VHSTS CH26

The instant the Cold Jade Heavenly Ark was placed onto the River of Flames, it radiated an icy, pale aura of freezing chill.

The River of Flames stalled for a few breaths before surging onward even more violently than before. Pale blue light flickered across the Heaven-grade treasure boat as it clashed head-on with the golden flames. Locked in an even stalemate, the fire surrounding the little boat gradually began freezing into ice, while the hull of the boat slowly took on a faint crimson glow.

Mo Qiu snapped sharply, “This Demon Venerable’s heart’s essence blood is truly formidable—this boat won’t hold out for long.”

Luo Jianqing nodded in understanding. “Get aboard!”

Pushing off the ground with their toes, the two moved like bolts of lightning. Mo Qiu leaped lightly onto the boat with ease, whereas on Luo Jianqing’s side, the moment he came within ten zhang of the River of Flames, one flame beast after another lunged ferociously at him. Long prepared, Luo Jianqing raised the Shuangfu Sword and cut them down one by one!

With his Nascent Soul cultivation—and during this single ke right after the astral gales when the River of Flames was at its weakest—Luo Jianqing mowed down the flame beasts like grass until, reaching the three-zhang mark, he encountered that golden fire dragon once again.

The moment the fire dragon laid eyes on Luo Jianqing, it roared with laughter: “You again, you detestable sword cultivator! Come on—this time Benjun will definitely—” Argh!

Calmly sweeping his sword forward, Luo Jianqing unleashed the Blue-Green Lotus Nine-Sword Grand Array, slicing the fire dragon—whose strength had dropped weakly to the sixth grade—cleanly in half.

“Th-this is impossible…”

Paying no heed to the arrogant fire dragon, Luo Jianqing stepped another zhang forward. A lazy golden qilin beast shot him an annoyed glare and spoke in human tongue: “Benjun has no time to waste on a lowly human like you—get lost.”

Pressed for time, Luo Jianqing ignored the contempt and rudeness in its tone and kept advancing. Just as he was about to step onto the Cold Jade Heavenly Ark, a shadowy golden silhouette coalesced before him—a tall, imposing, short-haired muscular man gripping a massive battle-axe, glaring viciously at him.

Luo Jianqing’s eyes contracted.

A high-ranking Demon Venerable!

Seeing the humanoid demon beast raise its giant axe to cleave down at him, Luo Jianqing formed a hand seal without a second’s hesitation, preparing to unleash his trump card. Right at that instant, however, a flash of red light glinted from the cinnabar dot between Luo Jianqing’s brows; the beast hesitated for a fraction of a second before its form dissolved back into roaring flames.

Everything unfolded far too quickly for Luo Jianqing to grasp what had just transpired. Nor did he have time to dwell on it—Mo Qiu was shouting “Hurry! We’re running out of time!” non-stop. Leaping swiftly aboard the vessel, Luo Jianqing watched as the Cold Jade Heavenly Ark sped rapidly toward the exit of the River of Flames.

There were only two apparent exits in this canyon: one where the River of Flames flowed in, and one where it flowed out.

According to Mo Qiu, since this River of Flames was formed from that Heaven-grade Demon Venerable’s heart’s essence blood, whatever lay upstream was bound to be unimaginably terrifying. Thus, both agreed to head downstream. Yet since the semi-annual astral gales mostly blew in through the downstream cavern, choosing this route was still a gamble—neither knew what awaited beyond the cave.

Shooting across the River of Flames at blinding speed, the Cold Jade Heavenly Ark plunged into darkness as it entered a cavern.

The cavern was extraordinarily long, shrouded in total pitch-blackness. Pressing steadily forward, the treasure boat sailed for a full day and night without emerging from the dark tunnel.

Furrowing his brows, Luo Jianqing asked, “Mo Qiu, do you know what’s going on here?”

Mo Qiu let out an exasperated yawn. “Luo Jianqing, do you seriously think I know everything?”

As they continued onward, the surrounding temperature dropped steadily, gradually approaching normal human body temperature. Only then did Luo Jianqing realize how accustomed they had grown to the scorching heat of the fiery valley; in truth, the temperature back there would have roasted a Qi Refining disciple alive, whereas what they felt now was merely ordinary air.

The little boat pressed onward, yet the temperature continued plummeting.

Once it dropped below freezing, chunks of floating ice began appearing across the river beneath the hull. Without hesitation, Luo Jianqing carved a path open with sword qi while Mo Qiu steered the ark in seamless coordination—until the river froze solid into thick ice. Turning to look at each other, the two nodded in unison; Mo Qiu put away the Cold Jade Heavenly Ark, and they proceeded together on foot.

In an unfamiliar, pitch-dark environment like this, flying was the worst possible choice. Golden Core and Nascent Soul cultivators could indeed soar through the air, yet doing so turned them into live targets—the faster one flew, the harder it became to sense hidden dangers nearby.

Having been hunted for years in his past life, Luo Jianqing knew this lesson well; to his surprise, Mo Qiu proved equally seasoned and cautious.

As if reading Luo Jianqing’s mind, Mo Qiu let out a mocking snort: “The number of people who want me dead is higher than the number of people you’ve ever met.”

Walking shoulder to shoulder, both kept their natal magic treasures drawn at the ready.

Seemingly free of danger aside from the frozen water, Luo Jianqing and Mo Qiu gradually relaxed their guard slightly. After walking another ten li, Mo Qiu remarked teasingly, “This cavern sure runs deep—we still haven’t reached the end. Wonder how long it actually is.”

Luo Jianqing smiled lightly. “Long is fine, so long as there’s no danger.”

Barely had his words fallen when Luo Jianqing felt a faint wisp of wind brush past his ear. Halting abruptly in his tracks, he asked, “Mo Qiu, did you feel a breeze?”

Mo Qiu froze as well, scanning their surroundings warily before answering, “No.”

The tension they had just set aside snapped right back into place. After Luo Jianqing walked another hundred meters, suddenly—a gentle breeze brushed past his cheek, stirring loose strands of black hair. Widening his eyes in alarm, Luo Jianqing cried out, “There is wind!”

As his words landed, a streak of cyan sword light shot straight toward the direction from which the breeze had blown.

Razor-sharp, the sword gleam pierced into the endless darkness before vanishing without a sound, as though swallowed whole.

Unseen perils lurking in the dark were always far more terrifying than threats in plain sight. Undaunted, Luo Jianqing and Mo Qiu quickened their pace and pressed forward. The further they walked, the stronger the wind grew—escalating from a gentle breeze to a stiff gale, and from a gale into a howling tempest!

When the overwhelming astral gales came roaring down upon them, Luo Jianqing raised his sword to defend while Mo Qiu lashed out with his long whip.

At first, the astral gales remained within what the two could withstand; yet the deeper they walked, the more ferocious the winds became. By the time they had covered ten li, a violent gust pierced straight through Luo Jianqing’s shoulder, forcing a muffled groan from his lips as blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.

Mo Qiu shouted urgently, “Watch out!”

Luo Jianqing immediately pulled a Mysterious-grade defensive treasure from his storage ring and held it before him. The artifact crumbled into dust the moment it met the astral gale, yet it bought them a sliver of relief.

Mo Qiu yelled, “Pick up the pace—let’s break out of here!”

Luo Jianqing nodded immediately.

Holding nothing back, the two brought out their finest remaining magic treasures to fend off the terrifying astral gales as they dashed forward together. One li, two li, three li… By the time a faint glimmer of daylight finally came into view ahead, Luo Jianqing already bore four or five bleeding gashes across his body, and Mo Qiu was in no better shape.

The astral gales had grown savage enough to rival a full-force strike from a Soul Formation cultivator. Nearly every magic treasure in Luo Jianqing’s storage ring had been shattered, and even Mo Qiu had run out of artifacts to spare. Enduring the brutal winds head-on, the two hurtled straight toward the cavern exit.

One thousand meters, one hundred meters, ten meters…

Three meters!

Right at that critical moment, a piercing, lethal gust of astral wind came screaming after them from behind. Luo Jianqing surged forward with a burst of speed, trying to clear the cave mouth—yet the howling wind caught the hem of his robes, its ferocious force tearing a bloody chunk of flesh straight off Luo Jianqing’s back and forcing a mouthful of fresh blood from his lips.

BANG!

“Cough, cough…“

Luo Jianqing was kicked violently out through the cavern entrance.

The searing agony across his back and the near-total depletion of his spiritual power left Luo Jianqing unable to stay aloft, plunging him straight into the vast waters of a wide river—yet he immediately whipped his head back toward the cliff and shouted at the top of his lungs: “Mo Qiu! Mo Qiu!”

From within the pitch-black cavern mouth came a muffled, hoarse reply: “Quit worrying—these astral gales aren’t enough to finish me off. I have a Heaven-grade magic treasure that can teleport one person straight back… back home. Luo Jianqing, my home is far away—it may take a very long time before we see each other again.”

Wracked with unbearable pain all over, Luo Jianqing still shouted loudly, “Mo Qiu, don’t lie to me! After kicking me out of that cave just now, aren’t you already on the verge of—”

“Bullshit! I really can leave—why won’t you believe me?! Forget it, why am I wasting breath arguing with you? I’m out of here!”

As his words fell, a brilliant flash of crimson light flared inside the dark cavern mouth. A profound, mysterious aura spread outward, carrying the unmistakable, terrifying pressure of a Heaven-grade artifact; as the red glow gradually faded, Luo Jianqing clearly sensed… that Mo Qiu really had departed.

Luo Jianqing: “…”

First his mouth twitched speechlessly, before he slowly threw his head back and burst into open laughter.

Laughing freely for a long while until sheer exhaustion overtook him, Luo Jianqing finally lost consciousness, letting himself float supine upon the seemingly boundless river as the currents carried him downstream. Between his brows, the vivid crimson cinnabar dot sat nestled at the center of a four-petaled cyan lotus; whenever an oblivious Earth-grade demonic beast swam too close, the cinnabar mark flickered faintly, driving the beast away in fear.

The wound on his back slowly stopped bleeding, yet Luo Jianqing remained deeply unconscious.

He had no idea how long he drifted down that vast river, nor did he know that the current carried him all the way from the ninth layer of Flowing Flame Valley down to the first—eventually sweeping him over a massive, roaring waterfall and straight through a pale crimson barrier into the outside world.

The surrounding scenery gradually transformed. Clad in cyan robes with his eyes tightly shut and his face deathly pale, the handsome cultivator drifted quietly atop the gently flowing river—passing from uninhabited deep mountain forests into inhabited countryside—until an elderly woman washing clothes by the riverbank suddenly spotted the young man floating in the middle of the river and collapsed backward in terror: “A d-dead body! There’s a dead body!!!”

——

When Luo Jianqing opened his eyes again, the first thing he saw was a simple, rough thatched roof.

A faint aroma of steamed rice filled the small room. Luo Jianqing tested moving his fingers, then his arms; as he slowly propped himself up and stepped down from the bed, an elderly woman with grizzled hair walked over with a stooped back.

The moment she saw Luo Jianqing awake, the bowl and spoon in her hands clattered to the floor. After a long pause, the old woman asked cautiously, “Y-you’re awake?”

Only then did Luo Jianqing learn what had transpired.

This hamlet was called Gu Family Village, nestled beside a tributary of the Luo River. The village consisted of barely forty-six households, all making their living off the Luo River at the edge of town. That day, Grandma Gu had gone down to the river to wash laundry when she suddenly spotted Luo Jianqing drifting in the middle of the current.

Naturally, Grandma Gu had assumed Luo Jianqing was dead—only for the villagers to haul him ashore and discover he was still breathing! Kindhearted Grandma Gu took Luo Jianqing home and tended to him for forty full days.

Ladling porridge into a bowl for Luo Jianqing, the deeply wrinkled old woman explained, “My old man went out to the paddies early this morning to transplant rice seedlings and won’t be back until evening. A-Qing, if you don’t mind our humble home, why don’t you stay here a while longer and rest properly?”

Unable to refuse her warm hospitality, Luo Jianqing accepted the bowl of porridge and replied softly, “Thank you.”

Grandma Gu waved her hands immediately. “What’s there to thank me for? A handsome young lad like you must have run into terrible trouble to have such a huge chunk of flesh gouged from your back. Even though I’m just an ignorant country woman, I can tell you’re no ordinary person—surviving floating down the middle of the river like that! By the way, A-Qing, how old are you this year?”

Thinking briefly, Luo Jianqing ultimately told her his true age: “I am forty this year.”

Grandma Gu’s eyes widened in disbelief. “You look twenty at the very most—how could you possibly be forty?!”

Luo Jianqing smiled faintly without answering.

“Forty, huh… Actually, if my eldest son were still alive, he’d be forty this year too.” Picking up some vegetables for Luo Jianqing with her chopsticks, Grandma Gu added, “Still, A-Qing, you must be an immortal too, right? People say immortals live forever and stay young and handsome just like you.”

Luo Jianqing’s chopsticks paused mid-air. Lifting his head to look at the kindly old woman, he asked, “I hardly count as an immortal, yet Grandma… have you ever seen an immortal?”

Grandma Gu nodded repeatedly. “Yes, I have! Three years ago, an immortal suddenly descended into our courtyard in the middle of the night and gave my old man and me a stalk of medicinal herb. That immortal was breathtakingly good-looking—he told us my old man and I had reached the end of our natural lifespans, and that this herb would extend our lives.”

Feeling a subtle tremor stir in his heart, Luo Jianqing asked, “Why… would an immortal extend your lifespans?”

Grandma Gu answered, “That immortal said someone… his disciple, I think… would come someday to sever some sort of karmic tie with the two of us. I don’t really understand such things, but that immortal’s herb really worked wonders—my old man is seventy this year, yet he’s still hale and hearty enough to go out into the fields transplanting rice.”

Clatter—

The chopsticks in Luo Jianqing’s hand dropped abruptly onto the table.

Slowly turning his head, he gazed with deep, complicated eyes at the wrinkle-lined old woman sitting before him. His gaze traced over her gentle, smiling eyes and across the deep furrows etched into her weathered face before he pressed his lips tightly together, falling silent for a very long time.

This time, Luo Jianqing stayed.

Although his spiritual power had recovered to barely thirty percent and the wound on his back had not yet fully healed, Luo Jianqing could have left whenever he wished. Yet he chose to stay.

That evening, Grandpa Gu returned home. Grandma Gu cooked an entire table of hearty dishes, making the old man laugh helplessly: “A-Qing just woke up today—how could his stomach handle all this rich meat and fish? You should make something light and simple!”

Grandma Gu slapped her forehead. “Look at my memory—I completely forgot!”

Luo Jianqing looked silently at the table full of dishes, his heart churning with mixed emotions.

Eating happily, Grandma Gu said, “Old man, did you know? A-Qing here is already forty this year!”

Grandpa Gu widened his eyes, staring straight at Luo Jianqing: “F-forty?! Wouldn’t that make him the exact same age as our eldest son?!”

Grandma Gu nodded with a beaming smile.

Warm, dim lamplight flickered softly inside the cramped farmhouse as Luo Jianqing sat cross-legged on the bed, meditating. Having just broken through to the Nascent Soul realm, had he not been rushing to escape that canyon, he would have stabilized his cultivation long ago—yet tonight, he simply couldn’t calm his mind.

He heard Grandpa Gu’s snoring in the next room, and Grandma Gu’s steady breathing; he heard the croaking of frogs outside the small thatched cottage, and the endless rushing flow of the mighty Luo River nearby.

At last, Luo Jianqing rose to his feet, stepped out into the courtyard, and looked up at the sky.

It happened to be a full moon, its cool, watery light spilling gently across the earth.

Perplexity covered the refined, handsome face of the cyan-robed cultivator, his starry eyes brimming with confusion and uncertainty. Standing in the middle of Gu Family Village, he felt simultaneously as though he were standing in a bustling capital city and atop the perennially cold, desolate summit of Yuxiao Peak.

Silently closing his eyes, Luo Jianqing breathed in the rare tranquility of the night.

The next morning, when Grandma Gu woke up and suddenly spotted Luo Jianqing standing in the courtyard, she froze in surprise and exclaimed, “A-Qing, why are you up so early?! It’s chilly outside—hurry back inside! Wearing so little, how can your body stand the cold?”

Smiling, Luo Jianqing took the water buckets from Grandma Gu’s hands: “Let me help you cook breakfast.”

The young man’s radiant smile left Grandma Gu momentarily dazed before she nodded happily: “Alright!”

That morning, Luo Jianqing cooked breakfast alongside Grandma Gu. Later in the morning, when Grandpa Gu prepared to head out to the paddies, Luo Jianqing said, “Let me go with you.”

Grandpa Gu blinked in surprise before grinning warmly: “Good, good!”

Without using a single drop of spiritual power or casting a single spell, Luo Jianqing cradled the fragile rice seedlings in his bare hands, planting them one by one into the wet mud. Grandpa Gu laughed heartily, patiently guiding Luo Jianqing on where his spacing was off and where a seedling needed to be planted straighter.

By the end of the day, even Luo Jianqing’s fair, striking face was smudged with mud.

Days slipped by quietly just like that.

A stranger suddenly arriving in Gu Family Village was already a rare novelty—let alone a stranger so breathtakingly handsome! In no time at all, countless village girls lost their hearts to him; even the prettiest maiden in the village couldn’t help gifting Luo Jianqing a red flower before blushing furiously and running off.

Holding a water bucket in one hand, Luo Jianqing lowered his gaze to look at the crimson blossom resting in his palm.

The flower was so tender and vibrant—just like a young girl’s cheeks, brimming with youth and fleeting years.

Luo Jianqing turned down every matchmaker’s proposal and declined every villager eager to introduce him to a bride. He stayed in Grandma Gu’s home day after day—cooking, washing vegetables, working the fields, and sweeping the yard. As though truly becoming part of this household, he tended diligently to every chore; yet even dressed in coarse hemp clothes, he still carried the cool, unworldly grace and noble elegance of an immortal.

When winter arrived, heavy rainstorms suddenly lashed Gu Family Village, causing the Luo River to flood out of season.

That night, Luo Jianqing went out with Grandpa Gu to inspect the fields. Grandpa Gu slipped and fell off the earthen ridge; instinctively, Luo Jianqing lunged forward with his bare hands to catch him.

He missed.

Having forgotten he was a cultivator, he hadn’t used a trace of spiritual power—trying to catch the old man purely with a mortal’s reflexes, and failing.

Grandpa Gu took a severe fall and remained bedridden from that night onward. Grandma Gu stayed tirelessly by his bedside caring for him, and Luo Jianqing never left their side either. Neighbors brought over many gifts; the pretty girl who had once given him the red flower brought a thick cotton quilt for Grandma Gu’s household, pausing with her head lowered before leaving to murmur softly, “That day on the Luo River, I saw you floating there too. I was too frightened at the time to cry out.”

Lowering his eyes, Luo Jianqing offered no reply.

Ten days later, Grandpa Gu’s condition worsened gravely. Three years trapped in Flowing Flame Valley had emptied Luo Jianqing’s storage ring of all medicinal pills; he had initially intended to use his own spiritual power to extend Grandpa Gu’s life, yet that very evening as he prepared to do so, Grandma Gu murmured seemingly casually while wiping down Grandpa Gu’s body: “That immortal said his disciple would come sever our karmic ties with us. My old man isn’t going to last much longer—why hasn’t he come yet…”

Luo Jianqing fell utterly silent.

Three days later, Grandpa Gu reached the end of his road, already having lost his sight. He had originally been meant to pass away three years ago, holding on purely through the immortal’s herb until this final breath.

During a brief final burst of clarity before death, Grandpa Gu held Grandma Gu’s hand and spoke for a long time—reminiscing about how they first met, their early days as newlyweds, Grandma Gu’s sorrow during their many childless years, and the memory of abandoning that infant in the Luo River.

Standing quietly off to the side, Luo Jianqing listened without uttering a word.

Only when Grandpa Gu beckoned him closer did he sit down at the edge of the bed.

Grandpa Gu’s rough, calloused hand covered his, stroking it gently. His touch was tender and light, his smile filled with warmth and acceptance. Gazing intently at Luo Jianqing in silence for what felt like an eternity, Grandpa Gu finally spoke in a raspy voice: “A-Qing, over this past year, I’ve come to see you as my own son too. I’m about to leave now—at this final moment, could you call me ‘Dad’ just once?”

Luo Jianqing pressed his lips tightly together.

Unbothered, Grandpa Gu merely shook his head lightly: “I suppose that really is asking too much.”

With that, Grandpa Gu beckoned Grandma Gu closer and spoke softly: “I know he’s no demon—he is our son. A-Xi, on the day I proposed to you, I picked your favorite azalea blossoms and tucked them into your hair. The sunset clouds that day were gorgeous, yet I still remember you were even prettier than the sky.”

Grandma Gu smiled tenderly: “In our next life, I’ll wear that same azalea blossom while waiting for you—when you see it, you’ll know it’s me.”

Grandpa Gu nodded gently.

Leaning against each other, the elderly couple rested together on the bed. A look of peaceful relief spread across Grandpa Gu’s face as his eyes slowly began to close—when a hoarse voice suddenly sounded beside him: “Dad…”

A bright spark flashed through Grandpa Gu’s eyes before he finally closed them, a single tear rolling down his cheek.

Ten days after Grandpa Gu passed away, Grandma Gu’s health gradually began failing as well. Luo Jianqing cared diligently for the lonely old woman, listening to her stories about her youth with Grandpa Gu and her memories of her poor daughter who had passed away years ago.

Three months later, Grandma Gu lay bedridden, unable to rise. That day, holding Luo Jianqing’s hand, just like Grandpa Gu before her, she experienced a final surge of lucidity and began talking earnestly once more.

“When I was young, my standards were sky-high. Don’t judge me by how I look now, A-Qing—back in my youth, I was the prettiest girl across all the surrounding villages. One evening under the sunset, I saw that old man standing there foolishly clutching a huge bouquet of azaleas, grinning happily at me. Right then I thought, This big oaf is kind of charming, and so I married him.”

“For twelve years after we wed, I couldn’t bear a child. My old man never minded, though the villagers called me an iron rooster behind my back. In our twelfth year, I finally conceived. The moment he was born, he opened his eyes and smiled at us. His eyes were so pretty—curving just like crescent moons when he smiled—that the midwife joked I’d given birth to a baby girl.”

“Yet the instant he smiled, thunder began roaring in the sky. That lightning was blinding—I’ve never seen anything so terrifying in my whole life. It struck non-stop for three days and three nights right above Gu Family Village, as if it would never end. And then the Luo River at the edge of the village grew crystal clear—so clear I never knew there were so many fish and shrimp swimming at the bottom…”

“So we placed him inside a wooden tub and set him adrift on the Luo River.”

“Everywhere his wooden tub touched, the river grew calm immediately. The fish and shrimp parted around him, and even the lightning slowly followed him away toward other places.”

As she spoke up to here, Luo Jianqing continued smiling faintly, whereas Grandma Gu began coughing softly. Handing her a cup of warm water, Luo Jianqing watched her take a sip, catch her breath, and look up at him with a smile: “My old man and I gave him a name back then—we called him… Gu Niansheng¹Gu Niansheng (顧念生): The birth name Grandma Gu gave Luo Jianqing—Niansheng (念生) literally means “longing for life / thinking of our living child.”

Luo Jianqing nodded lightly: “That is a good name.”

Grandma Gu smiled and took another sip of water.

Outside the window, rain began drizzling once more, the spring shower falling softly without a sound. As Luo Jianqing walked over to pull the window shut, before he had even turned around, a kind, aged voice sounded from behind him: “Niansheng, all these years… have you lived well?”

Luo Jianqing’s entire body went rigid.

“Did your adoptive parents treat you well? Do you have brothers and sisters? What kind of place do you live in? Have you taken a wife?”

Still frozen stiff, Luo Jianqing did not turn around.

Coughing softly between smiles, Grandma Gu continued, “Look at me forgetting—you went off to become an immortal. Your master must treat you wonderfully. Is he—”

“Grandma Gu!”

Hearing that form of address abruptly, Grandma Gu shuddered slightly, her mouth slowly closing.

After a long silence, wiping away the tears gathering in her eyes, Grandma Gu spoke in a raspy voice: “My second child was a girl. We named her Gu A-Mei, with the childhood nickname Niansheng. She grew up very pretty and married a young man from the neighboring village at sixteen, only to die in childbirth. Her husband mourned her for three years before striking it rich and remarrying—sadly, my poor daughter never enjoyed a single day of good fortune.”

“Ever since I was little, my elders taught me that karma catches up with everyone in this life. My Niansheng was sent away days after he was born, so A-Mei inherited his name—and just like my old man and me, she suffered karmic retribution.”

Luo Jianqing lowered his head in silence, still facing the window without turning back.

“Everyone in the village calls my old man and me good people, yet none of them know how often we woke up screaming in the middle of the night. I dreamed my Niansheng came back and told me, Mother, that lightning scared me so much, and the waters of the Luo River are freezing cold.“

“Before that immortal arrived, for twenty-seven years, my old man and I never slept a single peaceful night.”

“We committed a grave sin against our own conscience—and the one we wronged… was our own child.”

Her voice broke into sobs as quiet weeping echoed behind Luo Jianqing. At this point, Luo Jianqing could finally hold back no longer and turned around—only to see the white-haired old woman burying her face in her hands, weeping silently as tears soaked the thick quilt, her frail shoulders trembling uncontrollably.

Gritting his teeth, Luo Jianqing stepped forward. Before he could speak, Grandma Gu went on: “Three years ago, that immortal told us my old man and I had reached our allotted lifespans. Both of us said we didn’t want our lives extended—we only wanted to go down to the underworld to see our A-Mei, and to see… our Niansheng. Yet that immortal told us our Niansheng was still waiting for us, waiting for us to… sever our parent-child ties from this lifetime.”

“We asked him where Niansheng was.”

“He told us… when the time came, we would naturally know.”

“Clinging to that single thought, we held onto our last breath for three whole years. That stalk of immortal herb… we never actually ate it. Something that precious had to be saved for Niansheng—we weren’t worthy of eating it. Every single day and night over these past three years, we kept wondering what our Niansheng… would look like.”

“He was already in his thirties—maybe living happily with a wife and children, or maybe looking just as handsome as that immortal, until one day he’d suddenly fly into our courtyard to sever his ties with us.”

“When that day finally came, I was washing clothes by the river when I suddenly saw someone drifting in the middle of the water. The very first glance I took after they pulled him ashore, I knew immediately… this was my Niansheng.”

“My Niansheng was even better-looking than I had imagined—and even kinder than I had dreamed.”

“He is so wonderful that we could never be worthy of him. I knew that once I passed away, he would return to being an immortal. That’s for the best—that is the kind of person he was meant to be. Why would he ever need parents like us? What do parent-child ties from this mortal life… even amount to?”

“Mother…” Luo Jianqing’s voice choked with emotion.

Grandma Gu lifted her head abruptly, staring in bewilderment at the handsome young man standing before her.

After a long pause, she beckoned him closer to her bedside and asked softly, “Niansheng, all these years… have you lived well?”

Her posture was tentative and cautious, her voice lowered to a whisper as though afraid of startling him away.

Reaching out to clasp Grandma Gu’s frail hand, Luo Jianqing nodded: “I have lived very well.”

Grandma Gu asked again, “Do you have children?”

Luo Jianqing shook his head.

Grandma Gu asked, “Then do you have a wife?”

Luo Jianqing nodded: “There is already someone I love.”

Grandma Gu’s eyes curved immediately into joyful crescents: “That’s good… that’s good.”

Candlelight flickered gently; no matter how fiercely the wind and rain raged outside, nothing could disturb the warm tranquility inside the small room. Wearing a peaceful smile, Grandma Gu talked on and on, as if pouring out a lifetime of unspoken words to Luo Jianqing, her voice growing fainter only when the eastern sky began turning pale with dawn.

At the very end, leaning weakly against Luo Jianqing’s chest, Grandma Gu murmured softly: “That day, it was my decision to abandon you—not your father’s, truly… not your father’s. Right after setting you adrift, before we even made it home, we regretted it. Your father and I rowed a boat out onto the Luo River searching everywhere for you, yet we couldn’t find you anywhere—truly… we really couldn’t find you. Later when we returned home, we found lots of silver taels hidden beneath this bed. Take them with you—that is your silver, we never even told A-Mei about it…”

Luo Jianqing nodded repeatedly.

Smiling as she lifted her head, Grandma Gu gazed earnestly at the handsome, spirited young man before her. Looking at him with hungry devotion and lingering reluctance, she slowly broke into a gentle smile and said, “Your Shifu must treat you extraordinarily well. Niansheng, whenever he spoke your name, even his eyes couldn’t help smiling…”

Luo Jianqing’s entire body went rigid.

Grandma Gu whispered on: “When your Shifu left, he coughed up a lot of blood. His health isn’t good—you must be filial and take good care of him.”

Widening his eyes in shock, Luo Jianqing trembled uncontrollably.

Grandma Gu’s eyes slowly drifted shut. Summoning her final ounce of strength, she kept her gaze locked onto Luo Jianqing, her voice faint as a drifting thread of silk as her fingers clutching his sleeve gradually loosened. A smile of peaceful release graced her lips—a smile radiant enough to recall the youthful beauty that had once charmed every surrounding village decades ago.

She whispered, “Niansheng, in this lifetime… let our parent-child ties with you be severed now…”

Tap—

As her voice fell, her arm dropped limply to her side.

Sitting frozen with his arms around the elderly woman whose eyes had closed forever, Luo Jianqing waited a long moment before tears finally spilled slowly down his cheeks.

At the exact instant her final words ended, Luo Jianqing felt something inside his body vanish abruptly—an invisible bond that had bound him for forty-one years without his ever realizing it. It was the karmic tie of parent and child buried deepest within his bloodline, severed cleanly by Grandma Gu’s final words.

What does it truly mean to sever mortal roots?

Must one truly abandon all love and emotion in order to achieve the Grand Dao?

Storm clouds churned violently overhead as countless bolts of lightning snaked down from the heavens amidst a torrential downpour.

Beneath that terrifying thunderstorm, Luo Jianqing buried Grandma Gu’s cold body inside Grandpa Gu’s grave, laying the two to rest side by side. Kneeling before the tombstone, he kowtowed forty-one times with heavy thuds before pressing two fingers together, condensing sword qi to carve into the stone—

Inscribed by your son, Gu Niansheng

The instant the final stroke fell, the last lingering trace of his mortal parent-child karma dissolved completely. At that very moment, however, Luo Jianqing lifted his head toward the heavens, his handsome face ice-cold as he rebuked the sky calmly:

“Forty-one years ago, with the divine thunder over the Luo River—who was right, and who was wrong?!”

“What justification do the Heavens have to demand I sever my mortal roots?!”

“Why must ascending to immortality require being heartless and unfeeling?!”

“Why must ascending to immortality require forsaking mortal ties?!”

“I, Luo Jianqing, swear I will never sever my mortal roots—and I shall achieve the Grand Dao all the same!”

RUMBLE—

An ancient, weathered force surged up from the earth, coalescing into tangible form beside Luo Jianqing.

This was the Third Plunder of the Nine Plundering Heavens Record—Plundering Right and Wrong!

Footnotes:

• 1
  Gu Niansheng (顧念生): The birth name Grandma Gu gave Luo Jianqing—Niansheng (念生) literally means “longing for life / thinking of our living child ↩︎