Seeking Immortality 06

Gao Mingzhi led his minions, escorting Widow Li straight to the river village she had mentioned. He had to get this done today, or else everyone would think he, Gao Mingzhi, was an easy pushover.

From afar, Xu Xiaoya spotted her own home, her heart surging with excitement. She wanted to rush inside immediately, but Fang Zhiyi held her back.

“Don’t rush,” he said.

The next moment, a little boy toddled out of the familiar doorway. He clearly couldn’t walk properly yet, and a woman behind him bent over cautiously, shielding him.

Xu Xiaoya froze. “Mom…” She remembered that when she left, her mother wasn’t pregnant. Her parents had once argued, and her father said her mother couldn’t conceive anymore. So who was that little boy?

Just then, Xu Xiaoya’s father also stepped out, beaming with joy. He crouched down to play with the boy for a while, then hoisted a hoe onto his shoulder, ready to head to the fields.

Xu Xiaoya had never seen such a gentle smile on her father’s face before. But when she saw him about to leave, she couldn’t hold back anymore.

Fang Zhiyi suddenly clamped a hand over her mouth and yanked her into a pile of dry grass beside the path.

Just as Xu Xiaoya was about to ask why, she heard the sound of hooves, followed by a commotion.

“We took a shortcut, but they have horses. You think there’s time for a family reunion?” Fang Zhiyi whispered.

Xu Xiaoya’s face paled as a terrible realization dawned on her.

But Fang Zhiyi still kept his hand over her mouth, signaling her to watch and wait. If he had guessed wrong, he was willing to risk everything and fight. But if he was right… then let’s see how this tragic soul would choose.

Xu Da, who hadn’t gone far, was forced back. He nervously eyed the group before him—they were clearly well-off, dressed far better than he was, obviously from some wealthy household.

“Esteemed sirs, you, you…”

“Enough chatter,” interrupted the young master, Young Master Gao, who finally sauntered forward. He gazed down at Xu Da with disdain. “Bring her up. Let her ask herself.”

Widow Li, her hair a tangled mess, was shoved forward and fell to the ground with a thud.

She let out a sharp cry of pain. Her fingernail-less fingers scraped against the dirt, the searing agony twisting her makeup-laden face into an ugly grimace.

“You! You! Where’s your daughter?” She lunged at Xu Da like a madwoman, grabbing his clothes.

Xu Da was terrified and hastily shoved her away. “Who are you?!”

“Me! It’s me!”

Xu Da stared at the frenzied woman before him, then glanced at the threatening crowd. A sense of dread crept into his heart.

“My family only has one son. I don’t have any daughter!”

From the grass pile, Xu Xiaoya’s eyes went wide with disbelief.

Fang Zhiyi remained expressionless. He figured he was probably right—why else would the original story have a woman leading a bunch of thugs to cause trouble? Did child traffickers dare be so brazen?

“It’s me! Your husband and wife sold your daughter to me!” Widow Li’s voice trembled with desperation—her life was on the line. Then she pointed at the little boy. Xu Da’s wife quickly pulled the child into her arms.

“That boy too—I found him through contacts and sold him to you! You want to deny it now?”

Xu Da finally recognized her, and his face turned ugly.

“I… deny what? You’ve got the wrong person! I only have a son, never a daughter!” He dropped to his knees before Young Master Gao. “Master, don’t listen to this crazy woman’s nonsense. My wife and I are honest folks. We’d never dare buy people!”

Young Master Gao frowned. “I don’t care whether you buy people or not. That cheap girl she sold me ran away and even hurt my men! If you don’t make this right today, I’ll tear your house down!”

Realizing the man in front of him wasn’t an official, Xu Da breathed a sigh of relief. But glancing at Widow Li, he stiffened again. “She was sold to you long ago—what’s it got to do with me? The deal was done. You paid the money, and whether she lives or dies is none of our concern!”

“She must have come back! She has nowhere else to go! Let me search your house!” With that, Widow Li began shouting, “Xu Mengdie! Xu Mengdie! Get the hell out here!”

The little boy in Xu Da’s wife’s arms was so frightened he started wailing. Xu Da panicked and began shoving Widow Li.

Watching the two scuffle, Young Master Gao let out a cold snort.

“Anyway, if I don’t find her today, every single one of you is in trouble. My uncle is the county magistrate! Steward, how does the law punish those who buy and sell people?”

The steward replied promptly, “Young master, buying and selling people—the lightest punishment is exile to the frontier.” He glanced with amusement at the still-brawling pair.

In the grass pile, Fang Zhiyi patted the stiff, petrified Xu Xiaoya.

“Condolences. Condolences.”

Xu Xiaoya’s eyes were filled with disbelief. Fragments of memory came back to her—the time she left with Widow Li, catching a glimpse of her mother standing there, watching her go without a word.

Fang Zhiyi felt a pang of helplessness. If you thought about Xu Xiaoya’s tragedy, she really was wretched—living a miserable life, turning into something neither human nor ghost, all to avenge her family, only to discover she had been sold off by her own parents.

That explained everything. In the original story, Xu Xiaoya resisted. Young Master Gao crippled her and then came after Widow Li, who, to make amends, brought men to vent their rage on Xu Xiaoya’s parents… Tsk.

Indeed, there were no good people among them.

In the end, Xu Da swore that if his daughter ever returned, he would immediately arrest her and send her to the young master. Only then did Young Master Gao have his men restrain Widow Li and leave.

Fang Zhiyi looked at the dazed girl. After the group had vanished into the distance, he asked, “Still want to go home now?”

He had made up his mind: if Xu Xiaoya insisted on returning home, he would go about his own business. After all, he had taken over this body and had his own unfinished tasks—he didn’t owe Xu Xiaoya any favors.

Xu Xiaoya was silent for a long time. Finally, she turned to Fang Zhiyi, tears streaming down her face.

“Gousheng… no… Fang Zhiyi, is there… is there anywhere else we can go?”

Fang Zhiyi rolled his eyes. “As long as you’ve figured it out, we’ve got plenty of places to go.”

“But every place requires travel permits…” Xu Xiaoya knew this well; her foster mother had drilled it into her, telling her never to think of escaping.

“They don’t ask for a travel permit if you’re going to seek immortals, do they?” Fang Zhiyi shrugged.

“Seek immortals?”

Fang Zhiyi grinned. “Yeah, seek immortals… but before that, we need to prepare some things.”

Night fell. Two figures moved silently through the wilderness, one after the other. Fang Zhiyi paused every so often to look up at the stars, using them to verify his location. A small pack was slung over his back—something he had bought that afternoon from a shop selling funeral paper.

Finally, he reached their destination. Staring at the cemetery of unmarked graves before him, Fang Zhiyi flashed a grin that would put any demonic cultivator to shame. Then he calmly unpacked the odds and ends from his bag, placing them one by one on the ground.