Chapter 4: Leaving the Village
“Big brother, next time you come back to the village, be sure to bring Xiao Yan a few more skewers of candied hawthorn, remember that!”
At the entrance of Canyuan Village, Wang Chu, carrying a bag, stood facing a little girl with braided hair and a woman with her head bowed, her hair covered by coarse cloth.
“Hehe, I remember. Next time I come back, I’ll definitely bring more skewers of candied hawthorn,” Wang Chu replied cheerfully to the little girl’s request.
The little girl nodded happily:
“Mm, Xiao Yan will come to the village entrance to meet you.”
Wang Chu affectionately ruffled Xiao Yan’s hair:
“All right, then I’m off.”
With that, Wang Chu turned around.
At that moment, a timid voice came from behind:
“Be... be careful on the road.”
Wang Chu turned his head and looked at the bowed woman, smiling slightly:
“Mm, Xiao Yan will be in your care.”
The young girl nervously brushed her hair back:
“Don’t worry, Brother Wang, I’ll take good care of Xiao Yan.”
Wang Chu nodded slightly, then turned back and reminded her:
“Keep an eye on Niu Er. He always likes to slaughter pigs without restraint.”
The woman nodded gently:
“All right.”
Wang Chu walked along the narrow path toward the mountains.
Soon, his figure disappeared among the peaks, leaving behind a long trail of shallow footprints.
The woman stared at the footprints, then lifted her head, revealing a pale and delicate face.
She was smiling; the curve of her lips was somewhat eerie, her eyes flickering between excitement and despair:
“Great... great, after half a month, I finally spoke to him again.”
...
Although Canyuan Village was under the jurisdiction of Ling City, it was still quite far from the city.
For an ordinary person relying solely on foot power, it would take two or three days to reach.
Fortunately, Wang Chu was no ordinary man. If he wished, he could arrive there in an instant.
However, Wang Chu did not choose to do so.
He first wandered through the vast snowy world for about two hours, admiring the beauty of the snowy mountains.
Only then did he use his powers to teleport to a remote corner outside Ling City and blend into the crowd, entering the city with them.
As he reached the city gate, Wang Chu stopped. He sensed a powerful being probing him with spiritual perception.
Looking up at the source, Wang Chu smiled mysteriously, then continued forward, passing through the gate.
...
Songwu Commandery lay at the northernmost edge of Dary.
Ling City was the northernmost city in Songwu Commandery, and beyond it lay the territory of the demon clan.
The Xianxuan Continent was mainly inhabited by three races: humans, demons, and spirits.
The continent was divided into three regions: humans in the center, demons in the north, and spirits in the west.
The human territory in the center was divided into nine provinces, once home to over a hundred nations of various sizes.
But now, only Dary remained.
The imperial capital of Dary, Qianyuan, was said to be over a hundred thousand li away from Ling City.
Jiang Cheng, the Emperor, had never set foot in this land before. Today marked his first visit to the northernmost city of Dary.
For an extraordinary cultivator who had survived nine heavenly tribulations and reached the Great Perfection realm, traveling from Qianyuan to Ling City was but a blink of an eye.
With a mere thought, Jiang Cheng could arrive here.
At this moment, he stood atop the city gate of Ling City, gazing out at the snowy mountains beyond.
Occasionally, he lowered his eyes to scan the crowd along the city gate path.
The middle-aged man who had brought him intelligence stood silently behind him.
After an uncertain period, the Immortal Emperor spoke:
“Have we found anything?”
The middle-aged man shook his head:
“She’s too cunning. Not only did she expand the spatial range, but also scrambled the time sequence. The time we received the information doesn’t match the testing time here at all.”
Jiang Cheng smiled faintly:
“No matter. Now that we know he’s here, we’ll find him sooner or later. There are many methods we can use to search.”
The middle-aged man worried aloud:
“I’m afraid he might leave Ling City’s boundaries.”
Jiang Cheng said calmly:
“Station people at the borders, forbid anyone who entered Ling City from leaving. We finally tracked this brat’s whereabouts; I won’t let him slip away again!”
...
Within Ling City, Wang Chu ran a modest shop specializing in funerary and celebratory affairs.
Usually, he stayed in Ling City for over half a month, then returned to Canyuan Village at the end of the month to rest for a few days.
He operated the shop primarily for cultivation purposes—a trial of heart and mind concerning life and death.
Passing through the gate, he walked about five or six hundred meters down the main road, then turned left.
After a hundred meters, he turned right into a small alley.
The third shop from the left bore a sign with the words “Red and White”—this was Wang Chu’s shop.
The shop was small, only about fifty square meters.
Business wasn’t particularly bustling; most of the time, Wang Chu idled inside.
But he didn’t mind—the real purpose wasn’t the business itself.
He took out a key, unlocked the door, and gently pushed it open.
Inside, a horizontal counter came into view.
On the counter lay offerings for Qingming Festival, along with candles, lamps, and joss paper.
In front of the counter stood an old coffin, its paint peeling in some areas.
On another vertical counter were red cloths, garments, and embroidered shoes.
On the wall hung an erhu and a suona horn.
The whole arrangement of red and white, opposing yet intertwined, created an eerie atmosphere.
Wang Chu glanced over it briefly, then grabbed a broom and stepped outside to sweep the snow in front of the door.
A few passersby walked nearby but paid no attention.
“Scrape! Scrape! Scrape!”
The broom brushed against the ground and snow, producing a surprisingly pleasant sound.
While sweeping with his head bowed, Wang Chu suddenly noticed a pair of white cotton shoes in his peripheral vision.
He stopped sweeping and looked up, seeing a woman of exquisite beauty.
Her figure was delicate and graceful, yet her aura was ethereal and otherworldly.
With a smile, she spoke warmly:
“Brother Wang, long time no see!”
Wang Chu frowned slightly as he searched his memory, then recalled who she was:
“Isn’t this Liu’er? Heh, when did you come back?”
The woman before him was Liu Cui’er, daughter of the owner of a noodle shop next to his store.
Since Wang Chu opened his shop here, Liu’er occasionally came to buy joss paper from him, and he would sometimes eat noodles at her family’s shop.
Through these exchanges, they became acquainted.
Until half a year ago, when the young woman joined an immortal sect near Ling City, and they lost contact.
“Hehe, I just came back yesterday,” Liu Cui’er responded with a smile.
Wang Chu nodded and looked her over:
“No wonder you’ve become a disciple of an immortal sect—the aura you carry is completely different from before.”
Liu Cui’er laughed happily, brushing her hair back teasingly:
“Oh? Now you want to flatter me?”
Wang Chu nodded repeatedly, sighing:
“Sigh, if I had known you’d come this far, I really should have buttered you up back then. I regret it now. Tell me, is it too late to make up for it?”
Liu Cui’er rolled her eyes at him:
“Of course it’s too late. Regretting now won’t help.”
Wang Chu played along, lamenting:
“Really? Can’t you give me a chance?”
...