Chapter 125, Cutting Worldly Ties

Translator: StarReader

 

Dawn arrived gray and misty, with a gentle rain falling like a thin veil, obscuring the Vastest Lake.

 

The water rippled, and clumps of reeds swayed with the current.

 

In the distance, a few fishing boats were at work, the expanse of the lake empty and desolate.

 

Today was Ah Chou’s seventh day of passing. Su Chen brought paper money and a lavish spread of water, wine, and delicacies. He arrived at Cave Mountain Island, and on the earthen slope by the lake, prepared to burn paper money and offerings for Ah Chou.

 

“Ah Chou, I must leave to seek that elusive connection to the immortals. How many years will pass before I return to the Wu Region? Will I even be able to return?”

 

Su Chen sat beside the tombstone, burning paper money and quietly speaking. Within this Wu Region martial world, he could converse with few, and he was among them. With his departure, he would be entirely alone.

 

He remained seated for an hour.

 

Su Chen sighed and then rose, preparing to leave, to depart from the Wu Region.

 

Suddenly, Su Chen sensed something and turned to look.

 

He saw a small boat appearing on the distant lake, headed toward Cave Mountain Island. The boat docked by the misty lakeside.

 

A woman in a simple white gown, holding a paper umbrella and carrying offerings, approached Ah Chou’s tomb.

 

Ah Nu!

 

Su Chen’s heart stirred, and he paused.

 

Ah Nu was holding a paper umbrella, disembarking from the light boat, and carrying a basket filled with paper money and food to the grave on the hillside to pay respects to Ah Chou.

 

She hadn’t expected Su Chen to be paying respects at Ah Chou’s grave, and her expression showed surprise. She quickly offered a respectful bow: “Greetings, Immortal Su!”

 

Su Chen saw that Ah Nu had changed her address and couldn’t help but smile wryly.

 

Yes, everything had ultimately changed so much.

 

From Young Master Su to Immortal Su. That small change in address made them seem much farther apart.

 

“You can still call me Young Master Su,” he said.

 

Ah Nu hesitated for a moment, then complied with a grateful bow: “Thank you, Young Master Su, for still remembering Ah Chou.”

 

“In this world, the number of people who still remember the seventh day of Ah Chou’s passing is likely only a handful, maybe just two or three. Today being the seventh day of Ah Chou’s passing, after the memorial rites, I’m leaving the Wu Region to seek my immortality. The path to immortality is long, and I don’t know when I might have a chance to return.”

 

Su Chen shook his head.

 

Su Immortal Manor was now the most prestigious in the Wu Region, ensuring his parents’ peaceful life for the rest of their days. His brother had become a disciple of the governor, and his sister a disciple of Grandmaster Han Ya, all with bright futures and generations of security.

 

It was just that Ah Nu didn’t know what her future would hold. If Ah Nu had any wishes, he could help her achieve them.

 

He thought for a moment and asked, “Ah Nu, what are your plans?”

 

Hearing that Su Chen was about to leave Wu Region, Ah Nu’s expression was filled with a hint of gloom and sadness, and she sighed softly: “When I was a child, my parents passed away early, and Ah Chou and I relied on the kindness of strangers at the Heaven Falcon Inn in Gusu County City, often going hungry and suffering beatings. At that time, all we hoped for was a small house of our own, where we could live a life free from hunger and cold, and that would have been enough.

 

“Thanks to Young Master Su’s blessing, I regained MY freedom and have the status of a commoner. Over the past three years, I also saved a few hundred silver taels, intending to acquire a house in Gusu City and buy dozens of acres of farmland to spend the rest of MY life peacefully.”

 

She desired to purchase dozens of acres of thin fields and live a life of modest wealth, a longing she held for years, and now it seems that wish has been granted.

 

“Very well!”

 

Su Chen nodded slightly.

 

People had their own ambitions; some sought wealth, others hoped for a simple life.

 

Of course, should Ah Nu desire a life of luxury in the future, the chest of gold he left at Gusu Bank would be more than sufficient.

 

Ah Nu slowly burned the paper money, and after some time, she finished the memorial for Ah Chou.

 

A crimson cord, woven into a wristband, was vaguely revealed on her right wrist, secured with the copper coin with the character for ugly etched on it.

 

After Ah Nu burned the paper money, she hesitated for a long while before bidding farewell to Su Chen: “Young Master Su, I shall take my leave! May all go well with you in the future!”

 

She held a paper umbrella to the lakeshore, preparing to board a boat and return to Gusu City.

 

She couldn’t resist glancing back, her gaze fixed on the hillside, at the figure clad in common clothes.

 

Gazing at the hazy figure of Su Chen, she recalled countless events of these years, her heart filled with sorrow.

 

“Young Master Su, to you, I may be a woman you saw just a few times.

 

“But to me, you are the most familiar person, knowing everything about you and Ah Chou’s experiences over the years.

 

“Back then, six or seven years ago, when I studied zither at the Mist Terrace, Ah Chou stayed at the inn as a server, always feeling down.

 

“Later, he met Young Master Su. You two had late-night talks in the woodshed, invited each other, and joined a martial group, cultivating martial techniques. That was the happiest time for Ah Chou. Whenever he secretly came to the Mist Terrace to see me and spoke a few words, he would excitedly mention you and his little moments.

 

“Ah Chou’s every happy moment, every unforgettable memory, all held Young Master Su’s presence.”

 

Ah Nu gazed at the distant figure, lost in recollections.

 

Over the years, Ah Chou would mention Su Chen during idle chatter, such that, without realizing it, she planted within her heart the image of a young master. She often thought of Ah Chou and Young Master Su sharing laughter, cultivating.

 

A figure, serene yet resilient.

 

It felt as though she knew a man she had known and understood for many years. Her familiarity with Su Chen was nearly as much as Ah Chou’s, far more than others imagined.

 

Later, Su Chen and Ah Chou both became first-rate experts.

 

Hope stirred within her; she once thought that if there was even the slightest chance, she could redeem herself from the pleasure quarters. Even if Su Chen became a Wu Region Grandmaster, even if she became a concubine or a servant, if she could one day follow and serve Young Master Su, she would accept it willingly.

 

She feared missing this young man she had known and understood for so many years. The Wu Region martial world was vast, and she didn’t know where her home lay in the future.

 

But, in the end, they were fated to be apart.

 

Su Chen wasn’t a Wu Region Grandmaster; he had already become an immortal.

 

She remained an ordinary mortal, drifting within the martial world her whole life, unable to hope for the realm of an immortal.

 

The path of mortals and immortals diverged; the realm of man and spirituality were eternally separate.

 

In worldly legends, the immoral possessed eternal youth and a lifespan beyond reckoning.

 

She knew that this life held no hope for her.

 

She dared not speak to request to follow.

 

If she were to ask for his favor and follow Young Master Su, she would inevitably become a burden to Young Master Su.

 

A day or two wouldn’t be much, but after twenty or thirty years, as she aged and her beauty faded, Young Master Su remained eternally youthful. By then, if Young Master Su were to find her tiresome, how would she cope?

 

Even if Young Master Su didn’t find her tiresome, his immortal beauty wouldn’t age, while she, a mortal woman, would grow old, and she would feel inferior, unable to face Young Master Su. It would eventually become unbearable for both of them.

 

It would be better to forget Young Master Su in the martial world, leaving him with the most beautiful memory of her.

 

But.

 

That would be a final farewell.

 

She would never see him again.

 

Even if they were destined to meet, their lifespans differed by a hundred years—it would be better if they never had.

 

Ah Nu pressed her red lips together, gazing at him with a longing look, her eyes glistening with the pain of parting and the heartache of letting go.

 

…

 

Su Chen watched Ah Nu head to the lakeshore, preparing to take a boat back to Gusu City, and sighed softly.

 

He knew that Ah Nu was a good woman. He had always felt a certain fondness for Ah Nu and hoped she would have a good life ahead of her.

 

He knew he shouldn’t hold her back.

 

The paths of mortals and immortals diverged!

 

Those words weren’t just spoken lightly; they were a very harsh reality.

 

The mortal world was filled with countless legends and scriptures detailing the deeds of immortals.

 

Everyone praised immortals, and there was a reason for that.

 

Aside from possessing boundless spiritual power, immortals maintained youthful appearances and enjoyed exceptionally long lifespans—these tales were widely circulated.

 

Speaking solely of lifespan, mortals typically lived only a century, inevitably succumbing to age, illness, and the gradual decline of their beauty. To reach the end of life without disease or calamity was a blessing. But with cultivation, an immortal’s lifespan extended to hundreds or even thousands of years.

 

This was a natural gulf between immortals and mortals.

 

He had already condensed his spirit, stepping onto the threshold of the immortal path, and was no longer a mortal of the mortal world.

 

Being an immortal meant pursuing an immortal’s path.

 

Mortals had a mortal’s fate.

 

The most enviable couples in the mortal world were those who grew old together. But if they couldn’t, with one remaining eternally youthful while the other aged and declined, how cruel would that be for the couple?

 

As the years passed, how would they continue to coexist?

 

Even if Su Chen didn’t mind and always treated her as he did in the beginning, the relentless march of time was a source of immense suffering and torment for Ah Nu. The longer they remained together, the deeper that torment became.

 

Forcibly prolonging things would only ruin her life.

 

Yet, Su Chen’s heart held a flicker of hesitation.

 

Throughout history, beauty was fleeting, fraught with peril; this was a predetermined fate. Even the Emperor of Great Tang, showering favor upon a favored concubine, how many peerless beauties ultimately met a peaceful end?

 

The fate of Ah Nu’s life was one of fleeting beauty.

 

This life, in this mortal world, likely wouldn’t be easy. Even with the arrangements and protections he left behind, guarded by martial artists, how could they compare to a Great Tang Emperor?

 

If she had had no one to shield her throughout her life, how much more suffering would her fragile beauty have endured?

 

Unless he could alter her fate.

 

Mortals couldn’t change fate.

 

Only immortals could change their own destiny.

 

He was going to seek Immortal City Zhaoge to find the path of immortal cultivation. Perhaps there was a sliver of hope to help Ah Nu discover her path to immortality.

 

Su Chen hesitated but ultimately couldn’t bear to look back, his voice soft: “Ah Nu, would you be willing to accompany me in the search for that elusive immortality, to defy fate?”

 

Ah Nu’s heart trembled upon hearing his words.

 

In an instant, two lines of tears fell from her eyes.

 

The trajectory of her life, filled with hardship, would ultimately be altered. Even the slightest deviation would change her entire destiny.

 

Ah Nu bowed deeply, saying, “I wish to follow Young Master, to seek immortality and change fate.

 

“Fate is destiny!

 

“My fate is my own, not dictated by the heavens.”

 

“I can guide you on this path, but only you can truly change your fate. Only when you become an immortal can you change this mortal world’s destiny.

 

“If three to five years pass and I can’t find you on the immortal cultivation path or alter that fate… I’m afraid I’d have to send you back to Gusu. This immortal cultivation path isn’t necessarily easier than the mortal world.”

 

Su Chen gazed at the vast expanse of the Vastest Lake and the limitless sky and sighed softly.

 

He didn’t know how one became immortal.

 

Though he held a scroll of Wanderer’s Journey’s Mayfly Chapter, it was a product of accidental discovery that barely allowed him to enter the path of immortal cultivation, only slightly stronger than those in the mortal world. He had no way to teach her how to cultivate.

 

If there was a chance to find the legendary Immortal City Zhaoge, perhaps he could find the way to let Ah Nu embark on the path of immortal cultivation as well.

 

But that chance was small.

 

Even though Daoist Han Shan was originally from Immortal City Zhaoge and spent decades cultivating Wanderer’s Journey in the Wu Region, he never saw him cultivating into immortality. It was clear that it wasn’t easy.

 

If, within three to five years, Ah Nu didn’t become immortal, he would be powerless to change it. He could only send Ah Nu back to Gusu so as not to mislead her for life.

 

“Thank you, Young Master. This is joyous news. Even if there’s a sliver of a chance to alter fate, it’s a blessing for my entire life. I wish to follow and serve Young Master faithfully, searching for that immortal cultivation!”

 

Ah Nu pursed her red lips, wiped away her tears, and smiled.

 

“Let us begin our journey!”

 

Su Chen strode toward the lake.

 

The bustling mortal world stole one’s fleeting years. Whether human or spirit, if one didn’t become a true immortal, they were ultimately nothing more than a brief shadow in a lotus pond.