Immortality Starts With Generosity

A plain round face stared back at Chen Haoran in a mirror of polished copper. He brushed his hand through short, dark brown hair and squinted brown eyes. It was a face he never thought he’d see again. Or rather, it could have been. No matter how well he explained what he wanted to Bao Si, it was impossible for her to completely recreate the details as he remembered. No matter how well he remembered, how could he possibly get the details right himself? He could certainly recognize his own face on sight, but could he actually imagine his face? How did one reference something when the reference itself was no longer there? As he roamed over imperfections and features that were just not right, he could only wonder if they were Bao Si’s misinterpretations or his own false recollection.

Still, even if it wasn’t his face, there was still enough familiarity in it that he could pretend it was. He thumbed the base of his neck where the Human-Skin Mask blended so perfectly into his skin as to be seamless. Then he pulled, and the false skin peeled away and revealed Chen Haoran’s face.

“Is there something wrong with the mask?” Bao Si asked.

“No,” Chen Haoran said. “It’s perfect. I’m just admiring how useful it is. I didn’t think a Mortal-Rank artifact would be this advanced.”

Bao Si frowned and searched his face, but any possible hints she could glean from him would be made useless from lacking so much context. Context that she would never have. Only one person in this world knew about his origins, and that was enough.

“Do you think you could teach me how to make this ?” Chen Haoran asked.

Bao Si nodded and dropped her gaze. “Yes. I’ll make you a copy, but it’s a complicated recipe.”

“That’s fine—”

The door crashed open with a bang, and a kitted-out Xie Jin waltzed into the with a large bag strapped to his back. “Who’s ready to go? Come on, people, we’re burning daylight!”

The happier Xie Jin looked, the less Bao Si did. “I am the one who decides when we leave. You are far too happy to leave.”

Xie Jin held up his hands. It looked more like a pose, though, than him trying to placate her. “How can I be happy to leave? I’m just happy to spend some time with Brother Chen without you sending me away with some excuses.”contemporary romance

“Those excuses were your job, just as this one is. It’s not a day trip.”

“It’s a multiple-day trip,” Xie Jin corrected.

Bao Si’s face quickly turned murderous, and Chen Haoran carefully put himself between them and looked for his errant sloth. “Xie Jin, where’s Phelps? I thought you had him?”

Xie Jin raised his arms even higher. “Behold.” Phelps’s popped out from behind his bag. A multicolored silk hat was perched on his head and secured by two strings tied under his chin. “What do you think? I found some silk scraps and made him a travel hat.”

Chen Haoran looked at Phelps, who squealed at him. It sounded like a happy squeal. He looked back at Bao Si and shrugged. “It’s a nice hat.”

Whatever string a control Bao Si was holding onto snapped, and she buried her face into her hands. “Just get ready, and let’s go.”

Chen Haoran had entered the Basin on a bone, and he was leaving it on an elevator. He stared at the contraption, partially dug into the rock walls of the Basin to hide it from view. A team of Qi Realm cultivators pushed the winches that pulled the ropes that dragged the wooden platform they were standing on straight to the top of the cliffs to a hollow mound of dirt, stones, and selectively placed trees. It was actually pretty close to the femur bone that Jiang Lei, Wang Xiao, and he used to descend into the Basin.

Xie Jin saw his surprise and elbowed him. “You didn’t seriously think we used the bones to get in and out, did you?”

“Can you blame me?”

“Yes,” Bao Si said, walking past him. “Moving supplies would be so much more tedious if we did that.” Her Centipede Gu crawled out her sleeve and flew ahead of her. “Keep up. The sooner we get to Stonebridge, the sooner we can be on our way to Reservoir Town.”

With that said, she dashed into the jungle. Xie Jin hopped after her with his Beetle Gu, mouthed something inaudible after he caught up and shot ahead. Whatever he said must’ve worked because Bao Si’s qi spiked, and she raced after him. It didn’t look as if she were content with merely passing him once she caught up, however.

Chen Haoran sighed. Phelps leaned over his shoulder and burbled. “You better stay cute, buddy,” he said, scratching Phelps’s chin. “Because if something happens, I’m throwing you in to defuse it.”

Phelps squealed, and Chen Haoran shot off after his friends.

Chen Haoran quickly discovered that without meaning to he had developed some contempt for the Qi Realm. It was unintentional, born out of the instinctive thought of superiority everyone had and kept to themselves when they recognized they were better than someone else. It wasn’t a mean thing, but he unconsciously looked down on Xie Jin’s and Bao Si’s little race. Why not? He could easily catch up whenever he wanted to, after all. Thankfully, in short order, he was forced to recognize that contempt, backtrack it to its source, then take it around back to be shot.

The jungles of Zumulu were unforgiving to those who did not know how to navigate them. This was true when Chen Haoran was in the Qi Realm, and it remained true after he advanced to the Liquid Meridian Realm. Despite the time he had spent in the country, he had not gotten any better at moving through the brush. So while it was true that he could easily catch up to and surpass Xie Jin and Bao Si, he would look far less elegant than them doing it and end up far more covered in plant matter. So it was with a realization of his limitations that he followed behind Xie Ji— Chen Haoran looked at Xie Jin’s back, replete with large backpack, then looked at Bao Si’s back. He shifted over and followed her instead.

So it was with a realization of his limitations that he followed behind Bao Si and put aside his inflating ego. Their skill in crossing the jungle was simply superior to his own. It was to the extent that they were actually traveling faster than when he traveled through the Deep Jungle with Jiang Lei. Two Liquid Meridian Realms couldn’t make up for the sheer utility two Qi Realm Shamans provided. It was a humbling thought, especially because it shouldn’t have been. Then again, it wasn’t like the desire for power was that much different between worlds—just the form of it. A down-and-out modern person and a down-and-out cultivator were pretty similar once you got down to it. The only thing that separated them was qi… well, a bunch of other stuff too, but qi was the most important.

Multidimensional societal musing aside, the journey was smooth. No bothersome bugs, no predatory flora, and he only had to fight two giant gorillas before Daqing’s rough-hewn walls came into view. Chen Haoran was a bit nervous as he passed through the gates, but under the Human-Skin Mask, the red-robed guards only spared him a glance and waved them along. Still, he felt much better once they were merged with the crowds. Tried to merge with the crowds at least.

As soon as they entered the city, Xie Jin and Bao Si switched positions, falling back to flank Chen Haoran and following him instead. For good cause, too, because as soon as the other cultivators sensed his cultivation, they stepped aside and didn’t dare brush shoulders with him. The regular folk, from experience born of years surrounded by cultivators, were quick on the uptake and moved with them so that no matter where Chen Haoran walked, he was surrounded by space.

“This… is different,” he said.

“This is the respect that power brings you,” Xie Jin said. He walked with his chest puffed out, taking far more pride in this situation than Chen Haoran.

“Respect.” Chen Haoran tested the word on his tongue and looked around to find ducked heads and averted gazes. “Is that what this is?”

“You should get accustomed to it now,” Bao Si said. She wasn’t as ostentatiously proud as Xie Jin, but she also moved with ease and ignored the people around her as if their making way was something natural. “It will only grow more pronounced as you reach the later Layers of the Liquid Meridian Realm.”

“What makes you think I’ll actually get there?”

Xie Jin and Bao Si scoffed in sync, realized what they had done, shared a distasteful glance, and looked away.

“Did I say something funny?” Chen Haoran asked.

“For you, it’s a matter of when, not if,” Bao Si said.

“Brother Chen, if you can’t become a Ninth-Layer Liquid Meridian, then there’s no hope for us,” Xie Jin added.

Bao Si sneered and looked down her nose at Xie Jin. “No hope for you, perhaps. I won’t be lumped in with the likes of you.”

“If you want to fight, then go ahead. I’ll meet you any day.”

Their bickering continued all the way up until they got to the docks, and Bao Si separated from them to find a boat. When she returned, it was with an ugly expression. “The next boat leaves late tomorrow. We’ll have to spend the night in the city.”

“That’s not too bad,” Chen Haoran said.

Bao Si shook her head. “I wanted to leave the same day.”

“So what,” Xie Jin said, hands behind his head. “We’ll just have to bother Brother Ang and Sister Jia for the night.”

“Stock up on the supplies we used first,” Bao Si ordered. “I don’t want to waste any time tomorrow.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Xie Jin waved her off and turned to Chen Haoran. “Si can go say hi to Brother Ang. We can go get the supplies, right Brother Chen?”

Chen Haoran awkwardly smiled. “Sorry, but there’s someone I wanted to meet while we were here. You’ll have to go on your own.”

“Are they important?” Bao Si asked. “You’re a Liquid Meridian now. You have to take your face into consideration.”

She was saying one thing, but Chen Haoran knew her real meaning. If they aren’t important, then don’t go revealing your identity.

“Well, she’s pretty important,” he said. “Plus, she gave me a meal last time I was here with my friends. I’m gonna go catch up with her.”

Bao Si brightened and looped her arm through his. “May I accompany you then?”

“Wait, then I’ll go with you too!” Xie Jin said.

“Well, you can all come along,” Chen Haoran said after giving it some thought.

Granny Jiang would probably enjoy the company.

Chen Haoran knocked three times on a vivid red door. After waiting a moment he knocked on the door again, this time four times—

“Patience, you brute!” An irate-looking Granny Jiang opened the door and glared. “Rushing an old woman like me. Have you know shame?”

“Hello, ma’am,” Chen Haoran said. “I see you’re still in good health.”

Granny Jiang paused and squinted blind eyes. “So it’s you. I was wondering who could be so rude. Now it makes sense.”

“Come on. I was pretty polite last time.”

Granny Jiang snorted. “And Granny Three Worm is forever young. Well, come in then. I was just about to finish dinner.” She sniffed the air and coughed. “Except for the animal. I won’t have it in my home.”

Chen Haoran paused. He couldn’t really ask her questions if Phelps was actually bothering her. He cast Xie Jin an apologetic glance. “Could you watch Phelps, please? We won’t be staying long.”

Xie Jin sighed. “Well. Better than repeating what happened the last time we left him alone. We’ll be by the door.”

Chen Haoran nodded in appreciation and entered the house with Bao Si. It looked the same as when he was last here, but it looked…. lonelier. The sat at the table, empty save for a plate and utensils set for one.

“It’s good to see you’re still doing well, ma’am,” Chen Haoran said. “I was worried. The city got a little crazy after we left.”

Granny Jiang slapped his shoulder as she set cups of hot water in front of them. “Lying brat. Don’t even mention that bastard Crystal Transformation Realm to me. Not only did he wake me up from my nap, he ruined a perfectly good pot of congee. I was up all night thanks to the racket he caused.”

Bao Si caught his eyes. “Normal?” she silently mouthed.

Chen Haoran smiled and nodded.

“Introduce your friend, you mannerless brat.” Granny Jiang said.

“Hello, Elder,” Bao Si said. “We came today to ask if you knew anything about some guests of yours.”

“You mean the Peach River boys,” Granny Jiang said. “I’ll have to disappoint you. I don’t know anything involving your cultivator business.”

Bao Si’s eyes narrowed. “Saying you don’t know anything requires knowing what we want.”

Granny Jiang hummed. “Girl, you have a beautiful voice. Will you do a blind old woman a favor and let her know your face?”

Bao Si stared hard at Granny Jiang, and through his sense, he could feel her qi tense in wait like a predator prepared to lunge. “You may.”

Granny Jiang reached over and cupped Bao Si’s face in her hands. With feather light touches she traced her fingers over Bao Si’s eyes, nose, and lips before falling lower to her neck. Chen Haoran had to respect the way Bao Si didn’t flinch or tense at all. Granny Jiang paused when her hand touched the head of Bao Si’s centipede tattoo.

“A Black Bone Shaman.” She exhaled heavily. “So even you nurtured hopes can bear to leave your people.”

Shock bloomed on Bao Si’s face, pure shock, even more than when Chen Haoran had shown her the Seven-Colored Steps of the Rainbow Stairs. That was… interesting.

Granny Jiang sighed. “In fractious Zumulu, the Peach Bloods have always been a source of unity and stability. What the Empire has done to them is tragic. That scar runs deep in those boys.” She unerringly turned to Chen Haoran. “Boy Jiang and his horrible junior stayed with me for a day before leaving again. I don’t know what occurred between you, but I advise you to mend bridges with Boy Jiang. He is a good young man.”

“You trying to say I’m not?” Chen Haoran asked.

“Who cares about you?” Granny Jiang retorted. Even so, she looked solemn. “Be careful traveling to the Peachwine. It has become a twisted version of what it once was, and the Empire is its twisted master. You would do well to have a good young man there.”

Granny Jiang’s words watered a seed of thought Chen Haoran had planted back when he was first asked to go to Reservoir Town. He didn’t discount her advice. Maybe he would need a good man to help him in Reservoir Town. His mind flickered to his empty connection slot.

Maybe he would have to be a bad man to help himself right now.

He had to see Chanchu.

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