Immortal Travel of Longevity

The fog over the river cleared away, revealing the rippling waves of the water. Lifting his eyes to look where sky and water met on the horizon, and close to both banks of the river, he saw scattered houses with white-tiled roofs.

After the fog lifted, fishing boats gradually appeared on the river. Chen Changsheng left his long bamboo pole and took the road on land. The last drop of wine in the wine jar fell into Chen Changsheng’s throat.

He smacked his lips and muttered: “How could this be enough to drink…”

He sighed but had no choice now. He walked to the nearby district-town to find a place selling wine.

Living close to the mountains and water was the way of life. So the nearby district-town was not hard to find; after walking a few miles, he saw a district-town built beside a small river.

This place was not rich. Though people lived by the river, the weather was not very good, and the growth of crops was poor. So people here mostly made a living by fishing.

Almost everyone had a faint fish smell on them.

Passing wagons often carried many fish away, probably to sell at nearby district-towns.

Chen Changsheng looked around, following the smell of wine to find a tavern.

He was just about to step in when he suddenly sensed something. A flash of golden light appeared in Chen Changsheng’s eyes. “My resentment energy?”

Chen Changsheng thought for a moment but did not pay much attention. Then he went in.

Upon entering, he saw a whole fishbone fastened on the wall. The fish was not small; it looked like it weighed at least several dozen pounds. But spider webs hung on it, as if it had been there for years.

“Want some wine?” The manager asked carelessly.

There was no xiao’er in the tavern; the manager was the waiter, and the waiter was the manager.

Chen Changsheng nodded and said: “Give me a pot of wine.”

“What kind of wine? There’s expensive, costing a few large coins per pot, or there’s very cheap, costing just a few copper coins per pot.”

“Just a few copper coins.”

“Alright, wait.”

The manager went to get the wine. Seeing Chen Changsheng’s outfit, he thought this guy came from a wealthy family, but it turned out he didn’t have much money.

After sitting down, Chen Changsheng took out the money bag from his waist.

He carefully counted the copper coins inside; there were about forty or so.

Compared to before, Chen Changsheng was quite rich now. At least a few pots of wine were affordable.

He counted them one by one, murmuring: “Forty-five, forty-six… forty-nine…”

He remembered that this money was given by the old city god. It was only about a hundred or so wen, because that day the old city god hadn’t carried much silver with him.

After counting, Chen Changsheng carefully put it away. Then he placed five copper coins on the table and waited patiently.

The manager soon came with the wine. Chen Changsheng sat quietly and sipped a bit.

The manager stood nearby and started dozing off. The tavern business was not good, mainly because people here had the habit of brewing wine themselves, so naturally the tavern did poorly.

The wine Chen Changsheng drank was not strong. It was rather mild, similar to rice wine. He guessed the brewing skill wasn’t good enough.

Yet for just a few wen, how could he hope for fine wine?

After tasting it a bit, Chen Changsheng asked: “How many copper coins?”

The manager looked at him and said: “Eight.”

Chen Changsheng lowered his head to look at the wine, then glanced at the five copper coins on the table.

He thought for a moment and said: “Are you sure it’s eight?”

The manager frowned and said: “You don’t want to pay, do you?”

Chen Changsheng shook his head at this, but suddenly smiled.

He took another three copper coins from his money bag and placed them together with the five.

Then Chen Changsheng tilted his head back and took a big gulp of wine. Before finishing, he set down the wine pot and left.

The manager called after him: “Pay for the wine!”

“On the table.”

Chen Changsheng said this and walked away without turning back.

The manager went to the table and looked.

He immediately saw eight copper coins on the table. Three to the left, five to the right.

The manager raised an eyebrow, then walked to the tavern door to look outside. That man was already nowhere to be found.

He smacked his lips and returned to the table.

He took another look at the two piles of coins on the table.

The manager murmured: “He saw through it…”

“But why didn’t he say anything?”

The manager couldn’t understand. As he reached for the money for wine, he felt hesitant.

After a long pause, he gathered the five copper coins. But for the remaining three, he didn’t know what to do.

Though he wanted to cheat for these three wen of wine money, he didn’t want to risk his life over such a small amount. That man might come back, and losing big over little would be foolish.

Worried, the manager ended up not touching the three wen. He left them on the table.

He would wait until after today. If that man didn’t come tomorrow, he would take the three wen.

…

Chen Changsheng did not go far; he went to the area’s city god temple.

This city god temple was quite rough, lacking a proper shelter. It was just a small house not even knee-high set at the district entrance, with an incense burner in front for offerings.

Though rough, the burner had many burned incense stems, mostly fresh.

Chen Changsheng looked at the low city god temple.

“What is this place called?” Chen Changsheng asked.

His voice faded, and suddenly an old bent-back figure appeared beside the temple.

“It’s called Xiyu.”

The old man leaning on a long stick said that, then added: “Celestial Immortal, you knew that the tavern overcharged three wen, so why didn’t you speak up?”

Chen Changsheng said: “What would pointing it out achieve? Cause a big fuss, argue about fairness, but he probably wouldn’t listen. Another commotion would waste too much time; better let things be natural.”

The old man pressed his lips together, his cloudy eyes fixed on the incense burner.

“If he refuses those three wen, might he get advice and escape trouble?”

Chen Changsheng thought briefly and nodded: “Maybe so.”

“So…”

The old man suddenly smiled.

He sighed and shook his head: “That proves virtue and vice bring retribution.”

“Retribution…”

Chen Changsheng murmured the word, then said: “Sometimes I believe in it, but most times I feel this so-called retribution isn’t truly fair.”

“You are right, Celestial Immortal.” The old man nodded, then added: “But that manager never touched the three copper coins; they’re still on the table.”

Chen Changsheng turned to him and said: “Whether he took them or not matters little. I did not see.”

The old man looked at the Celestial Immortal beside him and held his tongue. He felt this man’s logic was quite different.

Chen Changsheng said: “In times like this, I feel that what I think matters more.”

“So that’s it…”

The old man’s deep eyes gazed afar, and he took a deep breath.

“If that’s so, he probably won’t live through tonight.”

Upon hearing, Chen Changsheng said: “Hard to say.”