“Immortal Master, this way, please!”
The man clad in crimson official robes, who appeared rather slender and was about forty years old, led the way for the eighteen-year-old swordsman.
Su Hongzhen knew that the person before him was the County Magistrate of Huangquan City, the highest administrative authority in the city.
In the past, the military power of Huangquan City had also been in the hands of this County Magistrate.
But as tensions between Liaolong and Great Yu grew increasingly dire, the capital had ordered Tian Hong to lead seven thousand elite troops into Huangquan City, granting him the rank of Garrison Commander.
Now, the military power of Huangquan City was entirely under Tian Hong’s command.
“I know the way.”
Looking ahead at the roads that grew more familiar deep within his memory, Su Hongzhen, stepping on the worn bluestone bricks, spoke.
“Immortal Master, this way!”
Su Hongzhen said nothing more and could only follow helplessly behind the County Magistrate of Huangquan City, heading toward his uncle’s home.
After his uncle’s business failed and his partner absconded with their money, he had sold the large mansion in the west of the city and moved back to the Sun family’s ancestral home.
When Su Hongzhen followed the County Magistrate into the alley, he finally saw two familiar figures before the familiar house.
His aunt and uncle both stood at the door, eagerly looking forward to his arrival.
The distance grew shorter and shorter.
“Congratulations, Immortal Master Su, on your glorious return home!”
The County Magistrate stopped before Su Hongzhen’s uncle and aunt, smiling and offering his congratulations with a cupped fist salute.
“Greetings, Lord Magistrate!”
The plainly dressed middle-aged man, upon seeing the Magistrate approach, nervously returned the salute.
“No need for formalities, no need for formalities!”
The County Magistrate stepped forward quickly, immediately helping Su Hongzhen’s uncle to rise, and then said solemnly:
“I have also heard about what befell your household nine years ago... What a pity that I was serving in Youqu County at the time. If I had been in Huangquan City back then, I would have surely sought justice for your family!”
The County Magistrate in crimson robes appeared deeply distressed.
“Lord Magistrate...”
The plainly dressed middle-aged man remained nervous and uneasy.
“I will do my utmost to help you recover your lost wealth. And in the future, if there’s anything I can help with, just let me know!”
The Magistrate’s attitude was extremely enthusiastic.
“Thank you, Lord Magistrate!”
Su Hongzhen’s uncle quickly responded.
“Think nothing of it—it’s simply my duty!”
The County Magistrate waved his hand repeatedly. He first turned to nod in Su Hongzhen’s direction, then faced the couple before him and said with a cupped fist salute:
“Well then, I won’t disturb you all any further. Farewell!”
Su Hongzhen’s uncle tried several times to see the Magistrate off, but each time the Magistrate firmly refused.
In ordinary times, even encountering a mere constable from the yamen, commoners like them had to behave with the utmost deference.
When had they ever seen a high official like a County Magistrate personally come knocking on their door?
And all of this was because...
The middle-aged man turned his gaze to the young man standing before him, dressed in cyan daoist robes.
Then, his eyes fell on the pure white sword hilt protruding from the ancient scabbard at the young man’s waist.
It was a weapon on an entirely different level from Old Zhang’s broken blade.
Then, the middle-aged man raised his head, and his eyes met the gaze of the blue-robed swordsman.
His lips moved twice, but in the end, he couldn’t utter a single word.
This middle-aged man didn’t know how to start.
Then, Su Hongzhen shifted his gaze from his uncle to his aunt.
Su Hongzhen looked at this woman, now over thirty years old after their nine-year separation, and noticed the many new wrinkles on her face.
From the moment Su Hongzhen had appeared in the alley, this woman’s gaze had never left the blue-robed swordsman’s face.
Her eyes were filled with a jumble of complex emotions.
Shock, disbelief, nostalgia...
“Hongzhen...”
But when she finally spoke timidly, Su Hongzhen suddenly realized that what he saw in his aunt’s eyes wasn’t nostalgia—it was more distance and fear.
...
Night.
Su Hongzhen sat alone in the small courtyard of the Sun family’s ancestral home.
In the night sky hung a bright and cold full moon—
And a colossal ship that blotted out the sky.
This eighteen-year-old swordsman, standing at the boundary between youth and manhood, thought of many things.
Nine years ago, when he had run away from home, he had been just a child barely half his current height.
Now, upon his return, he was the champion of Heavenly Summit Mountain, a Martial Spring Realm swordsman.
In his aunt and uncle’s eyes, the person standing before them now was completely different from the runaway child of nine years ago.
No matter what, they could never see this lofty Immortal Master Su, before whom even the County Magistrate had to humbly smile, as the pitiful orphan who had lost both parents at the age of three.
A rift had formed between him and the aunt and uncle who had raised him from three to nine years old.
And he understood clearly that this rift was one that could never be bridged.
This sense of distance made Su Hongzhen feel deeply reflective.
Immortals and mortals are different—remember not to harbor too many unrealistic expectations.
Chen Yan’s words echoed in Su Hongzhen’s mind.
Brother was right.
Su Hongzhen thought to himself.
“How does it feel to come home?”
From behind the blue-robed swordsman, a girl’s voice suddenly came.
But Su Hongzhen wasn’t surprised at all.
“Just came back to take a look. Some things turned out about how I expected, and some things were different.”
Su Hongzhen didn’t turn around, speaking calmly to the girl behind him.
“If it hadn’t been such a grand procession, and you had come back alone, maybe you could have savored a little more of that familial warmth.”
The girl in deep green robes, cool and clear as the morning mist of early autumn, slowly walked to stand before Su Hongzhen and said indifferently.
“What would be the point of that?”
Su Hongzhen shook his head with a smile. There was no lingering attachment to family in the young swordsman’s eyes:
“At least this way, I can understand more truths a little sooner.”
“You really are detached when it comes to matters of the heart.”
Zhou Jinyun spoke with a half-smile, and her tone carried a hint of mockery.
“I’ve always wanted to know what the purpose of cultivation truly is.”
Su Hongzhen said slowly.
“Haven’t you already found your answer long ago? To follow your heart, to do what you believe is right.”
Zhou Jinyun said.
“That’s just a thought I had for the moment. People change. I think I’ll probably spend my entire life searching for the meaning of cultivation.”
He paused briefly, then continued:
“Or rather, the meaning of living.”