The Quest for Immortality

Shang Che deeply sighed, ”Yier is too disappointing. He rejects all the fine marriage proposals, single-mindedly obsessed with ’marrying none but her’, insisting on bringing that girl Wan’er into our family.” f

”Wan’er, this child, is not bad either. Like Yier, she values love and loyalty, and though headstrong, she has a good heart.”

”But as a future wife of the Shangguan Family Head, she is far from qualified.”

”Moreover, this is the first time Yier has been so defiant towards me.”

”The match-making for him had such benefits to offer, and my Shangguan Family’s status could have been advanced towards that seemingly unattainable Sixth Grade. However, everything went contrary to our desires, and all the planning has come to naught...”

Even with his profound sensibilities, Shang Che couldn’t help showing a slight frown and a look of anger.

Gu Shouyan probably understood then.

Sitting in the position of Family Head, many things are not as simple as they appear on the surface.

He understood Shang Che’s feelings.

”But what about,” Gu Shouyan furrowed his brows, ”Yu Er? Let alone Wan’er, after all, Yu Er is your only direct grandson. You wouldn’t alienate your own grandson just because of that girl Wan’er, would you...”

Shang Che’s gaze turned serious, his expression changing, as if hiding some unspeakable secret.

”It’s alright if it’s inconvenient to talk about.”

Gu Shouyan was just asking casually and didn’t insist on an answer from Shang Che.

After all, it was an internal matter of the Shangguan Family.

Gu Shouyan poured himself another cup of tea and slowly savored it.

Shang Che’s face shaded with a layer of gloom, and after a long silence, he finally let out a sigh and slowly began to speak:

”When Yu Er was born... I asked an Elder of the Heavenly Observatory to calculate his Life Chart.”

Gu Shouyan was startled, his eyebrows slightly furrowing.

Shang Che continued, ”Yu Er, he...”

He paused for a moment, deeply closing his eyes, and then slowly opening them, his tone chilling, ”Yu Er since his birth, his innate Life Chart, is that of a ’dead man’, a flawed vessel, not a living person...”

Gu Shouyan’s hand trembled, his face showing shock.

He then looked more serious, ”The matter of Life Charts doesn’t necessarily reflect reality...”

Shang Che shook his head, ”You don’t know the Elder’s status. His calculated Life Charts are never wrong.”

”And... I can see it as well.”

”This child Yu Er, since he was little, he has been different from others. Though seemingly fine, he has innate Divine Sense weakness, as if he has an incomplete soul, and he occasionally sees things that ordinary cultivators can’t, experiencing inexplicable nightmares, like... a baby with one foot in the Underworld...”

Shang Che’s eyes filled with pain, ”So every time I see Yu Er, it’s as if there’s a thorn in my heart.”

”He is my hard-won, only grandson, yet fate has decreed that he is a ’dead man’ doomed to die young, someone who can’t be raised...”

Gu Shouyan’s expression wavered for a long while, then he looked at Shang Che, unrelentingly sneered:

”When young, you were too dissolute, now old, childless; you deserve it.”

Shang Che’s face turned ugly, but he was powerless to refute.

Seeing his expression, Gu Shouyan sighed, his tone eventually softening, ”Can’t he be saved?”

Shang Che’s expression was bitter, ”Such things as Life Charts cannot be changed by anyone.”

”Nonsense!” Gu Shouyan’s face turned dark, ”If it really can’t be changed, then there wouldn’t be the phrase ’defying the heavens to change fate’!”

Shang Che said with a sigh: ”These are the Elder’s very words. He once said that Yu Er’s Life Chart is innately formed, the Heavenly secret too profound, the karma too great, beyond the power of humans to reverse...”

Gu Shouyan asked in a low voice, ”What is the Elder’s Cultivation?”

Shang Che pointed to the sky.

Gu Shouyan’s heart tensed, no longer speaking, yet aware of the weight behind that sentence.

After finishing the tea, once Shang Che had left.

Gu Shouyan sat alone at the table, not drinking tea, just sitting silently, and the innocent and well-behaved image of Yu Er emerged in his mind.

Gu Shouyan’s weathered heart couldn’t help but ache, and he whispered to himself:

”A good child, but without a good fate...”

...

Mo Hua had a feast and stayed at the Gu Family for one night. The next morning, he was due to return to the Taixu Gate.

The words ”profound good fortune” written by Elder Master Xun were given by Mo Hua to Wenren Wan.

Although Elder Master Xun did not explicitly say whom to give it to, Mo Hua faintly guessed that the old man intended it for Aunt Wan.

Wenren Wan accepted the calligraphy, and couldn’t help feeling flattered.

In any family of the Qian State, the Heaven Void Ancestor was a supreme figure; ordinary disciples could never hope to meet him, let alone receive a piece of his calligraphy.

Wenren Wan wanted to reciprocate the gift to Elder Master Xun, but figured that the elder would not care for such trivial gifts.

So she packed up a large amount of food and drink, along with some Second Grade Formation Books and Diagrams, all bundled and given to Mo Hua.

All were things that Mo Hua liked.

Mo Hua symbolically refused a few times, then happily and contentedly accepted them.

Before departing, Gu Changhuai also sought out Mo Hua.

The two sat on the steps at the doorway, chatting briefly.

”There’s something I need to tell you,” Gu Changhuai deliberated a moment before speaking, ”Some time ago, a group of Demon Cultivators of unknown origins infiltrated the outskirts of Qianxue State Boundary.”

”Demon Cultivators?” Mo Hua was taken aback.

Gu Changhuai nodded, ”Their origins are still unclear; how many there are and what their Cultivation levels are, remains unknown as well.”

”Their activities are confined to the Second and Third Grade small state boundaries near the Qianxue State Boundary, their motives unknown, but certainly harboring ill intentions.”

”The Taoist Court has already begun to take action to capture them, but the current situation is still uncertain...”

Gu Changhuai took another look at Mo Hua and reminded him:

”Although you have been ’confined’ and cannot leave the Qianxue State Boundary, so it’s unlikely you’ll encounter them, you should still be cautious, just in case.”

”Mhm mhm.” Mo Hua nodded.