Chapter 1421: You Are You, Are You Not?

Two or three hundred years was a very, very short time.

For a cultivator like Zhao Yuqing, it was like less than a decade to an ordinary person—it passed in the snap of a finger.

Chen Changsheng took a sip of wine and said, "If you die, this world will become rather dull."

"The world in your eyes, you mean."

"Mm..."

Zhao Yuqing sighed softly and murmured, "That day will come eventually regardless. And one day, it will come for you too."

Chen Changsheng fell silent, his thoughts drifting far away.

He knew that day would surely come. But when it finally arrived, he had no idea what state of mind he would face it with.

Helpless? Lost? Or perhaps joyful?

But who could say what the future held?

The wine flowed down his throat, accompanied by the bright moon and clear breeze, yet it did nothing to wash away his melancholy.

...

The beauty of the Mortal World was endlessly captivating, impossible to take in all at once.

He Qing experienced the turning of the four seasons in Qingshan City. She saw the Peach Orchard flourish, the garden overflowing with peach blossoms in a breathtaking display of beauty.

She truly liked this place. There were few quarrels and little chaos here; it possessed a tranquility she had never encountered before.

Xuanji said, "In your previous life, you tended to the Peach Orchard here. This place was all yours."

"Was it?"

He Qing looked at her surroundings with a sense of both unfamiliarity and deep recognition. She felt that what Xuanji said was likely true.

But as she kept looking, a dull ache throbbed in her head.

"Hiss..."

Fragmented images seemed to flash before her eyes, but they were hopelessly blurry. She couldn't make out any details, let alone recall what they meant.

This left He Qing in a momentary daze.

She simply couldn't understand what those images meant.

She shook her head. "I still want to travel to other places. The Mortal World is so vast; there are bound to be many interesting sights."

Xuanji listened and said, "Is it not good here?"

"But I am truly a stranger to this place."

"I see..."

Xuanji seemed to understand He Qing's state of mind. She had been the one confusing past and present lives, treating He Qing as if she were still Aqing. But after reincarnation, a person was perhaps no longer the same individual.

She could somewhat understand.

"Shall I go with you?"

"No need."

He Qing shook her head. "Wandering alone is nice in its own way, isn't it?"

Xuanji thought about it and found her words quite reasonable. Sometimes, walking a path all alone offered a completely different feeling.

It would just be a little lonely, that was all.

But the sheer peace found in those solitary moments was truly unforgettable.

He Qing had stayed in Qingshan City for over two years. Bearing a hint of reluctance to part, she left the city and headed north.

She had often heard the storyteller in the tea house speak of the prosperity of Shangjing. She wanted to see it for herself, to witness exactly what the most flourishing place in the Mortal World looked like.

Would it be livelier than Qingshan City's Temple Fair?

It was all so intriguing.

...

She purchased a horse and rode north, taking on the guise of a valiant swordswoman.

Relying on her skills, she easily handled whatever troubles she encountered along the road. However, she disliked taking lives and rarely resorted to lethal force. At most, she would hand over those blind fools who provoked her to the Local Government.

It was during this journey that people gradually began to bestow a title upon her.

"The No-Kill Heroine? What sort of title is that?"

He Qing couldn't quite fathom why the people of the jianghu had given her such a moniker.

She didn't pay it much mind. She wasn't all that interested in the affairs of the jianghu anyway.

Her destination was Shangjing City.

Yet, she frequently found herself captivated by the scenery along the way. She lingered at countless sights and witnessed endless vistas, her journey turning into a cycle of starting and stopping.

"Clop, clop..."

As her horse trotted along the official road, He Qing cast her gaze forward and spotted a building in the distance.

She initially assumed it was a waystation or a small shop where she could stop for a cup of tea. But upon drawing closer, she found the place completely dilapidated and long abandoned.

"Sigh..."

He Qing sighed softly. Yet, as she stared at the ruined Wine Tavern, she couldn't help but find it somewhat familiar.

It felt as if she had seen it before.

Suddenly, it dawned on her.

"This looks quite similar to the Wine Tavern run by Senior Chen."

He Qing didn't dwell on it. With a passing glance, she continued on her way.

After she left, the Wine Tavern, having rotted away for many years, finally collapsed completely, reducing to a pile of rubble where its original shape could no longer be recognized.

Starting and stopping, she experienced much along the way.

One day, He Qing looked up and spotted a temple nestled within a mountain ravine.

"A Buddhist temple?"

Come to think of it, He Qing was actually quite curious about what monks were like.

Monks were a rare sight in the Cultivation World. The Mysterious Gate did not look favorably upon those bald donkeys, so they were practically nowhere to be found.

Driven by curiosity, He Qing decided to head up the mountain and take a look.

There were quite a few monks in the temple. Some were practicing martial arts, while others sat in meditation. The scent of incense permeated the air, creating an atmosphere that left one feeling refreshed and deeply tranquil.

Just as He Qing was looking around in curiosity, a voice rang out.

"Almsgiver, you have returned."

He Qing turned to look. Standing behind her was an old monk with white eyebrows and a white beard. He was draped in a cassock, his attire noticeably different from the other monks in the temple.

He Qing cupped her hands in a respectful greeting. "Greetings, Elder. But if I may ask, why did you say I have 'returned'?"

The abbot smiled. "This old monk is the abbot of this place. Have you forgotten, Young Lady? You visited our temple roughly a hundred years ago."

"A hundred years ago?"

He Qing was taken aback. "I wasn't even born a hundred years ago. I'm afraid you must have mistaken me for someone else, Abbot."

The abbot shook his head with a gentle smile. "There is no mistake. It is you. It could be no one else."

He Qing frowned slightly, feeling that this monk was acting a bit eccentric.

The abbot said, "Almsgiver, why not step into the hall? We have green tea from the mountain ravine to quench your thirst."

After a moment of thought, He Qing followed the abbot into the hall.

Once the clear tea was served, the abbot asked, "I wonder, Almsgiver, after leaving all those years ago, did you manage to seek out the method of immortality?"

"The method of immortality?"

He Qing felt increasingly confused. "Abbot, I think you really have the wrong person—"

Her words suddenly caught in her throat.

It was as if she had just remembered something.

He Qing slowly regained her composure and murmured, "Looking at it this way... perhaps we really have met."

"Indeed."

The abbot pressed his palms together and chanted, "Amitabha."

He Qing took a sip of her tea. "What did I say... back then?"

"You spoke of shackles," the abbot replied. "And later, you asked about the method of immortality."

"And what else?"

"Other than that, just some interesting anecdotes."

"Hm?"

The abbot offered a warm smile but did not elaborate.

Truth be told, the words this Young Lady had spoken back then had left him pondering for quite some time—he had even nearly developed an inner demon because of them.

Seeing that he was unwilling to explain, He Qing didn't press the matter.

She thought for a moment before asking, "What did I look like back then?"

The abbot replied, "Almsgiver, the myriad living beings take on countless forms, and a thousand people have a thousand faces. Why concern yourself with your past appearance? You are you, are you not?"