Eternal Life: I Can Sell Everything

Chapter 230: Chapter 226: An Invincible Spirit, the Key to Enduring Eternity

In Pinglan City, Young Master Sun was telling the members of the Lantern Hanging Department all about his encounter with the spirit last night, spittle flying everywhere.

He was especially animated when describing how the spirit had disguised itself as a beautiful woman, knocked on his door, and tried to rip out his heart. Just as he was about to die, a white goose suddenly flew over from next door. The goose displayed its divine might, beating the spirit to a pulp and saving him from the jaws of death.

Lady Sun tried to interrupt him several times, but he completely ignored her.

For some reason, she had a bad feeling about this and was so angry she wanted to throttle him.

But after finishing his tale about the goose, Young Master Sun suddenly turned to Zhang You, who was seated in the place of honor, and cupped his hands. "Sir, that White Goose Immortal saved my wife and me, but now we have no idea where it has gone. We don’t mean to impose, but it’s been on our minds. If you happen to know where the White Goose Immortal is, could you please pass on our gratitude?"

Zhang You gave Young Master Sun a surprised look, then waved a hand dismissively. "Alright, that’s enough. You’re safe for now, so head home. Remember to keep an eye on your neighbor’s house. If anyone—or any goose—returns, report it to the Lantern Hanging Department immediately. There will be a reward. Understand?"

Young Master Sun was both startled and overjoyed. He quickly pulled his wife along to thank Zhang You and the others.

Soon, the couple was on their way home. Zhang You and his men took one last look around the Song Residence, planted a few Talismans in inconspicuous places, and then quickly departed.

「Pinglan City, South Suburb.」

Song Ciwan and Gao Xiaolang were bidding each other a quiet farewell. Gao Xiaolang said, unwilling to part, "Sister Song, the Pen Knife I gave you accompanied me for a thousand years. If you ever find yourself in trouble, you can break it, and I will appear before you, no matter when."

"I’ll do anything you ask, no matter what it is!" he promised earnestly.

Song Ciwan simply lowered her gaze, reaching out to stroke his round little head before giving him a handful of Yin Soul Pearls.

The fifty or sixty pearls she gave him constituted her entire supply.

She also gave Gao Xiaolang a pouch of broken silver and gold coins, as well as ten Primordial Pearls—the common currency of the Cultivation Realm. There were only ten of them, not because Song Ciwan was being stingy, but because she barely had any left herself.

Song Ciwan was in a peculiar financial state—not exactly poor, but she felt it.

Her Heaven and Earth Scale held a trove of valuable items: Magical Artifacts, Marvels, Elixirs, Talismans, and various other materials.

But these things weren’t easily converted into cash, and what’s more, the contents of her Heaven and Earth Scale were simply too random. Many of the items were excellent, but they didn’t necessarily meet her immediate needs.

To truly escape this predicament, Song Ciwan needed a stable source of income.

She rummaged through her Heaven and Earth Scale again. She didn’t find any Magical Artifacts a Ghost Spirit could use, but she did turn up several Ancestral Dragon Coins.

An idea sparked in her mind. She immediately took out the six remaining Ancestral Dragon Coins from her Heaven and Earth Scale. She only ever traded her Primordial Longevity Pearls for the coins when she needed them, never selling off the pearls all at once.

As a result, she only had six Ancestral Dragon Coins left, though she still had plenty of Primordial Longevity Pearls.

As the six coins lay open in Song Ciwan’s palm, Gao Xiaolang’s eyes went wide and his mouth fell open. A gleaming trail of drool trickled from the corner of his lips.

The damp sensation startled him. He quickly wiped his mouth, his face flushing as he lowered his head in embarrassment.

Song Ciwan couldn’t help but smile. "Xiaolang," she asked, "I see you’re quite taken with these coins. Do they have some special effect on your kind?"

She expected Gao Xiaolang to give her a clear answer, but he just gulped, saying with a look of shame, "I don’t know either, Sister Song. I just feel... these coins have a special pull on me."

As he spoke, he glanced at the coins again, and the drool began to flow freely. Deep within his throat, tentacles were faintly visible.

Gao Xiaolang quickly clamped a hand over his mouth, his face beet red as he squeezed his eyes shut.

The Heaven and Earth Scale materialized, having collected a mass of emotion: [Small City Level Mysterious Ghost Spirit, shame, confusion, reluctance. One jin, five taels. Tradable.]

Song Ciwan was exasperated. She took Gao Xiaolang’s hand and pressed the six coins into his palm.

His hand immediately recoiled as if he’d been handed a hot potato, but Song Ciwan quickly applied pressure. Unleashing her Infinite Power of Divine Communication and Daoist Techniques, she held him fast. Even for a Small City Level spirit like Gao Xiaolang, the sudden move was too much to resist.

Gao Xiaolang looked at her in astonishment. Song Ciwan said, "I don’t need these. You should have them."

She pressed the six Ancestral Dragon Coins into his hand, then stroked his round head again. "Xiaolang, you’re a good kid. You have a long journey ahead of you, and though I don’t know where you’re headed, I believe you will always hold true to your own sense of right and wrong."

Gao Xiaolang tilted his head back, clutching the six Ancestral Dragon Coins and staring up at Song Ciwan, a shimmer welling in his eyes.

Song Ciwan smiled. "Go on. A physical body isn’t so important. Some people may have human forms, but their hearts are black—worse than Demon Fiends, worse even than spirits. And there are others who, even though they’ve become spirits, will always be Human as long as their hearts remain so. Xiaolang, as long as you exist, the Gao Family is not extinct. We’ll meet again."

She offered him a traditional cupped-fist salute, and Gao Xiaolang hurriedly returned the gesture.

The Heaven and Earth Scale materialized: [Small City Level Mysterious Ghost Spirit, melancholy, confusion, reluctance. Two jin, three taels. Tradable.]

Gao Xiaolang said, "Sister Song, we’ll meet again!"

With those words, he turned and left.

The forests of the South Suburb stretched into the distance, and Gao Xiaolang’s small figure soon vanished among the trees, as if he had never been there at all.

Song Ciwan gazed into the distance, unable to stop a pang of melancholy from rising within her.

’The path of Cultivation is, in the end, a journey of goodbyes. No matter how beautiful the scenery, all fellow travelers are ultimately just passing through each other’s lives.’

’In a normal human lifespan of a hundred years, such encounters are already countless. What, then, of her goal to live for thousands, even tens of thousands of years—to achieve immortality?’

’To walk the path of immortality, one must first cultivate a heart for solitude.’

’Get used to loneliness. Enjoy loneliness. Only with an indomitable spirit can one be worthy of eternal life.’

Song Ciwan turned and started her journey back. The Sutra of Sitting and Forgetting circulated silently within her, and her mastery of it grew by leaps and bounds.

She activated the Sun and Moon Transformation Skill, and under its cover, she quietly changed her face again.

This time, she took on the appearance of an ordinary young Martial Artist. Selecting a caravan that had traveled from afar, she blended into the crowd and entered the city, completely unnoticed.

Once inside the city, however, Song Ciwan had no intention of returning to the Song Residence in Jishan Square.

She figured the small courtyard would be under intense scrutiny, so she decided to abandon it. Besides, the Big White Goose was safe and sound in the Spirit Beast Bag, and there were no possessions in the courtyard worth making a special trip to retrieve.

Song Ciwan wandered around South City for a bit, then found a secluded corner and changed her appearance to that of the Cultivator, Xin Mian.

From this day forward, the mortal girl Song Xun would vanish. Xin Mian would become Song Ciwan’s primary persona!

She needed to establish a source of income, forge a new identity, and find a way to shore up her weaknesses.