The old National Teacher had forgotten his own name.

He had parasitized on the flesh god statue for decades, so long that the faces of his blood relatives had all blurred. The old man remembered the obsession etched deep in his mind, remembered bits and pieces of the hundred-year great undertaking. But when thinking of his past as a human, only a fog remained in his head.

Occasionally, the old man would think that perhaps humans shouldn't live this long.

He clung to the flesh god statue, the feeling of decay and pain never leaving for a moment. The old National Teacher was old and frail, with a poor constitution, and was often rejected by the refined flesh paste. Only by consuming an "immortal body" every few months could he make the flesh god statue settle for a while.

In the past, he had been second only to one and above ten thousand, eating only the finest delicacies. Now he had to swallow flesh raw, chewing up the bones and internal organs, forcing them down his throat. The old National Teacher was not one who feared death. He only wanted to pass down the necessary information and witness the final moment of the great undertaking with his own eyes.

Born as a mortal, this might be the greatest glory.

However, ever since the current Emperor suddenly surrendered, the situation had rapidly deteriorated. The core of the flesh god statue's immortal body suddenly caught fire, burning to nothing but a pile of half-dead living flesh paste. Then came incessant earthquakes, cutting off the supply of vital energy. Without the source of vital energy, those living flesh muds gradually lost their vitality, turning purple and swollen, emitting a foul stench. The weather had warmed considerably, and maggots began to gnaw at the rotting dead flesh, leaving only him clinging to life.

Jiang Youyue hadn't returned, neither had Qu Duanyun. Even the servants no longer came to tend to things. Before him were only circling flies, and the offering fruits were covered in mold.

How was the hundred-year great undertaking going? The old National Teacher didn't know. How long had it been? He couldn't remember clearly either.

The corpse water from the rotting flesh had spread to the ground, and the shrine was deathly silent. Through the mosquito net covered in insects, he stared fixedly at the tightly closed door—he must see an ending, he must...

A soft creaking sound.

Dazzling sunlight poured into the room, the fat flies scattered in a flurry, rolling up like a dark cloud with an intense stench of corpses. Even so, the blood energy of the newcomer was still intimidating. The light friction of armor produced a faint sound that chilled one's heart just by hearing it.

A military general?

The old National Teacher struggled to open his eyes. In his blurry vision, the silhouette of a young man appeared. The man was clad in fine armor, with jet-black hair, exuding an imposing aura. Warm breeze and light poured in with him, making him seem like a deity descending from the heavens.

For some reason, the old National Teacher felt the man's figure was oddly familiar. Unable to speak normally, he could only squeeze out a series of indistinct mumbles from his throat.

"...Still alive, huh." The newcomer's tone was more pitying than surprised.

The man waded through the putrid water, pushing aside the gauze curtain. His hand, long and beautiful as if carved from fine jade, had only one flaw - a scar at the base of his thumb. At a glance, the scar looked like a strange ring.

I'm not mistaken, the old National Teacher thought. He recognized the shape of that hand; he had savored it countless times.

The newcomer was none other than the master of the immortal body. He had traversed three hundred years of time, once again donning armor and wielding weapons, standing on the soil of Yi City.

"Ah... uh..." The old National Teacher exerted himself to reach out, trying to express something. However, his maggot-infested fingers had barely extended when the man casually avoided them.

"The Suspended Tree is dead, Shi Rou is destroyed. Jiang Youyue and Qu Duanyun are in prison, and as for Luojiu's Divine Descent Sage..."

The man chuckled, his laughter cold and gleeful.

"That Divine Descent Sage is too far from their Suspended Tree to borrow its power. He's much easier to deal with than Dayun's True Immortal. You should understand, an army without its commander is nothing but scattered sand."

"...Ugh!" The old National Teacher curled his fingers.

"I know, Luojiu's Suspended Tree will still bear fruit, nurturing the next True Immortal. Our people will infiltrate Luojiu, waiting for the opportunity to destroy it. Such evil as Suspended Tree is better off disappearing sooner rather than later."

No wonder the sage directly sealed this man underground; he indeed cannot understand the nobility of a hundred-year grand endeavor.

However, the old man felt no ripples in his heart, sensing neither anger nor sorrow. Maggots were gradually gnawing away at his flesh, yet the old National Teacher couldn't feel any pain. He stopped mumbling, his deformed hand dropping, his eyes filled with nothing but endless fatigue.

The man before him had lived even longer than himself, yet he was brimming with vitality, like another sun.

In a daze, the old National Teacher seemed to return to Gathering Valley many years ago. Red leaves were fluttering, and that little Desire Child's body was curled up, his face flushed with high fever. The moment he picked up that child, he had also felt such vivid and scorching vitality.

This is the person that Desire Child was willing to live and die with.

So that's how it is, that's how it is. In the maple forest twenty-four years ago, you were the one who saved that child. And the Desire Child's long-established desire was also...

A chill ran through his throat.

The old National Teacher's eyes widened as he watched his own blackened blood spurt out. The viscous blood mixed with the putrid water, stirring up another wave of stench. Yin Ci's strike was as swift as lightning, without any hesitation. By the time he realized it, the old man's head had already fallen to the ground.

"I should have let you rot slowly here."

The man half-squatted, his long hair sliding down his iron armor.

"But considering you brought Jingzhi to me, I'm willing to send you off. Old man, after all, I once boasted to him - my life is tough, specializing in vanquishing evil spirits."

The old National Teacher's head rolled half a turn, facing the window. Outside, birds were chirping, and the sky was crystal clear. A few murky tears seeped from the corner of the old man's eyes, it was unclear whether it was the dazzling daylight he hadn't seen in twenty-four years or mourning for the utterly ruined "great cause."

From beginning to end, Yin Ci never gave him half a chance to speak.

That day, a great fire engulfed the National Teacher's mansion. From the shrine at the back of the house to the mysterious underground palace, everything was burned to ashes, leaving only broken walls and ruins. Puzzlingly, over a hundred headless male corpses were carried out from the underground chamber, causing a flurry of speculation, but in the end, there was no definitive conclusion. They became evidence of the National Teacher's lineage "privately nurturing evil spirits and creating wicked arts," with no further follow-up.

Amidst the tumultuous situation, these matters were truly insignificant-

This spring's end marked the most turbulent period in Dayun's history. Xu Jingxing's surrender came first, followed by nationwide earthquakes days later, and Xu Jingxing also changed his previously submissive attitude, publicly retracting his surrender. Divine Descent Sage, originally advancing triumphantly, showed signs of wariness after the earthquake, slowing their penetration into Dayun.

Just as Luojiu's army hesitated, two new ministers were added to Dayun's court.

The military general was named Yin Zizhu, in the prime of his life and incomparably handsome. This man used troops like a god, yet strangely, no one had heard of him before. The civil official was named Shi Jingzhi, with a bewitchingly beautiful appearance and an air of wickedness about him. This man had previously caused a "rebellion" uproar, but now he was as close as brothers with the emperor, leaving people wondering what had transpired.

Only one thing was certain - for Dayun, with the appearance of these two, the war took a turn.

Yin Zizhu personally led the army to meet Luojiu in battle, with Shi Jingzhi inseparable from him. The two worked in perfect harmony, using inferior numbers to fight superior forces, pushing Luojiu's army back step by step. They even personally infiltrated the Divine Descent Sage's military camp, using some unknown method to burn the invincible Divine Descent Sage into a charred corpse.

Previously, Luojiu had revered him as a deity, but now that the deity had fallen, Luojiu's army instantly lost morale. In less than two months, the two reclaimed all lost territory and completely expelled Luojiu's great army from the borders.

During these two months, Xu Jingxing's health improved somewhat, at least enough for him to sit back in the hall for court sessions. Watching the two grow increasingly victorious with continuous great feats, there were inevitably some in the palace who had concerns.

However, whenever anyone raised the issue that "Shi Jingzhi and that general are excessively close, and their rising fame among the people cannot be ignored," Xu Jingxing always appeared distracted, evading the topic and never directly addressing the matter.

Until the war with Luojiu was completely over.

Contrary to everyone's expectations, the literary and military duo did not seek any power, immediately requesting to retire to their hometown. Shi Jingzhi was not polite about it; he stood in the court, reading from a memorial as if reciting a menu, publicly asking for rewards. This man demanded everything from manors to stirrups, taking an entire incense stick's worth of time just to list his requests.

The ministers watched as Xu Jingxing's face turned increasingly green, fearing the emperor might suffer some mishap in public.

Fortunately, the emperor barely endured this ordeal.

As for Yin Zizhu, he simply smiled as he watched Shi Jingzhi, his gaze unmistakably peculiar. When the two left the court, their hands were clasped together without any attempt to hide it.

That was the last time the ministers saw the two of them.

"...Isn't it miraculous?" The storyteller took a sip of tea, clearing his throat.

"Those two were like celestial stars descending to earth, specifically to save Dayun from calamity. Even Luojiu's 'Divine Descent Sage' met his demise at their hands! They were so close, they must have descended together. This is something I heard about recently, it's absolutely true."

A snot-nosed little boy standing nearby asked in confusion: "Grandpa, grandpa, aren't immortals supposed to not ask for anything? You just said that Shi Jingzhi asked for lots and lots of things."

The crowd, who had been listening intently, were now led by the child's question to voice their doubts.

Storyteller: "..."

Storyteller: "Well... even immortals need some offerings. Our Dayun was in dire straits, so the immortals needed their offerings urgently. It's normal, perfectly normal."

The little boy wiped his nose with the back of his hand and continued: "But grandpa, grandpa, mom said that our Dayun used to have good weather and harvests, and even sick children recovered quickly! Now that the immortals have come and gone, why haven't they fixed these things too?"

At this, the spectators became even more interested.

"Yeah, not long ago, my hometown had a heavy rain that ruined all the seedlings."

"It's okay in our village, but I heard old Zhang's place is suffering from drought, it's terrible."

"My child caught a cold, which usually gets better in two or three days, but this time he had to take medicine for half a month, I don't know why..."

The storyteller pinched his grandson's cheek and tossed him a few copper coins: "Go on, go buy some candied haws over there."

Then he raised his head, baring his gap-toothed smile, and cleared his throat seriously.

"You know, I used to suffer from headaches that lasted ten days or more, but this time it got better in just two or three days! The immortals probably have their own plans. As for us common folk, we should just focus on living our own lives well. If we keep waiting for heaven to give us signs, won't we all become lazy bums?"

Laughter filled the tea pavilion.

"Hey, that's right. My parents' health has improved quite a bit too."

"So what if there's flooding? I heard Yueshui Bureau has brought in new seedlings from the Hu people. Worst case, we'll just switch to planting different crops."

......

The little boy, completely uninterested in the chattering adults, happily ran to the candied haw vendor. Unfortunately, just as he wiped his nose and was about to speak, he saw a hand reach out and take the last candied haw on the grass stick.

The little boy wasn't having it. He raised his head, ready to pout and make a fuss. But when he saw the person's face, he instantly forgot about crying - for no other reason than the person was simply too beautiful to behold.

Grandpa said fox spirits were skilled at bewitching people's minds, and anyone who encountered a fox spirit must feel just like this. The little boy stared blankly, his eyes brimming with freshly brewed tears, as a three-foot-long string of snot slowly descended.

The fox spirit didn't display any bewitching techniques, though. He just gripped the candied haw tightly, his expression looking quite conflicted. This fox didn't seem to want to respect the elderly or love the young; his face clearly said, "This is mine, I'm not giving it away."

But some force seemed to hold him in place, preventing him from simply walking away. The fox spirit's brows and eyes scrunched together, revealing a hint of pain.

"Alright, stop agonizing over it." A voice holding back laughter came through. "Jingzhi, why don't you compromise and give him half?"

The little boy slowly turned his head to look at the person beside the fox spirit. This time, not only could he not stop his runny nose, but his jaw also dropped.

This big brother was also extremely handsome, surely another immortal!

"It's not that I can't," the fox spirit grumbled. "But you bought this for me..."

"I'll share mine with you," the other immortal smiled even more enchantingly. "When we get back to the inn, we can slowly savor it together. Isn't that more interesting than eating it by yourself?"

The fox spirit's eyes lit up, and his back immediately straightened.

He took a copper coin from the boy's palm, used a streak of true energy to split the candied haw in half, and bit into the upper half himself. The little boy clutched the lower half, his eyes still darting back and forth between the two "immortals," completely forgetting to eat.

Only after the two had left hand in hand did he come to his senses, running back to the tea pavilion—

"Grandpa, grandpa, I just saw immortals!"

Author's Note:

We're nearing the end! ...Though I feel like everyone can tell _(:D」∠)_