Chapter 45: Chapter 45: Old Friend, Long Time No See
Translator: 549690339
Night.
Liang Family Cemetery.
After climbing out of the grave, Liang Sheng took a deep breath, made a few turns, walked some distance, and after confirming his own mark, he took out an iron shovel.
Without any hesitation, he immediately began digging at the marked spot. In no time, a small wooden box and a corpse wearing a shroud appeared.
This corpse had been soaked in a special potion, so its body had not decayed much. However, its face was almost rotten. Nevertheless, Liang Sheng showed no fear.
He first changed into the clothes in the wooden box and destroyed the shroud he had taken off. Then, he put the items from the wooden box in a bag and carried it on his back, finally dragging the corpse to his own “grave”.
Next, he put the corpse into his “coffin” and refilled the grave. Since it had already been dug recently, he did not need to worry about anyone noticing it had been tampered with.
Afterward, he stared at his name on the tombstone for quite a while, reading “Tomb of the late Mr. Liang respectfully known as Sheng”. He didn’t know how to feel about it.
But he had finally left his past identity behind and could say goodbye to the past, a scene that would become almost normal in the future.
After all, all things in the world turn into dust in the face of time. Only he, standing on the river of time, could look down upon life and remain undying and eternal.
With that thought, Liang Sheng’s face returned to calmness, and without any attachment, he turned around and walked away.
At this moment, he had restored his youthful appearance, and using breakthrough Lifespan Cultivation Techniques to tweak his appearance, nobody could connect his current look to Liang Sheng.
Having endured for nearly forty years, he finally gained freedom in a single day!
Time flew by.
Ten years passed in the blink of an eye.
Jinzhou City seemed to have changed little. However, occasionally people still recalled the scenes from ten years ago when County Lord Xia Zhiqiu left his post, and the whole city sent him off joyously.
Back then, the Patriarchs of Liang and Wu Families were so emotional that they shed tears, which made people sigh. The harmony between the official and the people demonstrated how much they approved of Xia Zhiqiu’s achievements during his tenure.
However, ordinary people couldn’t imagine that the tears shed by the Patriarchs of Liang and Wu Families were not because of sadness, but excitement. Xia Zhiqiu had put too much pressure on them over the years.
Wu Chang had lost his previous spirited demeanor. He was over eighty years old and still couldn’t break through the Postnatal Nine-Realm. He probably didn’t have much time left.
Unfortunately, the highest cultivation level among the younger generation of Wu Family was only at the Postnatal Seven-Realm. This made him feel helpless since Xia Zhiqiu’s methods could never allow the prominent families to thrive again.
Luckily, the huge obstacle Xia Zhiqiu finally left, and they could breathe a sigh of relief. However, they didn’t expect that their life after ten years wouldn’t be any easier.
The successive County Lord firmly continued Xia Zhiqiu’s policies. While the prominent families suffered, the lives of ordinary people had improved a lot compared to before.
Liang and Wu Families had tried to test the waters, but the new County Lord was also resolute and decided, leaving them no chance to make a move.
As for the young man who had asked the young beggar to send a message years ago, there had been no news from him, so they could only leave it be. Still, the matter was kept in the minds of those who cared.
Both Liang and Wu Families finally realized the reality and stopped trying to act. They hid themselves away and cooperated with the County Government Office on the surface, seemingly having no complaints about the situation.
That was the endurance of martial arts families. Without it, how could they stand unyielding for hundreds of years? In these ten years, they also increased their investment in the younger generation.
As for Zhang Rongjun’s teahouse, it eventually became popular, especially after Zheng Wanchun personally attended its opening day celebration.
No one knew the relationship between them, but after Zheng Wanchun left, the new executor from the County Government Office was still willing to support Zhang Rongjun.
However, Zhang Rongjun and his son did not become arrogant and domineering because of this; on the contrary, they became more cautious in their actions and treated everyone with humility and respect.
“Father, everything is ready.”
Zhang Yuntai carefully woke up Zhang Rongjun, who had already dozed off a little. Ten years later, Zhang Rongjun had aged a lot, after all, he failed in martial arts.
Zhang Yuntai didn’t dare not to wake him up at this time; otherwise, his own father would definitely get angry at him, today was an important day.
“All? Oh, everything’s ready? Then let’s go.”
Zhang Yuntai carefully helped Zhang Rongjun onto the horse carriage, and it creaked away towards the city’s outskirts, eventually stopping in front of a hill.
This was the Liang Family Cemetery.
The Liang Family graveyard keeper glanced at them and did not pay any more attention, as every year during the Qingming Festival and today, Zhang Rongjun and his son would come here.
Zhang Yuntai supported Zhang Rongjun as they walked slowly in front, while the servant followed behind silently, carrying incense, candies, paper money, and other sacrificial offerings.
Then they arrived at a grave, where Zhang Rongjun didn’t speak, but instead, silently picked up a small hoe and personally cleaned the weeds around the tombstone. He didn’t want Zhang Yuntai to help either.
“Brother Sheng, I’ve come to see you again. You never got married or had a child, and when I’m gone, I don’t know if this damn kid of mine will remember to offer incense to you.
But you’re also to blame. You were carefree and unrestrained your whole life, and in the end, you fell for a woman. You never even drank my teahouse’s tea…”
Zhang Rongjun chattered, talking about this and that, and then almost recounted the entire situation of Jinzhou City in bits and pieces.
“But thanks to you, my teahouse business is booming, this year Yuntai had another child, so rosy and tender, our Zhang Family is getting more and more prosperous.
Don’t blame me for not bringing them here though; after all, they’re still young and shouldn’t be coming to this kind of place. Besides, it would just make you envious, wouldn’t it?”
As he spoke, Zhang Rongjun began to cry. Zhang Yuntai, who was watching anxiously from the side, couldn’t say anything for fear of upsetting his father with his volatile emotions.
Zhang Rongjun, trembling, finished preparing the incense, candles, and paper money, then arranged the sacrificial offerings before taking out a pot of wine and pouring it on the grave.
He didn’t care about the dirt on the ground, simply sitting down on his buttocks, holding his wine cup and toasting through the air, as if his old friend was right in front of him.
It wasn’t until the setting sun that Zhang Yuntai managed to persuade Zhang Rongjun to leave. On their way back, Zhang Rongjun seemed visibly lost in thought.
Suddenly, he jolted up and leaned out of the carriage to look, which surprised Zhang Yuntai, who also looked back only to see a young man’s back.
Zhang Yuntai couldn’t help but feel puzzled. At this time, Zhang Rongjun sat back down, shaking his head with a bitter smile on his lips, “So similar! I must be getting old – sigh.”
“Father?”
Zhang Rongjun waved his hand indicating Zhang Yuntai not to worry, “It’s fine, don’t worry about me, 1 just thought of some past events.
By the way, remember to go to the County Government Office these few days, make sure to take care of all levels, and you should be mindful of the relationship with Brother Sheng from before. If I don’t frequently build connections, those feelings will fade.”
“Father, rest assured, 1 have already prepared everything properly; there will be no glitches.”
Zhang Rongjun nodded upon hearing this but continued mumbling to himself, appearing a bit dazed, “So alike!”
What he didn’t know was that the young man who had intrigued him just then was also looking back at Zhang Rongjun’s retreating carriage, smiling faintly, revealing a mouthful of white teeth.
This young man had a face very similar to Liang Sheng’s.
Old friend, long time no see!
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