...
It took Su Yueli two days and one night to travel from the village to Fengling City.
She did not travel at the speed of a martial artist. Instead, she occasionally took a carriage, and at other times, like an ordinary person, she walked step by step through the dry leaves and mud toward her destination.
Having not set foot in the mortal world for twenty years, as the city walls of Fengling City finally appeared at the edge of her vision, a long-lost sense of bustling mortal life wafted toward her.
The city gates were wide open, teeming with horses and carriages.
Street vendors carrying shoulder poles, porters in coarse cloth driving carriages, and wealthy merchants accompanied by servants—all kinds of people and a cacophony of sounds intermingled.
Passing through the city gates, Su Yueli stepped onto the main street.
Although she wore only coarse linen clothes and no jewelry, she still stood out like a crane among a flock of chickens.
Her cold, beautiful face and skin showed not a single trace of weariness or dust from her journey.
“Miss.”
Just then, a man wearing a blue robe who looked like a scholar stopped, stepped forward, and cupped his hands. “Miss, you look unfamiliar. Is this your first time in Fengling City?”
Su Yueli sized him up and nodded.
The man immediately puffed out his chest. “The streets in the city are complex, but I am quite familiar with them. If you do not mind, I would be happy to guide you. There is a tavern not far ahead; I would love to treat you to a cup of tea so you can familiarize yourself with the local customs of Fengling City.”
As he spoke, his eyes filled with awe and admiration.
Su Yueli stopped, her voice soft as she gave a faint smile. “Thank you, but there is no need to trouble yourself, sir. I only wish to ask for directions. How do I get to Fuyuan Merchant House?”
Gazing into those clear eyes, the man felt a sudden tightening in his chest, and any romantic notions that had just bubbled up were instantly extinguished.
He instinctively took half a step back and pointed toward the end of the main street. “Go... go straight down this street to the very end, then turn left.”
“Thank you for your help.”
Su Yueli nodded, bypassed the man, and walked toward her destination.
She hadn't seen him in twenty years. She wondered what that fellow looked like now. Perhaps he really had become the head manager, growing pot-bellied and greasy-faced.
At this thought, the corners of her lips curled up slightly.
No matter what he had become, as long as he was still alive, there would at least be one old friend in this world she could talk to.
Half an incense stick's time later, Su Yueli arrived in front of Fuyuan Merchant House. It was indeed grand.
Its wide doors were open, with a constant stream of visiting merchants coming and going. A dozen or so workers were sweating profusely, their abacuses clacking away.
Su Yueli approached the main counter. Behind it, a plump manager with a handlebar mustache was flipping through a ledger. Hearing someone approach, he didn't even look up. “What can I get for you, customer? Our Fuyuan Merchant House has everything, as long as you can afford the price.”
“I'm not here to buy anything.”
Su Yueli said, “I'm looking for someone. He should be your head manager, Shen Qing'an.”
The plump manager's hand paused. He looked up, sized up Su Yueli's coarse cloth clothing, and frowned.
The smile vanished from his face, and his tone turned slightly displeased. “What Shen Qing'an? I'm the only head manager in this merchant house. Miss, go beg somewhere else. Don't disrupt my business.”
Su Yueli froze. Didn't Shen Qing'an say in his letters that he was already the head manager here...?
Just then, a white-haired old bookkeeper from an adjacent counter ran over in a hurry, his voice trembling slightly. “Miss, are you really looking for Shen Qing'an?”
“Old gentleman, do you know him?” Su Yueli turned to ask.
The old bookkeeper let out a long sigh and lowered his voice. “Miss, let's speak elsewhere.”
The two walked into a secluded alleyway. Only then did the old bookkeeper take off his spectacles and rub his cloudy eyes.
He then looked at Su Yueli and gave a bitter laugh. “How could I not know him? Years ago, I worked under him.”
A bad premonition crept into Su Yueli's heart, and she quickly asked, “Then where is he? Why isn't he at the merchant house?”
“Alas, Manager Shen was once riding high, but you've come too late. He left many years ago.”
Su Yueli listened quietly.
“Manager Shen was a born businessman, and he was ruthless too. After the old master passed away, he managed the merchant house flawlessly. Back then, who in Fengling City wouldn't call him Master Shen when they saw him?”
“But one year, Manager Shen seemed to go mad...”
The old bookkeeper's voice dropped. “He sold all his cash, his shares in the merchant house, and even his courtyard and properties.”
“Why did he sell everything?” Su Yueli frowned.
Had he run into something that required an immense amount of money?
“To seek immortality.”
The next moment, the old bookkeeper uttered those three words.
Hearing this, Su Yueli's pupils contracted.
For a mortal to seek immortality was already an act against heaven.
This suddenly reminded her of what Shen Qing'an had said when he left twenty years ago.
This guy... did he really go looking for a way to cultivate?
But that was indeed the reality. Through the old bookkeeper's explanation, Su Yueli learned that not only had Shen Qing'an lost all his money, but he had also borrowed from loan sharks and even embezzled the merchant house's funds meant for purchasing goods.
Later, his legs were broken by the owner, and he was thrown to the outskirts of the city. The owner even put out a warning that anyone who dared to give him a bite of food would be making an enemy of the merchant house.
Hearing all this, Su Yueli was left speechless, watching as the old bookkeeper's figure disappeared into the alleyway.
The wind whistled past her ears in a continuous, mournful wail.
Unbeknownst to her, several cracks split open in the stone floor beside her feet.
She said nothing more, not even knowing how she managed to walk out of that alley.
In the afternoon sun, Fengling City was blindingly bright. The main street remained bustling and lively, with steam rising from the bun shop's steamers and the noisy shouts of drinking games echoing from the taverns.
Su Yueli stood alone on the bustling street. People constantly brushed past her, but not a single one could leave a reflection in her eyes.
Slowly, she raised her hand, reached into her robe, and pulled out the final letter. She stared at the crooked handwriting and the smudged ink inside.
It still claimed that living in luxury had made his bones soft, that he ate meat with every meal, and that he had grown quite plump...
Su Yueli's fingers trembled. Fake. It was all fake...
The handwriting on the letter was so crooked, likely because he had been sitting in a drafty slum, too frozen to even hold a brush.
And because of those broken legs, making his entire body shudder with pain.
“What did you hope to gain...?”
Su Yueli murmured softly, her voice swallowed by the din of the street.
For what? To buy a fleeting, illusory hope that could grant a mortal Bone Talent.
In the eyes of cultivators, mortals were mere ants.
But in the eyes of mortals, immortals were the heavens.
Shen Qing'an, a mere mortal, had given up everything and crawled through the mud with broken legs for ten years, just to buy a ladder.
A ladder that could reach the heavens, so she would no longer have to suffer.
“You idiot.”
Su Yueli tightly clenched the letter in her fist and pulled out the wooden hairpin binding her hair.
Her long black hair fell loose on the main street of Fengling City as she walked toward the slums.
West of the city, the slums.
Open sewers, garbage strewn everywhere, and staggering, weary men met the eye.
Looking at those numb-faced men hiding in the dark corners, Su Yueli shook her head, her heart tightening.
Following the directions given by the old bookkeeper, she navigated most of the muddy road and finally arrived before a half-collapsed ruined temple.
The door of the ruined temple had long since rotted into a few pieces of decaying wood, barely held together by some frayed straw ropes.
The cold wind poured in through the gaps, howling continuously.
Squatting in the mud beside the ruined temple was an old beggar covered in chilblains, holding a broken bowl and picking at lice.
Seeing Su Yueli stop in front of the temple, the old beggar squinted at her with cloudy eyes and spoke in a raspy voice, “Miss, looking for someone?”
Su Yueli nodded. “Yes. I'm looking for Shen Qing'an.”
“Looking for Blind Shen?”
The old beggar grinned, revealing a mouth of yellow teeth. He pointed his filthy, blackened finger inside the ruined temple. “He's in there. Froze solid three nights ago. Didn't even have anyone to bury him. He's still lying inside.”
?
Su Yueli felt her mind go blank. Her surroundings fell utterly silent, save for the rustling sound of the old beggar scratching at his chilblains.
She raised her hands. Those hands, which punched ten thousand times a day and could shatter giant boulders, froze in midair.
In the end, she pressed them against the splintered, decaying wood of the temple door.
And gently pushed it open.
Rate on N.U.
