Chapter 3: The Elusive Immortal

Chen Changsheng walked on the Imperial Road.

Looking up, he saw the dusk about to fall, as if ready to paint the surrounding mountains red.

Chen Changsheng shook his gourd. Not a drop of wine remained inside.

He had brought the Autumn Moon Brew intending to share it with the old priest. Yet, the old priest had ended up “drinking” it all by himself.

“Caused me to have no wine.”

Chen Changsheng sighed softly, venting his unhappiness.

He had expected this day would come. But knowing it still made him very unhappy.

Yet, birth, aging, sickness, and death were just the way of life. There was nothing he could do to stop it.

This was likely the most unpleasant day he’d had.

Chen Changsheng found a tree and sat down, quietly waiting for night to fall.

Once the setting sun completely faded, he would need to continue his next three years.

But just then, a voice spoke.

“Mr. Chen, why are you sitting here?”

Chen Changsheng opened his eyes and looked toward the sound.

The figure wore an official robe and black boots, its face hidden behind a faceless black mask. Strangely, it had no legs, floating before Chen Changsheng like a wisp of soul.

A flicker of confusion crossed Chen Changsheng’s eyes. He didn’t understand why this being sought him out or why it called him “Mr.Chen.”

Forcing himself to act calm, Chen Changsheng stood and asked, “May I ask why the Patroller… seeks me?”

This visitor wasn’t human! But it wasn’t a ghost either!

It was a Yin Attendant from the City God Temple of Autumn Moon Market!

Existing between human and ghost, it was called a Ghost Deity.

Chen Changsheng had seen them a few times in Autumn Moon Market after waking up years ago. He’d even visited the City God Temple later, though he’d never spoken to these Netherworld Patrollers.

The masked Day Patrol let out a laugh. Then, it reached up and took off the mask.

As the mask came off, Chen Changsheng froze for a moment.

The Patroller held the mask, looking at Chen Changsheng with a smile. “Sir, could you not even recognize my voice?”

Chen Changsheng’s figure stiffened, shock plain in his eyes.

“You… you… you…”

Chen Changsheng snapped back to himself. He smacked his lips and asked, “How did you become a Yin Attendant?”

Hong Sancai laughed gently. “Lifetime Merit accrued. The City God thus elevated poor me to the role of Netherworld Patroller.”

Chen Changsheng’s expression froze.

Then, the next moment, he suddenly burst out laughing.

Hong Sancai asked, puzzled, “Why do you laugh, Mr. Chen?”

Chen Changsheng grinned, saying, “I thought you were dead! I poured the Autumn Moon Brew at your graveside! Who knew you’d suddenly appear now, as a Yin Attendant? Hong Sancai, ah Hong Sancai, you almost fooled me!”

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Hong Sancai laughed too. He explained, “Poor me did not mean to deceive you. It’s just that our patrol shifts change day and night. Only during twilight can poor me find a moment to come see you… Please forgive me.”

Chen Changsheng’s smile softened slightly. “Good that you aren’t dead.”

“I am dead,” said Hong Sancai.

Chen Changsheng replied, “Half-dead.”

Hong Sancai gave a helpless smile and nodded. “Whatever you say, it shall be, Sir.”

Chen Changsheng chuckled, then suddenly looked toward the horizon.

Half the dusk sun had already sunk below the mountains.

“Pity,” he couldn’t help saying. “You didn’t come at the right time. Had you come sooner, we could have sat and talked a while.”

“Poor me thinks the timing is just right,” said Hong Sancai.

He moved forward and sat down, settling cross-legged facing Chen Changsheng.

“Just right?” Chen Changsheng asked.

Hong Sancai said, “On this day every past year, poor me and you would sit before Flowing Cloud Temple. One gourd of Autumn Moon Brew. Talking of the Immortal Path. Such a shame worldly matters are ever uncertain… Now, poor me is no longer human. Yet I can still sit and talk with you. How is this not just right?”

“Very true, very true,” echoed Chen Changsheng, nodding with a smile. “A pity there’s no Autumn Moon Brew this year. Otherwise, we could share a couple small cups.”

“There is still time. Next time we’ll certainly share a proper drink.”

“You mean it?”

“Naturally.”

The two exchanged smiles. Old friends meeting always had endless things to say.

Hong Sancai never imagined that after his death, he’d become a Yin Attendant, or even meet Chen Changsheng again. It all came down to that word: ‘Fate.’

Hong Sancai asked, “Now as a Patroller, poor me has come to understand many things. It turns out while alive, poor me never truly grasped the Path of Immortality. Though I lived over 114 years, it amounted to just a long life. Only you, Sir, have truly found the way.”

Hearing this, Chen Changsheng asked, “How do you figure that?”

“There’s no other explanation.” Hong Sancai replied. “Poor me has known you for over fifty years. You neither age nor die. Even the Soul Records of the Netherworld Tribunal hold no name for you. Only the Celestial Immortals would be thus.”

Chen Changsheng shook his head. “Do I look like one?”

“Not look like. You are one,” affirmed Hong Sancai. “How else could you see me?”

“I’ve been able to see ghosts and spirits since birth,” Chen Changsheng stated.

Hong Sancai countered, “A unique insight… Also no mark of an ordinary man.”

Chen Changsheng joked, “In plain terms, you just don’t see me as human, huh?”

“That’s not it,” Hong Sancai looked both amused and troubled. He continued, “Poor me feels regret. While alive, I knew an Immortal stood before me. But I could never truly comprehend the Path. Perhaps poor me simply lacked the Immortal Fate.”

“I’m no Immortal,” Chen Changsheng denied, shaking his head. Changing the subject, he asked, “So what you mean is… you’ve accepted your fate?”

Hong Sancai nodded firmly. “Accepted it.”

Chen Changsheng nodded slightly too. “Heroes in life, withered bones in death. People surrender to fate often only at the very final moment. Such is the path of ordinary folk.”

“You speak wisdom,” said Hong Sancai.

As they talked, the sun dipped half again.

The sky grew darker.

Hong Sancai paused, then added, “Earlier, when leaving the market, the City God asked poor me about you. He also has something he wishes to propose to you, Sir.”

Chen Changsheng blinked, surprised. “The City God?… Proposing something… to me?”

Hong Sancai explained, “In truth, the City God has long known of your existence. All these years, he has wanted a chance to meet you. But he feared disturbing you and hesitated. That’s why he tasked poor me to invite you, Sir.”

Chen Changsheng felt both flattered and overwhelmed. In truth, he wasn’t a Celestial Immortal. It was purely the curse upon him that created such illusions for others.

It seemed the City God of Autumn Moon Market had also misunderstood!

What to do…

Hong Sancai smiled. “That poor me became a Patroller… well… might just be thanks to you, Sir.”

Chen Changsheng waved a hand dismissively. “Nothing to do with me. You performed good deeds and gained Merit in your lifetime. That earned you this chance.”

Hong Sancai didn’t agree. He firmly believed he enjoyed Chen Changsheng’s reflected light.

He didn’t press further. Instead, he returned to the main topic. “Perhaps first give poor me your answer, Mr. Chen? So poor me can inform the City God.”

Chen Changsheng turned his gaze back to the horizon.

The sun was only a faint outline now, about to disappear entirely.

He did want to meet this world’s City God. On one hand, to see what such a being was like. On the other, perhaps to seek a way to break the Mayfly’s curse upon him.

“Time waits for no one,” Chen Changsheng sighed despite himself.

“Time waits for no one?”

Hong Sancai blinked, confused.

“Hmm.”

Chen Changsheng looked back at him. “Since the City God wishes my presence, I of course will go. But not today, I fear.”

“When, then?”

Chen Changsheng answered, “Likely only three years from now.”

Hong Sancai nodded. This matched what he expected. Mr. Chen had always been this way, visiting only once every three years.

The last hint of twilight was fading.

Chen Changsheng yawned. A wave of drowsiness washed over him. “I must leave now.”

“In three years’ time, on this very day, I shall attend your invitation.”

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“I’ll see you off…”

Hong Sancai started to rise to accompany him.

But the next moment, he froze abruptly.

As the final trace of sunlight vanished.

Chen Changsheng’s figure suddenly… grew hazy.

Hong Sancai thought he saw wrong. Blinked. But it was happening right before his eyes.

The light dimmed.

Chen Changsheng’s form seemed to turn to fine dust. A gust of wind blew by… and he scattered.

Swiftly… silently… without another trace.

Gone in the blink of an eye.

Shock held Hong Sancai motionless. For a very long moment, he was utterly stunned.

“Vanishing without a trace… truly the work of a Celestial Immortal…” he murmured softly at last.