“The pharmacists you took in back then have now all become renowned figures. I heard that in the Royal City, it's incredibly difficult and expensive to even get a single audience with them.”
“Is that so? That's not bad.” Jiang Wen nodded.
Jiang Wenji put down the scroll in her hand and looked at Jiang Wen in silence for a long time. The spring scenery outside the window was brilliant, and she looked up at the view, saying, “Want to go out and take a look?”
“I'm old, can't walk anymore.”
“I'll help you.” Jiang Wenji chuckled. “Back then, you were so imposing. When I first saw you, you gave me quite a fright. I never imagined that someone would be naked, piercing that Thunder Beast with a single spear.”
“Meeting you can be considered fate; I had been lost in the forest for a long time.” Recalling those events, Jiang Wen couldn't help but feel emotional. After all, no matter what, if he hadn't met Jiang Wenji, perhaps their fates would have been completely different.
The scenery outside the house was beautiful. In the distance, buildings stood closely together, shining brightly in the sunlight.
The current Tianyuan had long surpassed the capital of Taicang, becoming the sacred ground for both the old and new territories. Whether it was the Nanqi King, the Li family, or the Taicang Emperor, they all held Tianyuan in reverence.
The current Taicang Emperor was a new ruler. Jiang Wen had also gone with Jiang Wenji to pay respects once. Although it was more prosperous than the Nanqi Royal Capital, it was also dilapidated. After staying for only a few days, they returned to Tianyuan with the others.
“Actually, you had the opportunity to become the Emperor.” Jiang Wen suddenly said. “Why didn't you want to?”
“I just wasn't very willing.” Jiang Wenji said. “That position is too tiring to sit on. It doesn't suit me. I prefer the ease I have now.”
“You once said you wanted to be a marquis or a king. Now that your dream has come true, what other pursuits do you have?” Jiang Wen joked, as if thinking of something. “In this land of the Eight Desolations, I'm afraid there's nothing that you, Emperor Wen, cannot achieve, nothing you cannot obtain, right?”
“Is that so?” Jiang Wenji looked at the newly sprouting peach tree in the courtyard, and the two of them stopped talking.
After a long time, Jiang Wen sent her away. Jiang Wenji broke off a peach blossom and placed it in his hand, saying something he didn't quite understand as she left.
“What I seek has never been obtained. It's like a flower in a mirror or the moon in the water, visible but unattainable.”
Jiang Wen took that peach blossom and placed it in a jade vase. Sustained by his magical power, it unexpectedly grew branches and sprouted.
This made him both amused and surprised, feeling incredibly refreshed. People grow old easily, but broken branches can be reborn.
Well, might as well live a few more days.
In the following years, his illness worsened, and he was bedridden. Jiang Wenji announced to the world that anyone who could cure him would be granted the position of a king or marquis.
Pharmacists and cultivators from all over the world came upon hearing the news.
However, upon seeing the person on the bed, they all covered their faces and sighed.
“Grand Marquis, he won't last long.”
The people of Tianyuan were all saddened upon hearing this, lamenting that virtuous men do not live forever. They all erected steles and statues for Jiang Wen, to be worshiped. Those who specifically worshiped Jiang Wen's statues were mostly called Taoists.
They carried the statues on their backs, spreading Jiang Wen's deeds everywhere. In the end, it became a story of an immortal descending into the mortal world to relieve the suffering of the people.
Another year passed, and Jiang Wen felt it difficult to even move. Although his mind was clear, his body was already decaying. His consciousness was drowsy all day long, unable to find any freshness.
Only when Jiang Wenji and a group of close friends came to see him would he use his magical power to sustain his body, barely managing to say a few words.
Until one day, Jiang Wen suddenly felt his body was completely healed. He could get up and lie down as he pleased, and even flying with a sword was no problem. The maids in the house were all delighted, saying that Grand Marquis was cured and would live forever.
Jiang Wen just smiled without saying a word, summoning all his relatives and friends.
“I'm leaving. What I am now is probably just a final burst of energy.” Jiang Wen smiled calmly. He had already become indifferent to life and death, it was just dust to dust, earth to earth.
As soon as these words came out, Xiu Qi couldn't help but cry loudly. Such a big man, yet he was like a child, lying in his arms.
“Master! Master! Why can't you wait for your disciple! Why does Heaven grant Master only a hundred years of life! While those who act recklessly can live for thousands of years!” Xiu Qi shouted, his face filled with resentment.
Jiang Wen rubbed his head to comfort him, saying that a hundred years was not bad. Ordinary people would find it difficult to even live for a hundred years.
However, this joke did not make everyone feel relieved; instead, it added a bit of heaviness.
After arranging everything, Jiang Wenji dismissed everyone from the bedroom. She took a pot of wine and handed it to Jiang Wen, asking him, “When are you leaving?”
“Soon.”
“Have a drink?”
“Alright.”
The two drank wine, chatting about everyday matters. Jiang Wenji even revealed her own embarrassing moments, saying that Meng Yue had once proposed to her in the Tuoba clan, but she had rejected him.
If Jiang Wen hadn't been there at the time, she might have agreed.
He felt water droplets falling on his face, feeling a gentle warmth.
“What I seek, I seek but cannot obtain. I dare not seek it.”
“I only hate that you are like a stone man, never having had a heart.”
Jiang Wen didn't know if those were Jiang Wenji's words. He only felt himself walking in chaos, surrounded by glowing clouds.
In the distance, there seemed to be an end, standing quietly like a white dot.
Subconsciously walking towards the white dot, he saw a vast expanse of white between heaven and earth.
When his consciousness returned again, he was already sitting on a soft bed.
The sound of knocking on the door made him feel like he was in another world.
“Brother Jiang, I have some doubts I want to ask you.” Mo Xiang's voice sounded. Jiang Wen stood up in a daze. Various stories about Taicang flooded his mind, but in the end, only those two sentences kept repeating.
“Brother Jiang?”
The magical power in his body circulated, and his mind suddenly cleared. Jiang Wen heard Mo Xiang's doubts and got up to open the door.
He saw Mo Xiang wearing pink pajamas, looking at him with big, questioning eyes.
“Come in.” Seeing that Mo Xiang didn't move, Jiang Wen subconsciously ordered. Then he saw a look of confusion on her face, and he realized that he was no longer in that world, nor was he the Grand Marquis of Tianyuan.
Adjusting his thoughts, after all, those nearly a hundred years of life had a great impact on him.
“I mean, come in quickly.” Jiang Wen said softly.
“Phew—, okay.” Mo Xiang came back to her senses and walked into the room happily.
She sat cross-legged on the carpet, her eyes looking at Jiang Wen: “I was so scared just now, I thought Brother Jiang had changed into a different person.”
“Really?” Jiang Wen smiled dumbly.
“Of course, it was like the emperor I saw before. Just looking at him made people feel scared.” Mo Xiang said softly.
“I just watched too many TV dramas and tried to learn from them.” Jiang Wen made an excuse to fool her.
Mo Xiang naturally wouldn't doubt him, thinking that was the case. Then she contentedly spoke about her cultivation problems.
Jiang Wen pointed them out one by one. After Mo Xiang left, he opened his phone to check the time.
Only two hours had passed since he entered the spiritual vein. But he felt like he had lived for a hundred years.
“Is it real or fake? Or is it just a dream?” Jiang Wen muttered to himself as he lay on the bed. He couldn't sleep that night.
