the two returned to the Tie Family Brewery. Su Yueli pushed open the door to the most secluded wing in the inner courtyard.
As the door swung open, she saw that the table and chairs were virtually dust-free. Although the bedding on the bed was somewhat old, it had been washed clean, carrying a faint scent of wild soapberry.
Even after thirty-five years, the layout of everything in the room was exactly the same as when she had left.
“I personally clean this room once every three days,” Tie Ling'er said.
Leaning against the doorframe, she looked at Su Yueli's back, her eyes filled with a complex emotion. “I knew that Sister Yueli would return one day.”
Su Yueli turned around, her heart filled with a mixture of emotions.
Tie Ling'er stared at her. After a long silence, she finally voiced the question she had been keeping in her heart. “Sister... now that you're back, are you only staying for a few days before leaving again?”
Su Yueli's body stiffened slightly. Then, she nodded in silence.
She didn't hide the truth. Although Pang Jinbiao was dead, the foundation of the Pang family was still in the Imperial City, not to mention that they were faintly connected to the lofty immortal cultivation sects.
Having caused such a massive disturbance upon her emergence, the undercurrents of the Imperial City had undoubtedly set their eyes on her.
She was a Martial God; she did not fear trouble.
But Tie Ling'er was just an ordinary old woman with no cultivation. If she stayed in Qingzhou City and the Pang family grew desperate enough to send people for revenge, Tie Ling'er would stand no chance of survival.
She must leave, drawing all the storms and trouble away from Qingzhou City.
Tie Ling'er had actually guessed this outcome long ago. Looking at the still young and beautiful Su Yueli before her, she knew in her heart that given her own fading lifespan, this parting would likely be the last time they would ever see each other in this lifetime.
“Sister Yueli, let's sleep together tonight.”
Tie Ling'er rubbed her reddened eyes and forced a smile. “Just like we did thirty-five years ago. I still have so many things I want to tell you.”
Looking at those expectant eyes, Su Yueli nodded.
“Alright, we'll do as you say.”
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