Immortal Travel of Longevity

Lihua seemed angry, lying unmoving on the stone table and refusing to speak to Chen Changsheng.

Chen Changsheng glanced back at the cat and said, “I’m leaving now.”

Lihua looked at him, then turned its head away.

Chen Changsheng paused for a moment before walking towards Lihua.

Seeing this, Lihua quickly scooted sideways to avoid him.

It said nervously, “Good Human Chen, what are you doing? If Lihua won’t talk to you, are you going to hit Lihua?”

“I won’t hit you.”

Chen Changsheng raised his hand and gently tapped the spot between Lihua’s eyebrows.

A flash of Golden Light vanished into Lihua’s forehead.

“While I’m gone, Lihua, don’t wander around everywhere. Listen to what Ruyi says, understood?”

Lihua gave a soft snort and didn’t respond.

“Did you hear me?” Chen Changsheng asked again.

Lihua said, “Yes, yes, I know.”

Chen Changsheng nodded. “I’m leaving now.”

“Hmm.”

Lihua gave a faint hum in reply.

Only after Chen Changsheng turned away did Lihua turn its head to watch his retreating figure.

Cats can be stubborn too.

Chen Changsheng opened the courtyard gate and was about to step out when he suddenly froze.

Yun Xiang stood at the gate across the narrow lane, as if she had been waiting for him there all along.

“Where are you going, Sir?” Yun Xiang asked.

Chen Changsheng opened his mouth to speak but then glanced back at Lihua in the courtyard and understood.

He sighed inwardly. “Miss Yun.”

Their eyes met.

Chen Changsheng found himself momentarily at a loss for explanations.

Yun Xiang remained silent. She had thought of words to ask him to stay, but faced with him, she couldn’t decide if she should say them.

After a long silence,

Yun Xiang sighed softly and simply said, “Sir, when you return next time, please remember to let Yun Xiang know.”

Chen Changsheng paused. Meeting her gaze, he nodded in agreement.

“I will.”

Yun Xiang’s eyes followed the gentleman’s figure as it flashed past her, walked through the alley, reached the crossroads, and then the corner of the street.

Chen Changsheng turned back to look.

Yun Xiang’s heart jumped. With a trembling voice, she said, “Take care, Sir.”

Chen Changsheng smiled warmly and nodded.

His figure disappeared around the corner.

For Yun Xiang standing at the gate, her heart felt empty again in that instant. She sighed heavily. This time she didn’t cry. Perhaps she had grown accustomed to such partings.

The cat in the courtyard leaped onto the roof tiles and raced across them towards the outside.

It walked on the tiles.

Its gaze remained fixed on the Green-Robed Gentleman walking down the street below.

He walked through street after street, leaving the houses behind, until he reached the city gate.

Chen Changsheng walked out through the city gate.

Lihua, mingling among the people of the crowd, followed him out of the city.

Finally, they reached Chang Guan Pass.

Chen Changsheng turned back, his eyes falling on the cat following him.

Startled, Lihua instinctively tried to hide, but it was already too late.

Chen Changsheng looked at it. “Why did you come out?”

Lihua thought for a moment and answered, “To see you off.”

Chen Changsheng chuckled. “Thank you for remembering this Chen, Lihua.”

“Lihua wasn’t remembering you,” the cat denied.

“Alright, you weren’t.”

Lihua could be a little contrary and stubborn at times too.

Chen Changsheng crouched down and asked gently, “Do you know the way back?”

“Lihua knows the way.”

“That’s good.”

Looking at him, Lihua asked, “Good Human Chen, you need to come back soon.”

“I will.”

Chen Changsheng nodded and said, “Go back home now, Lihua.”

Lihua thought about it. “Lihua will go back after you leave.”

Chen Changsheng smiled and reached out to stroke its back.

Lihua said, “You can pat Lihua’s head, Good Human Chen.”

Chen Changsheng was surprised slightly. “May I?”

“Yes.”

Chen Changsheng patted its head. He let out a soft laugh and said, “Thank you.”

“Hmm.” Lihua hummed, unsure what else to say.

It asked, “How should Lihua say goodbye… what should Lihua say?”

Chen Changsheng thought for a moment. “How about wishing me a safe journey?”

“Good Human Chen, be safe.”

“I will, with this auspicious wish from Lihua.”

Chen Changsheng exhaled softly and said, “I’ll be going now.”

“Okay~”

Chen Changsheng nodded one last time to the Tabby Cat before turning and walking away.

Lihua stood at the pass, watching Chen Changsheng as he walked further and further away.

Suddenly, it shouted,

“Good Human Chen!”

Chen Changsheng, who had walked a little distance away, stopped and turned back. He looked at the Tabby Cat standing at the entrance to the pass.

Lihua yelled, “Bring Dried Fish for Lihua when you come back!”

Hearing this, Chen Changsheng was slightly stunned for an instant before replying with a smile, “I will!”

He set off walking again and never turned back this time.

The figure of the Green-Robed Gentleman slowly faded from Lihua’s sight in the distance.

In this new span of years,

Lihua experienced the feeling of farewell once more, and it was incredibly unpleasant.

On that day, it stood watching at Chang Guan Pass for a long, long time. Only when the glow of the setting sun filled the sky did it snap back to reality.

Seeing that nightfall was approaching, it finally got moving and returned to Qingshan City.

…

Chen Changsheng’s figure moved further and further away.

The road stretched long before him. He was about to leap into the air and fly onward when he heard the booming sound of approaching hoofbeats.

Clip-clop, clip-clop…

Astride the horse was a man with a weathered look carved deeply into his face. Day and night, regardless of wind or rain, he had been tearing across the land chasing the tides of time.

As Tao Sheng gazed far ahead, his eyes landed on the Green-Robed Gentleman walking beside the road. He froze instantly.

“Hwhoooaah!”

Tugging the reins, he halted the hard-breathing horse.

Tao Sheng vaulted down from its back, landing directly in front of Chen Changsheng.

“Sir!!”

When Chen Changsheng set eyes upon Tao Sheng, a wave of profound shock washed over him.

It had been merely days, yet the man standing before him now seemed drastically aged, as if weathered by the years.

“Greetings, Brother Tao,” Chen Changsheng greeted respectfully with cupped hands.

His heart brimming with excitement, Tao Sheng clasped Chen Changsheng’s hands. “I made it! I caught the tides of time!”

He burst into hearty laughter, exhilaration pouring out of him.

Chen Changsheng exhaled softly and said, “Brother Tao, why push yourself so hard with non-stop travel? Even if you missed it this time, there would be another chance, wouldn’t there?”

Tao Sheng took several deep breaths. “The course of life is unpredictable. Who knows in what years or months I might see you again, Sir? I dare not miss this. I could not.”

With that, his knees bent and he knelt down before Chen Changsheng.

Seeing this, Chen Changsheng stepped forward to pull him up. “Brother Tao, what is this? Get up, please!”

Tao Sheng gently pushed Chen Changsheng’s hands aside. Clasping his own hands respectfully, he said, “The achievements I have today, Mr. Chen, are wholly thanks to the guidance you offered me years ago. This debt of gratitude, this great kindness, Tao Sheng could never dare forget. I beg you, Sir, accept this single kowtow from me!”

As he spoke, he bowed down and kowtowed. His forehead touched the yellow soil of the road, gathering more dust onto his already worn face.

Chen Changsheng was momentarily stunned.

However hard he thought, he just couldn’t understand why, in this changing world, there existed people like this – traveling thousands of miles purely to give thanks, to offer a single bow.

He struggled to find the right words. Was it stubbornness? Or something else entirely?

Chen Changsheng was witnessing yet another poignant flavor of the Mortal World.

He thought to himself: How wonderful it would be if he could always stay right here? How wonderfully wonderful it would be?